SCUTTLEBUTT #393 - September 9, 1999
STAR WORLDS
The fourth day of racing at Star World Championships at Punta Ala in Italy
produced a mixed set of results for Ian Walker and Mark Covell after they
finished twentieth across the line but watched some of their main
contenders for the podium and country qualification be disqualified under
the black flag starting rule.
1992 Olympic Bronze medallist Ross Macdonald (Canada) and 1996 Olympic
Champion Torben Grael (Brazil), who were second and fourth overall
respectively yesterday, have both used their single discard for the series
having been over the start line early.
They were amongst a pack of up to twenty boats that there were caught out.
Included in the pack were Alexander Hagen (Germany), and Howard Shiebler
(USA) who were ninth and tenth overall before today's fourth race. RYA Team
GBR's Ian Walker and Mark Covell, sailing United Airlines, held back at the
start and had to fight their way through the pack in the moderate
conditions from fourteenth at the top mark to around twentieth at the
finish. - Nigel Cherie, RYA
Standings: 1 USA- DOYLE /OLSEN (33 points) 2 USA-REYNOLDS /LILJEDAHL (35) 3
GBR- WALKER /COVELL (41) 4 GER-HOESCH /FENDT (44) 5 CAN-SUSTRONK/ NYHOF
(53) 6 GER-HAGEN /WITT (55) 7 USA-BRUN /MEIRELES (68) 8 ITA-DALI'
/COLANINNO (70) 9 SWE-JOHANSSON /MOELLER (71) 10 USA-MACCAUSLAND /IVERSON (72)
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Event site: http://www.ouverture.it/ycpa/mondiale.htm
NEWPORT BERMUDA RACE
The 2000 Organizing Committee met in Newport in May and finalized the Draft
NOR for the 2000 Race. This Draft is available on the Race Web Site or mail
by calling or writing to the Organizing Committee. It should be used for
planning purposes only, since some changes are still possible. The Final
NOR will be available by October and will be mailed to everyone receiving
these Newsletters by mail.
An announcement has been made that the 2000 Race will include a Classics
Division for yachts over 30 years old having specialized rigs or
situations. This Non-Spinnaker Division will use the AMERICAP Rating and
Scoring System. All stability, safety and inspection requirements of the
Notice of Race will apply. The Committee will attempt to screen entries
into this division to provide well matched competition.
One of the changes since 1998 is that 25 % of the racing crew, including
two people from the afterguard, should attend a Sanctioned Safety at Sea
Seminar before the 2000 Race. An ideal opportunity to meet this requirement
will be offered in Newport during the weekend of 11-12 March, 2000. A
Sanctioned Seminar will be offered on Saturday, 11 March, and an Offshore
Medical Preparations Seminar and a Race Preparation Briefing by the Race
Committee will be held on Sunday, 12 March.
A new 1000 foot seawall has been built at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club
enclosing an area to the south of the old dock. Floating docks have been
installed inside the area and to the north of the old dock. The facility
should be able to accommodate approximately 150 boats following the 2000 Race.
The 2000 Race Committee will screen the professional status of all
crewmembers. Crew Lists submitted by Captains must include the eligibility
group status of each person as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing,
Appendix R. These lists will be published for peer review and possible
protest. Captains should consider having anyone on the margins of the
amateur definition obtain a US SAILING Competitor Eligibility Determination
well before the Race. Any IMS yacht whose Crew List does not appear in the
published list will not be eligible to race for the Lighthouse Trophy.
Applications for a US SAILING eligibility group status review can be
obtained by fax at 1-888-USSAIL6 (Document #1504) or from the US SAILING
Web Site:
http://www.ussailing.org/race/ceeaform.html
Race website: http://www.bermudarace.com
WORLD DISABLED SAILING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The penultimate day of racing at the World Disabled Sailing Championships
on the Bay of Cadiz in Spain saw Great Britain's Andy Cassell (from the
Isle of Wight), Andrew Millband (Isle of Wight) and Brian Harding
(Southampton) cement their position in the medal zone with a clear win over
the twenty three strong Sonar fleet.
While temperatures continued to hover around the 28 - 30 degree mark, the
large windshifts, which came with no indication, continued to cause
problems for the race committee. After both classes started their first
race in a steady 6-9 knot breeze and were well into their first downwind
leg, the breeze shifted through a full one hundred and thirty degrees. With
not a single cloud in the sky, there was nothing in the land of the gods to
suggest what was coming, nor a change in wind strength, leaving the race
committee no choice but to abandon the race.
The abandonment came as a blow for Mike Browne (London) who had all 26
boats in the 2.4mR class behind him at the time. "I had quite a healthy
lead which is a shame," said Mike. While he wasn't able to reproduce that
level of pace for race two, his fifth place is enough to move him up to
fourth overall, within striking distance of a medal. - Nigel Cherie, RYA
Standings - Sonar: 1, Cassell / Millband / Harding, GBR, 14 points; 1(tie),
Kroker / Munter / Reichi, GER, 14; 3, Hessels / Ruesink / Russn, NED, 15 ;
4, Efrati / Cohen / Spector, ISR, 30; 5, Fresk / Bagge / Jan Edbom, SWE,
33; 6, Callahan / Huges / Burhans, USA, 40; 7, Robertson / Suckling / Long,
GBR, 42; 8, Ross-Duggan / Esparza / Aucreman, USA, 43; 9, Robins / Martin /
Dunross, AUS, 44; 10, Garcia / Emerteri / Mastra, CAN, 51.
International 2.4 Metre Class: 1, Heiko Kroger, GER, 6 points; 2, Jens Als
Andersen, DEN, 25; 3, Philippe Balle, FRA, 31; 4, Mike Browne, GBR, 33; 5,
Marco Turbiglio, ITA, 34; 6, Jostein Stordahl, NOR, 46; 7, Dan McCoy, CAN,
47; 8, Claes Hultling, SWE, 50; 9, David Schroeder, USA, 53; 10, Ian
Harrison, GBR, 56.
Event site: http://ifds.org
MAJORICA ONE TON CUP
Very close racing in the first race of the Majorica One Ton Cup, in Puerto
Portals (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): the ten boat fleet of Corel 45s taking
part in the event sailed a windward/leeward course 5.4 nm long. The first
boat to cross the finishing line was German Faster K-Yote 2 helmed by
French Bertrand Pace who engaged a true "match race" with British entry
Indulgence during last leg. As a matter of fact The British boat helmed by
Tony Buckingham took the lead since the beginning, but the German team on
the boat owned by Ortwin Kandler sailed an almost perfect race after a very
good start.
At the start the 1998 world champion Atalanti X came back to cross the
starting line assuming a premature start, but it was not true (the
individual X recall flag hadn't been lowered) so German helmsman Jochen
Schuemann could only finish fifth. - Laura Jelmini
Majorica One Ton Cup, Corel 45 World Championship - Provisional results
after one race: 1 RACE 1. Faster K-Yote 2, Germany, O. Kandler/B. Pace
(France), 1 p. 2. Indulgence, Great Britain, T.Buckingham, 2 p. 3.
Investor, Sweden, T. Blixt, 3 p. 4. Aifos, Spain, Armada Espagnola, SAR
Felipe de Borbon, 4 p. 5. Atalanti X, Greece, G. Andreadis/J. Schuemann
(Germany), 5 p. 6. Cavale Bleu, France, M. Duquenne/F. Brenac, 6 p. 7.
Babbalaas, Great Britain, D. McLean/E.Warden-Owen, 7 p. 8. Mallorca
Yachting, Spain, J. Jaudenes, 8 p. 9. Bounder, Great Britain, Chris
Little/J. Robinson, 9 p. 10. La Casera, Spain, E. Jaudenes/G. Weisman
(USA), DSQ/ 11 p.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Ullman Sails continue to dominate the most competitive classes worldwide.
They won the 1998 Tornado World Championships and the 1999 Tornado European
Championship. In the 470s, Ullman Sails won Kiel Week last year and this
year Ullman Sails were on the winning 470 at Hyeres, and the French and US
National Championships. And we haven't even mentioned (yet) that Ullman
Sails won the 505 worlds for the last two years. Ullman Sails can improve
your performance on the racecourse - even if it's not a high performance
boat. You can get an online quote right now:
http://www.ullmansails.com/
AMERICA'S CUP
* NZL-57, Team New Zealand's latest IACC yacht came out of the TNZ shed
today at the Cup Harbour, and is having the mast fitted. Not much can be
seen of the yacht as she is clothed in a white shroud from the deckline to
the keel for the full length of the boat.
The shroud sets a new high/low in security with framing around the keel
area and the shroud is more of a structure (maybe to allow the boat to be
completed outside), than a skirt. Even though the shroud fabric is clinging
to the sides of NZL-57 like in a wet T-shirt contest, it is difficult to
glean details of the hull shape, however the bow does look a little different.
The mast is conventional and is not the same wing mast dimensions as NZL-32
which is alongside on the hard-stand. Both are a lot smaller in chord width
than Young America - which is also on the hard-stand, a couple of sites to
the north.
Today in Auckland is a bit miserable with low cloud and steady drizzle. Not
a good day for working outside on boats. Stars and Stripes and America True
are out sailing, with Young America having a day onshore.
Launching for NZL-57 is on Thursday afternoon - hopefully more will be
revealed at that point. - Richard Gladwell
* In all the excitement and drama of the build-up to America's Cup 2000,
it is sometimes easy to lose sight of all the attractions of sailing in
Auckland's Hauraki Gulf. But Liz Baylis of the America True syndicate has
put out a nice reminder that there is, in fact, life outside of the
America's Cup.
Describing a day of testing near the Great Barrier Island, she says they
first encountered a pod of porpoises, which had a great time playing under
the bow and around the keel bulbs of both America True and NZL39. Later the
same day, they had to tack in a hurry to avoid a whale and its calf. As she
said, "Exciting stuff." - Murray Taylor, America's Cup 2000
MATT JONES TRIVIA QUESTION
Which of the following boats were designed by C Raymond Hunt?
A, 12 Meter Easterner
B. Bertram 31 power boat
C. Concordia 41
D. 110 one-design
E. Original Boston Whalers
Answer at the end of this issue of 'Butt
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250
words max) or to exclude personal attacks.
-- From Eric Steinberg -- Consider this... As far as I can tell, the
technical logistics of Grand Prix yacht racing are unparalleled in modern
sports. Name another sport that involves more players on a single team, on
the playing field at one time, than sailing at the Americas Cup level (or
maxi classes, etc). I don't think there is one!
SNIPE WORLDS
No report yesterday, but provisional results after 5 races were posted. No
racing today as Thursday is a reserve day and one race a day is planned for
Firday and Saturday. A drop race will be included with the completion of 6
races. -- Alex Pline
Results after 5 of 7 races: 1 CUB 29518 NELIDO MANZO/OCTAVIO LORENZO 35.75;
2 BRA 29254 ANDRE FONSECA/RODRIGO DUARTE 37.75; 3 ESP 29376 FERNADO
RITA/JAVIER SINTES 50.00; 4 URU 28026 RICARDO FABINI/IGNACIO SARALEGI
60.00; 5 ARG 28211 MATIAS PEREIRA/MARCUS BEHRENDT 70.00.
US Team: 6 USA 28810 AUGIE DIAZ/GONZALO DIAZ 71.00; 7 USA 29672 GEORGE
SZABO/ERIC WILCOX 74.00; 29 USA 28044 PEDRO LORSON/WATT DUFFY 139.00; 40
USA 29324 HAL GILREATH/ALEX STOUT 168.00.
Pictures and complete results are available at: http://snipe.org/worlds99/
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
It sounds like a bad joke - a Kiwi, an American-Kiwi and an Australian-Kiwi
decide to sail a boat for New Zealand in the Olympics. Then along comes a
rich Italian, hires them to work for his America's Cup team, and pays for
their Olympic campaign. The punchline? They help Italy win the cup off New
Zealand, then win Olympic gold wearing the silver fern.
Okay, so the punchline hasn't been delivered yet. But it leaves Rod Davis,
Don Cowie and Alan Smith facing a peculiar scenario. In the space of six
months, the New Zealand Soling crew could win the America's Cup and the
Olympics for different countries.
Next week Davis, Cowie and Smith will sail in the pre-Olympics on Sydney
Harbour to get an idea of where they stand a year out from the games. Davis
doesn't expect to win the dress rehearsal - after all, his crew have been
totally immersed in the build-up to the America's Cup, living in Italy and
coaching the Prada crew.
Life will be crazy in the next 12 months. "But what else would you want to
be doing? An America's Cup and an Olympics in the same year - that's
amazing," says Davis.
It's especially good when you're working for Mr Prada, Patrizio Bertelli.
When the trio decided to have a go at the three-man Soling for the Sydney
Olympics, American-born, Auckland-based Davis dipped into his own pocket to
buy the $60,000 boat. Then the three guys went to work for the Prada camp,
and their Olympic money worries were eased.
Prada have virtually had the undivided attention of Davis, Cowie and Smith.
The coaches won't be here next weekend when the Italian boats arrive in
Auckland, but Bertelli, head of the European fashion house, understands.
"Bertelli is a pretty clever guy. He realised that if he helped pay for our
Olympic campaign, then we would work for him completely, and not be running
around trying to raise money," Davis said.
The Soling crew have also received a special grant from the NZ Sports
Foundation after proving themselves medal contenders by finishing fourth at
this year's world championships.
Davis confidently believes his crew can win an Olympic medal in Sydney next
September. He should have a fair idea - he won gold in the Soling for the
US in 1984. Davis - who has worked for American, New Zealand and Australian
cup campaigns - joined forces with Cowie to win silver for New Zealand in
the smaller Star boat at the 1992 games. Now they have taken on Smith, a
Kiwi who has been living in Perth. The three have sailed together before,
on the world match racing circuit.
But Davis, now 43, admits they are "longer in the tooth" these days, so
they have had to take a different approach to this campaign. "Our age
haunts us - we can't get away with what we used to. We can't stay up all
night and still race the Olympics in the morning," he said. So now they go
to the gym every day of the week, and Davis has had to give up his
favourite soft drink, of which he was drinking four litres a day. --
Suzanne McFadden, NZ Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz
WINNING ELEMENTS
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cut of your sails. Pacific Yacht Embroidery will make that special effort
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to learn how affordable his high quality crew apparel can be. Even if you
lose you'll feel better because you look so good: Pacyacht@aol.com /
619-226-8033
DOUG SMITH
Doug Smith passed away quite suddenly early Tuesday morning. He had been
treated the previous week for viral pneumonia, and it was eventually
determined that the lining of his heart had been affected, however he was
out of the hospital - in fact, he came down to the club for early morning
coffee on Monday. He complained of pain in his chest and arm about 1:00
a.m. Tuesday, and called his doc, who advised his wife to get him in the
car and go straight to the hospital. They made it as far as the 7-11 on
Rosecrans, when Doug had a seizure; his wife spotted a police car in the
7-11 parking lot and pulled in, and paramedics were summoned. Within 10
minutes after eventually arriving at the hospital, the surgeon came out and
said that efforts to revive Doug had not been successful. It's assumed that
no plans of any kind will be made until his son in England returns. - James
Nichols
SID BLINDER
Sid Blinder, longtime Marina Del Rey sailor, boat builder (Sidney Sabot),
racer, mentor to many young sailors passed away Tuesday evening. He had a
long and colorful sailing career and will be missed by many. - Tucker Strasser
Curmudgeon's comment: Sid was much more than just my friend - he was truly
special and unique. It seemed like he was the friend of everyone he met. A
wise and gentle person, Sid led by example. A one-of-a-kind human being
who was so much more human than most. It's a huge understatement to say he
will be missed. Sid was one of those unique people who helped so many
people and brought happiness into every life he touched. And he touched a
lot of us -- deeply. He certainly touched me in a very personal and
permanent way. There will never be another like Sid Blinder. Rest in peace
my friend!
TRIVIA QUESTION ANSWER
All of the classic boats listed were designed by the versatile C Raymond Hunt.
THE CURMUDGEON'S REFLECTIONS
I've seen it all, heard it all, and done it all. Unfortunately, I can't
remember it all.
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