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SCUTTLEBUTT 1952 -- October 25, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.LEARNING TO SAIL ALL OVER AGAIN - Paul Cayard It has been a while since I got into a class of boat where handling it around the buoys was a complete learning experience. The VOR 70 is all new to me and to all the Pirates. Not often do Olympic medallists, America's cup winners, past Volvo Ocean Race winners, find themselves on a boat where they have to learn how to handle the boat from scratch. Today we trained by sailing windward leeward legs on a 3 mile course which is the length of the legs for the inport race we will do in 2 weeks time. On this relatively compressed playing field, handling these 70 footers, with 500 square foot spinnakers, runners, canards that go up and down and canting the keel is a real handful for those who know what they are doing. For those of us still trying to figure out what to do, it is even more of a challenge. The wind was slow to get started today but finally filled around 13:30. The Spanish boat had given up on the day and went in. We stayed out and were treated to a beautiful day with the wind peaking at 12 knots and generally around 10 knots. It was a seabreeze from 220 and fairly steady and a beautiful sunny day. We sailed three full laps trying different sets and drops, different tacking and gybing techniques. To say that we are learning a lot each day out there would be an understatement. I think we are making some good progress but I could see doing this for three months and still improving with each new day. -- Paul Cayard, skipper, VO70 Pirates of the Caribbean LEG ONE (The Bang the Corner website asked professional navigator and weather router Mike Broughton to analyze the course for the opening leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005. Here are just a couple of brief excerpts.) 'The first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race is probably the most challenging leg in terms of tactical navigation, the leg has so many potential parking spots that it has sometimes been a graveyard for navigators or skippers on boats that don't perform to expectation. At 6,400 miles, it will be one of the longest legs in terms of time spent on the water and the teams will arrive in Cape Town mentally and physically exhausted.' ''One thing you can be sure of, none of the teams will want to risk the mistake some boats made on leg one last time, in not carrying enough food. One team was pretty severely malnourished on reaching Cape Town. The good news is that the new Volvo 70s are reckoned to be on average around 20% quicker than the VOR 60s, therefore it is reasonable to assume that first beer for crews in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town will happen four or five days earlier than on the last race!' -- Read the full story: http://www.bangthecorner.com/da/24381 BAROMETER What do you do after you've purchased your 100-foot megayacht? You shop around for one or two 25-foot inflatable boats as tenders to ferry your friends. The annual boating trade fair, being held in Genoa this month, is the largest in a series of big boat shows that stretch from Cannes, in France, to Monaco, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This year, big is beautiful, and everyone seemed to be promising even bigger next year. And that brings relief to Europeans, for they closely watch boating fairs like Genoa to judge the overall health of their economy. The health of the U.S. market affects how European boat builders feel. Ferretti, for example, Italy's biggest yacht builder, does about 20 percent of its business in the United States. European yacht builders have made their deepest mark in the American market for sailboats, but they are running to catch up with powerboats as well. To do so, yacht builders from Italy, France, Germany and elsewhere have increasingly transformed the business into a high-end branch of the luxury goods arena by creating yachts that are to sailing what Ferraris or Porsches are to driving. European governments have done their share recently to revive the marine market, in part to offset the loss of shipbuilding jobs in coastal regions. Italy and France have introduced tax changes so that customers who lease rather than buy craft bigger than 32 feet don't pay the value added tax. That translates into a saving of 10 percent to 20 percent. Hence, leasing has boomed, drawing banks and leasing companies who were out in force. -- Excerpts from a story by John Tagliabue, The New York Times, full story: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/24/business/boat.php MELGES IS STILL CRANKING OUT ONE-DESIGN WINNERS The 2005 season was a historic one for Melges. 60 years of performance boat building, and the introduction of the exciting Melges 32 and the new Melges 17. These new boats were added to an already all-star line up of one-design racing sailboats. In 8 short months, Melges has cranked out nearly 60 new Melges 17's, putting this new rocketship on the one-design sailing hot list. The Melges 32 will be featured once again in Key West where a one-design gathering is being planned. Race to http://www.melges.com and view all of their high quality racing sailboats. MUSCLE AND MANAGEMENT In another life, BMW Oracle grinder Craig Monk could have taken one of the glamour jobs in America's Cup racing, perhaps as a helmsman or a tactician. Back in Barcelona 1992, the young Kiwi achieved what many Cup helmsmen have failed to do, when Monk won a Bronze medal in the Finn singlehanded class. That success led to a chance meeting on a beach back in New Zealand a year later. "It feels like a time ago now," Monk recalls. "I was just helping a fellow Finn sailor out - Russell Coutts was his name - and he asked me to come and try out in the Cup boat. I thought, 'OK, I'll give it a go,' and I've been a grinder ever since." For a Finn sailor, where Monk would have run his own campaign - been his own helmsman, tactician and sail trimmer - to becoming a grinder - a job all about strength, power and stamina but where there is little opportunity to display one's tactical abilities - might seem a little frustrating. But Monk is happy with his lot in life. "I've learned to become a team player, and I've made a real career out of grinding. I've turned it into something that works as a career. It wasn't like that when I was working for Team New Zealand back then, when we won the Cup the first time. It was hard then [earning a living]. As the years have gone on, though, these teams have doubled in size, so I've got quite a big role on shore as sailing team manager. Now part of my job is looking after 34 guys, and I enjoy that side of it as much as the sailing." Unlike the multi-faceted nature of sailing a small singlehanded boat like the Finn, where the sailor must be skilled in many areas and look around the race track constantly for windshifts and other competitors, the role of the America's Cup grinder is a very heads-down job. "When we're racing, I try to focus on my own role," says Monk. "As soon as I look around a lot, I find my grinding goes downhill." Now 38 years old, Monk has learned to take good care of himself in a job that takes a huge physical toll. "You clock up about 12,000 handle rotations in a race. You're going the whole time during an hour-and-a-half race. You're going through all the gears like a Formula One driver. We've got six speeds, we're working through them - change, change, change, keeping those sheets moving as fast as you can." -- America's Cup website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/827np UNIQUE EXPERIENCE What is unique for the 32nd America's Cup are, despite the challengers' series the Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup final don't take place until 2007, the pre-regattas that have dramatically changed how preparations are carried out. "In many ways it's been a fantastic first six months, fantastic fun and also fantastically tough," says Magnus Holmberg, skipper and helmsman OF Victory Challenge. "The feeling is that we've achieved the impossible, which we couldn't have done without our experience from the previous America's Cup challenge and our special way of working, with fewer involved than on the other teams, where we use all our specialist knowledge in a unique way." The next step for Victory Challenge - phase 2 - has a plan that includes training with two boats (instead of with one as was done in 2005) and new boats. "We have been open and clear about this from the start. When we began we didn't have full financing until 2007. Just like many of the other America's Cup challengers we still don't. The efforts to obtain further funding to make the challenge financially secure has been, and still is, going on with full strength," says Martin Grävare, project manager for Victory Challenge, and adds: "We expect that the issue of sponsorship and partnership can be solved in a satisfactory way." Both Örn and Orm are back in Valencia after the summer's regattas. It's here that the foundations of a permanent base have been built. It's here that the team - like the other America's Cup teams - will continue their preparations for 2007. Next year's pre-regattas are all planned to take place where the main competition will be. "With the boats and with the team in place we'll round off the year with autumn training which will continue for as long as the weather allows. Normally that's until December," said Magnus Holmberg. -- Bert Willborg, www.victorychallenge.com DID YOU KNOW? - Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated. - "Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand and "lollipop" with your right. - The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing. - The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel fuel that it burns. CAMET PADDED VEST Our new vest is made of a waterproof, breathable fabric with a Coolmax mesh liner. Features include a chin flap, spandex-bound armholes for a smooth fit, a wind flap behind the front zipper, and a draw cord hem. Additional inches have been added to the lower back of the jacket for greater protection from the elements. It is designed with two large inside pockets with 9-inch zippers and two outside pockets with 7-inch zippers. The vest has the ability to add an optional foam pad insert for protection against lifelines when hiking out. http://www.camet.com NEWS BRIEFS * Hurricane Wilma, which local officials say could be the worst storm to hit Ft Lauderdale in 40 years, has caused organizers of the Ft Lauderdale International Boat Show to postpone the opening of the show until Saturday. Billing itself as the largest boat show in the world, with US$1.6 billion worth of boats and equipment, Ft Lauderdale is considered by most in the industry to be an integral part of the opening of boat show season, and a barometer for the upcoming sales season. It is the only US show with a range of boats from personal watercraft to superyachts. -- Sail-World website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/beewq * Triple Olympic medallist and multiple World Champion Alessandra Sensini of Italy will host the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards dinner and presentation in Singapore. Taking place on 8 November 2005 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, the evening will celebrate the achievements of the past year's outstanding sailors with four female and six male nominees in contention. Alessandra has herself been nominated twice for the female award, once in 2000 and again in 2002. -- www.regattanews.com * 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Kevin Burnham is more than just an outstanding sailing talent and 2004 Olympic gold medalist, he is the personification of what can be achieved with passion, a positive attitude, and determination. Now Burnham has a new website up and running that features updatable content, in-depth information and a wealth of video and images. -- www.kevinburnham.com/ * The Mini 6.50 Transat leaders are sailing in 15-knot trade winds, on a direct course towards Bahia finish, 500 miles ahead. The fleet is strewn across a 900 mile zone with the leaders expected in Salvador de Bahia on Wednesday. Leg 1 leader Corentin Douguet (E. Leclerc-Bouygues Telecom) is now 10 miles ahead of Alex Pella (Open Sea / Team Work), with the backmarkers a dozen days behind. There are now just 65 solo sailors left racing after the dismasting of Yves Le Blevec (Point Mariage) on Saturday and Sunday night's damage to the rudders on Aloys Claquin's Vecteur Plus. -- Yachting Universe, full story: http://tinyurl.com/7lgg5 RACE BOAT INSURANCE You are going to Acura Key West 2006, but do you have the right insurance protection? US Sailing and Gowrie, Barden & Brett have partnered to offer the right insurance policy specifically designed for you. You can count on Gowrie, Barden & Brett to protect your assets. Details at http://www.gowrie.com/us-sailing-programs/member-boats.aspx LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is neither a chat room nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere.) * From Howard Paul: Last time I checked US Sailing's annual budget including the Olympics was somewhere in the neighborhood of $5m. Yet they had a Board of Directors of 49! That's a larger Board of Directors then the largest corporations in the world! I have said it before and want to say it again. If they want US Sailing to be all it can be they should look at AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association). They have over 400,000 members. They print a beautiful magazine 12 months a year. They lobby Washington on behalf of General Aviation (private and corporate aircraft) issues. They offer aircraft loans, title insurance, and general liability and hull insurance. In fact in a few short years they have become the largest insurance agency! They have a Mentor Program to encourage new people to learn how to fly. All this and more for $37.00 a year! US Sailing has taken the first step. I hope the new BOD sees this as just the beginning. I am rooting for US Sailing! * From Glenn Selvin: Before killing the thread on kinetics and Finn racing. Last year, while racing ABYC's Olympic Classes regatta, Zach Railey blew past me on a downwind leg while pumping his $%*% off. At 48 years old, playing the mainsheet two to one vs. Zach's one to one, I glibly asked how in the world I was supposed to compete with that! Zach's response? Hit the gym. At this year's PCC's on a very windy San Francisco Bay, Henry Niewstadt was pumping like crazy, while I was wondering if my arms would in fact, at some point, fall off. Yup, he passed me on the downwind leg. However, once rounding the leeward mark on his transom, I was able to put my considerable girth over the side while hiked out, and pass him on the upwind leg, breeze on. I guess sometimes age and girth wins out over youth and pumping/athletism. Finns forever! * From Josh Lindsay: As a Laser sailor and a mechanical engineer, I have to take issue with Geoff Ewenson's message in today's edition. When he describes Patrick Weaver's assertion that "hiking in a Finn is technically using kinetics", one of them is unclear on either the concept of kinetics vs. statics, or on the spirit of the rule against using kinetics for propulsion. Webster defines kinetic as "Of or relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces and energy associated therewith". It is certainly possible, and in keeping with the spirit of the rule, to hike on a Finn without using the motion of the body. The static forces of gravity on the body of the sailor are what is supposed to counteract the wind's force on the sail to keep the boat in trim, not the kinetic effects of pumping. I would submit that the spirit of the kinetics rule is to see how fast we can make a boat go without using the kinetic energy of our bodies to make that happen. * From Ty Reed (re kite sailing): I am sure that you have already gotten several emails regarding this, but I am sure I can hit 20 knots in about 12 knots of wind in any direction except upwind at a sail boat angle. Dead Down wind is hard too, but if you start looping the kite. Anyone who thinks that a kite can go one direction and the speed of the wind obviously has never witnessed kitesurfing. The use of kites in a practical manner is so new that the possibilities could be farther than we can conceive at this time. * From Peter G. Kremlick: Supporting the comments attributed to Patrick Weaver in Geoff Ewenson's piece (S'butt 1949), the incorporation of Radio Controlled model Yachts in an Olympic or "World Class" event might just be the stimulus that "big boat" sailing needs to get people back on the water having fun. There are several existing classes of R/C yachts that currently have world wide participation might provide a start. Contrary to popular opinion, R/C yacht racing is not just "playing with toys". It takes a considerable skill to build a fast R/C boat and far more finesse at the helm and trim than on Grand Prix racers. The skipper is alone with his radio. There are no tacticians, trimmers, bow men, or sewer workers and the afterguard is thankfully silent. With 50+ years of sailing experience, I now sail Radio Controlled exclusively (EC12M's and Wheelers). The competition is every bit as exciting as the "big" boats. Plus, the cost of owning and operating R/C puts the sport in reach of everyone who wants to join the fun. Finding crew is no problem. Good knowledge of the sailing rules is needed for success in R/C racing. Things are happening so fast, there is no time to consult the "book" before deciding to take a penalty turn or tough it out at the protest hearing. The sport of radio control sailing is every bit as challenging as it's big boat counterpart plus it is available to women, children, the elderly, disabled and challenged, all on an equal footing. * From Cam Lewis (not the famous one): I want to congratulate Captain Larry White on receiving the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy for his outstanding service to sailing in general and interscholastic sailing particularly. The unprecedented growth of high school sailing throughout the country is a tribute to his vision and leadership throughout the years. Captain White recruited me into the fold almost 20 years ago and is one of the reasons I am still involved today. He taught me as a young man that it is our responsibility to give back to the sport that we love so much and that there is no better place to start then with youth sailing. The future of our sport owes him a great dept of gratitude. * From Ray Cullum (re a correction to US Sailing's press release of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club Trophy): It is certainly a great honor for the California Yacht Club to win the trophy three times but they weren't the first to do so. The Beverly Yacht Club of Marion Massachusetts is actually the first club to win the trophy three times -- 1982, 1992 and 2000. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS "Every flower must go through dirt." - Ben Franklin |
