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SCUTTLEBUTT 1584 - May 17, 2004Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. PHILIPPE KAHN (The Harken website has published a very interesting interview with Philippe Kahn. Here are a couple of brief excerpts.) Harken/McLube: If a parent were to come to you for advice on how to best introduce a child to sailing (recreational or competitive), what kind of advice would you provide? Kahn: Make it fun, teach them how to surf and windsurf and get them the feeling of the wind, planning and of waves. Then all the rest is really easy. It does not take a lot of resources, just a little time. Then one-design is the way to go. They'll love the ocean the wind and the waves and they'll be fast! Harken/McLube: It is quite impressive how much you have accomplished in a relatively short timeframe. Would you share with us your philosophy on training? And perhaps you can explain how you work with Shark and your other team members who are training as well? Kahn: We focus on teamwork, positive attitude and performance. We focus on developing skills and not on the results. Our goal is never to win but to learn to sail better. We probably enjoy the training just as much as the racing and that's fun. I'm lucky enough that by working a bit earlier in the morning and later at night, I can often get out on the water for three hours doing week days, right after Shark gets out of school. When we get back he focuses on homework and I focus on LightSurf. We also work out together five times a week. Harken/McLube: What is it about sailing that you like to share with your family? Kahn: Sailing is a great way to all share the same passion. Sailing brings us together and fits right into our outdoors lifestyle. It goes hand in hand with what we love to do: surfing, windsurfing, snow-boarding/skiing etc... Harken/McLube: How do you think we can grow participation in sailing? Kahn: When you show a kid an Optimist, they think that it's a floating bathtub. It's a great platform to learn a certain type of sailing. But sailing has to become more like the X-Games and that's why we must promote windsurfing, kite-boarding, skiff sailing and capture the imagination of the kids. Times have changed and the platforms need to change. Speed and adrenaline will bring sailing to the masses. - Harken website, full story and pictures: http://www.harken.com/sailing/kahn.php 470 WORLDS - USA WOMEN'S TEAM QUALIFIES FOR OLYMPICS Zadar Croatia - Time ticked slowly for some and fast for others as the 15.00hrs deadline approached here in Zadar for the final day in the 2004 Int 470 World Championships and final Olympic Qualifier. Race officials left the club in pouring rain thismorning to be completely ready for any chance of a start in the penultimate race of the championship. Teams readying themselves for either a contest or packing up which ever came first. In the end the clock won and at 14.15hrs local , AP over A was raised to signify the end of possible racing for the Championship. For the Australians, Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page it a dream come true, as it is so for the Swedes Therese Torgersson & Vendela Zachrisson. Nathan and Malcolm follow the lead of 2000 Gold Medallist Tom King who won the corresponding World Championship leading up to the Sydney games. The women's championship was one of the closest for many years with the top 3 boats finishing within 3 points of one another. The Swedes grabbing the overall lead from the Slovenians Dekleva/Maucec courtesy of the last race win. ISAF will confirm Qualification in due course. But it is expected that, in the Women: the USA, Argentina, Canada, Brazil and Italy will gain nomination and in the Men: Turkey, Poland, Belarus, Korea, Hungary and Austria. However there is a possibility that a number of National Olympic Committees will fail to enter their sailors to the games, opening opportunities for further nations to receive wild card invitations. - Darren Dunkley-Smith Final Results Men (101-boats) 1. AUS Nathan Wilmot/ Malcolm Page 44 2. SWE Johan Molund/ Martin Andersson 51 3. GBR Nick Rogers/ Joe Glanfield 54 14. USA Paul Foerster/ Kevin Burnham, 91 Final Results Women (53-boats) 1. SWE Therese Torgersson/ Vendela Zachrisson, 55 2. SLO Vesna Dekleva/ Klara Maucec, 56 3. ISR Nike Kornecki/ Vered Bouskila, 57 8. USA Katherine McDowell/ Isabelle Kinsolving, 76 10. CAN Provan/ Jennifer Nikola Girke, 84 http://www.uskok.biz.hr/470wc2004/index.htm T-SHIRTS FOR YOUR REGATTA Get your gear designed, printed and delivered by the leader in regatta supplies: * Tees from $5.00 * Hats from $4.00 * Polos from $15.00 Ask about our giveaway swag and keg sponsorships. For info and catalog, log on to http://www.pirateslair.com/sailing YNGLING WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - CANADA QUALIFIES Santander, Spain - Going into the final day, it looked as though any of six crews could win the championship. With 10 knots blowing from North East on the race course, the conditions were perfect for the show down between the crews. But it was not only for those trying to win the championship, but also those in their selection regattas as well as those still trying to qualify their nation for Athens! Subject to ratification by ISAF, it is the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Canada who will join the other 12 qualified nations on the start line at Athens in three months time. Final Results (10 races - 37 boats): 1. DEN Trine Palludan/Christina Otzen/Ida Hartvig 84 pts 2. DEN Dorte O.Jensen/Helle Jespersen/Rachel Kiel, 86 pts 3. USA Carol Cronin/Elizabeth Filter/Nancy Haberland, 90 pts 4. USA Sally Barcow/Carrie Hawe/Debbie Capozzi, 92 pts 5. GER Kristin Wagner/Anna Holl/Veronica Lochbrunner 94 pts 22. BER Paula Lewin/Christine Patton/Melissa Purdy, 163pts 25. CAN Lisa Ross/Deirdre Crampton/Chantal Leger, 171pts ATLANTIC 1000 CATAMARAN RACE Saturday 15 May 2004, Tybee Island GA - About the time that Smarty Jones was impressing Preakness-watchers, Tybee-watchers were witnessing splashy upsets as wind and waves intensified for the Tybee 500's grand finale. The surprise wasn't who but how and in what order. Today it was: 1. Semp Toshiba (Roberto Pandiani/ I-20); 2. Oz (Rick Bliss/ Nacra 6.0)- three seconds later); 3. Tybee (Steve Lohmayer/ I-20) 4. Castrol (John Casey/ I-20) Castrol's indecorous landing, dragging the port hull the final feet after losing control near-shore in the heavy surf, was offset by their stellar cumulative time of 33:00:26-besting Team Tybee, who were second, by 3 min. 41 sec. Equally exciting was the race for third. Oz won it over the Brazilian Semp Toshiba team's noteworthy bid by merely 2 seconds. (34:19:28). And the winning cumulative time, compared to last year's 51:21:28 (posted by Team Tybee), is impressive evidence that this was a fast and furious event. Now teams will rest and repair for Monday's start of the first Outer Banks 500. - Diana Prentice, www.tybee500.com HARKEN LASER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Bitez, Turkey - In perfect sailing conditions the final two races of the 145-boat Harken Laser World Championship qualifying series were completed. It was also a day when four more countries qualified for the 2004 Olympics as they qualified for the gold fleet - Korea, Malaysia, Ireland and Uruguay. Now the fleet is split into gold and silver there will be equal interest in the gold fleet and silver fleet with 22 countries still trying to qualify for the remaining four country positions in the silver fleet. Results after six races with one discard: 1. Robert Scheidt, BRA, 9pts 2. Michael Blackburn, AUS, 15pts 3. Mark Mendelblatt, USA, 15pts 4. Karl Suneson, SWE, 20pts 5. Hamish Pepper, NZL, 23pts 33. Bernard Luttmer, CAN 88pts http://www.laserchampionships.org/worlds04/ COCA COLA HOBIE 16 WORLDS The Coca Cola Hobie 16 World Championship ended Friday with marginal double trapezing winds for the first two races of the day. There was a long postponement before race three when the winds dipped below the five knot class minimum. Fortunately the wind filled with a vengeance and the last two races were sailed in about 18 knots. 47 races were run over the two weeks of racing. The French team of Axel Silvy and Pauline Jupin had another epic day to win the series by fifty points over Gavin Colby and Simone Mattfield - the defending champions from Australia. Andrew Keag and Naomi Angwin, also from Australia, took third. The next Hobie 16 Worlds will be held in South Africa in 2006. - Bob Merrick, http://www.hobieworlds.com/h16-2004/ ENGINEERED APPAREL FOR THE COMPETITIVE SAILOR Apparel designed to both facilitate you while you move on deck and protect you from your moves, is the focus of Sailing Angle's designs. Padded sailing shorts and long pants, Sunshirts, Kontrol Gloves for aggressive line handling, Battened Hiking pants, Knee Sleeves and Droop Hiking Suits are a few of our uniquely designed apparel that will help you get out front and stay there! Our new Aloha Silver & Navy padded-optional shorts (with floral panels) are in! Call 800-666-3616 or buy them today at APS, Layline, and http://www.sailingangles.com and lets go sailing. FINN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP La Rochelle, France Day 4 Report - When the Black Flag came up on the second start of the last race, it penalized 11 sailors. The third start under the Black rule took a toll among Mateusz Kusznierewicz's opponents for the Championship title. Ben Ainslie, Sebastien Godefroid, Emilios Papathanasiou, Ali Enver Adakan and Gasper Vincec started aggressively despite the risk, and were disqualified. The five countries that have qualified for the Athens Olympic regatta are (upon ISAF approval): Argentina (Alejandro Colla 28th), Russia (Vladimir Krutskikh, 29th), Hungary (Balazs Hajdu, 33rd), Austria (Florian Raudaschl, 36th), Italy (Michele Marchesini, 39th). Final standings (9 races with one discard - 90 boats): 1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) 22 2. Ben Ainslie (GBR) 58 3. Guillaume Florent (FRA) 62 4. Dean Barker (NZL) 73 5. Sébastien Godefroid (BEL) 80 6. Richard Clark (CAN) 90 www.srr-sailing.com/divers/pagesiteeuropefinn.htm 1000 MILLES DE CALAIS After 4 days, 14 hours 43 minutes and 38 seconds at an average speed of 9.22 knots, Jean Le Cam's Lombard-designed IMOCA Open 60 Bonduelle took victory in the first edition of the 1000 milles de Calais race after a fearsome duel with British skipper Mike Golding on Ecover. Bonduelle made the real break at the Fastnet with a fabulous coup on rounding the famous halfway mark, tacking its way out of the clutches of a ridge of high pressure that enveloped the remainder of the fleet. A coastal option skirting along the thermals of southern England paid off against Golding's mid-Channel course as did a move into less current late yesterday evening. Golding's Ecover finished nearly five hours later. Final standings: 1. Jean le Cam, Bonduelle; 2 Mike Golding, Ecover; 3 Jean-Pierre Dick, Virbac; 4 Vincent Riou, PRB; 5 Joé Seeten, Arcelor Dunkerque; Retirement: Roland Jourdain, Sill. www.1000millesdecalais.com/indexuk.php NEWS BRIEFS * The annual Lipton Cup Regatta is Southern California's way to determine which SoCal yacht club has the most potent racing talent. Sailed in J/105s in conditions that ranged from 4-14 knots, the Balboa YC boat steered by Jack Franco with Dave Ullman calling tactics overcame an 11th hour protest to score a convincing win which will move the event out of the San Diego area for the first time in many years. Willem Van Waay skippered the Coronado YC team into second place, while the defender, Stewart Cannon and Geoff Longnecker's Southwestern YC team, finished third. http://www.southwesternyc.org/LiptonCup/results.html * John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti gained the upper hand early in the three-day, Cal Cup Regatta and never looked back. With Jeff Madrigali calling tactics, Kilroy won the California Yacht Club's eight-race, no throw-out, Farr 40 event by nine points over the Scott Harris-driven Crocodile Rock. Deneen Demourkas' Groovederci came from well back in the fleet with a pair of second place finishes on the final day to spoil Philippe Kahn's return to Farr 40 racing by claiming the third spot on the podium by a single point. http://calyachtclub.com/cms/RaceResults/Series130.htm * We've posted the 'team photo' of the USA's Olympic and Paralympic sailing team - 2004 on our website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/04/usteam/. Also, we'd be happy to accommodate other nations that would like to post their Olympic Team's photos. Just let us know: info@sailingscuttlebutt.com * Seventy yachts representing ten nations are set to begin racing Monday in the Rolex IMS Worlds, off Capri organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in collaboration with the Yacht Club Capri. Countries represented at this year's event include Croatia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Spain, the USA and Uruguay. Marco Birch will represent the U.S. this year with his new 58 ft. Talisman. - www.regattanews.com PLAN AHEAD * The 2005 Ultimate Sailing Deluxe wall calendar will go to press soon. The is your last call to personalize calendars with your company information. Perfect gift for your colleagues and friends. Minimum order 50. http://www.ultimatesailing.com/corporate.html * Enjoy the action from Antigua Sailing Week. Order your Sharon Green Custom prints today. http://www.ultimatesailing.com/prints_01.html LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is not 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.) * From Clark Chapin: I watched the now-defunct US Sailing Competitor Classification Committee in several of their open meetings. I remember a comment made by a noted committee member: "Sail lofts must be some of the cleanest places in the world. They seem to hire so many highly ranked collegiate sailors as sweepers." In my opinion, if there's a lesson to be learned, it was that the Committee had to heed the words of Cuba Gooding Jr. in "Jerry McGuire": "Show me the money! Let me hear you say it: 'Show me....the money!' I can't hear you! Louder! Show me the money!" Now, of course, the ISAF Committee has the problem of dealing with this problem. I wish them well * From Donal McClement, Ireland: I feel sure that both Jay Bush and David Tabor (Butt 1583) have not read the Code properly. It may well be that Jay was given a Group 3 Classification whilst he was at college but I believe that Classification was granted under the old, now redundant, US Sailing Appendix. Under the ISAF Code people under the age of 24 (normally Students) are allowed to work, coach etc and get paid for these activities for up to 100 days in the Classification period and still retain Group 1 status. David Tabor's comments are even more misleading and incorrect. What he did 20 years ago has absolutely no relevance to his current Classification status. Equally if he was still varnishing, making sail covers etc. he, almost certainly ,would not be Group 2 as he states. As Antony Matusch says the Code has been accepted by almost 11,000 sailors worldwide and without doubt there will be 1 or 2 anomalies but it is impossible to write rules that cater for every eventuality. "Hard cases make bad law". The FAQ's in the Classification section of the ISAF web site will answer most queries and addresses most of the problems that people encounter. "When all else fails read the instructions" would be a good motto to follow. * From Joe Cochran (Related to Ralph Taylor's Rule 69 comments in item Butt #1582): Although I strongly agree with the comment that we should not "miseducate" Scuttlebutt readers about the rules, Rule 69 is not a simple rule. It is invoked by the action (misconduct) of a competitor and in that sense does control the acts of competitors. Rule 69 is an extremely important rule in that it is a last resort to maintain fairness and integrity in our sport. A significant problem with Rule 69 is the identification of a rule breach, appropriate penalties and the absence of clear procedural guidelines. For example, it is not a protest hearing and a "party" is defined differently. Confusion compounds in that appeals can be made to the US Sailing Appeals Committee, the US Sailing Article 14 Review Board acts on reports and appeals of their decision can be made to US Sailing Executive Committee. Each committee has their own expectations and procedures that are not in the Rule book or otherwise easily identified. I commend ISAF for publicizing that they issued a 6 month suspension for an offensive act. US Sailing should be encouraged to follow this example and publicize decisions or penalties for Rule 69 (and all US Sailing appeals) which might provide valuable precedence for club level Rule enforcement. * From Paolo Sheaffer: Does Mr. Fishbeck really want an Olympic multihull slower than the 49er? If IOC wants to reduce competitors, an A-cat would serve that purpose, but this recurring Hobie 16 Olympic proposal is past its sell-by date. Maybe the 49ers should be replaced with FJs. * From Chris Ericksen (Regarding the observations of Richard Pope in 'Butt 1582): No, Mister Pope, it is not coincidental that the "speed limit" of the Transpacific Yacht Race has been dialed up from ULDB 70's to turbo 70's to 75's and to maxZ/86's at about the same time that Roy Disney has built or created one of each. So what? Roy Disney joins such folks as Bill Lee in Merlin, Robert Johnson in Ticonderoga and even H.H. Sinclair in Lurline, winner of the first Los-Angeles-to-Honolulu race, in pushing the envelope of speed in offshore racing yachts and setting new elapsed-time records. Only by striving for more is the sport advanced; Mister Disney is just one in a long line of such who have so striven. And where is the "erosion within the global racing community for this former classic" that Mister Pope reports? Cranking up the speed limit didn't keep a total of 61 boats from entering the 2003 Transpac; surely all but three or four of that number were unlikely to be first to finish. Obviously winning the Barn Door is not within the reach of everyone, but shouldn't it be the goal of someone? THE CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS "If it were not for Thomas Edison, we would all be watching television in the dark." - Michael Landon |
