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SCUTTLEBUTT #319 - May 10, 1999SAILING IN THE NOODAnnapolis (MD) May 9, 1999 - For Rolph Townshend of Annapolis-skipper of Alberg 30 SKYBIRD who has been sailing on the Chesapeake Bay for 60 years-the final day at the GMC Yukon/Sailing World NOOD Regatta was a workout he will remember. Townshend, age 69, and his crew-all of whom are retired-finished this three-day regatta with a 3-1 day, handling the short-course racing with near-aerobic spinnaker sets and takedowns, in a puffy, 6- to 14-knot breeze with big shifts that had crews shifting gears quickly. The SKYBIRD crew returned to land fatigued, bruised, and mentally overworked. But, "We had a ball!" said Townshend, after reaching the docks to claim first place overall in the Alberg 30 class. Townshend's sentiments were echoed by many of the 1,100 sailors who competed at the first NOOD Regatta (National Offshore One-Design) ever held on the Chesapeake Bay. After three days of racing in wind that built from 4/5 knots and into the mid-teens, with shifts and oscillations and varying pressure, the sailors who collected trophies tonight were awarded for well-deserved wins. Sixteen one-design classes competed at the NOOD, hosted May 7-9 by Annapolis Yacht Club, with race management assistance from Eastport YC and the Storm Trysail Club of the Chesapeake. All classes sailed six windward-leeward races. The fleet of 208 boats from 21 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada was the largest first-year fleet in the 12-year history of the NOOD regatta series. A rundown on each class' outcome follows. -Alberg 30 skipper Rolph Townshend of Annapolis and his crew on SKYBIRD entered the final day of racing in a tenuous position: He was only .25 points ahead of his closest competition. A 3-1 on the final day gave Townshend the class win. Bruce Breiding's PHANTOM (Annapolis), who was Townshend's closest rival for a win, finished in fourth place overall; the PHANTOM crew did not complete the sixth race when a gear failure occurred. -Cal 25 CL2 owned by Geoffrey Swanhart of Sterling (VA) lead the Cal 25 class throughout the series for a 2.75-point win over second-place CHICKEN LITTLE, owned by Charles Husar of Annapolis. -Catalina 27 skipper Francis Wright and his crew on CHESHIRE CAT entered the final day of racing in the lead in this 9-boat class. A 4-6 on the final day gave this Annapolis crew enough of a margin to take the class win. With two bullets on the final day, John Ebell's HI TIDE (Annapolis) came closest to toppling Wright's lead in the finale. -Kip Meadows' One Design 35 (1D35) ROXANNE of North Carolina took an early lead in the 13-boat 1D35 class and edged further and further to the top as the series progressed, with tactician Terry Hutchinson in the afterguard. But the battle for second and third turned into a more dramatic conclusion, and Doug Croker's CANVASBACK (Oxford, MD) edged Steve Pfeifer's NORTHERN BEAR (Cedarburg, WI) out of second place by only .25 points in the final standings. The NOOD is part of the 1D35 Season Championship. -The 17-boat J/22 class was won by Will Crump and his crew on BOCKSCAR (Oxford, MD). Crump was tied with Pete McChesney of Annapolis after the first day of racing. But Crump edged further from his rival by series' end, finishing with a 7-point margin over McChesney and his crew on DADDY. -The 18-boat J/24 class was topped by Thomas Sitzmann and his crew on PATRIOT. Annapolis racer Sitzmann lead this class throughout the entire series. -John Esposito's J/29 HUSTLER from City Island (NY), a past North American champion in this class, sailed a string of four bullets on the last two days of racing to take the J/29 class win. -Twenty-one J/30s had a competitive battle going on the Bay. GUNSMOKE, campaigned by McGuirk/Dallam of Bel Air (MD), moved into the lead after four races. This boat entered the final day of racing with a slim 1.25-point leading margin but parlayed that edge into a 7-point class win in the final tally. -New Jersey skipper F.N. Sagerholm on J/35 AUNT JEAN took an early lead in the series. But Rick Born's J/35 GRAYLING sailed to the finish of Race 3 with a near-minute leading edge. Today, the GRAYLING crew from Baltimore continued their winning streak with a 2-1 record to win this class. The J/35s return to the Chespeake this fall to race their North Americans. -A fleet of 22 J/105s, the largest fleet in the regatta, mixed it up in the standing more than most other classes at this event. A different boat lead after every day of racing, and boats with a first-place race in their score went as deep as the 10th-place boat. Steven Brice Phillips' LE-RENARD (Arnold, MD) took an early lead with a 1-1 score; Glenn Robbins' WITCH (Pasadena, MD), with Gary Jobson in the afetrguard, was leading after Day 2; PLUM CRAZY, owned by Andrew Skibo of Chudds Ford (PA), sailed a 1-2 finale to take the class win. Skibo counts his two sons, who handle the foredeck, in his crew. -A fleet of six Laser 28s from the U.S. and Canada, who had not had much opportunity to compete against each other in a one-design format, gathered in Annapolis to vie for class honors. Brian Lees' 2ND REPEAT from Annaplolis moved into the lead on Day 2 with a 1-1 score, and they held their first-place slot in the final two races. -Ed Collins and Barry Allardice's Mumm 30 USA 48 sailed a 1-2 finale to move into the class lead on the final day of racing. After a 9-2 opening day, Collins used the second day of racing as "hand-to-hand combat day," keeping his crew aggressive and focused to move up in the standings. The Annapolis NOOD is the third event in the Mumm 30 North American Championship. Collins, Allardice, and their crew collected a half-hull model for their win, which is a special trophy presented by the class. -Three Melges 24 skippers traded leads each day, and these three skippers entered the final race with only 1.5 points separating first to third place. Wayne Pignolet and Nancy Sauer (Sagamore Hills, OH) on PUMBA ended the series only .5 points ahead of second-place HOT TODDY, owned by Jeffrey Todd of Annapolis. -Pearson 30 RESULTS, owned by Arthur Libby, III of Annapolis, lead this seven-boat class throughout the entire series, capturing the lead on Day 1 with a perfect 1-1 score. -The crew on S2 7.9 BERNOULLI made their 1,500-mile trek from Linden, Michigan, worth the mileage by winning 5 out of 6 races for the S2 7.9 class win. Mike Elliott and his crew had a perfect 1-1-1-1 record going into the final day. BERNOULLI's only loss was a second place to Gregory Robinson's WINED-UP TOY, who edged Elliott out at the finish line today by a half-boatlength. -Viper 640 skipper Seamus Hourihan (Boxford, MA) lead this 10-boat fleet throughout the series to take the Viper win by one point. By winning the Annapolis NOOD, Hourihan leads the standings in the 1999 Viper 640 NOOD Overall Championship. Title sponsor GMC Yukon was joined at the Annapolis NOOD by support sponsors Hall Spars, Hall Rigging, High Sierra Sport Company, Sunsail, Interlux, Lewmar, North Sails, Samuel Adams, and Mount Gay Rum. The GMC Yukon/Sailing World NOOD series is organized by Sailing World Magazine and includes nine events. In addition to Annapolis, the circuit stops in: St. Petersburg, Florida; San Diego, California; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; Marblehead, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California; Larchmont, New York; and Houston, Texas. The next stop on the NOOD circuit takes place in Detroit, Michigan, June 4-6, at Bayview Yacht Club. -- Cynthia Goss FINAL RESULTS (208 boats) 1D 35 (13 boats) 1 ROXANNE Kip 17.5 2 CANVASBACK Doug Croker, III 24.5 3 NORTHERN BEAR Steve Pfeifer 24.75 Alberg 30 (12 boats) 1 SKYBIRD Rolph Townshend 10.25 2 SECOND-A-NON Harry Gamber 20.5 3 MARLIN Bryan Marshall 21 Cal 25 (6 boats) 1 CL2Geoffrey Swanhart 12.75 2 CHICKEN LITTLE Charles Husar 15.5 3 ALICE MAY Michael O'Toole 17.5 Catalina 27 (9 boats) 1 CHESHIRE CAT Francis D Wright 20.5 2 HI TIDE John Ebell 21.5 3 FINESSE Baxter/ Becker 21.75 J/105 (21 boats) 1 PLUM CRAZY Andrew Skibo 24.75 2 WITCH Glenn Robbins 31 3 JAVA Chris Groobey/Dan Hronek 36 J/22 (17 boats) 1 BOCKSCAR Will Crump 14.5 2 DADDY Peter McChesney 21.5 3 DIS-ALEXIA James A. Hayes, II 24.75 J/24 (18 boats) 1 PATRIOT Thomas Sitzmann 10.5 2 DREAM GIRL Russ Potee Glen Burnie 20.5 3 BANYOR PACKET Tony Parker 24 J/29 (9 boats)1 HUSTLER John Esposito 5.75 2 THE SIMPSONS John Thompson 12.75 3 THE FISH JayTovey 21J/30 (21 boats) 1 GUNSMOKE Michael McGuirk/ Dallam 22.5 2 INENTIONALLY LEFT BJohn White 29.5 3 SEA BISCUITR. Dorsey Owings 33.75 J/35 (13 boats) 1 GRAYLING Rick Born 18.5 2 JAKE Sanford Morse 24.5 3 AUNT JEAN F. N. Sagerholm, Jr. 24.75 Laser 28 (6 boats) 1 2nd Repeat Brian Lees 14.5 2 AMIGO V Bernard Coyne 18.5 3 RAGS Judy Button 20.75 Melges 24 (17 boats) 1 PUMBAA Wayne Pignolet/Nancy Sauer 21 2 HOT TODDY Jeffrey Todd 21.5 3 HUMMER Donald Cameron 25.5 Mumm 30 (19 boats) 1 USA 48 Ed Collins W 17.5 2 DOWNHILL EXPRESS Tom & CindyHirsch 25.5 3 ILLUSION Timothy W. McCarron 31 Pearson 30 (7 boats) 1 RESULTS Arthur A. Libby, III 9 2 ANDIAMO Ed Paglee 12.75 3 SERVERN RUN RoyLappalainen 16.75 S2 7.9 (9 boats) 1 BERNOULLI Michael J. Elliott 5.75 2 WINED-UP TOY Gregory Robinson 19.75 3 SHORT CIRCUIT Daniel Kopp 20 Viper 640 (10 boats) 1 SNAKE RATTLE & ROLLSeamus Hourihan 13.5 2 UFO RobGorman 14.5 3 GROWLER Stuart Wilson/ Sharon Benton 17.75 Full results: http://www.sailingworld.com SAILOR OF THE YEAR The 1999 Nortel Sailor of the Year Awards have been announced in Melbourne. Current Star Class World Champions, Sydney's Colin Beashel and David Giles were announced as the Nortel Male Sailors of the Year, whilst current 420 Youth World Champions, Lisa Charslon and Sarah Roberts-Thomson of Brisbane were named the P&O Nedlloyd Youth Sailors of the Year. Melbourne sailor Melanie Dennison who finished second in the 1999 Europe World Championship, was awarded the Nortel Female Sailor of the Year Award. Telstra Sydney to Hobart Radio Operator, Lew Carter has been awarded the Services to Yachting Award following his admirable service during the 1998 race. Well-know sailing journalist, Peter Campbell was awarded the Volvo Media Award. Campbell, who has been involved in the publicity of the sport for many years, was recognised this year for his role as the Media Director for the Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race. -- Megan Seton For more details: http://www.aussailing.org DETAILS, DETAILS Winners win because they pay close attention to details. All details. And there is no question that crew shirts and other regatta apparel fill the void overlooked by so many of the 'also-ran' programs. Although Pacific Yacht Embroidery already provides regatta gear for an impressive list of winners, they will also be happy to work with you. Call Frank Whitton at 619-226-8033. Frank provides the good stuff at affordable prices. (pacyacht@aol.com). CMAC * Britain's Royal Ocean Racing Club announced that eight teams have lodged challenges for the 1999 Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup. Two more teams have indicated challenges in preparation but not yet ready to announce, and the RORC's Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup Management Committee agreed that it would extend the May 5th midnight deadline to accommodate these late entrants. The eight teams already announced are: Australia; Europe; France; Germany; Great Britain; Italy; Netherlands; United States. In addition, teams from the Baltic region and the Channel Islands have lodged preliminary challenges, pending final confirmation of the availability of boats. -- Malcolm McKeag * Great Britain's new IMS 50 for the 1999 Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup was launched and named at Hamble, England. The British Big Boat is called Venture 99. Designed by Bruce Farr & Associates and built by 2HO in the United Kingdom, the boat is the latest in state of the art, carbon fibre, IMS yachts. Venture 99's crew includes Neal McDonald as primary helmsman, Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker as tactician and Whitbread race navigator Steve Hales as navigator. Also in the crew and acting as crew co-ordinator is America's Cup and Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup veteran Guy Barron. The full story: http://www.sailing.org/today/may6.html Event site: http://mummadmiralscup.org LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON We read all e-mail (except jokes) but simply can't publish every letter. Those printed here are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. -- From Peter Johnson (UK) -- The 19th century English yachting author and designer, Dixon Kemp, wrote in 1878 in his major book 'Yacht and Boat Sailing' that the term Corinthian was synonymous with amateur. The term Corinthian in England in the earlier in that century was commonly applied to aristocratic patrons of various sports. It had been adopted because of the supposed similarity of the young men of Corinth (ancient Greece) to then then young titled Englishmen. Kemp writes ' Some clubs in Corinthian matches do not allow any paid hands to be on board.' The Corinthian Yacht Club was founded in London in 1872; since 1892 it has been the Royal Corinthian and is now active with modern club house. Seawanhaka Yacht Club was founded in 1871, proud of its amateur staus became Seawanhaka Corinthian YC in 1882. It remains in Oyster Bay, NY. A fair number of clubs in USA are 'Corinthian'. In England the name is used in several clubs. I suspect the usual reason, a mundane one, has been to find a name which differs from other clubs already in a locality. -- From David Millet -- Thank you Mssr's Jobson and Macleod. Your ideas on returning sanity to the America's Cup are long overdue. Three months every three years is a great idea. 60 to 70 foot boats built under strict one design guidelines like the Farr 40's, even better. Get rid of the electronics. This is supposed to be a test of sailing skill not who can read and interpret the owners manual the best. Outside the sailors that compete in America's Cup, the event has become so foreign to most sailors that it garners little support or following except during the actual event. (My opinion). A little late for fund raising at this point! It barely resembles true match racing because the boats are so big and fragile that no serious engagements occur for fear of the massive amounts of money that might go right over the side. Giving management of the Cup to a professional governing body (Not the ISAF Please) and running it like a professional sport free of host club and challenger of record prejudices would give many more sailors and potential team builders an opportunity to make a run at it. I hope this topic generates a lot of new ideas and some long overdue action. -- Stephen Jones (re the America's Cup proposals) - "Shorten the competition to a three-month period." - Any one-on-one sport (match racing, tennis, darts) takes a long time to produce an ultimate winner. How could one shorten the AC to fit within a three month period? Organize it like a tennis tournament, perhaps, such that one loss and you're out of the event. Tennis ladders have seedings, to ensure a fair outcome. The players are seeded based on past tournament performance. What would be the basis for a system of seeding AC yachts? The challengers and defenders have lengthy selection processes (round robins, and "best-of-X" series) to guard against the lucky win. "Make the boats (more) one-design to shift the emphasis from technology to sailing skill." - The AC is about technology, not sailing skill. There are plenty of matched match races to test sailing skill. "Limit the number of boats a team could have." - Didn't they already try this? Are not there rules already in place? "Sail without instruments like the Olympic classes." - Rubbishand dangerous. Ruling out instrumentation would rule out load cells as well. "Establish a commissioner to remove the controls from one of the competitors." - I would be in support of this idea. "Create a course that encourages lead changes." - How can you encourage lead changes in match racing? Marks to starboard is about all you can do. We've seen experiments with the course in the past (e.g., Z-course); what kind of course encourages lead changes? Concrete examples, please. I don't believe good candidates are forthcoming. -- From Cole Price -- The easiest way to implement the ideas that Jobson and MacLeod offered in their edititorials would be to sail the America's Cup in Naples Sabots. That would ensure the use of a strict one design boat thereby shifting the emphasis from technology to sailing skill. It would also solve most of the problems regarding instruments, cost, etc. Truth is, most, if not all of their suggestions fly in the face of America's Cup tradition and history. The America's Cup is, and has always been a no-holds-barred technology race. Technology doesn't come cheap either. National Syndicates are willing to invest incredible sums of money to develop technology, build teams and pursue the dream of winning the Cup. And don't think that winning the cup doesn't have its rewards because it does . . . tangible/financial and non-tangible such as national pride, media exposure, prestige, etc. Most importantly, the entire sailing community, racers and cruisers alike benefit from the technology that comes out of America's Cup campaigns. I say, let the opulence continue. -- From Glenn T. McCarthy -- At an international sailing symposium in Australia a few months ago (reported in Scuttlebutt), one of the strongest recommendations on how to improve participation in the sport of sailing is to remove barriers. US SAILING President Jim Muldoon echoed removing barriers in his opening remarks at the Spring meeting in Dallas. The America's Cup is the most TV hyped sailing show out there. This is our one-shot at convincing non-sailors to give our sport a try. The America's Cup is a "virtual reality" barrier to our sport. Let me try to explain why. Non-sailors observe on their TV's that it takes $50,000,000 to win. It takes roughly 4 years of planning to even get to the race course. With all of the cloak and dagger stuff that's going on, that does not hold any appeal to the people we are trying to entice. Next as a sport, are we showing athleticism? How about one of the most recognizable, popular and successful skippers who has 3 to 4 chins (you know who I mean). What athleticism is needed to win? In virtual reality, none. What are we showing to the worldwide public? You need to be a rich guy to go sailing. Abandon the America's Cup, the virtual reality version of it completely turns away, rather than attracts new people into the sport. Do you know of any sailors that joined our sport as a result of seeing the America's Cup on TV? OLYMPICS Before the (ISAF Mid-year) meeting, it was expected that a separate women's match racing discipline would assume the eleventh medal position, which some say would have easily accommodated up to ten teams of three competitors. Instead, the Events Committee favored the lobby for a women's fleet racing discipline, possibly sailed in Ynglings or J/22s. The problem, says (ISAF President, Paul) Henderson, is the restriction of the number of athletes that a nation can send to the games. "International Olympic Committees and ISAF have a limited number of athletes they can send, and sailing is limited to 400. Truthfully, I can't see getting a boat into the Olympics that takes more than three people because it takes too many away from that 400. "The are a lot of people that want the same boat for the fleet racing and the match racing, but on the other side there's the Star lobby that's saying the Star should be the fleet boat and the Soling should be the match-race boat, and that's going to be an interesting discussion." - Dave Reed, Grand Prix Sailor For the full story: http://www.sailingworld.com RIGHT NOW It's just a phone call away. You can get Harken, Samson, Yale, Douglas Gill, Forespar, Lewmar, Ronstan, KVH, Spinlock, Marlow and lots more by phone - at the right price, shipped the same day. And you don't have to worry about making a mistake -- the knowledgeable and helpful staff at Sailing Supply will insure you always get the right stuff. Give them a call, or stop by their San Diego retail store, the Boat Shop: (800) 532-3831. http://www.sailingsupply.com/
INDUSTRY NEWS
1998 was a particularly good year for Scott in which he won the Greece IMS
National Championships as a helmsman, Ficker Cup in Long Beach for the 3rd
consecutive year, the YRUSC Gold Cup and was the tactician on the winning
Farr40 in New York Yacht Club's Race Week in Newport Rhode Island. Scott's
other experience includes 3 Kenwood Cups, Kings Cup (Thailand), Tour De
France, 5 Congressional Cups, Transpac, America's Cup and many
international matchrace events.
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