SCUTTLEBUTT No. 805 - May 1, 2001
Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of
major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with
a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases and
contrasting viewpoints are always welcome.
CASTING CALL
Sir Chay Blyth and Challenge Business are currently recruiting skippers for
the New World Challenge 2002/03. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
for an elite team of professional Skippers to compete in a paid, high
profile, 18000-mile yacht race from the UK to San Francisco via Cape Horn.
The Requirements:
- UK Ocean Yachtmaster Certificate or overseas equivalent
- Total commitment to crew safety
- Over 30,000 logged sea miles
- Ocean passage as Skipperá
- Strong commercial orientation
- Exceptional team leadership, drive and enthusiasm
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Off shore racing experience
- English Speaking
If you feel you are ready to take the Challenge write now for an
application form to, Sir Chay Blyth CBE BEM, New World Challenge Skipper
Application, Challenge Business, S115, South Yard, Devonport Royal
Dockyard, Plymouth, PL1 4SG, United Kingdom. Or email:
tonyhumpreys@challengebusiness-plym.com, www.newworldchallenge.com
FOR SALE: CLUB MED
Winner of "The Race" - World's 24 hours speed record holder, Completely
rigged with spare sails and tenders - ready to sail. Designed by Gilles
Ollier, built by Multiplast. LOA 33.5 metres / 41.5 metre mast. Club Med
can be yours for USD 3.3 million - www.monaco-marine.com
ORC REGULATIONS HAVE CHANGED. ARE YOU IN COMPLIANCE?
The sailors at Landfall Navigation are well versed in the new ORC Special
Regulations, and are there to help you make sure you're both safe and in
compliance. Working with companies like Wichard, Pains-Wessex, Mustang,
Switlik and others, they'll provide you with the highest quality gear at
the best prices. Landfall Navigation is a complete offshore outfitter,
stocking all kinds of safety and navigation equipment, charts, and
publications. Mention Scuttlebutt and get free non-hazmat ground shipping
before June 1. Call 800-941-2219, or visit www.landfallnavigation.com
KEEP IT SIMPLE
US Sailing has an online guide to writing simple sailing instructions for
events such as club or local regattas.
www.ussailing.org
For a guide to sailing instructions for more complex events, such as world,
national, or class championships, consult Appendix K of the Racing Rules of
Sailing.
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
leweck@earthlink.net
(Only signed letters will be selected for publication, and they may be
edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded
speculation or personal attacks. This is not a bulletin board or a chat
room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and
don't whine if others disagree.)
* From William Sandberg: It's nice to see some nice things mentioned
about US Sailing in 'Butt. I won't address that issue but only add some
comments to Trevor Pardee's e-mail about Dan Nowlan. Dan is smply the best
thing that has ever happened to big boat sailing. He is dedicated,
knowledgeable and has a great sense of humor-- the latter attribute a must
when dealing with rating rules and some overly aggressive constituents. We
are thrilled at American Yacht Club that he is coming on his own time to
score the IMS boats at our Spring Regatta. One further note-- he is leaving
Antigua Sailing Week early to come to our event. That's dedication!
* From George F. Franklin: No wonder IMS never got off the ground.
Apparently the only person who can accurately score the regattas in this
country is US Sailing's Offshore Director Dan Nowlan.
* From Chris Teske (edited to our 250-word limit): A hearty second is in
order to Hal Smith's recent letter encouraging us to re-establish the value
of integrity in our sport! I value what I see as the sport's tradition of
integrity and sportsmanship very highly. I was a competitive hockey goalie,
and I will tell you that the sportsmanship I have seen on the race course
far exceeds that on the ice.
The Basic Principle articulated on Page 3 of the Racing Rules of Sailing
reminds that "A fundamental principle of sportsmanship is that when
competitors break a rule they will promptly take a penalty or retire." Too
often sailors, including myself, seem to forget this background to the
rules and either refuse to take their penalty or choose to fight it out in
"da room."
I recently volunteered to chair the protest committee at my home yacht
club. I understand that there are situations where our services are
critical. However, to accomplish Hal's goal, we encourage sailors to limit
their reliance on official umpires like the committee. Certainly we could
increase the fee for filing a protest. But, in situations where protest
committee action is necessary, that seems a poor solution.
Should we seek to limit reliance on "officials" such as protest committees,
umpires, and others as judges? If so, what is the proper role of the
officials, and how would you encourage each other to follow the basic
principle of the rules and thus avoid availing yourselves of my committee's
services?
* From Mark Reynolds (edited to our 250-word limit): I'm a little tired of
hearing from the lunatic fringe in Scuttlebutt. Let's stick to more
intelligent and constructive discussion!
Drug use in the Olympics (and most levels of sport) is a serious matter. No
one wants to see the real version of SNL's "Drug Legal Olympics" and we
don't want Olympians like the East Germans, who used drugs in every sport
except sailing. When athletes were asked if they would take a drug that
ensured them a Gold Medal but would kill them in 5 yrs, more than half said
they would. Clearly controls are needed.
I've been tested numerous times. Athletes have figured out how to mask
doping and stop before competitions. Starting this year, I have to submit
forms informing the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) where I will be 24/7, so
unannounced out-of-competition testing can occur. This testing is critical
for catching cheaters. I chose to be an Olympic competitor, so I accept it.
In sailing we have weekend sailors competing with Olympians, so let's come
up with serious ideas to help US SAILING and the USADA conduct
in-competition testing (a program that is very necessary) with minimum
impact to our sport. Bottom line, we must fight doping in sports. I don't
want my 13-year-old daughter, a very good swimmer, to use drugs to better
her performance or be at a disadvantage to someone who is doping, nor do I
want to see this in sailing.
* From Nicole Christie: If the ability to prevent "naughty" boys and girls
i.e. those caught cheating at some major event from sailing again at any
level is the aim of the eligibility code I would like to suggest that there
is a much simpler way of doing it. Why not make the eligibility code
something like the following: "No sailor who has had their US Sailing/Yacht
club membership revoked or suspended, or has been the subject of any
disciplinary action may sail on any boat participating in a sanctioned
event". Penalties (disqualification) could remain the same, and enforcement
(the protest system) could remain the same and the major objection of the
sailing public (creating a barrier to collecting casual/novice crew for
casual races) would be avoided.
* From Steve Eller: It seems readily apparent that the sport of sailing
had grown sufficiently fractured that we need to divide the governing body
up into two or pieces. The best analogy would be golf where they have the
PGA for the pros and the USGA for everyone else. Perhaps the way to handle
this would be to have ISAF issue "tour cards" like the PGA does. If you
want to compete in the Olympics, America's Cup, etc. you have to abide by
ISAF's rules to keep your card. Everyone else can compete under the amateur
organization with a simpler set of rules. The bodies could adopt the same
set of right of way rules but the pros would have to deal with all of the
other parts of the rule book including banned substances. Lets make it as
easy as possible for regular folks to go out an enjoy a day pf sailboat racing!
* From Richard Jepsen (In response to Mark Green #804): Regarding your
prediction for US Sailing 's "Dominance over our sport" being eliminated in
five years: Please consider that US Sailing does so much more than attempt,
however imperfectly, to govern the sport of sailboat racing. It is a
critical element in improving safety afloat with training, training tools,
safety research work. Adaptive boating, lobbying the government for common
sense legislation for navigable waterways, youth sailing, as well as
education and research on everything from race administration to safety
boat handling; Safety At Sea to Offshore Passage Making.
In the sport of Racing, arguing with protest committees, judges, race admin
officials is sport, itself. And that is fine. However, I believe it leads
to the sort of mudslinging we see in Scuttlebutt every week. And, seldom
from within even the lowest ranks of the volunteers in the field for US
SAILING, do we see this. And most of them race.
Visit any Annual Meeting or the Symposium and you have to be amazed at all
the wonderful things sailors in the US are getting from US Sailing. How
volunteers work together to create some universally appreciated programs,
products and ideas. And how mudslinging is relegated to the sidelines.
So, I look at US Sailing and can't see any evidence that it will be
irrelevant in five years. As for its "dominance"; Given its propensity to
take self indulgent potshots from Buttheads each week, it seems to me that
its dominance is overstated.
WORRELL 1000
With an eye on making history, Annapolis based team pyacht announced that
they will sponsor a women's team in this year's Worrell 1000. The 'team
pyacht women' (formerly Team Waterfront) will join 'team pyacht men' to
cooperate in a joint campaign to win the world's most grueling open-ocean
sailboat race in beach-launched 20-foot catamarans. Never before has a
women's team entered the Worrell 1000 and the encouragement and support
shared by the two teams will also be a first in the Worrell. 'Team pyacht
women' sailors Katie Pettibone and Eleanor Hay, not only intend to break
barriers in the race, but also to complete this rite of passage and come
back next year for more.
Katie Pettibone explains " Both Lisa and I have been submerged in the
attempt to find sponsorship for the Volvo. When I came up for air in April
I realized that the Worrell was just around the corner. It has tickled my
imagination for some time. That combined with the fact there has never been
an all women's team entered was too tempting to ignore. I realize that as a
first timer coming into it with not much catamaran experience it will be a
brutal race. If we wanted comfort and ease then I would stay at home and
watch 'Survivor' rather than experiencing my own brand of it". -
www.worrell1000.com
MINI TRANSAT RACE
(Following is from SailNet's interview with US Mini Transat entrant, Gale
Browing.)
It's likely that you've never heard of Gale Browning, but let that little
oversight end right now. This 43-year-old mother of three is poised to jump
on to the map of offshore sailing in a big way. All right, maybe it's only
in a modest way, but consider this, if everything goes according to plan,
she'll be the only American participant in next fall's Mini Transat race.
She'll not only be the lone American in this two-stage, 4,500-mile,
single-handed contest sailed aboard 21-foot vessels, she'll be just one of
three Americans who have ever entered the event in 12 editions that span 24
years.
Still not impressed? That's O.K., Browning doesn't think you ought to
be-not yet. She knows that most sailors have never heard of this grueling
contest, which routes its participants from the coast of Brittany in France
down to the Canary Islands and then on to a destination across the Atlantic
(this year it's Brazil). And she's aware that most American sailors have a
difficult time relating to an offshore single-handed race that's conducted
on board 21-foot boats with gargantuan rigs. But she also knows that the
Mini Transat is the proving ground for the world's elite offshore
single-handed racers. If you have even a mild interest in this discipline,
the names Yves Parlier, Isabelle Autissier and Jean-Luc Van den Heede will
ring a bell for you. Each of them came up through the ranks by first
participating in the Mini Transat. In baseball parlance, it's the farm
league of single-handed offshore racing. - SailNet website.
Interview:
www.sailnet.com
GERMAN FRERS
It's hard to know what German Frers was thinking about when he designed the
deck of the Swan 46 back in the early 80s. The huge perforated toe rail on
that boat is a bonafide "butt bruiser". These days, Swan crews have learned
how to cope with the pain by wearing the Camet Sailing shorts, with
optional foam butt pads. They work-not only on a Swan 46 but also on 1D35,
Etchells, Vanguard 15, Farr 40... You get the idea: www.camet.com
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS
* May 5-6: Wells Fargo Spring Cup, hosted by Pier 39 in San Francisco.
Ten short races with on the water referees for a $10,000 purse.
* May 5-6: Yachting Cup, San Diego YC. Farr 40, J-120, Schock 35, 1D35,
J/105, Melges 24 and PHRF. www.sdyc.org
* July 26-30: 470 National Championship, Milwaukee Community Center &
Milwaukee YC. www.milwaukeeyc.com
PWC
The US Department of the Interior on Wednesday said it would review bans on
the use of personal watercraft (PWC) in four national parks. Interior
Secretary Gail Norton said there were "red flags" regarding the policies
and "she wanted to review the record" of parks with PWC bans, according to
a press release from the Personal Watercraft Industry Association (PWIA).
The parks named in the review are Delaware Water Gap National Recreation
Area in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Cumberland Island in Georgia near the
Florida border; Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Indiana; and Cape
Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina.
Last week's settlement agreement between the National Park Service and
Bluewater Network forces all 21 parks considered appropriate for PWC in the
original April 2000 ruling to undergo environmental assessments for
continued usage. The court ruling ensures that the parks remain open to
personal watercraft at least through September 2002. It calls for a fair
and uniform assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Many parks have already begun the steps necessary to allow PWC use, but
some parks - including those now under review - had already been closed off
to PWC use at the superintendent's discretion, according to the PWIA. -
Boating International
CUTTY SARK TALL SHIPS' RACE
More than 100 vessels have now entered this year's Cutty Sark Tall Ships'
Race. The five entries received on 30 April puts the current total now at
104 with still more entries expected in the next few weeks. Even more
amazing however is that 24 of the massive Class A square riggers have
entered - nearly doubling the previous highest number. Out of the total
fleet , the UK is sending the most with 24, followed by Norway with 17 and
Germany with 13. - www.ista.co.uk &
www.cuttysark2001.com
QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Giovanni Soldini
"I prefer the distance races (to buoy racing) because that's what I've been
doing for the last 10 years. Also because I like to go from one place to
another. I don't like to go to the bar at 5 o'clock in the afternoon-I do
like to go the bar-but for me, sailing is to go to Brazil and go to the bar
there. To be at sea at night, watch the stars, and to be happy with my boat
is better." From an interview by David Reed in Grand Prix Sailor -
www.sailingworld.com
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS
Middle age is when work is a lot less fun and fun a lot more work.
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