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SCUTTLEBUTT 1669 - September 16, 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. 2004 PARALYMPICS The Agios Kosmas Sailing Centre in Athens, Greece is busy again as teams complete final preparations for the 2004 Paralympic sailing competition. 73 athletes from 19 nations will be competing in either the single-person keelboat or the three person keelboat events using the 2.4mR and Sonar respectively. Opening ceremony for the Games is this Friday, September 17th, with racing scheduled for the 18th through the 23rd. There are five International Classifiers who have the unenviable task of classifying all disabled sailors who wish to take part in international disabled sailing events. The IFDS Functional Classification System is a complicated beast but its basic purpose is simple. The principle aim of the system is to enable fair and equitable competition at all levels for mildly, moderately and severely disabled sailors and to encourage crews of mixed disability to sail together. The System only measures functional limitations caused by physical disability and is not affected by the sailing skills, training or talent of the participant. The functions are defined as stability, hand function, mobility and vision which are further defined to test tiller, sheeting, cleating, transferring and hiking. The sailors are all assessed on these areas by the Classification Committee and undergo a functional dock test, a functional anatomical test and a functional sailing test which judge the sailors ability in each of the functional areas as well as strength, range of movement and co-ordination. The classification then awarded to the sailors ranges on a scale of 1 to 7 with one applying to the most severe disabilities such as quadriplegia and seven to those with disabilities such as a single above or below knee amputation. This system is particularly important to the Sonar teams as each crew is only allowed a maximum of fourteen rating points. The only requirement for a disabled sailor to sail a 2.4mR would be that the sailor's disability is at least that of the minimum disability standards, i.e. a classification of 7 points or less. - ISAF website, full report, http://www.sailing.org/paralympics2004/results/news3003.html VOLVO OCEAN RACE Brasil 1 will be sponsored by Vivo - Brazil's biggest mobile 'phone operator, Motorola, Qualcomm and the Brazilian government. Brazil's Torben Grael, fresh from more gold medal success at the recent Athens Olympic Games will be the skipper, who has also been part of two America's Cup campaigns and sailed part of The Whitbread in 1997-98. Former star class world champion, Alan Adler, will lead Brasil 1 together with Enio Ribeiro, a marketing executive with an industry and sports background. The chosen designer is American-based Farr Yacht Design and construction will begin shortly at ML Boatworks in Indaiatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. This project is seen by the Brazilian public and business sectors as an excellent opportunity for Brazil to promote it's primary companies and products all over the world. "This is a very exciting time for us," commented Glenn Bourke, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race. "Today's announcement is the first of several more that we will be making over the coming weeks, with the next announcement coming from a European team whilst emerging out of the USA, is one of the most exciting campaigns the race has ever seen. We are in an extremely strong position now with the fleet set to exceed the last race's total of eight boats." - Full report, http://www.volvooceanrace.com/pages/news/news81.htm DON'T YOU WANT FREE GEAR? Who doesn't? Here's how: Buy and take delivery of a Laser 4.7, Radial, Laser, Pico, Sunfish, V15, Optimist, Zuma, Nomad or Vector from now up until December 31st and receive your choice of a Seitech Dolly, Storm Covers or a Magic Marine Gear package with your purchase. As an extra bonus, buy and take delivery of your new Vanguard sailboat before October 31st and receive a free blade bag. For more details and to find your local Vanguard dealer, call 1-800-966-SAIL or go to http://www.teamvanguard.com PARENTAL SUPERVISION This past summer I had the privilege of seeing my 10-year-old son participate in his first sailing national championship. Up to this point, his interest in sailing had not nearly been as high as it was for baseball, and after several years of cheering from baseball bleachers, it was nice to see sailing making some inroads. In Southern California, the younger kids mostly race the Naples Sabot, which is well suited to the small bays and light to moderate winds that prevail in these parts. Unlike the Optimist, which can better handle ocean-type conditions, Sabot competition is generally held well within view of the host club. At this year's nationals, a cheap pair of binoculars had me practically sitting in the boat with him. During the week of racing, I soon realized why I enjoyed watching him play baseball so much. Simply put, I know very little about baseball and know far too much about racing. I can watch him hit or pitch, and not pick up the subtle problems that an experienced eye detects. But with sailing, I see it all - the good and the bad. I soon became envious of those Optimist parents that would set their kids off for racing in the Great Lakes or Biscayne Bay in Miami, finding out how their child's day went only after they returned. Or those Sabot parents that knew as much about sailing as I did about baseball. Ignorance is bliss. In the end, I was there every day, providing support and advice when appropriate, and keeping quiet when I should. I found the longer I kept the binoculars in their case, the better. By the end of the regatta, I think I may have learned as much as he did. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt NEXT ACT Ainslie will join up with Emirates Team New Zealand for the second event in Valencia next month, an occasion boosted by two Italian teams, one of which includes Ainslie's gold-medal buddy Iain Percy. With Team New Zealand still relishing a match-race victory last week over the Alinghi team who gave them a humiliating 5-0 beating to win the Cup last year, Ainslie starts anew, having put his toes in the water with the Seattle-based OneWorld syndicate in Auckland. Then he decided he was better suited to Olympic sailing, where he proved supreme again last month, rather than enduring roles he did not enjoy. So had his negotiations with Dalton, sent in to keep TNZ alive, included anything approaching assurances on filling the helmsman's role he seeks? "There's no doubt that in future he wants to drive an America's Cup boat, but to do that he's going to need to spend time doing it," Dalton says. So Dalton will send Ainslie on the world match-racing circuit, sometimes with TNZ's skipper, Dean Barker, sometimes on his own account. "If he continues the way he is now, he could be the best ever in the America's Cup," is Dalton's assessment. "He's certainly the best dinghy sailor since Paul Elvstrom (winner of four Olympic golds). So it's in our interests to help him develop that and it is part of the deal. If in three years' time it is blatantly obvious he's the better man for the job then he'll get it. For the moment it's Dean's job to keep and Ben's job to get." - Excerpts from a story by Stuart Alexander for the Independent, full story, http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/story.jsp?story=560894 IAN SOUTHWORTH WINS J24 IRISH NATIONALS Ullman Sails congratulates Ian Southworth on another major J/24 championship, keeping "Hedgehog's" streak alive. Earlier this summer, Ian captured the United Kingdom Southern and Northern J/24 titles, and now has added the Irish Nationals to the list. The event, hosted by the Royal St George YC, was keenly contested. Ian's "Hedgehog" flew a complete set of Ullman Sails, as did Deke Klatt who won the 2004 J/24 North Americans. For the "Fastest Sails on the Planet" contact an Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com ASK THE CURMUDGEON * "I just received my new Seahorse magazine in the mailbox yesterday and was really stoked to see Kevin Burnham and Paul Foerster on the cover- US Olympic Gold Medalists in the 470 class from Athens. These guys are the greatest! They deserve Yachtsmen of the Year and more. Question is, does anyone know if Kevin was the most senior member of the US squad to win a gold and was he the oldest athlete in Athens in all sports to win a Gold?" - Cam Lewis * For Cam's question, Jan Harley of Media Pro International provided the answer: "On the USA's 2004 Olympic Team (all sports included), the oldest competitor was archer Butch Johnson who turned 49 the day after closing ceremonies. He did not medal. Equestrian Robert Dover is 48, and he won a bronze medal in Team Dressage. That makes Kevin Burnham, at age 47 (he turns 48 on December 21), the oldest gold medalist on the USA's 2004 Olympic Team. "FYI, on the women's side the USA's oldest members of the 2004 Olympic Team: Libby Callaghan, competes in shooting, and is 52 (no medal); archer Janet Dykman is 50 (no medal); equestrian Debbie McDonald turned 50 on August 27 (bronze medal in Team Dressage); and tennis star Martina Navratilova, is 47 (no medal). "More FYI...In 2000, the Star team of Mark Reynolds, and Magnus Liljedahl, who was the Team Captain, were 44 and 46, respectively, when they won their Gold Medal. However, when Bill Buchan won his Olympic Gold Medal in the Star class, he was 49 years old AND the oldest member of the USA's entire 1984 Olympic Team!" NEWS BRIEFS * Sail.tv is a new website providing the world's first Internet television channel for sailing and the latest in "TV on the Internet". As an offshoot of High.tv that provides boardsailing amongst its action sports programming, Sail.tv current line-up is all sailing. Their 24 x 7 continuous programming feature is expected in early 2005, with great on-demand footage available now of Antigua Sailing Week, CORK Week (Ireland), Swedish Match Tour Croatia, and windsurfing footage from Western Australia. An occasional commercial keeps the viewing free. Look for the link on the Scuttlebutt TV Guide for future reference, or enjoy it now: http://www.sail.tv * Mark your calendar on September 19 as this coming Sunday is the official 'International Talk Like a Pirate Day'. Information for this holiday, including how to talk like a pirate, pirate advice, pirate games, pirate pick-up lines, is available at http://www.talklikeapirate.com * An informational seminar for the West Marine Columbus Day Regatta is scheduled on Tuesday, September 21 at 7pm at Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Novice or first time attendees are encouraged to attend, and should contact Larry Whipple at (305) 860-9156 to confirm. Billed as 'Florida's largest sporting event afloat,' the regatta is scheduled for October 9-10, 2004. - http://www.columbusdayregatta.net * Following the completion of the fifth and final North American Circuit Event at Holland Michigan, TeamBOLD and Nelson Stephenson of Southport, CT have won the Mumm 30 North American Championship with their consistent performance at each Mumm 30 Regatta in 2004. This year, TeamBOLD was second at Key West Race Week, first at the New York Yacht Club 150th Annual Regatta and placed third at the Holland Regatta. Those three finishes secured their victory in the 2004 Series with a total of 6 points using a best 3 of 5 Regattas scoring format. Full report and results, http://www.mumm30.org * Porto Cervo, Sardinia- Patience paid off on day two of racing in the Rolex Swan Cup 2004. For Classes A and C\D, the wind died on the first beat, compressing the fleet, then filled in at 18-20 knots by the top mark. For Class B, light winds convinced the Race Committee to move the course to the entrance of the port of Porto Cervo, which provided a steadier 10-12 knot breeze. Provisional results: Class A- 1. Bugia Bianca, Swan 70, Massimo Dentice; Class B- 1. Vertigo, Swan 45, Marco Salvi/Alberto Signorini; Class C/D- 1. Eurosia, Swan 46, Loris Vaccari.- http://www.yccs.it/eng/index.asp NOW AVAILABLE IN SAN FRANCISCO In San Francisco for the Big Boat Series, Etchells NA's or Star PCC's? Then check out the cool new bags from OceanRacing - now @ Sports Basement in the Presidio by St. Francis Yacht Club. New & Recycled materials, technical features and more. "Products With A Pedigree..." http://www.OceanRacing.com 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 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 Barbara Gold: I think and know what Paul Doughty wrote about the Optimist Class is true. I have been fortunate enough to have a child involved in the class who loves to race these little tubs. The class is amazing the way it teaches these kids many more lessons than just how to race. Paul really hit it on the head in two particular areas. 1) The friendships that are made at each event these kids participate in are priceless and will probably be there throughout their lives; 2) The amount of kids coming out of the class, going into to other classes is great and they go with skills that are not easy to find. I am positive we will see more and more kids from this class entering into the Olympics earlier than ever seen before. Good job, Paul, for taking note and the time to mention it to the sailing community. * From Kevin Crandall: As a designer of lifejackets and as an avid sailor, I have read the thread on mandatory wear of PFD with professional as well as personal interest. My opinion (and majority of the industry) was opposed to the mandatory wear laws. In the interest of disseminating all of the information presented at the NTSB and dispel any myths, I offer the website of the previously mentioned NTSB meeting (in Issue 1668) - http://www.ntsb.gov/events/symp_pfd/symp_pfd.htm Ultimately, new ideas and design will reduce the negatives of wearing a PFD- and you cannot legislate innovation. * From Bart Beek: It is encouraging to read your report on the forum conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board. Let's hope the matter is ended, but don't get overconfident: regulatory proposals die hard. These things do not happen by accident. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Boat U.S. and its President Jim Ellis for their hard work. Next time a solicitation comes around, don't forget! * From Ron Baerwitz (Re: Paul Henderson's comments on local conditions): Paul wrote, "...Pusan in 1988 was predicted to have so little wind..... It blew so hard it was like sailing in a washing machine." I was there and he is right. However, the reason why the US Team had the wrong weather information is because whoever US Sailing hired to set a weather buoy for our "secret" wind readings set it way inside the harbor behind a shed because it was too windy and rough to set it outside! This is as explained to the US Team in attendance by Andy Kostinecki. * From Brian Torresen: 3 boats worth millions each blow over?? I thought it was April 1st. How does that possibly happen at that level?? All of the technology available to those designers and nobody ever plugged in the numbers needed to tell what it would take to lay one of those things on its side.... cradle and all. You would think that the pictures of all of those Farr 40's piled up in San Fran a few years ago would of got people to start realizing that these new extra tall high cord length carbon rigs generate a ton of windage. The fact is that these cradles just didn't have a wide enough footprint. Having removable struts that can be attached to the cradle while the boat is in storage can easily take a 10-foot wide cradle and make it 16 feet or 20 feet or whatever width the guy with the naval architecture degree says it needs to be. Nasty squalls roll through the great lakes quite often during the summer. It is quite common to see masthead halyards secured to all sorts of heavy objects when the forecast shows a big one rolling in off the lake. Boats are seen with extra stands propped under them and as a few people have pointed out there is always the option of installing tie-down eyebolts if that's what it takes. Accidents like that are completely preventable if someone chooses to take the time to prevent them. If not, it's all left up to Mother Nature. * From Cliff Bradford: From my point of view I thought that the US' performance in the Olympics was pretty good. I think there was a lot of hype about winning X number of medals before the games but I'm sure that was true in many other countries. My recollections, from reading "Eurobutt" and Seahorse is that the Brits thought they were in the running for more and/or better medals than they eventually got. The point is that Olympic sailing today is extremely competitive with great breadth of talent so expectations of reprising past dominant performances are improbable. It is probably true that we could do some different things in how sailors are developed in the US and the same things will not work for everyone. I think Mr. Kahn's development team will probably bear fruit, since his sailing team has been quite successful in a variety of classes, but at the same time other sailors will get on the 2008 team through other dissimilar means. In the end our sailors need more and better experience in order to do well in 2008; the details and timing of the selection process is not so important. * From Ted Livingston: A way, way, way out idea that might, might, gain support could be to introduce the Optimist pram to the Olympic menu (with its normal age requirements). If the intent is to get more people ready for "the Olympics" this might be a TV-genic and (parental- genic) great leap forward into our competitive and litigious society!! THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM How many weeks are there in a light year? |
