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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 965 - December 14, 2001Scuttlebutt 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, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.
THE PREZ SAYS - A guest editorial by Paul Henderson, ISAF President
TEN RACING RULE COMMANDMENTS: I believe that ISAF/ MNA's should publish these rules as the broad base Commandments and also Sailing Clubs should also endorse these truly simple rules to encourage regional racing. Sailing is a participatory sport run by volunteers and this sure encourages those who love to go to sea to race and then return for good fellowship with their competitors. The best day you can have in your life is two great races, back to the club to smile a lot, rehash the race and join together with other sailors who will become your lifelong friends. Compliments of the Season! - Paul Henderson, President ISAF
ELLEN Full story: http://www.yachting-world.com
AMERICA'S CUP "We invited all the teams that were down here for the summer and it was a good response," Team New Zealand executive director Tony Thomas said. "A couple of teams responded by saying that it would interfere with their sailing programme and they weren't available at the moment, but they may review it later." The event replaces the Road to the America's Cup regatta, which invited syndicates to match-race in the yachts from the Team New Zealand campaign in San Diego in 1992. Thomas said that next year's regatta would involve a fleet race to decide the top four teams, who would then square off in match-races. After that would come a longer fleet race along the East Coast Bays, finishing under the harbor bridge. "With the Road to the America's Cup regatta, Team New Zealand only sailed in the last day or so once a challenger was found," Thomas said. "This time they are sailing all the way through it." The teams would race their own yachts - most of which will probably be 2000-generation boats. Rather than a test of technology, the syndicates would look at it as a chance to see how their crews worked and managed the conditions. Thomas said there was no point reading too much into the results, because the winner of this regatta would not necessarily win the America's Cup. "No one is going to show off their new technology." - Julie Ash, NZ Herald Full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sports/
ONE-STOP SHOPPING
VOLVO OCEAN RACE The yacht arrived on The Mediterranean Shipping Line's container ship "Katie"; crew member Damian Foxall travelled onboard to keep a close eye on the yacht. Team Tyco plans to have the boat back in the water within a few days, ready to start sail-testing and preparing for the next leg. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com * Amer Sports One skipper, Grant Dalton, is confident he will sail on leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race in spite of injuries suffered in the last 24 hours of leg 2. Dalton was hurled into the side of the yacht when it flew off a wave in a Bass Strait storm on December 3rd. Dalton was thrown backwards in the galley, demolishing it and cracking some ribs and three vertebrae. Dalton says his mobility is improving every day. He is having daily physiotherapy and the pain and bruising is subsiding. Dalton announced today that Swedish dinghy sailor Fredrik Loof will join the Amer Sports One crew to replace crewman Keith Kilpatrick who has decided to recuperate at home in California from the effects of an illness that forced his evacuation from the yacht on leg 2. Loof had an impressive record in Finn and Stars. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com * There is now no obvious vacancy for Paul Cayard, the American winner of the last race seeking a big campaign after being sidelined by Larry Ellison from his Oracle Racing America's Cup team. . - Tim Jeffery, The Telegraph, UK, http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Steve Gilbert: Yesterday in my mailbox I received a letter from US Sailing stating that my Competitor Classification was about to expire and that I should visit their on-line form to renew my application. The letter then goes on to state that there will be an Administrative fee of $25 (for members) and $75 (non-members) that must accompany my application for those requesting a Category 1 status. Does it seem strange to you that there is all this discussion going on about how to start a 'grass roots' movement for new sailors, when they have to pay this fee to have the privilege of competing as a recognized amateur?? The whole thing seems CRAZY to me. If this fee was charged to those applying for a Category 2 or 3 status, then those competitors would (I believe) have the option to deduct this 'fee' from their taxes, or, in some cases, receive a reimbursement from their employers. Don't get me wrong, this note is not about the $25, it is simply to question the reasoning around chagrin amateurs to participate in a sport and not the 'professionals'. I am sure there is a very good reason for this policy, in it's current form. Your input on this subject would be greatly appreciated. * From Andy Rose: I've got a better idea than Garry Hoyt and all the others with ideas to boost the spectator interest and TV coverage---why don't we make the crews do full contact karate or have an "ultimate fighting" match at the dock before leaving to see who gets to "start" first. Then make the boats catamarans with a couple of turbine engines, shorten the legs to about 300 yards and then eliminate any penalty for hitting another boat. That'll bring in the spectators and TV coverage! Oh, the sailing part? Who cares, all we want is the coverage! And, just think, we could all wear those keen vinyl jackets with patches all over them. * From John Riise (cruelly edited to our 250-word limit): I am interested in sailing, and I love watching it on TV. Personally, I thought coverage of the last America's Cup was spectacular. My wife, by contrast, kept flipping over to some equestian event. The bush I'm beating around here is that you aren't going to get a larger TV audience watching the America's Cup - or any other sailing event - by changing its format. As much as I've admired Gary Hoyt's original thinking in all areas of sailing over the years, I think he - and many others - are missing the point: people who aren't interested in sailing aren't going to watch it no matter what you do. Gary's ideas ('Butt 962) may work to make the America's Cup more interesting to some viewers, but I'd bet they'd be tuning in anyway. I don't think there's anything 'wrong' with sailing that has to be 'fixed' so other people will appreciate it. Short of staffing the America's Cup boats with bikini'ed supermodels, you're never going to get Joe Sixpack to choose sailing over Battle of the Monster Trucks. When I was growing up, there were three channels on TV. Now you can surf through more than 100. With baseball/football/basketball the holy trinity of American sports, what really amazes me is how any network gets anyone to watch ANYTHING else anymore. When was the last time you sat down and watched a fishing show, for example? Or a skeet shooting contest? Or a gold-panning program? CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: And on this note, I declare this thread officially dead. * From: Heather Heffernan: Terence Gallagher stated "Women are not equal in the demanding world of ocean racing." Four words - Vendee Globe, Ellen McArthur. * From Reigh North: After competed against Katie Pettibone in last year's bone crushing Worrell 1000, she certainly could never be part of a crew that is taking it easy. She knows how to go flat out, and does. * From Adrian Morgan: Three cheers for Peter Bentley who had the courage to rock the boat. Shame on Volvo for having him sacked. PR rules the waves. In 20 years of covering sailing for British newspapers and magazines, I have noticed a gradual, now rapid, reduction in informed coverage. More is really less. Anything you read on the internet is sanitized by the sponsors (with some honorable exceptions). Little wonder that the Volvo Race is attracting less interest than the old Whitbread. Quote all the website hits you like, Volvo, the event is past its sell-by date, which was probably why Whitbread sold it. As a brewer they could tell it had gone flat. * From Jim Bailey: Anyone who has the courage and the fortitude to put together a last minute team and go racing around the world deserves the benefit of the doubt. It is easy for all of us to sit back in our recliners and say the girls should do this or that. The bottom line is if we were thrown into similar circumstances would we push the throttle down or would you throttle back, preserve the boat and equipment and take time to learn the systems? It is far better to "survive" this leg so you can hopefully improve as the race progresses. Frankly, Volvo should be happy that the girls are competing regardless how they are doing. The numbers of boats racing have been steadily declining. Sure some teams are better off then others, but at least the girls are out there. . I can't think of anyone who is willing to go out in the Southern Ocean just for the fun of it. So why don't we give the girls a "good luck" and move on. * From Mike Howard: Not one to comment about people who sail, their skills, accolades, medals or lack there of. Anyone who lets the dock lines go and ventures out to sea to challenge there ability, what ever it may, has my respect. As for the crew on Amer Sports Too. Anyone who sits back on their computer and even tries to evaluate what they have or have not done should take a look in the mirror. As the saying goes, "The proof is in the pudding." I have the utmost respect for this crew and the other crews on those boats who have chosen to spend there time confronting mother nature around our planet. It is easy to judge in the warmth of your home. CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: This seems like the perfect spot to end this thread. Although the email continues to pour in, I think it's all been said . . . * From Chris Conley: I agree with Chris Spalding about encouraging junior participation within the big boats, but that's where is stops. To give a handicap based on age is as ridiculous as giving a handicap based in sex. (I'll keep my opinions on the Amer Too thread to myself.) I've raced on a 35 with as many as 4 juniors in key positions at once. Ask around, we're hard to beat. It's the other boats that need the handicap. Why not invite juniors to sail with you because they are good! They spend more time on the water than any of us, know the rules better than most of us, and often sail in fleets with 100+ boats on the line! Who wouldn't want that experience on board? The biggest problem I see with running a boat is keeping a consistent crew. Grab a 14 year old, teach him or her the ropes, make them part of the team, and you'll have a crew member with summers off and no family commitments for the next 8 years! * From Mort Weintraub: Thank you Chris Spalding. I certainly appreciate your suggestion as to additional seconds for young crew. It will help counteract the vicious plot by some of Troubador's competitors to dock us because of our very expert young crew. Because my under-drinking-age guys do the bow, run the computer, and are dab hands at steering, there is a movement afoot to hit my rating! By the way, they keep the coffee pot going on the distance races. And, they have a cold beer in the owner's hand within nanno-seconds after crossing the finish. They also turn to with a will for boat husbandry; and winter projects, like long-boarding the bottom. No, I'm not giving out their names! * From Thomas George: To Chris Spalding - Howza bout a second a mile for anyone over 40? CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Now we're getting somewhere. How much time should a skipper get for dragging along a 70-year old curmudgeon?
ACROSS THE POND
THE KEELS WERE DIFFERENT BUT THE CLOTH WAS THE SAME
PREVIEWS OF COMING ATTRACTIONS (Note: SSC merchandise will not be a profit center for either Boats.com or the curmudgeon. The proceeds from these sales will go directly to help fund US Sailing's Junior Olympics program.)
ON THE HAURAKI GULF * During the second days' sailing with Örn, it's neither Mats Johansson, himself Olympic Games sailor in Starboat, nor Magnus Holmberg who is steersman. "I want Mani Frers to steer, to feel the boat when he now is in the final phase of the design of our second boat", Mats Johansson tells us. German "Mani" Frers Jr., who was one of Prada's head designers for America's Cup 2000 when the Italian syndicate reached the final against Team New Zealand, is the designer for Victory Challenge's two boats. "By steering he may feel for himself if Örn's characteristics and performance is as he imagined and that may give him even superior ideas for the design of the next boat. And Mani is very pleased with the sailing today. We all are, the boat gives a very solid impression." - Bert Willborg/Victory Challenge, as reported by Greg, 2003AC website forum, http://www.2003ac.com
CLARK MILLS He designed the pram for the Clearwater Optimist Club more than half a century ago. The organization, unable to promote soap box derby racing because Pinellas County lacked the hills for the little homemade cars, decided to embark on a sailing program for youngsters. Familiar with soap box derby racers since childhood, Mr. Mills basically put a sail on a soap box design to race in the wind. They were about 8 feet long by 4 feet wide, with one sail. The bow and stern were square. His aim was to design a boat that was light, stable and simple -- something a child and parent could build in the garage. The catch: It had to cost less than $50. His first sketches were of skiffs with pointy noses. But every time, the cost of building one was higher than $50. Finally, he cut off the pointy bow and pared the cost to just under $50. The family suggests memorial contributions to Meals on Wheels, 13650 Stoneybrook Drive, Clearwater, FL 33762. - Craig Basse, St. Peterburg Times Full story: http://www.sptimes.com/News/121301/NorthPinellas/Designer_of_boats__in.shtml
THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM |
