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SCUTTLEBUTT 1494 - January 12, 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 and personal attacks for elsewhere. THE LITTLE AMERICA'S CUP Paul Larsen, who was at the London Boat Show at Excel today, was bubbling with enthusiasm about his C Class catamaran one of two British boats that are currently in-build for the (Little America's) Cup in September in Newport Rhode Island. Larsen is working closely with a team of aerospace engineers known as Invictus from Filton in Bristol who are using their aircraft wing designing skills, and materials and facilities provided by their employer, Airbus to build the boats. Norman Eijker and Mark Bishop are heading the design and build team, while John Downey, who was the last British challenger for the Cup in 1987 sailing Hinge, is heading the two-boat sailing team. The wing spar, not surprisingly looks just like the wing of a plane and is every bit as intricate. Built of carbonfibre and birch, there are over 70 pulleys inside to control the flap mechanism and twist of the rig. Needless to say, capsizing is not really an option! Larsen is hoping the two cats will be completed by the end of March, which gives him and his crewmate Helena Darvelid plenty of work-up time before the September showdown. Although there won't be a vast fleet on the start line for the Challenge, Larsen hopes to see at least four boats there including possible entries of some of the older boats. - Excerpts from a story by Sue Pelling of Yachting World. Full story: http://ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20040010114004ywnews.html 18 FOOT SKIFF CHAMPIONSHIP The UK 18ft Skiff RMW Marine team became the new world champions when they won the J.J. Giltinan International Championship on Sydney Harbour. The RMW team of Rob Greenhalgh, Dan Johnson and Peter Greenhalgh simply dominated the 22-boat regatta with four wins and two seconds for a final total of eight points - winning the championship with a day to spare. Australia's Yandoo (John Winning) finished in second place on 24 points followed by another Australian team Asko Appliances, skippered by Hugh Stodart, on 30 points. Defending champion, Howard Hamlin's West Marine Team from the US, finished the series in ninth place with 43 points. http://18footers.com.au/ TRIVIA QUESTION John Kostecki's victory list includes winning ten world championship events. What event was his first? (Answer below) WEAPONS FOR THE MIDWINTER AND KEY WEST SAILING WARS! Padded Sailing Shorts/Long Pants with optional rear seat pads (optional knee pads for Longs), Kontrol Gloves with aggressive-gripped palm-wrap, Waterproof Gloves and Socks, High Collared SunBlocker Sailing Shirts, Floatable Waterproof Gear Bags, and Knee Sleeves are only some of the weapons Sailing Angles has to help you win this winter/spring's wind wars! New quick-dry Shoreline Shorts are ideal, inexpensive team gear. Embroidery available. Team discounts available with a minimum of 3. Visit us during the Terra Nova Trading Key West regatta: 700 Front Street. Order by phone at 800-666-3616 or 305-661-7200 or go online at http://www.sailingangles.com VOLVO OCEAN RACE Record breaking British round-the-world yachtswoman, Emma Richards, today announced plans for her next major sailing challenge, the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06. Richards, 29, is teaming up with America's Cup star Mike Sanderson, and at the launch of their campaign in London, they announced an unexpected addition to their team in golfing legend, Colin Montgomerie. Montgomerie, star of Europe's victorious 2002 Ryder Cup team, is a keen follower of sailing and will join Richards and Sanderson's crew for one of the legs of the 30,000 nautical mile race. The 40-year old Scot, who headed the PGA European Tour's Volvo Order of Merit for seven years in a row, will also be lending his support to the team's search for sponsorship. Pindar, the international print and electronic media company, will provide initial financial backing for Richards and Sanderson to develop their team and to allow them to begin negotiations with potential companies interested in becoming the title sponsor of the campaign. The sponsorship is available for £12 million over a three year period. Richards' co-skipper and joint project leader is Mike Sanderson. Sanderson, 32, from New Zealand, will be the driving force behind the development and building of the boat for the campaign. The Volvo Ocean Race starts on November 5, 2005 from Vigo, Galicia on the northwest coast of Spain. - Lizzie Green, www.volvooceanrace.org 420 WORLDS Melbourne, Australia - Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page (AUS) today clearly won the 420 World Championship 2004 hosted by Mornington Yacht Club as part of the Sail Melbourne Regatta. Their win was not unexpected; the Sydney pair are ranked No. 1 in the World in the 470 class and will arrive in Sandringham tonight to prepare for the final Australian team selection series to represent at the Olympic Games in Athens. Final results 64-boats (10 races with 2 discards): 1. Nathan Wilmot /Malcolm Page (AUS) 17 2. Mathew Belcher/ Rike Ziegelmayer (AUS) 39 3. Nathan Outteridge/ Ayden Menzies (AUS) 42 4. Thomas Rahier/ Matthieu Rahier (FRA) 45 5. Mikee Anderson-Mitterling /Graham Biehl (USA) 46 http://www.sailmelbourne.com.au/default.php QUOTE/UNQUOTE - ELLEN MACARTHUR "I am not just motivated by racing. I have always been someone to say when I start a race I'm not there just because I want to win. I'm there because I love it. That is really important to me. When I'm out there I give it my best and you know you're always going learn. So the motivation is not going out there to win. The motivation is going out there because I love being out there and if you love being out there then you can give more." - The Daily Sail, http://www.thedailysail.com/ WEST MARINE RIGGING AT KEY WEST (1/12) Let WMR take care of all your rigging needs before and during race week. Located at the West Marine Store, 725 Caroline Street. Services and products include: Splicing, Wire Swaging, Shackles and Cordage by NER, Samson and Yale. Contact numbers: 888-447-7444 or 803-979-1298. Stop by and visit our truck. CODE RED After consulting with his meteorological team, Steve Fossett advised his crew Sunday morning that there would be no Round the World departure this week. "The weather for a potential start about 15 January has failed," Fossett said. "This is disappointing because that start date looked good on all the long term forecasts for the past week. But now a low is forming southwest of Ireland. This will push the center of the High Pressure into the coast of Portugal, resulting in virtually no wind. "We had completed all preparations - even to the point of loading the food onto the boat. Now we will unpack and resume training, with a combination of day-sailing and physical conditioning on shore. The next departure date being considered is 26 January. However, on such a long range forecast, we will be prepared for the possibility for a favorable weather change in the week preceding 26 January." - http://www.fossettchallenge.com/ NEWS BRIEFS Final results of the Levin Memorial Regatta for Star boats at the Coral Reef YC - three races, 52 boats: 1. Howie Shiebler & Will Stout, 5; 2. Iain Percy & Steve Mitchell, 6; 3. Fredrik Loof & Anders Ekstrom, 15; 4. Mark Mansfield & Killian Collins, 18; 5. Peter Bromby & Lee White, 20. Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/2c2h7 * Ockam Instruments Inc. has just appointed Ockam Instruments (Europe) as the Authorized Distributor for its products in the European market. Campbell Field, will lead the distribution from its head office in Lymington, Hampshire, England. http://www.ockameurope.com * Lewmar has become the Official Deck Equipment Supplier of the 2004 Timberland Euro Prix yacht race. Lewmar's commitment to the event will include shore-based servicing and technical support. The Timberland Euro Prix will be raced in One Design Euro Prix 45s. It starts in Italy on 1st May 2004 and finishes in Oslo on 21st June. The stopovers include Sitges (Spain), Cascais (Portugal), La Rochelle (France), Portsmouth (UK), Rostock Warnemunde (Germany) and Oslo. TRIVIA ANSWER John Kostecki's first world championship victory was in 1982, when at the age of 17 years old, the Sunfish Worlds came to his hometown of San Francisco and John took advantage of the occasion to jump into the class and win the event. 2004 REGATTA CATALOGS ARE IN! PLAN NOW FOR GIVEAWAYS! The new Pirate's Lair printed clothing catalogs are here for the taking. If you plan regattas, organize junior teams or need gear for your boat…give us a call. As usual, the first fifty requests we receive get some kind of complimentary widget with shipment. Usually a past regatta t-shirt. Call (888) 724-5286 or log on to http://www.pirateslair.com/sailing 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 Terry McLaughlin (edited to our 250-word limit): I have sailed against and been a friend of Augie Diaz since the mid-1970s. He was, and continues to be, one of the truly great sailors and sportsman the U.S. has ever produced. My Flying Dutchman and Star crew Evert Bastet and I regularly stayed with Augie and his family on our many trips south while we worked towards the 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics. I don't know if Augie still does it, but I will always fondly remember how Augie used to sail his Flying Dutchman with a picture of his daughter, whom he called Sunshine, taped in the cockpit. He often named his boats after his children. Augie's children are somewhat older than my own and while Evert and I were still competing to make it to the Games, I was astounded to see Augie basically drop out of sailing for several years in order to spend more time with his growing family, This included countless hours coaching baseball and soccer. At the time I didn't understand how he could do it. Years later I had a good chuckle when I found myself doing very little sailing and spending many hours coaching my sons in hockey and soccer. Along with others like Carl Buchan, Augie was one of my favourite sailors to compete against. You always knew you would have to have a very good day to beat him. Like so many of us, I think Augie got the passion for sailing from his "Old Man". * From Hannah Swett deserves another (and in my opinion greater) recognition than Yachtswoman of the Year. In life, personal achievement is only the tip of the iceberg. It is how you leverage your abilities by inspiring other people that creates the most lasting benefit to our society. Among the many people I have known, Hannah is a great standout in the unselfish way she contributes and helps. We are just a small sailing club but in the two years before Hannah's current Olympic campaign, when she was racing at our club, it was a magical time, created by her presence and how she inspired the other sailors around her. Yachtswoman of the Year is the crowning achievement for any sailing career. But I hope that Hannah will someday win something else, the W. Van Alan Clark National Sportsmanship Award. * From Philip Gage: In their November deliberations the ISAF council voted to change the advertising regulations and outlaw the practice of charging extra entry fees for category C. While this may have some merit for the dinghy classes it will make significant impact on major keelboat events. A quick poll of some of the larger events in the Solent indicates that the Category A entry fee will need to be raised around 10% above inflation next year to compensate. Key West race week will also be affected if their $500 category C fee is outlawed. In effect the big megabuck sponsored professional entry will gain, while the Corinthian covering his sailing out of tax paid income loses. Unless ISAF have another of their second thoughts that is. * From Bob Zwissler: I took Jan Vissar's advice and read the USCG report for 2002. It is fascinating reading. However I came away with a different conclusion. If you read the report carefully you will find out that 84% of the fatalities involved open motorboats, PWCs, and cabin motorboats. You also discover that 60% of the child fatalities involved children who WERE wearing PFDs, 80% of all fatalities involved operators that had no training, and 40% involved alcohol. One could argue, that based on the statistics, that in order to greatly reduce fatalities in boating that operators of open motorboats, PWCs, and cabin motorboats should not be allowed on the water without training. No amount of PFD legislation is going to stop untrained operators of motorized craft from having accidents. It is also suspicious to me that the forum on PFD legislation mentioned several issues ago was being co-sponsored by the PFD marketing organization. By the way, I do wear a lifejacket most of the time when out on the water. I just don't see how legislating use is going stop the root cause of the accidents that kill people. * From Blake Middleton: I live and work on the single busiest boating lake in the state known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". The Sheriff's Water Patrol has to deal with boating fatalities every single year on this lake, and some years, sadly, many of them. I have been told by a deputy that to his knowledge, they have never pulled a body out of the lake wearing a PFD. That statistic should be sobering even for those who would rather die than give up their right to choose whether (or when) to wear a PFD. * From Paul Henderson, ISAF President (re USCG and PFDs): After many years of trying, ISAF is now recognized by the International Maritme Organization which is the European based policing body for ships that go to sea. The IMO tried to implement many policies which would impact recreational sailing. ISAF demanded representation so as to have input on and influence the draconian legislation which was about to be enacted against pleasure craft. Judge Michael Devonshire has represented ISAF at all IMO meetings with great success. He gives freely of his time but ISAF does fund all expenses, membership fees and all legal work which is another service ISAF provides to recreational sailors. ISAF can do nothing about the USCG as that is a national problem and USSA's jurisdiction. I trust that sailors especially those who are respected and revered professionals will realize that it is an onerous task endeavoring to keep our sport for the sailors and that hopefully they will try and understand all that ISAF endeavors to do and will continue to do for their good. * From Dulaney Nickerson Collins (edited to our 250-word limit): As the Mount Gay girl in the US and British Virgin Islands from 1997-2000, I can assure you that while I received some terrific offers, bribes and damn good proposals no Mount Gay hats were ever sold. One of the best offers to me for a Mount Gay hat was from a man who promised to make mad passionate love to me, "it'll be the best sex you will ever have". He made the offer while on his cell phone, holding for his wife. He didn't get the hat, I'm still waiting for the best sex ever and I am not sure he's still married. The pure joy I witnessed from so many international sailing faces as I distributed Mount Gay hats at various regattas was pure pleasure. Truly, it really is better to give than to receive! Indeed the hats have built the brand and the brand has certainly supported sailing and sailors worldwide, may the commitment continue as your hat collection continues. After all, what's a day of sailing without a sunset drink of Mount Gay with crew? Life doesn't get any better than that! * From Emmon Thomas: For people who go afloat, isn't melanoma a much greater threat than drowning? How about a law requiring all boaters to wear a hat and sunscreen? Maybe require shirts to be worn at all times, too? * From Graeme Hayward: There has been recent correspondence in Scuttlebutt about which authority applies to racing boats - the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) or the International Rules for Preventing Collisions at Sea (IRPCAS or COLREGS). Leo Reise wrote a short letter in Scuttlebutt 1493 referring to the ruling of Charles Jordain vs. Endeavour case which is the seminal case defining that, in an officially organized race, the laws that apply between the racing boats are the RRS - not the IRPCAS (COLREGS). I believe that the text of this finding by the US Court of Appeal is of such importance that your readers would benefit greatly from reading the review that the late Mary Pera made and that was circulated by IYRU to all International Judges in August 1995. Curmudgeon's Comment: We agree and have posted it on our website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/04/0111pera/ * From Cory E. Friedman: The assertion that an allegedly decreased number of protests proves that the 01-04 RRS are working is boggling. At every clinic I attend, the message, usually delivered by noteworthy coaches, is "stay out of the room at all cost," because, thanks to, among other things, Rule 14(b) and the fact that contact almost presumptively results in a scratch (damage), the odds are at least 50/50 that the innocent boat will be the one disqualified. Experience indicates that even those odds may be optimistic, even without factoring in the often openly acknowledged willingness of many to lie in the room when necessary to win. I recently heard a very august judge heatedly argue that a right-of-way boat should be disqualified for unforeseeable contact that resulted in de minimus damage, which only could have been prevented by instantly levitating the right-of-way boat . Drawing the conclusion that the 01-04 RRS are working from decreased protests is akin to concluding that the former Soviet Union's legal code worked well because no one ever voluntarily went to court. A more reasonable inference is that the pre-97 RRS resulted in more protests because boats that were in the right had justifiable faith that they would prevail in the room -- a faith that now seems quaint. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION There's a difference between participation and commitment. At breakfast, for example, the chicken participates, but the pig commits. |
