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SCUTTLEBUTT 1372 - July 16, 2003Powered 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. TRANSPAC Bill Turpin's Transpac 52, Alta Vita, finished early Tuesday to claim the King Kalakaua and Governor of Hawaii trophies with the best overall corrected handicap time. It's meaningful recognition of the crew that raced its boat nearest to its rated potential, and none worked harder than Alta Vita's team of Californians and Hawaiians. "We've been preparing for this since the first of the year," Turpin said. Their campaign was a compact version of a Volvo Ocean Race or an America's Cup, including sail testing, rig tuning and all the competition they could find, from Key West in January to Ensenada, Mexico in April. Finally, in the pre-dawn darkness Tuesday morning Jay Crum, a lei around his neck and a Polynesian cocktail in his hand, recalled how an old-time competitor told him early on, "Y'know, kid, when you've done this 12 times you're going to be pretty good at it." In his 12th Transpac, Crum, the navigator, and his mates were virtually perfect. Their closest competition for ratings honors was another Transpac 52, Karl Kwok's Beau Geste, which actually finished 48 minutes ahead of them off Diamond Head at 2:14 a.m. local time, completing the 2,225 nautical miles in 8 days 16 hours 13 minutes 49 seconds. But the Hong Kong entry, with Gavin Brady and other world-class New Zealanders, owed Alta Vita about seven seconds per mile in handicap time because of its stronger configuration for Transpac's downwind emphasis---foremost, a hull design by Farr that gave it the effect of a longer waterline than Alta Vita. Measured from the scratch boats Pegasus 77 and Pyewacket, Alta Vita and Beau Geste were allowed 46.407 and 39.318 seconds per mile, respectively. That computed to corrected times of 7:12:20:29 for Alta Vita and 7:15:56:42 for Beau Geste. Besides Turpin, who lives in Los Gatos, and Crum, Santa Cruz, the crew included Pete Heck, Long Beach; Fuzz Foster and Ty Pryne, Honolulu; Ernie Richau, Huntington Beach; Jim Slaughter, San Diego, and Ian Klitza, Santa Cruz. Foster, a North Sails agent, was the team's sailmaker. "They're all pros except for me," Turpin, 42, said, "and I'm retired." - Rich Roberts Division Leaders: Div 1: Pegasus 77, Philippe Kahn, R/P 77 Div 2. Alta Vita, Bill Turpin, Transpac 52 Div 3. Reinrag 2, Tom Garnier, J/125 Div 4. Wild Thing, Chris & Kara Busch, ID35 Div 5. Wind Dancer, Paul Edwards, Catalina 42 Div 6. Illusion, Stan Honey & Sally Lindsay Honey, Cal 40 Div 7. Between the Sheets, Ross Pearlman, Sun Odyssey 52 Div 8. Barking Spider, David Kory, Catalina 38 Photo of Alta Vita's winning crew: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/ Transpac website: www.transpacificyc.org CHICAGO MAC Light winds that challenged most racers over the weekend and much of the day Monday picked up speed early Tuesday to bring the remainder of the boats participating in the 2003 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac presented by Lands' End Business Outfitters to the finish line. Overnight, winds at the finish line picked up to about 8 knots, increasing to 15 knots by morning. As of Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. CDT, all but one boat had crossed the finish line at Mackinac Island, Mich., 333 miles north of the race's starting point in Chicago. Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division 1. Retriever, Alden 51, David Verdie 2. Bacchant, 75 Square Meter, Jerome D. Sullivan 3. Wooton 2, Sabre 40, W. Harris Smith First-to-Finish Honors - Rosebud, TransPac52, Roger Sturgeon Mackinac Cup Division 1. Bantu, Block Island 40, Thomas J. Kuber 2. Cheep N Deep, C&C 39, Randall B. Kuhn 3. Nana, Ericson 39, William McCaffrey and Alan Baske First-to-Finish Honors - Cheep N Deep Multihull Division 1. Cathexis, Crowther 10.6, Irving DeRoeck 2. Gamera, F25C, Matthew Scharl 3. Nice Pair, Crowther Super Shockwave, Bruce Geffen First-to-Finish Honors - Caliente, a Criswhite44 Michael Steck Open Division 1. Lightning, Schock 40, Krzysztof Kaminski 2. Alchemy, Andrews77, Richard and Mary Compton Overall and Division First-to-Finish Honors - Alchemy http://www.chicagoyachtclub.org/racetomackinac/index.html ALWAYS THE BEST Camet International has the outstanding reputation of always being the best in design, quality and service. The Camet sailing shorts are the leaders in technology and comfort. They are made out of a breathable, fast drying Supplex (r) with a UV rating of 40+ (blocks 97.5% of UV rays) and reinforced with a Cordura (r) seat patch to insert an optional foam pad. Camet has a variety of men's and women's shorts, pants and colors. Coolmax shirts, Neoprene Hiking pants, Mylar bags etc. Ask your dealers for the Camet products or visit the Camet website at http://www.camet.com 470 EUROPEANS Brest France - As the temperature reached into the mid 90's competitors were torn between the shade and readying their boats for one last possible start. But as the early afternoon dragged on with no breeze other than the odd zepher, the spirits of overnight leaders started to rise. The final day's race was ultimately abandoned leaving the overnight results unchanged. Final Results - Men's Gold Fleet (38-boats): 1. Paul Foerster/ Kevin Burnham, USA, 19 2. Gildas Philippe/ Nicolas LeBerre, FRA, 32 3. Johan Molund/ Martin Andersson, SWE, 32 19. Steve Hunt/ Eben Russell, USA 65 Women's Gold Fleet (22-boats): 1. Natalia Via Dufresne/Sandra Azon, ESP, 36 2. Vesna Dekleva/ Klara Maucec, SLO, 36 3. Therese Torgersson/ Vendela Zachrisson, SWE, 36 14. Katherine McDowell/ Isabelle Kinsolving, USA 62 Event website: http://www.europe470.com/ ADMIRAL'S CUP With Bob Oatley's Wild Oats scoring an emphatic win in the big boat class, and Aftershock owned by Colin O'Neil taking third place in the small boat fleet, Australia have increased their points lead in the Admiral's Cup, at the end of the fifth heat. Wild Oats finished the 182 nautical mile race around the English Channel at 07:32:24 this morning, and with the tide turning against the chasing pack, it was two and a quarter hours before Spain's Bribon Telefonica Movistar crossed the line, a gap large enough for the Australian boat to win on handicap by nearly half an hour. However, the Spanish got their revenge, with a win in the small boat class for Telefonica Movistar, skippered by America's Cup sailor Pedro Campos, ahead of Britain's Chernikeeff 4, steered by double Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie, with Aftershock third. The smaller boats sailed a shorter course of 146 miles, and were closer together at the finish, with the top half of the fleet coming home before the tide turned. The Spanish team, which is led by King Juan Carlos, are now five points behind the Australians, with England's Sailability Royal Ocean Racing Club team in third place, a further five points back. Wednesday, the fleet returns to competition within the Solent, with a long inshore race, expected to take between 10 and 12 hours, followed by two short inshore races on Thursday. The final race of the event, the Wolf Rock race, a long offshore race, of about 48 hours, starts on Saturday. - ISAF website, full story: http://www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=4929 Event Website: www.rorc.org ALINGHI After leaving Auckland at the end of March, the three Alinghi America's Cup Class yachts were stored in a shed in Cherbourg. What is their program for the next couple of months? While the team members went about their plans for vacations, or participated in regattas on the International Match Racing circuit, the three America's Cup Class boats (SUI 59, SUI 64 and SUI 75) of Alinghi sat neatly wrapped up in Cherbourg, their storage place for the months to come. The easy to access port of Manche facilitated the comings and goings of the boats. Starting with SUI 64, which left the port at the beginning of July in order to make the journey to San Francisco to participate in the regattas that have been organised by Oracle BMW Racing from the 14th to the 20th of September. But the boat will not go it alone. All of her equipment must follow, and this represents the modest volume of 160 square meters - that is, four 40 foot containers, some of which are cooled between 10 and 14 degrees centigrade. Is it chocolate? Cheese? No, none of these things! Refrigeration ensures that the right temperature level that was best adapted to preserve the glue that has been used on the sails since their inception is constantly maintained. This also ensures the longevity of the sails. Two large zodiacs will also take part in the voyage. After about 30 days at sea, the boats and the materials will be welcomed on the west coast of the United States by the members of the Shore Team as well as the sailors - about a dozen people who, in just two weeks, will put the boat back in the water in configuration for racing. In effect, the hulls will travel nude. Once everything arrives, the team members will have to install the deck fittings, step the mast, re-fit the rigging, and bolt on the keel. They will adjust the shrouds, lube the winches, check the sails and calibrate the electronics. And, as you can imagine, there is a plethora of small details to go over in order to ensure that the boat becomes, once again, the rocket it was on the Hauraki Gulf. Next, SUI 64 will participate in the Newport, Rhode Island regattas in May 2004. It is therefore a strong possibility that the boat will remain in the United States during the interim. - Alinghi website, full story: http://www.alinghi.com/en/news/index.php?dest=167 NEWS BRIEFS * The Optimist North American Championship opened Monday in Valle de Bravo, Mexico with 121 sailors from 13 countries. Two races were completed on Day 1. The lead at this early stage is held by two 12-year olds, Sean Bouchard (Bermuda) and Baepi Lacativa (Brasil). Marc Salvisberg, the lone entrant from Venezuela, is in third place. Reigning champion Jesse Kirkland (BER) who was fourth in last year's Worlds, is comfortably placed in fifth. The top North Americas are John McGlynn, (7) Mike Reynolds, (9) Anne Haeger, (11) & Graham Todd, (12). - Robert Wilkes, http://www.optinam2003.com/iresults.html * A team comprised of Cleveland and Newport corporate executives won Shake-A-Leg's 12th annual Wall Street and Corporate Challenge Cup (WSCCC), held July 11-12 in Newport, R.I. and presented by Hyatt Regency Newport. Parker Hannifin Corporation of Ohio and Vectrix, Inc. of Rhode Island joined forces for two day's worth of competition aboard the historic America's Cup 12-Meter yachts American Eagle, Columbia, Intrepid and Courageous. Proceeds from the event - each of four teams raised $30,000 for the opportunity to participate - support Shake-A-Leg-Newport's various programs for people with spinal cord injuries and nervous system dysfunctions. - www.shakealeg.org * Scuttlebutt Sailing Club's new Bulletin Board is filling up with classified ad listings for boats, equipment, and jobs. Boats include a Farr 40, Hobie 33, J/33, Corsair 31, Folkboat, etc. Are you selling an older J/24? There's a posting from a group in the BVI looking to buy your boat. An assortment of "stuff for sale" is listed too. And if you have always wanted to be a sailmaker, there are plenty of jobs listings at various North Sails lofts. Check it all out at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/classifieds.html * Club 420 US National Championship, Youngstown YC, Final results (65-boats): 1. Martin Sterling & Sean Doyle, 9; 2. Charlie Modica & Patrick Bordner, 10; 3. W. Andrew III Loe & Mallory Fontuot, 16; 4. TJ Tullo & Randy Hartranft, 17; 5. Mike Wilde & Meg Callahan, 36. - http://www.yyc.org/c420/index.html * Sails-online.com launched this month with a mail order system to buy new sails over the Internet. Based in Australasia, their 10,000 sq ft facility is focused on the cruising market and guarantees delivery worldwide within 14 days. Founded by Roger Hall with 17 years of experience in the sail making business, including designing and building sails for all yachts from dinghies to super yachts, racing and cruising, and three Americas Cups. - www.sail-online.com GET REAL VALUE AND TRUE CHOICES No one has more selection, better service and product knowledge than Team One Newport. If you are looking for foul weather gear, layering pieces or active wear from Musto, Henri-Lloyd, Gill, Patagonia, Columbia, Woolrich, Camet, Horny Toad, Kavu, Kaenon or other cool vendors, then you should be calling Team One Newport. They are known as the "Nordstrom's" and "Sharper Image" of the sailing community. The specialist at Team One will get you in the correct gear the first time! They also make the coolest crew uniforms! Call them at 800-VIP-GEAR or go on line at http://www.team1newport.com EXPRESSLY FOR FUN With participation in weekend regattas declining around Long Island Sound, a new event is gaining in popularity. Nineteen boats sailing in two divisions had a great weekend of sailing and socializing in the second annual Expressly For Fun regatta. The purpose of Expressly For Fun is to focus on the social and family aspects of sailing. The Huguenot Yacht Club race organizers believe the 37% growth over last year's fleet is because they have tapped into the huge pool of cruising sailors who usually don't race. To keep the racing easy for families with young kids and shorthanded crews, the courses were from harbor to harbor minimize sail-handling tasks. A pursuit start kept the starting line uncrowded for less experienced racers sailing production cruisers like O'Days, Cape Dorys, Catalinas, Tartans, Pearsons and C&Cs. More than half the fleet was made up of husband and wife or family crews and all the boats were sailed shorthanded since one of the rules of the event was that the whole crew had to sleep on their boat. The intent of this rule is to keep the shorthanded crews competitive. Besides, we think that a lot of racers have forgotten how nice it is to sleep aboard. The regatta initially got the name "Expressly For Fun" when Express 37 sailors Adam Loory and Mort Weintraub came up with the idea for an event to draw on a new pool of sailors. More than half of this year's fleet never race in any other YRA event. The event is so popular at HYC that seven powerboats joined the regatta to be part of the party. - Adam Loory, adam@uksailmakers.com DUCT TAPE 2002 CBYRA Mobjack Class Champion Meg Roberts, 16, and Tyler Mickley,17, both of West Point High, won the national DuckTape@ contest for creative uses of duct tape. Meg and Tyler fashioned their prom outfits out of duct tape. Their sticktoitiviness won each of them a $2,500 college scholarship, and a planned spot on the "Today" TV show. It's worth taking a look at the incredible outfits the contestants came up with. I'll never think of duct tape the same again: http://www.ducttapeclub.com/prom/default.asp?state=&page=7 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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From: Tom Keogh: Please don't give Mike Zuilhof the last word on the important subject of product liability. Sailing encompasses a lot, but central to all of it are the ideas of personal responsibility, safety and informed management of risk. His argument ignores market economics and espouses a Marxist view of redistribution. It is just plain wrong. The cost of risk provides for the possibility that a product will fail to function as intended. If it becomes necessary to insure against the possibility that products will work as intended, why would anyone make anything? Build a better mousetrap and the trial lawyers will beat a path to your door. If liability is not tied to guilt, and Deep Pockets are a valid criteria for extortion, then watch out. We'll all be at the mercy of people who can't tell the difference between a tort and a torte. If you want to take stupid risks with products that you don't know how to use, buy your own insurance - Don't ask manufacturers and consumers to underwrite your recklessness. Curmudgeon's Comment: I think we have now provided the proper balance to say without reservation that this thread is now truly dead. * From J. Dirk Schwenk: As far as measurement and one design goes -- it would be interesting to measure a whole fleet of one designs, say the J24s at Nationals next week, and see if there is any correlation between predicted advantage and finish position. I'm not sure if you would learn more about the rule, the boats, or the quality of the crews, but I'm pretty sure you would learn something. * From Brian Raney: John Sweeney wrote "If you want to sharpen your skills as a skipper, buy a Farr 40." I would suggest you really want to buy a Laser to sharpen your skippering skills. Or a whole fleet of them for you and your friends (if you can afford a Farr 40, that is). CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Old is when your sweetie says, "Let's go upstairs and make love," and you answer, "Pick one, I can't do both!" |
