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SCUTTLEBUTT 1599 - June 8, 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. WHY MARSEILLE? Why was Marseille, France selected for "Act 1" of the rundown to the 2007 America's Cup? According to Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of AC Management, it's because of the large number of vantage points that the city provides right over the Rade Sud race course area. "Our concept for the America's Cup means bringing this important spectacle close to the shore. We want the population of Marseille, and the teams to be as close together as possible." In addition, Marseille's collective marina capacity is home to over 5000 boats. Many of these are expected to go and view the racing from the water. The Marseille Louis Vuitton Act is also the beginning of four years of America's Cup television. For Act 1 the event will provide broadcasters with daily 26-minute specials. This programming will be distributed beginning halfway through the week (Wednesday 8th September), through to the end of the event, including a summary programme available on the 12th September. Daily news highlights and extended news highlights will be made available to all broadcasters from the start of the event. Five teams have been confirmed as entrants for Act 1: Team Alinghi, the Defender of the America's Cup; BMW Oracle Racing Team, the Challenger of Record; France's Le Defi and K-Challenge; and the South African America's Cup Challenge, Team Shosholoza. - www.americascup.com SERIOUS CARNAGE Life-threatening breakages in the north Atlantic hit the Transat IMOCA Open 60 monohull fleet: - Vincent Riou's Open 60 PRB was dismasted early Monday morning while experiencing NW 25 knot winds and rough seas. Vincent Riou, who was in 3rd place at the time of the incident, was inside the boat at the time. Riou says that he was below when he felt the rudder collide with a submerged object. The rudder kicked up as it was designed to but with no steerage, the boat bore away, gybed and was laid flat. This occurred so violently that the mast was broken. As he attempted to cut away the rig the boom was violently hammering on the deck and Riou was obliged to let this go over the side too. He is thus left with no spars with which to erect a jury rig. Riou is now discussing with his shore team the best course of action to get the boat to land. This may involved sending a boat from the St Pierre et Miquelon islands to recover skipper and vessel. - A few hours later, while leading the Open 60 class, Bernard Stamm's Cheminees Poujoulat-Armor lost its keel and the boat capsized - but his mast was intact. At this stage the sails were keeping the boat on its side and it was temporarily stable. Bernard Stamm has suffered no physical injury and was safe inside the boat in his survival suit. Following the EPIRB transmission the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Halifax scrambled a Canadian Air Force Hercules from Greenwood, Nova Scotia to locate Stamm's upturned Open 60 visually. The Hercules made visual contact with the boat at 1230 GMT and spoke to Stamm via aviation radio frequency confirming he was safely inside. The MRCC also diverted the vessel, Emma, to the scene as well as the Jean Charcot, a European Fisheries protection vessel. The small tanker Emma reached Stamm's stricken boat at 1430 GMT and Bernard Stamm boarded Emma's lifeboat at approximately 1545 GMT for transfer to the ship. Sebastien Josse's Open 60 VMI, the only Open 60 in The Transat on Stamm's northerly latitude, was initially asked to divert but was later relieved of this duty by the MRCC. Standings @ 0300 June 8: ORMA 60 Multis: 1. Geant, Michel Desjoyeaux, 230 miles to finish; 2 Sodebo, Thomas Coville, 67 mi. distance to leader. 3. Groupama, Franck Cammas, 116 dtl IMOCA Open 60 Monohulls: 1. Pindar Alphagraphics, Mike Sanderson, 1013mtf; 2. ECOVER, Mike Golding, 7 dtl. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, 50 dtl Open 50 Multihulls: 1. Trilogic, Eric Bruneel, 1260 mtf; 2. Gifi, Dominique Demachy, 104 dtl Open 50 Monohulls: 1. Wells Fargo - American Pioneer, Joe Harris, 1316 mtf; 2. Artforms, Kip Stone, 10 dtl Event website: http://www.thetransat.com/ COME JOIN THE FUN The largest 35-foot one design class in North America with over 600 boats sold and one design fleets with 20+ boats in 8 different cities from San Francisco to New England to the Chesapeake to Lake Michigan. The J/105 is continuing to grow - check out how you can join the fun with one of the prettiest boats available on the used market: http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/pl_boat_detail.jsp?currency=USD&units=Feet&checked_boats=1201617&slim=quick& MAJOR SNAFU The opening races of the Velamare Cup series for 18 foot Skiffs have had to be postponed 24 hours from Sunday afternoon until Monday, due to an administrative problem. Twelve of the competing boats arrived as scheduled on Saturday morning in three massive trucks from Cascais in Portugal, where the first round of the European Grand Prix series took place a couple of weeks ago, but could not be unloaded until the paperwork was completely in order. The dismayed crews had to watch in horror as the trucks turned round and left without any information as to when they might return. However, the wait turned out to be shorter than was originally feared, and the problem was resolved by the middle of Sunday afternoon, allowing the fleet to reach its total of 24 boats from 10 nations. Competition for the Velamare Cup will be intense, with three former winners of the JJ Giltinnan World Trophy taking part. Australian Trevor Barnabas, who has won the Giltinan on no less than five occasions, will be competing in an 18 footer for the penultimate time, as he has vowed to make his final appearance in San Francisco later this year. Another strong Australian team which has enjoyed success at world level is skippered by John Winning, who showed the way round the course in the practice race which replaced Sunday's scheduled races. Californian Howard Hamlin, who has lifted the Giltinan Trophy twice in the past three years, will be competing on this occasion with a crew consisting of top sailors from Australia and Great Britain. The current holder of the Giltinan, Rob Greenhalgh, is not here because his boat had failed to reach Great Britain from Australia in time to be loaded in the container, but there are rumours that RMW Marine might yet arrive here by road and ferry even at this late stage. COLLEGIATE SAILING ICSA College Sailor of the Year: Cardwell Potts (Harvard 04) All-American Coed Skippers: - Mikee Anderson, Coronado, CA - Sophomore, USC - Chris Ashley, Point Pleasant, NJ - Senior, Brown - Andrew Campbell, San Diego, CA - Sophomore, Georgetown - Tyler Haskell, Newport Beach, CA - Senior, Georgetown - Scott Hogan, Newport Beach, CA - Senior, Dartmouth - Bryan Lake, San Diego, CA - Sophomore, Hawaii - Ed Norton, Fair Haven, CT - Senior, Hobart/WmSmith - John Pearce, Ithaca, NY - Senior, Hobart/WmSmith - Danny Pletsch, Sarasota, FL - Senior, St. Mary's College - Vincent Porter, Fontana, WI - Sophomore, Harvard - Cardwell Potts, New Orleans, LA - Senior, Harvard - Jay Rhame, Highlands, NJ - Senior, St. Mary's - David Siegal, Dartmouth, MA - Sophomore, Tufts - David Wright, Toronto, Canada - Senior, Kings Point Quantum Collegiate Woman Sailor of the Year: Genny Tulloch - Harvard, sophomore ICSA/Ronstan All American Women's Team: - Molly Carapiet - Yale, sophomore - AJ Crane - Tufts, senior - Sloan Devlin - Harvard, sophomore - Lauren Padilla - Dartmouth, junior - Genny Tulloch - Harvard, sophomore - Anna Tunnicliffe - Old Dominion, junior http://www.collegesailing.org/nwicsa/na/awards.htm WOMEN'S MATCH RACING WORLDS Annapolis, Maryland, USA - Team Sally Barkow (USA) is the current leader in the ISAF Women's Match Racing Worlds after two day's of frustratingly light conditions. Match 32, the first of the second day's racing in the J22 class, started at 10.06am local time in Annapolis. With the breeze around 4.5 knots, competitors were hoping it would build and stay consistent to avoid a repeat of the previous day's fickle conditions. After six matches were completed, the race committee postponed racing to enable them to shift the course in response to a wind shift to 165 degrees. Having done so, racing continued as the sun made an appearance and the breeze lifted slightly as it swung to the south. By 11.59am, 12 matches had been completed, but the breeze softened and shifted forcing officials to fly yet another AP flag whilst waiting for better air. Racing resumed a short time later, with the afternoon sea breeze filling in from the south, allowing for matches to be sailed in breezes that tended to soften as the afternoon wore on. With 54 matches complete for the day, officials called of racing at 6.13pm, not wanting competitors on the course in the diminishing light. Standings:.-Di Pearson, Sail-World, full story: http://www.sail-world.com/ Standings after 85 matches: - Sally Barkow (ISAF ranked #27), USA, 9 wins-2 losses - Lotte Meldegaard Pedersen (#4), Denmark, 9 wins-3 losses - Sabrina Gurioli (#10), Italy, 7 wins-3 losses - Deb Willits (#20), USA, 6 wins-5 losses - Carol Cronin (#18), USA, 6 wins-4 losses - Claire Leroy (#7), France, 6 wins-4 losses - Jenny Axhede (#12), Sweden, 6 wins-4 losses - Liz Baylis (#5), USA, 6 wins-4 losses - Paula Lewin (#9), Bermuda, 6 wins-5 losses - Katie Spithill (#16), Australia, 5 wins-6 losses - Betsy Alison (#8), USA, 5 wins-5 losses - Christelle Philippe (#15), France, 5 wins-6 losses - Elizabeth Kratzig (#23), USA, 4 wins-7 losses - Linda Rahm (#19), Sweden, 3 wins-7 losses - Nina Braestrup (#3), Denmark, 2 wins-9 losses - Marie Faure (#6), France, 0 wins-11 losses Event website: www.santamariacup.org NO MATTER WHAT TACK YOU ARE ON, YOU ALWAYS LOOK GOOD. 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 with a UV rating of 40+ (blocks 97.5% of UV rays) and reinforced with a Cordura 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 NEWS BRIEFS * Casey Hogan sailing with Lauren Maxam, Whitney Loufek, and Cryssa Byers swept the 2004 Women's Match Race Invitational at the Newport Harbor YC with only two losses in the entire series of races against eight teams from across the country. The final day's 10-14 knot conditions were the strongest of the four-day event which was beset by notorious light air, a large south swell and big wind shifts. Final standings: 1. Casey Hogan, Newport Harbor YC, 2. Charlie Arms, Southwestern YC; 3. Sandy Hayes, Sail Newport, 4. Katie Pettibone, Bayview YC. - www.nhyc.org * The 2004 Leadership in Women's Sailing Award was presented to Doris Colgate, President and CEO of Offshore Sailing School. Sponsored by BoatU.S. and the National Women's Sailing Association (NWSA). The award was created in 1999 to honor an individual who has earned a record of achievement in inspiring, educating and enriching the lives of women though sailing. In 1990 Colgate founded the National Women's Sailing Association (NWSA) and has been on the BoatU.S. National Advisory Council since 1997. She has been a member of the board of directors of Sail America, the sailing industry association, since 2000. * Russell Coutts will be a presenter when the Herreshoff Marine Museum honors its Class of 2004 at the Rolex America's Cup Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Coutts will lend his personal insight to the induction of Brad Butterworth into the Hall of Fame. Presenting Thomas A. Whidden will be Malin Burnham, Halsey Herreshoff and Gary Jobson. John Rousmaniere will present Henry C. Haff, who is being honored posthumously, and William Fife III, also inducted posthumously, will be presented by Peter Harrison. - www.herreshoff.org * The skipper-owner of a nudist charter yacht has been fined 4,500 (pounds sterling) plus costs for running his boat without the correct certification. Francois Haussauer, 52, had been chartering his home built 45ft yacht Scintilla in the South of France for the niche naturist market. He promoted the charter via the Internet, but at Horse Ferry Road Magistrates he was found guilty of not having a certificate of competence, and not having a load line certificate. The court heard he tried to pass off customers as 'friends'. - Dick Durham, Yachting Monthly, www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20040507133419ymnews.html * Images - Any race that attracts Senator Edward Kennedy has to be a party. And everyone loves a party, so we posted some of images of the senator sailing his Concordia 50 Mya in the recent Figawi Race from Hyannis, MA to Nantucket Island: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/kennedy/ BLOKART ANYWHERE ANYTIME ANYAGE, ON LAND, SAND OR ICE Now over 4,000 land or ice Blokarts. Great fun and excitement for the family. All from one small bag. In 30 minutes you can setup, have fun sailing around at 50 mph, unrig and be driving away. Blokart anywhere, anytime, anyage. Available through dealers, West Marine or direct. 1-877-blokart, http://www.blokartusa.com 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 Chad Demarest: The collegiate All-America team was just announced and I wanted to take a second to recognize a few people. First, Harvard's Bern Noack and Mike O'Connor have coached the last three college sailors of the year--a pretty impressive achievement. In fact, Bern has coached four of the last eight, going back to Olympic 49r skipper Tim Wadlow in 1997. Second, I'm sure there was plenty of debate about the non-selection of TAMUG sailor Bill Self. Bill was the only college sailor to skipper in each of the collegiate Nationals for which he is eligible (Singlehanded-5th, Sloops-6th, Team Racing-12th, and Dinghy's-9th in A) and one of only two to skipper in Dinghy's, Sloops and Singles. In his forays to the east coast for intersectionals, he finished in the top 10 in A division every time, beating several All-Americans including the CSOY and one of the SOY finalists (twice). I don't know Bill, I've never seen him sail, and I don't want to start another bashing thread a la Bruce Mahony three years ago, but considering that he (like Bruce) is from the powerhouse SEISA district, I think his performance has at least earned a mention here in Scuttlebutt. * From Diane Swintal: With my J105 not competing in this weekend's Cal Race Week, I jumped on the committee boat to get a look at my competitors from a new perspective. We all complain about the race committee why do we have so many general recalls, what are these flag sequences that don't follow the Racing Rules. But when the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak, it becomes a different story. For both general recalls yesterday, there's no way anyone could have picked out sail numbers from the cluster that was over early at the pin. Just like every auto racing team owner should spend a session in race control, one person from every competitive boat should spend a day with the race committee. It's all in the perspective... * From Vincent Casalaina: I joined the SAC earlier this year at the urging of my One Design class. I am not sure what the plan for the SAC was, but so far I have received no questions, feedback or other communication from US Sailing regarding my participation in the SAC. I hope this is going to change, but so far its really unclear what input they see the SAC giving to the body. It almost seems like there was a mandate to show participation from the athletes but not a plan on how to use that resource. * From Bruce Campbell: While the hype for the Sailor Athlete Council (SAC) ignores the fact that there are many avenues for sailors to be heard at US Sailing, maybe the SAC should consider that someone who sails PHRF has almost no chance of qualifying as a member of SAC. Their focus on Olympic and other small classes of sailboats means that a rather large group of active sailors are excluded. Since there is no National Championship for PHRF, it doesn't appear that this will change soon. Granted that there are races that qualify that include PHRF classes, the average PHRF sailor never competes in them. Many sailors in the PNW sail 20 to 30 weekends a year. This would seem to meet the criteria of "active sailors". The challenge to the SAC is to include these sailors. Then they won't have to send out solicitations seeking people to be involved. Let's also not forget that the reason we have the SAC is that the USOC demands that the "athletes" be included in the decision making process. In order to keep those dollars flowing in, we ignore the fact that most of the people at US Sailing meetings are active sailors who take their personal time to go to the meetings and help guide the sport of sailing in the US. BTW: I am a class "C" sailor for an event that got me classified, but my wife, who sailed on the same boat, didn't get classified. Go figure. * From Michael H. Koster: Any idea what percentage of the 40,000 US Sailing members compete at the national and international levels? Maybe the Sailor Athlete Council should be opened up to all members. * From Chris Upton: Last night at 8:00 two teenagers were reported missing from Beverly Mass. This morning one of the youths was recovered from Marblehead Harbor, the other was found on the beach of Misery Island, alive. Both of them had been wearing PFDs when found. Let this tragedy remind us that wearing a PFD may help save our lives. But legislation would not have saved the other child. * From Leslie DeMeuse: I loved Roger Vaughan's clever response to the new Cup managers' plan to crank up "TV magazine programs on the glamorous lifestyle and passion of the exclusive world of sailing". He responds, "humor sells and I am laughing already". My same reaction! I have been producing television for more years than I will admit, and the biggest challenge to broadcasting the sport of yachting is getting viewership and appealing to as many viewers as possible. The misconception that sailing is like watching grass grow and that it is a rich man's sport has always been the biggest turn off to the public. THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Life appears infinitely mysterious to intelligent man and woman, but stupid people have an answer for everything. |
