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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 946 - November 16, 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.
ILLEGAL AND MORALLY AND ETHICALLY WRONG The offer was unwelcome because the transfer of design technology between teams is expressly outlawed, and the man allegedly making the offer, New Zealander Sean Reeves, is already subject to legal action by Craig McCaw's OneWorld challenge from Seattle, for whom he worked until early summer. Reeves is alleged to have hawked OneWorld's secrets for the 2003 cup and TNZ's past campaigns to Chris Dickson of the rival American team, Oracle Racing, on July 17. But since Reeves' name became public knowledge, the GBR Challenge's general manager, David Barnes, contacted OneWorld claiming that he had had a similar offer, made in a phone call on June 21 and repeated five days later. Barnes said he rejected Reeves flat. "David said the offer was illegal and morally and ethically wrong and was not going to be entertained in any manner, shape or form," said Julia Harrison-Lee. She is a director of the GBR Challenge, their legal counsel and the daughter of Peter Harrison, who has put £310 million behind Britain's first America's Cup bid for 14 years. - Tim Jeffery, The Telegraph, UK Full story: sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/
HIGHER SPEED LIMITS the way last summer will no longer need to be configured to the rating limit that has been in force since 1995. They may use much larger spinnakers and poles and discard internal ballast in favor of slightly heavier ballast bulbs. The purpose of limits, of course, is to create close racing. This year Philippe Kahn's Pegasus, Roy E. Disney's record-holding Pyewacket and Bob McNulty's Chance finished the 2,225-nautical mile race in that order within 2 1/2 hours of one another. All were optimized to a system that limited their rated speed potential to reaching Hawaii, theoretically, in an elapsed time of about 8 days 17 1/2 hours, based on "normal" Transpac conditions. The new rule, based on a "box" formula that considers sail area, waterline length and displacement, drops the theoretical ET by about 14 hours. In related moves, the directors also voted to: -- Establish a box rule for a "Transpac 70" whose performance could equal that of the larger 75s in the chase for the Barn Door trophy, which Transpac awards to the monohull with the fastest elapsed time. -- Entertain the eligibility of an emerging group of 86-foot boats for the 2005 race if three or more indicate serious intent to start. The TPYC directors also approved a schedule calling for the first start on July 1, followed by two on the Fourth of July weekend -- Friday, July 4, and Sunday, July 6. Specific starting dates for classes, including the Aloha for older and/or heavier displacement "furniture" boats and Divisions 1 through 4, will be assigned as entries develop. If four or more multihulls also enter and at fewest three start, they will go on July 8. Multihulls must measure a minimum length of 45 feet overall. Many boats finish at night, but this time they should find Diamond Head illuminated by a full moon scheduled to peak on July 13. Transpac's new Don Clothier Trophy, awarded to the performance cruiser under 49 feet with the fastest elapsed time, has been re-awarded to Ted Mayes' Ouch!, a J/120 from San Juan Capistrano, Calif. The trophy was initially presented to Brent Hughes' Cantata, an Andrews 53 from Oceanside, Calif., before organizers realized it was too large to be eligible for the award. - Rich Roberts, www.transpacificyc.org
ILLBRUCK CREW GEAR
UPDATE - USA 49 The American syndicate had both its training yachts out, just north of Waiheke's Onetangi Bay in 14-knot winds, when trouble hit. "There was a huge bang, almost like an explosion, and then the boat quite gracefully started tipping over," said Dickson. "It felt like a capsized dinghy." Oracle's two training boats were bought from America One after the last America's Cup regatta. "Obviously the whole keel was not strong enough," Dickson said. "A year ago we changed a number of things and thought we had made significant improvements. We thought we had solved the problem but obviously we haven't. "The problem is that they are old boats and the protocol prevents us from getting the plans of the keel, therefore we don't have any specific engineering knowledge of the keel structure." Oracle, set up by software billionaire Larry Ellison, is designing and building its own America's Cup boats in the US. They will arrive in Auckland next year. "This is a setback but not a major setback," said Dickson. "We could have a new keel as early as next week." - Julie Ash, NZ Herald Full story: www.nzherald.co.nz/sports/
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Mike Ingham (In regard to the 2004 rules): The 1996 rule simplification was a great concept, but the # of exceptions and details hardly made them any simpler. Some cool things came of them, like the room and time to keep clear concept. However, anyone that has spent any time as a judge knows that sometimes you have to dig deep into the wording of some situations. Talk about a major barrier to the growth and promotion of our sport. Why not use 2004 as a chance to narrow the rules down to a few very simple concepts like: Inside over outside at marks and obstructions Starboard over port Leeward over windward Prioritize these such that inside has priority over the others. Keep the room and time concept to keep races from getting ugly, and get rid of all the detail lawyer-like language so the rest of us can understand them. Keep the penalty turns, and require a red flag so you know if you are being protested. I am sure we would have to figure out a few things (like at a windward port rounding, how do we keep the port guy from calling room?), but I'll bet we could keep the number of exceptions to a minimum. Does this make sense? * From Bob Biegler: Our Butterfly Fleet at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas instituted open hearings as a means of learning the rules thirty-one years ago and it has proven to be a very effective teaching tool. Witnesses are excluded from the testimonial portion of the hearing. We have never had anyone leave a hearing, so the possibility of tainting a witness has never arisen. The process of reaching a decision is open to all including the witnesses and any additional questions the protest committee might have are asked before everyone. With all due respect for the many experienced sailors who have contributed to the evolution of the protest procedure now in place, our experience with open hearings has been totally positive. In fact, since every aspect of the process is in the open, everyone involved seems to be committed to keeping the hearing as devoid of emotions as possible and as impartial as humanly possible. * From Darren Rogers (edited to our 250-word limit): Windsurfing is not on the wane because " the windsurfing industry (Mags & Mfgrs) chose to extol & deify the wonders of planning" this a common misconception. Name one sport that doesn't promote the high performance aspect to gain attention from the general public? Windsurfing's lack of growth is due to the fact that there are very few schools, the equipment at these schools has typically has been weak and dated, and worst of all, equipment for kids has been virtually nonexistent. That was the past, and it looks like windsurfing has learned some lessons. The AWIA (American Windsurfing Industries Association) and USW (United States Windsurfing Association) are combining efforts to build new schools, promoting the latest equipment that makes windsurfing easier to learn and manufactures are developing and building great kids equipment and improving entry level gear. Also, to say that it's twice the cost is like having your head in the sand for the last 20 years. When I purchased my first Windsurfer in 1978 it was $1200.00. Now, if you calculate inflation from then, I could buy a complete entry-level board and an extra rig and a wet suit and probably get some change to boot. Not to mention how much better the gear is!! As for the Olympics, anybody who would like to see Windsurfing stay in the Olympics should be looking into the Formula 42 concept. Register 2 boards and 4 sails and race anytime, anywhere. * From Scott See: I beg to differ with Eric Sanford's assertion that, "Trimming the sheets on a large boat is essentially the same thing, whether you want to admit it or not: you are working the wind, trying to gain as much forward momentum as possible." Trimming and pumping the sails are as different as using your rudder to steer versus using it to skull. I would agree that a couple of pumps to get up on a plane is "essentially the same thing," but pumping around a race course turns sailing into a paddle sport. We might was well be canoeing. * From Bob Anderson: It is my observation that the only time we (in Southern California) see wind surfers racing is at Olympic Classes regattas. Could it be that the class only exists for those seeking an Olympic experience? If there is really no grass roots support is it appropriate as an Olympic sailing event. Would not the sport of sailing (yachting) be better served by showcasing a class that represents what people actually do when they race sailboats? If I'm all wet show me the numbers.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE As the fleet set off at breakneck speed through the Southern Ocean the one big surprise has been the amount of ice littering the course. "I just spent the last eight hours on deck and its nice surfing down the waves and watching icebergs go by," reported John Kostecki from aboard illbruck. "We just passed one about an hour ago four or five miles away. It's certainly the biggest iceberg I have ever seen eight stories high- maybe even eight-mast heights high. It looked like Table Mountain in the Southern Ocean." The green-hulled Team SEB has become the fastest yacht in the fleet so far this leg, sailing 400 miles over the last 24 hours. This is still some 50 miles short of the Volvo Ocean 60 class record of 449.1 miles set by Silk Cut in the 1997-1998 Whitbread race. The leader board is clearly dominated by the Vikings in this race. Assa Abloy spearheads the fleet while djuice and SEB are converging to Assa Abloy's track. POSITIONS on November 16 @ 0358 GMT: 1. Assa Abloy, 5260 miles from finish; 2. djuice, 13 miles to leader; 3. Team SEB, 18 mtl; 4. Amer Sports One, 26 mtl; 5. illbruck, 41 mtl; 6. News Corp, 41 mtl; 7. Amer Sports Too 77; 8. Tyco, 632 mtl. - www.volvooceanrace.com
QUOTES FROM THE BOATS "Several boats reported icebergs yesterday and as we spotted one, we realized our radar was not working, which is bad news for night sailing in this part of the world, so last night I spent several hours on the rail with our night-scope looking for icebergs, not very easy, very cold." -Arve Roaas, djuice ". . . how cold is it on deck, my hands and toes hardly exist anymore . .." - Amer Sports Too "An interesting thing which I am sure everyone has noted - when it's cold you wee a lot more, it's like this down south, here where it's freezing, so everyone really monitors what they drink because it's a major to go to the toilet to get all the gear off etc." - Ross Field, Team News Corp
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * December 1-2: 2001, Interclub Dinghy Nationals, Scituate Frostbite Association in conjunction with the Duxbury Yacht Club and the Duxbury Bay Maritime School. The event will be sailed on the waters of Duxbury Bay and will attract approximately 120 sailors. * January 7-11, 2002: US Sailing's Championship of Champions, Mission Bay YC, San Diego, CA. This event will be sailed in Snipes. (It was previously scheduled to be held in Cal 20s at Cabrillo Beach YC.) * August 9, 2002: The first major meeting of the National Quartermaster Association, Columbia Yacht Club in Chicago. The meeting will be celebrating the 90th Anniversary of Sea Scouts and will be in conjunction with the Sea Scout International Sailing Finals for the Sea Scout Cup, which was donated by Bill Koch. - www.nqma.org * September 14, 2002: Operation Sail America, Manhattan YC. One year after the tragic events of September 11, MYC would like to fill New York Harbor with sails - to have the greatest gathering of sailboats ever in the history of the harbor. This would be a symbolic rebirth for the City of New York and a tribute to the soaring spirit of America. - Michael Fortenbaugh, mike@myc.org
A SORE BUTT IS A SLOW BUTT
INDUSTRY NEWS * The US J/24 Class and International J/24 Class offices will now be operated as separate entities in different locations. This departure from the past was mainly due to the growth of the J/24 on the international level. In the past the International and the US J/24 Classes shared not only office space, but also a single Executive Director. Eric Faust, formerly of the North American Laser Class, is taking over the US duties while long time class contributor, John Peck, will handle things on the international side. Eric's US office is in Austin, Texas, while John's International office is just down the road in San Antonio.
SAILING ON TV
TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE The top monohull pack is stuck well in the meteorological glue pot before the Equator, which are the Doldrums. Golding & Hutchinson (Ecover) have certainly not had their last word they have shot back up to 2nd place now 75 miles behind leader Sill Plein Fruit (Jourdain/Le CleacB9h). Ecover has covered the greatest distance in the last 24 hours, 283 miles, and are being hotly pursued by Casto-Darty-BUT (Moloney/Turner) within 2 miles of them, both to the West of the rum line. - Mary Ambler, www.jacques-vabre.com
CORRECTION
THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM |
