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SCUTTLEBUTT 1823 - April 22, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest 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. MONEY WOES A Northern California syndicate hoping to challenge for the America's Cup in 2007 will be dead in the water if it can't raise at least $2 million from corporate sponsors by next Friday. The Sausalito Challenge, based across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, needs at least that much to post a bond and entry fee with America's Cup Management by the April 29 deadline, sailing manager John Sweeney said in a telephone interview Thursday. If Sausalito Challenge can't muster that much cash, it looks like the United States will be represented by just one team in 2007. San Francisco-based BMW Oracle Racing, backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison and the German automaker, is considered one of the top challengers for the oldest trophy in international sport. It was won in 2003 by Alinghi of Switzerland. Sweeney said he's negotiating with an American soft drink company, an Asian electronics company and a German industrial firm. "We have a pretty good indication that one would step up, but not a good indication that one would step up in time," he said. "If we had another month, then there'd be time. But unfortunately, we don't." Sausalito Challenge isn't alone in walking the plank. A German syndicate and a combined French-Chinese team are also trying to raise cash before the deadline. "Everybody's out there trying to find money," Sweeney said. "It's going to be a crazy nine days ahead of us." Earlier this year, Sausalito Challenge offered a "celebrity crew" position for anyone willing pay at least 10 million euros, or approximately $13 million. Sweeney said he received only two serious inquiries, and neither went for it. Last year, Sausalito Challenge tried to find an exclusive sponsor through bidding on eBay but no one met the reserve price. Sweeney said he and his business partner, Tina Kleinjan, have funded the challenge the last two years with just under $10 million of their own and can't go on without a sponsor. Kleinjan, who owns and runs Sausalito Challenge, also is on the sailing team. "It's one of those passions where if you listen too much to your heart, you could end up broke," Sweeney said. - Excerpts from an AP story on the SI.com website, full story: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/more/04/21/america.cup.ap/index.html COMING TO AMERICA A sailor who learnt his craft on the Manning (Australia) heads to America this week to take up a three year position running one of the world's premier teams. Anthony Young was in his own words, 'head hunted' by American billionaire Philippe Kahn to take charge of Pegasus Racing for the next three years. Young, his wife Sonya and 19 month old son will be based in Santa Cruz. Khan spent time in Australia earlier this year, a 28 day stay where he spent US $1.2 million in accommodation, expenses and wages. "I was coaching his son Samuel and got to know Philippe pretty well. Then he invited me to dinner and it was there he offered me the job," Young explained. He admits his wife was 'a bit apprehensive at first' at the thought of moving to America. "But now she's keen and looking forward to the change of lifestyle," he added. They'll move into a beach house on Santa Cruz harbor when they relocate. The team also has a compound in Hawaii, where the Youngs will be based for three months a year. Pegasus Racing employs 60 sailors fulltime, involved in up to 13 different classes. Young will be involved in coordinating the classes, as well as sailing and coaching. This will involve events around America and Canada as well as the European circuit. Kahn also has his sights on the Sydney to Hobart. "My experience in that was one of the reasons he approached me," Young explained. Khan intends to build a boat in Australia to challenge for the 2007 race. "And he want to win it, too," Young adds. While his contract is for three years, Young will consider staying longer if there's an offer of an extension. -Mick McDonald, Manning River Times, full story: http://tinyurl.com/affyn THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX (The Daily Sail subscription website spoke with Kiwi boatbuilder Mick Cookson about his new 50ft Farr-designed canting keeler. Here are a couple of excerpts from that comprehensive report.) While the Reichel-Pugh designed maxZ86s and both of Bob Oatley's Wild Oats use the CBTF system with a steerable forward canard, and Open 60s and Volvo Open 70s (or all the ones we have seen at least) have twin asymmetric daggerboards positioned either side or just forward of the mast, so the Cookson 50 has none of these extra appendages to prevent leeway. Instead she relies on a trim tab on the trailing edge of her keel foil. "When you put a third foil on the boat, the cost of the configuration and the complexity just goes through the roof," he explains. "The beauty of the canting keel with the trim tab on it and by not canting the keel to 50°, instead keeping it to 35°, it is conservative, safety, cost effectiveness and easy to sail." Upwind the difference between having the tab on and off is remarkable says Cookson. Without the tab the boat simply slips sideways as you would imagine. With the tab deployed it stops leeway upwind even when the keel is fully canted. Building a trim tab into the trailing edge of a keel foil doesn't sound easy, but Cookson has obviously had previous experience of this with the Cup boats and emphasizes that it is simpler to do this than add an extra appendage. "We can put the entire canting keel, trim tab, pump, controller - the whole keel in the 50 footer - for less money than a Transpac 52 fin and bulb costs to me." - The Daily Sail, www.thedailysail.com 2005 MARION BERMUDA RACE… ARE YOU READY? 2005 Marion Bermuda Race is ready to go on June 17th…are you? Going celestial? Ocean Navigator is offering a celestial navigation seminar May 21 & 22. There is still time to register for this year's premier offshore event. So don't delay! Details on the Marion Bermuda web site: http://www.marionbermuda.com LITIGATION Former America's Cup insider Sean Reeves is continuing his fight against having to pay nearly $2 million after a United States court finding that he broke a OneWorld Challenge secrecy clause. Mr Reeves, a former Team New Zealand and OneWorld Challenge member, was sued for allegedly retaining and disclosing OneWorld's confidential information. Yesterday the Court of Appeal at Wellington reserved its decision on Mr. Reeves' appeal against a New Zealand High Court ruling that he did not have an arguable defense to avoid enforcement of the US judgment here. If Mr Reeves wins in the Court of Appeal the case will probably go back to the High Court for an airing of his allegation that the judgment should not be enforced in New Zealand because through it OneWorld is trying to suppress evidence of its own wrongdoing. "They shut him down in America and they are trying to shut him down now," his lawyer Peter Spring said. Mr. Reeves claimed OneWorld wrongly had copies or derivations of Team NZ boat designs. He said he inadvertently kept that material when he left OneWorld, along with what he says is evidence of its wrongdoing. It was alleged he offered to sell confidential information to America's Cup rival Chris Dickson but Mr Spring told the appeal judges there was no evidence of any offer to sell. Mr Spring said Mr Reeves did not appeal against the US judgment because he ran out of money. Litigation was cheaper in New Zealand. - The Dominion Post, full story: www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3256294a1823,00.html HANDICAP RACING To support IRC racers, clubs, and race organizers alike, US Sailing has made available a list of valid IRC Time Corrector Ratings and an IRC Time-Difference Table. - The IRC Time Corrector (TCC) Ratings allow owners to compare ratings with other boats and to better understand the rule. Racers should note that these are unofficial ratings and shall not be used for scoring purposes. Also, under the international rules, each boat is required to hold its own unique certificate to be scored under IRC (Rule 5.3). - An IRC Time-Difference Table is also now available. This interactive online tool allows users enter their TCC rating against other competitors to determine 'who owes who time' and Elapse Time differences. Website: www.ussailing.org/offshore/irc/Handicaps.htm BIG BOOST Disabled sailing worldwide got a boost earlier this week when the International Federation for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) announced that a third sailing event will be added to the 2008 Paralympic Games. The singlehanded 2.4mR and triplehanded Sonar will remain, with a two-person keelboat to be added. An Equipment Evaluation Committee has been created to evaluate and recommend the equipment. In three short years, 80 athletes in over 30 boats will come together in Beijing to represent thousands more sailors, boats, and disabilities throughout the world. In the words of USA's Brad Johnson (Bronze Medalist '04) these sailors aren't sailing for themselves - they are sailing for each of us. They are representing their country, their sport, and the all of our accomplishments on an international stage. - www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6lFhy6vC FAIR PLAY The International Paralympic Committee recently nominated Betsy Alison and Keith Burhans for the Pierre de Coubertin International Fair Play Trophy. Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.), coach of the US Disabled Sailing Team, was nominated for her efforts to "promote sailing and help sailors win medals," said the nomination. Keith Burhans (Rochester, N.Y.) was nominated for designing and building a special adaptive chair to help another sailor compete with him. When he didn't qualify for the 2004 Paralympic Games, Burhans traveled to Greece to assist the Greek Paralympic Sailing Team. "The willingness of Mr. Burhans to overlook national bounds demonstrates a true sense of fair play and sportsmanship as well as a respect for the improvement of his sport," read the nomination. Winners of the award will be announced in June by the International Fair Play Committee. - www.fairplayinternational.org ORYX QUEST 2005 Tony Bullimore's catamaran Daedalus has arrived second in the Oryx Quest 2005 sailing race with an elapsed time of 75 days, 00hrs, 20 mins and 48 seconds, bringing to a close the first round-the-world yacht race to start and finish in the Middle East. Daedalus came in just over a week behind the winners Doha 2006 who crossed the finish line first on the 9th of April, bagging the $1 million prize fund. The prize money will be presented along with the Oryx Quest Trophy and the Qatar Foundation Award in Qatar on May 17th. - www.oryxquest.com MELGES 32 SIGHTING AT LAKE TEXOMA LAKEFEST REGATTA The new Melges 32 has had immediate success since being launched by Melges Performance Sailboats in January. A big win at Key West Race Week with PHRF Boat of the Week honors. Then the M32 wins Miami Race Week. The new Melges 32 has drawn a lot of attention from the media and it's standing up to the rave reviews. Just recently the Melges 32 sailed in the Lake Texoma Lakefest Regatta in Denison, TX. Watch for a new M32 near you. Melges is now taking orders with availability well before the Midwinter Championship in Key West, 2006. http://www.melges.com IN MEMORIAM The southern California yachting community lost a dear friend and fellow sailor on Wednesday April 20, 2005. Charlie Segal, 46, fell overboard while racing in the first Wednesday night Sunset Series in Marina del Rey. Revival attempts by fellow crew members, competitors, L.A. County Sheriff's, Lifeguards and Paramedics were unsuccessful. Charlie was a true friend to many and a sailor by every definition of the word with thousands of sea miles to his credit. He is survived by his wife Rosie and four children; Andrew 15, Matthew 11, Hannah 8 and Sarah 5. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (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.) Curmudgeon's Comment: Even though we killed the thread, the email just keeps pouring in about the teaser Ted Hood sent us - and this time all the writers have taken exception to the 'premature' closing of the thread before the correct answer was published. So the thread has been reopened for this issue only. * From Bruce Nelson: It is now apparent why the Curmudgeon never worked for Ted Hood. According to Archimedes, the correct answers to Ted's brain teaser are quite simply dependent upon the density of the materials being tossed into the water, relative to the density of the water itself. Assuming the density of the rock is greater than the density of the water, then the level of the pond will drop when the rock is thrown from the boat into the water as the volume displaced by the rock underwater will be less than the reduction in volume of displacement of the boat when the weight of the rock is removed - thus the level of the pond will drop by an amount equal to the net difference in volume divided by the surface area of the pond. Assuming the wood is less dense than the water, and thus floats, then the volume of water that the floating piece of wood displaces will be equal to the reduction in displacement of the boat with the weight of the wood piece removed - and thus the level of the pond will not change when the piece of wood is thrown overboard. Ditto for ice and any object that floats. * From Roger Brown, naval architect: I fear that you have done a disservice to aspiring naval architects and barroom bettors by closing this thread prematurely. In the case of the rock, the water level in the pond will go down. Say the rock is five times denser than water. When the rock is jettisoned from the boat, the water level will go down by an amount corresponding to the volume of water displaced by the rock's weight when it was in the boat. When the rock enters the water, it will displace its volume (not weight) in water, which will cause the water level to rise back by one-fifth of the volume of water it had caused the boat to displace. The net result is a lower water level. This would hold true for any material denser than water, although it helps to think of the rock as an extremely heavy and dense material (black hole matter?) Imagine a 1000 lb. BB-sized rock in a small boat. The boat would rise considerably when the rock was jettisoned, causing the water level to drop by quite a bit, but the water level would rise back only slightly when the rock entered the pond. The water level would remain the same in the case of the wood chunk, as the previous respondents stated, since wood floats. I'm confident that Archimedes would agree. * From Paul Kamen: Hey, you can't just kill the thread like that after publishing four wrong answers and no correct ones! When the rock goes overboard, the water level in the pond goes down. That's because the rock, when in the boat, adds to the boat's displacement. Archimedes and I agree that the rock accounts for additional displacement of water equal to its weight. But when the rock is on the bottom of the pond, it displaces much less water than its weight. With less water displaced, the pond level comes down. (No change when the wood goes overboard, because the wood floats and continues to displace its weight.) * From Jim Linville: Too bad you've let Ted Hood's teaser thread die before you got a correct response. Imagine a rock the size of a golf ball that weighs 100,000 pounds. If the rock hasn't already sunk the boat, then when you throw it overboard into the pond it sinks to the bottom and is no longer floating, so it doesn't displace hardly any water at all. But the pond will surely breathe a great sigh of relief and be in less danger of overflowing. Look at it another way: Throwing the rock on to the beach (you've been spending time in the gym, right?) lightens the boat, lowering the water level in the pond. Rolling the rock down the beach into the water raises the water level the same as that errant 9 iron shot you hit last Saturday. * From Dr Kim Klaka: I know you have declared the Ted Hood pond thread officially dead, but all the answers printed in the last scuttlebutt (1822) are wrong! I have been using the example Ted Hood gave for the last 25 years when teaching naval architects. Here is the answer: You have to realize that Archemedes' principle only applies to floating objects, not sinking/sunk ones. Archy states that a floating body will displace its own mass of water. So for a piece of wood in a boat, the wood is displacing its own mass of water and when it is thrown over the side, it will continue to displace its own mass of water, assuming it floats. For the rock, it is an altogether different matter. When it is in the boat it is supported by the buoyancy of the boat so it will displace its own mass of water, just like the wood. However, when you throw it over the side, it sinks so Archimedes' principle no longer applies. The rock clearly occupies a volume of water equal to the volume of the rock when it is sinking/sunk. This volume of water weighs less than the stone (that's why the stone sinks), so the volume of water occupied by the stone when it is sinking/sunk is less than the volume of water occupied when it is in the boat. Therefore if the amount of water displaced is less when the stone is sinking, the level in the pond will drop. * From Joseph Wesley McCoy, Jr.: If the person in the boat is the Curmudgeon, and he chooses to jump into the lake, what would happen? A. He is an airhead, so he would float and displace the same weight of water as he did in the boat and therefore the lake would stay the same. B. He is a rockhead and would sink and the lake would shrink just as it did when the rock sank. C. The people on shore would applaud the boat's decision to jettison its sole occupant. D. The boat would be slapped with a toxic waste disposal violation and charged with polluting a waterway with floating debris. Curmudgeon's Comment: And now, we'll let the person who started this all, Ted Hood, has the final word on this subject. * From Ted Hood: Sorry, I know you want to get back to all the mainstream stuff, but if anyone cares: When the rock is thrown off the dinghy, assuming it sinks to the bottom (denser than water), then the water level in the pond drops. This is because when the rock is in the dinghy, it displaces its weight in water, and that volume of water is more than the rock itself because water is less dense. When the rock is thrown over the side, it displaces only its own volume in water, which is less, so the pond level drops. When the piece of wood is thrown over (assuming it floats, i.e. less dense than water), the water level does not change because, since it floats, it is displacing it's own weight in water in both cases. Were you to push the wood down from shore with a pole so it is submerged, the pond water would rise relative to when it's in the dinghy - opposite effect of with the rock. Great trick question, eh? Curmudgeon's Comment: Great trick question, Ted. Thread closed - Forever! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." - Paul Hornung |
