|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2001 - January 4, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.US OLYMPIC SAILING COMMENTARY By Dean Brenner, Chairman, US Olympic Sailing Committee The first year of any quad is usually the year where US Olympic sailors put the equipment in storage, and wait a year or two to begin their quest for the next Olympics. But not this time around. Many US Sailors -- old blood and new, men and women, able-bodied and disabled - stepped up this year and committed themselves to serious campaigns for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games. And the results matched the effort of our sailors. Four World Championships, and a total of 30 podium results in major Olympic and Paralympic Class events. Sailors are responsible for the results on the water, not committees or administrative bodies. When our sailors perform, they deserve the credit. But a strong program helps our sailors perform well. The mission of our Olympic Sailing Committee is to provide the best support possible for our athletes, as they pursue their Olympic dreams. Both parts of the program - the sailors and the committee - are integral to success, and I'm proud to write that everyone is doing their job well. The sailors are performing, and we are providing more support than ever before. Our 2006 budget will be 20% larger than it was in 2005, thanks to an organized and focused fundraising campaign. And in reality, the support for our sailors has grown even more than that, because we have squeezed so much more value out of our existing resources. Every dollar in our program is being stretched further than it ever has before. We have a lot of work to do to prepare for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games. But we are off to a good start this quad. I'm proud of our sailors and their 2005 performances. And I'm proud of our staff, our committee and our program. For a full report on the US Olympic Sailing Program's performance in 2005, please go to: http://www.ussailing.org/News/2005/2005OlympicReviewhtm 2005 ATHLETES OF THE YEAR US Sailing has recognized six athletes as the sport's U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) Athletes of the Year for 2005 for outstanding performance in competition. In the four categories, the athletes have five world championship titles between them, as well as numerous additional podium-finishes: * Andrew Campbell - Male Athlete of the Year * Paige Railey - Female Athlete of the Year * Nick Scandone - Paralympic Athlete of the Year * Sally Barkow, Debbie Capozzi, and Carrie Howe - Team of the Year These sailors will be considered for the overall USOC Team and Athlete of the Year Awards. The USOC award winners will be selected from the Athletes of the Year recognized by each Olympic sport's national governing body. Read the impressive credentials of each of these athletes: http://www.ussailing.org/pressreleases/2006/aoy2005.htm A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS The 2005 America's Cup season was a remarkable year of racing with six Louis Vuitton Acts in three venues spread across Europe. The 12 teams, from 10 countries, took 211 race starts over the course of the year, sailing 198 match races and 13 fleet races. To organize all of that competition, the Principal Race Officers Peter Reggio and Harold Bennett relied on 68 Race Operation boats, including 54 RIBs and 14 Race Committee Catamarans. They put nearly 10 000 hours on the RIBs and over 3 500 hours on the Cats. The boat crews for the Race Officials went through nearly five and half kilometres of rope over the course of the season. In 2005, the Race Officials relied on the steady contributions of 390 volunteers from over 10 countries. These volunteers collectively went through nearly 40 000 hours of training and practice in order to deliver 'America's Cup standard' racing to the teams. In total, including training, official practice days and race days, the volunteers spent over 90 000 hours on the water. To keep this army of officials and volunteers fed and productive on the water, over 7 500 box lunches were provided and this crew consumed over 11,000 litres (nearly 3000 gallons) of water in the course of their duties. - America's Cup website, full story: http://www.americascup.com/en/acmag/letter/index.php?idContent=5161 UK-HALSEY ADDS OLYMPIC GOLD UK-Halsey has just made a major addition to its racing sails team, bringing aboard Dede De Luca. His sails for Torben Grael won 2004 Olympic Gold in Stars plus a Silver in the 2005 Worlds. A talented racer himself with two Americas Cups in his resume, Dede's sails have also won numerous other one-design and fleet victories. Based at UK-Halsey Verona, he'll be providing valuable input to the entire UK-Halsey system whose 50 lofts take global experience and add local knowledge. If your racing aspirations exceed the commitment or results of another sailmaker, it's time to contact UK-Halsey: http://www.ukhalsey.com RISK-REWARD Andrew Cape, the British-based Australian navigator of Movistar, has his first real chance to make on impression on the Volvo Ocean Race as the seven-boat fleet jockeys for the optimum spot to pick up the fast westerly winds in the Cape Town to Melbourne stage. Cape was disappointed when Movistar was knocked out of the opening leg on the first night and denied him the chance to play out his planned strategy. On leg two he has stuck to his game plan by making to the east on the more direct course while his rivals have dipped deeper south in the hope of shedding the extra miles sailed by accelerating in the stronger winds sooner. The most southerly boat is Torben Grael's Brasil 1 where Adrienne Cahalan's replacement as navigator, Dutchman Marcel van Triest, is well schooled in the risk-reward style of tactical navigation. That leaves a clutch of boats in the middle, including Mike Sanderson's overall race leader ABN Amro One, Neal McDonald's Ericsson and Paul Cayard's Pirates of the Caribbean. The gateway to the Southern Ocean and the Roaring Forties is blocked by a ridge of high pressure, which the fleet should climb over later in the week. Then they will exchange upwind sailing in a shifty and streaking north-easterly flow for rapid downwind sailing, riding on the westerlies. Sanderson said: "We are in the middle of the pack and have a foot in each camp. In hindsight maybe we have been too conservative, but we are right here with the Pirates of the Caribbean and Ericsson and not too far away from whichever side pans out." - Tim Jeffery, The Telegraph, UK, full story: http://tinyurl.com/8rb4h SEASICK It's still warm for the seven crews racing in the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town to Melbourne, but it's wet, unpleasant and very uncomfortable. The upwind motion of the boats is taking its toll and some of the crew have been seasick. As the fleet continues to head south, it is a case of holding on tight as the boats leap from wave to wave in 25 knots of breeze and a nasty seaway. Knut Frostad, onboard Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) says that the inside of his boat is like a war zone already. "Anything that is not lashed properly flies around and you can definitely not stand upright without holding on with both hands." ING Real Estate Brunel has had their share of drama today, firstly narrowly avoiding colliding with a whale and then flying off the back of a wave just whilst in the middle of a sail change and bruising a crewmember quite badly on the knee. In the last 24 hours, all of the boats have covered in the neighborhood of 200 miles for an average speed of just over 8 knots. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org/ Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 GMT Tuesday 1. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking, 5809 miles to finish 2. Ericsson Racing Team Neal McDonald, 23 mile to leader 3. Team ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 26 miles to leader 4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, 27 miles to leader 5. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 36 miles to leader 6. Team ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, 37 miles to leader 6. ING Real Estate Brunel, Grant Wharington, 37 miles to leader EMERGENCIES After one of the most dramatic starts so far in race saw the ten identical 68ft ocean-racing yachts of the Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race leave Fremantle in fine style, before Cardiff came limping back to port with rudder damage. Then about four hours later Race Control was informed of a medical problem aboard Glasgow. Crewmember Denise Mellor had fallen whilst below decks and sustained a suspected fracture to her arm. After a thorough examination by the onboard medic it was agreed that although the Denise's condition was stable it would not be wise for her to continue onboard and that she should receive proper medical treatment ashore. Already over 50 miles downwind from the start, a return to Fremantle would have been a long and uncomfortable option with the boat forced to motor against the strong breeze that had built during the day. The decision was therefore made to continue racing but to divert into the port of Geraldton some 160 nautical miles further up the coast. Glasgow entered the harbour under guidance from the Harbour Master. At the time of writing, Denise was on her way to the local hospital where staff was waiting to asses her condition and decide what further action to take. Meanwhile Glasgow was returning to sea to continue racing, their thoughts and commiserations with their departed team mate. Current positions: 1. westernaustralia.com, 1895 miles from finish; 2. Durban, +2 miles; 3. Qingdao, +19 miles; 4. New York+20 miles; 5. Victoria, + 31 miles. Event website: http://www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/2006/ FINAL COUNTDOWN TO ACURA KEY WEST 2006 But don't worry if you've got a last minute purchase or any repairs during the Key West event - West Marine will be there to help! For all your racing needs in Key West, visit the West Marine store at 725 Caroline St. On-site rigging will be available as well as all the latest and greatest gear from New England Rope, Harken, Lewmar, Ronstan, Tacktick, Gill, Sperry Top-Sider, and more. And be sure to attend the West Marine night at the Schooner Wharf for fun prizes and giveaways. http://www.westmarine.com FIT FOR THE SOUTHERN OCEAN? (The Daily Sail subscription website has just posted a story about the perils facing the Volvo Ocean Race fleet. Here are a couple of excerpts.) The course from Cape Town to Melbourne, in theory around 6,100 miles, takes the VO70s from Cape Town out round the Cape of Good Hope. From here the boats are expected to dive steeply south in order to hook up as quickly as possible with the strong westerly winds in the Roaring Forties. However the amount of exposure the boats will have to these bigger conditions has been limited for this leg by the race organization's recent insertion of two ice gates both running along the latitude line of 42°S. Given that the centre of the Kerguelen archipelago is around 49°S and teams would normally have to decide whether they are going to leave this to port or starboard, gives some indication of the degree of the iceberg problem this year and the prudence of the race management. "I remember eight years we went south of Kerguelen and we didn't see any ice on this leg," says Pirates skipper Paul Cayard. "It is cumbersome thinking about limits being placed on us, but if you start sailing through ice it is like playing Russian Roulette, although with pretty good odds, but you could lose a boat or a whole crew." The new gates could considerably change the tactics for the opening stage of this leg although present routing still takes the boats south from Cape Town across a ridge on Wednesday before they get into the westerlies. As ever the question will be how far south to go before turning east and how much will the ice situation affect this decision. - www.thedailysail.com NEWS BRIEFS * Fourteen papers on a wide range of topics pertaining to classic yacht design, restoration and replication have been selected by the Papers Committee for inclusion in the second Classic Yacht Symposium™, to be held at the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol on March 31 - April 2. Topics to be covered include restoration of several large yachts and papers covering a range of topics pertaining to smaller, historically significant craft. A full list of papers will be available shortly on the museum's website. -- www.herreshoff.org * For the first time ever, Cork Week is accepting entries on line. This Grand Prix biennial series of races will take place from July 15 to 21. It's expected to attract sailors from all over the world, involving up to 600 yachts from 12 countries with upwards of 5000 competitors. -- www.corkweek.com * How to Buy a Boat, Standing Rigging, Diesels for Dummies, Going Up the Mast, Marine Electronics, Happy Hassel-Free "Heads," Basic Racing Rules, Tactics 101, Docking, Overboard Procedures, Varnishing, Suddenly Singlehanded, Using GPS, Weather, Sail Trim, Basic Nav, Beyond Bandaids, AED's to the Rescue, Knots, Anchoring, Spinnaker Rigging and Offshore Cruising are but a few of the workshops that will be held at the Southern California Yachting Association's 17th Annual Women's Sailing Convention on Saturday, February 4, 2006 at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, Corona del Mar, CA. Brochure on the web at www.scya.org DREAM JOB Located in sunny California, San Diego YC is accepting resumes to fill their position of Junior Sailing Program Director. SDYC has a long tradition as one of the premiere youth sailing programs in the US, with great support from the club and all the tools to do the job. For details: chris@od.northsails.com 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. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Rick Best (edited to our 250-word limit): Santa brought me a copy of Temple to the Wind, by Christopher Pastore, a wonderful book about Herreshoff and Reliance. I sat down by the fire looking forward to a trip to the golden age of racing and the America's Cup, when "boats were stronger then the men that sailed them," and the American's Cup "was a contest between nations not hired guns." Imagine my surprise when I read that the masts of both Constitution and Shamrock II fell down in trials in 1901. The London Daily Graphic called the boats "dangerous monstrosities," the New York Times said they were "enormities unfit for ocean." According to the book the challenger Lipton was not a sailor, but using the race for advertising for his grocery store chain. Despite being nominated by the Prince of Wales, the Royal Yacht Squadron of England refused him admission on two occasions. He challenged for the Cup under the sponsorship of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club. The American effort was bankrolled by railroad, banking and oil barons who were indulging in their "predatory habit of life." But the worst was that the great American sailing legend Charlie Barr was Scottish! Crews threatened to quit rather then work for the "foreigner." Editorials were written that the American effort should be lead by "native born Americans." But the money men, and Nat Herreshoff, wanted to win and Charlie Barr was man to do it. I haven't even got to the Reliance-Shamrock III race yet. * From Kurt Hoehne: Before scuttling IRC, take a look at the last few years. This year's Fastnet was won by Iromiguy, a 1970s Nicholson 33, sailed with its original mast/rig/keel configuration (so it appears, somebody correct me if I'm wrong) and did not relocate components to the bow. According to the owner, the boat was worth 14,000 UK pounds. The 98' canting keel maxi Wild Oats just won the Sydney Hobart. Reportedly, it's worth more than 14K. Granted, conditions favored small boats in the Fastnet and big in Hobart, but isn't it great to have such diverse boats winning? There are plenty of examples of IRC embracing a wide spectrum: a Swan duking it out with Pyewacket in Ireland; Aero romping up and down wherever, a Beneteau 40.7 winning another Sydney Hobart. Anybody seen the new cruiser- racers being built? Anecdotal, yes, but all worth noting. The system works worldwide, and it's already produced good racing here. We can certainly kill it in its infancy because it's not a perfect child, but then we will get what we deserve, a no-tech rule that disenfranchises the serious sailors and/or an ultra-tech US rule that in previous iterations has disenfranchised just about everybody. Of course, we could always just fall back on reading about racing elsewhere in the world in Scuttlebutt. * From Donal McClement: Whilst I applaud Phillipe Kahn for suggesting a different approach to the Racing Rules of Sailing I am not sure that Golf is the correct analogy. Firstly the Rules of Golf are considerably more complicated than the RRS and secondly there is a Maximum Handicap available to both Males and females in that game. In other words until you get to that standard you do not get on the Podium. Why not be totally radical and reduce the RRS to just 2 or 3 simple Rules (or at least reduce the Part 2 Rules to a bare minimum) along the lines of: 1. Port Gives Way to Starboard. 2. Windward Boat Keeps Clear. 3. Thou shalt not have a collision. (In the event of any collision both boats are disqualified) End of Story. * From Ray Tostado: After surviving over 25 years of PHRF and some 10 years of IOR, I still find a fascination when ratings are heatedly discussed. The recent proposal of incorporating some sort of golf handicapping seems reasonable. But then so did IOR. Golf is based on a handicap based on prior finishes. Not by player's height, weight, or wardrobe. Shouldn't this be PHRF? Golf reads to me to be the PHRF of lawn sailing. The problem with PHRF is the lack of impartiality from the rating committees. They are attempting to "predict" as did IOR. It is not their mission statement to predict anything. Their goal should be recording prior finishes: performance. It is interesting that the most event-to-event adjustments to rating standards are evolving from the Cruz classes. But even this has gone berserk. Imagine what sort of reasoning is demonstrated when a 53' boat with a base rating of 30 spm arrives at a Cruz class start with an adjustment to 117 spm. But don't overlook the generous adjustment from 30 to 78 under local area PHRF. For PHRF to recover, the ratings should be derived through a national, not local, rating body. Data is data, and it can be stored and used without local friendships becoming involved. A finish position is a fact. Forget the variables, there is simply no rational means of finding consensus when everyone sees the event from their own deck. Finding wind to port, rather than starboard is a choice, not a rating factor. * From Bill Goggins: Congratulations on the milestone of 2000 - I would love for you to resend you favorite issue of Scuttlebutt...do you have one? Curmudgeon's Comment: Bill -- I'm about to turn 75 and it's hard for me to remember what I had for dinner last night, let alone a favorite among the nearly 2000 issues of 'Butt that I've edited. However, the issues that always seem to get the most reaction from the 'Buttheads are inevitably our April 1 issues. As I recall, the 2002 April Fools issue generated a lot of mail - and interestingly, parts of it are funnier today then when it was originally issued. http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=1064 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Some people try to turn back their personal 'odometers.' Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved. Special thanks to UK-Halsey Sailmakers and West Marine. |
