|
SCUTTLEBUTT No. 1180 - October 17, 2002Scuttlebutt 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.
RACING AGAINST TIME Since American Doug Peterson was fired by Prada boss Patrizio Bertelli after the opening race in round robin one, the former design director has indicated that he had been frozen out of decision-making for months. More extraordinary is the notion that Bertelli himself has been sketching bow shapes and giving other design team members directions. Prada's boats, ITA 74 and ITA 80, are the only ones in Auckland not to have a bow knuckle just below the waterline, which makes the boat shorter in static measurement trim but longer when sailing. Whether a new bow is a panacea for Prada is a moot point. "You've got to have a lot of respect for other teams' design programmes," says Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts, a two-time America's Cup winner. Oracle BMW's designer, Bruce Farr, has gone out on his own with a lighter displacement and lower sail area configuration for his boat and, like Prada, Oracle BMW have not lived up to their pre-race billing. "Yet if you underestimate Farr you'd probably end up regretting it," Coutts said. Some of Prada's speed problems may lie elsewhere, particularly the balance of the boat and how hard the mainsail can be trimmed, a critical factor in these super-efficient upwind boats. And then you have skipper Francesco de Angelis's own preferences for setting the boat up. Sometimes addressing one problem can create others and vice-versa. - Tim Jeffery, The telegraph, UK, full story: sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/
BERMUDA GOLD CUP / SWEDISH MATCH TOUR Swedish Match Tour leader Jes Gram-Hansen of Team Victory Lane was pushed to the limit by American qualifier Mason Woodworth. It took Gram-Hansen the full five matches to advance. Also participating in a five-match slugfest were local skipper Peter Bromby and Sweden's Bjorn Hansen." After winning the opening match, Bromby dropped the next two to Hansen. With his back against the wall Bromby and his native crew responded to sail through to Friday's quarterfinal action. Also advancing is three-time Bermuda athlete of the year, Paula Lewin. Lewin, who advanced to the main draw by winning the inaugural Bermuda International Women's Match Racing Championship, upset Denmark's Lars Nordbjaerg 3-1, to continue her successful run this week. - Shawn McBride
In other races: Websites: www.swedishmatchtour.com / www.bermudagoldcup.com
HARKEN WINCH PROMO
ORACLE BMW RACING In this demanding position Chieffi can fully rely on the weather team, which is lead by Meteorologist Bob Rice on land and the Olympic champion in yachting, Rex Sellers, on the water. "Bob Rice is an amazing man. He is always at least 90 percent right with his weather predictions. And that is not easy in Auckland." The 41-year-old Italian also has every trust in Sellers: "Rex Sellers is such an excellent sailor - he's like our Tactician off the boat. The two Strategists, Eric Doyle and I, basically accept whatever he suggests. At least for the first shift on the first beat, we always go with what he says. We know we don't have to question his prediction." Will Oracle BMW switch boats and use USA 71 for Round Two? Helmsman Peter Holmberg said the syndicate was still "undecided" - www.oraclebmwracing.com
NEWS BRIEFS * DynaYacht Inc. of San Diego California announced today that under it's exclusive association with the Reichel-Pugh Yacht Design firm, it will make available to yacht designers and builders around the world, licenses to use its patented Canting Ballast Twin Foil (CBTF) technology. DynaYacht will also provide design assistance for installation of CBTF on the full range of yachts based on its twelve years of experience developing, and perfecting this technology.
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) * From Geoff Stagg I read with interest Scuttlebutt #1178 and I would like to comment briefly on "clarifying the issue". Use of the ISAF code for the Mumm 30 and Farr 40 Classes is mandatory by April 2003. It is not being offered as a tool. ISAF does/ will impose this code on all of its International and Recognized (non Olympic) classes. I am not going to debate the merits of the two systems but at this time the report was not factual. Rather than dictate this new regulation and indeed any new regulation that changes existing class rules on the classes, ISAF out of courtesy and as a "service" organization should allow the owners from the classes affected to vote on this issue per their Class constitutions relating to rule changes. If the Mumm 30 and Farr 40 Class do not adopt the ISAF code, their contract with ISAF would be terminated and they would lose the right to hold an official world championship. This reality is a long way from the opening statement of the chairman of the Classification Code Committee. * From Howard Paul: I would like to response to J. Joseph Bainton comments. As a sailor of some 35 years and most recently a golfer I would love the opportunity to play golf against some of the World's best. Why would I say this? Simply because there is a handicap system that is updated every time you play a round. Golf is different because we handicap the player not the equipment. Conversely in sailing we handicap the boats not the sailors. Before we make comparisons let's get our facts correct otherwise we accomplish nothing but misinform the uninformed. * From Rob Stephan (In reference to the comments by Platt Johnson): As Junior sailors reach 14 and older, the motivation and social interaction offered in traditional sailing programs offered at most yacht clubs are not cutting it. In our junior program we have twenty 14 to 18 year olds involved weekly in sailing PHRF boats all due to a past commodores dogged persistence and by offering his C&C 41 and his time. Other boats involved include a Swan 391, a J-120 and a J-30 all offered by owners to the kids to learn on and be challenged by. Professional coaches that are brought in for guest spots increase the interest level along with social gatherings during both the summer and winter for the group. If not for this program 15 of the 20 would not be involved in regular sailing. Platt Johnson makes a good point about re-thinking what will be of interest to this age group and tailoring a program that has serious interest potential. 420's and Blue Jays do not cut it once you're 15 - but steering a J-120 with the spinnaker up at night doing 12 knots with your 16 year old mates handling all navigation and deck responsibilities will keep these kids coming back for more. A number of yacht clubs on Long Island Sound are offering similar programs and all have had positive results. If you don't have this at your club - then perhaps the boat you sail on could be the one to get the program rolling. * From Gerry Bourke Very disappointed in your article on the front page of your story, "REGATTA" regarding the Columbus Day Regatta, particularly as you referenced the Miami Herald which is known locally as being a biased reporting media, and particularly for sports that do not involve throwing balls around. The boating accidents that occurred on the weekend were not related to the Regatta in any way, they (the power boaters) probably didn't even know it was on, as the Herald, although given plenty of information in advance, are not prepared to give it much coverage at all unless something like this happens on the water (note the closest accident to the regatta was several miles away). This in spite of the fact that it is the biggest regatta in South Florida, has been going for over 48 years and currently has around 200 boats and 1000 people participating in it each year. I would have thought that as a site representing sailing and boating that you would have at least checked out the facts before publishing an article like this one (although I realize that the word "scuttlebutt" is based on rumors). Due to the inaccuracies of the story, it hurts not only racing but sailing in general. * From Tom O'Keefe: If the America's Cup was truly intended to promote design development and it is almost impossible to limit the diffusion of intellectual property rights under the current rules. Then the rules should be amended such that the winner of the Cup should be required to share all it's winning design data with all challengers. This would level the playing field and everyone starts from the same point. This would prevent situations like the One World Laurie Davidson debacle. * From Richard Brown, NZL: As a race officer with mostly dinghy racing experience I am interested in the comments about how to deal with OCSs. Even if it would work, which I doubt, the idea of trying to hold lights still enough to accurately measure if a boat is over the line would be beyond all but the most technically advanced race officials and we must be careful not to invent something that is impractical for the average yacht club. I don't understand why gate starts are not used more widely. The argument that if there is a shift favouring one end or the other is exactly the same for a normal start. The fact that sailors would need to learn some new skills would probably be a stimulant rather than something to avoid. The truth is, it is probably the race officials who do not want to learn. General recalls are generated when boats take up their initial positions too near to the line for the conditions. They need to keep moving forwards to maintain steerage. If we can find a way of getting them to be say 10 boat lengths back from the startline with a minute to go they would then have time to move up in a tidy fashion. There would be no opportunity for those who are early to bear off down the line because the fleet would not be stationary. There would be less panic by those fearing being stalled at the start. The whole thing would be more orderly - as it is now when they do form up well back.
SECURITY Nine syndicates with multi-million dollar budgets, the latest yachts and often billionaire backers sailing on board are competing for the chance to race cup holder Team New Zealand. "Well before Bali, probably in the wake of September 11, the police had spent a lot of time assessing the risks for the village," a spokesman for the police America's Cup operation, Jeoff Barraclough, told CNN. "There is absolutely no threat at this time. Since Bali, we are re-assessing risks on a daily basis." * The police operation involves 107 officers with 11 inflatable boats for patrolling Auckland harbour front. The syndicates have been advised by the police but also have their own security arrangements, including vehicle checks and camera surveillance. However, these measures are designed more to protect syndicate secrets rather than a terrorist attack. CNN.com / inside sailing website, full story: www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/sailing/10/16/ac.security.ppl/index.html
AND THE WINNERS ARE . . . CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: I know that dozens of people right now are saying, "Fix." Not true. Honest! Yes - it is true that Steve and Veronica are the only people that I know of those who were selected at random for this drawing. However, I was 3000 miles away from Annapolis when the drawing was done, and those in attendance can attest to the integrity of the process. Finally, congratulations to Steve and Veronica. Hope to see you both at the BEYC Pro Am / Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championship in November.
AROUND ALONE Standings Fleet Positions 06:00 UTC October 17, 2002 - CLASS 1: 1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux, Bernard Stamm, 6642 miles from finish; 2. Solidaires, Thierry Dubois, 56 miles behind leader; 3. Pindar, Emma Richards, 109 mbl; 4. Hexagon, Graham Dalton, 116 mbl; 3. 4. CLASS 2: 1. Spirit of Yukoh, Kojiro Shiraishi, 6829 miles from finish; 2. Spirit of Canada, Derek Hatfield, 23 miles behind leader; 3. Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America, Brad Van View, 30 mbl 4. Everest Horizontal, Tim Kent, 65 mbl. www.aroundalone.com
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * March 28-30, 2003: International Rolex Regatta, St. Thomas YC, US Virgin Islands. www.rolexcupregatta.com * July 15-19, 2003: J 24 Silver Anniversary Regatta, Sail Newport, Newport, RI. Several classes of spinnaker and non-spinnaker racing, a family cruise and boat parade on Narragansett Bay. On November 1, a notice of Race and Event schedule will be available: www.sailnewport.org * June 27-July 3, 2003: Swan European Regatta, Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, UK. - www.nautorgroup.com * July 27-August 2nd 2003: Swan American Regatta , New York YC, Newport, Rhode Island. www.nautorgroup.com * September 27-October 3, 2003: 10th biennial Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship, Annapolis YC, Annapolis, MD sailed in J/22s. - www.ussailing.org/riwkc/
STERN SCOOP
SORRY ABOUT THAT
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
