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SCUTTLEBUTT 1450 - November 4, 2003Powered 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 and personal attacks for elsewhere. PETER HOLMBERG While the rumour mill runs rife, Virgin Islander, top match racer and America's Cup veteran Peter Holmberg has come back home - for the time being - and is considering his future after his rollercoaster ride with Larry Ellison and the Oracle BMW challenge for the America's Cup; and his future looks rosy, he's getting married, building a home and weighing his options as a professional sailor and America's Cup participant. "My girl and I came back down to the VI and looked around trying decide where was home, and it was a pleasant surprise. Either my eyes brightened or the islands have got a little bit better but it was a really enjoyable feeling to come home and we looked around at different islands and St Thomas is still the place we like the most," said Peter. With the next America's Cup five years away, Peter wants to take some time off and do other things before re-joining the America's Cup fray. He's given himself two years to get his life back. Having bought some land on St Thomas and designed a house, he's preparing to build. He gets married in December. While he's looking at his America's Cup choices, he's in no rush and after his last experience and to wants to weigh his options. "I don't need the Cup. If it comes, the perfect deal, I'll take it but I'm able to make a living professional sailing and live in the VI. That's just about as close to an ideal life as I can imagine. I think it's the right mind set for looking at the Cup." With rumours flying that he's joining Alinghi and no official comment from either party, reading between the lines it seems that Peter is close to signing a deal with someone. Knowing that the key teams are quietly assembling now, he's aware that if he leaves it too late he may have missed the boat. He has no interest in a four-year training program with the view that two to two and half years is more than enough time to train a sailing team. An early relocation doesn't seem to be in his game plan but he would expect to stay involved and relocate two years out. Next up he'll be competing this week at the Bitter End ProAm against Russell Coutts, Ed Baird, Andy Burdick and Dawn Riley. - Alastair Abrehart, full story: http://www.caribbeanracing.com/artman/publish/printer_364.shtml GOING FOR BROKE Peter Bromby is going for broke in his quest to avoid the bridesmaid position at a second successive Olympic Games. Bermuda's Male Athlete of the Year and world-ranked Star Class skipper has joined forces with one of sailing's giants - Peter Holmberg - as he steps up preparation for next summer's assignment in Athens. Starting this month and running right up to the Olympiad, Holmberg will work with Bromby and his crew, fine-tuning their performances. Holmberg is a former Olympic silver medalist in the Finn Class. Since that success in 1988, the US Virgin Islander turned pro and counts two world championships among his several international accolades. "He will be coaching us in Miami and hopefully he will bring some new ideas to the table. In addition to that we've ordered some new equipment to help analyze our mast and sail shape and our mast performance and that's going to help us a lot. We're looking to get consistency in our boat speed throughout a wider variety of conditions," explained Bromby, disclosing that he is setting up a training base in the Florida, USA, hub. "We'll probably be training about ten days at a time - short, intensive programmes as opposed to long drawn-out ones," said Bromby who was fourth in the Star at the 2000 Olympics. Assessing his chances in Athens, the Bermudian - now ranked among the best in his class - believes they "are as good as anybody's". As the crunch time draws, Bromby faces another challenge - choosing which of his alternating crew - Martin Siese or Lee White - will accompany him to the Greek capital. The Miami training stints as well as competing in another ten or so regattas next year should bring him closer to a decision. - Gayle Alleyne, The Royal Gazette, full story: http://tinyurl.com/th1q WHERE ARE THEY NOW Three years after Pete Goss's ill-fated Team Philips project came to a tragic end when his radically designed 120-foot catamaran was abandoned while undergoing sea trials (for The Race in 2000), Goss is embarking on his next challenge - walking to the South Pole. Together with his teammate and fellow Royal Marine Alan Chambers, Goss is planning to close the chapter of arguably one of the most famous expeditions ever. They plan to follow in Captain Scott's footsteps after his tragically unsuccessful attempt to be the first person to reach the South Pole on foot in 1911. Goss and Chambers started training for the 90-day expedition in 2002, and in April 2003 they went to the North Pole in preparation for this month's South Pole departure. But lack of funds has forced the postponement of the expedition for 12 months. The sum of money raised reached was £100,000 but to commence the journey they need a total of £360,000. - Sue Pelling, Yachting World, http://tinyurl.com/timy SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM! Any time you start getting your gear together to go to a regatta, the first thing on you mind will be your Camet Padded sailing shorts and pants. You may already own some, but now is the time to get on the Camet web page and look at the different models and colors they have. The Bermuda, Aruba, 3000, Cargo, and Women's Ocean shorts are all made out of the fast drying, breathable Supplex (UV 40+) and with the Cordura seat patch to hold the foam pad that will help you get through those long hours on the rail. Check them out at http://www.camet.com MADE FOR TV Is your enthusiasm for sailing so intense you never miss the occasional sailing segment on ESPN? Unfortunately for those of us who like to watch sailboat racing on TV, our sport doesn't produce gripping footage; proof is in the numbers, as ratings don't exactly soar. A larger sailing audience would command more coverage; imagine viewing a channel dedicated to sailing. The America's Cup gets the best spots on TV, but the next Cup is scheduled for 2007. So what's a sailing fanatic to do? Stay tuned for the CarbonCat Racing League, a new outfit promising high speeds, exciting shoreside racing, and TV coverage. The idea isn't new. Australian TV viewers were introduced to Aussie 18 sailing years ago; thrilling clips of crash-and-burn racing were broadcast between cricket matches. The Pro Sail Formula 40 league, starring the likes of catamaran whiz Randy Smyth, had a go at American television. More recently, the One-Design 48 and 49er classes tried getting their racing on TV. The Swedish Match Tour, the international pro match-racing circuit, gets some airtime in this country and much more in Europe. In New England, sailors can view regional footage of the sailing lifestyle on "Let's Go Boating," a show broadcast on the New England Sports Network. The new cat-racing league, scheduled to launch next April, is marketing itself as a made-for-TV event: fast boats in big cities with an educated and affluent audience. But with sailing's unimpressive TV track record - only the Cup and Gary Jobson's seasonal reports on ESPN are steady features - can the new guys make it on the air? Racing is scheduled to begin next April in Annapolis. By design there are no big-name racers signed up. CCRL CEO Craig McBurney plans to develop young sailors and build teams, rather than having teams develop independently and show up self-sponsored. CCRL will own the boats and the teams, and racers will be employed by CCRL. Construction is under way on the first Firebird, a 26-foot carbon-fiber catamaran. The Martin Smith design, which is built by Still Water Design in Chelsea, Massachusetts, weighs 1,400 pounds; beams and mast are also built of carbon. McBurney plans to have six Firebirds touring the East Coast in 2004, spending one month each in Boston, New York, Baltimore, and Miami, plus six boats on the West Coast (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle). - SAIL Magazine, full story: http://www.sailmagazine.com/news/NEWS TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE Le Havre, 3rd November 03 - The fleet racing in the Transat Jacques Vabre yet again has been subjected to harsh weather conditions generated by the strong low pressure moving eastwards, coupled with heavy cross seas off Ushant as they head out of the English Channel into the Atlantic. The latest casualties include: * Open 60 Objectif 3, skippered by Spaniard Javier Sanso, dismasted early Monday morning and has since withdrawn from the race * Mollymawk, the only remaining 50ft multihull, hit an unidentified object and given extensive flooding, skipper Ross Hobson decided to abandon the race and get the boat into Southampton. * Open 50 monohull Labesfal, skippered by Portugese Ricardo Diniz and Brit Mark Taylor, announced their retirement after pulling into Brixham due to a damaged forestay. * One of the race favourites, Emma Richards and Mike Sanderson on Open 60 Pindar, pulled into Brest Monday to announce that they were withdrawing from the race due to extensive flooding and subsequent technical problems. * Bernard Stamm reported in Monday that Cheminées Poujoulat/Armor Lux has had major ballast problems which has caused their boatspeed to drop in the upwind conditions, but they are bearing their bad luck with patience. A quick number check leaves us with no more Class 2 multihulls, 4 out of 5 Open 50 and 14 out of 17 Open 60 monohulls. - Event website, full report: http://www.jacques-vabre.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Emma Richards "When we saw the weather forecast before the start on Saturday we joked that we had about a 50/50 chance of surviving the first four days, and unfortunately, that has proved to be the case. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems crazy that the multihulls were delayed until Wednesday but it was deemed okay to send us out there." - Yachting World, full report: http://tinyurl.com/tjyb The Scuttlebutt website has a slew of Open 60 and Open 50 pictures before the casualty count occurred: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos FOR SALE Brindabella, an 80' icon of Australian maxi yachting. Sydney Hobart line honors and race record holder. Outstanding, all-around ocean racing yacht. Brindabella's current configuration ensures she is equally at home around the cans, blue water racing or sailing short-handed. For further details, contact info@brindabella.com or see at http://www.brindabella.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar NEWS BRIEFS * The on-line recruitment program signaling the second phase of the OzBoyz Challenge - Australian Syndicate for the 2007 America's Cup commences Wednesday November 5 at http://www.ozboyzchallenge.com * Portuguese fishermen are protesting against the Lisbon+Cascais bid to host the America's Cup. The action, which began Monday, has seen fishermen in their boats blockade most of the intensive network of rapid ferries operating between the two banks of the River Tagus in Lisbon. "It's to protest against the arrogance of the government who has ordered the demolition of the terminal of the fishing boat in order to built the structure to host the America's Cup", said Joaquim Pilo, leader of fishermen trade union. - http://www.cupineurope.com * Entries in next year's West Marine Pacific Cup have now reached 49 and this does not include some of the maxis that are expected to be taking part, most notably Robert Miller's record breaking schooner, Mari Cha IV. The organisers are advising that entries should be made as soon as possible as the entry list is nearly full (http://www.pacificcup.org). In a new move the Board of Directors of the Pacific Cup Yacht Club have passed a motion to allow movable ballast boats to enter the race whether that be water ballast or swing keel. - http://www.thedailysail.com * Annapolis, MD (November 2, 2003) - Captain Brian McCormack, Director of Naval Academy Sailing, presented Hank Stuart and his team the Lloyd Phoenix Trophy on Sunday, representative of the US Offshore Championship. Stuart of Rochester, NY, led the regatta from the start. The championship began Friday with three buoy races with winds from 7-12. Saturday's distance race and Sunday's buoy race were sailed in light breeze. Area A's Warren Hudson was second followed by Area B's Team skippered by Bruce Kuryla. - US Sailing, complete results: http://www.ussailing.org/championships/Lloyd * Tim Healy of Newport, RI won the 55 boat 2003 J-24 Hillman Capital Management East Coasts Championships with bow Gordon Borges (Newport, RI), mast Nick Judson, (Nantucket, MA), cockpit Dave Crocker (Boston, MA) and tactician Nick von der Wense (Annapolis, MD). The five race series hosted by Severn Sailing Association was dominated by Indian Summer conditions, light winds and warm temperatures in the 70's. Mike Hobson of Annapolis, MD finished second with an all local crew, while Alec Cutler showed his versatility by winning the Top Amateur award for finishing third. Complete results - http://www.severnsailing.org/results/2003/1101j24.shtml A PRODUCT WE HOPE YOU'LL NEVER NEED Realizing quickly that a Man Overboard has occurred is the most critical element in the successful resolution of every sailor's worst nightmare. Sea Marshall's CrewGuard, CrewMonitor and CrewFinder quipment provides a timely alert and direction finding, with audible and visual alarms - including the capability to interface with your Ockam system, turning every display into a visual emergency repeater. For details about these essential components for offshore sailing, contact Chip Barber (chip@chbarber.com) and Tom Davis (tom@ockam.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 Dieter Loibner: In response to Rich Roberts, a lot in life is about showing up, as we all were taught. There is nothing wrong with being a no-name in the top 20 because persistence is important and must be honored, for the health of the sport. Here is to people who show up for every damn race and make it fun for those who win every damn race. * From Steve Girling: (Re - Rich Roberts letter in Butt 1448) It's precisely this sort of ranking system that inspires strong roots and broad wings in a class like the Etchells. It's the 'no-names' (as you so politely refer to them) that make the class what it is and believe me there's depth wherever you sail in this class like so many others. Few ranking systems are perfect, but this one provides a fair reflection of performance ahead of attendance over time. (Etchells rankings read like a who's who of international yachting - Conner, Miles, Childerley, Bertrand, Smith, Kneulman, Fogh.) Ken Read's performance at the 2003 Worlds was awesome. Unfortunately, due to other commitments, he didn't make it to New Zealand '02, Great Britain '01, San Diego '00 and Australia in '99. If your point is one of dissatisfaction with the implication or subtext of the Butt headline towards Ken you should have said so and I would agree. However, to reward a World Champion with the top spot in the rankings for competing (and winning) two events in 2003 would strike at the healthy heart of any strong class. I sincerely hope that Ken will be on the line for regattas next year and that he intends to defend his crown in Australia '04 * From Chris Ericksen: Rich Roberts' comments about sailing's ranking systems and that these systems--including that of the Etchells class--tend to reward good sailors who participate in more than one major regatta is accurate. I see no problem with this. Dennis Connor and Stewart Childerly are both two-time Etchells Worlds winners who regularly sail in local and regional regattas while John Bertrand is (like Connor) an America's Cup winner who is an avid and active Etchells sailor. Their contributions to and support of the Etchells class are beyond question--just as is the fact that Ken Read was the best Etchells sailor at the one ranking regatta in which he sailed in the last couple of years. CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL If lost in the wilderness, don't shoot a signal flare to facilitate your rescue (this is what started one of the recent San Diego, CA fires, which led to the loss of 2,232 homes, 14 lives, and over 281,000 acres burned). |
