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SCUTTLEBUTT 2092 - May 11, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.A DISNEY FEATURE FILM "Morning Light," a real-life adventure feature film recorded as it happens, whatever happens, will be part of next year's 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii in a project led by race veteran Roy E. Disney. Based on the premise of "the youngest crew ever to sail Transpac," the film will chronicle the recruitment, training and performance of sailors as young as 18 through the next race in July of 2007. On their own, they will sail a Transpac 52 called Morning Light---the working title of the film. None will be actors. There will be no script and no preconceived outcome. Disney said, "If we do our job right, I don't care as much whether they win or lose as how they come together as a group and wind up a team in the end. However they do is how they do. But we're giving them the equipment to win." Disney recently purchased the Transpac 52 Pegasus from software developer Philippe Kahn. The Transpac 52s Alta Vita and Rosebud have taken first place overall in the last two Transpac races on corrected time. Disney credited the TP 52 class executive director, Tom Pollack of Newport Beach, for inspiring the project. Olympic gold medalist sailor Robbie Haines will oversee sailing operations. Haines will lead a nationwide search for a crew of 10 or 11 sailors and about three alternates. They may come from the elite college sailing programs or other venues. Applications may be made soon through the website PacificHighProductions.com, currently under construction. Currently recognized as the youngest Transpac crew by average age are the seven sailors from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club who sailed the Cal 40 Argonaut to first place on overall handicap time in 1969. Six, including skipper Jon Andron, 22, ranged in age from 17 to 24; the seventh crew member, navigator Jay Aranjo, was 38. The Morning Light crew will probably average about 21, and they'll be on their own for the 2,225 nautical miles. Disney said, "They'll have a lot of professional assistance before the race. We're going to get Stan Honey to come in and spend a few days with these kids teaching them how to navigate, and we'll get them all to one of the Safety at Sea seminars. They're going to go off pretty aware of what they're doing." Once the crew is selected the young sailors will undergo months of intense training on Morning Light in Hawaii. "Those sessions in Hawaii will not just be for filming," Haines said. "We'll send them off around Molokai a coupe of times." The Molokai Channel leading into the finish at Diamond Head is one of the wildest parts of the race. The film, to be shot in High Definition theatrical quality, will be distributed by the Walt Disney Co. and is tentatively scheduled for release in theaters in 2008. -- Excerpts from a story by Rich Roberts, full story: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/0510/ WITHOUT ANY RESTRICTION "We aimed high with USA-87" This is the message Chirs Dickson, CEO and skipper of BMW Oracle Racing, wanted to convey in today's early morning press conference. There was a suspicion that something important was to be announced when the Challenger of Record invited the media for such a meeting before the normal Skipper press conference. Although he skillfully eluded some tricky questions from the large number of journalists present, Chris Dickson focused on the qualities of the new boat, calling her "perharps the most innovative one" in the history of the current American Cup Class boats. BMW Oracle did not want to make small, incremental changes to their previous boat USA-76 but rather first "cleared the table" and started designing "without any restriction". Obviously, the team relied upon the vast experience and know how of its designing, building and sailing teams to come up with a "radical" boat. USA-87 is faster than USA-76, according to Dickson, and the team decided to use even if she has sailed for only 20 days. According to Dickson, all three boats are very different between them and in fact are three very different answers to the exact same question: "What is a fast America's Cup boat in Valencia?". According to the BMW Oracle skipper, if we lined up NZL-84, ITA-86 and USA-87 in one room and took off their covers we would all be surprised by their differences. Yet they all are very fast boats. -- Excerpts from a story on the Valencia Sailing blog, http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/ FIRST HAND REPORT (Accomplished author G. Bruce Knecht was able to hitch a ride on ABN Amro One for the last leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. Here are a couple of excerpts from the story he wrote for the Wall Street Journal.) The wind speed exceeded 30 knots and a series of squalls buffeted us with 42-knot winds. Worse, the breeze was coming from the north, the direction we wanted to go. That meant Betty (ABN Amro One) was repeatedly climbing waves that were unseen except for the frothing white at their peaks and then falling into the trough on the other side, a scenario that causes fragile composite-hulled racing boats to break. Remarkably, this was the strongest wind the crew had sailed into throughout the entirety of the seven-month race. They had occasionally seen stronger breezes, but this was the first time such heavy wind was on the nose. During the early hours of Tuesday morning, Black Betty's deck became a war zone as the crew battled rain and stinging sleet to reduce the size of the sails we were flying. The bowmen, Jan Dekker and Justin Slattery, had the toughest tasks. Twice they had to change our headsail-wrestling each sail down to the deck, keeping track of lines in the darkness and hoisting replacement sails while the hull crashed off the waves and tons of water washed over the deck. No one slept until after 7 a.m. Even then, it was only for catnaps and no one bothered to take off their foul-weather gear or boots when they lay down on their bunks or on the floor. They knew that another sail change would require "all hands on deck." I'm only onboard for this one leg, but it's easy to see how grueling the race is. The conditions onboard-from the uncomfortable bunks to the open toilet and freeze-dried food-are Spartan, and the work is constant. The only place to be is either on deck or lying down in the carbon-fiber black cabin. The only place to sit is the swing-like seat where Stan Honey, the navigator, works with a pair of computers and weather information to plot the optimal course. Only when we crossed the finish line near the southern tip of Manhattan at 4:06 a.m. and learned that the closest of the other boats still had 23 miles to go did Moose break into a smile. Shaking hands with everyone on his crew, he said, "Nice work guys-that was a real toughie of a race, so this is a particularly sweet victory." -- G. Bruce Knecht TRIVIA QUESTION Pascal Gelebart-Begue made this statement about the death of a noted sailor: "The sea was so much in love with him that she wanted to keep him for her alone." To whom was Pascal referring? (Answer below) OFFICIAL RBYC BERMUDA RACE GEAR You heard right! Team One Newport and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club are working together to bring you a great line of Newport to Bermuda gear. It includes t-shirts, polos, vests, and duffels. Plus, you can put the logo on other quality sailing gear that Team One Newport provides. If you're going to Bermuda, check your gear and make sure you're ready for the potentially cold and wet weather! We even have a checklist for you! If you have questions, call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) or go online and click "Ask Martha" and she'll get you into the proper gear. http://www.team1newport.com ADDED PASSION Team Shosholoza came off the water upbeat last night after winning two informal practice match races against the French Areva Challenge ahead of the start of the week long Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 match racing regatta on Thursday. The South African performance in dying 12 knot breezes and a big swell caught the attention of the official America's Cup media who commented on a website article last night that Team Shosholoza's recent appointment of top international professionals could see them finishing in the middle of the fleet more regularly. "Italian America's Cup veteran Tommaso Chieffi was at the helm of the South African boat, with American Dee Smith calling tactics. Smith's arrival in the team coincided with an upswing in Shosholoza's fortunes last year and no doubt he has helped turn the South Africans into an even tighter unit over the past winter. "Even in today's practice session, Smith's voice could be heard most clearly of all aboard Shosholoza. He is a colorful character who brings added passion to an already colorful team. With Chieffi and the recent addition of another top Italian match racing talent, Paolo Cian, the South Africans are beginning to surround themselves with the kind of expertise that should see them challenging the middle order on a regular basis." -- Supersport, full story: http://www.superxtra.co.za/default.asp?id=178648&des=article BLOWN AWAY As Dee Caffari nears the end of her attempt to become the first woman to sail solo and non-stop westwards round the world, she talks about the email she has been receiving. "I have just been blown away by the messages I have received over the last couple of days and even shed a tear or two today. I remembered the days heading south in the Atlantic when the messages of support bought tears to my eyes as I was adjusting to being alone for this adventure, and then in times when the conditions were at their worst and I felt so remote in the Southern Ocean there were tears. Now the tears are from being astounded at the effect Aviva and I are having on so many lives around the world. It is truly amazing and whilst much of the praise is to Aviva, the shore team, and myself, it is your support and messages that have kept me going. "The opportunity to share the highlights and the low points of the adventure with you in the daily log has helped me enormously. I have enjoyed taking you all on the journey with me around the world." With 1300 miles still to go on this voyage that began on November 20, Caffari advanced 148 miles in the last 24 hours. -- http://www.avivachallenge.com PECKING ORDER The Louis Vuitton series (acts 10, 11 and 12), which includes match racing, will be staged at the 2007 America's Cup venue until June 2 as the 12 teams continue to test and fine-tune their boats. Team New Zealand head Grant Dalton said the New Zealand syndicate had tried out both their boats - NZL84 and NZL82 - for nearly a month. "We intend to race NZL84 and we will be going out to win," Dalton said. "What's the point in racing NZL82 - it's an old boat, and we know everything we want to know about where it fits into the America's Cup fleet's pecking order. We want to validate NZL84's performance in testing in Auckland and in Valencia against real opposition. If any of the other teams don't race their new boats it's their loss." -- StuffNZ website, full story: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3663685a1823,00.html ISAF WORLD SAILING GAMES The ISAF World Sailing Games got underway Wednesday, with the opening exchanges on Lake Neusiedl in south east Austria blessed with fantastic breezy conditions. The Lasers are the biggest fleet and they encapsulate all that the World Sailing Games is about. As well as featuring the top stars of the class, the fleet includes sailors from every continent. Some of the smaller sailing nations competing include the US Virgin Islands, Peru, Armenia Uruguay, Moldova, Tunisia, the Seychelles, Korea, Japan and Malaysia. Sailors from Barbados, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador are competing in the Laser fleet thanks to funding from the ISAF Athlete Participation Programme (APP), which supports sailors from developing sailing nations so they can attend the Games, and help some of its magic back to their home countries. -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j17Fh`uqr COMING TO ROCKEFELLER CENTER BMW Racing Racing, will display USA 49 -- a 2000-generation America's Cup Class boat -- in New York's Rockefeller Center June 15 - July 2. The display will allow visitors a close-up look into the cockpit of the 80-foot, carbon fiber sailboat that will sit at a dock at the midtown Manhattan landmark. The 110-foot high mast will tower over the racing yacht, standing in the same place as the traditional Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. Exhibit highlights include boat pools with three-foot, remote-controlled, mini America's Cup boats for racing, an America's Cup historical pavilion curated by Mystic Seaport, and real-time racing footage on a large screen from Valencia, Spain, where the American team is competing in it is bid to win the Cup back for the U.S. -- http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060510/nyw145.html?.v=46 ULLMAN SAILS THE TROPHY PROVIDER, SDYC YACHTING CUP Ullman Sails customers collected 13 trophies in 14 classes at this year's San Diego Yachting Cup. Ullman customers continue to rely on the winning speed advantage at all levels of competition. Congratulations to Division I: "Taxi Dancer," "Chayah," and "Staghound"; Divison II: "Locomotion"; Division III: "Penguin"; Division IV: "Voodoo"; J/109: "Linstar"; J/105: "Bold Forbes" and "Wings"; J/120: "Caper"; Schock 35: "Ripple," "Whiplash," and "Perfect Circle." If you and your team are ready for the "Fastest Sails on the Planet," contact your local Ullman Sails loft or representative and visit us online at http://www.ullmansails.com SAILING SHORTS * Grant Wharington, owner and skipper of Brunel has been replaced by Matt Humphries as skipper for Thursday's transatlantic crossing to Portsmouth, citing ill health as the reason. Mark Bartlett, 20, will make up the void in the crew left by Wharington, who did not reveal the nature of the illness, but said he will return home to Australia immediately to seek a medical diagnosis of his condition. "I haven't consulted a physician at this stage, but I just haven't been feeling all there this last 48 hours and I just need some time to step back," Wharington said. * After nearly seven weeks in Asia, Ellen MacAarthur and the crew of B&Q crossed the start line off Terengganu, Malaysia Wednesday at 10:38:38 UTC, to start the final leg of the Asian Record Circuit. This is the final sprint south, towards Singapore as B&Q sails the final 280 miles on leg twelve, as they look to establish the final and 13th record on this circuit. -- http://www.teamellen.com/ * According to a press report in the NZ Herald, Graham Dalton's 15m yacht passed its first test yesterday in preparation for the Velux 5 Oceans single-handed race, which starts in Spain in October. The yacht was flipped over in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour to ensure it could right itself if it overturned at sea. According to the race's website, this is the only boat entered in the Open 50 class of the Velux 5 Oceans round the world race. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com * Mike Sanderson came close to speaking the truth that has been clear in the Volvo Ocean Race for some time now. Having sat at the top of the leaderboard since the end of the opening leg, he brought ABM Amro One into New York for yet another win and allowed himself to think of the outright victory that will surely be his. "We're nearly there," said Sanderson, in Manhattan at the conclusion of the short but intense 400-mile sixth stage from Baltimore. -- Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/meuae MAKING ALINGHI'S FIRST TEAM Thirty four sailors, one boat and a big decision, but not yet. By 2007, the team will have a pretty good idea of who will race on the America's Cup defending yacht, but in the meantime, the crew rotates and will continue to do so. Ed Baird will be helming Act 10, last year both Peter Holmberg and Jochen Schuemann took turns at the wheel, and all three maintained a winning streak taking 31 out of 33 match race wins between them. This team rotation is quite unique: "We run a squad and everybody has a chance to sail. We hope that each guy is good enough in his position to sail on any given day," comments Brad Butterworth, skipper and tactician. The advantages of this philosophy are two-fold; one, you have two world-class crews which keep the in-house racing competitive and two, when the America's Cup match comes around in 2007, each crew member has a back-up. As for how the final selection process is done, it is really too soon to tell, but Baird gives some insight: "We have a group of people within the sailing team who is responsible for keeping track. They will slowly formulate those people that will go racing in the end." Ed and Brad will be the fixed crew for Act 10, but for the rest, as Jochen Schuemann, sports director explains: "We will have a starting configuration for the first day and then we start rotating and as people really perform when it is their turn, then they will stay longer or shorter in their positions." -- http://www.alinghi.com TRIVIA ANSWER When Pascal Gelebart-Begue said, "The sea was so much in love with him that she wanted to keep him for her alone.," the comment was in reference to the death of noted French sailor Eric Tabarly. (This trivia question came courtesy of the book, "Bottoms Up!" by Robert McKenna. Book details are available at http://tinyurl.com/m568h) 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 Dave Reed, Editor, Sailing World Magazine: Allow me to clarify Annie Linskey's misquoting me in her story about the National Sailing Hall of Fame. I cringed when I read it, knowing full well I'd get skewered. I remember saying, "...Paul Cayard's El Toro." Annie wasn't familiar with the El Toro, so I described it to her as being "like an Optimist." Easy mistake. With regards to the Hall itself, I too, feel its current racing focus is one-dimensional and it would benefit by embracing more of the sport -once it has permanent home with adequate space. The Museum of Yachting in Newport and the Herreshoff establishments in Bristol do have incredible collections, but they tend to focus on a narrow niche at the more glamorous upper end of the sport. My point to Annie was that I hope the National Sailing Hall of Fame, which at the moment is merely a collection of existing Hall of Fames (ours included), will embrace sailing's grassroots and "eclectic" elements as well. How cool would it be to display a vintage International 14 or 505? Hobie's first 14 or 16? Douglass' original Flying Scot renderings? A Buddy Melges-autographed A Scow spinnaker hanging from the rafters? When Robert Scheidt won his eighth Laser World title, did anyone think to ask for his rudder, his sail, or hell, even his hiking strap? Having a place to "hang" this kind of stuff could encourage each of us to think about preserving today what might be of interest later. * From T.J. Perrotti: (Re: Bob Tiedemann): Bob's tireless dedication and efforts to restore so many wonderful vintage yachts not only allowed the world to appreciate and share in the beauty of these sculptures of the sea, but so inspired people of all ages to embrace the serenity of time spent on the water -- under the tender embrace of some glistening, varnished mahogany -- and to drift not only with the wind and current, but back through time to an era where civility, mannerisms, and pride were upheld to the highest standards. In every sense, he was a gentleman and a gentle man. Surely, his example of excellence in humanity remains steadfast at the helm, diligently guiding us all towards happy horizons and our own peaceful sunsets. Sail on, Bob, sail on ... CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS To keep a healthy level of insanity, finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy." Special thanks to Team One Newport and Ullman Sails. |
