SCUTTLEBUTT No. 872 - August 6 2001
Scuttlebutt 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.
PROTEST DISALLOWED
(Following is a statement made by Josh Hall, Team Gartmore, concerning their protest against Kingfisher and Ecover in the EDS Atlantic Challenge race.)
Team Gartmore have not made any public comments regarding our protest of Kingfisher and Ecover during Leg 3 of the EDS Atlantic Challenge. We adopted this position as we are sensitive to the serious nature of the protest and the media implications that could arise from it. We were not, and are still not prepared to turn this issue into a public jury situation.
We had hoped that our protest would receive the fair hearing it deserves, but as it happens the protest has not been validated by the race jury and under race rules we have no rights to appeal this decision with this particular jury.
The reason for non-validation is that the jury believes we reported the incident outside the 4-hour limit allowed between observing an infringement and filing a protest. We strongly disagree with this decision and have documented proof that we filed our protest using the correct procedure within 4 hours of us confidently observing.
We were notified of the jury's decision on this just minutes after we crossed the finish line - close to one week after filing the protest. Excuse us for being cynical but we believe that the commercial and PR considerations of this event have driven this decision and that the timing of its notification to us is such that this issue was kept under wraps to allow the protested boats a clean finish and prevent us causing any embarrassment while we were still racing.
To be honest we, as a team, are now totally disillusioned with the race committee and the race jury.
Although we are not prepared to discuss this protest in the media or in public, we do feel it is now time to explain why we protested. We will only divulge the exact details of our evidence when we have taken this protest as far as we can , but I think the fact that it is the first time I have filed a protest in 20 years of offshore racing should make people realise that we are serious and have evidence.
Illegal routing is rife in our area of sailing. It can easily be hidden and offers a huge advantage to those who are prepared to manipulate and indeed break the rules. With the modern communications equipment carried on board the yachts and the ability to remotely check any e-mail addresses ashore or be networked to a team computer ashore in an attempt to circumvent the rules about actually being sent information, policing it is nearly impossible.
No one is more upset to have been presented with this information than Team Gartmore. However, from a moral standpoint and also from a racing rules standpoint, we had no option but to protest.
We did not seek this information in a covert way - it was freely given to us by the unwitting and somewhat na•ve router involved.
This router was in contact with two separate people from our crew, the skipper and the navigator. On separate telephone conversations, she gave the same verbal information to both. That this same information was misunderstood twice would be incredulous. We also received e-mails from her confirming her comments to us.
Her explanation to the race committee is totally different to that which she had given us on the phone before and, interestingly, matched Kingfisher's response. In the case of Ecover, we do not understand why a skipper who knows the rules inside out and has previously been an ardent critic of routing, would want information sent to his shore team and then not have it relayed somehow to the boat. The question of remote access of e-mails or networked computers comes up again. This simply reinforces our resolve to pursue the matter to the maximum.
The boats/skippers we are protesting in this matter are well known and are also good friends of ours. We are well aware of the implications that our protest has, professionally, privately and media -wise for all involved.
We carefully considered these implications as a crew, but the evidence presented to us leaves us no alternative but to pursue this protest, not for our own gain but for the good of the sport in general.
We have already decided that we will be taking our protest to a higher authority, the decision that we are currently discussing amongst ourselves and with our sponsor is whether we will continue racing in the EDS. The on-water racing has been some of the best we have all experienced - it is a great event. However, we feel that some of the fundamentals of yacht racing rules are being manipulated against us and we are not sure at all that we wish to accept that. - Josh Hall Skipper of Gartmore, 3rd August 2001
MORE EDS ATLANTIC CHALLENGE
With a mix of two long transatlantic passages and three shorter "inshore" legs, each boat needs to be optimized for the different conditions, and changing crews for the legs is part of an overall strategy. Some big guns are being called in for the short sprint to Boston. Racing aboard Gartmore will be JP Mouligne, winner of Class 2 in the last Around Alone race. Known to be a methodical and aggressive sailor, his intensity will be important on a short leg where every second counts.
Leg 3 winner Kingfisher is facing a different challenge. With skipper Ellen MacArthur returning to Europe to race multihulls, and project manager Mark Turner pressed with other responsibilities, the afterguard on Kingfisher will need some rebuilding. Under the capable command of Nick Moloney, fellow Australian Adrienne Cahalan and American Jonathan McKee will undoubtedly replenish the depth of talent. Cahalan, who raced Leg 1 on board Kingfisher, is a veteran of the Whitbread Round the World Race and brings her talents as navigator to the team.
Aboard the overall race leader Sill Plein Fruit, the crew changes are more academic than strategic. Their program has a number of very talented sailors and the changes in Baltimore are more to rotate in fresh crew to replace the weary ones, than it is to provide certain strengths for certain legs. Roland Jourdain, who sat out Leg 3, will be back in command and pressing to solidify his standing at the top of the leaderboard. - Meaghan Van Liew, www.edsatlanticchallenge.com
ADDENDUM: Here are odds posted on the SailNet.com website for the remaining two legs and the overall outcome of the EDS Atlantic Challenge (www.sailnet.com):
Roland Jourdain Sill Plein Fruits 3 to 1
Nick Moloney Kingfisher 5 to 1
Mike Golding ECOVER 8 to 1
Josh Hall Gartmore 10 to 1
Andrea Scarabelli FILA 15 to 1
Helena Darvelid Alphagraphics 30 to 1
WANNA SEE SOMETHING SLICK?
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LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
leweck@earthlink.net
(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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.)
* From Bill Menninger: Mark Gaudio likes to win, and the word fun is applicable to many of us only after we hit the dock. Along this line of thought, I am reminded of a George Twist quote, "I can't remember a race I won, not being fun". While both authors sound like their fun factor is only connected to winning. Find a crew that has your same level of intensity toward learning and winning and you are 90% of the way there! Sail with people you enjoy!
I am amaxed at the abandonment of the boat coming back from Hawaii. My immediate response was, why not get rid of the mast?, do anything to lessen the pressure on the step and hull. I was also reminded of sailors who used the sails to wrap around the outside of the hull to prevent a hole from sinking the boat. If they had that many days before abandoning, it sure seems like a lot more could have been done to save the vessel. I may be alone on this one, but it sound a bit fishy. What would Commodore Tompkins have done? What would Robert Flowerman have done?
* From Bob Anders: From what I have read so far about the abandonment of the Bonaire, it seems to me that the crew certainly did not put in a seaman like effort to save the ship. Perhaps the news media has not put out a detailed enough account yet. Why didn't they drop the mast? From current accounts there was as yet no hole in the bottom.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE
Hamble, England, August 3 - The illbruck Challenge team arrived here this morning following a closely fought tune-up race across the Atlantic with fellow competitors Team Tyco and Team News Corp. In the final hours of the 13-day crossing, the lead was exchanged several times with Tyco in the last stretch to the Solent finish line off Cowes. After finishing at 8:10 AM local time with Tyco only 11 minutes later and News Corp about an hour behind, illbruck Challenge skipper John Kostecki predicted that the Volvo Ocean Race will be a hotly-contested event.
illbruck Challenge led much of the 13-day crossing with an advantage of as much as 80 miles over Tyco and 120 miles over News Corp at one stage. A few days from the finish, the illbruck Challenge team was "parked" 350 miles from the Solent with no wind and meanwhile the competitors closed the gap with Tyco taking a 49-mile lead over illbruck Challenge. In the final day, the three boats were within three miles of each other.
"Next week, starting on August 12, we will compete in the Fastnet Race against many more of our competitors," said illbruck skipper John Kostecki. "This will allow us to test our short-leg strategies versus our long-leg strategies we are testing now on the trans-Atlantic. The Fastnet race is only 605 miles long but we have 3 legs of similar length in the Volvo Race. After the Fastnet, we will do our final preparations and measurement checks prior to the start of the Volvo. Both our shore team and sailing team will be ready for the start and we are all looking forward to the challenge." -www.volvooceanrace.org/homepage.html
U.S. TEAM RACE CHAMPIONSHIP
Newport, RI, August 5 - It took 108 races over three days to determine the winner of US Sailing's U.S. Team Race Championship for the Hinman Trophy, sponsored by Rolex Watch USA and Vanguard Sailboats, at the New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court. The winner was Spinnaker GBR1, which beat Meadowlark Lemon. The team, one of two entrants from Great Britain - and only the second non-American team to win the event in its 20-year history - won with a score of 3-2. Third was Whishbone, and fourth was Boston Longfellows. Fourteen teams competed.
It took 50 races to determine the winner of the New York Yacht Club Invitational Team Race for the Commodore George R. Hinman Masters Trophy. The winner was Yale Corinthian Yacht Club, which beat the host New York Yacht Club. Yale Corinthian won the finals 3-1. Third was Noroton, and fourth was St. Francis. Eight teams sailed.
Spinnaker GBR1, the US Sailing Team Racing Champion, was led by Stuart Hudson, a bronze medallist in the Team Racing Worlds in 1999; Steve Tylecote, gold medallist in the Team Racing Worlds in 1995; and Dominic Johnson, the UK Student National Champ in 2000. Crewing were Sally Cuthbert, Debs Kershaw and Amy Smith. (MEDOWLARK LEMONS: Zack Leonard; Peter Alarie; Kevin Hall; Katherine McDowell; Elizabeth Cleveland; Julie Papanek; WISHBONE: Timothy Fallon; Timothy Wadlow; Erin Largay; Graeme Woodworth; Karen Renzulli; Lee Lucas Woodworth.)
It was a star-studded cast for the Masters as well. The skippers for Yale Corinthian were Dave Perry, Yale '77 All American and a two-time Congressional-Cup winner; Sam Altrueter, Tufts '76 All American and College Sailor of the Year; and Ken Legler, University of Rhode Island '77 All American. Most extraordinary - inspiring, in fact - was that Legler sailed with two blind crewmembers: Matt Chao and Duane Farrar. Chao has been sailing for 20 years, winning five U.S. Blind championships and one Worlds. Farrar has been sailing for five years, "racing all the time." Chao said they concentrated on mechanics. "The feel of the boat. We couldn't really help with tactics."
NYYC Rear Commodore George R. "Jory" Hinman Jr. sailed for the second-place NYYC team. It is his father, Commodore George R. Hinman Sr., the 39th commodore of the NYYC, for whom both events are named. - Michael Levitt, www.nyyc.org
EASY TRANSITION
Most of Charlie Ogletree's sailing for the past couple of years has been hanging from a wire as he and Johnny Lovell campaigned a Tornado catamaran for Sydney Olympics. Recently however, Ogletree drove Mike Stone's Melges 24 in a talent-laden 23-boat fleet at the San Diego NOOD - and they won the event. Convincingly! How did a relative newcomer in this tough class find that kind of boat speed? It could be the complete inventory of Ullman Sails. Get an online price quote for your boat now. Improved performance is more affordable than you think: www.ullmansails.com
LASER SENIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Cork, Ireland, DAY 4: Today the sun returned to produce a light oscilating sea breeze allowing two more races to be completed. Overnight leader, Robert Scheidt BRA, carried on where he left off yesterday in the 6 to 7 knot wind winning his group in the first race after climbing from fifth at the first mark to second at the last mark and then overtaking his nearest rival, Karl Suneson SWE, on the last short windward leg approaching the finish when Suneson failed to cover him closely.
Just before the first fleet approached the first mark this afternoon two large killer whales were spotted at near the weather mark. Apparently the whales have been in the waters off Cork for the past few weeks but this is the first time they have been sighted on the course area. Fortunately they did not affec the races and they seemd unconcerned about 164 Lasers sailing in their patch of water.
1. BRA Robert Scheidt 6 pts; 2. SWE Karl Suneson 12 pts ; 3. NOR Peer Moberg 18; 4. SWE Daniel Birgmark 23; 5. GBR Paul Goodison 24.
Full results: www.laserinternational.org
U.S. SINGLE HANDED CHAMPIONSHIP
St. Francis Yacht Club - Final results: 1) Clay Bischoff. 18 Points; 2) Bryan Lake, 27 Points; 3) Vincent Porter, 37 points.
Complete results: www.stfyc.com/race-office/2001/oday_results.htm
STAR WORLDS
Medemblik, The Netherlands - Race One Results (105 boats): 1. USA Reynolds, Mark, 2. SWE Lööf, 3. GER Hoesch, 4. NZL Brady, Gavin, 5. BRA Grael, Torben 6. DEN Andersen, Benny, 7. USA . MacCausland, John 8. DEN Rasmussen, Christian 9. USA Brun, Vincent 10. FRA Rohart, Xavier 12. USA Mitchell, Ben. 29. USA . Szabo, George. - www.starworlds2001.nl
SOLO SPIRIT
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, AUGUST 6, 2001, 2:00 A.M. CDT (07:00 UTC August 6) - Yachtsman Steve Fossett's goal is to make the first solo round the world balloon flight. His flight continues to go very smoothly, according to members of his Mission Control team at Washington University in St. Louis. Now in his second day, Fossett is nearing Port Augusta in southeastern Australia, traveling at 52.2 mph (84 km/hr). He is expected to pass directly over Sydney within the next 17 to 18 hours, according to Mission Control science team coordinator Barry Tobias. Fossett is heading straight east at a steady altitude of 22,472 feet.
Because of the altitude, Fossett is currently breathing with the aid of oxygen tanks. He is heating the inside of the balloon capsule to protect himself from the frigid outside temperature of -5F (-21 C).
According to Mission Control meteorologist Bill Winkert, "weather conditions are excellent. He's just moving right along." Winkert does not expect Fossett to encounter any weather problems in the immediate future. - solospirit.wustl.edu
SANTA BARBARA TO KING HARBOR RACE
For the bigger boats, this 81-mile run down the Southern California coast was about as good as it gets. A spinnaker reach to the West End of Anacapa Island followed by great run to the finish line was almost too easy. Between Anacapa and Point Dune, the fleet jibbed downwind in 15-20 knots of breeze with great following seas.
Doug Baker's Turbosled Magnitude made the trip in under eight hours, less than a half hour behind the fastest multihull, Afterburner. However, later in the evening the wind died, leaving some of the 119 entries on the racecourse for more than 24 hours. Class winners include Locomotion, Cita, Lina, In the Fridge, Stark Raving Mad, Sidekick, La Diana, Friction Loss, Dead Spider and Incredible.
Complete results: www.khyc.org/sbkhfinal.html
THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM
Did the early settlers ever go on a camping trip?
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