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SCUTTLEBUTT 1947 -- October 18, 2005
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,
features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
RUSSELL
(Sailing World magazine has just posted an exclusive interview with Russell
Coutts about the new directions in his life. Here are a few brief excerpts.)
Sailing World: Do you miss not being involved with the America's Cup?
Russell Coutts: The short answer is no. I watched the fleet racing on TV
for the first time the other day. It looked impressive with that number of
boats, it looked great. But if somebody said to me, "Go down to Valencia
and spend every day out the water two boat testing for the next two years."
I don't think I'd want to jump into that.
SW: What else do you have on your plate for next year?
RC: 2006 is pretty much full now. I'm doing some Farr 40 sailing, doing
some lead-up regattas and the Worlds. I'm doing some TP 52 sailing on the
Med circuit. I'm doing some sailing on Morning Glory, and mixed in with
that I still want to do a little bit of match racing. I enjoy getting my
match racing guys together and doing a regatta with them. I'm sailing on a
Swan 601 for a few regattas. That pretty much fills the plate for next
year. If I can fit some more sailing around that, it'll be some more high
performance sailing.
SW: Is your collaboration with Paul Cayard for some fleet racing in
maxi-size yachts still active?
RC: It is on the table. That's in 92-foot boats, capable of easily doing
more than 30 knots downwind. We're just not saying any more on that at the
moment. Paul and I aren't in the business of making announcements on things
when we don't really have all the pieces of the pie in place. -- To read
the full Sailing World interview by Stuart Streuli:
http://www.sailingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=39453&typeID=419&catID=0&exclude=
GOING ON TOUR
BMW Oracle Racing announced a USA Yacht Club Tour that will take the only
American Challenger for the America's Cup to eight of the leading yacht
clubs in the United States in October and November. The US team will start
the tour October 24 at the New York Yacht Club in New York City and then
head to the Annapolis Yacht Club in Annapolis, MD, on October 27. The Team
then heads to its Challenging yacht club, Golden Gate in San Francisco on
October 28. The team will also visit St. Francis Yacht Club in San
Francisco on November 2; Long Beach Yacht Club, Long Beach, CA, on November
3; California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey on November 4; Seattle Yacht
Club, Seattle WA, on November 7; and conclude the Tour November 13 at San
Diego Yacht Club, San Diego, CA.
"With the America's Cup Class racing all taking place in Europe, we felt as
the only US Challenger for the Cup that it is important to visit sailors in
America to keep them up to date on the competition and to engage their
interest as we build toward the 32nd America's Cup in 2007 in Valencia,
Spain," said Chris Dickson, BMW Oracle Racing CEO and Skipper. "America
remains the spiritual home of the America's Cup so we want to do our part
in keeping the spirit alive."
At each club, the team will present video highlights of its 2005 racing
season, provide members with an insider's update on the campaign, and bring
members of the team's management, design and sailing team to provide
personal insights into the team that is trying to bring the Cup back for
America. At most of the clubs, team specialty items such as 18th man spots
on board the race boat during 2006 training in Valencia, Spain, as well as
unique high-quality items from the team's partners and sponsors, will be
auctioned to support each club's junior program or other club-designated
charity. -- www.bmworacleracing.com
PUTTING SOMETHING BACK INTO THE SPORT
(The Daily Sail subscription website spoke to Bruno Peyron about his latest
initiative with Orange and how he will sail his 125ft cat singlehanded.
Here are a couple of excerpts.)
Bruno Peyron entered a new phase in his sailing career this week with the
news that his French telecom giant sponsor are to continue their backing of
not only his 125ft Jules Verne Trophy-winning maxi-catamaran, Orange II,
but also Steve and Yvan Ravussin's trimaran Orange Project for the
forthcoming seasons. But the new five year deal Peyron has signed with
Orange is much more than mere boat branding. While the company are in the
process of rebranding, converting many France Telecom subsiduaries to the
Orange brand, Peyron says that their involvement with yachting this time is
for more philanthropic, 'putting something back into the sport' reasons.
Principally the raison d'etre of their backing is not simply to fund
Peyron's future multihull racing ambitions, but to give young and talented
or just plain talented sailors the opportunity to turn their hand to new
disciplines - although mainly offshore one would imagine - within our
diverse sport. How his new scheme will work exactly Peyron will decide
after looking at the options over the course of the next year. It is still
to be decided for example whether he will put a lot of people through this
program over a short period of time or whether he will take a smaller
'elite' group under his wing or what combination of these two he might try.
-- www.thedailysail.com
LINE SELECTION GUIDE ON-LINE
Now is a great time to look at your running rigging and plan your upgrades
and replacements. Check the Samson website for their line selection guide
and for splicing instructions to help make the process easy. The top
riggers across the country recommend WarpSpeed, Validator II, Progen,
AmSteel Blue, Apex, Samson ICE, UltraTech, and XLA Extra. Whether you are
looking for single braids or double braids, Samson are the lines of choice
for competitors in all classes. Also, don't forget Lashit! It's the sailors
duct tape on a string - for it's variety of uses. http://www.samsonrope.com
MATCH RACING
Hamilton, Bermuda -- Down to the wire sailboat racing and a reversal of
fortune marked the conclusion of Stage 2 of The Virtual Spectator ISAF
Women's Match Racing World Championship today. French sailor Claire Leroy
climbed back from the bottom of the fleet to finish first, while Marje
Bjorling the earlier leader from Sweden was knocked out of the competition
during the final race today. The top four finishers will sail in the semi
final and final rounds Tuesday.
Having sailed a near flawless regatta, Bjorling struggled throughout the
day, then received a penalty during the pre- start sequence in her final
race against American Betsy Alison, which cost her the regatta. She came
ashore still puzzled by the reason for the penalty and totally phased out
by her sudden downfall. "After fighting so hard it is difficult to lose it
through an umpire's call but that is the way it is in match racing,"
Bjorling said, adding.
As the Swedish team stood down, a young Danish team led by Nina Braestrup
finished their round robin in second place after sailing consistently over
the three days. Veteran sailor Betsy Alison finished third place after
defeating Marie Bjorling in the final race. "We really had some good races
today but did make mistakes. Being one of the older teams here, we have
that experience over the younger ones that sometimes helps us," Alison
said. "I also think it is great that older women are in the final four and
made the cut."
Another young woman making her mark in match racing is Sally Barkow of the
United States who made a fantastic comeback after her teammate Carrie Howe
fell overboard during their race against Betsy Alison. Barkow pulled Howe
back onboard just as Howe was ready to let go of the boat, and although the
Americans lost that race they went on to finish in fourth place. -- Laurie
Fullerton, www.vssailing.com
Hamilton, Bermuda -- After three days of classic match race sailing on
Hamilton harbour, six teams now qualify for round one of The Investors
Guaranty presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup which begins Thursday
with New Zealander Cameron Dunn at the top of the leader board after
finishing the series with a score of 9-1. During Monday's final round
robin, 20 + knots of breeze and shifty conditions gave those teams that got
off the starting line first and played the shifts the winning ticket.
Certainly Dunn and his team seized every opportunity handed to them.
New Zealander Cameron Appleton, who sails under the Triangle Rigging of
Bermuda flag with teammates Britt Jones, Peter Marington and Dee Smith, is
a popular favorite here. He has demonstrated decisive sailing and after
placing second in the round robin qualifiers.
Polish sailor Karol Jablonski arrived late to the regatta because of
passport issues but has made up for lost time to finish third qualifier. "I
prefer the light air but had a lot of assistance from my tactician John
Cutler out there today," said Jablonski who sails with Cutler and fellow
teammates Domingo Monnique of Spain, and American Hartwell Jordan in the
Spanish America's Cup challenge team Desafio Espanol. American Bill
Hardesty and his team from San Diego, California finished in fourth place
and are pleased that he will continue to the qualifying rounds. -- Laurie
Fullerton, http://www.kingedwardviigoldcup.com/index2.html
COMING HOME
The 32nd America's Cup comes home this week, returning to its host city of
Valencia after nearly three months on the road. Since the teams and event
organizers packed up and left home to sail in four Louis Vuitton Acts
(first in Malmö-Skåne and then in Trapani), many things have changed in the
Port America's Cup. Progress around the Port has continued over the summer,
with much of the work completed on the canal which will become a direct
link between the Port and the northern race area. The canal will open early
next year, and be in use for the 2006 Louis Vuitton Acts in Valencia.
Often the worst part of any trip is the unpacking, and that's what the 12
America's Cup teams will be doing this week. All of the boats, shipping
containers, tenders and equipment are due to be unloaded in Valencia early
this week. It's the final major 'unpacking' of the 32nd America's Cup, as
the 2006 Louis Vuitton Acts are in Valencia, as is the 2007 competition.
But for most of the teams of course, more unpacking is ahead. New boats
must be built in the country of the challenging Yacht Club, so apart from
Desafío Español, the 11 other teams will each be unloading some precious
cargo before April 2007. -- http://www.americascup.com/en/
NEWS BRIEFS
* Nominee for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award Finian Maynard
(IVB) set the mark for the Outright One Nautical Mile Record, reaching
39.97 knots on Walvis Bay Lagoon, Namibia and Valerie Ghibaudo (FRA) set a
Women's Outright One Nautical Mile mark of 33.69 knots, both subject to
ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC). Earlier
this year Maynard improved the 500 Metre Course record to 48.70 knots in
Saintes Maries, France. If ratified by the WSSRC, both times will mark the
inaugural One Nautical Mile records. --
http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1/Fh0ukB
* Yves Le Blevec (Point Mariage) has built a nice lead in the Transat 6.50
Charente-Maritime/Bahia. Just 700 miles from the equator, he has a 35.3
mile advantage over Corentin Douguet (E. Leclerc - Bouygues Telecom) and 36
miles on Alex Pella (Open Sea/Team Work). On the chase behind, competition
is fierce, with just 12 miles separating second placed Corentin Douguet
from ninth placed Mikaël Mergui (Crédit Agricole Skipper Challenge) as the
fleet approaches the doldrums. As planned a number of skippers are making
pitstops for repairs in Mindelo. -- Yachting Universe website, complete
English language story and standings: http://tinyurl.com/8r6yk
* Alan Field trailered his Martin 242 from Southern California to the Royal
Vancouver YC, and parlayed an uninterrupted string of single digit finishes
into a North American Championship -- the first time an out-of-area boat
has accomplished that feat in this class. Interestingly, three of the top
six boats were from California YC in Marina del Rey. Final results (33
boats - seven races with one discard); 1. Alan Field, 24 pts; 2. Jason
Rhodes, 28 pts; 3. Parkinson & Higgs, 30 pts; 4. Team Whitehawk, 30 pts; 5.
Michael George, 32 pts; 6. Brack Duker, 42pts.
--http://www.royalvan.com/racing_details.asp?ID=38
* Forty six boats competed in the 54th annual Lightning Frigid Digit
regatta was held this past weekend by the Severn Sailing Association in
Annapolis, Maryland. Two races were completed on Saturday before big wind
forced cancellation of the balance of the regatta. Final Results: 1. Allan
Terhune (Annapolis, MD), Katie Terhune, Jarret Lynn, 3 pts; 2. Neil Fowler
(Hyannis, MA), Todd Johnson, April Richards, 5 pts; 3. Jamie Allan
(Montreal), Jay Deakin, Chantal Leger, 13 pts; 4. Will Demand (Toms River,
NJ), 14 pts; 5. Debbie Probst (Buffalo, NY), 19 pts. --
http://www.severnsailing.org/results/2005/1016lightning.shtml
* Victoria 5, Mike Campbell's Alan Andrew's designed TP 52 -- subsequently
retrofitted with a canting keel -- is now being campaigned in New Zealand
by Simon Hull. -- Sail-World website,
http://www.sail-world.com/news.cfm?Nid=19578&RequestTimeOut=180
WHO LOVES THIS COLD, WET, NASTY WEATHER????
Martha doesn't mind it because she wears her brand new Railrider's Halifax
fleece-lined pants (you gotta check these out!) and awesome Patagonia
bodywear. Then she layers a Railrider's womens zip tee and Gill Fleece
jacket. She stays dry with her Henri-Lloyd Shadow Salopettes, Musto MPX
jacket and Dubarry Boots! Boy what a mish-mosh of gear, but she is warm and
dry! Visit the Team One Newport website for all the spectacular new gear
from Henri-Lloyd, Gill, Musto, Railriders, Dubarry, Magic Marine, Patagonia
and tons more! Or call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) and talk to a gear
expert! http://www.team1newport.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. This is neither 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. And please save your bashing,
and personal attacks for elsewhere.)
* From Steve Washburn: Vessels that require power derived from a engine to
be able to sail and could not sail without that engine are to me simply
"sail assisted powerboats". The rich and powerful are going to build what
they want--- and influence convenient changes in our rating and racing
rules to be able to compete against actual "sailboats". I am certainly
impressed and thrilled to see these boats on the water. I just do not
consider myself sailing against them on my boat, I am only competing with
the other sailboats on the water. To each his own.
* From Paul Kamen: Pete Pendelton believes that all this objection to
engine power for sail trim and ballast shifting "is a classic example of
why the old man sailing should stay in the old boat." Well, at least we
will be out sailing while you will be watching it on television. The point
here is that canting keels and power winches do nothing to advance the
sport for 99.9% of us. These "innovations" may generate ink for
high-profile sponsored events -- but follow the money. Those sponsors would
rather have us all sitting at home watching their commercials on TV (or,
dare I say it, reading about those races here on Scuttlebutt) than out
sailing our own boats.
* From Edward Rowe: On behalf of her skipper, Neville Crichton, may I
respond to the comments about 'Alfa Romeo' and her engine running while
sailing? The first comment to make is that it is not a requirement to have
the engine running while sailing. The yacht is quite capable of being
sailed with the engine switched off. This is because the winches may be
top-handled and even the canting keel may be operated - albeit slowly -
using battery power. When the canting keel is not being operated, but the
engine is running in standby mode ready for the canting keel operation,
excess hydraulic power is produced and this is used to operate the winches.
* From Frank Sticovich: Sponsorship, as difficult as it is to get, should
represent value for money for the sponsor. For ETNZ to decide and obtain a
TP52 (at $1.5m + running costs) plus two state of the art 40 footers (at
whatever cost) to sharpen the racing skills of their afterguard makes a
mockery of the whole idea of sponsorship, abuses the privilege given them
to spend the money wisely and degrades the integrity of their campaign.
Now, where can I find a sponsor stupid enough to buy me and run a TP52?
* From Jamie Jones, US Sailing Judge (With regard to Alex Stout's comments
about 470 Worlds and Propulsion): According to the 470 Class Rules,
(specifically 26.1 and 26.2), if the average wind speed is over 10 knots,
the RC may display flag O with the warning signal to signal that pumping,
ooching and rocking are allowed after the starting signal. FYI, the Finn
class has a similar rule in their class rules, except its above 12 knots
and flag Q.
* From Skip Whyte US 470 Class Coach: Alex Stout is apparently unaware of
the 470 class rule that permits unlimited pumping in winds over 10 knots.
But good for him for noticing that there was lots of action on the race
course. The 470 class has had great success with this rule in recent years.
The art of effective kinetics has advanced tremendously and resulted in
less kinetics in many situations, but higher quality all around. The
sailing in fun and free of jury anxiety when the pumping flag is up. Other
classes should give it try.
* From Lyn Reid, Commodore St. Thomas Yacht Club: Until recently tiny St.
Thomas Yacht Club in the Virgin Islands was known for the International
Rolex Regatta and world class match racer, Peter Holmberg. This summer a
talented group of junior sailors stole the show. In May they finished 2nd
at the High School Team Racing Championships, June brought a 1st and 5th in
Laser and a 19th in 420 at US Sailing's Youth Champs, July started with a
6th in Laser at the ISAF Youth Worlds and ended with extremely strong
showings in Laser and 420 at Hyannis Race Week and Buzzards Bay Regatta.
August was exceptional with 2nd's at both US Sailing's Junior Championships
the Smythe and Bemis Trophies and a 3rd at the O'Day Trophy (not bad for a
junior sailor at a senior event). The summer ended on a grand note with a
9th overall at the World Team Racing Championships in Newport. Not a bad
summer of sailing for this talented young group of athletes.
* From Alan Andrews: In reference to Jack Mallinckrodt's questions about
modifying the RRS to allow canting keel boats, most races modify the RRS in
the NOR, sometimes by inclusion of class rules, rather than the SI's. The
2005 Transpac NOR modified the RRS to allow both movable ballast and the
power to move it. The following text is available at
http://www.transpacificyc.org/05/PDF/tp05-nor.doc
16.4 -- For yachts entered in Transpac with moveable ballast, RRS 51
(moving ballast) shall be waived with respect to their declared and
measured ballast. For moveable ballast yachts, RRS 52 (manual power) is
also waived, but only to the shifting of ballast. All ballast systems shall
be capable of manual operation if powered systems are inoperable.
For the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race most of the modifications to RRS 51 & 52
are included in the Volvo Open 70 Class Rules 2.16.4
(http://www.volvooceanrace.org/pdf/VO70_Rule.pdf). The Volvo NOR
incorporates these in 2.1 (a) and other modifications to the RRS in section
2.8 and it too is available on line at:
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/pdf/NoticeofRace.pdf.
* From John Rumsey: Commercial ships seldom travel the tradewind routs,
(12-25 knots), generally traveling the great circle routes which cut
through the trades and calms between. This means little time for help from
sails or kites except perhaps from Cape Town to Australia or NZ. Also the
size of a sail or kite that would help would have to equal about the deck
area of the ship using it. I think a small atomic power plant would be a
much more effective solution.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS
A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.
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