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SCUTTLEBUTT 2057 - March 23, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.RESTRUCTURING If you've paid attention at all, you know that US Sailing is restructuring. The national governing body of the sport (encouraged by the International Olympic Committee) has been reorganized so that the new Board of Directors is much smaller than the old and, in theory, will be more effective. US Sailing President Janet Baxter describes it as, "A very big deal to those of us going through it, but most of the sailors in America will never notice. The primary work is still the same, and US Sailing programs are the same." The new-look US Sailing recently wrapped up its Spring Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, so the editors of Sail invited Janet Baxter to offer a few words from the helm. At a conceptual level, she said, the new board is transformed from a constituent-based body with 49 members to being knowledge-and-experienced-based, with each of the 14 members now representing voices across disciplines. We're going to give Janet Baxter the floor. Here's what she had to say: "The new Board of Directors was born over the weekend of March 18-19, and along with the benefits of efficiency we know that with a smaller board we incur the risk that its members may not know what's going on in every corner of the sport. So we've created a backup group called the House of Delegates [consultants to the Board, if you will] to preserve that constituent-based view. There were 43 people at that table over the weekend; they're still inventing themselves." "Last year, frankly, there was squabbling. Somebody didn't like this, or somebody didn't like that. As of the Spring Meeting we seem to have moved beyond that. We lost a few people, but others, whether they got everything they wanted or not, decided to roll up their sleeves and say, OK, let's get on with it. It seemed to me there was a new excitement, higher energy, more laughter. "Our new executive director, Charlie Leighton, is a strong businessman with good fundraising skills and good contacts. He has the staff energized, including some new hires, and we're coming back around to where we can challenge ourselves with questions about what we're really doing for our members, and what we ought to be doing, and how to bring in new members from the many people who race sailboats in this country without being part of US Sailing except perhaps for buying a rule book. ~ Brief excerpt from a story on the Sail magazine website, full story: http://sailmag.com/JanetBaxterInterview/ BIG DAY Wednesday was a milestone day for the Italian Luna Rossa Challenge as it officially opened its new base in Valencia and christened its new boat, ITA 86, 'Luna Rossa'. Over 700 invited guests were on hand for the event. The new boat was shrouded from deck to ground by a 'modesty skirt' for the ceremony. The boat was blessed by Monsignor Esteban Escudero, Auxiliary Bishop and General Vicar of Valencia's Archdiocese. Muccia Bertelli broke a bottle of champagne over the bow, before the boat was lowered into the water for the first time to applause from the crowd. In a departure from its two previous Cup campaigns in Auckland, the new Luna Rossa boat is a striking jet black, as opposed to the silver colour that inspired the 'silver bullet' nickname the team acquired. Following the morning launching, Luna Rossa skipper Francesco de Angelis announced the team hoped to sail the boat for the first time on Thursday. And he said at this point, he expects the Italians will race the new boat in the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts this year. With new boats coming on stream for several teams, de Angelis was asked whether the form guide we've seen to this point will be turned around when racing begins this year. "Nobody can answer that," he said. "We have to see what happens. All the teams have done a lot of work with a lot of very smart people, so it will be interesting to see. I think we'll have a very strong fleet of competitors this year." ~ America’s Cup website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/h7642 For photos of the boat and the base: http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/ VERSATILE Movistar watch captain Chris Nicholson took a day off from sailing today – to go sailing. Swapping 70 feet for 40, Nicholson took the helm of a Volvo Extreme 40 during the second day of the Grand Prix Series in Rio. Sailing with team members Diogo Cyolla (POR), Gregg Homann (AUS), and Mauricio Santa Cruz (BRA) on the Volvo Ocean Race boat Nicholson, an experienced 49er sailor, managed to score a second, fifth and a fourth in mixed conditions to finish day two in third place overall. Team Motorola-CHR helmed by Leigh McMillan (GBR) set the days pace, winning the first race in 12 knots of breeze and finishing second in each of the remaining two races. Standings after seven races: 1. Basilica, Alister Richardson (GBR) 60 pts; 2. Motorola – CHR, Leigh McMillan (GBR) 58 pts; 3. Volvo Ocean Race, Diogo Cyolla (POR), 40 pts; 4. Tommy Hilfiger, Randy Smyth (USA), 38 pts; 5. Holmatro, Mitch Booth (AUS), 35 pts. ~ www.volvoextreme40.org NOT QUITE READY FOR AN AARP CARD Jerry Kirby, 50 is possibly the world’s oldest professional bowman. He won the America’s Cup aboard Bill Koch’s America³, defeating Paul Cayard’s Il Moro di Venezia in the 1992 final and has taken part in five AC campaigns and one Whitbread Round the World Race, on Chessie Racing in 1997-98. A native of Newport, Rhode Island, Kirby trained with Cayard’s crew last summer and has been ‘champing at the bit’ to join the crew as Blewett’s replacement. “When Paul Cayard calls up and asks: ‘how would you like to sail around the planet under the skull and crossbones, you think this sounds good. Count me in,” Kirby grinned. Kirby has a reputation as a daredevil, after he jumped off the bridge in Newport years ago just to join a race. His responsibilities as the owner of a major construction company restrict his professional sailing engagements, but his thirst for adventure has found a new outlet recently after he was introduced to motocross racing by one of his teenage sons. “Usually you give that sort of stuff up in your 20s, but when you are 50 and still are riding motorcross bikes with your son, some people think that’s not right. And if you are doing the Volvo, you are by definition a daredevil so, yes I guess I still am.” Kirby will replace Curtis Blewett who is returning to the Alinghi America’s Cup team. ~ Volvo Ocean Race website, http://tinyurl.com/kbq38 TRIVIA QUESTION What year did Joshua Slocum set forth on the first solo circumnavigation of the globe? (Answer below) PEGASUS MUMM 30 AND FARR 40 WORLDS CREW WANTED! Pegasus Racing is seeking the very best amateur and professional sailors as we stage campaigns for the 2006 Farr 40 Worlds in Newport, RI (Sept) and the Mumm 30 Worlds in Miami, FL (Nov/Dec). Our program will include the east coast racing circuit along with sufficient training time at the event site. This is your opportunity to become involved with Pegasus Racing. We are the leading one design racing team in the world, actively competing in the TP-52, Farr 40, Mumm 30, Melges 24, Etchells, etc. classes. View the team website at http://www.pegasus.com. Please send applications to philippe@pegasus.com SPONSORSHIP DEAL (Bruce Montgomery gets a status report from Grant Wharington in a story posted on The Daily Sail subscription website. Here are a couple of excerpts.) Grant Wharington’s Volvo 70 Brunel, set to rejoin the Volvo Ocean Race in Baltimore under its new Dutch sponsor and above a new bulb on its keel, will decide its new Dutch crew member after the Sydney-Gold Coast Race that begins on Saturday week (April 1). Wharington told thedailysail he is flying the full Brunel crew to Australia to man his other boat, the 98ft maxi Skandia, in the 386 nautical mile Gold Coast race, run by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. Wharington’s watch leader Matt Humphreys put 13 prominent Dutch contenders through their paces in a series of trials last weekend off Zeebrugge on the Belgian coast. Following this he trimmed the 13 down to six: Roeland Franssens, Mark van Gelderen, Eduard van Lierde, Onno Schenk, Mark Slats and Koen Smits. “Matt will select a short list of two after some windward-leeward trials in the North Sea, beginning on Friday,” Wharington said. In fact, Wharington will make the final choice. Brunel ceded him that right when they negotiated the sponsorship deal in Melbourne. Having a high profile Dutch crew member on board for subsequent legs was part of Brunel’s sponsorship agreement with Wharington. This deal also entailed the company having to fork out a second £275,000 entry fee for the team since the VOR race committee had taken the view that Wharington rejoining the race in Baltimore after his absence from legs four to six constituted a fresh entry and the points he had accumulated in the legs to Melbourne should be forfeited. ~ www.thedailysail.com SMART MAN After Scuttlebutt carried the explanation by Russ Bowler of Farr Yacht Design regarding the fairing system they developed for the Volvo Open 70 keels (Issue 2048), we thought we would check in with ABN AMRO designer Juan Kouyoumdjian, and provide him the chance to do the same. However, Juan K regretfully declined at this time, likely eager to avoid jinxing his entries. Said Juan, “I understand the reason why this has become a hot topic at the moment, but there is still half the race to go. I'll be very happy to show how the system works once we are done in Sweden. I hope you understand.” Smart man. NEWPORT-BERMUDA RACE FORUM The Scuttlebutt Forums has a dedicated section for the race, where there is a canting keel debate, a berthing inquiry, and someone hungry to crew. The best thread, however, includes stories from previous races. Here is an excerpt from a recent post: "I always remember the year I was becalmed for nearly 48 hours. We were seriously starting to lose it on board. At one point the main was slating so badly in the rolling glass seas that we just took it down. This was not the kind of bare pole sailing I anticipated in route to Bermuda. Spirits were low. Everyone stank. One of the guys decided to stand on the rail and wash himself down with a bucket. Immodestly he stripped stark naked and lathered up. We were thankful, but the site wasn't pretty. . . and then a huge white puff of smoke literally shot out of his behind. Half of us fell over laughing and the other half were stunned asking what the heck was that? Quickly someone yelled out, "There's a new Pope!" All was well after that, morale improved, and the lesson of a bit of a humor brightening the day and pulling the crew together was learned again. The Vatican tradition of white smoke for a new Pope is forever ruined for me and my crew members. Turns out said gentleman had been liberally Gold Bond for the past three days and the build up in his shorts was significant. Gold Bond users beware!” ~ Forum posts can be made at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum NEWS BRIEFS * The Discovery Channel will be premiering the new season of "Deadliest Catch" next Tuesday March 28th at 9pm. The show is about King Crab fishing -- and while having nothing to do with yacht racing it vividly shows how ugly the sea can get with 70 knot winds, 30 foot waves and the usual cast of dreamers, schemers and misfits all set against the dramatic backdrop of Alaska's Bering Sea. * Two world class professional yachtsmen who are well known on the America’s Cup class racing circuit will support Team Shosholoza as part of a strategy to strengthen the team. Italian Tommaso Chieffi, 45, and Australian Brett Jones, 40, have joined the team as crew/coaches in a part-time capacity so that they can also continue their respective careers. Chieffi comes on board as helmsman, a position he will share with South African Olympic sailor Ian Ainslie, while Australian Brett Jones is an expert sail trimmer. The team has also announced the appointment of a German meteorologist, Günter Meschkat. ~ www.teamshosholoza.com * Thanks to North Sails rep Greg Fisher, who had been the Scuttleblog reporter during the 2006 Lightning Southern Circuit. His tour included nine days of travel and racing in Georgia and Florida, three regattas totaling twelve races, and eight blog reports. Pull up a stool at the “Tiki Bar,” and follow the 2006 Lightning Southern Circuit from start to finish: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2006/lsc * With more than 8000 miles still to go on Dee Caffari’s attempt to become the first woman to sail solo and non-stop westwards round the world, it will be another week or so before she turns into the Atlantic -- and in that time the Southern Ocean will no doubt have a point or two to make. After fighting a vigorous front, Caffari’s 72-foot Aviva advanced just 92 miles in the last 24 hours. ~ www.avivachallenge.com * The racing is on at the U.S. Multihull Championship for US Sailing’s Hobie Alter Cup. The event, raced in Nacra 20s and hosted by Pensacola Beach Yacht Club in Florida, runs through Thursday, March 23. Standings after eight races: 1. Robbie Daniel/Hunter Stunzi, 13; 2. Alex Shafer/Nigel Pitt, 14; 3. Greg Thomas/Jacques Bernier, 23; 4. John Casey/Kenny Pierce, 25; 5. John Tomko/Ian Billings, 29; 6. Robert Curry/Bret Moss, 29. ~ http://www.ussailing.org/ * The practice sessions for the Marseille International Match Race took place on Wednesday in superb weather conditions and the forecast calls for similar conditions when the racing starts on Thursday. The skippers for the ten teams are: Mathieu Richard's, Sébastien Col, Philippe Presti, Peter Holmberg, Jes Gram-Hansen, Paolo Cian, Dimitri Deruelle, Eugeny Neugodnikov, Staffan Lindberg and Matteo Simoncelli. ~ www.ycpr.com * Randall Pittman's Dubois-designed 90-foot sloop, Genuine Risk, has had better days, but not by too much. Instead of being in transit to the spring Carribean racing circuit, she sits on the hard in San Diego. Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/gr ULLMAN SAILS AT THE 2006 SAN DIEGO NOOD Congratulations to John Downing, Jack Franco, and crew for capturing 1st place honors in the ever competitive J/105 class at this year’s San Diego National Offshore One Design championships. Their J/105 “Chili Pepper” was followed by Carolyn Hardy’s “Mischief” in 2nd place. David Flint and crew on “Isle Run” won the Catalina 36 class. Time and again, Ullman customers turn to the “Fastest Sails in the Planet” to give their team the competitive edge in local, national, and international regattas. If you and your crew are ready, contact the nearest Ullman Sails loft and visit http://wwww.ullmansails.com SUSPENDED JAIL SENTENCES Five employees of Sunsail faced charges at the Court of Misdemeanours, in Lefkada, near Paleros following the death of Laura Morgan, 11, of Woodborough, Nottinghamshire who died on 31 July 2003 in Paleros when the catamaran she was sailing capsized and trapped her underneath. Hotel manager William James Hutton, 31, of Dorridge, Solihull, water sports manager Rebecca Jane Morgan, 30, of Porchester, near Fareham, and assistant manager Kevin Michael Jones, 25, of Chickerell, Weymouth, were all found guilty of negligence. They were given 18-month jail sentences suspended for three years. Laura and two friends had been sailing a Hobie catamaran as part of the activities laid on for holidaymakers. But when it capsized safety guards could not free her trapeze harness that had trapped her underneath the boat. ~ Yachting Monthly, http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20060221164705ymnews.html REAL PIRATES USS Cape St. George (CG 71) and USS Gonzalez (DDG 66) returned fire on a group of suspected pirates in the Indian Ocean, killing one and wounding five, approximately 25 nautical miles off the central eastern coast of Somalia in international waters at 5:40 a.m. local time, March 18. Cape St. George, a guided-missile cruiser, and Gonzalez, a guided-missile destroyer, were conducting maritime security operations in the area as part of Combined Task Force 150, a maritime coalition task force currently led by Royal Netherlands Navy Commodore Hank Ort, when they spotted a suspect vessel towing two smaller skiffs heading west toward the coast. As Gonzalez’s boarding teams prepared to conduct a routine boarding of the suspect vessel, the two Norfolk, Va.-based Navy ships noticed the group of suspected pirates were brandishing what appeared to be rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers. The suspected pirates then opened fire on the Navy ships. Cape St. George and Gonzalez returned fire with small arms in self-defense. One suspected pirate was killed and a fire ignited aboard the main suspect vessel. Boarding teams from Cape St. George and Gonzalez took twelve other suspects into custody, including the five injured. The Navy boarding teams also confiscated an RPG launcher and automatic weapons. No U.S. Sailors were injured in the engagement. The Navy ships are providing medical treatment to the wounded suspects, continuing search and rescue efforts for any additional suspects and collecting further evidence from the vessel and skiffs. Royal Netherlands Navy medical personnel, including a medical doctor, are en route to assist from HNLMS Amsterdam. ~ Excerpt from a story on the Sail-World website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/q3ylh TRIVIA ANSWER Joshua Slocum sailed a thirty-seven foot sloop between 1895 and 1898 on the first solo circumnavigation of the globe. The name of the boat was “The Spray,” and she was built at a cost of $553.62. (This trivia question came courtesy of the book, “Name That Boat” by Carol Lea Mueller. Book details are available at http://tinyurl.com/jbjeh) 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 Tom Ehman: The curmudgeon’s comments yesterday about Russell Coutt’s insightful comments were right on! Those comments have already sparked a long-needed discussion on getting rid of the dial-up in the AC. What we need are more thoughtful comments on improving the sport, not less, and from all sources -- commercial, professional, recreational and amateur. That daily discourse, even more than the news, is the real value of Scuttlebutt. * From Paul Kueffner: I read about Frank Kern’s frustration about trying to get one rating for level racing classes Scuttlebutt 2056 with great surprise. Sounds a lot like PHRF, with a group of boats wanting to race as a level class, and instead of the PHRF committee, the "Organizing Authority" (i.e. the Race Committee?) sets the rating. If the RC calculated the results based on time instead of distance, these guys could save themselves several hundred dollars each by using their PHRF ratings and not needing an IRC rating at all. The only reason they would need an IRC rating would be for overall standings, if the rest of the fleet was based on IRC. Despite the glossy brochures (that we pay for) and the fancy advertising campaign (that we pay for) and the professional management (that we pay for) I am still convinced that the only real differences between PHRF and IRC are in how the scoring is calculated (TOD vs TOT, which could easily be changed if people wanted it that way) and the high cost of the latter. Calculating a fancy rating out to four or five decimal points doesn't make it any more accurate. Ask any Science teacher about "significant figures". The variables of wind, waves, tide and crew, among others, negate any fancy decimal-pointed number. Why are we putting ourselves through this "frustration" as the J/120 Great Lakes Fleet Captain puts it? CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The shortest distance between two jokes is a ‘straight line.’ Special thanks to Pegasus Racing and Ullman Sails. |
