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SCUTTLEBUTT 1224 - December 20, 2002Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news ofmajor 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. LOUIS VUITTON SEMI FINAL REPECHAGE After a short delay caused by a big wind shift, racing in the Semi Final Repechage of the Louis Vuitton Cup began in light winds on the Hauraki Gulf. It was a beautiful afternoon for racing, with light, shifty conditions challenging the afterguards on both boats. OneWorld helmsman James Spithill did a nice job on the pre-start, and early in the race, the OneWorld Challenge blue boat twice crossed ahead of the sleek, black Oracle BMW Racing. But Cameron Dunn, high up the Oracle BMW mast looking for wind, called for his team to cross to the left side of the race course, if given the opportunity. On the second cross, OneWorld let USA-76 switch sides, and the Oracle BMW crew made a nice gain on the left, taking the lead, and sailing in front from there to the finish. Although OneWorld closed the gap ahead of the final run, Oracle BMW Racing skipper Chris Dickson held his nerve and streaked away for the win. OneWorld is in a difficult spot now, already one point down starting the series due to an earlier Arbitration Panel penalty. Oracle BMW Racing has to win three more races to win the series, while OneWorld needs five victories. The winner of the Semi Final Repechage advances to face Alinghi in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, with race one scheduled for the 10th of January. The loser of the Repechage is eliminated from further competition. Oracle BMW Racing defeated OneWorld Challenge by 4 minutes, 8 seconds. Oracle BMW Racing leads OneWorld in the best of seven: 1 to (-1)* * Following the America's Cup Arbitration Panel decision of 9th December 2002, OneWorld Challenge has had one point deducted from its score. Full story: Louis Vuitton Cup website: http://www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com/story1493.html OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION The first year of Qualification events for the 2004 Olympics in Athens is now complete. The nations qualified so far are as follows: - 49er - Spain, Great Britain, Ukraine, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands - Finn - Great Britain, Poland, Croatia, Spain, Belgium, Germany, France, Brazil, Ireland - Yngling - Spain, Germany, USA, Bermuda, Denmark - Star - Great Britain, Brazil, France, USA, Bermuda - Europe - Australia, Norway, Germany, Finland, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, China - 470 Men - New Zealand, Spain, Israel, Australia, USA, Portugal, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Argentina - 470 Women - Netherlands, France, Russia, Germany, Spain, Israel - Laser - Brazil, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy, Australia, Republic of South Africa, Belgium, Finland, Canada, Croatia, Spain, Austria, Slovenia, Turkey - Tornado - Australia, France, Austria, Argentina, Sweden http://www.sailing.org/olympics2004/ISAF%20OQ%20system.pdf CHRISTMAS GIFTS VIA NEXT DAY AIR SERVICE It's not too late! Sailing Angles padded Sailing Shorts, Longs Pants, Knee Sleeves, Kontrol Sailing gloves (aggressive gripped gloves with palm wrap) Waterproof (floatable) Gear bags, waterproof gloves and socks, and much more. Ready for next day air service to your chimney. Don't forget that loyal crew member or your favorite skipper. Gear up for your midwinter and Key West Race Week. Call now 1 800 666 3616 or order online at: http://www.sailingangles.com NEWS BRIEFS * On February 10th the details of the design of new race boat, together with the revised racetrack and new format for the next Volvo Ocean Race will be revealed at a press conference to be held in Auckland, New Zealand. The final plans resulted from discussions with ocean racing competitors, designers, potential entries and commercial partners, and are "…set to support sailing in a more encompassing way than previously envisioned." - www.volvooceanrace.org * US Sailing is asking sailors across the nation to be their eyes and ears, to keep watch for the individuals in the sport who best exemplify the virtues of sportsmanship. Sailors are invited to nominate their peers for sportsmanship honors, as nominees for the W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. National Sportsmanship Award. The deadline for nominations is January 14, 2003. To nominate an individual, go to: http://ussailing.org/sportsmanship * Sailing World magazine and Avalon & South Seas Hotels have returned again as sponsors, of the 2003 Acura Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC) regatta. They are joined by new sponsors, Idiom Eyewear and North Sails. Entries for the February 26 - March 2 event are open to boats racing under IMS, PHRF, as well as one-design classes. The entry deadline is February 10th. - www.acurasorc.com * Randy Boyles and the crew of his J/30 Rocket J - including Paul Baumbach, Neil Craven, Mike Hession, Tom Hughes, and Keith Sparks - were awarded a US Sailing Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal for a string of three different rescue incidents, which took place during spring and fall racing on North Carolina's Pamlico River. - www.ussailing.org * OneWorld Challenge for the America's Cup announced that they have joined forces with three environmental organizations located in Puget Sound, Washington, in an effort to raise awareness of the health of this fragile marine environment. The organizations are The Orca Conservancy, People for Puget Sound, and Friends of the Cedar River Watershed. - www.oneworldchallenge.com 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 Brendan Dobroth: To build the AC hull appendages would be pretty easy to do. Take a mold off the hull. The appendage would need to be hollow, or you would add the weight of the water to the displacement of your boat. Add the shape you want, and cover with a layer of carbon, overlay the hull mold, and feather it in. You would attach it in the middle with an alignment spacer and a small layer of rubber. Out of the water there would be a gap. As the hull is launched, the appendage would float up (like a rudder does) and deflect to close the gap. The rubber (or an abrasive material) would "lock" it in place. You then can have a light, medium, and heavy air shapes to bolt on the morning of the race. * From Bill Lee: The common sense is quite clear to me. "Hull" determines sailing length and hence potential speed thru the water. "Appendages" create lift, steer the boat, and support the ballast. To the extent a difficult to define item contributes to sailing length, it should be measured as "hull" rather than "appendage." The rule makers put a huge amount of effort into a good way to measure effective sailing length. It was not their intent that an "appendage" be used as an unmeasured extension of "hull". * From Dierk Polzin: The new AC clip on second skin technology is another great example of the yacht design innovations that will filter down and improve everyday yacht designs. NOT. This America's Cup has again shown that this is not the premier element of our sport. But only the most absurd element of the rich playing rich man's games. * From Larry Christy I have been following the happenings in New Zealand as are most racing sailors. However I am starting to get pretty disgusted with what is going on now. Twenty years ago numerous people complained about the behavior of the New York Yacht Club. It appears to me that what is going on now is the same or worse. The use of a second skin by TNZ and others to provide a longer water line length and calling it an appendage to circumvent the rules is breaking the rule in my opinion. Maybe it is legal under a strict interpretation of the rules but it is certainly breaking the "spirit" of the rule. When writing a rule it is difficult if not impossible to anticipate everything a designer would try to circumvent the rule. I am sure the committee who developed the current America Cup Rule did not intend for a second skin or appendage to be used in this way. It is up to the measures to enforce the rule and not allow this appendage. As a measure for a national one design class I would not allow this under the current rules. * From Ned Jones: Dave Ingham thinks their is still a requirement for adhesion to "spirit of the rules" in the AC? Call me naive, but I have to disagree. * From Doug Holthaus (re David Ingham's, "…even if a tricky lawyer can argue the point successfully."): It was TNZ designers - not lawyers - who cooked-up what Mr. Ingram labels a "suspect appendage." It was Alinghi designers - not lawyers - who made the decision to develop a knock-off a "suspect appendage" of their own. Indeed, it was a designer - non-lawyer/AC-31 Technical Director Ken McAlpine - who measured and issued rating certificates to yachts equipped with the "suspect appendage." There seems more than enough reason to call America's Cup lawyers "suspect appendages" without including sins not of their own making. * From Carl Hulit: Why doesn't the America's Cup take a design approach similar to that of "The Race" where an unlimited rule actually resulted in cheaper boats than those for the Volvo Ocean Race? If the only rules were that the boat has one hull and a maximum of 20 sailors I think the cup would be much more interesting and produce more real innovation instead of rules trickery. The sailor limit would prevent overly huge boats, but still allow for creative designs. * From Janet C. Baxter: Harman Hawkins was the kind of person who shared his love of sailing by getting involved in the administration of the game. He used his unique mix of wisdom, legal training, sportsmanship and humor to guide the sport through some tough situations. No matter who was right or wrong, someone had to resolve the issues around winged keels, incorrect ratings, and whether a cat can race a big boat. Harman never walked away from those issues and made a big fuss about raising the level of judging in the US. Young sailors might not know who Harman was, or what he did as one of many characters with a passion for doing the right thing for sailing. Even when we didn't agree, he always listened and I know that I always got a fair hearing. * From Chris Ericksen: Let me add my congratulations to those of Skip Doyle's ('Butt 1222) for Steve Tupper in being named Rolex Sailor of the Year by the Canadian Yachting Association. Steve Tupper is a rare individual in our sport: a racing sailor who also cruises, works race committee, is a top-notch International Judge and serves our sport at the national and international level. Our sport would be better if we had more people in positions of international leadership like Steve Tupper. I can think of no one who better deserves the highest recognition our sport can give. KIWIS Among the nine syndicates who began the (Louis Vuitton Cup) challenger series in September, 34 New Zealanders were plying their trade. Five syndicates - Le Defi Areva, Victory Challenge, Mascalzone Latino, GBR Challenge and Team Dennis Conner - had just one between them. Do the maths and you discover the vast bulk were spread among the most successful campaigns. - Julie Ash, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/americascup/acstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3048018&thesection=sport&thesubsection=americascup NIGHTSTAR ® Tired of grabbing that flashlight from the nav. table just to discover dead batteries? Introducing the NightStar® Magnetic Force Flashlight from Weems and Plath. Its patented technology eliminates dependence upon batteries or traditional bulbs. Running short on shopping time? Don't let your favorite sailor get left in the dark. It's not too late to give them the gift of light. Order your Weems and Plath NightStar®, Tactician Calculator, or Handbearing compass today and Annapolis Performance Sailing will upgrade your 2nd day shipping to overnight for delivery by Christmas Eve. Check them out at APS' gift page: http://www.apsltd.com/scuttlebutt.asp EQUAL OPPORTUNITY (Mathiew Truffer looked at previous America's Cup campaigns and asked a logical question, "Where have all the females gone?" Here's an excerpt from the answer he suggested in his story in the NZ Herald.) Female crews are mainly a sponsor-driven concept. And sponsors have lost lots of influence in the America's Cup in the past three years. Much has been said about the profile the event has gained since the billionaires have returned. But their comeback has had its shortcomings. Billionaires are in the race for only one reason: they want to win. Nothing is too expensive to make sure their egos are not hurt: campaign costs have gone through the roof, which has resulted in some fine racing between very smoothly run yachts. But the wider public feels a little left behind. - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sports/sportsstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3009143&thesection=sport&thesubsection=americascup&thesecondsubsection=general DAWN RILEY It is not just the (television) job that brings (Dawn) Riley to Auckland. She is also here to gain valuable knowledge for K-Challenge, a French-based syndicate hoping to compete in the next America's Cup. K-Challenge 2006 was set up by French-German Ortwin Kandler, one of the pioneers of the Airbus industry. Riley is the team manager. "I am bummed that I wasn't involved in this America's Cup but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I was available to sail for Ortwin in the One Ton Cup two years ago. He invited me to put together a team and go over and meet him. He always wanted to do the America's Cup and he liked the way our team was put together, which at that stage was all women. He liked the attitude and it kind of inspired him to say, 'Let's do it now'. So we have been working with a co-ed multinational team." Riley said the syndicate was only in its infancy and only a few team members had been signed, including French Olympic champion Thierry Peponnet and prominent French sailor Nicolas Charbonnier. "We campaigned a 50-footer and two IC 45s last year around Europe doing some matchracing. We are in the sponsorship search right now but hopefully we'll be purchasing a boat when I leave here." Riley said she was not sure if she would sail with K-Challenge. "I was kind of thinking it would be a fulltime job to organise all the different nationalities but in this last year I was steering one of the boats and we did really, really well, so who knows?" - From a story by Julie Ash in the NZ Herald. Full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sports/sportsstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3009144&thesection=sport&thesubsection=americascup&thesecondsubsection=general AROUND ALONE Shortly after 13:30 local time Thursday John Dennis slipped his lines and headed back out to sea on Bayer Ascensia. Dennis had made a stop in Mossel Bay to repair communications equipment. "I am 500 miles behind my class, but I really feel that I can make up the distance. I will sail conservatively until I get a feel for the Southern Ocean, and then we will see what the old boat can do," Dennis said. Standings 2200 UTC December 19, 2002 CLASS 1: 1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux, Bernard Stamm, 5760 miles from finish 2. Solidaires, Thierry Dubois, 87 miles behind leader 3. Tiscali, Simone Bianchetti, 248 mbl 4. Hexagon, Graham Dalton, 251 mbl 5. Pindar, Emma Richards, 265 mbl 6. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 304 mbl CLASS 2: 1. Tommy Hilfiger, Brad Van Liew, 6139 miles from finish 2. Spirit of Canada, Derek Hatfield, 190 miles behind leader 3. Spirit of yukoh, Kojiro Shiraishi, 277 mbl 4. Everest Horizontal, Tim Kent, 302 mbl 5. BTC Velocity, Alan Paris, 311 mbl 6. Bayer Ascensia, John Dennis, 888 mbl www.aroundalone.com STANLEY ROSENFELD For many readers, the thought of sailing brings to mind spectacular photographic images by the Rosenfelds. The last of the photographing Rosenfelds, Stanley, was covering the America's cup even before Rod and Olin Stephens began sailing in them. Sadly, macular degeneration has taken most of Stanley's eyesight and now, in his ninetieth year, he has recently become quite frail. Each day, his wife Heather reads him the reports in Scuttlebutt. Although quite alert, it appears he is resigned to the probability that this Cup will be his last. We've been told that it would cheer Stanley to hear comments from some of those who have enjoyed his work. Readers who would like to send such a note may do so at: SBIMMM@aol.com THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM If a bus station is where a bus stops, and a train station is where a train stops, why do they call my desk a workstation? |
