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SCUTTLEBUTT 1364 - July 3, 2003Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. FARR 40 WORLDS Perfect sailing conditions greeted the 37-boat fleet on the first day of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship which is being sailed in front of Porto Cervo, Sardinia and organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda this week. 25-knot winds, flat warm water and bright sunshine left nothing but smiling faces on the 370 crew who stepped ashore after finishing the first two races late this afternoon. The happiest crew in town being the group that sail on board Steve Phillips' Le Renard, the defending world champion who leads the fleet after the first day's racing. The first race saw the 37 boat fleet sail a 2-mile weather leg to a top mark positioned just offshore from Capo Ferro, the Costa Smeralda's famous lighthouse. The leaders at the first corner came from the right side of the course and it was John Coumantaros, at the helm of Bambakou, that rounded in front with a healthy four-boat length lead. By the time the fleet had got to the leeward gate Coumantaros, assisted by tactician Chris Larson, had opened a 30 second lead, something that is hard to touch on a stable fresh day like today. The second race got underway shortly after 1400 hours and saw the fleet spread evenly along the long start line. Jim Richardson's dark blue Barking Mad made the best exit from the blocks at the committee boat end. Just to weather and slightly behind was the morning's winner Bambakou. This pair set the pace for the first lap of the course, with Coumantaros making all the running, demonstrating enough extra boatspeed to draw level by the second weather mark. A slight boathandling error by the Bamabakou crew meant that what was planned as a close port tack dip astern of Barking Mad ended up with a stalled rudder and an emergency tack to leeward of the leader. Having committed a foul in the process, Bambakou exonerated herself with a 360-degree penalty turn. Three races are scheduled for Thursday with more moderate sailing conditions expected. Provisional Results after two races (Owner/ Tactician): 1. Le Renard, Steve Phillips/ Kevin Hall (4,3/7 pts); 2. Bambakou, John Coumantaros/ Chris Larson (1,7/8 pts); 3. Nerone, Massimo Mezzaroma/ Vasco Vascotto (13,1/14 pts); 4. Warlord VII, Phlip Tolhurst/ Chris Main (10,4/14 pts); 5. GBR-25, Mark Heeley/ Iain Percy (9,6/15 pts); 6. Seven Alberto/ Signorini Tommasso Chieffi (8,11/19 pts); 7. Struntje Light, Wolfgang Schaefer/ Michael Coxon (3,19/22 pts); 8. Warpath, Steve & Fred Howe/ John Cutler (14,8/22 pts); 9. Game On, Oswald/Bainbridge/ Anthony Haines (11,12/23 pts); 10. Barking Mad, Jim Richardson/ Terry Hutchinson (22,2/24 pts). - Complete Results at: http://www.farr40.org/racing/03worlds/results.htm Day One Quotes: "I'd have to put the reason for our success today down to the fact that we spent more than 40 minutes sailing around upwind on the race course area before anyone else left the dock this morning. We really managed to settle in and understand the conditions. We had speed and the crew never once let me down with boat handling." Steve Phillips, owner/skipper of Le Renard, defending world champion and overall leader after two races. "In the first race we had a great start and that coupled with good speed and tactics got us to the first mark first. Believe it or not after that it is pretty straight forward in this fleet to stay ahead when you have a buffer. This afternoon was initially a similar scenario, we started well and were in second place catching Barking Mad. At the second top mark we were ducking them on port, the rudder stalled out and we tacked and fouled them. We did a penalty turn and lost five places in the process." John Coumantaros, owner/skipper of Bambakou, 2nd overall. - http://www.regattanews.com PAIN IS SLOW! Sunburn, ropeburn, and buttburn make you slow! Sailing Angles Sun Shirts, Kontrol - aggressive gripped gloves, and Breakers - double seated and padded-optional sailing shorts and longpants are designed to eliminate these painful distractions from interrupting your focus. It's simple...if you are scratching your butt or your burns you are not concentrating on the next puff or wave. Sun shirts in three colors xs-xxxl, Gloves from jrs to xxxl, Shorts from 26"-44," women's 4-14 and sailing long pants from 28"-42." Protective products by Sailing Angles designed to get you there first! Find them today at APS, Layline and http://www.sailingangles.com ANTARCTICA CUP The final race format for the Antarctica Cup International Yacht Race 2005 will pit national teams against each other in identical maxi yachts. They will race through the stormy reaches of the Southern Ocean for a prize of 4.7 million euros, the richest purse in international yacht racing history. The race will take place in February 2005, starting and finishing in Auckland. The course will take the race yachts around the world's most feared and respected sailing landmarks Cape Horn, the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin. Says Race Chairman Bob Williams. "The boat is an ingenious solution to providing a fleet of identical 25 metre thoroughbred racers that can be converted, after racing duties, to a luxury racer/cruiser. This fits well with our mission to create an international yacht race based on sound business principles that delivers a substantial return on investment to individual boat sponsors. Features of the race include: - Strict nationality rules - A minimum of six and a maximum of 10 entries will compete. - The yachts will be absolutely identical to the last detail. - The yachts race non-stop, but pass through 12 gates, some geographic and some "virtual" - The yachts are expected to take 45 days to complete the 15,000 mile course. Before the race, the teams will take part in a mandatory 45-day programme of events, based out of Auckland. These will include short-course racing, offshore racing. A race around New Zealand is in being considered as a testing 'shakedown' before the major event. http://www.antarcticacup.com/x_HOME.CFM TRANSPAC After Tuesday's drifting start, the fleet found fresh breeze to 11 or 12 knots in the San Pedro Channel that was still blowing 8 ½ knots by the time the leaders passed the West End of Santa Catalina Island---the only mark of the course 23 miles out. The first boat around was There and Back Again, a Tripp 40 sailed by Robert Rice of Long Beach. Only Beautiful Day was in front of There and Back Again at morning roll call time. As observed by spectator Doug Ludden, "As soon as the wind filled, There and Back Again just took off and left everybody. The wind went really to the west and everybody got lifted incredibly. Everybody was on their biggest sails. It appeared that the entire fleet got around the West End without having to tack." On projected corrected handicap time, Stan and Sally Honey's Cal 40, Illusion, from Palo Alto, was the overall leader among the 10 Cal 40s, 11 Alohas and four racing division 5 boats that started Tuesday in painfully light winds off the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Illusion had sailed 117 miles and led all of the Cal 40s, boat for boat, with the Pillsbury family's Ralphie second and Don and Betty Lessley's California Girl third. The next start will see 23 Division 3 and 4 boats go on Friday, followed by the last and fastest dozen on Sunday. Daily position reports, news summaries, photos will be posted at http://www.transpacificyc.org SWEDISH MATCH TOUR Marstrand, Sweden (July 2, 2003) - The rain finally disappeared on the third day of the Swedish Match Cup, the final event of Swedish Match Tour 2002/2003, and so did the wind, then it reappeared, and so did the wind. After several delays and thanks to the long Swedish day, Group 2 was finally able to take to the water, concluding their opening round as a more-competitive-than-normal sunset sail. When the proverbial dust settled, Sweden's Mattias Rahm of Team Stena Bulk advanced as the top qualifier from his group to Stage 2 of the Swedish Match Cup, as Rahm and crew went 2-1 on the day to finish 6-1 overall. "It's hard when you do one race (in the morning) and then go sit for six hours and go back out again," confessed Rahm. "All the guys here are so good, you have to be a little lucky in each race you win," explained Rahm. "The best guys sail their own way around the course, you can't fool the competitors on the Swedish Match Tour." Posting perfect records of 3-0 on the day were Denmark's Jesper Radich, Swedish Match Tour rankings leader, and fellow Dane Jesper Bank, helmsman for the Victory Challenge. Meanwhile, Denmark's Jes Gram-Hansen of Team Victory Lane finished the day 0-3 and his overall record of 1-6 eliminated him from the regatta, ending his chances of winning the Swedish Match Tour. Tied with Gram-Hansen at 1-6 but advancing on to the next round is Sweden's Mikael Lindqvist who further explained Rahm's comment about the importance of luck by stating, "Sometimes you beat the right guys." Tomorrow Group 1 which features Australia's Peter Gilmour of Team Pizza La, Sweden's Magnus Holmberg of Team StoraEnso, Peter Holmberg of the US Virgin Islands, Great Britain's Andy Beadsworth, Australia's James Spithill, Great Britian's Chris Law of "The Outlaws," American Ed Baird of Team Musto, Poland's Karol Jablonski of the Jablonski Sailing Team and Sebastien Destremau of Le Defi Areva take to the water. Swedish Match Cup Open Class Standings - Group 2: 1. Mattias Rahm, SWE/Team Stena Bulk (6-1); 2. Jesper Radich, Denmark (6-1); 3. Jesper Bank, Denmark (5-2); 4. Johnie Berntsson, Sweden (4-3); 5. Paolo Cian, ITA/Riviera di Rimin di Sailing Team (3-4); 6. Staffan Lindberg, Finland (2-5); 7. Mikael Lindqvist, Sweden (1-6); 8. Jes Gram-Hansen, DEN/Team Victory Lane (1-6). - Shawn McBride, http://www.swedishmatchtour.com and http://www.swedishmatchcup.com THE CARBON QUESTION The answer to the carbon question is "yes" - a Hall Spars & Rigging carbon-fiber spinnaker pole will improve the performance of your boat (if you don't believe us, run out and weigh your pole after reading this ad). Hall has several high-performance carbon poles available now at special pricing: One measures 17 feet LOA with a 3.5-inch diameter. It's tapered at the outboard end for dip-pole jibing. It weighs just 14 pounds! Visit Hall's web store for details on ordering a lightweight, high-performance carbon pole for your boat. http://www.hallspars.com DAIMLERCHRYSLER NORTH ATLANTIC CHALLENGE No boats have finished since Skip Sheldon's Zaraffa did so last Saturday, but Snow Lion and Tempest are closing in on Helgoland, which must be rounded before the final leg to Cuxhaven. Tidal current in the river Elbe can run at more than 4 knots and negotiating a foul tide takes considerable skill. Tonight Snow Lion and Tempest may just hit the Elbe entrance for the last of the flood tide to carry them at a fast pace up to the finish line. If they miss the flood they will have to seek shallow waters at the edge of the river where the tide is slack, or even in places that have a small counter-current. This will be a breathtaking time needing maximum concentration, for a "touch" on the mud on a falling tide could mean a boat becoming stuck for hours until the flood returns. After a pause in Cuxhaven, the boats will go on up the Elbe to Hamburg and the terrific welcome at the Race Village prepared in honour of the fleet. In the North Sea, northerly winds continue to provide ideal sailing conditions for the growing number of DaimlerChrysler yachts coming from the Atlantic. The fleet is now spread over more than 1,000 miles and for the majority still west of Great Britain, the outlook for the next several days is for light, generally north-westerly winds, though these could give way to variables and some calms. On board Bank von Bremen, 350 miles from Fair Isle, skipper Karol Smotawa and his crew may be glad of the light conditions. Back in the gales of June 27, their main boom and spinnaker boom were broken, and the crew worked hard to make repairs. Usually on-board repairs will stand up to light or moderate winds, but more gales are a test they prefer not to have. - http://www.dcnac.de MIDWEST WAKE-UP CALL We received the following stats from Dierk Polzin regarding participation at the US Sailing Youth Champs held last week in Milwaukee, WI. Number of Lasers entered: 35 Number of Club 420's entered: 52 Number of local competitors: Minnesota -1; Michigan - 1; Wisconsin - 0 (Editor's note- In that the Youths is an invitation-only event based on each sailor's previous achievements, it appears that a few states have a little work to do in the area of junior sailing development) PASSING Briggs Swift Cunningham II, 96, a renowned competitive sailor and sports-car racer, died July 2, 2003 at his home in Las Vegas from complications of Alzheimer's disease. Perhaps best known in sailing as the inventor of the "Cunningham," a device that allows one to adjust the tension on the luff of a sail, Cunningham also skippered Columbia to win the 1958 America's Cup. Additionally, Cunningham was very established in car racing circles, becoming the first American to challenge the Europeans in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1950. He helped form the Automobile Racing Club of American (ARCA) in 1934, was a founding member of the Sports Car Club of America, and was member number one (the member with the longest seniority) of the New York Yacht Club. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Laura (nee Cramer) of Las Vegas, son Briggs S. Cunningham III of Danville, KY., daughters Lucie McKinney of Green farms, CT., and Cythlen Maddock of Palm Beach, FL., and step-sons Bill Elmer and Joe Elmer, nineteen grandchildren and thirty one great grandchildren. Services will be Aug 8, 2003 at 2:30 p.m. at Pacific View Cemetery, 3500 Pacific View Dr, Corona Del Mar, CA. In lieu of flower's, it is requested that donations be sent to the Alzheimer's Association. NEWS BRIEFS * In the Swedish Match Cup Women's Class, semifinal racing was held in the late afternoon with Marstrand's own Malin Kallstrom sweeping past Denmark's Annette Strom 3-0, while the world's top ranked match racing skipper Marie Bjorling of Sweden needed all five matches to upend the recently crowned women's match racing world champion, Malin Millbourn of Sweden. The best-of-five all-Swedish women's final will be held on Saturday afternoon, July 5th. * Regarding the news yesterday of a rating change to Admirals Cup entrant Ker 55 Aera, the design office of Ker Associates submitted to Scuttlebutt that the RORC rating office had in fact received images of the cut-away bow profiles for the 55 going back as far as the end of last year, and had confirmed to them in writing that the images were received but were overlooked at the time. It was these images that allegedly were missing at the time the original rating for Aera had been issued. * Brazillian National Champions Graziella Tussatto and Rafael Gagliotti, of Sao Paulo won the Day Sailer North American Championship last week after five races on Cross Lake, near Shreveport, LA. The event endured temperatures in the 90's and a heat index reportedly over 100, with the effects of nearby severe thunderstoms forcing the abandonment of the last day's racing. Complete results at http://www.daysailer.org/2003_results.htm#NAC * Corpus Christi Yacht Club hosted the 2003 Laser North American Championship June 28 - July 1 on Corpus Christi Bay, Texas. 77 Lasers and 53 Radials competed. Top Finishers - Laser: 1. Michael Bullot, NZL (37); 2. Andrew Campbell, USA (55); 3. Mark Mendelblatt, USA (63); 4. Bernard Luttmer, CAN (91); 5. Andrew Childs, CAN(92); Top Youth - Alex Steele, CAN Laser Radial: 1. Todd Hawkins, USA (58); 2. T.J. Tullo, USA USA (89); 3. James Liebl, USA (89); 4. Patrick Curran, USA (99); 5. Ryan Eric Minth, USA (106); Top Female - Roberta Steele, USA * Christophe Ribot and Katie Pettibone of Team Miami Catamarans recently became the first official team to cross the Atlantic Ocean's Gulf Stream on an Inter 20 racing catamaran in record time. The event, called The Gulf Stream Challenge, consists of sailing from Miami Beach, FL to the Bahamas and back in the shortest time possible. The outcome: Ribot and Pettibone set a reference time of 15 hours 1 minute round trip. Their hope is to get other teams interested in taking the Gulf Stream Challenge, and to turn it into a regular event. Ribot looks to shave at least 5 hours off their time during a second attempt later this summer. - Curtis & MaggiLu (Lupe) Tucker CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * July 18: The International Yacht Restoration School is hosting this year's summer fundraiser at their Newport, RI harborfront campus to support their academic programs. For more information, call IYRS at 401-848-5777 or on-line at http://www.iyrs.org HOLIDAY On July 4, 1776, the United States claimed its independence from England and Democracy was born. This Friday is July 4th, and as is customary in the US, Scuttlebutt will be taking a day off to commemorate this event. Look for Scuttlebutt to return on Monday. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (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 Nancy Samovar: The most exciting part of the start of the Transpac race to Hawaii was watching the boats drift towards each other and stuff up to avoid hitting the pin end. Given the 1.5-knot current and the lack of wind I plotted this fleet's course to the Marquesas with an ETA of November 15. Good luck! * From Arnold Baily: Any chance we can get the dinner menus of the Transpac fleet that just started? Cal 40's and cruising Aloha Division racers? My guess is this group can appropriately match their wines with their meals. Probably even are using flush toilets. If/when the sleds pass them after their head start, eating freeze-dried food and peeing off the stern pulpit, it will certainly be some kind of eerie time-warp moment. CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks? |
