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SCUTTLEBUTT 1974 -- November 24, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.HOW'S COME? The Cup Info website asked America's Cup Umpire John Standley, "Unlike the last Cup, we haven't seen onboard umpires this year?" John Standley: That's something the umpires like to do, because we feel we can give a better service. We get a much more accurate determination of when an overlap occurs when we're sitting in the back of boats. This is much more difficult when you're on a wing boat in a fairly rough sea as we had in Malmo, as the positioning of the boat is quite tricky and we may not be in the right place.... We would definitely prefer to be there on the boats, but there are two issues that some of the teams complain about: one of the problem is that we talk to the crew, but the crew that are non-English-speaking feel that they don't get the same information, or maybe as quickly as an English-speaking boat. And I also believe there have been some insurance problems. It may be that this changes, but we're also looking at technology to expand our current light system to feed the overlap information back to us automatically. If we can get the technology to do the work then we won't need the observers in the back of the boat. If we can't get it to work to the level of accuracy we need, then yes, we will still be asking if we can put the observers back on the boat. http://www.cupinfo.com/en/lvfeature-umpire01.php CI: What about the gate? JS: The gate is really new to match racing and I think it makes it quite exciting. I think that's one of the things that will end up going into normal match racing. It does bring in some logistical problem of getting the marks in the right place but we have very good race committees and good mark laying teams. It may be that sometimes one mark gives a big advantage. But what it really does is that it creates passing lanes, as the boats can split and go up different sides on the beat. This puts much more pressure on the tactician. It gives the boat close behind an opportunity to make an immediate gain. -- Cup Info website, full story: http://www.cupinfo.com/en/lvfeature-umpire01.php ACHES AND PAINS The birth of the Class "E" Scow dates back to the early 1920's, and while the 28-footer remains a strong member of this genre of boats, the class appears now to be in the midst of one of the greatest challenges that one design associations face: Modernization. The prospect of moving from a poled spinnaker to an asymmetrical spinnaker will be in the hands of the voters in January 2006. From a posting on the Scuttlebutt Forums, it is said that "the issue was debated long at the NCESA Directors Meeting in Chicago on November 5th." An excerpt from the meeting minutes reports that "downwind was measured to be 11% faster downwind or 46 seconds a mile in the upper medium winds at Nationals. Downwind the variation in course in puffs and lulls was greater variation then the symmetrical rig. It appears to not perform well in drifting conditions or on bodies of water where the width of the course is restricted." - Class website, http://e-scow.org Forum Comments: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=696#696 RACING RULES QUIZ True or False? When a port-tack boat (P) crosses ahead of a starboard tacker (S), S is not permitted to change course if, as a result, P would have to change her course immediately to keep clear. (See answer later in this issue.) TOO MUCH FOOD Ericsson, Brasil 1 and the ABN boats have had such a fast run during this first leg that they may wish to lose food supplies overboard in order to save weight. However, they won't want to make the same mistake Team SEB made in the last Volvo Ocean Race, when the boat was seven days late in to Cape Town due to problems with the mainsail. That little adventure caused Tom Braidwood to loose 12 kilos. As Ericsson and the rest of the fleet dive south over the next few days, the warm conditions which they are currently enjoying, will gradually deteriorate. The water and air temperature will cool, the breeze will pick up and the layers will come back on. Stronger winds will mean bigger seas and greater physical exertion for the sailors. This will all have an impact on their calorie and fluid intake. During their time at sea, the sailors should be consuming between 4500 - 6500 kcal, depending on their body weight, weather and sea conditions, and the form in which they consume these calories - freeze-dried food, rehydrated with desalinated sea water. So how disgusting is this freeze-dried food that the crew eats onboard? Not as bad as you might think, say Tom Braidwood and Matti Notlind from the Ericsson Racing Team. Matti is physical trainer and nutritionist for the team. Tom is one of the ten crewmembers currently spending his time in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, putting up with eating freeze-dried food for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day until he reaches Cape Town. "It doesn't look good, it doesn't taste very much. But when you are exhausted and hungry out at sea, you don't care much about that. Most important is that the food keeps your mind and body going", Tom says. The food is presented in a white vacuum zed bag, containing two kilos of freeze-dried substance. When hot water is added, the substance turns into six kilos of food, which is one meal to share among the whole crew. For a non-sailor though, the stuff looks like something you'd rather give to feed your dog. In addition, they get up to three snacks a day such as freeze-dried noodle soups or high-density chocolate bars. Quite poor a household when you look back at the early days of the Whitbread race when each boat used to bring their own chef on board. -- Annabel Merrison, Ericsson Racing Team Position Reports -- Tuesday, 2200 GMT 1. ABN Amro One, 2873 miles to finish 2. Brasil 1, +42 miles 3. Ericsson Racing Team, +87 miles 4. ABN Amro Two, +91 miles 5. Sunergy and Friends, +906 miles 6. Movistar, Retired 6. Pirates of the Caribbean, Retired Event website: www.volvooceanrace.com TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE The leading Open 50 -- Gryphon Solo, skippered by Joe Harris and Josh Hall -- is just 7 miles behind the 10th Open 60, with less than 300 miles to the finish. Artforms (Stone / Harris) and Vedettes de Bréhat (De Broc / S. Escoffier) are separated by 31 miles as they sail to the East of Fernando de Noronha Island aligned on the same route now on a drag race to the finish some 500 miles away. The Anglo-American duo of Kip Stone and Merf Owen on the Open 50 Artforms has made the biggest comeback in the whole fleet after their pitstop in Lorient, and is now be in second place, 256m behind Gryphon Solo, ans engaged in an exciting battle for the podium spots with the French skippers Servane Escoffier and Bertrand de Broc on Vedettes de Bréhat. The third placed French boat is positioned slightly to the East and benefiting from a better sailing angle, whereas Kip and Merf are certainly on a faster and newer Open 50 monohull. -- www.jacques-vabre.com NEWS BRIEFS * The keel fin for BMW Oracle Racing's new America's Cup boat will be manufactured in the BMW plant Eisenach/ Thuringia. The boat is expected to debut at the Louis Vuitton Act 10 starting May 11, 2006. "Placing the production in the Eisenach Plant is, once again, an indicator that BMW is consistently transferring technology competence gained in automotive research to the sport of race yachting," says Professor Dr. Raymond Freymann, Director BMW Group Research and Technology. * Challenged America co-founder Urban Miyares, will speak at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on Thursday, December 8, 2005, on the latest technology developed for sailors with disabilities. Beginning at 12 noon with a luncheon, Miyares presentation, titled "People of Perseverance. A Journey Beyond Disability," will introduce the latest in technology and devices, advancing the sport of sailing to provide greater access, comfort and safety for kids and adults with disabilities who would not be able to sail without such technology. -- olpa-events@nsf.gov * Gant Time has been named as The Official Timekeeper for the Volvo Ocean Race, and is launching its new watch series, 'Maritime', inspired by the nautical lifestyle. Among other things, the collection includes a "limited edition" watch specially designed for the Volvo Ocean Race. * A California judge on Tuesday approved an unusual legal settlement that will require Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to donate $100 million to charity and pay another $22 million to the attorneys who sued him for alleged stock trading. Barring an appeal, the $122 million settlement closes the books on a shareholder lawsuit filed nearly four years ago on behalf of Oracle, one of the world's largest software makers. The civil complaint revolves around a $900 million gain that Ellison generated by selling some of his Oracle stock shortly before the company's shares plummeted in 2001. -- AP, complete story: http://tinyurl.com/7qxaq * Hilary Lister, who showed amazing courage to become the first quadriplegic to sail solo, across the English Channel in August, was awarded the 'Helen Rollason Award for Inspiration' at the 2005 The Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards in the UK. Having learnt to sail just two years earlier, Lister, 33, from Faversham, who is able to move only her head, eyes and mouth, overcame severe physical pain to navigate her boat unaided through one of the busiest and most treacherous shipping lanes in the world. She crossed from Dover to Calais in just over six hours. -- www.hilarylister.co.uk ANSWER TO RACING RULES QUIZ False -- There does not have to be "serious" damage before a right-of-way boat can be penalized under rule 14. If contact causes any damage or injury, the right-of-way boat may be penalized if she had the chance but failed to avoid that contact. -- See how well you really know the new 2005-2008 racing rules -- there are 99 more questions like this; check out the Racing Rules IQ Test. -- www.SpeedandSmarts.com OUTTA HERE No Scuttlebutt tomorrow -- happy Thanksgiving! 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 Tim Patterson: I shall never forget the letter from Pete Goss's young son who wrote in response to critics to the Team Philips web site to say how proud he was of his Dad. Hurrah to Andrew Hurst for saying his piece about Pete and his team, pushing the envelope is what it is all about on multis and monohulls. Where would we be today in multis if the NY Yacht Club had not banned multis after Herreshoff won the regatta in his early cat? * From Nicholas Stark: Seems to me that the discussion about coaching is missing the definition of a "coach". There's at least three different types of coaches - basic sailing instructors, learn to race coaches, and race day coaches/team managers. So, exactly which of these are the problem in the southern California area? This whole discussion about coaches has made me think about the subject of junior sailing a bit differently. I just read the US Opti bylaws - amusing to learn that the only people who can be on the Board must be over 21 years of age. Maybe that is a Florida state law - and if that is the case, then maybe there could be a "competition committee" set up that reports to the Board - and in my view, that committee should be comprised of a majority of people 15 years old and younger. Doesn't all the professional management of the Opti class make you wonder for whom that class exists? Might the kids who sail in Opti's or Sabots be better served both in the short and long run, inside the sport and later in life, if they were key components of those class Board of Directors, or at the very least, key members of committees within the class. When is someone going to actually ask the kids who sail how the feel about all this coaching stuff? * From Jesse Deupree: John Harwood-Bee sets Playstation/Cheyenne up as an example of a more conservative design that had success without significant problems. He seemingly forgets her near pitchpole and clear inability to press hard downwind, discovered the first time she was raced hard, which was corrected by a massive bow lengthening/modification. He also forgets that she never made it out of the Atlantic on her first attempt to sail around the world in the Race. One might be able to make a case for Club Med as a boat that was a carefully measured evolution of previous designs that was successful out of the box (though she had an extensive workup-modification period prior to the Race), but Playstation doesn't fit this mold at all. * From R. C. Keefe: Something that would help keep sailing in the Olympics would be the addition of a class of a true sailing yacht. There was a time not to long ago when the activity was called Olympic Yachting. This class should be about 40' long with a true keel and a spinnaker with a pole. As an example, something like the "Farr 40". This certainly isn't a new idea, and in the past met strong opposition mainly centered around cost and expense. Great cost and expense now seems to be the norm in almost all Olympic sailing. And, the boat should be designed so that it will have a useful life after Olympic competition. If television coverage is really important, the uninitiated would probably watch a fleet of this type rather than any of the present Olympic classes. * From Claudia Feres: According to the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC), "To sail around the World, a vessel must start from and return to the same point, must cross all meridians of longitude and must cross the Equator. It may cross some but not all meridians more than once (i.e. two roundings of Antarctica do not count). The shortest orthodromic track of the vessel must be at least 21,600 nautical miles in length." This year's Volvo Ocean Race does not return to its starting point (Vigo), nor does the race cross it's outbound track in the Northern Hemisphere, so is the VOR technically a "round the world" race? * From Jim Key: Damage in the Volvo fleet seems excessive, but if you consider all the Pro's on board you can start to see why they might be breaking apart. Most pros want to win a any cost. Slowing down and saving equipment and crew comfort is just too hard for them. They got where they are by pushing the limits and now they got where they are by not knowing the limits. * From Mark Eustis: So what happens to a V70 rudder when your keel's swung out of the way and you're surfing through brash ice and growlers at 35kts or better? Me, I'd like a nice deep, strong fin with a bunch of good, solid, over-engineered bolts hanging down in front of that high-aspect/narrow-chord carbon fiber rotating wing them designers call a rudder. But hey, that's just me. * From Mark Weinheimer: I find it somewhat humorous that Dieter Loibner uses 17th and18th century explorers as evidence of safety carrying the day. First of all, each of the captains he cites used the very best ships he could get his hands on. The fact that the best then was built of great timbers and massive iron forgings does not automatically equate to being safe. All vessels of the time carried spare spars on deck, had ships carpenters and mates on board for repairs and one of the most critical functions at each change of watch was checking the level of water in the bilge. The fact that we know the names of Columbus, Cook, Vancouver, et al, is due to the fact that when their ships broke, they beached them, fixed them and continued the voyage - much the same as the VOR skippers do now. Another thought - how many of the explorers from the same time don't we know, because they sank without a trace? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence." -- Erma Bombeck |
