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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 918 - October 9, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major 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.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE Team SEB and djuice are struggling with the weather, still suffering from extremely variable condition, ranging from dead calm to sudden squalls. With the Doldrums hopefully tucked away safely behind them, the leading five yachts in the Volvo Ocean Race are making an average of nine knots towards the equator, with illbruck still setting the pace. John Kostecki's polished team broke free of the Doldrums grip with a healthy thirteen mile lead over Assa Abloy, which, barring disaster, they should be able to extend in the southeast trade wind belt. The fleet will now track, almost in procession, to the first waypoint of Arq. de Fernando de Nornonh, 200 miles off the Brazilian coast, crossing the equator en route in the next 24 hours. "It's a bit of a soldiers course from here on as we head for an island (Noronha) and it's a straight line to the next one (Ilha Trindade) so nothing much is going to change until we get to there," explained Tyco skipper Kevin Shoebridge. The crews will spend until March 2002 in the southern hemisphere, re-crossing on leg five from Rio de Janeiro to Miami. While the others make a fast escape, Amer Sports Too, SEB and djuice still have the worst of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone yet to come. For Team SEB in seventh, an unhappy situation for Gunnar Krantz seems to be getting worse. They have 244 miles to make up on illbruck and are still falling further behind. "More than anything else it is important for us to get back in some sort of race situation and not just try to get out of jail. We are all a bit gutted over the situation. All this time and effort and stuck. I will try to sound a bit happier when I get a reason," commented Gunnar.
STANDINGS on October 9 @ 0400 GMT:
FOR THE RECORD George Caras of meteorologists Commanders Weather commented on the conditions ahead: "PlayStation has had a great run - and is still running ahead of the cold front - with strong southerly winds at 30-35 knots since the start. Tonight they will start to see a more southwesterly component with wind speed beginning to diminish to about 22-24 knots, but with a building sea state. Right now this front looks good to push them all the way across." At just under 3 days from the start (71 hrs 40 mins 43 secs) and with only 1000 nm to the finish, PlayStation was approximately 550 nautical miles ahead of the 1990 pace of current TransAt record holder Jet Services 5 (record: 6d13h3m32s). - www.fossettchallenge.com
THE KEELS WERE DIFFERENT BUT THE CLOTH WAS THE SAME
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON From Scott Ridgeway: In US Sailing's weekly e-mail newsletter I learned that a Sailor Athlete Advisory Board has been established. This board will build and maintain an avenue for sailor-athletes in US Sailing, "to voice their opinions, and to provide a forum and opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the future and direction of our sport." Hurray - what a great idea! And then I read the definition of a sailor athlete (www.ussailing.org/saab/definition.htm). I don't qualify. In fact, I'm not sure I know anyone who does. It looks to me like only the top 1% of the competitive sailors in the US will qualify. If that's truly the case, I'm not sure that those responsible for having a 'meaningful impact on the future and direction of our sport' are truly in a position to know what those of us who are recreational sailors really want and need. I'm missing something, or is the tail is wagging the dog? * From Rod Carr: I thought it interesting that the comments of those who said that the race committees ought to find some way to cater to the folks who don't show up until the last minute, were both tendered from a perspective of competitors. I wondered if they had ever left the boat on the trailer and put on an RC hat and dealt with the problem from the other end? * From Dave Few --Secretary SBYRA and past chair NCPHRF: After listening to comments for the last season--I still think the new starting system, part3 -26, STINKS and the main reason is it is difficult to implement when you have race committees of only one or two people on board, (often of limited experience as it is hard to get RC boats). This is typical of our Club and SBYRA races. We have not adopted the new system and may never. We also now make much more liberal use of the radio, as encouraged by sailing gurus nationwide--most helpful to new and novice racers. We sure don't consider our racing venue as Gran Prix and don't need all the professional trappings and multiple flag waving of a regatta with twenty divisions starting. We can afford the time it takes to start our 4 divisions the old way.We do announce courses with flags and the radio if asked. Course changes do occur between division starts but are infrequent and these days they would be announced on the VHF as well as by flag. Paul Kamen of Berkeley Yacht club has a scheme he calls "System 4" which is satisfactory for short handed race committees using GPS time and course flag only. His system Titled "System IV UTC Starting System" can be seen at www.berkeleyyc.org/Friday/system4.htm. We may adopt this excellent system. I believe both his system and the old system should be put in the rule book as an option.
BOAT QUOTES - Volvo Ocean Race "It is hot, damp and humid at present, much better to be on deck than down below. You are forced to wear wet weather gear because of the torrential rain but a few of the boys are starting to suffer skin problems because of it. The boat for the first time is starting to smell bad. Damp clothing, wet sails and smelly bodies, not a good mix." - Kevin Shoebridge, Tyco "Our wives and girlfriends should be pleased to see us as our controlled diet has made us look like Adonis resembling the statue of David, with a beard though. Much more effective than Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. Have to get some clothes to fit in Cape Town along with a steak or too, and some cheese, and some fresh bread, and some apple pie and custard and some roast lamb, and some smoked salmon." - Jez Fanstone, News Corp "The good news is that the doldrums are quite narrow, and it looks like mother nature will be kind by making this part of the leg relatively easy. This is a nice gift after having been delayed for most of last week. Indeed even the southeasterly trade winds across the equator look moderately strong, so good sailing conditions are expected most of this week as the crews make there way closer to Cape Town," - illbruck Challenge meteorologist Chris Bedford "Since we are getting through the doldrums fast, our food supply looks a bit better. We are now looking toward the south to see what systems are in store for us for the sail across the south Atlantic. If we are lucky, we can catch a passing low to send us on a direct route toward Cape Town. If we are not so lucky, there will be a mine field of high pressures that might cause many lead changes and different tactics. For now, it is straight line speed, get to the south east trades." Dee Smith, Amer Sports One
BETTER SAILOR
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS
POW The semi-final rounds were won convincingly by Watch Hill YC, defending POW champion from 1999 and 2000, and by Seattle YC, each winning their best-of-three rounds in 2 matches each. The finals and petit finals provided some of the best racing of the regatta. After winning their first match, Watch Hill showed their stuff on the final downwind leg of their second match while engaging Seattle in a protracted luffing duel that covered most of the racecourse. They went on to win and claim their third consecutive POW championship. In the petit finals, Southern YC and Long Beach YC each took a match, going into the third match (also a best-of-three round) tied. By this time the wind was nearly due east and had lessened to 6 knots. The race committee was still battling shifts, but the final match of the regatta finally got off. Long Beach took an early lead right at the start and held into the start of the second windward leg, with a dying breeze. After rounding the leeward mark, Southern split on port tack (Long Beach was working up the left on starboard) and Long Beach responded with a loose cover. A surprise 30 degree shift to the right allowed Southern to capitalize on their leverage and placed them in the lead, just ahead of Long Beach. Long Beach's strenuous efforts to regain the lead weren't sufficient and Southern held on to claim third in the regatta.
Final Results:
THE TEAM
OUTTA HERE
THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL |
