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SCUTTLEBUTT # 687 - November 10, 2000GUEST EDITOR: What a week. It's been great fun sitting in, my thanks to Tom Leweck for handing over the helm and to Bob Fisher for his ISAF conference reporting. Starting Monday you're back in the Curmudgeon's hands. Please send all notes for Monday's butt to leweck@earthlink.net. Thanks - David McCreary, Sailing Editor, boats.com.THE YNGLING IS THE WOMEN'S OLYMPIC KEELBOAT The 21 foot Yngling is the class chosen as the women's keelboat for the Olympics in Athens in 2004. It beat the other short-listed candidate, the J-22, by nine votes in the Council's ballot to complete the eleven boat 'slate' to present to the IOC. It took all day, or most of it, before the ISAF Council got around to the matter in which there was the greatest interest - the choice of fleet racing keelboat for women. The women had been promised the decision so that they could begin to plan their campaigns and familiarise themselves with the boats, but there was a great deal of routine business to undertake before the Council finally deigned to turn its attention to making a decision. There was still a massive crowd in the Council Chamber at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, when with half an hour to go to closing time, the subject was broached. The chairman of the Women's Sailing Committee, Theresa Whelan of Great Britain, approached the microphone and announced that her committee members had decided that it would be a three-person boat to allow more countries to compete because of the numbers restriction on sailing to 400 athletes. Questions of price, availability, distribution, weight sensitivity were asked and, to some extent, answered. The short list was narrowed to two boats - the J-22 and the Yngling. It seemed that world-wide distribution might carry the day for the J-22, which had more boats in more countries, but the women in the Council were concerned that the crew weight limit of 275kg for the boat normally sailed, would make them racing three-up uncompetitive against normally crewed boats. It was this side issue that was to sound the death knell for the Rod Johnstone designed boat. Finally, the vote was taken electronically and the result displayed, after the one minute voting period, on the giant screens. There was a gasp, maybe of disbelief, when it showed that the Yngling had scored 23 to the 14 of the J-22. Corry Sertl of the United States described it as, 'A nice boat for us to race.' - Bob Fisher Bob's complete article, info on the Yngling, and a comparion of the Soling and Yngling by Stuart Walker at http://www.boats.com/content/sail_racing.jsp VENDEE GLOBE - ROUGH FIRST 24 HOURS The wind has been coming in from the Northwest and shifting West gradually, the small high pressure creating light, fickle winds with rain showers. In such conditions, the soloists have spent their first 24 hours mostly awake and maneuvering their boats throughout the night. The first surprise came at 2100hrs (French time): Patrick de Radigues (Le Libre Belgique) suffered autopilot failure, returned overnight and and repaired it in Les Sables d'Olonne. He set off again just ahead of 1600hrs French time today. Then it was Roland Jourdain who returned to port at 0215hrs after breaking both his gennaker halyard and a few teeth in the huge swell offshore. This was a formula 1 style pit-stop, and by 0505hrs he was heading out again, The greatest surprise of the night was when Mike Golding (Team Group 4) announced that he had totally dismasted. "I was at the main hatch, and had just changed the sail from Code 5 to genoa and heard a large crack. The whole rig, mast & sails just disappeared over the side and I am perplexed as to why it happened. I can still use the boom and one giant spreader, but the rest had to be cut away. The deck has superficial damage, as well as one rudder and daggerboard, but all reparable." At 1245hrs French time Team Group 4 was towed back into Les Sables d'Olonne. Mike has already galvanised his team into action and a replacement mast is being shipped over from the UK. He prefers to also get a new set of sails rather than use his spares, so he is now in a race against time as the line closes 10 days after the start. -- Philippe Jeantot Top ten places at 1300hrs (UT): 1 PARLIER - Aquitaine Innovations 2 THIERCELIN - Active Wear 3 DESJOYEAUX - PRB 4 STAMM - Armor Lux Foies Gras Bizac 5 GALLAY - Voila.fr 6 DINELLI - Sogal Extenso 7 DUMONT - Euroka 8 WAVRE - Union Bancaire Privee 9 CHABAUD - Whirlpool 10 DUBOIS - Solidaires Event site: http://www.vendeeglobe.com NOT EVERYBODY WANTS A RAZOR. Experts are predicting that those skinny little scooters will be the #1 selling item this holiday season, but... not everybody you know wants one. For everyone else on your list, there's INTERNATIONAL CREW. Our nautical gifts, Christmas cards, gift baskets, ornaments, and home decor items are available on-line at www.internationalcrew.com and through our Nautical Luxuries catalog. For your complimentary catalog, E-mail sales@internationalcrew.com, or call toll-free, 888-891-6601. MUMM 30 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP The second day of the Mumm 30 World Championship started under cloudy skies at 10:40 a.m. A four-leg course at 155 degrees was signaled, with 1.75 mile beats. Half way up the beat the sun broke through and the cloud cover cleared for another picture perfect day. Driving conditions were difficult in the light 8-10 knots of breeze and lumpy seas. Race 4 was the same course, with 2 mile legs set in the fresher breeze, which was up to 12-16 knots. It was a shifty breeze and big gains and losses were made on each leg. The first three mark roundings had three different leaders. The final race of the day was set with a course of 160 degrees, with four 2-mile legs. It was the first start of the regatta that the "All Clear" was hailed from the race committee boat. The wind speed and waves decreased as the day progressed. Onorato's Mascalzone Latino gained a convincing lead by the leeward mark and went unchallenged for the rest of the race. His combined scores of 4, 3, 1 moved him into third place for the regatta. Mike Dressell sailed a consistent day to hold onto second overall. Two seconds and an 11th place were enough to catapult USA 48 into the lead. Racing continues tomorrow with two races planned. Top Ten after 5 races USA 48 USA 65 Mascalzone Latino Maximumm Dread Trouble Seven Steadfast Mirage Tramp Region Ile de FRA Full results posted on the Class website at www.mumm30.org EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW IS RIGHT HERE The last time you bought a sail did you ask about the cloth? Sailcloth.com is a new web site by Bainbridge International designed especially for the boat owner and sailor. It is packed full of easy to follow information and handy tips to explain why you should be talking to your sailmaker about a better quality cloth. http://www.sailcloth.com LETTERS TO SCUTTLEBUTT Letters selected to be printed may be edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a bulletin board or a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. -- From Dawn Riley on the ISAF choice for the new women's event: The fight for logic and what is best for our sport is not over. The General Assembly can reopen Council's last minute change from a Match Racing to Fleet racing for women in the Olympics. If that doesn't work then the IOC can still change the decision. Council made this decision against all recommendations from their 'expert committee's' and with misinformation. The decision must be reversed. The Council was threatened with women's keelboats being thrown out of the Olympics because: 1) 35 countries need to have women match racing for the discipline to be accepted by the IOC 2) There are not 35 counties that women participate in match racing. This was wrong on both accounts: 1) 35 countries need to be participating in the sport (sailing) not the discipline (match racing) to be accepted by the IOC. 2) In fact 38 countries are participating and more are joining every day. Match racing is growing and being self-supporting. Women's fleet racing has been on the decline. Match racing is more economical allowing for a more fair and diverse base of competitors. Obviously, I am not talking about the America's Cup here. I am talking about a part of our sport that can organize itself, gain sponsors and become self-funding reducing the burden on national governing bodies around the world. There is a huge amount of support throughout the world. Why do a few people at ISAF want to kill it? -- From Bill Tyler: It seems to me that our sport is being poorly represented when we need to drop a long-established Olympic class in order to make room for a women's boat. This is not to say the women's boat shouldn't be added, we shouldn't have to drop anything. Does a sport/event get dropped every time something new is added? What was eliminated when tennis was added? I watch the television coverage of the Olympics and I see some of the most ridiculous sports represented! We now have trampoline as a demo sport - I just can't wait for that to be medal competition. And then there's the synchronized swimming and synchronized DIVING! Come on - surely we can successfully lobby to add a women's boat with some of the junk sports that are getting room on the Olympic stage. -- From David Scully: I have read with interest the submissions regarding "The Race", and in particular, those comments on the Team Phillips entry. I would remind those critical of the event that it is an adventure, and an adventure is a journey one undertakes accepting that one does not know where one will end up. The comparisons to the original Golden Globe Race are very appropriate. That, too, was a loosely organized, "run what you brung", event, in which some finished, some failed, and some found a different destiny. Those of us participating in "The Race" have made a personal decision to accept the risks involved. While communications technology makes it possible for the world to share the adventure, the participants are adventurers, not entertainers. What Calvin's article refers to as "a barely suppressed sense of panic" on the part of the organization, is normal in events of this nature, in France. -- From Joseph Bainton: Mr. Lemke's suggestion that there be a fund available to reimburse the costs of rescue is a sound one. I suggest that the easier way to meet this goal is to require each entrant, as a condition to participation in one of these long distance or round the world events, provide proof of $2 million of insurance to cover rescue costs in the statistically unlikely event that that competitior requires rescuing during the course of the race. It will be much easier to raise the price of the premium as part of the campaign than to raise and subsequently return a $1-2 million escrow fund, not to mention managing that fund prudently during the course of the race. -- From Dick Roberts: I agree with Malcolm McKeag that there is nothing wrong with the use of flag 'X' to signal an individual recall and that we shouldn't try and 'fix' it. However, his general statement that visiual signals govern is not correct and should be challenged. While there is a requirement in Rule 26.1 that 'failure of a sound signal shall be disregarded,' that requirement applies only to the sound signals and the visual starting signals which are listed in Rule 26.1 -- the Warning, the Preparatory and the Starting signals. Other sound signals given in Race Signals (found on the inside back cover of the Rulebook) are required and the associated visual signal does not 'govern.' NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR SAIL AMERICA Middletown, RI -After a national search, Sail America, the U.S. sailing industry trade association, has hired Scot P. West as its new executive director. West replaces Karen Kelly who was the executive director for nine years. He plans to relocate to Middletown, RI, prior to his position taking effect on December 4. "Scot not only demonstrated a great deal of personal enthusiasm for this position, but he brought with him proven marketing and management experience in the sailing industry," said Sail America President John Peterson. "He has been actively involved in Sail America committees and clearly understands our visions and goals. We believe he will be a tremendous asset to the industry in this capacity." West comes from Sunsail Sailing Vacations, where he worked for seven years in marketing and as general manager. Previous to that, West worked with Carey, Richmond & Viking Insurance in Newport, RI, and the New England Patriot's football team in Foxboro, MA. "I've always been involved in sailing, and I'm absolutely thrilled by the opportunity to work in this leadership capacity with Sail America," said West. "I'm eager to get involved and learn as much as I can. I've been active in Sail America's boat show committee work the past few years, but I really look forward to becoming more attuned to the viewpoints and needs of all 600 members of the association in a variety of critical areas." THE CURMUDGEON'S OXYMORONS Rap music |
