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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 950 - November 23, 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 "Thank you for a very well performed coordination of this mission. The Orion [plane] arrived smack on time at 1300 GMT and dropped, all in all, seven packages. Sea conditions were good with 13 knots of wind from the west. All packages were successfully retrieved. We used the mainsail and the engine for the pickups. The operation was finished at 1332 GMT and Orion returned home. Looks like we have all we need for Keith. - Grant Dalton" There are no ambulances waiting trackside if an emergency arises in the Volvo Ocean Race. But help is at hand in the form of planning, training, as well as the ability to hook into the increasing use of cameras and satellites to help diagnose the action required and monitor its execution. Cybermedicine has come to the Volvo Ocean Race. The whole approach goes back to the formation of an international team, which has set up a medical support system for the race. They are led by Dr. Tim Spalding, a British orthopaedic surgeon based in Coventry, England, and members of the team are Dr. Rudi Rodriguez, an American who was also the doctor for the Baltimore-based Chessie Racing syndicate in the last race, Dr. Robert Sinclair, a consultant anaesthetist, and UK based Mark Thomson, a general practitioner who is also an experienced ocean racer. In Germany, Meinholf Goertzen is an orthopaedic and sports surgeon and completing the team from Finland is physiotherapist Timo Malinen. Each boat carries a specially prepared medical kit. It contains everything from a pocket mouth-to-mouth resuscitator to bandages and splints, analgesics and antibiotics, eye damage treatments, drugs, and saline drips. At least three members of every crew have also been trained to use sutures, staples and glue in the treatment of wounds. They have a basic knowledge of dentistry and are also concerned with preventative medicine. Dr. Meinolf Goertzen, an MD PhD professor for orthopaedic surgery from Germany, specialised in Cybermedicine and is member of the core group of five Volvo medical advisors: "This incident shows the importance that Volvo has committed to organise a professional medical team with a high tech Cybermedicine approach. In many cases, like this one, it is not possible to wait for proper treatment until a shore is reached. Keith had luck that a MD [Roger Nilson] is part of the crew, who can put specialised advice into treatment." One of Goertzen's visions is a cyber-stethoscope with which he can listen to heartbeat and lung function via the Internet, no matter where the patient is located. The emergency medical advise was given by a team of doctors at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, after they were sent a detailed report about Kilpatricks symptoms via Volvo Ocean Race Headquarters. Two years ago, Director of Race Operations Michael Woods together with CEO Helge Alten visited the Australian Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Canberra to consult about the Volvo Ocean Race passing through the stretches of water they are responsible for under the IMO (International Maritime Organisation).Ê After this meeting the waypoint Eclipse Island was introduced to lead the yachts into covered waters as quickly as possible. Last night Grant Dalton commented on this early decision: "Volvo have been great, very coordinated and professional. Volvo must be commended on having made Eclipse Island near Albany a waypoint or we would be much further south right now." * From Grant Dalton, skipper of Amer Sports One: I guess the world is wanting to know what is happening onboard. For those who couldn't care less about who wins or loses or for sailing either for that matter, they can relate to a real life human drama at the bottom of the world, which I know will have a happy ending. It is a story of perfect co-ordination between the Volvo Ocean Race organization, their advisors, Australia search and rescue and the last in the line, us onboard. We continue on as fast as possible knowing that the faster we sail the quicker we can off load Keith, now maybe only 3 days away. The treatment he is receiving onboard from Roger [Nilson] is quite outstanding. I faint at the sight of needles so am of no use at all. Two bunks have been put aside for him, one to sleep in, the other to house the substantial supplies we now have and to hold the drip. He is constantly monitored and when Roger sleeps, which is not often, the boys check him constantly. Maybe there are better places he could be right now but I can guarantee you he would never get more attention than we are giving him - brothers in arms and all that stuff. So we are racing flat out on deck trying to get back in the game and have positioned ourselves to the north and east with the northwesterly that is filling in to try and blast east at pace. Time will tell whether that is smart but concentrating on tactical navigation has been somewhat tricky of late." * From Roger Nilson: Keith's condition is, as mentioned, stable but mostly unchanged with signs of intestinal total or partial obstruction. He still needs drugs for pain relief and sleeping. He is on two heavy antibiotics. Adding today a spasmolytic intravenous drug we got from the drop off. So far he has received 5 liters of intravenous fluids and we have his dehydration under control. He still has colic cramps as before and we plan to get him off the boat ASAP. He needs better hospital care then we can offer and we are asking RHQ how and when to get him off. We got 30 liters of fluid from the seven packages dropped down and also we needed more syringes, needles, infusion sets, sterile water for mixing antibiotics, more morphine etc. We got it all from the ORION. Please send email and thank ORION's crew for excellent work. Barriford hospital in UK, linked to Volvo Ocean Race, has done a superb job with having their doctors continuously supporting me with advice.
Positions at 1000 hrs GMT, November 23 Event site: www.volvooceanrace.org
GREAT GIFTS FOR UNDER $20.00!
INTERNATIONAL 14 CLASS GLOBAL TEAM RACING CHALLENGE In the first semi final pair, the United States made seemingly easy work of their match and dispatched the Swiss 2-0. The Swiss team, augmented by one boat from Great Britain, gave a good fight but in the end had no answer for the boat speed of the Americans. In the second contest, Great Britain won the first match but Canada rebounded to take the second. The racing was close all the way around the race course, and there were numerous confrontations and yells of protest within yards of the finish line. The breeze was shifty and leads changed constantly, with the result that the match was forced to the Ôsudden death' final race. Canada pulled out all the stops, and aided by a capsize by one of the British boats, managed to take the race and the series to face off against the United States The third race was started, and immediately the wind went even further left, resulting in a one tack beat to the first mark. The Race Committee, and Chief Umpire Martin Smethers, had no choice but to abandon the race. As it turned out it was the last of the sailing for the day. Unfortunately for the Canadians their chance ended with the breeze. As the finals were unable to be completed, and with no spare day to fall back on, the Americans emerged the victor using tiebreaker, based on their victory in the Round Robin series. Congratulations to the U.S.A. on their win. -- Kevin Blee, www.rbyc.bm
TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE With this victory, Alex Bennett, the 25 year old skipper who came fifth in the 1999 Mini Transat and was part of Pete Goss' Team Phillips crew, should catapult himself towards his ultimate dream and mission in life: to take the start of the 2004 Vendee Globe. In the Open 60 fleet, the last three boats have arrived. Miranda Merron with French co-skipper Fred Brule, brought Un Univers de Service across the finish line at 1929hrs 45s GMT on Wednesday 21st November, to take 9th place in the rankings behind Bobst-Group - Armor Lux (Stamm/Riou). They covered 4,565 miles in 18 days, 7 hrs, 39 mins, 45s, at an average speed of 10.38 knots. The girls recorded the lowest average boat speed but knowingly stuck to the rum line and thus beat in by just 45 minutes Sollac Atlantique, skippered by French Figaro experts Seeten & Drouglazet. In the multihull fleet, Pindar Systems, skippered by Emma Richards & Mikaela Von Koskull, were delivered from hell yesterday. Emma wrote in her first email, after problems with their Sat C stopped all communications for 50 hrs: "The reward came at 1800 this evening, when we passed very close to the rugged landscape of East Ascension island - or 'Assumption' island - as we have only assumed it was here after 5 days blindly following the compass through various bad tacking angles. So now we only have 2 and a half Fastnet races to go - all downwind!" Their ETA with 1240 miles to go is currently Monday 26th Nov. The other multihull left on course is Nautica, and skipper Yvan Bourgnon called briefly to the Paris Race HQ to say that they have incurred significant structural damage to the central hull and forward bars. They are trying to find solutions to keep their boat together until the finish, which is only 350m away. "The central hull could simply split in two, both if we go too slowly or too fast," said Bourgnon, "and we hope to just get Nautica safely to port by Saturday." They are sailing towards Bahia at 10 knots. -- www.jacques-vabre.com
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Editor's Note: This is just one of many letters we've received wishing Keith Kilpatrick godspeed and good health: * From Steve Steiner: All of Keith's friends from Southern California wish him well. We have a picture of him posted on www.yachtracing.com. Around California (his home) he has been kind and always professional. We have had many emails from his friends here and across the US. * From: Paul Krak Arntson: OK, so my wife and I have a Melges 24, and the latest in windsurfing equipement. I have sailed all my life including owning a couple different cruiser/racers, and windsurfed since booms were wood and tied to the mast with a rope. I guess that qualifies me to have an opinion about windsurfing. I see Windsurfing as a sailing sport, also as the most dynamic and athletically influenced competitive form of sailing. One of the unique benefits of the sport, is that the lower cost of equipement provides a high rate of development and technological achievements that are available to the average person. We wouldn't choose to use the original 50 lb Windsurfer for Olympic competition today, and given the advances in technology and windsurfing, the IMCO no longer represents the economic standard in construction and performance of a production board. Is it not time to seriously look at how we would make the equipement for this discipline given the technology of today? After all, one of the benefits in this sport is the economic ability to advance the technology. I for one believe that this discipline will always need to periodicly undergo evaluation of the class equipement. I think the focus in this discipline should be "what is the next step?", not if there should be a next step.
IF YOU DIDN'T GET TO COWES FOR JUBILEE WEEK ...
SOLING WORLDS
Current top standings: Event site: www.solingworlds.com
AMERICA'S CUP Base 8 includes a sail loft, admin offices, operations facility, travel lift and extended pontoon as well as an executive office suite across the street from which the sponsorship and marketing team operate. The team is based there until the end of March, when it will return the UK for the launch of the new yacht. -- www.gbrchallenge.com * On the same day, Former Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts and the Swiss Challenge Alinghi set up their base, which will be partly open to the public in March. Alinghi 64 arrived in New Zealand by freight plane and 59 was unloaded from a container ship. "We are going to be able to train on two boats now, which is essential to the development of our programme," said Coutts, one of several New Zealanders involved in the Swiss syndicate.
INVESTMENT ADVICE
NEW YORK TO MELBOURNE RECORD IN SIGHT Sailing through storm conditions on Wilson's 53-foot trimaran Great American II, the pair was barely 400 miles ahead of the track of the extreme clipper ship Mandarin, the vessel that has held the sailing record for the 14,000-mile voyage for nearly a century and a half.Ê The 400-mile lead is equivalent to about a day and a half of sailing time. Wilson, from Rockport, Massachusetts, and Biewenga, who lives in Newport, Rhode Island, are out to beat Mandarin'sÊ record of 69 days 14 hours, set as she carried prospectors to the Australian Gold Rush in the winter of 1855-56. To beat Mandarin's record, Great American II must arrive off Williamstown, before 5:21 pm, summer time, on November 28. The website tracking the voyage of Great American II is www.sitesALIVE.com
SAILOR-ATHLETE ADVISORY COUNCIL SIMPLIFIES REGISTRATION The United States Olympic Committee and the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act require that the National Governing Bodies of all Olympic sports have a minimum of 20% athlete representation on all designated committees, including the Board of Directors. Furthermore, the S-AAC will provide an avenue for the voices of sailors to be heard, to encourage participation and to promote excellence in sailing and racing in the United States of America. In order to recommend appropriate sailor athletes for various committees and to be eligible to vote in the next S-AAC election, all eligible sailors are asked to register themselves as sailor-athletes on the simplified S-AAC web site. The term "Sailor-Athlete" has been specifically defined for the purposes of this Council, and the definition as well as registration form can be found on the web site at http://www.ussailing.org/saac. E-mail addresses for current S-AAC members are also listed, and all interested sailors are encouraged to contact the S-AAC to voice concerns or learn more about the S-AAC's new role in the management of our US SAILING. Current members of S-AAC are: James Appel, Dean Brenner, Vince Brun, Courtenay Dey, Geoff Ewenson, Meg Gaillard, Mike Gebhardt, Louise Gleason, Scott Ikle, John Lovell, Bob Merrick, Darrell Peck and Mark Reynolds. The next election will be in the fall of 2002. For more information about our Council please visit www.ussailing.org/saac or contact Lee Parks at 401-683-0800 or LeeParks@ussailing.org.
INDUSTRY NEWS * Alachua, Florida-based Hunter Marine Corp. announced the appointment of Jim Novak to the position of product manager for the trailerable boats produced by Hunter Marine. Novak has over 15 years of marine experience and most recently, has been the general manager of the Sailing Store in Orlando, Florida. -- www.boating-industry.com * First prize in this year's Innovations 2001 competition has been awarded to French anchor manufacturer Mondiale Plaisance Industrie. The competition is run by show organiser Salon Nautique International de Paris in collaboration with the FIN (Federation of French Nautical Industries) and IBI magazine (International Boat Industry). Winning entries are to be showcased at this year's Paris Boat Show which takes place from November 30-December 10. The winning product is the Topgard, a flat anchor with plough-shaped sides. It is a model that performs like a flat anchor in normal position and a plough anchor when positioned on its side. - Bob Greenwood, IBI Magazine: www.ybw.com/ibinews/
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * November 30 - December 10: Paris International Boat Show, www.salonnautiqueparis.com
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
