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SCUTTLEBUTT 1953 -- October 26, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.KEN READ Emirates Team New Zealand, one of the front-runners among the 11 challengers for the America's Cup in 2007, are believed to be about to sign a high-profile helmsman/ tactician. Team New Zealand already have a strong line-up with skipper Dean Barker, British triple Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie and New Zealander Kelvin Harrap on the driving panel, but the favourite to reinforce them is Ken Read, the three-times America's Cup sailor. The American confirmed that he has had approaches from two America's Cup teams, though he declined to identify them. But Read, the vice president of the worldwide sail-making giant North Sails, did acknowledge that he was ready to make his return. "It runs in your blood," said the former skipper of Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes in 2000 and 2003. "It's flattering to be asked but nothing has been decided." The other team to contact Read is almost certainly Alinghi where skipper Brad Butterworth is said to want another afterguard member and an all-rounder. An Alinghi source indicated that the Swiss defenders were seeking a specialist tactician rather than a helmsman. Where Read would fit in at Team New Zealand is not clear. But he said: "I've plenty of experience and I think I have a lot offer. I could fill an important role but if I don't, it's not the end of the road." -- Tim Jeffery, The Telegraph, http://tinyurl.com/cu9om BRAD BUTTERWORTH (Here's a brief excerpt from a story on the Sailing World website by Stuart Streuli about Alinghi's new skipper, Brad Butterworth.) Alinghi dominated the 2005 America's Cup Class season and was particularly lethal in the match racing, losing just two of 33 head-to-head competitions. They did this with three different helmsmen and while swapping crew in and out of virtually every position. Every position, that is, except tactician. While it's hard to imagine Alinghi crossing the line for Race 1 of the 2007 America's Cup without the remains of Coutts' core group-Butterworth, jib trimmer Simon Daubney, main trimmer Warwick Fleury, strategist Murray Jones, and jack-of-all-trades Dean Phipps-the only person guaranteed a spot on the race boat is Butterworth. Ask him the question and he'll most likely tell you otherwise, how he's as much at risk of watching the 2007 Cup from the sidelines as anyone else on Alinghi's sailing team, how they're trying to fit together all the pieces of a complex afterguard puzzle. Don't believe a word of it. He is as self-deprecating off the water-at least when dealing with the press-as he is ruthless on it. To get a real taste of Butterworth's genius, you need to see him round the leeward mark behind by a few boatlengths and slowly grind in the competition. He works every little shift, forcing his opponent to tack when he least wants to and grabbing a few feet each time. By the top mark, if he's not in the lead, he's close enough to strike on the run. He makes it seem easy, almost inevitable. Anyone who's ever match raced knows it's anything but. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/ctcrh MEDICAL TRAINING As the start of the Volvo Ocean Race gets closer and closer, teams are making sure that vital preparation is being completed. One essential is that at least two crew members have medical training. TEAM ABN AMRO packed off two from each boat to school. On board medics Jan Dekker, Justrin Slattery, Simeon Tienpont and George Peet spent two days in the Netherlands doing their medic training. Practicing on actors, each other and pieces of supermarket meat, they managed to simulate some of the real-life conditions they might face at sea. Justin Slattery, the second bowman of ABN AMRO ONE, has already assisted fellow crew. "In the last race I had to stitch a wound on somebody's forehead," said Justin. "Of course it's not easy to stitch a wound with the boat riding the waves; two of the other guys had to hold me. Then I was able to put the needle in the right place!" Once in school, the programme consisted of theory, followed by practical simulations. These include hypothermia, broken bones and wounds that need stitching. Crew members in past races have had severe accidents, and the possibility is always there that the on-board medic will face a serious situation at sea. Combined with the medical briefing and instruction given by the Volvo Ocean Race Medical Team of Timo Malinen, Mark Tomson and Tim Spalding, these courses provide the best possibility of a satisfactory outcome when an incident arises at sea and hospitals are far away. For George Peet of ABN AMRO TWO, the simulated injuries in the course were the most valuable experience of the training. "Having a severed finger or breaking a bone can happen on a boat and as a medic you must be able to react fast." -- Volvo Ocean Race website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/agod2 SUPER-MAXIS: NOT YOUR ORDINARY SAIL One of UK-Halsey's sail designers (who also designed sails for Team China's AC boat) just returned from sailing Rebecca (142 feet) in the Superyacht Cup. Observations: "When the winch stops turning, you're holding 8 tons. You can't ease the 1.5" thick sheets when tacking as they'd melt; you use the 'ease' button to power out. The #2 is 4,318 sq.ft. (1,000 lbs of Cuben Fibre); that's double an AC main. The spinnaker (11,789 sq.ft. 165' luff) takes 15 of 25 crew to hoist." Read more (great stuff) in the latest issue - just out - of UK-Halsey's e-newsletter: http://www.ukhalsey.com/newsletter/index.asp ROUND THE WORLD (The Daily Sail subscription website spoke to former Global Challenge skipper Dee Caffari about her next month's attempt to be the first woman to sail singlehanded around the world non-stop the wrong way. Here are just a few excerpts from that posting.) Most impressive about Caffari's campaign is just how quickly she found her sponsor - just six weeks. Caffari says through her work corporate sailing with Challenge Business and Formula 1 she had met a large number of people and in her sponsor hunting she started out by sending emails to many of these or other contacts she'd made during the Global Challenge, in "Director-type roles". Incredibly one of these contacts bit hard in the form of a director of Aviva, the world's sixth-largest insurance group and the biggest in the UK. "With the essence being on timing, they are launching a forward-thinking campaign to raise their brand awareness, start a new section of marketing and they wanted innovative, inspirational, forward-thinking people, that plan in advance, etc. It just went with their whole new campaign and the timing just happened to fit." This week Aviva is due to emerge from the yard in Plymouth where Andrew Roberts and his technical team at Challenge Business have been completing modification work to turn Caffari's 72 footer in a vessel suitable for the singlehanding. Among the modifications made to the boat are the fitting of an autopilot, roller furling headsails and a 1.8m long bowsprit to take asymmetric spinnakers. To help her handle the sail plan singlehanded a pedestal and 'universal' winch have also been fitted. "Most of the sheet feeds we can feed to that winch and it has a much bigger drum and three speeds so the line speed is much quicker. -- www.thedailysail.com PRIORITIES Having reached another milestone with the opening of the Alinghi Base in Valencia, Patrick Magyar has asked Ernesto Bertarelli to release him from his duties as General Manager. "My family and I simply did not cope with the relocation", explained Magyar, who is very sad about this development. "It would have been great to stay throughout the campaign, but there are moments in life, where the priorities have to lie with the people that are dearest to you." Magyar joined Alinghi in September 2004 and did an outstanding job in developing Alinghi's marketing programme in one of the world's prime sports properties. As General Manager, he was also in charge of the team responsible for communication, sponsorship, licensing, administration & finance as well as of the construction of the Alinghi base. CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar CAN CAYARD DO IT? Scuttlebutt has reported with interest the preparation that skipper Paul Cayard and the team on Pirates of the Caribbean has been undertaking prior to the start of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 on November 5, 2005. Paul has been candid with his assessments, which have not always expressed confidence in the status of his team. In that the Pirates of the Caribbean team got a much later start than the rest of the fleet, we thought the latest Scuttlebutt poll should ask the question: Will skipper Paul Cayard and the team on Pirates of the Caribbean be a leading contender among the seven-boat field in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006? Click here to vote: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/polls/05/1025 NEWS BRIEFS * On Tuesday October 25th, the Hobie Cat 16 World Championships 2005 started with wind gusts up to 46 knots. The Indian Ocean in the Nelson Mandela Bay looked sunny, but very rough, with high seas. All races were cancelled due to the extreme conditions. Some competitors hung around at the Port Elizabeth Beach Sailing Club and others did some sightseeing in the beautiful South African area. It was supposed to be the first racing day for three classes: fifty-three masters, eleven women and nineteen youth Hobie 16 teams. -- www.hobieworlds.com * In spite of Hurricane Wilma, the Rolex Osprey Cup ISAF Grade 1 women's match racing regatta will go on as scheduled, October 27-30. The St. Petersburg YC, host to the regatta, has not sustained damage to its clubhouse or sailing center where the club's fleet of Sonar keelboats, slated for service in the Rolex Osprey Cup, are located. The ten skippers include Claire Leroy (FRA), Malin Millbourn (SWE), Sandy Hayes (USA), Elizabeth Kratzig (USA), Giulia Conti (ITA), Linda Härsjö (SWE), Arabella Denvir (IRL), Rachael Silverstein (USA), Katy Lovell (USA) and Anna Tunnicliffe (USA). -- www.rolexwomensmatch.org * Curious what the sexy new Russell Coutts 44 looks like under sail? Now there's some video posted on his website: http://www.russellcoutts.net/Gallery/Videos.html * Brazilian Horacio Carabelli will be sailing onboard the Brasil 1 in the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, between Vigo (Spain) and Cape Town (South Afirca) -- substituting for New Zealander Martin Carter. Carabelli oversaw the entire construction of the Brasil 1. "Our choice of Horacio was a safe one. He is an excellent sailor and nobody knows the Brasil 1 better than he does. We will lose the electronics knowledge as Martin was fully responsible for this part," explained Alan Adler. The change was made for medical reasons. Carter discovered during a routine check-up that he's a diabetic. -- www.brasil1.com.br * After a week of carpirinhas and Brazilian festivities, the ten yachts in the Clipper 05-06 Round-the-World Yacht Race left Salvador, Brazil Tuesday. The fleet left in bright sunshine and a brisk 12 knot breeze however, they about to face one of their toughest challenges of the race…the Cape of Good Hope. During this leg, the yachts will have to carefully navigate their way around the high pressure system of the mid Atlantic where they will experience little wind. The second challenge is taking on the forceful Agulhus current which will hit them as they round the Cape. DO IT TO US ONE MORE TIME…. Dryshirts are in high demand but when the manufacturer makes a mistake we don't think you should pay for it. This time it's for short sleeve Dryshirt™s with slightly different grays between the body and sleeves, discounted today at 50% off. Whether you're college sailing, campaigning maxis, or cruising the deep blue, we have the gear to make those moments on the water more enjoyable. No sales tax outside California. Outfit your entire team and save even more with Institutional Pricing on gear from Musto, Gill, Dubarry, and more! Call 800-354-7245 (in US) or 562-594-8749 (outside US). http://www.sailingproshop.com/dryshirt.htm 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. This is neither a chat room nor a bulletin board - 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.) * From Jim Mahaffy (Re: Howard Paul's comment): A while back I sent an email regarding US Sailing and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. It wasn't as well worded as Paul's but it had the same gist. Look at how AOPA does things and emulate them. The real problem here is the NIH, syndrome, Not invented here! US Sailing could learn a lot on how AOPA works, why not learn from them! OH Well! My US Sailing dues go down the drain while my AOPA dues do something. * From Mike Van Dyke: I congratulate California Yacht Club on their outstanding achievement on winning the St. Petersburg trophy dedicated to "Excellence in Regatta Management", as it is quite an honor. I also congratulate Beverly Yacht Club also on winning three times...but if you click the link to US Sailing, Long Beach Yacht Club was actually the first yacht club to win it three times ... 1969, 1980 and 1985. -- http://www.ussailing.org/racemgt/St_Pete_Trophy/index.htm * From Donald T. Rave, Jr.: Did you know that if the QE2 actually burned one gallon of diesel for every 6 inches traveled, in order to make a 3,000 mile run she would have to carry 31.68 Million Gallons of fuel? This is almost half the capacity of a supertanker and would mean that the fuel cost of a transatlantic voyage would be in excess of $60 Million. * From Guy Gurney: I don't think that's right about the QE2's fuel consumption in today's 'Butt. It sounded strange so I Googled it, and found on the QE2 website http://www.qe2.org.uk: At the service speed of 28.5 knots, consumption is 380 tons per day: this equates to 50 ft/gall. * From James King: A small point about today's 'did you know?' section, and the QE2. Cursory research indicates to me that: - the QE2 is capable of a non-stop voyage from New York to Southampton - the distance from NY, NY to Southampton, UK is 3423 miles - there are therefore 36,146,880 lots of 6 inches between the two places (3423 miles x 1760yards (per mile) x 6 (lots of 6-inches in a yard)) - the specific gravity of fuel oil is .991 (ie it's lighter than water, but not much) - Based on the 'did you know?' info, the QE2 would therefore be required to carry over 36 million gallons of fuel, which is roughly 135,000 tonnes, or 133,405 (long) tons. - given that the loaded displacement of the QE2 is 48,923 tons, displacement is 37,333 tons, and gross tonnage is 70,327, the 'did you know?' information is clearly unrelated to the reality of a typical voyage from New York to Southampton. Or you could just look at http://www.travelonline.co.nz/cruises/qe2/shipfacts.html and see the following: Fuel consumption: 18.05 tons per hour (433 tons per day) on 9 diesels; Service speed: 28.5 knots. work that out at roughly 13.5 yards per gallon, or about one-eightieth of the consumption you're suggesting. Curmudgeon's Comment: Thank you one and all. This thread is now officially dead! * From Barbara Gold (Rebut to Peter Seidenberg): About the pumping per wave and such. The same rules apply to the Opti class especially at international events where it is totally subjective as to how a sailor sails the boat. When a sailor of any age is sailing sometime they rock (IE: laser and sunfish) which may look like ouching, when in fact it is a habit of how a sailor sails. These kids are learning at a very young age the wrong things. They are learning not how to change how they sail, but to watch out for the judges and sit as still as possible when they come around. Mind you, these judges chase these kids around the course from about 4 feet behind their boat. How unnerving is that especially for a kid. I'm with Peter. Just sail the boat to its potential, whatever boat it may be especially at the higher level events. * From Jordan J. Dobrikin: In trying to grow and enhance sail racing in the Vancouver area I have run into a situation that confuses me and piques my curiosity. In talking to various individual, and groups of Recreational Sailors in various Sailing Clubs and Organizations, I often get a/the response, that Racing is to cutthroat, intensive and not really fun. Here in Vancouver we have several Co-op Sailing Clubs that supply a wide range of boats to their Members, including several types of high performance, "adrenaline" boats that are tailor made for Racing. The Members that sail them make the argument(s) above as well as denigrating X-Class/Handicap Racing as non rewarding as they are hardly ever close enough to other boats to relate. There is a large population of Wind Surfers and a growing # of Kite Boarders on English Bay here in VANC that are not into Racing for the reasons above as well as the lament of not enough wind for the small, high performance boards. Most use high wind days in Vancouver for recreation and practice but travel to The Gorge and/or Squeamish for "real excitement". What/how, can local Clubs and Organizations do, to make Sail racing more interesting and fun? So as to move Recreational Sailors, as well as newcomers into sail racing. * From Enrico Ferrari: I am hoping to see the comments of Robert Lynn verified on the race course soon. I too, believe that kites are the coming thing but here in the Seattle region, they are far and few between. Keep this thread alive. It is the future of downwind and perhaps upwind sailing once we get by the experimental stage. After watching 20 boats broach as a cell goes through the fleet, I am sure the kites will represent a marked improvement in stability. There is no lever arm attached to the top of the mast. All loads go to the shear at the beam of the vessel. Control is dependant on skill in flying the kite much like skill is needed on trimming a chute. So far, with no kites in the fleet, there is no skill to watch. Are there fleets with kites racing and how are they doing? * From John Rumsey: How much kite would it take to assist a 50,000 ton ship to a 5% fuel savings over a trip, say SF to Honolulu? CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Where the hell is Easy Street? |
