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SCUTTLEBUTT 1425- September 30, 2003Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. CADIZ REPORT CARD - Paul Henderson Cadiz was a great success!! The ISAF World Championship of Olympic Classes met and exceeded all expectations. The Bay of Cadiz lived up to its reputation and provided excellent sailing conditions, onshore facilities and Andalusian hospitality. When the sailors arrived they were overwhelmed by the facilities and the ability to meet and interact with the top sailors in other classes from so many countries. Many of them came to ISAF and said how happy they were to be there. The media started by saying that this event had already become the most important International Sailing Event in the Sailing Calendar. They then demanded that it be held every two years and by the end of the Championship were saying it should happen every year. What a great compliment to ISAF! Many sailors were saying that it would be difficult to go back to isolated, individual Class World Championships after the exposure they and Sailing received in Cadiz. The sailors specifically demanded that ISAF appoint top level ISAF Race Officers for all major events as ISAF did in Cadiz. The Star sailors enjoyed themselves, demanding that on the boat park, the boats must be lined up alternating Yngling, Star, Yngling, Star. The ageing Finn sailors were inspecting the Stars as they look to move up next year. The Windsurfers were looking to the Tornado for their future. The 49ers enjoyed a great central spot in the boat park and fantastic sailing. The Europe sailors were everywhere and very popular. The Lasers complained that although their facility was the best that in the future the Europes and Windsurfers must be at the same venue. A similar expression from both the men's and women's 470 fleets over in Rota. Each class had their own night at the "Bodega" hosted by Mundo Vela. Whilst enjoying the evening, again the response was that in future they did not want to be segregated by class but wanted to socially mix with the others. This was the general tone throughout the event. The sailors wanted to meet other sailors from other countries and other classes and other genders. That is what the future of sailing is all about - Sailors meeting Sailors! - Paul Henderson, ISAF President, full report: http://www.sailing.org/makingwaves/makingwaves167/default.asp LITTLE AMERICA'S CUP NEWPORT, R.I. Not even a slightly late sea breeze could detract from the spectacular fall day that greeted the three Italian and four American teams who are competing in the elimination series for the International Catamaran Challenge Trophy (ICCT) being sailed on Narragansett Bay. The 23rd running of "The Little America's Cup" got underway Sunday with the completion of four flights in the elimination series. Monday's acrobatic action, courtesy of the 18+ knots of breeze that filled in mid-afternoon, took place off Goat Island which provided a prime vantage point for spectators gathered along the seawall. Alberto Sonino and Edward Canepa hold the lead in the Challenger's elimination series, based on standings that are one race shy of three complete round-robins. Sonino and Canepa have a win-loss record of 4-1, with Daniele Saragoni and crew Teo Di Battista at 3-2. Both teams are sailing for Club Nautico Rimini. Massimiliano "Max" Sirena and Paolo Bassani, representing Vela Club Marano Riccione, have a 1-5 record. Part way through the second round robin in the Defender's elimination series the results are: John Lovell/ Charlie Ogletree, (Southern YC) 3-0 Mark Murray/ Charles Barmonde, (Team 1/Sail Newport) 2-2 Chris Brown/ WF Oliver, (Seawanhaka Corinthian YC), 2-2 Barry Moore/ Eric Anderson (Sea Cliff YC), 1-4 Racing in the elimination series continues tomorrow, with a planned lay day on Wednesday, October 1. The Defender and Challenger will compete head-to-head in a best four out of seven series for the Trophy on Thursday and Friday, October 2-3. - Media Pro Int'l For more information: www.icct2003.org / www.littleamericascup2003.org TRIVIA QUESTION When did Lowell North first begin making his own sails? (Answer below) WEATHER ADVISORY The approaching weather will affect your sailing! Accomplished sailor and weather router Bill Biewenga will present Weather Seminar for Sailors in Long Beach, CA on October 4, 2003. The fact-filled interactive class will cover global climatology, real-time meteorology, and the affect of local conditions on weather patterns. Distance racers, cruisers and day-sailors alike will benefit from this seminar by learning how to interpret weather data to form a game plan enabling them to prepare confidently and avoid problems while sailing more efficiently and competitively. Contact Bill at BillBiewenga@compuserve.com or go to the website for details and online sign-up: http://www.WxAdvantage.com UPGRADES (The Daily Sail website took a look at the modifications made to the recently christened Pindar of Scarborough - Emma Richards' new Open 60 (formally Graham Dalton's Hexagon.) Here's a brief excerpt from that story) The main modification has been her new rig. She now sports a new Southern Spars mast - the same section as a VO60 - and one of the more surprising aspects of the new Pindar is that she now has a conventional boom arrangement. Traditionally Open 60 booms attach to the deck just aft of the mast. This has a number of advantages such as removing boom compression from the mast, creating a more angled boom that prevents the crew from being wiped over the side during manoeuvres and which in the event of a dismasting can be hoisted rapidly to act as a jury rig. The downside of this arrangement is an inadequate vang. Deck stepped booms have a vang comprising a line running along the bottom of the boom. This is then hauled down to various points on the deck depending upon the point of sail. "Everytime you ease the boom, basically your vang is down to the deck," explains Richards of the problems associated with deck-stepped booms. "So if you ease a little mainsheet the boom is always going to come up. You're never going to keep the boom at the same height - so you are not just easing mainsheet you are easing vang as well. If you have a conventional vang you can continue to trim it properly and play it all the time, particularly if you are doublehanded." - The Daily Sail, http://thedailysail.com NEWS BRIEFS * 113 qualification slots for the 2004 Olympic Regatta across the eleven events were up for contention at the 2003 ISAF World Championships. After the qualification from the separate 2002 Class World Championships, a total of 36 different nations had qualified to be in Athens. On the conclusion of the 2003 ISAF World Championship, a further 13 nations had qualified in different events, bringing the total figure to 49 nations. With the final 51 qualification slots available next year, the number of nations in Athens is certain to increase. To view the complete breakdown of nations qualified: www.sailing.org/olympics2004/ * The International Laser Class Association - North American Region, with approximately 3000 members, is currently seeking proposals from individuals or organizations to supply management services for class operations. Although in the past the management of the Laser class in North America has been executed by a single individual, acting as Executive Director, and although that formula that might still serve the class very well, the class welcomes other proposals that could include splitting the responsibilities between two or more individuals. For a more complete description of the responsibilities, contact Tim Landt, timc3@gte.net * Nagawicka Lake, WI - Eric Wilson and and Josh Smith won the last race of the Inland 20 Scow championships and the subsequent tie-breaker with Emily Green/ Dan Zarnstorff to claim the class' national championship. Stefan Schmidt/ Timofey Milovanov finished third in the event that was shortened to just three races because of fickle winds. http://www.inland20.org/2003nationals.html * Bob Hughes' Team Heartbreaker won two races on Monday to even the score in the Canada's Cup match race series against Terry McLaughlin Team Defiant, 3-3. The races were sailed in 13-18 knots of breeze in Toronto, Canada. http://www.rcyc.ca/Special/index.htm and http://www.canadascup.org * Over twenty people have used the "sign-up to crew" feature on the Scuttlebutt event calendar to help themselves get crew jobs for Key West Race Week. Click on any calendar event to access the sign-up list or to find out who is available for regattas on your schedule: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar * Leigh McMillan from the Isle of Wight and Mark Bulkeley from Essex have been confirmed as the Tornado class sailors who will represent Great Britain at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. On top of taking silver at the recent world championships, this young British pairing have had a successful season, winning SPA Olympic classes regatta and finishing fifth at the Pre-Olympics last month. - Sailpower.com website, http://ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20030828185038Sailpower.html HOBIE 16 NAs Dewey Beach, Delaware - Rehoboth Bay delivered five to fifteen knots out of the North with large wind shifts and extreme variations in velocity to challenge the seventy-boat fleet of Hobie 16s. Of the seventy boats, six countries are represented: America, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Germany, Brazil, and Canada. Racing will continue through Friday October 3rd. Standings after four races with one discard: 1) Wally Myers and Tyler Myers (NJ) - 7pts. 2) Armando Noriega Jr. and Rodrigo Achach (MEX) - 12pts. 3) Paul Hess and Mary Ann Hess (CA) - 12pts. 4) Dan Kulkoski and Mary Beth Villa (NJ) - 16pts. 5) Enrique Figueroa and Gabriel Vazquez (PUR) 25pts. Full results: http://www.hobie16cc.com/ MINI TRANSAT American Jonathan McKee's Team McLube has moved up to third place in the 67 boat Mini Transat fleet. With more than 2400 miles remaining in the second stage from Lanzarotte to Bahia, Brazil, McKee trailed the leader, Armel Tripon's Moulin Roty, by less than seven miles at 1500 GMT Monday. The following report by Sue Pelling on the Yachting World website looks at what's happening elsewhere in the fleet. The initial leader of the production fleet, David Raison (Liquid 440-Ray) has broken boom and torn his small spinnaker, leaving Erwan Tymen (426-Pogo 2 Navy Lest) at the top of the production fleet in eighth position overall. Raison hopes to carry out repairs during the race. Other competitors with problems include Barnabe Chivot (335- FTH Thirard) and Jean-baptiste Dejeanty (321- Artech-Caen Sea) who has torn his large spinnaker. Cian McCarthy (393- The Tom Crean) who finished fifth on the first leg has a problem with a main stay, although reports are still unclear as to how he intends to carry out repairs. - Sue Pelling, Yachting World website, full report: http://www.yachting-world.com/yw/home.htm RIWKC Annapolis, MD - Monday's big-wind action at US Sailing's Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship offered thrills and spills for the 67 teams entered. Five-time regatta champion and five-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.) won the first two of three opening races, seemingly at ease in the 18-20 knot wind that had some teams struggling for control of their boats. In race three, however, three general recalls and a black-flag elimination of Alison along with other top competitors stirred the results and emotions of the nearly 300 women competing. What was misfortune for some was a windfall for others, especially Karleen Dixon (Auckland, New Zealand), whose solid finishes of 2-6-4 propelled her into the overall lead with 12 points. Mary Brigden (San Diego, Calif.) followed in second overall with 22 points on finishes of 15-4-3, while Paula Lewin (Paget, Bermuda) landed in third place with a 4-23-2. - Media Pro Int'l, www.ussailing.org QUIT YOUR WHINING If you want free stuff like dinghy smocks to give away at your regatta then order your gear from The Pirate's Lair! T-Shirts, Caps, Polos, Fuzzies and the best graphic design in the industry. We also do vinyl signs, boat graphics, and bow stickers. Call (888) 724-5286 or log on to http://www.pirateslair.com/sailing EVEREST HORIZONTAL Tim Kent's Open 50 Everest Horizontal is once again floating on a mooring in Bermuda, but it wasn't easy. Prior to that happening, gashes in the carbon skin of the boat had to be patched. Then it took three solid days of using levers, ramps, jacks and muscle to slowly move the boat closer to the ocean. With the aid of the boat's designer, Jim Antirm, who had flown from California to help, Kent and other volunteers used two long heavy planks and then jacked the keel onto a steel I-beam. The team also used small bottle jacks to move her the twenty feet or so that she needed to travel to get back into the water. She hung up on rocks, blocks and old piles of steel, but was levered and jacked over every obstacle. Last Saturday night an army of neighbors, family and friends joined in the darkness as the tide came in for the final push into St. Georges harbor. Kent is now back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin gathering the parts and funds needed for the next step - sailing her under jury rig back to Charleston Boatworks in South Carolina. That will have to wait until November - after the hurricane season ends. TRIVIA ANSWER North began making sails in 1957. "My first sail had elastic and cunninghams in both the luff and the foot. The sail looked like a spinnaker on a reach or a run, and then you could pull the cunninghams and almost make it look like a sail upwind. We went up to the Los Angeles Midwinters and just beat the *&%#@ out of everybody, including Bill Ficker. We were lucky the courses were more reaching than upwind. That caused a rule to be passed against cunninghams." - Lowell North (http://old.sailingworld.com/northint.htm) LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is not 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.) * From Blake Middleton (edited to our 250-word limit): As PRO this Saturday, I flew Flag Y for a race which was sailed in cold, blustery fall conditions on Lake Minnetonka, MN. Average winds were 16-22 knots, with gusts to about 26. A J/24 had a wild knockdown under spinnaker. The mast never came back off the water, and that eventually led to the entire crew being dumped into the lake. All crew members were recovered promptly (and safely) due to two things. 1) Every sailor had a PFD on. 2) Quick action was taken by four other race yachts who immediately quit racing to assist. (Major kudos to them!) The J/24 wasn't so lucky. It's currently located on the lake bottom, in 74' of water. Before the race, in the shadow of the clubhouse (behind a windward shore), two members had teased me about my announcement that Flag Y would be flying, asking what I was so worried about? After the race, the discussions were a bit different! If I had not flown Flag Y, my guess is that a majority of the sailors would have worn PFDs anyway. I am 100% certain, however, that many others would not have made that choice. I now wonder if there has been a successful lawsuit against a race committee or yacht club concerning Race Committee's use (or lack thereof) of Flag Y requiring wearing PFDs while racing? * From Ryan Werner: "Assumption of the risk" is not as simple as "you go out there, you take your chances." It's impossible to explain fully in 250 words, but under California law there are three kinds of AOR. "Primary" AOR applies when you participate in an activity so inherently risky that the law says participants have no duty of care toward each other. "Secondary" AOR applies in non-inherently risky activities, and is just another name for apportionment of blame. "Express" AOR is when you agree beforehand you won't sue. Under California law, sailing is inherently risky. Even without an express waiver, primary AOL applies. If the skipper doesn't call "tacking" and you get whacked by the boom, no claim under CA law absent intent to injure or reckless disregard for the likelihood of injury. Federal maritime law does not recognize AOR, only apportionment of blame (except maybe in collision cases and then maybe only with express waivers). Maritime law applies to purely recreational boats on navigable waters when the general nature of the incident is likely to disrupt commercial activity and there is a substantial relationship between the incident and "traditional maritime activity." Not simple to apply, but if a dockline takes off your finger when the skipper backs out without warning, you can sue under maritime law. Anyway, court = crapshoot, so express waivers are a good idea. P.S. - The day of Sgt Schultz's wild ride, the anemometer at the Richmond YC gusted to 55 every time another squirrel blew off the wire. * From Glenn McCarthy: Myers-Briggs and Co, Inc. invented Regatta Liability Insurance 25 years ago, continuing to provide this coverage to more sailing organizations than all others combined, now on the direct basis. There have been nine events across the country, where settlements have been made. There have been even more events where only legal costs were provided by the insurance company, each time saving the sailing organizations assets. The largest settlement was $600,000 for a single loss of life over 10 years ago. As a result of this, we recommend to sailing organizers that $1,000,000 of coverage is now insufficient and that they purchase higher. The Assumption of Risk Doctrine is not applicable for the defense of sailing organizations, the RRS is a contract between the race organizer and competitor, and the focus is placed on contract clause RRS 4 (Decision to Race). CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Is a gross ignoramus 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus? |
