SCUTTLEBUTT No. 1085- June 4, 2002

Scuttlebutt 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.

WOMEN ON THE WATER
As the Volvo Ocean Race winds down, some of the women who are sailing Amer Sports Too have only one regret: that they did not have an equal opportunity to compete. Equal to Nautor Challenge's other entry, Amer Sports One, that is. It was different, Katie Pettibone said, when she sailed on another all-woman boat, EF Education, opposite Paul Cayard's victorious EF Language in the 1997-98 race. That boat also ran regularly last and lost a mast, but usually felt it was given a chance. "Totally," Pettibone said. "A lot closer than this. This has been a joke."

Pettibone, the American watch captain, is in charge of the boat's sail program, which hasn't seen many new sails recently. "It's not what I was promised," Pettibone said, asserting that sails budgeted for Too have gone to One. Not only that, Pettibone, 29, said, but the men's boat has received all-round priority attention all along the way.

"We were never remotely on even footing," she said as the fleet prepared for the final sprint leg to Kiel on Saturday. "I don't think the public should judge a women's effort on the performance results. The fact that we have a group of women who fought tooth and nail to get a yacht around the world on a very tight budget with second-hand treatment and equipment and have made it is fantastic."

Bridget Suckling, the bowman who also sailed on EF Education, agreed. She thinks the problem is that the Nautor Challenge wasn't funded as well as EF. "EF had a lot more funding, and if the guys put a new sail up, we got that same amount of money for a new sail," Suckling said. "We never had sails cut short or taken away.

"If there's not enough funding, the shore team's gonna spend more time on the boys' boat. That's how boys work. I used to think that's all well. If you have a fast racehorse in a stable, you put more resources into the racehorse. "But that's not why a girls team is sponsored. A girls team is sponsored for equal opportunity. That's what EF was about: two equal boats going around the world."- Rich Roberts, Yacht Racing website

Full story: www.yachtracing.com

BIG BUCKS
The three-week Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Auckland in January put $16.5 million into the local economy and an extra $49.5 million into the national economy, says an independent report on the event.

Market Economics said its economic assessment was limited to the stopover itself, but the impact of the event extended far beyond the stopover events and associated activities in Auckland. Included in the spending of at least $49.5 million nationally was an estimated $10 million spent by one syndicate on boat building, sails and training. Another syndicate spent $2 million having all its sails made in New Zealand.

The Auckland City Council said the race would not have come to Auckland if the council had not spent $1.54 million over two years on managing the stopover. The economic activity generated locally was $500,000 more than the council expected when it decided to host the event - Phillip English, NZ Herald, full story: www.nzherald.co.nz

HOT GEAR!
As you plan your gear for the next races, all you need is a few of the Camet 3000 shorts, the Camet Cargo shorts, the Long pants for the cool evenings, all these with the foam pads, a few of the Coolmax T-shirts or Rash Guards, and pack them into one of the Mylar regatta bags and you are ready to go. The shorts come in Men's, Women's and Kid's sizes. Made out of the fast drying, breathable Supplex, with a reinforced Cordura seat pocket. Deep pockets and velcro waist adjustments. Check them out on the Camet web page: www.camet.com

NEWS BRIEFS
* Two of the three remaining J Class Yachts - Shamrock V (K3) and Endeavour (K4) - are booked aboard freight ships for arrival in Auckland December 2002. It is anticipated that both will compete in the International Classic Yacht Regatta, Auckland, from the 6th to the 9th February 2003, organized by the The Classic Yacht Association of New Zealand. This regatta will take place between the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, and New Zealand's defense of the America's Cup. - 2003AC website, www.2003ac.com

* America's Cup Challenger Oracle Racing is helping the San Francisco 49ers football team provide support and assistance to charitable causes by the 17th man position as part of a live auction prize being facilitated by San Francisco radio station, KGO. All proceeds going to deserving recipients of the 49ers Foundation. The top bidder will travel with a guest to Auckland, New Zealand on Air New Zealand, to join Oracle Racing as a guest sailor during a race. For more information on the 49ers Foundation: http://www.49ers.com/community/foundation.asp The live auction closes Wednesday, June: www.kgoam810.com

* Rolex Watch U.S.A. will sponsor the 2002 St. Francis Perpetual Trophy Regatta - Big Boat Series. In its 38th year, the September 12-15 regatta in San Francisco, California, will be highlighted by Gary Jobson on ESPN's "Best of the West," scheduled for broadcast in the Fall.- www.stfyc.org

* US Sailing, MIT and USTRA will host an ISAF Team Racing Umpire Clinic June 19-23, 2002. This seminar will be held in conjunction with the USTRA Nationals. The ISAF Team Race Umpire clinic is intended for those team-racing umpires who have the experience to become certified ISAF Team Racing Umpires. Only 12-15 of the most experienced umpires will be considered for certification. Registration is open until June 13: https://secure.ussailing.org/Forms/Umpires_Clinic.asp

* Now the world will see if icebergs and extreme sailing really fit the Volvo mould. Volvo Ocean Race will be conducting a press conference on June 5th In Gothenburg. The subject is the future of the Volvo Round the world ocean race. Are there enough big money corporate sponsors for another even more expensive round the world race? - Sail-World website, www.sail-world.com

LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
leweck@earthlnk.net
(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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.)

* From Dieter Loibner: I second Bob Smith's observation about the omission of politics and non-positive comments from Scuttlebutt. Not only is Scuttlebutt a formidable medium to keep us all apprised about the goings on in the sport of sailing, but it is also a forum to voice concerns and constructive criticism, which both are necessary to open the sport to a more diverse audience and keep it on a positive track. In doing so, Scuttlebutt is an important supplement to print publications, which by nature can't be as timely and often opt to avoid controversy because of adverting pressure. As long as we claim to live in a free society, we have to retain and honor the means to make all voices heard, especially the dissenting ones. Otherwise we drift into the dangerous realm of controlled opinion, which can neither be the privilege of governments nor corporations.

Rather than fearing the "destabilizing effects" of opposition, we must embrace it as the seed of democracy and freedom, the banner motto of the current struggle on the world's stage. I cast my vote for constructive criticism, which should not be confused with whining. And if the Curmudgeon ever sees the need to charge for this service to preserve the 'Butt's voice, I will be glad to pay up.

CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Constructive criticism has always, and will always, be welcome - albeit encouraged - in this newsletter. And responsible dissenting opinions will always have a forum here. However, Scuttlebutt is simply not going to become an outlet for bashing or personal attacks. There are other places on the Internet for the muckrakers to vent.

* From Tim Daniel (edited to our 250-word limit): I have a 34' sailboat and live in a small community where it is difficult to recruit crew. Here is what works for me. First, make sure that women are welcome and play an equal role on your crew. Half of the people in the world are female, so you reduce your potential crew by half if you don't make females welcome. Second, go out and train with your crew as often as possible. Nothing is worse that going out and trying to train on the race course; the skipper and crew all end up frustrated.

Third, develop team cohesion by extending crew activities beyond the the boat; have crew barbeques, get the crew involved in boat maintenance, and so on. Fourth, make sure that the abilities of every crew member are developed at every opportunity by giving them gradually harder jobs to do, even if it means a few seconds lost on the race course. Show them you believe in them. Fifth, communicate with the crew constantly on the racecourse. By hearing your cheerful and relaxed tone of voice, the crew knows they are doing a good job.

Finally, show all your crew members the respect and appreciation they deserve. After all, they have chosen to spend their valuable recreational hours with you, and you could not enjoy the sport without them. That means "please" and "thank-you" should be often used, and when someone makes a suggestion, listen to it and at the very least acknowledge their contribution.

* From Vic Snyder: It's always disturbing to hear of a tragedy as happened to Jamie Boeckel. My daughter just returned from an overnight race on Lake Ontario (TRPXPRS - Jan Steyn). They rescued a guy from another boat who went overboard at night during a routine mark rounding in 15 knots wind. Things happened and he was off the boat with boots and foul weather gear, no lifejacket. Beth located the sailor in the water and shined a flashlight on him until they picked him up. As Jan always makes certain we practice man overboard drills as required for regattas, I feel it helped put TRPXPRS in a much better position to be able to help. I'm proud to know that my daughter responded properly to help rescue another sailor.

I submit this for the following: Going overboard doesn't always just happen to the other guy. Contrary to some Scuttlebutt submissions, not everyone is more concerned about the race than other sailors, and that you need to be prepared to be able to help. It seems everything that could have been attempted to save Jamie Boecktel was done. We can't make sailing 100% safe. I don't support 100% PFD rules, but because the dangers are significantly higher in night situations due to visibility I plan to wear a PFD now anytime I sail at night. Please take the time to review the recommended man overboard procedures and practice the drills. It's not as easy to recover

VOLVO TACTICS
(James Boyd interviewed Mike Quilter from Team Tyco on the changing role of a navigator on the Volvo Ocean Race. Here are two excerpts.)

* With navigators permitted to look at a long list of meteorological websites during each leg and with six hourly position updates coming on to the boats while they are sailing, Quilter believes that the navigation side of a Volvo campaign is now too much for one person, but also not quite enough for two full time. "It's a pretty stressful lifestyle. It's almost too much for one person.

* Quilter says the navigator's role changed a little since his race on Merit Cup four years ago. "It's a little bit different in that everyone goes the same way. It's a bit like sheep - if someone gybes, everyone gybes. If you went a different way you would have to think 'why is no one else going this way?' If the pack don't go that way often it's not right," he says giving a veiled compliment to the high quality of the navigation going on on the lead boats. "Everyone has pretty good [weather ] information now. When we went round the top of Denmark everyone went right because everyone expected the wind to go right. So it makes it more of a boat-to-boat technical race.

"Now it's less of a navigator and more of a strategist, tactician and meteorologist type role. It's that fine mix of getting the weather right and getting the tactics right. I think illbruck has done a very good job with John [Kostecki] doing the tactical side and Juan [Vila] doing the navigation well and they're obviously a good combination". - James Boyd, Volvo Ocean Race website, full story: www.volvooceanrace.org

OBSERVATION
In non-Olympic years the fact that few North Americans travel to the ranking regattas certainly shows up in the class rankings. There are absolutely no North American's in the top 20 of either the 470 men or women classes, and there are also none in the 49ers, Finns, Lasers or Mistral - men or women. However, John Lovell & Charlie Ogletree are ranked 16th in the Tornados and Meg Gaillard, is 19th in the Europes.

Six of the top 20 in the Yngling class hail from North America: Hannah Swett / Melissa Purdy, Joan Touchette (6); Carol Cronin / Liz Merrifield Field, Fears (10) Betsy Alsion / Nancy Haberland, Joan Touchette (12); Jody Swanson / Cory Sertl, Pease Glaser (13); Canadians Joanne Abbott / Martha Henderson, Kari MacKay (15) and Ellie Fiedl / Parker, Goss(19).

The best showing is in the Star class where nearly half of the top 13 boats are from North America: Mark Reynolds / Magnus Liljedahl (2); Peter Bromby / Martin Siese, Bermuda (7); John A MacCausland / Rick Peters (9); Vincent Brun / Mike Dorgan (10); Peter Vessella / Brian Fatih (11); George Szabo / Austin Sperry (13). - www.sailing.org/rankings

BURSTING FOR EXTRA STRENGTH
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ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
WASHINGTON, DC-A new report published today by the Ocean Conservancy environmental organization charges that cruise ships should be regulated by the same anti-pollution laws as land-based industries. Cruise ships can carry up to 5,000 passengers and produce waste equivalent to that of small cities, yet they are not governed by the same anti-pollution laws as municipalities of comparable size on land, notes the report, titled "Cruise Control: How Cruise Ships Affect the Marine Environment."

"Cruise ships are like floating cities, carrying thousands of passengers and generating tons of waste and trash each trip. However, unlike cities, cruise ships have largely escaped pollution regulation," said Catherine Hazlewood, director of the clean oceans program for The Ocean Conservancy. "We believe it's time to bring the industry in line with accepted pollution control practices."

Ships generate sewage, solid waste, oily bilge water, air pollution from diesel engines and onboard burning of large volumes of trash, and other pollutants. Cruise ship impacts have skyrocketed as the industry has grown, says the report. The pollution generated in one day by one large ship can include 37,000 gallons of oily bilge water, 30,000 gallons of sewage, 255,000 gallons of non-sewage wastewater from showers, sinks, laundries, baths and galleys, 15 gallons of toxic chemicals from photo processing and dry cleaning solutions, tens of thousands of gallons of ballast water containing pathogens and invasive species from foreign ports, seven tons of garbage and solid waste, and air pollution from diesel engines at a level equal to thousands of automobiles. - SailNet website, full story: www.sailnet.com

JOHN E. ARENS
A celebration of the life of John E. Arens will be held at Balboa Yacht Club on June 9th at 2:00 PM. John passed away on April 27th, just shy of his 90th birthday with his family in attendance. A grand competitor and avid yachtsman John was still winning races at the age of 80, when he finally sold his last boat, Tomahawk (ex. Margaret Rintoul III) when IOR racing stopped. He competed in many offshore races including the Bermuda/ Onion Patch Series, SORC, Clipper Cup/ Kenwood Cups, St. Francis Big Boat Series, San Francisco Challenge, Lipton Cup , Transpac, Vic-Maui, MEXORC and the myriad California to Mexico races. He was thrilled by the joys of competition and earned much success on the racecourse - and the warm friendships of all who were privileged to sail with or against him.

JAMIE BOECKEL
A memorial service will be held for Jamie Boeckel on Thursday, June 6 at 6:00 p.m. in Newport, Rhode Island. The service will take place at St. John s Church, 61 Poplar Street, with a reception afterward at the Marina Grille on Goat Island. Jamie's girlfriend Liz Mahon has asked that friends wishing to send messages to be read during the service may email them to her at EAM63321@aol.com. A memorial scholarship fund is being established in Jamie's name. Contributions should be sent to the "Sayville Yacht Club Scholarship Account - Jamie Boeckel Memorial Fund", Sayville Yacht Club, PO Box 127, Sayville, NY 11782.

TEAM RACING
After the first day of the 2002 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association North American Team Race Championship, Georgetown University and Harvard University are tied for the lead. The teams, who both have a five win and no loss record, will face each other tomorrow. Tufts University is in third place with a 4-1 record. Each team has sailed five races in the eighty-degree air and water temperatures of the Keehi Lagoon on the south shore of Oahu. Hosted by the University of Hawaii, Sunday's breezes were shifty 5-8 knot tradewinds. - Derek Webster

Full results available at the ICSA website: www.collegesailing.org/2002

CAL RACE WEEK
Near perfect conditions prevailed for the 101 boats at Cal Race week in Marina del Rey, California. The California YC easily got off five races in 10-18 knots of wind with just enough wind shifts in both directions to make 'corner-banging' a 'low-reward' tactic. Nearly 80% of the boats raced in seven one-design classes with remainder divided into four PHRF divisions.

Class Winners included: Star - Howie Scheibler & Rick Peters, Martin 242 - Evil Twin, Doug McLean & Tom Leweck; Schock 35 - Outlier, Dick Schmidt & Gwen Gorden; J/105 - Mischief, Carolyn Hardy /Mike Pinckney; Santana 20 - Mini-Me, Bruce Golison; Santana 30/30 - Teaser, Mike Guccion; B25 - Tachyon, Steve Pacelli; PHRF A - J Bird (TP 52), David Janes; PHRF-B - Arana (Dencho 51), John Carroll; PHRF C - Defiance (B-32) Scott Taylor; PHRF D - Superstar (Catalina 38), David Epstein. Complete results and photos - www.calyachtclub.com

THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM
Why is the word 'abbreviate' so long?