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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 646 - September 14, 2000GROWING THE SPORT(Peter Isler has a lot of interesting ideas to make sailing more user-friendly and less regulated in the hope that it would spur growth of the sport. EVERYONE should read the whole story on the QuokkaSailing website, and here's a brief excerpt to whet your appetite.) FIXED CLASSES OF BIG BOAT RACING - Everybody knows one-design racing is the best way to go, and handicap systems are fraught with problems. But there are already too many kinds of boats, and more coming down the pipeline every month. The solution: pick a handful of classes of boats that have "royal" status and only race those boats. I'd pick one boat for every five feet or so of size range from 25 feet to 60 feet. These classes would be overseen with strict one-design rules and would have "royal" status for an eight-year period. So what if we miss out on some cool new high tech developments in sailboat designs. With everyone racing the same boats it would be more fun and the sport would thrive. Only "royal" classes could race, and then near the end of the eight-year period new classes for that size range would be considered and one selected. It could be the same class or, if there seemed to be a good reason to switch (better boat, more fun, cheaper, etc., etc.), it could be a new boat. In that case the old boat in that size range would be allowed to race for one more eight-year cycle before being sold off into the used recreation boat market. Hopefully there would be enough competition in the size ranges that the price for these "royal" boats would be very competitive. In any event - like other strong one design classes like the Etchells - used boats would still have good value too. GET RID OF THE LIMITS ON PROFESSIONAL SAILORS - I'm sure the classes and organizations that ban or limit the number of professional sailors in races have great reasons for their rules - but I'm also sure this is bad for the sport. First of all, it's no secret that the categories as defined by US SAILING are unfair and very inefficient at categorizing sailing talent (which is the ultimate goal - right?). But one of the coolest things about the sport of sailing is that you can get on the same racecourse and sail against the likes of Buddy Melges, Jonathan McKee and Russell Coutts (and these are just a few gold medal examples). To stifle that opportunity is downright unhealthy for all of us. We should all be in this game to learn, to push ourselves to be the best we can be. Opening up every class and every race would serve that purpose. - Peter Isler for Quokka Sports Full story: http://www.quokkasailing.com/expert/09/SLQ__0912_isler_WFC.html THE RACE (Following is an update of challenger activity provided by the press office for The Race.) A technical meeting of all the skippers, in the presence of Bruno Peyron, is scheduled for 15th and 16th September next in Southampton. The principal objective of this meeting is the final validation of the general regulations and the Safety Charter. On standby at Dock 4 in Southampton, PlayStation should be attempting a new record round the British Isles before returning to the yard for a complete check-up before THE RACE. Club Med will be back in the water by the end of next week and will be pursuing her working up programme, also in the direction of the British Isles before heading for Villamoura (Portugal) where she will be based for 3 weeks. The re-launching of Team Philips is also scheduled for next week (September 23rd). The twin rig catamaran of Briton Pete Goss plans to cross the Atlantic before heading for Monaco for the prologue of THE RACE. Loick Peyron, who is currently finalising his round table with his partners, will be launching his 33 metre catamaran Code One on October 2nd. Her sister ship Team Adventure (Cam Lewis) will be launched on October 16th in Cherbourg. On his side, Polish skipper Roman Paszke is pursuing the preparation of his Polpharma-Warta (ex Explorer) which has undergone a veritable renovation and will be back in the water by the middle of October. As for Tony Bullimore1s catamaran, the ex Enza New Zealand of Sir Peter Blake, the platform has now been finished. The construction of the rig remains to be finalised and should be installed in mid-October to be launched immediately after. Event website: http://www.therace.org/ MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION When you need the latest high-tech gear for your boat, you: A) Get in the car, drive to the store, wait for someone to show you a catalog. B) Dig out the "Old Boat Supply" catalog, and call for pricing on obsolete products. C) Visit ?????.com, and learn how to tie some knots or dock your boat. D) Call Performance Yacht Systems at 1-877-3pyacht. Click below for answers. http://www.pyacht.com hardware / rigging / sails / clothing / marine electronics FAST FACT ABOUT OLYMPIC SAILING * The Olympic Yachting event debuted at the 1896 Games in Greece. * The U.S. won its first Olympic Yachting medals at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, taking gold in the Star and 8 Meter classes, and silver in the 6 Meter class. * The U.S. competed in the first Olympic Yachting events held in 1900, but not again until 1928. A Yachting Team has been sent to every Olympic Games thereafter, with the exception of 1980 when no U.S. Teams attended the boycotted Games in Russia. * The U.S. is the undisputed leader in Olympic Yachting, with a total medal record of 50. 23 of the U.S. medals have been won over the last four Olympiads. * A record 436 sailors representing 77 countries participated in the 1996 Olympic Regatta. In 1992 only 12 nations won the 30 available medals, while in 1996 22 nations divided up the same number of available medals. Of the 24 Barcelona medalists who competed in Savannah, only three medaled again; and four countries won their first-ever yachting medals in Savannah - Hong Kong, Japan, Poland and the Ukraine. - US Sailing website For more facts: http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/2000/facts.htm LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. -- From Ron Baerwitz - I agree that Vince Brun is a great racer and may be overlooked as one of our country's top racers. Another largely under appreciated racer, likely better than any one person involved in the America's Cup, is Paul Forester, our 470 Olympic representative in this years Games. I believe this is Paul's 3rd or 4th Olympics. I first met Paul back in 1987 when he stepped into a Flying Dutchman and preceded to win the US Nationals having never sailed the boat before and then went on to win the European's a few months later. Most world class racers know him well since he has beaten them on a regular basis. I have had the pleasure to race against many of the world's elite. I have found none smarter on the course than Paul. I know he's a very low key, humble guy. If we are looking for the best to be our skipper or tactician on the next AC winner for the USA, I'd like to throw my vote in for this very under rated racer and fine gentleman, Paul Forester. -- From Ken Guyer - Mick Cladwell made a direct hit on the nail head with his case for Vince Brun and the annual Rolex award. In addition to all he mentioned for which there is no argument, Vince embodies all of the good things about the sport of sailing and is a true ambassador for all the competitors. His recent Etchells World Championship was the perfect example of his dedication to the ideals of preparation, training, and teamwork. Yes, we shall be watching! -- From Edward.Fryer - Just to correct Scott Rohrer, Steve Redgrage won the coxless fours at LA (the event he is contesting this year), the coxless pairs at Seoul, along with a bronze in the coxed pairs, the "floating leg-press", and gold in the coxless pairs again in both Barcelona and Atlanta. -- From Carter Perrin - Just a slight clarification regarding Chris Ericksen's Olympic trivia. Hans Fogh is a proud Dane and won his first medal for Denmark and not Germany. He won his first medal, a silver, in the FD for Denmark at the 1960 Rome games with Ole Erik Petersen. His second medal, a bronze, came at the 1984 LA games in the Soling with Steve Calder and John Kerr for Canada. In 1984 Fogh held the record for the longest period of time between winning medals in the Olympics. Also regarding Scott Rohrer's submission, those are medals won at four consecutive Olympics, and add Carl Lewis to that list (Long Jump). -- From Chris Boome - Nobody has mentioned Conn Findlay (St. Francis Yacht Club) who has won 4 Olympic Medals. 3 in rowing and one in sailing (TWENTY YEARS AFTER WINNING HIS FIRST): 1956 Melborne Rowing GOLD 1960 Rome Rowing BRONZE 1964 ??? Rowing GOLD 1974 Canada Sailing Tempest Crew for Dennis Conner BRONZE On the last beat of the last race DC asked Conn if they should take a chance and cover the Russian, to perhaps get the Silver (but risk losing the Bronze) or continue on for a "sure" Bronze. Conn's comment was "I've got mine Dennis". Needless to say, DC played it safe to get his medal too. Conn has also participated in 4 America's Cups, winning in 1977 with Ted Turner and Courageous. Oh yea, he's a great guy too! BT GLOBAL CHALLENGE Logica skipper Jeremy Troughton has praised his helmsman's marvellous reactions in helping avert disaster when the yacht was in collision with a fishing boat. Troughton said if Adam Tuffnell, 24, hadn't reacted so well to the incident the crash would have been worse. "Adam turned the boat almost completely round. If it had caught us further forward then it would have been a lot worse. Adam's reactions were bloody marvellous," he said. Troughton was recalling the moment the Logica crew realised they were being born down on by a fishing boat. The two craft collided just before midnight on Monday night almost due south of Lizard Point causing minor damage to LOGICA's hull. "I was down at the chart table getting a weather fax with the watch leader and I heard a shout from up on deck. People were calling the helmsman," said Troughton, 26. "I rushed up on deck as we were bearing hard away. There was a fishing boat coming straight for us. "We managed to bear hard away and reduce it to a glancing blow. As we bore away he hit us around the midships, beam on to beam on, rather than nose on to beam on which would have been a lot worse obviously. * Only minor damage was caused to the boat, including compression and filler damage and rippling to the deck edge. Some of the repairs will be carried out when the boat gets to Boston although the rest of them will have to wait until the longer stopover in Buenos Aires in November. - Liz Addis, Quokka Sports Full story: http://www.btchallenge.com/news/2000/09/News_486.html MALLORY CUP Detroit YC - There was no wind for the first day of racing and all races were abandoned. - http://www.ussailing.org/ SOLUTIONS FROM SAILCLOTH.COM Wish your spinnaker would dry off after dunking, hold its shape after a few heavy air days of sailing, and resist tearing during complicated maneuvers? Next time, ask your sailmaker to use AIRX, a revolutionary new spinnaker fabric from Bainbridge International. AIRX is stronger, lower in stretch and has an ultra water repellent finish. With zero porosity and less tearing, it has a wide range of use for both racing a cruising sailors. AIRX is exclusively from Bainbridge International, where power and performance are cut from the same cloth. For more information, visit http://www.sailcloth.com OLYMPIC PROBLEMS (Following is an excerpt from a story in Wednesday's New York Times.) Adding to the I.O.C.'s problems, many academics, scientists, athletes and coaches have criticized as insufficient and ineffective a new test for the endurance drug known as EPO, which is believed to be widely used in sports like swimming, distance running and rowing. These matters, large and small, have been reported incessantly and urgently by the fiercely competitive Australian news media, sometimes in a mocking tone, each story magnified because the Summer Games are considered the most important sports event in the country's history. Privately, some I.O.C. members said the skeptical coverage indicated that an overhaul of Olympic rules and procedures enacted after the Salt Lake City scandal might not earn broad public trust until Samaranch steps down as president next year. "I think it's probably hard for genuine reform to take place within the existing structure and with the existing president," said Richard Cashman, director of the Center for Olympic Studies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. The emphasis in the Australian news media on unsavory characters, drugs, transportation problems, windy weather and shivering nights in the athletes' village has clearly exasperated some I.O.C. members, who would prefer that the focus be on wondrous performances, new stadiums and public enthusiasm in a sports-mad country. "Haven't we done anything right?" said Phil Coles, an Australian I.O.C. member. - Jere Longman, NY Times Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/13/olympics/13CNDIOC.html MORE OLYMPIC PROBLEMS (Following are excerpts from two separate stories that appeared in the UK's Daily Telegraph.) * However brilliantly the sportsmen perform in Sydney, they will be unable to rescue the administrators from the hole they have dug for themselves. The International Olympic Committee's hopes that corruption scandals would fade away once the Games started have been quashed by the revelation that 400 boxes of files containing highly damaging information on their members are about to be made public. The files are in the possession of US prosecutors for use in the trial of the leaders of Salt Lake City's 2002 Winter Olympic Games bid. "It is a nightmare to think what may be in them," said Francois Carrard, the IOC director general. The US government have been investigating the corruption allegations that accompanied the Salt Lake City campaign. Tom Welch and Dave Johnson, the leader and deputy leader of the bid, were indicted by a federal grand jury in July on 15 counts of felony including fraud, racketeering and conspiracy to defraud. Their trial will probably take place next year, a few months before the Winter Games start in February 2002. Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC president, in some despair said yesterday: "It will make a lot of bad image, not only for the IOC but the SLOC [Salt Lake Organising Committee]. I'm very much worried that this problem will go on and on." Information from the files is set to be released as the trial develops. Under the US Freedom of Information Act, more documents could be made public once it finishes. Mitt Romney, chief executive officer of the reformed SLOC, said in Sydney: "All the documents will be made public. I can't imagine what's been written by all sorts of people." Although members of the new management team were not involved in the bidding process, Romney said that the material would mean that "fingers will be pointed in all directions". The fingers pointed at the IOC are what concern Samaranch and his members, and Romney is prepared to work with them to try to minimise the adverse publicity. "Unfortunately, there is not some way of correcting misconceptions and inaccuracies prior to them making headlines round the world," Romney said. - Mihir Bose in Sydney, Daily Telegraph, UK * Two more athletes have failed drug tests and been withdrawn from the Sydney Games. More than 50 athletes have now been withdrawn in the last week. Taiwan withdrew a weightlifter, Chen Po-pu, and his coach. Po-pu failed an out-of-competition test conducted on Aug 28. A swimmer from Kazakhstan, Evguenia Yermakova, was withdrawn after she tested positive for furosemide, a diuretic substance banned by FINA, the international swimming federation. Yermakova failed the test at an event in Monte Carlo in May, and although a hearing is yet to be held, the FINA executive decided to suspend her provisionally last Friday. Both these cases show how the drugs landscape has altered, particularly the speed with which decisions are now being taken. . - Mihir Bose in Sydney, Daily Telegraph, UK The full text of both stories can be found at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=001648423620749&rtmo=lnA7w7ut&atmo=99999999 &pg=/et/00/9/14/sohay14.html MYRON SPAULDING Northern California sailing lost one of its sailing legends on Monday, with the passing of Myron Spaulding at age 94. In his heyday, the self-educated Spaulding was a great boat designer, boat builder, and racing skipper. Although Spaulding slowed considerably in the last 30 years, he still used to go to his museum-like boatyard next to Caruso's in Sausalito almost every day. - Latitude 38, http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/Sept2000/ THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment. |
