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SCUTTLEBUTT 1892 – August 1, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus IT JUST KEEPS GROWING Every year Cowes Week, the world's biggest and oldest annual regatta, seems to break records and 2005 is no exception, with Britain's premier sailing festival expected to attract more boats than ever before in its 179-year history. Staff at the new headquarters of the Cowes Combined Clubs (CCC) on Cowes Parade that organises the event were last night preparing for eight days of frenetic activity as Britain's sailing capital braced itself for an onslaught of more than 1,040 yachts in 38 classes crewed by more than 8,000 food and beer-hungry crews. Stuart Quarrie, the CCC director, said that 1,033 yachts had registered for competition by yesterday afternoon and he was expecting the total to come close to 1,050 by this morning. This easily surpasses the previous best of 1,002 yachts four years ago, when Cowes Week was followed by the America's Cup 150th Jubilee Regatta. Sailing is on a high in this country after successive Olympic Games in which Britain topped the sport's medal table, while last winter few involved in the sport - or outside it - could have failed to notice the exploits of Dame Ellen MacArthur as she set an heroic solo round-the-world sailing record on board B & Q, inspiring millions along the way. Down the high street in Cowes Yacht Haven, the centre of the regatta, staff at the main beer tent were preparing for another epic week, with up to 5,000 customers expected each night and another 5,000 during each day. Chris Troup, who runs the bar, believes he will sell as much drink in one week as an average pub may get through in a whole year. The top seller, he predicts, will once again be the racing sailor's favourite tipple, Mount Gay Rum with Coke, followed closely by vodka and Red Bull, then Pimm's and then lager. "The sport is booming," Troup said. "It's partly the Olympic performance. But sailing is also a very good fit for the South East-based young man who wants a bit of a thrill - Cowes Week offers that plus a party scene as well." -- Excerpts from a story by Ed Gorman, The Times, full story: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4041-1713640,00.html QUOTE / UNQUOTE "What makes Cowes Week different is that sharing the same water and racing with just as much intent, though not always with the same panache or expertise, were some of the smallest and most unremarkable yachts imaginable. No other regatta in the world combines so many craft of such diversity as are to be found in the 1,050-strong fleet at Cowes, which boasts classic antique day-boat fleets, such as the X-One Designs or Victorys, right through to the latest whizz-bang sportsboat, the Laser SB3, and moderate-sized cruiserracers, complete with curtains, such as the old Contessa 32s or Sigma 38s." -- Excerpt from another story by Ed Gorman, The Times, full story: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4041-1716602,00.html Event website for Skandia Cowes Week which started Saturday: http://www.skandiacowesweek.co.uk Additionally, John Roberson has an interesting blog site for Skandia Cowes Week: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,4041,00.html TRANSPAC QUOTES "We sailed just 2,438 n.m. to complete the race---the equal of eight back-to-back Mackinacs! We saw whales, sea lions, seals and dolphin by the score, and after 13 days at sea we saw the amazing beauty of Molokai Island rise over our port bow . . . a breathtaking sight. Along the way it seems like we broke, repaired and broke again just about everything aboard. We sent eight bags of sails to the sail loft for repairs, reworked our engine fuel lines, rebuilt a head (nice!), hauled spinnakers from the sea, hoisted a bowman to the masthead and battled a failed refrigeration system. We dodged a monstrous 50-foot cross-tacking whale, missing it by less than five feet. We missed countless tankers and cargo ships, ducked falling masthead sheaves and spinnakers and evaded boarding waves, flying fish, dive bombing birds and airborne shelves and drawers. Weather-wise, we had it all, from 0.0s to 40 knots. And in the end, what a reception! Each Transpac boat was assigned a host family in California and Hawaii, and no matter what time of day or night you arrived in Hawaii, the host family was there in force to applaud and cheer 'their' boat and crew. Immediately upon docking, our host, Doug Taylor, whisked us to a party fully stocked with ice (yes ICE) in our drinks, frosted beers, shrimp platters and all sorts of other incredible edibles. I never met this man before. That's hospitality." -- Larry Hillman, Swan 48 So Far "This race is not about the big boats. It's about the Cal 40s, it's about B'Quest's disabled sailors, it's about Bubala and the old geezers. Keep doing this." -- Roy Disney, maxZ86 Pyewacket SEEN AT THE TRANSPAC START: The new Raider 1200 Cabin Rib was unveiled on the Transpac start line. This new Raider Cabin model from Raider Ribs USA acted as the official media boat, catching all the action of the Transpac start. Built to the highest of standards, cruise at 40 knots with twin 250hp Evinrude E-TEC engines. The luxurious interior has berths sleeping 4-6, full galley, refrigerators in the galley and cockpit, and showers in the interior head and transom. A new standard for Cabin Ribs is now at Raider Ribs USA. Call 1-877-7RAIDER for info, and view the Raider 1200 photos at http://www.raiderboat.com FOR THE RECORD The Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran Geronimo has enjoyed postcard sailing conditions as she makes her way across the Pacific from Sydney to Tahiti. The Tahiti Nui Challenge will set a new benchmark record following the rules of the World Sailing Speed Record Council for a Sydney to Tahiti passage. The distance for this record will be approximately 3310 nautical miles. Once Geronimo is in Tahiti she will be heading to the west of the USA to attempt a number of records in the Pacific and Asia regions. First on the list will be the 2215 mile Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpac record which is five days, nine hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds and was set by Bruno Peyron and Cam Lewis in 1997 on another multihull, the 26 metre Explorer. -- www.superyachting.com HOBIE 16 NAs After a week of intense racing off Ventura California the husband and wife team of Enrique and Carla Figueroa, from Puerto Rico, have taken another Hobie 16 class North American title. This is Enrique's fifth North American title in the 16 class and Carla's second. Enrique was also this years Hobie Tiger class World Champion. The Figueroa's were followed by Juan Maegli and Cristina Guirola, an outstanding pair of youth sailors from Guatemala. Armando Noriega and Rodrigo Achach, last year's Champions from Mexico, finished in third. This year the American teams were left thinking that there must be a new tuning guide out there that hasn't been translated from Spanish. The top Americans were 8th this year. This event was the qualifier for the Hobie 16 World Championships in South Africa starting in late October. The top 17 teams from the North Americans will be awarded pre-qualified spots at the Worlds. -- Bob Merrick Full results and pictures: www.HCA-NA.org NEWS BRIEFS * Augie Diaz repeated his title as Snipe World Champion, this time with crew Pam Kelly. Diaz finished 19th in the final race - his only double digit finish in the five race series - to score a nine point victory over second place finisher Matsuzaki of Japan. Pablo Defazio of Uruguay rounded out the top three in the 51-boat fleet. This is only the second time in its 75 year history that a woman has won the world title. Bob and Betty White of Newport Beach, California did the trick in 1945. -- Jerelyn Biehl, http://www.jsaf.or.jp/expo2005/snipeworld/english/index.html * The Optimist Nationals in Norfolk, VA attracted 317 sailors who raced ten races over four days in blazing heat and up and down conditions. The top five spots went tp five kids who started out on top and never faltered: 1) Matt Wefer, Sea Cliff, NY 18 pts., 2) Hermann T., Sweden 24 pts., 3) Max Lopez, Middletown, NJ 35 pts., 4) Matias R., Peru 35, 5) George K, Wisconsin, 43 pts. The top girl spot goes to Lauren Turner, NY (44 pts) who also won the Optimist Girls Nationals which was held on Monday with three races completed. Complete results: www.norfolkyacht.com or www.usoda.org. * Eleven Transpac 52s will take to the waters of Mallorca for the 24th Copa del Rey-Agua Brava, which begins this Monday in Palma de Mallorca. This event is a the Mediterranean's most emblematic regatta, begins on Monday, with over one hundred vessels participating covering the IMS 500, 600, 670 Classes, as well as the Transpac 52 fleet. -- www.medcup.org * On Sunday, the winds which had so far produced three superb days of racing at the Optimist Worlds provided a frustrating day for the race officer at the start of the Team Racing Championship. The light and fickle wind may have contributed to some startling upsets. New Zealand beat reigning champions Poland and both the 14th and 15th seeds overcame more fancied opponents. The team racing will continue tomorrow, the scheduled reserve day. The fleet racing leaders are 1. Tina Lutz (Germany), 2. Matthew Scott (Trinidad), 3. Jiana Wu, (China). -- http://www.optiworld.org * The Rolex Swan American Regatta concluded after five days of spectacular racing, in Newport, R.I. Thirty-nine Swan yachts competed in the eight race biennial regatta hosted by the New York YC, and each of the four class winners were awarded a Rolex Steel Submariner timepiece -- Class A: Moneypenny, Swan 601, Jim Swartz; Class B: Crescendo, Swan 44, Leon Christianakis/ Martin Jacobson; Class C (Swan 45 One-design): Goombay Smash, William Douglass; Class D (non-dpinnaker): Reef Points, Swan 44, Joseph Huber. -- www.nyyc.org * All of the Transpac dockside welcome parties have ended and all the awards distributed, but there is still one boat at sea. James and Ann Read of San Francisco, sailing their 42-foot boat Camille doublehanded with their little dog, Sweetie Pie, are expected to finish next Wednesday after 22 days. -- www.transpacificyc.org * Nick Craig (GBR) won the OK Dinghy World Champion at Skælskør Amatør sejlklub, Denmark, with a race to spare. After seven previous serious campaigns and describing the struggle as "one of the hardest things I have ever tried to win." Jonas Quist (SWE) finished second in the 63-boat fleet with Greg Wilcox (NZL) in third. -- www.okworld2005.dk * The ESPN website has some footage available on-demand from last week's Rolex Swan American Regatta in Newport, Rhode Island. ESPN.com reporters went aboard the new Swan 601 Moneypenny for a day of practice. That story, which includes interviews with Kimo Worthington and Ken Keefe, is online: http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/fiftyfifty/index. Go to the lower right side of the page and click on the 50/50 Rhode Island video. * Bill Lynn of Marblehead was the big winner of the 200+ boat Lands' End NOOD Regatta at the 116th edition of Marblehead Race Week, taking home the NOOD Caribbean Rendezvous title as the top overall boat of the 12 classes. Lynn sailed to victory in the 37-boat Sonar class. Lynn also won the Cressy trophy, awarded by the Marblehead Racing Association as the top boat of Marblehead Race Week. In one of the most closely contested classes of the weekend, Jud Smith of Marblehead outlasted California's Bruce Golison to pull out the victory in the Etchells class. -- www.sailingworld.com * Two new photo galleries on the Scuttlebutt website cover both ends of the sport: Transpac: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/tp0731 CFJ Nationals: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/cfjnatls KAENON POLARIZED TECHNOLOGY VALIDATED AROUND THE GLOBE …on board the winning yacht in the Transpac, finished 1-2 on the faces of Peter Holmberg and Ben Ainslie at the PTPortugal Swedish Match Cup, set the solo Trans-At record on Sobedo with Thomas Coville and won the Optimist Dinghy Europeans with young Emily Dellenbaugh - that's just the last two weeks! Kaenon Polarized makes the finest polarized lens technology for sailors who require superior performance, need to read the breeze, demand protection from the elements, and even those in need of vision correction - Rx! Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. http://www.kaenon.com 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 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 Kris Olszewski: re Raising the Bar - Scuttlebutt 1891): This sort of activity is not limited to Olympic sailors. Any Sailor who has tried to "make weight" at the strongest possible level of their body has worked with trainers and nutritionists. I haven't gone to the extent of blood tests but I do work with the trainers for the Oakland Raiders to make sure I am at the top of my game...within reason, since this is a hobby. Women have to be especially cognizant of this type of training since "sweating it out" rarely works for us. * From Cole Price: The objective of any sailboat rating system is to offer a level playing field so that the best team wins on corrected time. If the rating system works properly, the corrected time of finish would put teams sailing dissimilar boats in the same order of finish and with the same margins of victory as would be recorded if the same teams sailed a one-design boat that they were equally familiar with. This applies to VPP systems such as Americap, IMS, IRC or subjective handicapping systems such as PHRF and Portsmouth. None of these systems, including PHRF attempts to apply "golf handicaps" to boats. If a club desires to calculate golf handicaps, they are doing so for fun - meaning the racing isn't too serious. There is a rating system here in Southern California that adjusts ratings based upon the potential of the crew, as well as the boat and they have been unsuccessful at attracting serious sailors. In fact, they've driven several good sailors away. The application of "golf handicaps" is a great way to induct novice sailors into the sport, but you can't take the results too seriously when the worst team on the course has an opportunity to beat the best because they got creamed in their last 10 races. If you implement a system like that, all of the talent will switch to another system or worse - another sport where the best prevail in fair and open competition. * From Tom Pollack, Executive Director, Transpac 52 Class: Mr. Wylie's personal opinion in Scuttlebutt about Rosebud being outside Transpac 52 Class trim is not accurate. Rosebud was in Transpac 52 Class trim and 100% inside the TP52 box for the Transpac Race. * From John Harwood-Bee (Re: Handicapping): Cory Friedman has the answer. The concept of everybody being a winner is obviously the way we should be going. He must have been studying new British Government guidelines. In the UK we have sold off school sports fields to prevent children having to enter competitive events. That saves the problems of winners and losers. It has been ordained that we must not make people feel inadequate if they do not win. Coming second is not an option. Only this week a senior politician has suggested that the word failure should no longer be used and be replaced by the phrase 'deferred success'. (No, not a joke.) Imagine not having to strive for success at anything. Imagine how excellent it will be when we stop praising superlative achievements and we are all equal in everything we do. No more competition!!. We can dispense with the Olympics, The Americas Cup, Little League, Grand Prix racing and British Football. The world will become safe and sterile and everybody will live in peace and harmony knowing that they are all 'equal.'.....There is, as I see it, only one minor setback. In my several decades on this planet I have discovered that in every walk of life there are those who will always strive to be 'more equal than others'. The meek may inherit the earth but only as long as it's OK with those guys. * From Howard Paul: For those Buttheads that don't know how a golf handicap is measured here is the formula. Play a round of golf. Adjust the score to the maximum number of strokes per hole. This is a predetermined number based on your handicap. For instance on a par 5 you might only be able to post a maximum 7 strokes. This is to prevent sandbagging. Then post the score with the governing body. The score is now adjusted against the "Slope" of the course. This is a predetermined number based on the difficulty of the course taking in to consideration length, change in terrain, elevation, etc. Now play another 19 rounds. Take your best 10 rounds and average them. Now multiply that number by .96. Now you have a handicap. Now every time you "post", your oldest round is dropped and replaced with your newest round. While this may seem pretty complex it is actually quite simple as you can post your score in a computer at the course and your handicap is recalculated in a split second. In my opinion this handicap system would not be applicable to yacht racing because this system evens out players abilities. In yacht racing we are trying to even out the boats so we can see who can see who can sail faster. * From Dave Hoy: Bob Austin in his history of PHRF suggests that the original idea of PHRF was in itself to provide ratings that would adjust based upon performance (in effect, a golf style handicap). It appears to me that over time PHRF has had such wide acceptance that it has become less "fluid" and more absolute. A return to it's "grass roots" might be in order. Having said this, I detect that current PHRF ratings of less than 200 seconds appear to probably be more reliably usable (accurate) than ratings over 200. This may in itself reflect more recent handicapping for the newer and larger boats leaving the older and smaller, and fewer boats of a class to "drift" with whatever was determined many years ago. Over 200 rated boats appear to have a larger percentage of misclassified ratings. The problem of handicapping becomes more noticeable when trying to intermix (include) the 200 threshold boats. Those boats should be able to be included fairly within overall results in any competition. The purpose of PHRF is to have an easily classified system to attract new owners and participants who probably have older but smaller boats that are more than 200. Making it easier to bring to the handicappers attention a skewed rating with more immediate results - even if made officially "temporary" contingent upon subsequent results - would accomplish what I see to be the original intention of PHRF. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was 'shut up.' --Joe Namath |
