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SCUTTLEBUTT 1758 - January 20, 2005Powered 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, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. LONG DAY ON THE WATER Nobody complained about a lack of competition Wednesday at Key West 2005, presented by Nautica. An ambitious race committee gave competitors all the racing they wanted, running three races for all but the smallest boats and shaking out some contenders to the top. "We had 17 legs of racing today," said Andrzej Rojek of Brooklyn, N.Y., who sailed his Swan 45, Better Than, to two firsts and a second. "I think Duval Street is going to be suspiciously quiet tonight." Sailors too tired to party? With a five-point lead and three races remaining Thursday and Friday, Rojek's crew had the most to celebrate at the Swan fleet's party Wednesday night. The small boats on the Division 4 course sailed the usual two races, but for the first time since the Melges 24 Worlds were incorporated in 2002 the event ordered three go-rounds for everybody else. After Monday's high winds that allowed only one race, that got almost everyone back on schedule for the full nine. Division 1---Swans 454s, Farr 40s, 1D35s and Mumm 30s---will have no throwouts, but everyone else can discard one after seven races. The Farr 40s evolved into a four-boat battle with six points separating, from the top, Peter De Ridder's Mean Machine from Holland, Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory, Germany; world champion Jim Richardson's Barking Mad, Newport, R.I., and John Coumantaros' Bambakou, Newport, R.I. Deneen Demourkas of Santa Barbara, Calif., with New Zealand's Hamish Pepper as tactician, made a strong move on the Mumm 30s with two wins and a second, following a pair of deuces Tuesday, for a four-point lead over Bodo von Der Wense's turbo duck (lower case is correct) out of Annapolis. The race committee had the M/30s sit out Monday because of the severe sea state on the Division 1 course. Tom Hill's Reichel/Pugh 75, Titan 12, the largest boat among the 295 competing, stretched out in the lighter winds, not only finishing first as usual but stretching out enough to correct out over the top three Transpac 52s for first place in all three PHRF-1 races Wednesday. Tactician Ben Mitchell said, "The 52s just light it up when it's windy, but with 17 knots or under we're close to saving our time on them." However, with three seconds following three firsts earlier, Makoto Uematsu's TP52, Esmeralda, has a seven-point lead on Titan 12 for the PHRF-1 title. Maspero Giovanni's Melges 24, Joe Fly, from Canottieri Lecco, Italy, rode a 6-2-2 surge into first place by eight points over Pegasus Racing's entry, but there could still be some serious shuffling in that 58-boat fleet in the last three races. - Rich Roberts, Complete story and results: www.Premiere-Racing.com Check out the amazing regatta images: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/keywest PETER CRAIG Peter Craig, event director and race chairman for the Key West 2005 regatta said that lining up sponsorships is the hardest part of the job. "Yacht racing doesn't lend itself to television like other sports do and it's not a top five sport in the United States like it is in other countries," he said. "So there is so much competition in sports to get sponsors, even though Key West has the deserved reputation of being the best regatta in the country and one of the top five in the world." Craig said lining up top-notch sailing teams is a must. "It's not so much the number of boats, but also attracting the elite competition." Craig has been involved with running the Key West races since 1994 and has been the race chairman since 1997. He praised the Southernmost City as a venue. "We all know what a terrific tourist destination it is," he said. "And it's 70 degrees, with the water temperature at 72, in January while the rest of the country is shoveling snow. "There is a real time niche for sailing down here and we take advantage of it." Craig also pointed out the consistent conditions for great sailing off of Key West. "There has been 18 years of regattas here with five days of sailing each year and I bet there has been no more than two days total when sailing was canceled," he said. "At some events it's common to have one out of five days canceled every year." Craig judges each Key West regatta on one main factor when they're over. "I get great feedback from my clients, especially the 300 or so boat owners who dedicate about nine days and a lot of money to this event. Does he or she get the value that they were looking for? "So far the answer has been yes. It's pretty unanimous and it shows when everyone keeps coming back." Keysnew.com, full story: www.keysnews.com/429198930765.bsp.htm QUOTE / UNQUOTE "You have to say the top four (America's Cup syndicates) are already selected - obviously Alinghi, BMW Oracle, Prada and us (Emirates Team New Zealand). Another team could jump into te group, and it's possible one of the top four could fall off the pace, but they are the teams to beat. Take my word for it; it's going to be extremely difficult for anyone starting out now." - Grant Dalton, CEO Emirates Team New Zealand, talking to Rob Mundle in an interview in the February issue of Seahorse magazine, www.seahorsemagazine.com FASTEST SAILS ON THE PLANET! From Key West to Seattle or Block Island to San Diego, Ullman Sails customers enjoy unparalleled performance, durability and service. From local one design sailing to international competition, let Ullman Sails give you and your crew the speed advantage for 2005. It's the perfect time to evaluate your current inventory, check out our new FiberPath sails on the Ullman website, and order the new sails that will give you the winning edge. For the "Fastest Sails on the Planet" give your local Ullman Sails loft a call or visit us online at http://www.ullmansails.com THE DOLDRUMS All the Anglo-Saxons are now back into the Atlantic Ocean after English skipper Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) and American skipper Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet) rounded the horn Wednesday. Humphreys rounded close to the cape at 0100 GMT this morning, Schwab just 9 hours 50 minutes later at 1050 GMT. Only four skippers now remain in the Pacific Ocean. Nick Maloney reports that as far as he can determine, no major damage has been sustained to either the rudders or the keel from his high speed collision with a submerged object. However, yesterday's wildly fluctuating winds, between 18 and 40 knots, and rough seas, meant a full inspection was difficult. Vendée Globe leader Vincent Riou (PRB) is hitting the Doldrums and his speed has dropped to just 6.6 knots. How long this tricky passage will last and how the wind holes are distributed is anyone's guess. Obviously, this will be a crucial transition for the three leaders. - www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk/ Standing at 1900 GMT January 19: 1. PRB, Vincent Riou, 2978 miles to finish 2. Bonduelle, Jean Le Cam, 100 miles to leader 3. Ecover, Mike Golding, 215 mtl 4. VMI, Sébastien Josse, 1167 mtl 5. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, 1195 mtl 6. Virbac-Paprec, Jean-Pierre Dick 2526 mtl 7. Skandia, Nick Moloney, 2960 mtl 8. Arcelor Dunkerque, Joé Seeten, 3333 mtl 9. Hellomoto, Conrad Humphreys, 3863 mtl 10. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 3951 mtl 11. Max Havelaar / Best Western, Benoît Parnaudeau, 4452 mtl 12. Roxy. Anne Liardet, 5738 mtl 13. Akena Vérandas, Raphaël Dinelli, 5929 mtl 14. Benefic, Karen Leibovici, 6369 mtl abd - Pro-Form, Marc Thiercelin abd - Sill Véolia, Roland Jourdain abd - Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson abd - VM Matériaux, Patrice Carpentier abd - UUDS, Hervé Laurent abd - Brother, Norbert Sedlacek RAZORS ARE FOR MORE THAN JUST SHAVING (Swollen hands and fingers are one of the unwanted byproducts of sailing solo around the world. Vendee Globe sailor Mike Golding talks about possible remedies.) "The tips of my fingers are all swollen and hard. There's not much you can do about it. One option is to take a razor and shave off some of the dead skin to alleviate some of the pain. But shaving your fingers and toes isn't recommended at home, let alone on a bumpy rollercoaster like an ocean-going Open 60. You can try shaving it all down, which does help a little, but it's a little risky. Your hands, your feet and your knees - with all that crawling around that we do - spend so much time wet that when they dry out they get very painful. I should wear gloves for all the rope handling, but I'm not terribly good about wearing them. I tend to want to just get on with it, and then think afterwards I should have worn gloves. But there you go." - www.mikegolding.com ON THE BRINK OF FAILURE Ellen MacArthur's attempt to claim the single-handed non-stop round-the-world record seemed to be on the brink of failure yesterday. Halfway between Cape Horn and the Equator on day 53, with two to three weeks remaining, she suffered gear failure and her state of health was causing concern. The breakage happened as MacArthur hit extremes of tiredness - chronic fatigue that would break lesser people. This was a worry for her shore support team in Cowes, so familiar with MacArthur's grit in adversity. Mark Turner, the other half of MacArthur's Offshore Challenges, a business the pair have run since 1998, said he had never known her voice so little and so small. "I think these are the hardest run of days she's ever had, so much harder than anything Ellen's ever done before," he said. "The Vendee pales into insignificance by comparison. There are no moments of tranquillity; very few chances to relax or de-stress. But she's on it, she's on the case. There's just no solution to get out of the hole. You can't stop and take the sails down. It wouldn't solve the problem." MacArthur had just fought her way through the front of a weather depression, sailing seven hours east to try to find good winds ahead of it. Instead of a stable breeze, she found squalls, got caught out with the wrong sail up, and the excess load triggered the gear failure. - Tim Jeffery, The Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/4gwcp QUOTE / UNQUOTE "What have I done wrong to deserve this, the weather ahead looks terrible, we might lose our lead before the Equator which could be 8 days away. Everything we worked so hard for we are losing. It is so unfair. It has never been so hard." - Ellen MacArthur Note: MacArthur's advantage has reached its lowest point since her rounding of Cape Horn. B&Q is now just 2 days and 17 hours and 856 miles ahead of current solo round the world record pace set by Francis Joyon. - www.teamellen.com NEWS BRIEFS * PC users with a broadband connection can now track Ellen MacArthur's progress on a 3D Viewer developed by Voyager 2020 in association with Offshore Challenges. Play the last 38 days live on your desktop, zoom in, zoom out, and watch B&Q sailing through the southern ocean. Use the hourly update feature to connect and download the latest positions to map the progress as Ellen sails B&Q towards the Ushant finish line. Voyager 2020 software is aimed at high-end users, with broadband internet connections, and good quality graphic cards. Users with low-end PC's will have difficulty running the software. - www.voyager2020.com/ * Amundsen Oslo, the prestigious Norwegian watch brand named after polar explorer Roald Amundsen and founder Jorgen Amundsen, will become the official timekeeper of the Oryx Quest 2005, the world's first non-stop around-the-globe sailing race starting and finishing in the Middle East. The company will supply custom-made timekeeping equipment to the Oryx Quest racing committee, and the Amundsen Trophy will be awarded to the first yacht to pass 163° West longitude - the Amundsen Gate. HOW SKIP NOVAK TAMES HIS MAIN Skip Novak on reefing: "When I think back on the bloodied hand-and-finger struggles I've had reefing, the Harken Battcar system is a dream come true. A reliable and smooth-running mast track system is a must for a vessel like Pelagic Australis. We regularly operate in 30-knot plus winds and reefing easily, especially downwind in big seas where it is not prudent to come into the wind, is of paramount importance." For more on Skip Novak and taming your main: http://www.harken.com/mainsail/tamemain.php 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 Norris Bourdow: For a long time now, I have been pleased to read about many complicated measurement formulae, and the various demands about which rating to use and why. Then came the 'weigh in' physics, diet and physiology lessons. Now, we can read about the 'orthodromic' distances between two boats. Whatever that is? (Don't knock Ellen's feat. She is unbelievable.) The reason that I am so happy, is that these 'strains' help my insomnia. Whenever I can't sleep, I just click in to these guys, and I'm out in a minute. Some people just need to get out more! * Form Christian Fevrier: Referring to my posting of yesterday, and after a ballet of emails with the Ellen MacArthur's shore team, I would say that English language appears to be very, very subtle and sometimes confusing. When you read Day 53 in the title of the Offshore Challenges daily press releases, foreigners should know they are talking about Day 52 as Day 53 has not started yet! Don't ask me to explain you this eery situation, in total conflict with how we calculate in my Descartes country. I offer my humble apologizes to Ellen MacArthur, her team and the Scuttlebutt readers! In fact, my calculations of Tuesday used the announced day in the title of their press release (Day 52). Mysteriously, it was in fact Day 51! Hence my error in calculating the gap with Francis Joyon. To not be confused, I would recommend to check "Positions" on the website, which displays the correct hourly gap with Joyon. Curmudgeon's Comment: Although it is our policy to give only letter per subject, we felt this explanation from a member of the World Sailing Speed Council deserved airing. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The best leader inspire by example. When that's not an option, brute intimidation works pretty well too. |
