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SCUTTLEBUTT 2115 - June 14, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.THE NEW CAT REVOLUTION (Tornado Olympic double silver medallist, multihull guru and sailmaker Randy Smyth enthuses about the Volvo catamaran in an interview posted on The Daily Sail subscription website. Here are a couple of excerpts.) The size of the VX40s and their small cat characteristics make them almost unique. However, Smyth has been involved with classes before which have shared some similar characteristics in both design and racing style, specifically Formula 40 and the ProSail circuits back in the 1980s. While the boats may look physically quite similar, there have been marked improvements in the intervening year. “Formula 40 is 20 years older than the VX40, as such the obvious differences lie in materials and weight,” he says. “The carbon is obviously the biggest change and that buys you about 40 percent in weight savings. The Formula 40s were fibreglass with an aluminum mast and beams, state of the art back then.” The displacement of a VX40 stands in at 1,250kg (2800 pounds) compared to the 1,800kg (4000 pounds) minimum weight of a Formula 40. “The beauty of the VX40 is that it has one job and it can do that job to the very top level. So many boats try to be good at too many things and they end up doing everything averagely," he says with veiled reference to the Formula 40 class that tried to be both suitable for inshore and offshore racing. "But this one is superlative at maneuvering, flying a hull and in light winds. It has a pretty broad range of winds speeds it can sail in but most importantly it is dramatic to spectators and because it is all carbon it is up on one hull almost all day long so anyone that doesn’t know about sailing can still appreciate it.” -- http://www.thedailysail.com ARE WE HAVING FUN YET? (Following are a couple of excerpts from the log of Adrian Flanagan who has been at sea for more than seven and a half months as he sails the 38-foot Barrabas towards the Bering Strait on his ‘North-South’ solo circumnavigation record attempt.) After eight days of good winds and daily mileages in excess of 100, a massive low pressure system a thousand miles north is stealing the wind and leaving me with dribbles. I will continue to probe deeper south in search of wind. This area of the Pacific is littered with submarine mountain ranges which can cause disturbance to the surface water flow, particularly if an aggressive wind is whipping across the top. I passed Wake Island three days ago. The waves were steep and breaking over the mountain ridges and summits. The seas were coming at me from different angles. Twice, Barrabas was caught in cross-seas, a pincer movement of waves - one wave breaking against her port quarter and the other against her starboard side. The boat slewed then rolled dangerously far over to one side. Everything loose in the cabin went flying. I've gone through a bit of a bad patch health wise in the last week. I developed a fever and stomach cramps which have persisted for seven days so far. I think the water in the tanks may be contaminated (as far as drinking is concerned). So, for drinking water, I now direct the watermaker's product output into jerry cans and use the tank water for all other domestic chores. On top of the stomach aches, I have a nasty sty on my left eye (probably caused by stress with all the worry about the Arctic phase). I have been reading voraciously while allowing my body to repair itself - this fever is a nuisance. Whenever I stand or sit up, the sweat comes in buckets, so I spend a lot of the time horizontal. Last night a cruise ship passed close by, maybe two miles off my starboard side, presumably en route to Honolulu. It gave me as quite a shock. I went on deck for some air (it's stifling in the cabin despite open hatches and portholes) and there it was, this oasis of bright lights. I thought about the passengers on board sitting down to three course dinners, taking hot showers, sleeping in beds. It's amazing how the luxuries of everyday life recede to distant figments. I'm missing trees again and flowers and riding a bicycle and the way the sun can glint off a girl's hair and the smell of cut grass and the hubbub of conversation in a crowded room... -- http://www.alphaglobalex.com/ LIGHTWEIGHT YET RUGGED, B&G LEADS THE WAY Light enough for Valencia, yet reliable enough for the Southern Oceans, the B&G Fastnet Network is in use on all Volvo Ocean Race and all America’s Cup boats. No other system can combine this level of lightweight, sophisticated performance with rugged reliability under the harshest conditions at sea. You’ll never find unreliable crimp-on connectors used with B&G! Our commitment to quality is why Hercules main processors are currently leading the way to victory aboard ABN 1. To learn more about the advanced B&G Fastnet Network for professional sailors, contact your local B&G dealer or Simrad, Inc. at 425-778-8821. NO SPONSORS, NO EVENT Inside one of the boardrooms on Igloo Avenue in Fictional District, an extensive discussion is taking place between the company’s top executives. They want to safeguard the future of their business, but are not sure what the next step should be. Then, as the think tanks begin to run dry, comes a knocking on the door. In walk Anders Lofgren and Angus Buchanan, the commercial team of the Volvo Ocean Race. “Mr Eskimo, I’m going to sell you some ice cream.” They reveal their plan to the board, explaining that investing €15million in a yacht which may never win a single leg represents unprecedented value for money. Their audience glare back, confused more than intrigued. After all this is the same race they have been learning about everyday in the media, a race with an inherent danger value and a major shortage of predictability. Mr Lofgren offers the first repost. “It’s a lot of money you have to pay, but there are not many other investments where you can get a return of 300 to 500 percent in eight months.” The eyes of the business savvy across the table begin to sparkle, but the apprehensive shuffling continues. They all know €15million is a lot of money for a single investment. Mr Buchanan picks up the baton, “The term ‘a lot of money’ is a relative thing. A global advertising campaign across ten territories over eight months is going to cost you €70million to €100million.” He conjures up a flip chart and shows the media coverage from the current race. The figures point to projected television audiences of two billion, official web coverage bordering on three million unique users, and coverage in 200 countries. “Compared to the €1billion spent by Unilever annually on advertising, €15million is a sneeze. It’s not a lot of money. “Sponsorship generally, even if you look at Formula One or Premier League football which varies between £5 million and £15 million for a shirt sponsorship for the year, none of it is a lot of money. It’s very cost effective. -- If you’ve gotten this far, let us suggest you read the rest of this story posted on the Volvo Ocean Race website: http://tinyurl.com/hq2vl LASER RADIAL EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS The ISAF Grade C1 Laser Radial European Championships are underway, with light winds making for a slow start in Riccione, Italy. World Champion Paige Railey (USA) tops the leaderboard after two races in the 91 strong women’s fleet. Day one of the Championships started with a hopeful breeze of about ten knots. However, this wind did not last very long, resulting in two races for the senior fleet and only one for the youth fleets. With 91 competitors, the women’s fleet is spilt into two groups, and Railey was quick off the mark to score an opening bullet. Fifth in race two put her in a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard along with Petra Niemann (GER) and Penny Clark (GBR).-- Sail-World website, full story and standings: http://tinyurl.com/pvdq2 Event website: http://www.netandpaper.it/laser/index_uk.htm FIVE WAYS TO START RACING Sailboat racing offers an unmatched range of mental and physical challenges and can take you around the nearby pond or across an ocean. You may decide to buy your own boat--even hire a professional crew--but a lack of cash needn't stop you from competing and enjoying the many facets of the sport. Neither should a lack of sailing experience hold you back. This guide lists five proven ways of getting started in racing, and if you're the type who likes a little adventure and learning new skills, you'll be surprised how fast each approach can teach you to become a better sailor and a competitive racer. If you're already a racer you know that figuring how to get from one buoy to the next as quickly as possible provides strong incentive to learn. All you need to do is leave your brain switched on each time you climb into the boat. A big obstacle for some people is a sense of insecurity and concern that they'll make mistakes or cause problems. To those folks we point out the eternal truth of sailboat racing--mistakes are normal and, in fact, nobody ever sails a perfect race. As long as you don't sell yourself as more experienced than you are and are willing to ask questions when you need guidance, you'll do fine. Racers are always eager to explain what you should do next, because every good explanation means another mistake avoided. -- Excerpts from a story by John Burnham, Sailing World magazine. There is a lot more to this story: http://tinyurl.com/gfxp9 GOT ENGINEERING? Better engineered sails by Doyle, along with design and detail work by Tyler Doyle and the Doyle Engineering Department, are powering the three 188-foot-tall freestanding DynaRig carbon-fiber masts and 15 square sails of the 290-foot Maltese Falcon. Ready for revolutionary sail engineering that goes beyond the everyday mold of sails and sail control? For better engineered sails, contact us at 800-94-DOYLE; for a look at the sail trials of the groundbreaking Maltese Falcon, go to: http://www.doylesails.com/maltesefalcon.htm Curmudgeon’s Comments: Doyle’s photo galleries of this boat are a must-see, where 59 images cover the boat launch, sail installation, and early sail trials. SAILING SHORTS * The record-breaking fleet for the 635 mile Centennial Newport Bermuda Race is gathering in Newport, Rhode Island for the June 16 start. The event, jointly hosted by Cruising Club of America and Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year with 270 boats ranging in length from 32 to 98 feet long. Friends, family and sailing enthusiasts ashore will be able to follow the race by way of iBoattrack’s unique satellite yacht tracking system. --http://www.bermudarace.com * Scuttlebutt will be connecting with weather guru Chris Bedford on Wednesday, June 13, wherein Chris will provide an overview of the weather conditions racers should expect for the 100th running of the Newport to Bermuda Race. Look for the podcast interview to be up on the Scuttlebutt website by Wednesday at 6:00pm: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/06/cb0614 * The weekend of June 17-18 is the sixth annual Summer Sailstice and if you’re sailing that day, you could win big prizes - free. By signing up, you become part of the global sailing holiday and are eligible to win prizes including a one-week BVI charter from the Moorings, a Hobie kayak, an Achilles inflatable, a Hunter Xcite, Steiner binoculars and over 200 other prizes supplied by premier marine businesses. All prizes are awarded by random drawing after the sign up deadline of June 21st - the Summer Solstice. It’s free - sign up at: http://www.summersailstice.com * Twenty-one Mumm 30 teams competed at Deauville International Week in the class’s European Championship. The event was sailed in Deauville on France’s North-West Atlantic Coast in conditions ranging from 8-25 knots. Win only 37 points, Team Joules Astrix from Great Brittan won the event in convincing fashion with wins in 5 out of the 11 races. Owner and European Mumm 30 Class President, Louis Brown, put together a strong team from England, plus tactician Scott Nixon from the USA. 2. Defi Basse Normandie, Charon Benoît (FRA- 71 pts) France; 3: Courrier Dunkerque, Souben Daniel (FRA - 72 pts): http://www.deauville-week.com/ * Racing at Day Two of the the Open Nissan Cup 470 European Championships in Balatonfüred, Hungary never happened. There was absolutely no wind Tuesdayand competitors waited around until 5pm when the race organizers called it off during a brief rain squall. Unfortunately, the forecast for tomorrow does not look much better. -- http://www.470euro.com/ * Sir Robin knox-Johnston set off for New York Tuesday in his Open 60 Grey Power as part of his preparations for the Velux 5 Oceans, the round the world, single-handed yacht race which begins in October 2006 in Bilbao, Spain. He will sail to New York with a crew of three and then sail solo on the return crossing into Plymouth. In 1982, Sir Robin set down the rule that every competitor who sails in the race must complete a trans-oceanic voyage of at least 2000 miles in order to qualify. The trans-Atlantic crossing will cover 2925 miles and take around 12 days to complete. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com * Tricky conditions made the Volvo Extreme 40s day on the water very hard today with a mix up of results in the first race and all to play for going into the last day of the round the world series. A protest between Motorola-CHR and Randy Smyth’s Tommy Hilfiger occurred Tuesday which will be decided Wednesday morning and could effect the standings. Tommy Hilfiger leads the Grand Prix Rotterdam series by eight points with Basilica in second only one point clear of Motorola-CHR. -- http://www.VolvoExtreme40.org SAILFLOW.COM - WEATHER WHERE YOU SAIL! SailFlow, the leader in real-time and forecasted marine weather, announces the completion of a new website. Their free service eliminates all your weather bookmarks and gives you everything in one convenient location. Plus SailFlow deploys proprietary weather stations where you sail. -- http://www.SailFlow.com/sb 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. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thought at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Chris Boome: Congratulations to Howie Hamiln, Mike Martin and Trent Barnabas for another awesome win at the 18ft Skiff European International Championships ... but what's the deal about not sailing the last two races? Don't you have any fun sailing your skiffs? They sure look like fun. Perhaps somebody had a medical emergency or some pressing need to leave two races early, but if not, it just doesn't seem right to me. If I was one of the other competitors, I would want another couple more chances to see if I could figure out a way to get closer to the team that is obviously the best. If I was the guy who won the races after they had gone home, those would certainly be very hollow victories. * From Peter Kelly: Occasionally scuttlebutt is guilty of republishing gratuitous PR spin and nonsense and none the more so that with your story about CCTV cameras in Valencia. This one looks like it has been fluffed up by The European Union who, one suspects, may be getting the citizens of Europe to pay for it all. It's hardly new - London and other major British Cities have had these cameras for many years and they have been pivotal in solving several high profile crimes. Most buses in London have them fitted and the subway trains are next. 1000 cameras for Valencia is just a drop in the ocean. There are tens of thousands of officially controlled and centrally monitored CCTV cameras in London alone. Many more if you count the private ones in business premises. Anyone who visited Portsmouth for the recent Volvo Race stop-over will have been personally photographed and had their car number plate recorded as they entered and left the city. In the UK big brother certainly is watching you. See: http://tinyurl.com/qdguc * From John Beckstedt: As a member of the Chicago Yacht Club which had its 100th anniversary race in 1998 and will have the 100th race run in 2008, I’m curious, or Newsweek and Yachting have misprints, but they both say the inaugural N-B race was 1924. Since it is a biannual event how is this close to the 100th race and all the hype surrounding the 100th anniversary? I have friends and their boat entered, I believe it is a significant ocean venue but where is the 100 years or race come in to play? * From Mike Fahle: Mr. Sherwood needs to watch the Volvo 40s race so that he can update himself on the capabilities of modern cats! They are representative of many existing multihull designs (catamarans and trimarans) that can "turn corners" with nearly any monomaran! * From Paul Kamen: Here's another alternative to the quick-stop for your bag of tricks: We were racing from San Francisco to Catalina on the Frers 58 Swiftsure. It was just after sunset and the wind was building. We had the new 1.5 oz. spinnaker on deck for a change down from the 3/4. Enter one heavy roll and one careless crew who forgot to clip the turtle to the lifelines, and the new spinnaker was overboard and disappearing in our wake, held up only by air bubbles in the bag. Our watch captain, the late Bob Klein of Richmond YC, had a plan ready, and it was not the quick-stop - we were not about to trash one spinnaker for only a chance at saving another one. He ordered the driver to steer dead downwind - exactly dead downwind - during the minute or two it took to douse. Then we went up to bald-headed close hauled, with strict orders not to change the mainsail trim once it was in. We timed 30 seconds on the first tack, then sailed carefully timed 60 seconds on each successive tack, and damn if that mostly-submerged sailbag didn't show up right on our bow after five minutes of this. It was up and flying a few minutes later. No GPS, no EPIRB, not even a compass or a strobe light involved. The moral? The quick-stop isn't the only game in town. And sometimes there's a good reason for making the old guys the watch captains. * From Gregory Scott: In reading recent Butt musings that "smaller is cheaper" a few things come to mind that put the chase to that thinking ... nano technology, silicone chips and so on. Just let your mind run for a moment and you will see the billions fly by. A few years ago another historic match racing series, the Canada's Cup discovered that it is possible for owners to spend the same or more on a thirty foot boat as they could on a forty footer. I presume that was the reason to not try and find if the same was possible by going to twenty footers ..... so instead they settled on Farr 40's and let the quality of sailing determine the outcome. I think a lesson was there for anyone willing to take note. Match racing multi hulls is a good idea, that's why the "Little America's Cup exists (hibernating maybe). So rather than try and "fix" the AC event, exert some of your energy to rebuilding what was a great event. Or, maybe we could abandon the whole water thing and do the AC in air planes or rockets. Or maybe re-read Butt 2111 and consider what was reported -- that the AC with all it's foibles is one of the three most prestigious events in the world. * From Jordan J. Dobrikin: What's in a Name? America's Cup; Catamaran Cup; various Volvo Cups; Fastnet; Sydney/Hobart, etc. Sail racing needs several relatively equal Cups. Relatively conventional Monohull, High Performance Monohull: same thing for Catamaran/ Multihull: and at three (3) sizes, Small, Medium & Large. Small for the Youth/ Amateur stream(s) through the Olympics & Paralympics. Medium for the adult/middle aged masses Amateur; Semi-Professional; and some all out Professional. Large for the Pros and high end Semi-Pros. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATIONS “Intelligent" is a term used to describe someone who agrees with you. Special thanks to B&G Instruments, Doyle Sailmakers, and SailFlow. |
