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SCUTTLEBUTT 2028 -- February 10, 2006
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary,
opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
DISREGARD FOR RULES – Tim Jeffery
Grant Wharington's Australian entry in the Volvo Ocean Race has failed
to be competitive to date but he plans to turn that on its head. In a
move which seems to sail right through the spirit of the rules,
Wharington will quit the race in his home port of Melbourne, where his
six rivals depart on the third leg to Wellington on Sunday. He will then
make major modifications to his boat and re-join the final third of the
race as a new entry. However, if his boat is successfully rejuvenated it
could affect the eventual results of the six rivals who have competed in
the same race trim since the start in Spain last November.
Wharington has won plaudits for his determination to race an
under-funded and uncompetitive boat, yet his Premier Challenge has
seemingly flouted race rules. The boat arrived in Sanxenxo, Spain, later
than the pre-start measurement and inspection deadlines and set-off with
an illegal aluminum antenna gantry. In his bid to speed-up a slow boat,
quitting the race seems to free Wharington of the rule which denies no
post-start modifications other than repairs. But as a new late entry,
the only stipulation appears to be a 50 per cent surcharge on the
£275,000 entry fee. Presumably this rule was not written with a
competitor joining in on the sixth leg out of nine in mind. – Tim
Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, http://tinyurl.com/9wo8u
LASTING IMPRESSION
The Volvo Ocean Race will leave a lasting impression on Melbourne, and
in particular on its home away from home at Waterfront City, Docklands.
The hands of the seven skippers that steered the Volvo Ocean Race fleet
to Melbourne are to be immortalized in bronze at Waterfront City. The
seven today each placed a hand in a clay mould on the Waterfront City
Piazza. Melbourne sculptural foundry Meridian Sculpture in Fitzroy will
transform the clay mould impressions into bronze tiles to be placed on a
wall of the piazza. The Wall of Fame will commemorate the first-ever
stopover in Melbourne of Volvo Ocean Race. A giant farewell party is
planned for Saturday night, starting with Brazilian Carnivale and a
spectacular fireworks display. The yachts are due to start leg three of
the 31,250 nautical mile, around the world race on Sunday,
* The Ericsson Racing Team sailed offshore for a couple of days to test
the new steel rams and get the boat back into offshore sailing
configuration. “Our objective was to sail in racing mode, to push as
hard as possible on the boat and acquire a good level of confidence in
our new keel movement system,” explains crewmember Damian Foxall (IRL).
“It all went well. We had a fairly strong breeze, with up to 28 knots of
wind. The waves weren’t huge but you don’t need much to get the boat
slamming hard. It was also good psychologically for the team to be
sailing offshore.”
Once back in Melbourne, the boat was hauled out of the water in order to
check the keel and rudder one last time before the start of leg three to
Wellington on Sunday. While in the yard, Racing Team rig manager Tim
Dean. Tim was working on Ericsson’s rig when the mast got struck by a
lightening. Dean was taken to the Prince Alfred Hospital where he will
be thoroughly checked up. Luckily, Tim is in a good condition.
* ABN Amro One watch leader Mark Christensen talked about the upcoming
leg. “All of the teams will be pushing their boats hard but at the same
time we don’t want to burn out,” he said. “We will want to find a
balance, because due to the nature of the pit stop, if you push too hard
and break something, you are out for the next leg [to Rio] too. Until
now all of the teams have had two weeks at the end of each leg to lift
the boats out and fix them, but the issue with this one is, you can’t do
that.”
Skipper Mike Sanderson says he’ll be taking few risks with ABN Amro One
on the comparatively short leg from Melbourne to Wellington starting on
Sunday. The reason is that he does not want to incur a two-hour penalty
in Wellington should he have to bring equipment on to the boat to effect
repairs before the next leg start to Rio de Janeiro on 19 February.
When the fleet leaves Melbourne on Sunday it has a 1,450 nautical mile
leg to Wellington, the winning boat collecting seven points. They have a
pit stop of about 48 hours before setting sail for Rio via Cape Horn on
Sunday 19 February. That’s a distance of 6,700 nm. The first boat to the
Horn scores 3.5 points and the first into Rio seven points. Under the
Volvo Ocean Race rules for a pit stop, any boat taking on food, diesel,
spare parts or needing outside assistance will have to delay its
departure for Rio by two hours after the start. While it could be flat
calm in Wellington at the start, negating the effect of the penalty,
Sanderson said he was not prepared to take the risk. –
http://www.Volvooceanrace.org
HERE WE GO AGAIN . . .
The state’s legislature that recently attacked Wal-Mart is now going to
war against a graver threat – its own recreational boaters. Writes
Trevor Bothwell: “House Bill 140 is an intrusive bit of legislation that
would require every individual on a boat to wear a personal flotation
device while the boat is underway. This bill not only requires the
boat’s operator to wear a PFD but also specifically “prohibits an
individual from operating or allowing the operation of a vessel while
there is present in the vessel an individual not wearing a PFD…” What
next, Maryland? Mandatory helmets for crossing the street? – Rich
Karlgaard, Forbes.com, http://blogs.forbes.com/digitalrules
WHEN THE SHIP GOES DOWN...
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During February, APS will do its part by offering you an additional 10%
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IT’S RANKING TIME AGAIN
The Kiwis are on the charge in the latest release of the ISAF World
Sailing Rankings, with Jon-Paul Tobin (NZL) grabbing the first ever top
spot in the Men’s RS:X and Sharon Ferris (NZL) leading her crew to the
number one place in the Yngling. Elsewhere in the Men’s 470 Gidi Kliger
and Ehud Gal (ISR) reclaim the top spot, whilst Women’s RS:X leader
Bryony Shaw (GBR) is one of three British crews at the top. Whilst New
Zealand have a great month picking up two number one spots in the
Rankings, Great Britain remain the team to beat.
Along with new RS:X leader Shaw, Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks (GBR)
in the 49er and Ben Ainslie (GBR) hold on to their number one spots and
Britain have six other sailors in the top three positions. France are
their nearest challengers, with long time Women’s 470 leaders Ingrid
Pettitjean and Nadege Doroux spearheading a group of five sailors in top
three positions. New Zealand and Spain follow with fours crews apiece in
the top three, followed by Austria with two.
With ISAF Grade 1 regattas and Continental Championships taking place in
Australia and the USA over the latest Rankings period, their has been
plenty of opportunities for the non-European sailors to make up ground
on their rivals. Olympic stars like Americans John Lovell and Charlie
Ogletree proved that, despite a quiet 2005, with the Olympics coming
ever closer, the race for honors in the fleets is well and truly back
on. The USA pair is now ranked sixth. Paige Railey (USA) retains her
spot on the top of the Laser Radial rankings, while Yngling World
champions Sally Barkow Carrie Howe, Debbie Capozzi move up from 11th to
fourth place. George Szabo is still the top ranked North America Star
sailor in fourth– one place ahead of his boss, Mark Reynolds.
The new World Sailing Rankings show that other American sailors are on
the rise:
- In the Men's 470, Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and David Hughes have
made terrific leaps in the right direction, going from a World Ranking
of 90 a year ago, to break into the world’s top twenty at 19.
- The Women's 470 team of Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler climbed
from 25 to 13.
- 49er teams of Tim Wadlow/Michael Karas and Dalton Bergan/Zack Maxam
have also broken into the top twenty, currently standing in 18 and 19
respectfully.
- In the Laser Radial, Anna Tunnicliffe has climbed to fourth place.
- The first World Rankings to include the new Neil Pryde RS:X show
Nancy Rios and Farrah Hall coming in at 11 and 12 respectively.
Meanwhile on the men's side, Ben Barger and Seth Besse are standing in
27 and 35 respectively. --
http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6vFh/z7?
IT’S ABOUT RECORDS … AND PUBLICITY
Nearly a year to the day that Ellen MacArthur made history in breaking
the solo round the world record onboard her 75-foot trimaran B&Q, she is
embarking on the Asian Record Circuit. The objective is to establish a
series of crewed record times between key Asian ports [or gates]
including Japan, South Korea, from the north-east to the south-western
tips of Chinese mainland and Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
The aim is to set benchmark times that can be challenged in the future
by other sailors. CMA-CGM Shipping has loaded the trimaran B&Q onto a
container ship for the 10,526 mile journey to Hong Kong.– http://www.teamellen.com
FREQUENT FLYER MILES
Subic Bay, Philippines - Clipper Ventures PLC has announced that it will
cover the costs for crew taking part in its Clipper 05-06 Round the
World Yacht Race to be flown home whilst keel problems are being
assessed and repaired on its fleet of ten Clipper 68s. The marine events
company's fleet of boats is currently berthed in Subic Bay in the
Philippines after being diverted during Race 6 from Singapore to Qingdao
due to keel problems.
In a statement issued to crews at Subic Bay Yacht Club on Thursday
morning, Clipper Race Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston explained that
the work on the ocean racing yachts is likely to take around a month and
arrangements will be made for crews to travel home whilst repairs are
carried out. Sir Robin said that once the remedial work has been
completed, it is intended to continue the race as originally planned.
'This will mean delays to the original schedule, and the new schedules
will be published once we have a firm date for the completion of the
remedial work,' Sir Robin said. --
http://www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/2006/
NEWS BRIEFS
* Top South African yachtsman Geoff Meek, who has been plagued by
injuries since yacht Shosholoza hit a whale in Table Bay early in 2005,
has stepped down as the team's skipper. Team strategist Mark Sadler, 30,
a winning South African dinghy and big boat racing skipper from Gauteng,
is the new skipper. Team Shosholoza was Africa's first America's Cup
challenger in the 154-year history of the prestigious event. Team
Shosholoza had also announced the appointment of ace Californian
yachtsman Dee Smith, who joins as team manager, coach and tactician. –
AD Solution, http://tinyurl.com/craxm
* Global Ocean Sailing Ventures (GOSV) today announced the creation of
the Global Ocean Challenge 2007/08, the first ever solo-double
around-the-world yacht race. The event, open to 40 and 50 foot monohull
sailboats only, will start from a major European port in September 2007
and circumnavigate the world stopping in South Africa, New Zealand,
South America and the United States before finishing in Europe in May
2008. The course will have “gates” where competitors accumulate points.
The gates will ensure that the fleet remain closer together and also
restrict the yachts from sailing too deep into the Southern Ocean. --
http://www.globaloceanchallenge.com
* The second annual High Performance Yacht Design Conference will take
place February 14-16 at the University of Auckland. The conference is
jointly hosted by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), the
University of Auckland and Massey University. The three-day
international gathering will feature 26 papers by authors from 14
countries. They will present the latest research on the field of yacht
design. – IBI, http://tinyurl.com/cguwd
* Since the 1st of January, America's Cup teams have the right to use
"skirts", sheets over the keel or parts of the hull, in order to keep
secret any changes they make. The first team in Valencia to have used
the right to cover their boat was Luna Rossa Challenge. – Valencia
Sailing, photos: http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com
SCHEDULE UPDATE
Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Toms River, Vancouver, New York, New Haven:
All host NorthU seminars in the next two weeks. Get the full schedule of
55 seminars on Racing Rules & Tactics, Cruising & Seamanship, Weather
for Sailors, and Expedition Performance Software at NorthU.com Or try a
Florida Race Week, a Bluewater Miles Passage, or Bonnell Cove Foundation
Suddenly Alone Seminar. See the full schedule plus the latest in books,
CDs and DVDs. You can spend a lifetime learning to be a better sailor.
Accelerate the process and try the NorthU quiz at http://www.NorthU.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. 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 thoughts at
the Scuttlebutt website:
http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi)
* From Andrew Hurst, Editor Seahorse: Bravo Adrian Morgan for his
comments about Ben Lexcen's 'election' to the 'America's Cup Boudoir'.
Forget it guys, your hall of shame is toast. You have demeaned a once
great honour. The 'hall' is over.
* From Chris Ericksen: Craig Jones suggested a provocative and
interesting idea for scoring the Olympic regatta ('Butt 2027) that
features daily elimination of a percentage of the fleet. This would be
fine for the actual Olympic Regatta; the problem nobody seems to
address, however, is the very real issue of managing this in a regatta
that has more than one race a day, such as the Trials and Pre-Trials,
the Miami OCR and other events that invite Olympic classes and seek to
emulate Olympic conditions.
Consider a regatta where 60 Lasers show up for a weekend-long, six-race
regatta at some yacht club somewhere. After all have paid a full entry
fee, ten would be expelled after Race One, half eliminated after Day One
and two-thirds of the remaining sent home before the last race on
Sunday. The race-management, logistical, financial and P. R. nightmares
that this would generate for both the rank-and-file sailors who would
mak e up the bulk of the entries and the volunteer organizers of such an
event are usually the last issues the architects of these plans
consider, but the ones that regatta managers--myself included--would
face in the real world. Lord, that this cup would pass from me...
* From Tony Bridgewater: Craig Jones makes an interesting suggestion
(Butt 2027) about the absurd ISAF Olympic scoring system. However, the
low numbers in some Olympic starts, eg 17 in the Star at Athens, would
probably make the system difficult to operate. In a case like this, the
first 10 races would go towards reducing the fleet by not more than 50%
or so, with a final of 7-8 boats. A lot of effort for a small result
* From Howard Williams: Hans La Cour's response to the recent complaint
about coverage of AC was well put. Costs and time are the realities of
news and event coverage. Even with unlimited reporters and cameras and
unlimited access at all times to each boat, which can't happen, there
wouldn't be time to air all the interesting sidebars. Coverage of AC has
gotten better and better, at huge cost, to serve a growing but limited
audience. The question is not how it can increase, but how long it can
continue at this level.
* From Mark Lammens: I was originally one of the "not in favour" of the
new "final 10, double points system", then I saw it in action in Miami.
First off, the 2nd last day was very important for those around 10th,
the cut off for the finals. The fleet I was coaching had sailors that
entered Thursday in 15th and qualified and sailors that entered the day
in 7th that failed to qualify. Boats in the hunt succumbed to the
pressure and others raced very well with the chance to get into a
finals. As for the actual finals, 11 Olympic fleets rotated onto Charlie
course. The fleets were the best, World Champions, Olympic Medallists,
the best in the World. As for the "corner bangers" winning the last race
and the regatta, maybe, but that could still work in a 100 boat fleet as
well, but seldom happens. There will be very good sailors that are not
in the top 10 but that is a positive reflection of the depth of classes
like the Star fleet as well. Besides, if I can be really blunt, these
very good sailors did not perform at a top 10 level on Monday to
Thursday.
Almost every sport has a finals, the sailing finals are important
because it is restricted, had to qualify, its a 'keeper' cannot drop it,
and it is worth more. For me, it was a lot of fun to watch, and for
these reasons. Now with the exciting format (with strong winds), how do
you capture it for those in their living rooms.
* From Tim Patterson: I am sure many of us remember when Ted Turner with
his ESPN took on the AC in Australia when no one wanted it. I got cable
for the first time and stayed up until all hours watching it, live.
Cameras in blimps, cameras in the sewer, cameras at the base of the
mast, cameras on chase boats, cameramen who knew what to show, it was
exciting. Anyone who saw the race between Dennis and the Kookaburras
when the jib ripped from the head to the deck in thirty knots of wind,
everyone went forward, leaving Dennis at the helm, as Widden went by,
Dennis said: " no. 2 jib", when the debris was clear, Dennis said;"
Ready about", tacking under main alone, he crossed on port, he next said:
"Ready about", when they came back on starboard, the jib was up and
drawing, they were on the layline, and it had been a total of less than
two minutes from the moment of the tear. It was exciting, from the
cameras, the sound, the quiet confidence of a crew on task. It was
exciting because Ted Turner knew what to show and how to show it. Was it
exciting to people who did not understand the "Dance of the lead bellied
money gobblers", maybe not, but for those of us who love sailing, it was
the best coverage ever.
* From John Turvill: Many of us have become addicted to the internet
tracking for match racing in the AC, or the slowly unfolding RTW races.
As I recall, at the last Olympics we had prompt reporting of mark
roundings. Put GPS on each boat in the Olympics and give us something
along the lines of Virtual spectator (and video) on the internet and I
for one would be addicted. If not for all fleets, then start with those
where the boats are supplied by the organizers. (I know the laser rules
prohibit electronics!). Imagine replaying the best of fleet racing as a
training tool. Maybe TV comentators could use it in an innovative way to
explain to a broader audience. Also, I would expect that some protests
would be less contentious if there was clear evidence of relative speed
and position.
On a related topic to be discussed at your local club bar: imagine being
able to download the GPS data from each boat after the Saturday race and
replay it using a modified VS....
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
Sign in a Bangkok dry cleaner: Drop your trousers here for best results.
Special thanks to Annapolis Performance Sailing and North U.
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