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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 671 - October 19, 2000US OFFSHORE CHAMPIONSHIPWednesday, October 18, 2000 - Long Beach Yacht Club, organizing authority for the 2000 U.S. Offshore Championship, today announced the "final" standings for the top five places at the regatta. 1. Gordon Hall, Massachusetts Bay, Area A 16 points 2. John Leitzinger, Tacoma Yacht Club, Area H 18 points 3. Keith Ives, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, Area J 19 points 4. Scott Sonnier, Southern Yacht Club, Area D 24 points 5. Wiley Crockett, Hull Yacht Club, Area A 29 points These "final" results reflect the decision by the Jury to effectively penalize Keith Ives and his Alamitos Bay Yacht Club team for exceeding the 1,400 crew team weight limit in races 1, 2 and 3. The Jury's announcement is included in full below. The Jury has asked the US SAILING Appeals Committee to confirm or correct its decision to penalize Keith Ives' Alamitos Bay Yacht Club team and so results will not be truly final until the Appeals Committee has made its decision. Outstanding protests against Tom Sutton from Galveston Bay Cruising Association, Area F are still pending but will not effect the results for the first five places in the regatta. - Bill Uniak The Jury announced: 1. Upon protest by the Jury, Boat #3 (skippered by Keith Ives of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club) was found to have broken paragraph 5.3 of the Notice of Race for the regatta in races 1, 2 and 3 and was disqualified from those races. 2. Upon consideration of redress initiated by the Jury, Boat #3 (skippered by Keith Ives of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club) was granted redress as follows: The original finishing positions for all the boats, before the disqaulification of Boat #3 from races 1, 2 and 3, shall be reinstated except that Boat #3 shall be given a 20% scoring penalty, calculated as provided in rule 44.3(c) of the Racing Rules of Sailing, for those races. This means that in races 1, 2 and 3 there may be more than one boat with the same score. 3. Pending protests against Boat #3 (skippered by Keith Ives of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club) for breaking fundamental rules 2 and 3 of the Racing Rules of Sailing in races 4 and 5 were dismissed. Protests against Boat #10 are still pending. The Jury has sent its decision regarding the disqualification of, and subsequent award of redress to, the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club team to the US SAILING Appeals Committee for confirmation or correction. It is not known how long that process will take. Event website: http://www.lbyc.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 CHANGE OF COMMAND At the United States Sailing Association's Annual General Meeting held in New Orleans, LA, October 12-15, 2000, James P. Muldoon passed the helm to David D. Rosekrans of Cincinnati, OH. In his comments at the meeting, Rosekrans outlined his ambitions for his term. "We must put US SAILING on a sound financial basis. Several steps forward have been taken at this meeting. We need to be better at fund raising. We have a five-part plan, including donations by members, building the President's Club, large gifts, endowments, and sponsorships. "We need to come together as one organization, whether it be windsurfers or multihull, big boat or dinghy, Olympic or pond sailor, cruiser or racer, youth or adult, able or disabled and man or woman. All must be treated fairly to earn their trust. Our communications still need improvement, although we have made great progress with our web site. We especially need to improve the communications to our members about key issues in sailing." The Board of Directors also announced the following new Board of Directors' members: Vice Presidents Charley Cook and Mike Schoettle; Secretary Sarah Alger, and Treasurer Stephen Jeffries. The new Directors at Large are Dean Brenner, Mark Reynolds, Mark Herman, Janet Baxter, and Darline Hobock. Also announced to new positions were Area Directors Brad Buell (Area B), Bill Ross (Area D), Betsy Beddow (Area F), TK Wegg (Area H), and Charles L. Fuller (Area J), as well as Women's Representative Vicki Sodaro and Youth Representative Fred Hagedorn. - Penny Piva Rego, http://www.ussailing.org AWARDS Craig and Nora Te Struth were presented US SAILING's Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal by then-US SAILING President Jim Muldoon at the organization's Annual General Meeting on October 14, 2000. The Te Struths were honored for their assistance in rescuing sailors in San Francisco Bay. The United States Coast Guard additionally presented a Commendation to the Te Struths, who are graduates of US SAILING's Certified Keelboat Training program. - Penny Piva Rego, http://www.ussailing.org LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed may be edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a bulletin board or a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. -- From Keith Ives, Long Beach CA - I have read over & over how cut & dry This Lloyd Phoenix Cup protest is. I think the only people it is cut & dry to is the people who have something to gain. Several boats were told by RC officials there was not going to be weight limits. If anyone was worried about the weight limits there should have been something said by competitors the practice day or at the skippers meeting on the first day of racing when RC & Jurors stated there will be NO weigh-ins. Now we have huge controversy & a regatta with no final results in sight. "Ruined by an appearance of favoritism to the local boat". Sunday night of the regatta the things I heard were unbelievable. RC putting marks were they could only be beneficial to my team, my dive company cleaning our boat better than others. My company doesn't even clean those boats. I can't ever remember competition being so sour. Races are won on the water. -- From Jeff Melville - Scott Ridgeway needs to know that of the three Aussies nominated for ISAF Sailor of the Year, the Gold medal winning ladies in the 470's both Jenny and Belinda are NOT actually Australians - Jenny is a KIWI and Belinda come from Zimbabwe ... and all of us in New Zealand are proud of both of them, no matter their country of origin nor who they sailed for. They are just a brilliant couple of girls who have put in some really hard yards in a sport that can be both solitary and downright cold - and to get good you practice no matter the weather like many other yachting adventures. -- From Ray Wulff, Annapolis, Maryland (re sponsorship) - Piggybacking on Gov. Bush's theme, Give the power to the local governments!!! - Why not let the local YRAs determine what the level of advertising should be in their area. We want to grow the sport on a local level, get more people involved, however one of the greatest barriers of entry is cost, and our National Body won't budge on sponsorships. Am I missing something? Sounds like the UK local YRAs wanted to give the power back to the locals. -- From Tim Prophit (Re: New Sponsorship Rules) - Some object that sponsorship will make the playing field uneven, as sponsored boats will have more money to spend on sails, etc. What difference does it make if a sailor's source of funds come from sponsorship, vs. getting a new, higher paying job, inheriting it, marrying it, winning the lottery, robbing a bank, finding it on the street, etc. I know, some will say "but I will be forced to look at advertising on otherwise pristine, pure, hulls and sails". If you consider the amount of external stimuli we are subjected to in all areas of life, a couple ads on a boat are no big deal. From Peter Godfrey - Over more than 50 years of racing sailboats, I have observed that many an owner's level of expenditure tends to rise to consume slightly more than the funds available to support his/her racing habit. For example, an owner who could easily afford to campaign a Star or an Etchells instead opts to campaign a 40-footer. I have trouble grasping why, since competition in the smaller boat classes is as good as, and certainly broader and more frequent, with less travel, than, say, classes like the Farr 40, or big-boat handicap racing. Now that so much big boat racing is done on short courses, in enclosed waters, the formats and the venues tend to be the same as for the smaller boats. So the only attraction of the bigger boats must be that the organizational effort and the cost are bigger. This phenomenon applies all the way up and down the scale, and it produces the cost/revenue gap, out of which grows the interest in and support of sponsorship. Now, I don't anticipate being able to change human nature, so I expect the gap to persist forever. That doesn't make me sympathetic to sponsorship, however. Business-supported sailing is professional sailing, and it is a different game from amateur sailing; it needs to be kept separate, lest amateur sailing disappear altogether. This, I think, is the tragedy all sailors, professional and amateur alike, should work to avoid. -- From Rick Hatch - If the NOR and/or SI's for any event prescribe a crew weight limit, the regatta committee for the event has to conduct a weigh-in of all the crew by a certain time prior to the first race (at registration works). Furthermore, for the international one-design class championships I have officiated at, permitted crew substitutions during the regatta usually are requested in writing and approved by the jury chair/chief judge (i.e., after weighing in the substitute crew). Regatta committees on events with prescribed class weight restrictions are advised to have a bathroom scale on hand at registration and in the regatta office throughout the event. As for the case at hand, the rules either were or were not infringed, depending on: (1) whether the protest is valid (including, in particular, the timeliness), and (2) the facts found from the evidence presented and available to the jury. The relationship between the protested party and the regatta chair should be viewed as entirely circumstantial or coincidental and beside the point. The whole thing sounds like another regrettable procedural oversight that the judges are stuck having to deal with, all because the weigh-in wasn't conducted prior to the first race. -- From Paul Cayard - Correction: Il Moro III won the first IACC World Championship in 1991, not Il Moro I. ISAF MATCH RACE RANKINGS October 10, 2000 - OPEN: 1 Bertrand PACE, FRA; 2 Dean BARKER, NZL; 3 Sten MOHR, DEN; 4 Magnus HOLMBERG, SWE; 5 Jesper BANK, DEN; 6 Peter GILMOUR, AUS; 7 Jes GRAM-HANSEN, DEN; 8 Jesper Radich JOHANSEN, DEN; 9 James SPITHILL, AUS; 10 Roy HEINER, NED; 19 Ed BAIRD, USA; 20 Peter HOLMBERG, ISV. WOMEN: 1 Dorte O. JENSEN, DEN; 2 Betsy ALISON, USA; 3 Klaartje ZUIDERBAAN, NED; 4 Cordelia EGLIN, GBR; 5 Malin KALLSTROM, SWE; 6 Paula LEWIN, BER; 7 Marie BJORLING, SWE; 8 Shirley ROBERTSON, GBR; 9 Malin MILLBOURN, SWE; 10 Christine BRIAND, FRA; 12 Cory SERTL, USA; 13 Dru SLATTERY, USA; 14 Hannah SWETT, USA; 25 Dawn RILEY, USA: Complete rankings: http://sailing.org/iyru/oct00mrrankings/22mrranking.html MIDDLE SEA RACE Robert McNeil's 75 foot racing yacht captured line honours in the Cape to Rio Race, set a new race record and is now hoping to write his name down in the Royal Malta Yacht Club history books by coming to Malta to compete in this years Middle Sea Race. Zephyrus IV managed to claim line honours, a new course record and an overall handicap fleet win for owner Robert McNeil, skipper John Bertrand, navigator Mark Rudiger and the rest of the 'Zephyrus IV' team in the 3435-nautical mile 2000 MTN Cape to Rio Race. "Zephyrus IV" is a Maxi-Sled Rachel-Pugh design and is being shipped out to Malta from the West Coast of the United States just for the Middle Sea Race, which starts on October 21. She is hoping to set a new course record this year and should be arriving in Malta within the next two days. Quite a few boats, including Italian hot favourites and course record holder "Riviera di Rimini" and "Magic Sailing Team", both "Open 60's" have now confirmed that they will not be able to get to Malta in time for the start of the Middle Sea Race due to severe weather in the Adriatic. Medex, a local entry were also stuck in Marsala, North of Sicily, with winds in excess of forty knots. Originally, the Race Committee received enquiries from no less that nine Maltese boats wishing to participate in the Middle Sea Race, however, these have now dwindled to just five which include Allegra, skippered by Alfred Manduca, Victoria Moody, with Paul Chetcuti on the wheel, Medex-Powered by RedBull from the Ripard Consortium and Latina, a Beneteau 42s7 with Winston Azzopardi at the wheel. 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 INDUSTRY NEWS The Sailing Company, a unit of New York-based Miller Sports Group, has named Darrell Nicholson associate editor of Cruising World, a leading magazine for sailing enthusiasts. experienced sailor who's logged some 30,000 ocean miles, Nicholson joins Cruising World from SportsYA!, Miami, where he was assistant editor in chief. His editorial background also includes a term as copy editor/assistant sports editor at the Pacific Daily News in Guam and as a reporter for The Virgin Islands Daily News. A 1987 graduate of Emory University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Nicholson currently resides here with his new wife, Thesesa. PARALYMPIAD With Opening Ceremonies for the Games of the XI Paralympiad behind them, U.S. sailors are set to make history in Sydney, Australia. Sailing, along with wheelchair rugby, makes its debut as a full-medal sport at the 2000 Paralympic Games (both were exhibition events in 1996 in Atlanta). The Paralympic Regatta is scheduled for October 20-27, 2000, with sailors racing in the three-person Sonar and the singlehanded 2.4 Metre. First held in Rome in 1960, the Paralympic Games grew from the need to offer sporting opportunities to athletes with disabilities. Paralympic is a derivation of the word parallel, and in the 40 years since they were first established, the Paralympics have become to disabled athletes what the Olympics is to able-bodied athletes an opportunity to defy physical limitations. Paralympic sailors will utilize Rushcutters Bay, the same venue used for the Olympics, and racing will take place in Sydney Harbour on course B between Bradleys Head, Shark Island and Clark Island beginning with a practice race on October 20. A nine race series with two drops is planned for each class (competitors will drop their worst result after five races are completed, and a second drop will count after nine races). Entries are limited to 17 boats/countries in both events. As host of the 2000 Paralympic Games Australia received an automatic entry in each class. Members of the USA's 2000 Paralympic Sailing Team are: 1998 World Disabled Sailing Silver Medallists Paul Callahan (Palm Beach, Fla. and Providence, R.I.) and Keith Burhans (Irondequoit, N.Y.) and 1998 World Disabled Sailing Gold Medalist Corky Aucreman (Dana Point, Calif.) sailing in the Sonar class; Tom Brown (Northeast Harbor, Maine) will compete in the 2.4 Metre class; and alternate Jim Leatherman (Glen Arm, Md.), who was elected Team Captain. Supporting the athletes are: Team Leader Serge Jorgensen (Sarasota, Fla.); Coach Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.); Boatwright Carl Eichenlaub (San Diego, Calif.); and Personal Care Attendant Aaron Davis (Providence, R.I.). For team bios, a complete schedule of racing and daily updates: http://www.ussailing.org/swsn/paralympics/ REGATTA REPORT The 2000 Tasar North Americans were hosted by the Corinthian Yacht Club, October 7 and 8, in Seattle, Washington. Saturday was a beautiful day for sunbathing, but not for sailing as the fleet did not even venture off the dock. Sunday brought a 10-knot Southerly, which held for the first 3 races and faded badly for the 4th and final race. The current which was running against the wind made for relatively short beats and long offwind legs. Final results: 1. Carol/Carl Buchan (4) 2. Thilo Giese/Sandra Towers (14) 3. Kent Powley/Cathy Sherwood (16) 4. Allan Johnson/Sharon Moran (23) 5. Fritz/Tina Lanzinger (23) 6. Jay/John Renehan (33) 7. Tyler Bech/Carol yn Bersch (37) THE CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth." - Muhammad Ali |
