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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 956 - December 3, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.
GUEST EDITORIAL - Susan Daly The data showed a drop from 4.9 million people having participated 1+ time in 1990 to 2.5 million in 2000. There is additional data that shows that participation among frequent sailors is fairly steady; part of the problem has been the ability to retain less frequent sailors. Sailing is not the only activity seeing a decline over the years - other sports and activities are faced with the same problem presented by an increase of new and different activities to participate in (such as rollerblading and snowboarding), more demand on people's time, an aging baby boom, etc. While there is an overall decline in participation (a trend seen in several other countries like the UK and one that seems difficult for many to accept), there is also good news as kids are coming into sailing at a healthy rate (as supported by Jack Lynch's comment about the 10% growth of junior programs in his area) and the challenges that all of us involved either as parents, volunteers or industry partners have to keep kids in sailing - so that they will stay involved for a lifetime. The key drivers for keeping kids engaged in sailing are not all that different from what should be done in general for anyone of any age coming into sailing for the first time. It's just more important with kids since the choice to start sailing is not always their own and if they are turned off at an early age, they more than likely will never come back. So we need to make sailing a fun, fair and rewarding experience for kids, help them develop the mastery of needed skills so that they can feel in control and gain a sense of accomplishment (and this is not just racing skills), involve the parents and organizers and make sure it's fun and rewarding for them as well, build and support a solid infrastructure with well-organized and run programs and qualified instructors and program directors, and develop well-run and fun events and regattas. There's invariably more but we believe this is a good start. - Susan Daly, Vice President, Marketing, Vanguard Sailboats
SAILING ON TV For the challengers, it may be a win-lose proposition. On the one hand, the Outdoor Life Network plans to broadcast hundreds of hours of daily competition, which will far exceed that run by ESPN during the last Louis Vuitton Cup. On the other, the number of households that receive the channel is a fraction of those that receive ESPN. Furthermore, the deal with OLN will cost the challengers upward of $2 million. An earlier proposed deal with ESPN, which would have included the challenger series, promised several million dollars to their coffers. The group responsible for making the television deal is called the Challenger of Record Management, which is also charged with staging the Louis Vuitton Cup. Three of the eight board members are representatives of the Prada Challenge. There have been rumblings that the Italians have not distinguished themselves in the negotiations. For several reasons, including scheduling problems, Internet rights complications and a change in the business climate after Sept. 11, the larger ESPN deal fell through. - Herb McCormick, New York Times. Full story: www.nytimes.com/2001/12/02/sports/othersports/02BOAT.html
VOLVO OCEAN RACE Swedish boat SEB had performed two nicely controlled gybes when a big squall came through. "It forced us to sail higher and with an angle to the waves," explained Krantz. "One wave was bigger that the others and, in combination with an extra gust, we just spun out." SEB lay on her side, the spinnaker flogging itself to bits and shaking the boat so much "that the very strong carbon (fibre) mast looked like spaghetti." Worse still, a rope snaked over the side and fouled the rudder forcing Krantz to stop SEB and send crew man Tom Braidwood underneath to clear it. The net effect saw Illbruck come from one mile behind into a six-mile lead, which she has extended. Tim Jeffery, The Telegraph, UK. sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport The stage is set for an incredibly close finale to the 6,550 mile second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race tomorrow. Only nine miles separate the first two yachts with a mere 270 miles left to sail to the Sydney Opera House finishing line. Illbruck and Team SEB have worked their way through the calms and storms of the last 48 hours to the best effect to open up a small lead over the pursuing 7 boat fleet. A near flooding in the first bow compartment of the watertight bulkhead of SEB temporarily put the brakes on Gurra Krantz's challenge for the lead yesterday. After a sail change, boat speeds were low and it was found that a deck hatch had accidentally opened when a sail was dragged over it, letting in over a ton of sea water. This mixed with all the crews rubbish from three weeks at sea. "Woos [Gareth Cooke] was standing in the mess in his shorts and bailing and sending the buckets out on a chain of crew hands. The water was looking more like a soup and smelled like rotten lobster tail soup," skipper Krantz explained. The boat was soon back up to speed and maintained second position. Positions - December 3 @ 0400 GMT: 1. illbruck, 273 miles from finish; 2. Team SEB, 9 miles behind leader; 3. News Corp, 37 mbl; 4. Amer Sports One 82 mbl; 5. djuice, 88 mbl; Assa Abloy, 103 mbl; Amer Sports Too, 228 mbl. - - www.volvooceanrace.org
TOP TEN NAUTICAL LUXURIES UNDER $50
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Jim Champ - Don Becker's rules summary is superb. Could you ask the author if he's prepared to permit unlimited reproduction - it needs to be everywhere." CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Go for it - Becker has no objections. * From Chris Welsh (edited to our 250-word limit): Don Becker neglected to mention that each one of those rules has the provision "allowing the burdened vessel time and opportunity to keep clear". Suddenly, everything turned gray, and the right of way boat may be wrong. If you, the burdened vessel, knew they could tag you, you kept a little more clear, and everyone knew exactly where the burden was. Now, what's the point of not camping down a little closer - they have to give you time and opportunity. With regard to the starting sequence, it is also an oversimplification to say, "when the first signal goes up, you need to be ready to race". One of the objectives of the new starting sequence was to allow flexibility, presumably for efficiency. It now takes longer to start multiple fleets, plain and simple. In small harbor racing (dinghies), we started having more trouble with the first fleet getting back to the line before the last fleet leaves. Didn't use to be a problem with a rolling sequence. We have reverted to a college whistle type sequence - but the point of a national rules body is to standardize the rules, not end up encouraging everyone to come up with their own way of doing it. Literally no one is doing starts the same way now. It's really quite simple - US Sailing, why don't you put it up to a vote - not of the rules committee, but of your membership? * From Peter O. Allen, Sr.: If we really want to introduce economical, "fun" racing (whatever that is), how about clubs looking at the idea of a "claiming" class? Any boat in the fleet could be bought from its owner for $5,000 (or whatever number) within three days of the finish of any race. If offered the claiming price, the owner would have to sell the boat or forfeit standing in the current series and be barred from future competition. This would go a long way toward keeping someone from dumping big bucks into gear and sails, or scores of hours into such sweat-related improvements as fairing the hull and blades. And I fully support the damning comments about the overwhelming plethora of "one-design classes" that every clever builder seems intent on creating. Unfortunately, USSA hasn't got the chutzpah to declare a limited series of "National" classes. Until they do something to support a limited number of designs we are destined to have the current state of confusion, despair, and relative disinterest. * From Dave Millett: Chris Spalding has hit the decline in sailing problem more correctly than anyone. There are no young players coming into the sport. I'll bet anyone the top 5 boats in these Sourthern California classes have an average age of 35 minimum. That age is going up, few have two or more people in there 20's, and fewer have players in their teens. Why? Owners spend a lot of money on their programs and want to win. To not continually be trying out and infusing new blood into your program is short sighted. No other sport puts up the barriers to entry that sailing does. You would think we were making money at this. But what's on the line is more precious than money - it's ego! So many people have been left on the dock because people were unwilling to give them a chance that a lot of them quit trying. Why are all but a handful of once major regattas in decline? Not enough players to fill the rosters any more. What's the answer? One might be to recruit, teach, train, and help younger people and novices get started. Grab a club junior and get them on board. Lot's of YC's have websites with crew wanted on them; lots of guys like Chris are around. * From David Bishop (edited to our 250-word limit): Some thoughts on the decline in yacht racing participation - I have crewed on boats in the San Diego /Southern California arena for 30+ years and note the following changes in racing: 1. Sausages have become the dominant racecourse. There are far fewer random leg races and almost no "Olympic, "America's Cup" or other format with reaching legs. This is great for one design racing but weights the course for pure racing boats over racer/cruisers, and discourages those who can't afford a pure racing machine or want to go to Catalina in the summer. 2. The decline of the IOR / IMS fleet has brought Gran Prix racers into the PHRF fleet, something that was probably never intended, making it much more difficult for racer/ cruisers to compete. 3. The growth of Ocean One design racing has removed many talented sailors from the PHRF fleet. One design is the most competitive racing, and it's where the good sailor's want to be, but the cost can be prohibitive for many. I have been crewing on one-designs almost exclusively for the last five years, it's just more fun. 4. Are far as I could tell only two people in San Diego really understood the old rules, so the fact that nobody understands the new ones probably doesn't mean that much. I haven't heard anybody say they quit racing because of the new rules. In short, I'm not sure yacht racing needs to be fixed. * From Robert Constable: Who declared that women's highest priority in events such as this is the furtherance of women's cause in sports. What cause? Don't we all--male and female--set out to win? And failing that, to be competitive? And failing that, to complete the race (in the case of extreme sailing like the Volvo, with the minimum of injury)? How far down the list is: furtherance of [pick one: women's, men's, sailmakers', billionaires', retired attorneys', androids', highland terriers'] cause in sports? I like to sail with my daughters. When we have a lousy day, we don't percieve that we've hurt the cause of nuclear family teams. And when we do well, it's because practice paid off and the breaks went our way. But we don't have bumper stickers printed proclaiming "Family Power". Whether it's the Volvo, the Special Olympics or Saturday morning soccer, the competitors come to compete, not make a social statement. To be judged on the latter says more about the observer than the competitor. I say, "You go girls". Hope your rudder holds together! * From Janene Marasciullo: Peter Bentley's criticism of all women crew on Amer Sports Too is unduly harsh and unhealthy for the sport. Furthermore, his conclusion that the women aren't pushing hard enough ignores the facts. For example, he states that the women's boat is among the fastest in wind ranges around 15 knots. After crediting the boat, rather than the women, for this accomplishment, he concludes that because the women aren't fastest in all conditions, they aren't pushing hard enough. Clearly, the women would not be fastest in any condition if they weren't working. After the announcement that the Rolex International Keel Boat Championship would be sailed in J/22s, many women sailors, with the support of the men, joined the Annapolis J/22. As a result, the number of J/22s on the line swelled to between 25 and 40. The East Coast Championship was won by an all female crew, and the second place boat was also an all female crew. By popular demand, the trophy for the top female boat was actually awarded to the top finishing male boat. With all the talk about why sailing isn't more popular, it is counterproductive to write articles suggesting that women competitors aren't pushing hard enough, and therefore, don't deserve an opportunity to compete. All new competitors need to be welcomed and supported as they attempt to improve their performance. * From Liv Sherwood: The concerns expressed about the new ISAF rule that an IJ chairman must not be a member of the host country are legitimate. In my years as an IJ I was frequently asked to chair events in other countries and generally suggested that, when a jury member from the host country or area was well qualified, he or she be appointed chair precisely to be able to work closely with the PRO and organizers to resolve any problems in advance and ensure that jury facilities (jury boat, hearing room etc.) would be satisfactory. I do not recall my suggestion ever being accepted by the organizers but I often then asked the "local" jury member to serve as my liaison with the PRO.. I have not been a member of the ISAF Racing Rules Committee since 1998 and have no knowledge of the debate that led to this new regulation but I suspect that it may have arisen from the fact that some countries (France was and may still be one) refuse to host a world championship or approve an international jury for other major events in their country unless the jury chair will be from it's country. This has led to some friction with classes who want to choose their own jury, possibly, some suspicion as to the motive of the host country and sometimes to a poorer jury. * From Mark Bennett: With all due respect to ISAF President Paul Henderson it is a fact that the first press release distributed by the ISAF about who can and cannot chair an International Jury contained bad and misleading information. In fact, on the ISAF Website there is a separate official ISAF apology for the mistake (and the original press release has been edited to eliminate the mistake). We all make mistakes at times and the ISAF is certainly no exception to that rule (as this issue clearly demonstrates). However, instead of scolding us for "jumping to conclusions" wouldn't it have been more appropriate for Mr. Henderson to acknowledge the error? CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Concerned race organizers should really read the clarification of this provision published on the ISAF website: www.sailing.org/article_content.asp?articleID=1617
AMERICA'S CUP
THERE'S A RUN ON OUR NYLONS!
CORRECTION
I-14 WORLDS
SNIPE WORLDS
MATCH RACING As the two teams with the best win-loss records from the round robins, Baylis and Marie Faure (FRA) were matched for the finals. Faure incurred a prestart penalty in each of her two matches with Baylis - matches that Bayliss went on to win to claim the top prize with a 2-0 score. Sailing with Baylis at this ISAF Grade 1 regatta was an all-California team of Aimee Hess (Oakland), Karina Shelton (Watsonville) and Stacie Straw (Marina del Rey). In the petit final Sandy Grosvenor won two straight matches against Charlie Arms. The SPYC junior team, led by skipper Evan Brown, finished fifth in the team' s first international regatta. - Dana Paxton, www.spyc.org
STANLEY P. BELL Stanley moved onto the LYC Winter Race Committee in 1954, assisting his father Clinton. In 1980 Stanley took over the Winter Committee and has been running it ever since. His race management accomplishments include the 1988 International Dinghy Team Regatta and the 1990 and 1996 IC Nationals - each of which included over 70 competing boats - the 1999 IC MidWinters and the IC Midsummers from 1995-97. In between these many headline events, Bell managed 21 seasons of Winter Racing at Larchmont with the same attention to detail that he gave to Championship Regattas. Each season resulted in 100-150 races with an average fleet of 25-30 boats. Stanley earned a reputation for going the extra distance to get racers a square course, without making them mill around waiting on cold winter days. In early 2000, Stanley was awarded US Sailings John H. Gardiner, Jr. Trophy for his lifetime of service to one design sailing through the IC Dinghy class. In addition to his winter racing duties, Stanley was always in demand for race committee work. He served on the Storm Trysail Block Island Race and Block Island Race Week Committees as well as on the Club's Key West - Baltimore Race Committee. He regularly ran major dinghy and one design races for Larchmont and other Clubs in classes as diverse as Optimists, Vanguards, Shields and Etchells. Winters on Long Island Sound will never be quite the same again. - Andy Besheer
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