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SCUTTLEBUTT 1374 - July 18, 2003Powered 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 and personal attacks for elsewhere. VOLVO OCEAN RACE Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Glenn Bourke announce on Thursday that Melbourne, Australia has won the right to host the only Australian stop-over in the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race, which starts November 2005 from the Mediterranean. "There will be several significant changes to the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race, highlighting a new age in performance sailing. One of the new features of the race, which will greatly benefit host cities like Melbourne, will be in-port racing. The new race rules outline that these in-port races will now count towards the overall race result," Mr Bourke said. "This will ensure that whilst the yachts are in port, spectators and media will be able to see these grand prix yachts and elite crews in full action. The ability to see these yachts first hand and close up will provide an even more exciting and engaging atmosphere for the public." - Lizzie Green, http://www.volvooceanrace.org/ MORE VOLVO OCEAN RACE Last month, noted professional golfer Colin Montgomery had this to say: "When I cease to be competitive, stop being in contention to win titles, then I'll slip away from the Tour," he says, adding, "I don't want to become an also-ran or a parody of myself, striving to recreate past glories, and I don't want to join the Seniors Tour." So just what does Europe's most consistent golfer plan to do when he gives up golf? "I was fascinated by the first Volvo Ocean Race last year, and I would just love to get myself fit and competent enough to sail a leg of what is the toughest race on the planet," says Monty, predictably adding, "I would only want to do that if I was able to hold my place on merit as a sailor." http://www.volvooceanrace.org/press/130603_hole.html (Curmudgeon's comment: We hope Monty's sailing goes better than his opening round at the British Open on Thursday, where he was forced to withdraw due to injuries caused by tripping in the rain and hurting his wrist and knees on his way to breakfast.) ADMIRALS CUP After a day when winds gusting over 30 knots sorted out the men from the boys, Spain has retaken the lead with a one point margin in the 2003 Admiral's Cup. The King of Spain's Bribon Telefonica Movistar continued its almost perfect performance, with two more first places, while their main rival, Bob Oatley's Wild Oats, representing Australia's Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, had it's first result outside the top three, scoring sixth and third places in the two Inshore Races sailed today. In the small boat, IMS 600 fleet, Pedro Campos on Telefonica Movistar was also consistent, chalking up a pair of second places, while Australia's Aftershock, owned by Colin O'Neil, put a first and an third on the scoreboard. Even some of the big names were seen in a state of disarray as the sail shredding, south westerly winds blasted up the Solent, and tested any small deficiency in boat handling skills, particularly on the down wind legs. Bribon Telefonica Movistar, of the Real Club Nautico Sangenjo, won the second race of the day despite a dramatic wipe out on the first downwind leg, "it was blowing 28 knots and increasing," explained tactician Eddie Warden Owen. "Andrew Cape (the navigator) was telling us we were past the lay line, and we just had to turn the corner. Although we wiped out, there was no damage to the boat or the crew, it was a good race - tough but fast." Standings: 1. Telefonica Movistar Sailing Team, 39 2. Royal Prince Alfred Team, 40 3. Sailability RORC Team, 60 4. Team Royal Southern, 78 5. Team Bear - RTYC, 99 6. Team Paprec Recyclage - UNCL, 105 7. Estrella Galicia Sailing Team, 114 8. Sailability CCYC Team, 115 Australia last won the Admiral's Cup in 1979, while the Spanish have never put their name on this trophy, which when it was first contested in 1957, was the first international offshore team trophy. Susan McKeag, http://www.rorc.org J24'S TURN 25 Didn't make it to Newport this week for the J24 Silver Anniversary Regatta? Neither did our hull #3471, still in the yard getting primed for racing (if you're down South and up for the challenge…). But don't worry, you haven't missed out on learning how the fastest boats were rigged. We did it for them; we can do it for you. Layline will help you make your boat race like the regatta's winners. Call us: 800.542.5463. Or better yet, check out our Tacktick summer sale, Maffioli Swiftcord sheets, and all the J24 specialty parts at http://www.layline.com/llf/boats/j24/j24.html BARKER AND COUTTS TO SQUARE OFF IN BERMUDA Hamilton, Bermuda (July 17, 2003) - Organizers of the Investors Guaranty™ Presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup have announced that Dean Barker and Jes Gram-Hansen will join the list of seeded skippers in competition for one of match racing's most revered prizes. The event, to be held October 18-26 at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, will feature Barker lining up against his adversary and onetime boss Russell Coutts. Rounding out the eight seeded skippers are Chris Dickson, Peter Holmberg, Dennis Conner and Jesper Radich, recent winner of the Swedish Match Tour 2002/2003. Prior to Round One of The King Edward VII Gold Cup, 16 unseeded skippers will compete in a three-day round robin qualifier round. Sailed in Bermuda' s famous International One Design class sloops from October 18-20, the top six skippers will advance to Round One and go head-to-head with the eight seeds. The winner of The King Edward VII Gold Cup will receive the King Edward VII Trophy and a share of the $100,000 prize purse. http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?Nid=10421 OPTI NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIOHSHIP Valle de Bravo, México - Baepi Lacativa (BRA) and Sean Bouchard (BER) consolidated their lead as their overnight rivals struggled to find consistency in the 122-boat fleet. The USA's Sam Williams has 10-OSC-3-4 series, and should move up when the first discard is taken. Racing continues Friday after Thursday's layday. 1. Baepi Lacativa, BRA 14 2. Sean Bouchard, BER 15 3. Carl Evans, NZL 27 In the Team-Racing finals Bermuda overcame Mexico, with Argentina taking third over-all with Argentina taking third over-al. The U.S.A. team was the third place North American team. In viewing results it should be remembered that, in the Optimist Class tradition of selecting as many sailors as possible for different championships, the larger countries have sent their second or even third teams to this championship. Only a dozen or so of these participants will be going on the Worlds next week. - Robert Wilkes, http://www.optinam2003.com/iresults.html PAN AM GAMES The Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) of US Sailing has finalized its team to represent the U.S.A. at the XIV Pan American Games. The multi-sport event, held every four years since its inception in 1951, is scheduled for August 1-17, 2003, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and will be staged from Club Nautico de Santo Domingo. The Pan American Games, always held the summer preceding the Olympic Games, are attended by the world's finest athletes from 42 nations in North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean who compete in 288 events across 38 sports. The U.S.A. is sending sailors to compete in seven classes (eight disciplines that mirror those found in the Olympics). Two of them -- Laser (men) and Mistral (men and women) utilize the same equipment used in the Olympic Regatta. Five are non-Olympic classes -- Laser Radial (women), Hobie 16, J/24, Snipe and Sunfish (all open). 2003 U.S.A. Pan Am Games Team-Sailing Leading the charge in the Hobie 16 (open doublehanded multihull) is the husband and wife team of Paul and Mary Ann Hess (Napa, Calif.). Tim Healy (Newport, R.I.) will skipper the J/24 (open keelboat), with crew Nick Judson (Nantucket, Mass.), Gordon Borges (Newport, R.I.) and Davenport Crocker (Cohasset, Mass.). Returning to the Pan Am Games for the second time is Henry Filter (Stevensville, Md.), who will team with Lisa Griffith (San Diego, Calif./Phillipsburg, N.J.) in the Snipe (open doublehanded dinghy). Sailing in the Sunfish (open singlehanded dinghy) is Jeff Linton (Tampa, Fla.). Four sailors with Olympic campaigns will also compete in Santo Domingo. Representing the U.S.A. in the Laser (men's singlehanded dinghy) is Benjamin Richardson (Gloucester, Mass.), while Sally Barkow (Pine Lake, Wisc.), who skippers a Yngling in an Olympic campaign, will compete in the Laser Radial (women's singlehanded dinghy). Sailing in the Mistral (men and women's windsurfer) are Peter Wells (Newport Beach, Calif.) and three-time Olympian and Pan Am Games medalist Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.). Providing coaching support to the 2003 Pan Am Games Team-Sailing will be Head Coach Scott Ikle (Geneva, N.Y.) and Assistant Coach Geoff Becker (Annapolis, Md.). Carl Eichenlaub (San Diego, Calif.), whose boat repair abilities are legendary, will reprise his role as Team Boatwright. Eichenlaub, who has attended every Pan Am Games since 1979 in this capacity, has also supported the U.S.A.'s Olympic Team-Sailing at the last five Olympic Regattas. EVOLVE OPTICALLY, VIEW TACTICALLY Kaenon Polarized and Annapolis Performance Sailing congratulate the Foerster/ Burnham team on their win at 470 Europeans. Light breeze, good breeze, shifty and tricky sailing made this truly a tactician's event. Both wore Kaenon's Kore sunglasses utilizing Kaenon's Polarized SR-91 lens and Glare 86 Polarizing Element technology. With the highest optical acuity and clarity rating possible while exceeding ANSI high-mass impact standards, Kaenon Polarized glasses are the ultimate for performance sailing. Foerster and Burnham were able to take advantage of seeing breeze others simply couldn't. Evolve optically, view tactically. Learn more and get yours at APS. http://www.apsltd.com/depts/dept3257.asp WIRELESS As the tactician crosses the boat during a tack, he grabs a small display panel stuck to a cockpit bulkhead with Velcro. Once settled on the rail, he starts pressing buttons on the display and in a few moments has retrieved SOG, current push, time to layline, windspeed and direction, and depth. Armed with that information, he tells the skipper where to aim the boat and on the next tack, slaps the display back on the bulkhead, set on target speed. There's a sensor at the top of the rig beaming down instantaneous wind readings to cockpit and mast displays as well as the nav station. These displays, solar-powered and sprouting nary a wire, have the capability to show users any data they could possibly want to pull up. The nav station has no writhing mass of wiring behind it, and adding or removing instruments is a snap. As the boat is racing, the team's coach boat is downloading race data to a laptop computer for an after-race chalk talk. Is it far-fetched fantasy? Nope, we're talking here and now. - Sailing World, full story: http://www.sailingworld.com/sw_article.php?articleID=1909 CLIPPER 2002 At 03:00 GMT Thursday New York Clipper's distance to the finish was less than their distance covered over the last 24 hours, so in true ocean race form and unless conditions change dramatically, they will finish in the dark early hours of tomorrow morning. Although Bristol Clipper has gained slightly, victory for the New Yorkers does seem fairly secure. The fat lady will not start singing until they are well and truly over the line, but at present speeds New York Clipper effectively has a five-hour lead on the second placed Bristolians. It is amazing to think how decisions made soon after the race start can have such a profound effect. Resisting the temptation to go for an early lead, skipper Ross Daniel and his crew played it by the book and headed to the north after leaving Table Bay. They held on despite the growing gap separating them from the rest of the fleet. Only South African skipper Roger Steven Jennings and the Cape Town Clipper crew took the same decision, but both then reaped the rewards as the windless South Atlantic high-pressure system caught the boats to the south. - Loretta Spridgeon, http://www.clipper-ventures.com JUNIOR MATCH RACING The Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach California has announced the 12 yachts clubs selected to send teams to what has become the premier international junior match racing championship in the United States- the Governor's Cup - held this year from August 13 thru August 17: - Annapolis Yacht Club, Annapolis, MD - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Darling Point, NSW, Australia - King Harbor Yacht Club, Redondo Beach, CA - Kings Point Sailing Academy, Kings Point, NY - Mission Bay Yacht Club, San Diego, CA - Newport Harbor Yacht, Balboa, CA - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Auckland, New Zealand - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Newport Beach, NSW, Australia - Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Kirribilli, NSW, Australia - San Diego Yacht Club, San Diego, CA - San Francisco Yacht Club, Belvedere, CA Event website: http://www.balboayachtclub.com/ NEWS BRIEFS * Chris Dickson has taken sole line honours at the top of this year's National Business Review's sporting Rich List (for New Zealand) - leaving in his wake golfer Sir Bob Charles, with whom he shared top spot last year. Dickson's estimated wealth now stands at $20m from yachting and property - $5m ahead of the 67-year-old left-handed golfing legend. Another yachtie, Brad Butterworth, is a notable addition to the list, sharing third place on a conservative $14m with his Alinghi America's Cup teammate Russell Coutts. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2572485a1823,00.html * The last of the fifty-seven starters finished the 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race Thursday. Pipe Dream, a Choate/Feo 37 sailed by John Davis of Long Beach, finished well before sunrise Thursday at 3:32 a.m., the 54th boat to cross the landmark finish line off the dormant volcano called Diamond Head. The boat's elapsed time was 15 days 17 hours 32 minutes 39 seconds, about twice as much time as Philippe Kahn's Pegasus 77 needed to claim the Barn Door award for the fastest elapsed time. Three others returned to the mainland with breakdowns early in the race. Final results available at http://www.transpacificyc.org A picture of the class winners is up on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/ * The J/24 Silver Anniversary Regatta continued Thursday, where the two class leaders - Chris and Vicki Field in the Regatta Fleet and Brad Read and Tim Healy in the Silver Fleet - opened up a little breathing room on their competition after three races were completed in idyllic summer conditions. Healy, who will skipper the U.S. entry in the J/24 Class at the Pan Am Games next month, won the final two races of the day. "This is helping us for the games," said Healy, a three-time All American sailor at the University of Rhode Island ('93-'95). "Three of the crew are going with me to the games, so we're psyched to get more time on the water." Joining Healy will be Dave Crocker, Gordon Borges and Nick Judson. Racing concludes on Saturday. Complete results at http://www.j24silver.org/j24silver/m/_general/fleet.asp CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * August 23-30: International 5o5 North American Championships, Falmouth YC, Falmouth, MA. - http://www.ne505.org/2003NA-NOR.htm LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Gregg Plunkett: I just want to let you know I woke up from a dead sleep here in Singapore and decided to surf the web a bit. I read your recap of the Transpac and see you quote a old friend of mine Sam Gloor. I want you to know your stoke on what those guys accomplished on the Tripp 40 B'Quest is shared by a lot of us. Anyone who dreams big and lives life has to love and admire what these guys are up too. * From David Doody: Another note on the aspect of "different" regattas - last weekend was the first rendition of the Larchmont Classic Yacht Regatta at Larchmont Yacht Club on Long Island Sound. It was a terrific event attended by nearly forty classic yachts ranging from a one-design group of Atlantics and S boats to a half dozen Herreshoff Rozinantes, Herreshoff Buzzard's Bay 25's, Concordia Yawls, NY 30, NY 32, Herreshoff Araminta and the venerable Dolphin - Herreshoff Newport 29 that has, by all accounts, won more races on Long Island Sound than any other boat ever. There is great sailing in different corners of our sport where people compete and truly enjoy it without politics, protests (not allowed) and hassles, and certainly, no "obsolete" boats. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The e-mail of the species is more deadly than the mail. |
