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SCUTTLEBUTT #761 - February 27, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk. Corrections, contributions, press releases and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome. THE RACE Behind them, Loick Peyron and the crew on Innovation Explorer continue to climb the North Atlantic at a constant speed of 14 knots. After sailing through monster waves, with winds reaching hurricane-force intensity, the 110-foot American catamaran Team Adventure was today just 500 miles from Cape Horn. Skipper Cam Lewis, of Lincolnville, ME, reported moderating conditions and said he expected to pass close by the famous, southern cape in daylight hours tomorrow. Tony Bullimore and his Team Legato crew are getting back up to speed after a frustrating 24 36 hours of little or no wind, while their Polish rivals on Warta Polpharma are battling against the other extreme - sailing under bare poles in 60 knot winds. Team Legato has covered 224 miles during the past 24 hours as the crew take the calculated gamble of sailing on an east,nor'easterly course towards the promise of better winds tonight instead of heading southeast into strong headwinds. Positions at 15:00 GMT today Event site www.therace.org VENDEE GLOBE Unlike his recent predecessors, who endured prolonged, light upwind conditions in the Bay of Biscay, Golding will be able to benefit from a good wind direction and strength right up to the end, as he expects the breeze to remain steady and shift to the North. His ETA is for early on Wednesday morning, and he is looking good to beat Marc Thiercelin's race time and become the 4th fastest boat to finish, given his 8 day and 4 hour delay on the rest of the fleet. Whatever the time, Golding will certainly be the first skipper to have completed a solo, non-stop circumnavigation in both directions on a monohull, when he crosses the finish line of the Vendee Globe. Bernard Gallay (Voila.fr) & Josh Hall (EBP - Gartmore) have also caught a ride on the good wind train and are heading directly towards Les Sables d'Olonne at an average of 12 knots. They are matching each other in boat speed, Gallay maintaining a slim control over Hall still, with only a matter of 40 odd miles separating them. If they keep up this kind of average speed, the two skippers are likely to finish on Thursday during the day. Thierry Dubois (Solidaires) finished his round the world voyage last night, albeit rather reluctantly and no longer in the race rankings, after 109 days at sea. The strong following winds enabled Dubois to average 16 knots in his last 24 hours. This helped boost his morale, as he confessed later. "At least I was lucky enough to sail the last stretch downwind. It's true I was thinking of heading for home (La Trinite Sur Mer), but really my dream is a little shattered. My satisfaction comes from the fact that I followed through my project to the end, but I haven't got any sporting satisfaction out of it. I have come out of this Vendee wounded, I've failed and I know I won't return in 4 years time. However my boat is good, I won't be letting her go." -- Philippe Jeantot ETA Event site www.vendeeglobe.com JOB OPENINGS FOR SAILORS WORLD CLASS UMPIRING TEAM SELECTED FOR CONGRESSIONAL CUP Included in the team of 16 umpires for this year's Regatta are: Chief Umpire, John Doerr, United Kingdom. Henry Menin, Virgin Islands. David Pelling, Canada Dick Kempe, Bermuda Pete Ives, United States According to Cup Chair Gallagher, half of the 16 umpires in this year's Regatta are certified as International Umpires. "If you were to research the umpiring and judging histories of just these 8, you would find well over 150 years of combined officiating experience between them." Event site: www.lbyc.org NEW AND AWESOME BT CHALLENGE The final few miles has seen a fierce three-way battle going on between BP, Logica and LG FLATRON. But at the end of the leg BP snuck over the finish line just seconds ahead of the other two. LG followed 25 seconds later and Logica were nearly four minutes later. Light winds had seen the leader for the past few days, Logica, pull up 25 miles away from the line giving the other two a chance to catch up. Then in one of the closest battles so far in the race the three matched each other yard for yard to the finish. At one point as BP and Logica tacked west, LG tacked east and took the lead but within a mile of the finish line BP came back to take top prize. The start was not without incident though as Tony Botterill had an encounter with the boom and mainsheet. Paul Smith explains, "We didn't escape unscathed - only about half an hour in, we had a very close call with Spirit of Hong Kong, and ended up with Tony on his back in the cockpit after coming to blows with the mainsheet. Fortunately he wasn't seriously damaged!" Final Positions Leg 4 Wellington to Sydney Overall Results After leg 4 (3 Legs to go) Full story at http://www.btchallenge.com HARRISON'S GBR CHALLENGE ACCEPTED Peter Harrison commented. "I'm thrilled that we are officially entered into the competition. As we have most of the basic building blocks in place, we are now working on the preparation of the FBM yard in Cowes for the arrival of the three former Nippon Challenge IACC boats due in mid-March. These will form the basis for the Sailing Team's two boat training programme commencing in early Spring." In the acceptance letter to Peter Rutter, Commodore of the RORC, Peter Taylor, Commodore of the RNZYS, wrote "We look forward to welcoming your Challenge to Auckland and together enjoying this fine competition. We are delighted to have you on board." GBR Challenge is the seventh syndicate to have been accepted into the competition. There are now eight challenges accepted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, representing the following countries: Great Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy (two syndicates) and USA (two syndicates). Team site: www.gbrchallenge.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON PLEASE NOTE: Tom Leweck is back from the Puerta Vallarta Race and will be at the helm here starting tomorrow. Send letters to him at leweck@earthlink.net *From Peter Szasz <peter.szasz@equipnetusa.com> Half way to the Island we set sail as the sea-breeze caught up with us. We all took a stint at the wheel and marveled how well the boat sailed. Near the Pittsburgh bridge we spotted a Farr 54, ahead on a pleasant spinnaker reach. It was Bob's turn at the helm. "We will pass those guys!" he declared. Within a few seconds he took command. "pole forward, little more vang, ease the traveler" came the orders. The boat responded, and the knot meter was steadily climbing. But the most significant change was not the way the boat reacted. We could see the years pealing of Bob's back, his eyes narrowed and sparkled. He was getting 20 years younger in front of our eyes. After working the boat to closer and closer to the wind, it was clear, that the Farr will not let us pass to weather. Bob bore off just at the right moment, just the right amount and within a few minutes we were ahead. Bob turned the helm over to the next guest, job well done, he went below to take a nap. The transformation of this legendary sailor, the effect of the still powerful competitive juices we have witnessed was amazing. I am sorry about Bob's passing away, but feel privileged to have met him and I am sure he touched many lives in and out of the sailing community. *From Dick Enersen <enersen@compuserve.com> We, the crew, knew Renard should be sailing the boat and finally, toward the end of the July Trials, Eric, to his credit, said at breakfast, "I think I'll let Bob start the boat today." Bob smiled just a little, but we went nuts and went out and smacked American Eagle around for the first time all summer. Constellation never looked back, losing only one flukey race the rest of the year and thoroughly thrashing Sovereign in the Cup match. Through it all, Bob never got a big head or seemed to take any notice of the difference he had made, although he did take great delight in winning, especially against his old rival, Bill Cox, in Eagle. Ten years later we were together again in Newport, I with a movie camera and Bob as skipper of the brand new Courageous. Well into the August Trials, Bob McCullouch relieved Renard, replacing him with both Ted Hood and Dennis Connor, who very narrowly beat out Interpid for the right to defend. I was there when it happened and watched Bob Bavier accept the decision with great dignity and then turn out every day to help the crew in any way he could. *From Chris Ericksen <Chris6932@aol.com> * From Daniel Forster <photodf@aol.com> VOLVO LEUKEMIA CUP REGATTA SERIES More than 15,000 people participated in Volvo Leukemia Cup Regatta events in 2000, raising almost $3 million for the fight against leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood-related cancers. Over the past eight years, the series has grown enormously, and has raised more than $5.3 million for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. For more information about the Volvo Leukemia Cup Regatta series, please contact Lauri Berkenkamp at Nomad Communications: 802-649-1995 or The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at 1-513-583-8900. CALLING ALL COLLEGE AND DINGHY SAILORS Responses can be posted on our "live" discussion page, under "collegiate sailing": http://www.quantumnortheast.com/discus/index.html -- Tom Sitzman THE (GUEST) CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
