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SCUTTLEBUTT 2119 - June 20, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.COMMENTARY (Editor James Boyd and readers of thedailysail ponder the next fully crewed round the world race. Here's an excerpt.) So what do we think of a Volvo Ocean Race that doesn't visit the Southern Ocean? We fully appreciate Glenn Bourke's desire to make the race as attractive for sponsors and this is a good plan, but we think he has gone too far down this route and may throw the baby out with the bath water in the process; ignoring the sports side of the event in favour of the commercial. The primary reason crews sail the Volvo Ocean Race is the opportunity to sail and better the unique conditions thrown up by the most dramatic stretch of water in the world - the Southern Ocean. This remains the ultimate challenge in oceanic racing. Racing through these waters should also produce the most dramatic media from the event. Or maybe we're being old fashioned? Maybe the Southern Ocean is now passe? At present it forms part of the race course for the Volvo, the Vendee Globe, the Velux 5 Oceans, the Barcelona World Race, the Global Challenge, part of the Clipper round the world race plus the newer Global Ocean Race (for the 40 and 50 footers) and yesterday's newly announced French singlehanded race for 16m one designs. May be it is time to take it somewhere new? However it will be hard to dub the Volvo Ocean Race as an 'extreme' yacht race if a majority of the conditions the boats experience are in the sub-10 knot range. -- http://www.thedailysail.com OPINION Volvo Ocean Race chief executive Glenn Bourke announced that, in future years, a race that began as the Whitbread in 1973 will probably exclude stopovers in New Zealand, Australia and Cape Town, plus the Southern Ocean and the Great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn. The event is at risk of becoming a marketing platform on which a race will be staged - unlike the original, which drew sponsors on the strength of its sporting credentials. -- Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/oq3ko SEARCH CALLED OFF Relatives are praying that a Suffolk solicitor and his son who vanished while yachting amid atrocious conditions are still alive - even though US coastguards called off their search late last night. The three Britons went missing in high seas and a rescue beacon and wreckage, thought to belong to their yacht, have been recovered. Jacek Bielecki, 56, his son Jack, 19, and family friend Richard White, 34, have not been heard from since noon on Thursday, when Mr Bielecki called his stepdaughter in America to say their 41ft yacht, Free Spirit, was in trouble and they needed to be rescued immediately.They disappeared amid atrocious conditions, with the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto causing winds of up to 115mph and 30ft seas. The US coastguard has now revealed that an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) thought to belong to the Free Spirit was recovered by rescuers on Thursday some time after Mr Bielecki's distress call. A massive rescue operation involving American and Canadian coastguards and the Canadian Air Force using jets, helicopters and boats combed 15,000 square miles of ocean but found no sign of life. And coastguards have now called off their search for Mr Bielecki, his son, Mr White, and 21-year-old American Molly Finn, Jack's girlfriend. John Howard. EADT24, http://tinyurl.com/l8kks OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE Ockam would like to congratulate great performances at the NYYC Annual Regatta. Bob Towse's brand new R/P 66 Blue Yankee led the sweep of Class 1, with Stark Raving Mad II second and Titan XII third. Kudos to the podium finishes for Ockam clients in their respective classes: Hissar, 3rd; Hot Water 1st, Chris Dragon 2nd; Brown Eyed Girl 3rd; Troubador 2nd & Black Watch 3rd, Classic fleet. What do these winning yachts have in common? Ockam Instruments' superior processing and display technology provide the needed competitive advantage. At Ockam, we have race winning solutions for everyone. Contact mailto:lat@ockam.com FRUSTRATING In what is proving to be one of the most frustrating light-air races in the 100 year history of the Bermuda classic, the leaders within this year's 263-strong fleet are finally converging on the final leg towards the St David's Lighthouse finish line. At 10:30am EDT Monday Hap Fauth's JV 66 Bella Mente was 126nm from the finish, 33 miles ahead of the Charles St Clair Brown's 98-foot New Zealand super maxi Maximus. Early Monday, Maximus led the much smaller Open 50 Gryphon Solo skippered by Joe Harris by just 12 miles. "This is not exciting sailing by anyone's standards, with any chance of this year's race setting new speed records now all but gone," one Maximus crewman reported overnight, adding. "During the past 8 hours we have covered just 42 miles. It is a huge frustration for a team that knows they have a record-setting boat beneath them." -- Talbot Wilson; race progress can be followed on iBoat Track: www.bermudarace.com QUOTES FROM THE BOATS "For 24 hours now it has been a game of stealth, patience, cunning and concentration, as Pindar AlphaGraphics crawls her way south toward Bermuda, through the high pressure ridge that is engulfing the centre section of the race course. We are all thankful that we're not in a little boat. Conversations on deck vary from the merits of the different flavors of freeze dried food to . well lets not go there!" -- John Roberson on Pindar AlphaGraphics "Yesterday was extremely painful as the air died right at the bottom of a cold eddy with a very fast west to east current. It had served us well on the south bound wall, but when the wind died the easterly current actually set us about 40 miles east during the day. Late in the afternoon we finally got enough wind to start to dig out, and it took all night. Very painful and I can only imagine what our track looks like on the web site." -- Chris Welch on Chipewaw Photos of the race start: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/n-b/ COMMENTARY As they did in 2004, the Bermuda Race committee has relegated canting-keel boats, including Maximus, to a Demonstration Division. These boats are not eligible for course records, or either of the two major corrected-time racing trophies. I applaud the organizers decision to not allow canting-keel boats to be eligible for the race's traditional honors. This has nothing to do with the technology, but rather the power needed to run it. A canting-keel boat requires auxiliary power to move the massive bulb, and I think that the use of gas or electric power to aid with the physical tasks of sailing a boat runs counter to the soul of our sport. A few weeks ago I was in Valencia for Acts 10 and 11 of the Louis Vuitton Cup. In casual conversation with one designer, we discussed an America's Cup Class rule interpretation-which is how syndicates query the class rule administrators to avoid potential violations-that had recently come to light. As this designer explained, the proposal was driven by the idea of creating a electronic and hydraulic system that would keep the rig in perfect tune for the wind at all times. A grinder would spin the handles all the way upwind, powering a series of hydraulic pumps, which would be controlled by a microprocessor imbedded with all the team's data on exactly how to tension each aspect of the rig for every wind speed and angle of attack. -- Excerpts from commentary by Stuart Streuli, Sailing World enewsletter, http://www.sailingworld.com EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT COMPOSITE MARINE INTL Composite Marine International (CMI) is a boat building company producing 5 - 25m series production yachts for 3rd party clients in both power and sail. The company has a large factory located approximately 50km SE of Bangkok, Thailand. CMI is currently recruiting employees. Positions vary from boat builders to technical drawing staff. For more details please visit http://www.composite-marine.com and follow the recruitment link. OFF TO THE RACES (AGAIN) - Peter Isler All around the Port America's Cup harbor, teams are shifting into race mode as we look forward to "ACT 12," the final official regatta of 2006, which is a match racing-only event that begins this Thursday. A full round robin for the 12 teams is scheduled, followed by a two out of three semis and then two out of three finals. Here at BMW Oracle Racing, we are looking forward to doing our best to make it through the round robin into the top four so we can get the more "realistic" perspective of facing just one team in a knock out round. That's the type of path we'll have to take in 2007 if we are to achieve our ultimate goal of winning the America's Cup. 2007's Louis Vuitton Cup features a double round robin followed by a best of nine semis and best of nine finals. The weather continues its inexorable trend towards the heat of summer. However, the sailing conditions continue to be tricky and changeable. Since the last Act we've had a few days with near boat-breaking chop and moderate breeze, and a lot of tricky light to moderate sea breezes like we experienced in the two May regattas. Every day is different and I think most teams are starting to realize that it's nearly impossible to rely on any sort of medium range forecast. Peter Isler, BMW Oracle Racing Navigator, full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/pi0619 BACK TO BASICS "I am somewhere in the north eastern Pacific, south east of Japan - precisely where, I cannot be certain," said Adrian Flanagan who has been at sea for nearly eight as he sails the 38-foot Barrabas towards the Bering Strait on his 'North-South' solo circumnavigation record attempt. "My hesitation is because I am now navigating by means of a sextant and the sun, moon, stars and planets - well, just the sun for the moment. My GPS is alive and well (as are the three hand-held back-ups on board), but for want of some neural stimulation. My plan is to navigate a 1,000 mile passage and then check my derived position against the GPS. Aside from the elemental enjoyment of navigating by means of the sun, there is the more serious consideration of acquiring a skill which may one day be critical. "The great pioneering sailing soloists - Slocum, Dumas, Chichester, Knox-Johston, Moitessier, Blyth among others, my role models, did not benefit from electronic navigation aids. There is no question that manual methods compromise precision by comparison but ... but the upside is this - gone is the feeling of dependence, the cane upon which it becomes all too easy to rely, and with it that restraining sheath of insulation which keeps you one step further from reaching with your fingertips to touch the raw heart of nature and the mystic realm which is the secret of the heavens." -- http://www.alphaglobalex.com/ SAILING SHORTS * San Francisco Speed Sailing trials that were held on San Francisco Bay last Friday and Saturday, and attracted an eclectic collection of windsurfers, kiteboards, skiffs, multihulls, and tri-foilers. Fastest overall were boardsailors Bill Weir and Mike Percy, who each posted an average speed of 37.27 knots. That's over 40 mph! -- 'Lectronic Latitude, full story: http://tinyurl.com/nh94c Speed week photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0619/ * Canada's Anthony Boueilh won the tie breaker from junior Royce Weber, and with it a heavy air U.S. Laser Championship held at the Corpus Christi YC. John Pearce finished third in the 39-boat fleet. In the 35-boat Laser Radial fleet, junior Cam Cullman dominated in the constantly breezy conditions with seven bullets in the 10 race series to score a 12-point win over Sarah Lihan, with Travis LeConey finishing third. -- http://www.2006uslaserchampionship.com/ * Some time ago we published the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Associations All-American Teams but since that time some new honors have been bestowed: Sportsman of the Year - Alex Jones, University of Washington (UW); The Leonard M. Fowle Memorial Trophy, recognizing the year's best all-around performance in college sailing, has been awarded to Georgetown University. And while we're at it, let's reprise the recognition give to Georgetown University's Andrew Campbell (Coronado, Calif.) as College Sailor of the Year and to the College of Charleston's Alana O'Reilly (Jones Island, S.C.) as Quantum Female sailor of the year. Complete All-America Sailing Team listings: http://www.collegesailing.org * In a closely fought regatta hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club with 36 crews competing on the Solent and with all six scheduled races completed, double Etchells World Champion Stuart Childerley and his crew Simon Russell and Roger Marino retain their National & British Open Championship crown with a very low score of 11 points. European Champion Nils Razmilovic, crewed by Brian Hammersley and Adam Turk (22 points) took second and third place went to David Bedford sailing with owner James Howells and Phil Lawrence (27 points). -- Complete Results & Photo Gallery: http://www.rcyc.co.uk/da/27898 * A highlight of last autumn on Yachts and Yachting Online was the Garmin Speed Freaks competition. Well, they've brought it back and this time, they're factoring in your PY or IRC handicap and a story of how the high speed was achieved, as well as the 'plausibility' factor that caused such a stir last year. They also have new 'Youth' and 'Foiler' categories. If you've recorded a high speed in your boat, whatever type it is, you should enter. There's a load of Garmin products to be won: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/speedfreaks/ * Since 1978, the Round Texel Race in Holland is among the most famous and largest catamaran races in the world, with 436 catamarans competing this year. Enjoy photographer Pierrick Contin's images, now on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0618 * Last weekend was the sixth annual Summer Sailstice event, which seeks to unite thousands of sailors and celebrate sailing by encouraging everyone to get out on the water. Over 2,000 boats had signed up to participate this year, and we were wondering about what some ended up doing. Post your story on the Forums, with the best one earning a Scuttlebutt cap: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/2006/ss * Mike Golding and the crew of Ecover have won the St Nazaire St Malo race and also broken the race record, of this now classic 284-mile French race around the coast of Brittany by 2hrs 10mins and 9 seconds. Ecover's new record time for the course is 1 day 8 hours 48 minutes and 35 seconds. -- http://www.mikegolding.com "MAN OVERBOARD!" Looking for the best marine locator beacons for your crew? Insist that they're fully automatic; manually activated beacons are of absolutely no use to an unconscious or hypothermic victim. SeaMarshall water-activated beacons are the accepted standard in overboard recovery gear for racers, cruisers, and powerboaters. Contact Chip Barber: mailto:admin@chbarber.com, http://www.chbarber.com/seamarshall.html THE RICHEST PEOPLE ON THE PLANET The end of this great adventure has come. In looking back over the 13 months, I would say that this campaign has been every bit as satisfying as when we won 8 years ago. Satisfaction is derived from exceeding expectations. In 1998, we put a lot of time in preparations, over a year, and we expected to do well. This time, we sailed the boat just 18 days before the first leg started. Third overall would have been a good result. Then we did not even sail Leg 1. In Cape Town we were in LAST! Then the come back started in Melbourne. The shore team got the boat fixed and the crew gained confidence in the Pearl and we finally began to race. The Pirates became a model of consistency; 11 podium finishes out of 16 races. Gaining second place overall in New York City was a dream for the American boat. Timing is everything. The Big Chief, Bob Iger, came and sailed the Pearl in New York harbor. Bob has become one of our biggest fans and as he did, so did many others at Disney and Buena Vista. It was very satisfying to see this global company, who had little knowledge of our sport, get hooked. Thirteen months ago, when I met with Donald Evan and Grant Palin in Burbank, I could envision the boat and team as it looked at the finish in Gothenborg. I fell in love with that vision. Against all my experience and judgment, that told me we were far too late to start this campaign, I went for it. It could have been a big flop for Disney and for Paul Cayard. But it wasn't, and I am thanking my lucky stars for that. You have to acknowledge when luck comes your way and I am more than happy to do so in this case. I did try to give us the best chance of success because I knew the mountain we had to climb was high. I surrounded myself with excellent people all the way around. They solved the technical issues, they cooked the best meals, they operated in the most efficient way, they sailed the boat to the highest professional level, in short, they exceeded what I could have asked of them. My hat is off to each and every Pirate. You guys are the best! So it is with satisfaction, pride and a touch of sadness, that we close this great adventure. Appropriately, it was the best ride of my life. I am taking a break for a few weeks here in Sweden with my family. This summer I will sail two Transpac 52 regattas on George Andreadis' boat Atalanti with Russell Coutts and the team. I will sail with my kids in California and Oregon, in their boats this summer. I will sail in Sardinia with Leonardo Ferragamo on his Swan in September. I will sail my Star in the World Championship in San Francisco at the end of September. I will keep CayardSailing.com updated with reports from these races. Thanks for following us and being a part of this great adventure. Remember, the richest people on the planet are the ones with the best experiences! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION It only seems fitting that we let Paul Cayard's observation (above) about the richest people on the planet conclude this issue. Special thanks to Ockam Instruments, Composite-Marine, and CH Barber. |
