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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 545 - April 10, 2000
NORTH SAILS / SOBSTAD
Milford, CT, April 9 -- A stay of injunction was granted to North Sails,
which allows it to continue production of 3DL sails at its Minden, Nevada,
facility. In his ruling April 7, Judge Dominic Squatrito of the U.S.
Federal Court in Hartford, Connecticut, allowed the 3DL plant to remain
open while the Court of Appeals reviews the judge's infringement decision,
a process that is expected to take about one year.
Judge Squatrito previously ordered North Sails to halt production of 3DL
sails after his finding, released March 31, that the sails infringe three
patents owned by the Sobstad Corporation. North Sails asked permission to
remain open during its appeal, citing that the shutdown would create
hardships for its 119 employees and that customers, who had already ordered
sails, would be hurt by the injunction. Sobstad opposed North Sails'
request and asked instead that North Sails be prohibited from making any
3DL sails while the appeal is pending.
In granting North Sails' request to continue production, the judge required
the company to post security that would protect Sobstad in the event that
the infringement ruling is upheld on appeal. The stay also allows North
Sails to accept and fulfill new orders.
"We are grateful for the judge's decision," said Tom Whidden, president of
North Sails. "The judge showed tremendous compassion for North Sails'
customers and employees. He also realized that North Sails would be greatly
harmed if the judge's infringement determination were overturned on appeal.
North Sails remains committed to bringing its customers the highest quality
products and the best service. The judge's decision will allow North sails
to honor that commitment." -- Michael Levitt
SOLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
(Report from Dayne Sharp - Australian Olympic Coach)
MURCIA, SPAIN - This regatta can be termed "the windy worlds". The eight
completed races were sailed in winds above 12k, mostly 15 - 20k, sometimes
20 -25 k, and today race 9 was cancelled because of 30 -35 k winds. These
conditions along with the very shifty wind pattern did make for excellent
and spectacular racing. Also the Race Committee did a great job in
difficult circumstances. The USA crew of Jeff Madrigali, Craig Healy and
Hartwell Jordan are the new world champions after putting together a very
consistent score sheet.
Final results: 1. USA Jeff Madrigali /Hartwell Jordan /Craig Healy (52.7
Points); 2. UKR S.Pichugin /V.Koroikov /S. (57.7); 3. SWE H.Wallen
/M.Augustsson /J. (65.4); 4. GBR A.Beadsworth /B.Parkin /R.Sydenham (70.7);
5. GER J.Schumann /J.Borlowski /G.Bahr (76.4); 6. RUS G.Shaiduko
/O.Khopersky /A. (90.4); 7. DEN J.Bank /H.Blakskjar /T.Jacobsen (93.4); 8.
FIN J.Makila / .Heinonen /S.Tamminen (97.7); 9. USA E.Baird /D.Berener /
T.Burnham (106.0); 10. ITA M. Celon /C.Celon /A.Sommariva (117.0); 16. USA
A.Horton /A.Buttner /A.Herlihy (154.0); 23. CAN B.Abbott /M.Abbott
/B.Boston (184.0); 24. CAN H.Fogh /M.Wolfs /H.Fogh (189.0).
Event website: http://www.soling.com/results/world00.htm
OLYMPIC TRIALS
Racing began this past weekend for 112 sailors vying for four slots to the
2000 Olympic Games scheduled for September 16-October 1 in Sydney,
Australia. Competition -- in the singlehanded Europe (women), Finn (men),
Laser (open) and the doublehanded Star (open) -- will be held on San
Francisco Bay with two races a day planned for a 16-race series. The
schedule includes a mandatory lay day on April 12, with racing resuming
April 13 and concluding April 16.
Organizers will utilize four racing areas within San Francisco Bay --
Richmond, Southampton Shoals, Berkeley Circle and Emeryville -- with
classes rotating on the courses much as sailors will at the Olympic
Regatta. Hosts for the Olympic Trials are: San Francisco Yacht Club
(Belvedere) for the Europe and Laser classes; Richmond Yacht Club (Pt.
Richmond) for the Finn class; and St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco)
for the Star class, from it's base at the Treasure Island Sailing Center.
The list of registered competitors, ranging in age from 15 to 65, includes
several Olympians and world and national champions.
STAR STANDINGS (St Francis YC, 16 boats after four races) -- 1. Mark
Reynolds/Magnus Liljedahl (9.00 pts) 2. George Szabo/Rick Peters (14.00) 3.
Joe Londrigan/Mark Strube (15.00) 4 Vince Brun/Mike Dorgan (15.00) 5. John
MacCausland/Phil Trinter (20.00) 6. Peter Vesella/Brian Fatih (27.00) 7.
Eric Doyle/Tom Olsen 8-1-3-17 (29.00)
FINN STANDINGS (Richmond YC, 26 boats after two races) -- 1. Russ Silvestri
(2.00 pts) 2. Mark Herrmann (5.00) 3. Darrell Peck (6.00) 4. Mike Deyett
(11.00) 5. Geoff Ewenson (11.00) 6. Mo Hart (11.00) 7. Eric Oetgen (13.00)
EUROPE STANDINGS (San Francisco YC, 23 boats after four races) -- 1.
COURTENAY BECKER-DEY (4 pts) 2. KRYSIA POHL (18) 3. LINDA WENNERSTROM (24)
4. SAMANTHA BARNES (25) 5. HANNAH SWETT (26) 6. TAYLOR ROBINSON (31) 7.
DANIELLE B. MYRDAL (34).
LASER STANDINGS (San Francisco YC, 32 boats after four races) -- 1. BRETT
DAVIS (15 pts) 2. JOHN MYRDAL (16) 3. JOHN TORGERSON (17)4. PETER HURLEY
(18) 5. BILL HARDESTY (23) 6. CHARLES MEADE 6. MARK MENDELBLATT OCS-1-1-3-1
(38)
Full trial results and stories: http://www.ussailing.org
U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Singlehanded sailor Corrie Clement of Metairie, La. and doublehanded
skipper Sally Barkow with crew Deborah Capozzi, both of Norfolk, Va.,
joined the ranks of national women sailing champions after winning their
classes at US SAILING's U.S. Women's Open Championship sponsored by Rolex.
Hosted by Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, La. from March 30-April 2,
the three-day regatta was organized by US SAILING and received additional
sponsorship from the Southern Sailing Foundation.
According to Event Chair Karen Reisch, the first day of racing brought
little wind and the second brought too much--over 25 knots. "We were going
to go to a more sheltered area, but the Lasers were flipping over, and we
couldn't even get there," said Reisch. "As a result, only three races each
were held on Friday and Saturday, with four taking place on Sunday under
threatening weather conditions."
Sailing a Laser Radial in the event's Singlehanded Championship, Clement
prevailed over 10 teams to win the Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy. She won
seven of the ten races, overcoming the "sail and bail" difficulties of
having to complete two races without a cockpit plug. Robin Rey of St.
Petersburg, Fla. finished second, while Judy Wollner of Minnetonka, Minn.-a
return competitor who finished second in the 1999 event--took third.
Sailing in 420s, Barkow and Capozzi captured the Doublehanded Championship
for the Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Memorial Trophy, followed by Molly
Carapiet and Louise Sherman (Belvedere, Calif.) in second place and Emily
East and Catie Yeager (Fairhope,AL) in third. The Carapiet/Sherman and
East/Yeager teams tied with 21 points each, but Carapiet/Sherman moved
ahead in the final standings with two wins over East/Yeager's one. Five
teams sailed.
Corrie Clement went to the Women's Open with the intention of sailing in
the doublehanded event, but when she arrived, she found her regular crew,
Julie Wilson, was ill and could not sail. Clement borrowed some equipment
and sailed her own Laser in the singlehanded event to win. A freshman at
ODU, she won the U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship (Leiter
Trophy) last year. -- Penny Piva
Complete results: http://www.ussailing.com/championships
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net)
Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250
words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject,
so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree.
-- From Paul Henderson, ISAF President -- There are two letters today
questioning ISAF.
1) New Advertising Code. The New Code now states that no jurisdiction can
force any sailor to plaster their boat with advertising.without the
sailor's agreement. That is the basis of the new code. The sailor can
assign that option if they and only they wish to do so. Those who wish to
sail with white sails boats have the complete right to do so and those who
wish to have floating billboards also have the right to do so provided
their class agrees and to what degree. The whole change in the code was to
put the choice in the hand of the sailor.
2) Olympic Entry: The Olympics whether we like it or not are now 100%
nationalistic. Countries pay both the sailor and the National Sport Body
$$$ for winning medals. Sailing is one of the few sports where everyone is
on the same track at the same time and the competitors can hinder other
competitors legally. If more than one per nation starts at the Olympics
then you can be sure Team Racing will occur. At a World Championships each
sailor is sailing on their own and not for their country.
-- From Sean "Doogie" Couvreux (In response to Tom Donlan about the new
ISAF advertising code) - I am sorry that some people feel that sponsorship
on boats is not in the Corinthian spirit of the sport. For people who
cannot afford a full-blown campaign we must turn to sponsorship and
individual donations in order to fund it. Sure, I wish I did not have to
spend two months not sailing and fundraising instead. But I don't have a
choice. If I don't have sponsors, I can't go racing. The new advertising
code gives us a stronger case for our sponsors.
Event organizers cannot easily force us to take off our logos. The code
also allows for more space to be allocated according to the sailor. This
is the way it should be. We work hard for our sponsorship and it is unfair
to just take it off because the event organizer wants the space. If you
can afford an Olympic campaign without the need of sponsors, good. But
don't make it more difficult for those who turn to sponsorship for their
campaigns.
-- From Bob Fisher -- Tom Donlan's letter displays a lack of appreciation.
He don't like too much of what is already in place, and we can all assure
him that it isn't going to change, particularly the sponsorship of regattas.
I think we are all agreed that the quality of regattas has improved with
commercial sponsorship and I, for one, fail to see how any major regatta
could be run without money from outside unless the entry fees were so high
that they almost double the capital cost of the boat - dinghies in particular.
Everyone likes a good time at regattas and the sponsors are keen to see
that the social side is in place as well as the sailing. I'm currently in
the BVI for the Spring Regatta and if it is anything like the Heineken Cup
in Puerto Rico, I guaranteed a good time. I on'd think I mind a damn that
the boats have to carry a decal with the sponsors name on the bow, that is
now regarded as the norm.
Come on Tom, get into the 20th Century before (at the end of this year) it
disappears into the 21st.
-- From Trevor Baylis -- Mark Chisnell's call for 49er Team Racing in the
Olympics is interesting. Just as long as he realizes that's what he's
proposing. I personally enjoy fleet racing, myself.
-- From Andrew Burton (Re Jeff Borland's comments about sailors complaining
about race and protest committees) -- My friend Will has a rule: You may
not bitch about the race committee if you haven't been on the race
committee that season. I should think that would apply to protest
committees as well.
-- From Beau Gayner -- Bravo Jeff Borland! It seems that the same people,
over and over again, give up their weekends to run the races. They are
never given the respect they deserve, and a "thank you" or "well done" is
always drowned out by the same complainers who have never seen the deck of
a RC boat!
-- From Bob Kiernan -- I have reprinted the Skip Allen portion of today's
Butt (#543). I created a page on my site (www.worldmarine-ltd.com) and a
button at the top of the page to link to the article. It is another way to
"aid mariners" or somewhat of an offshoot of IBNA from the past. I will
also re-promote my site on the net to get other hits that may see the button.
-- From Ray Pendleton, Honolulu Star-Bulletin (re Craig Leweck's comment,
"Sports are much more than rules and tradition. Sports are about the
people, and sports often succeed (or fail) because of the people.") --
Absolutely! Just look at what Tiger Woods has done for the worldwide
popularity of golf.
-- Skip Coggin -- As someone who competed (unsuccessfully) in the '68 u.s.
Finn Olympic trials against 40 competitors to be the single u.s.
Representative at the Mexico Olympics, I feel that it is eminently fair
that only one (plus an alternate) person or team represents their country
in a particular class. The Olympics is not about determining who are the
best athletes or competitors in the world; it is about determining who are
the best athletes from their respective countries, and who are the
strongest, most athletic countries at the Olympics. Those people and
countries are Olympic champions. The world championships in sailing allow
for more than one competitor or team from individual countries. World
championship winners are truly world champion sailors.
-- From Pat Healy -- Many countries offer financial rewards for success in
the Olympics. After Spain won only one gold medal in 1988, a Barcelona bank
offered 1 Million dollars to Spanish gold medallists in 1992. If there had
been two Spanish entries in 1992 and in the final race you were fighting
for the gold, how comfortable would you be if the second Spanish boat set
up to leeward of you at the start? The opportunity for team racing, and the
eventual claim of team racing by the second place finisher, should be
considered too embarrassing for ISAF and the IOC to consider more than one
entry per country per class.
-- From Harry Anderson -- My good friend the late John G. Rogers of San
Francisco in his ORIGINS OF SEA TERMS traces Round Robin to the French word
ruban "that travelled to England from France in the XXVIII century when
captains and other commanders had the right of inflicting severe punishment
on the inciter of a grievance petition." The petition was in the form of an
endless ribbon to obviate a "first" and later in the form of a wheel.
-- From Doug Holthaus-- New Zealand has for some time suffered from a
unique malady known as the "tall poppy syndrome." Simply stated, those who
come to stand above others due to their achievement become instant targets
for attack, notwithstanding the public benefits wrought and enjoyed. In
the animal world this is described as "eating their young" and with the
same results: alienation and emigration to more hospitable shores. It seems
so weird that New Zealand, a country that spontaneously embraced outlanders
from afar, can so easily turn on its home-grown heros simply for enjoying
some reward for a job very well done.
-- From Bruce Van Deventer -- Your taxpayer dollars at work:
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/ provides a full text database of US patents
(no figures, though). The North patent is 5,097,784, and the three Sobstad
patents in question are 4,831,953, 4,624,205, and 4,593,639.
The claims are the key parts. The bulk of the North claims aren't disputed
by Sobstad and they have no right to damages regarding these. The North
patent has one claim which appears to be in conflict with the claims in the
Sobstad patents, namely the distribution of load bearing elements in the
sail. UK sailmakers licenses the Sobstad patents because their
construction technique is clearly covered in the Sobstad patents, so what
they have to say is irrelevant. The Sobstad patents make extensive use of
the term "panels" and one basis of the suit is that the North sail is made
of panels because the rolls of mylar used are smaller than the sails. These
are not panels in the sailmaking sense. The patent office should have
disallowed one claim in the North patent as covered by prior art. It should
not have taken the judge two years to figure this out. Since many
sailmakers have been using directional reinforcing members, the success of
the 3DL sails is probably only partly due to this feature. In spite of what
the Sobstad press releases say, North did not willfully violate the Sobstad
patents so there are no punitive damages allowed.
Sobstad would be well served by noting that 3DL process is still materially
covered under the North patent which won't expire until several years after
the Sobstad patent expires.
-- From Keith Grzelak (edited to our 250-word limit) -- The case of
Rite-Hite Corp. v. Kelley Co., Inc provides that a court need not enjoin
infringement of a patent if the patentee's failure to practice a patented
invention frustrates an important public need for the invention. In the
past, such an "important public need" has equated with "not stopping supply
of medical test kits that a patentee was not marketing" and "injunction
refused against city operation of (a) sewage disposal plant because of
public health danger". Each of these cases relate to a serious public
health or safety concern where the patent holder cannot provide the product
in the marketplace.
Here we have a bunch of "relatively wealthy sailing customers", and I see
no such threat to the public health and safety. In my opinion, Judge
Squatrito has blown it. I no longer give any credibility to his decision.
His whole opinion is now suspect in my mind. This will get resolved before
the CAFC (the patent appeals court - where the judges actually have some
understanding of the US Patent Laws).
I wonder whether the 17 month delay to render an opinion is really based in
politics. This delay was rumored to have occurred in order to save the
America's Cup. Judge Squatrito was supposed to retire in November of 1998,
and he seriously delayed this decision - which, in my opinion resulted in
serious harm to the patent holder. From my review of his docket, he
appears to have little or no experience with patent cases.
ALTER CUP
ALAMITOS Bay YC, 20 boats. - The story for the final day was the duel
between Keith Christensen /Shala Youngerman of Long Beach and Enrique
Figueroa /Pedro Colon of Puerto Rico. Going into the final races of
competition the Tornado Olympians trailed Hobie 16 Champ Keith Christensen
by two points.
FINAL RESULTS: 1 Keith Christensen /Shala Youngerman (19 pts) 2. Robbie
Daniel /Glen Ross (22) 3. Enrique Figueroa /Pedro Colon (23) 4. Brian
Lambert /John Bishop (29.6) 5. Larry Harteck /Roger Jenkins (32).
Full results: http://www.ussailing.org/alter/2000alter.htm
MORE OLYMPICS
The Australian Olympic Committee is expected to announce within a few days
that Chris Nicholson and Daniel Phillips will be the 49er crew in the
Australian sailing team for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. This follows the
decision by rivals Adam Beashel and Teague Czislowski to withdraw their
second appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the
nomination of Nicholson and Phillips.
The off-the-water 49er selection battle for a team berth began in December
when the AYF nominated Nicholson(the then World Champion in the class) and
Phillips for the position. Beashel and Czislowski, who had finished at the
top of the pointscore in the nomination regattas, lodged an appeal which
went through to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court ruled that
the AYF should reconsider its nomination process, but the Federation again
nominated Nicholson and Phillips, a decision that prompted another appeal -
subsequently withdrawn in a letter to the AYF.
The AOC is expected to ratify the AYF's nomination of Nicholson and
Phillips and make a formal announcement next week. -- Peter Campbell
CONGRESSIONAL CUP
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The only gathering of world-class match-racing
sailors in the United States this year will start competition in the 36th
annual Congressional Cup Monday, with one leading question: Can Peter
Holmberg pull off a "three-Pete"?
Four of the top 10-ranked match-racing sailors in the world are entered,
and those don't include the two-time defending champion from the U.S.
Virgin Islands. One of his strongest rivals will be Germany's Markus
Wieser, who lost the title by three seconds last year when Holmberg nipped
him after doing a penalty turn at the finish of the final race.
If they're looking for another such showdown, they'll have to claw their
way through Denmark's Sten Mohr, currently ranked No. 1 by the
International Sailing Federation; France's Bertrand Pace, No. 2; France's
Luc Pillot, No. 6, and New Zealand's new America's Cup "golden boy," Dean
Barker, No. 7. Barker, 26, became an instant Kiwi superstar last month when
Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts turned over the helm to him for the
fifth and clinching race of the 5-0 sweep against Italy's Prada Challenge.
The rest of the fleet hardly constitutes a supporting cast. Australia's
Sebastien Destremau, a transplanted Frenchman ranked No. 21, finished third
in last month's Sun Microsystems Australia Cup against several of the same
competitors he'll face here. Then there are France's Damien Iehl, No. 26,
Australia's 20-year-old phenom James Spithill, No. 47, and local hope Scott
Dickson, a transplanted New Zealander who represents the host Long Beach
Yacht Club. Dickson was runner-up to Holmberg in 1998.
The curmudgeon will be there each day as the 10 skippers, each with a crew
of five, compete for a total purse of $25,000 aboard the Long Beach Sailing
Foundation's sturdy and identical Catalina 37s. The event is scheduled for
a 30-minute review on ESPN2 on Sunday, May 14. -- Rich Roberts
Event website: http://www.lbyc.org
NEWPORT BERMUDA NEWSLETTER
There's a fresh Newport Bermuda Race newsletter posted on the event
website. It contains lots of good stuff: http://www.bermudarace.com/
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS
Taxation WITH representation isn't so hot either!
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