|
SCUTTLEBUTT No. 545 - April 10, 2000NORTH SAILS / SOBSTADMilford, 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! |
