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SCUTTLEBUTT #500 - February 9, 2000THE MANPrada designer Doug Peterson has been a member of the design team of the winning boats in the last two America's Cups, and now, with Luna Rossa he has a chance to go for a third consecutive victory. Peterson played an integral role in designing Team New Zealand's Black Magic in 1995 so he's one of the few people familiar with both camps. But even with that inside knowledge, Peterson says there a just too many unknowns to compare the two teams. In fact, the two skippers, Russell Coutts of Team New Zealand and Francesco de Angelis of Prada, have only raced once against each other. That happened during the Road to the America's Cup Regatta last year - Team New Zealand won 2-1 but it was a close series. The final result in doubt right up to the finish line in Race Three. "We're going to have to analyse their performances in past match races," Peterson said, describing how the Italians will prepare for the America's Cup. "We'll look at video where we can get it and talk to people who know what they're about. It's difficult to get much out of watching them practice out here so we won't devote too much energy there. We really don't know very much about them. But I think it's going to be exciting and close - it won't be a boring series." Peterson says that although the two boats don't look similar, he doesn't think either team will have a significant speed advantage. The two boats have similar dimensions. They are the same length, about the same sail area and the same weight. So the difference is in shape. But if you look at the Louis Vuitton Cup, the Japanese boats and some of the others were very different in shape to ours, but they showed similar speed. So I think because the dimensions are in the same ballpark, the boat speed will be similar." One of the advantages Prada has in having Peterson in camp, is that he does bring some inside knowledge of the Kiwi team. He says he's impressed, but not intimidated. "I came away very impressed with a number of things about Team New Zealand in 1995. The tactics were very good, the placement of the boat on the race course was always very logical, very controlled. Certainly they're very magical sailors." "We've always kept our focus on the big picture - our goal is to win the America's Cup. Complacency won't be a problem. We know we've still got five races to win." -- Peter Rusch, Louis Vuitton Cup website Full story: http://www.louisvuittoncup.com/ STRONG, LIGHT AND GOOOOD LOOKIN' When you buy on-line at most website, they instruct you how to add items to your bag. At the website for Camet International, you'd be well advised to make sure you buy the bag too. Their rugged, high tech sport travel bags are made of Mylar laminated sailcloth, the same material used for the America's Cup boats, are accented with a waterproof, 600 denier Vinyl/ Polyester laminate. Featuring a unique, modern take on the classic look, these bags have the strength of steel and the weight of a feather. For blue-water sailing, camping, and traveling, these bags are a must. http://www.camet.com INTERCLUB MIDWINTERS, February 5 & 6, SSA, Annapolis, MD -- The 2000 InterClub Midwinters was frostbiting at its finest. The ice covered waters of Spa Creek and the lower Severn River gave way last Saturday in a freshening Northwest breeze, leaving perfect conditions for the 26 IC teams from all over the Northeast. The IC Midwinters in Annapolis is famous for its collegiate format (i.e. two teams per boat, A and B divisions). The unique sailing area surrounding the Severn Sailing Association allows IC sailors to quickly switch out teams at the docks and return to the sailing area for racing. Twenty two races in total were run, 11 for each division. A Northwester brings classic frostbite conditions to Annapolis - puffy and shifty. InterClub sailing is perhaps the most instinctual sailing one can imagine, and staying in phase with the shifts that these conditions bring is paramount. There's no time to think in InterClub sailing when its this shifty, and a one second delay in making a decision can cost you a valuable lane or positioning for the next shift. With no throw-out race in an eleven race series, consistency was the key to success. The Newport, RI team of Ed Adams and Carol Cronin, and Andy Pimental and Monique Gaylor won the regatta with an impressive display of consistency amidst an extremely talented field of sailors. Ed and Carol placed 2nd in A Division, losing by merely one point. Andy and Monique came from behind on Sunday to win B Division. The Winthrop, MA team of Jim Bowers and Myrna MacRae (1999 IC National Champions), and Jocko MacRae and Barb Evans were second. Both teams placed third in their respective divisions. Coast Guard Academy sailing coach, Bill Healy, and a team of cadets including Ty Reed, Rob Cotler, and Kate Sheahan were in the running to win the regatta up until the last series when a broken halyard forced them to withdraw from a race and miss the start of another. Bill Healy, a long-time IC sailor, had a remarkable series to place first in A division. -- Jesse Falsone Complete results: http://sailingsource.com/interclub/ 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 Doug Holthaus -- There are still many people who just don't get it: Prada won because it had the world's best designer, Doug Peterson, and a crew better prepared than AmericaOne. When you deduct Prada's "soft" costs for other than design, construction and crew, you end up with remarkably similar budgets between the two Louis Vuitton finalists. The irony is that every syndicate started with the same opportunities - the availability of Peterson included -- but the only one that got the job done was probably farthest behind the curve and virtually the last to challenge. Quit with the whining about not making the cut and get on with respect for Prada's job well done! -- From Beau Gayner -- I would love to have seen A1 go on to challenge TNZ. Unfortunately, they lost so let's look at the real reason. The Italians sailed a better race 7,8 and 9. This had nothing to do with money. Stop blaming America True for "distracting" A1. Lets not blame America True for beating TDC. Lets not focus on the fact PRADA outlaid more cash. Bottom line: the Italians won more races when the heat was on. The end result had nothing to do with cash. Besides, I've never been Italy, and now I have a great reason to go (I hope). -- From Frank M. Gleberman, Past Commodore, California Yacht Club -- To hone down all potential US challengers for the America's Cup to just one well-funded effort follows a popular theory of corporate strategy. But consider this: 1 - This strategy assumes that one challenger has a corner on all of the best boat design talent and go-fast ideas, plus has all of the country's best talent on board. In real life, that perfect scheme simply does not happen. Having several groups searching, researching, testing, training always results in more technological breakthroughs than just one supremely anointed team in the saddle. I applaud Paul Cayard and StFYC's outstanding effort. But remember that, a few months ago, a whole lot of folks thought NYYC's group had the inside track. Thankfully, there was a West Coast team that kept the US in there until the very end. 2 - How often do we read on this very screen that we're all wringing our hands, lamenting that there are not more Americans actively involved in our sport? Limiting the number of US folks involved in going after - or defending - the America's Cup simply seems counter to involving more men and women in one of the pinnacles of sailing. When we look at mind and money, one privileged syndicate makes sense. As we examine heart and soul, we should thank our lucky stars we have so many fine men and women willing to mount a challenge and do what is necessary to represent our country and the sport we love. -- From John Sweeney, America True (Re America's Cup funding) -- Did anyone see a sponsor on America True mainsail during the first three rounds? No, because we didn't have one. America True was funded by one man and his family, Chris Coffin. We did get a sponsor for the semis (DLJ Direct), but that was well after every other syndicate had already filled their sails and boat sides with sponsors. If you remember, after three rounds America True was the top American Team. Now try this on. Since we had just one boat and it was very fast, just think what America True could have done with AmericaOne's sponsorship dollars. We could have built another boat and maybe we would be in the Cup right now. If you missed the Finals, it wasn't lack of money that beat AmericaOne. There is plenty of money in America to field multiple teams. I think it all comes down to how you manage it and then use it on the water. Hopefully the cup will move to Europe where sponsors will likely open up their wallets again. New Zealand isn't exactly a big advertising market. -- From Dierk Polzin, Madison WI member, University of Wisconsin Hoofer Sailing Club -- A whole lot of small boat sailors, instructors, racers and community sailing centers are not going to cry about the success of the Italians in knocking out the Americans in the America's Cup.. It's about time we stopped the overemphasis on Grand Prix racing. Can you imagine how much good could be done if 2 of the 4 American syndicates spent even half their money on community sailing and grass roots education and access? Lets see.. we could replace all the Collegiate Fleets in the US.. Double the number of community sailing centers. Double the number of storage lockers at public access sites. Fund 50 kids from each YRA to attend top level racing clinics.. and send 10 times as many US kids to the Laser Radial Worlds. All these programs depend on donations of time and money to be successful. We need less emphasis on Grand Prix Racing and more on Grass Roots! Cayard come on down to Berkeley Circle and give some lessons... Dawn Riley come on back and help fundraise for the Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association where you went to school. Ed Baird come back and do the Laser Midwinters 40 minutes from your hometown. Can you imagine how your attendance would energize the sport. Auckland is the city of sails because they have a community backing the sport of sailing. The cup deserves to be there. The US rock stars need to help our sport grow, not travel the world in search of the perfect marketing bonanza. -- From Chris Pastore -- Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound. Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound. Thus: Always Avoid Assonance FABULOUS PHOTOS Download the official America's Cup Screen Saver for your PC. Sharon Green is on location in New Zealand recording the drama and action of the Challenger Series and the upcoming Cup 2000 competition. Start with the historical 20 image collections and add new packs of 12 exciting images from the current event. New packs are posted with each series. 6 image packs are now available for immediate download. $8.95 each or $22.95 for 6 collections. Ordering and information www.screenthemes.com/americascup/ THE FUTURE OF AMERICAONE Paul Cayard was deeply disappointed by AmericaOne's loss to the Prada Challenge in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger finals. But the real heartbreaker, said the AmericaOne skipper and CEO, will be if Prada beats Team New Zealand with relative ease. "We ended up with a damned close race, which may have been for the whole America's Cup," Cayard said. "To think that I came close ... that'll be the heartbreaker if these guys waltz through the next event. "Of course, if they get soundly beaten by New Zealand, then we just say, 'Hey, we would have lived for another week, but it's no big deal,'" he added. Regardless of the outcome, Cayard, is not abandoning his dream of winning the Auld Mug and returning it to America. He hopes to keep the AmericaOne organisation afloat and mount another challenge. But the decision will be based on fiscal reality, not passion. "I will be very reluctant to invest my personal energies in a campaign that doesn't have the right level of [financial] commitment to it," he said. "And I think that commitment needs to be very soon, in the next five, six months. "I'm getting a lot of feedback that AmericaOne should continue on, but doing it piecemeal is not the way to do it right," he said. "I could have told you a year ago we were somewhat deluded in our efforts because of the numbers game." Cayard believes AmericaOne has a solid foundation and can continue. The key is keeping the corporate sponsors -- Ford, Hewlett-Packard, United Technologies, SAIC and others -- onboard, as well as attracting new ones. Competition off the water for U.S. corporate dollars is just as stiff as the competition on the water. However, Cayard believes he's winning that race. "I've had good feedback already that a number of these companies that have been associated with us will continue," he said. "And I've had some forward approaches from people who ... think that we're the logical representative for putting America's best effort forward. "My sense is that a natural selection process has occurred," he added. "In a way, we've just had a ranking competition here. AmericaOne was the best that America had to offer." From a logistics standpoint, as well as economically, it makes sense for the sponsors to continue, he asserted. He envisions AmericaOne doing the Volvo Ocean Race and participating on the One-Design 48 circuit, as well as the America's Cup. It gives the sponsors more bang for their buck, and it keeps the same team in the public eye. "The team would benefit from economies of scale -- keep the same design team, shore team, crew," he said, talking the business tactics of a CEO rather than the sailing tactics of a helmsman. "You're offering double the exposure to the corporate partners at half the risk," he added. "It's a better package to do both prime-time events under the same brand, and continue to leverage the constituency that follows the sport." If Cayard pushes AmericaOne forward as he hopes, it probably means handing the helm of the boat off to someone else, while he retains the helm of the organisation. "Probably my best use in this game is to be the CEO, and keep track of the overall picture, and have a sailing specialist [steering the boat]," he said. He almost did it this go-round. "A couple times I asked [tactician] John [Kostecki] and some of the guys if they thought I should just give the helm to Gavin [Brady]," Cayard said. "But there was a pretty strong sentiment that our best foot forward was still with me being the helmsman and being the leader onboard." Whatever happens, Cayard said that although he didn't reach the America's Cup Match, he takes satisfaction in having pushed Prada to the final race of the challenger series. "What that says to me is that we had an awesome group of people -- I'm proud of that," he said. "That's going have to be my satisfaction, my remuneration, because I'm not going to win the America's Cup -- Larry Edwards, Quokka Sports Full story: http://www.americascup.org/ THE FUTURE OF TNZ Win or lose in the America's Cup final, Russell Coutts' team of sailors may find themselves all at sea after the racing's finished on the Hauraki Gulf. The three-time world champions are determined not to make the same mistake they made after the last America's Cup and plunge back into the intense atmosphere of the world match racing circuit. Instead the world's best round-the-buoys sailors want to chase a new adventure, sailing round-the-world. Trimmer Warwick Fleury says Team Magic, Coutts' long-serving crew on the world circuit, are planning towards sailing in the Volvo Ocean Race, even though most of the team have never ventured that far before. "I can't see us doing the match race circuit next year," he said. "We did it in '95 straight after the cup and it was just a disaster. We were all mentally exhausted." If Team New Zealand can successfully defend the America's Cup against Prada in the next three weeks, Coutts and his tactician Brad Butterworth will be in charge of running the next Cup regatta. It seems a difficult proposition to sail around the globe for eight months - starting in September 2001 - and then organise an America's Cup. Fleury believes it can be done. "It would probably be in three years' time, and we wouldn't need the same build-up as we did this time," he said. "In 1995, we arrived in the States six weeks before the cup, because we had been to San Diego before. "If we are successful this time, we are obviously on the right track with our boats, so that would help." Fleury, who turns 39 during the America's Cup match, has never tackled a circumnavigation before. For that matter, neither has Coutts or fellow Team Magician Simon Daubney. Butterworth skippered Winston for Dennis Conner in the 1993-94 Whitbread race, and was watch captain on Sir Peter Blake's victorious Steinlager 2 in the previous race. "For a professional sailor there are two events now that are at the top of the list - the America's Cup and the Volvo - and you really have to be involved with them," Fleury said. "I think with guys like Paul Cayard and Chris Dickson sailing, the race has evolved. You really develop your sailing skills on a race like that." -- Suzanne McFadden, NZ Herald Full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sports/
PRAMS TO PROAS, MAXI'S TO MINI'S
MINI AC CUP |
