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SCUTTLEBUTT 1371 - July 15, 2003Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. TRANSPAC A full moon lighted the way past the Diamond Head finish line for Philippe Kahn's Pegasus 77 and a second consecutive Barn Door victory in the 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles early Monday. Kahn's archrival later described the path laid by the lunar reflection on the water as "like sailing down the moon river," but Roy E. Disney and his crew aboard Pyewacket were nearly five hours behind in a match of equally powerful sailing machines. The Barn Door is a 3 ½-by-4-foot slab of carved Hawaiian koa wood that goes to the boat with the fastest elapsed time for the 2,225 nautical miles. Four Aloha boats that started five days earlier finished ahead of Pegasus 77 by as much as 15 hours, but their ETs were days slower. Finishing at 3:15 a.m. local time, Pegasus 77's time was 7 days 16 hours 31 minutes 17 seconds, the fourth fastest ever for the race but nearly five hours over Pyewacket's record of 7:11:41:27 in a windier 1999 race. Pyewacket's time was 7:21:18:01, the eighth fastest ever. But, ironically, a 40-year-old Cal 40 whose crew included Pyewacket's usual navigator, Stan Honey, finished in time late the same morning to correct out on Pegasus 77 by about half an hour. However, Bill Turpin's Transpac 52, Alta Vita of San Francisco, has the inside track on the honor with about a two-hour edge and needs to finish before 7:12 a.m. local time Tuesday to clinch it. If the trade winds hold, that is well within its reach. The outcome of the Pegasus 77-Pyewacket contest was determined early on, not by boat speed but by strategic differences of opinion. "We led them past [Santa] Catalina [Island] by a mile, but then we went right and they went left, and they were right and we were wrong," Disney said. The Pyewacket crew was stunned by the second day's morning roll call and position report that showed Pegasus 77 100 miles south of them. "We were surprised how low [south] they went the second day," said Peter Isler, who replaced Stan Honey as Pyewacket's navigator for this race. Then, when the shift they were expecting failed to produce a lively breeze, they had to eat their mistake and give up a lot of miles to find better wind south. That's when Pegasus 77 came slightly north to drop into a controlling position directly in front. Mark Rudiger, Pegasus 77's navigator, said, "It was [wind strength] pressure versus angle, and I've learned the hard way over the years that the first half of this race you have to go for the pressure and the second half you can start working on angle. So I just tell the guys, 'Send the boat the fastest way it can go.' Speed rules. - Rich Roberts Division Leaders: Div 1: Pegasus 77, Philippe Kahn, R/P 77 (finished) Div 2. Alta Vita, Bill Turpin, Transpac 52 Div 3. Reinrag 2, Tom Garnier, J/125 Div 4. Wild Thing, Chris & Kara Busch, ID35 Div 5. Wind Dancer, Paul Edwards, Catalina 42 Div 6. Illusion, Stan Honey & Sally Lindsay Honey, Cal 40 (finished) Div 7. Between the Sheets, Ross Pearlman, Sun Odyssey 52 Div 8. Barking Spider, David Kory, Catalina 38 The Scuttlebutt website has a Rich Roberts photo of Stan and Sally Honey's Cal 40 Illusion surfing across the Transpac finish line at 16 knots in 30 knots of breeze: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/ Transpac website: www.transpacificyc.org CHICAGO MAC Monday at 3PM CDT - Approximately 100 of the 280 boats have crossed the finish line in the 2003 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac presented by Lands' End Business Outfitters. First-to finish honors went to Alchemy, the fast new 77-foot Alan Andrews-designed boat owned by Richard and Mary Compton of Santa Barbara, Calif., which finished the race in 35:25:17. * Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division: Rosebud, a TransPac52 out of San Francisco owned by Roger Sturgeon finished the race in 36:44:40. * Multihull Division: Caliente, a Criswhite 44 Trimaran owned by Michael Steck of Naperville, Ill., finished the race in 41:38:32. http://www.chicagoyachtclub.org/racetomackinac/index.html YOU'VE GOT THE TALENT Have you got the equipment to match? At Harken, we're committed to finding innovative solutions to improve your sailing. Like our high-performance deck shoes -- their maximum-traction soles are engineered to keep wet decks from giving you the slip. In seven styles from classic to sport: http://www.harken.com/scuttlebutt/sc-shoe.php 470 EUROPEANS After yet another long postponement wind finally returned to Brest, but in a fickle way. First a westerly, then a northerly with some wiggle along the way: the breeze was challenging, but the race committee managed two fair races for both men's and women's fleets. On the men's side. Both American teams had great starts and took turns leading the first race to eventually finish third and fourth with Hunt/ Russell third. The rest of the top contenders had poor results and Foerster/ Burnham, took the series lead. One the women's side, McDowell/Kinsolving lead for the first lap, but were caught outside a big lift the second time up and slipped to eighth. Tomorrow's forecast is less than promising, but everyone is praying for some decent wind. - Rollin "Skip" Whyte, US 470 Coach Men's Gold Fleet results after seven races with one throwout (38-boats): 1. Paul Foerster/ Kevin Burnham, USA, 19 2. Gildas Philippe/ Nicolas LeBerre, FRA, 32 3. Johan Molund/ Martin Andersson, SWE, 32 19. Steve Hunt/ Eben Russell, USA 65 Women's Gold Fleet after eight races with one throwout (22-boats): 1. Natalia Via Dufresne/Sandra Azon, ESP, 36 2. Vesna Dekleva/ Klara Maucec, SLO, 36 3. Therese Torgersson/ Vendela Zachrisson, SWE, 36 14. Katherine McDowell/ Isabelle Kinsolving, USA 62 Event website: http://www.europe470.com/ NEWPORT REGATTA Picture perfect conditions greeted 292 boats from 14 states, USVI, Canada, Japan and the UK in the 2003 version of the Newport Regatta, presented by Volkswagen. 948 sailors raced on four circles in 19 classes of boats. In the 42-boat Etchells class, Ken Read won big without sailing the final race. Scott Ferguson was similarly impressive in the 44-boat Laser class with a 32 point win. Results: http://www.sailnewport.org/npt/m/_general/regattas.asp Regatta photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com LASER PCCs Four countries were represented at this year's Laser Pacific Coast Championships hosted by the Columbia Gorge Racing Association at Cascade Locks, Oregon. The first day of racing on Friday was no let down for the heavy air Laser sailing gorillas, with winds averaging 23 mph and some peak gusts to 30. Saturday lightened up to a more typical wind speed of 17 mph, and Sunday gave the lighter sailors a welcomed relief of 12 mph. Mark Mendelblatt from Mosier, OR showed great speed in all conditions winning the PCCs seven points ahead of Andrew Lewis from Honolulu, Hawaii. The top guys legged out on the rest of the fleet when they turned their Lasers into surfboards and surfed down the leeward legs. Tracy Usher from Palo Alto, CA was 8th overall and 1st for the overall Master class. Jim Christopher of Eureka, CA finished 1st in the Radial Masters division. The Pacific Coast Radial champion is Jonathan Goldsberry from Corte Madera, CA. Kerry Poe, full results: http://www.cgra.org/ AT LAST, FOULIES THAT KEEP YOUR BUDGET AFLOAT You want foulweather gear that keeps you dry, breathes, and fits and moves with you. You want durable, high technology breathable fabrics. And you want to keep your boat budget above water. Henri Lloyd's line of Horizon foulweather wear does all that and more. Get the details at http://www.henrilloydonline.com ADMIRAL'S CUP As the Admiral's Cup fleet set off on the fifth heat of the series, the short offshore race, it was the Australian team that were making the early running when they left the Solent, through the Hurst narrows, at the western end of the Isle of Wight. The Australian boats Wild Oats and Aftershock, which represent the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney, had clear leads in the big and small boat fleets respectively. The Australian team took a four point lead into this double scoring race, having leapt into the lead after Sunday's fourth race, when the Spanish boat Telefonica Movistar was disqualified from race three following by protest by the British boat Dickies Yacht Sales. In second place are Britain's Sailability Royal Ocean Racing Club team, which is led by Peter Harrison, who funded England's recent America's Cup challenge. - http://www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=4921 Event Website: www.rorc.org COMMENTARY Given its much-publicized troubles and the confused handicap background against which this year's Admiral's Cup is being held, it hardly comes as a surprise that the racing we have seen so far on the Solent has had a pretty weird flavour to it. For starters the fleet is painfully small with just 16 boats taking part and the impact on the eye is made even less impressive by the race officer's decision not to start the two classes together. This had one unintended consequence on Sunday in particular when cruising yachts of all shapes and sizes invaded the race course, completely unaware that a once-great racing regatta was underway. In the big boat class the disparity in performance is massive with Robert Oatley's swing-keeled Reichel/Pugh 60, Wild Oats, sailing in a different weather system to the rest of the fleet as she ploughs on in the distance, just like Roy Disney's Pyewacket did at Cork Week a few years ago. But even her huge margins on the water were not enough to save her from the purpose-built IRC cruiser-racer, Bribon Movistar, from Jason Ker's board, which has scored four bullets in a row by coming second on the water each time, comfortably ahead of the Farr 52s despite its recent modifications. There is precious little boat-on-boat racing in the class, the racing is dull to watch and it is hard to escape the feeling that the IRC handicap is facing an impossible task, trying to meet the challenge of such diversity in form. - Excerpt from a comprehensive story by Ed Gorman posted on the Daily Sail website: http://thedailysail.com/ CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * July 26-27: Beneteau First 36.7 North American Championship, Youngstown YC, Youngstown, NY. www.yyc.org * August 1-3: J-24 U.S. National Championship, Milwaukee YC, Milwaukee, WI. http://www.j24class.org/usa/nor/2003USNat.htm ULLMAN SAILS WIN AT HYERES, SPA AND KIEL! Ullman Sails won all three Grade 1 ISAF events in the Tornado Class. John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree used Ullman Sails exclusively to win Kiel Week, the largest Tornado class event in the world, by a five-point margin. Ullman Sails are dominating in the most competitive arena in sailing, Olympic Sailing. If you and your crew are ready for the "Fastest Sails on the Planet," give your local Ullman Sails loft a call or visit us on line at http://www.ullmansails.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is not a chat room or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From John Sweeney (Response to Kimball Livingston's article and others re IACC Wells Fargo Challenge-Series): I just wanted to clear up a misconception floated around via some journalists who seem to miss the point of the Challenge Series. First off, the events are not designed to offer competitive racing, rather enjoyment of sailing America's Cup Yachts in San Francisco Bay. Much like vintage car racing, these yachts are expensive and just the fun of sailing them with other similar yachts is sufficient to get the adrenaline pumping. If you want to sharpen your skills as a skipper, buy a Farr 40. If you want to skipper your own America's Cup Yacht in a friendly and safe environment join the Challenge Series. The second missed point is the reliability of these yachts. Last year we had many races were yachts didn't finish due to torn sails or broken halyards. This years Sausalito Cup featured five America's Cup Yachts sailing in all sorts of Bay conditions. Each and every yacht finished each and every race (4 fleet races total). Now that's newsworthy. Yes, we blew up a bunch of old Asymmetricals, which will always happen due to the loads on theses yachts. But nothing else broke which kept a yacht from racing or finishing. It's a tribute to the guys who run the yachts and the responsible owners and charters who understand the intent of the fleet. Its all happening again July 25-27 at the Il Moro Trophy. There are now six yachts in the fleet with more coming. Come out and see for yourself. * From Mike Zuilhof (response to Andrew Troup's letter- significantly edited to our 250-word limit): The U.S. does not impose upon the world its system of torte liability. Somewhat conversely, it is my understanding that it has its roots in English common law. Liability is not apportioned solely according to guilt -- the harm to each responsible party is also considered, and that's why "deep pockets" pay more. Thus with wealth comes responsibility. There is a risk cost built into every manufactured product. Would I rather insulate manufacturers from liability so I could pay a little less? Tempting, but no, thank you. Torte liability "reform" results in a lower market price but a shift of risk to the consumer. The score at the end of the game?: - consumer - higher risk cost, probably higher total cost, small win if you're lucky, big loss if you're not. - Irresponsible manufacturer - big win - responsible manufacturer - big loss The argument that justice should be withheld from victims so that consumers may pay less for bad products is fallacious and tired. For each high-profile coffee-in-lap case widely publicized by special interests with a stake in public perception, there thousands of cases settled fairly, if not expeditiously. The American torte system is under-appreciated. To lambaste it in this way is to demonstrate either lack of understanding or a narrow perspective. Our system of civil justice is a bit like Democracy in general -- it might be imperfect but the alternatives are worse. Curmudgeon's Comment: This case is far more complicated than we were led to believe. Readers who want to know more about it should read: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/021001/6/pazo.html. This thread is now officially dead. * From Bruce Eissner, US Sailing Offshore Chairman (Re. Richard Collins remarks about one-design offshore racing): It's not either-or -- one design or handicapping. It's the ability to have and take advantage of the options. One-design classes can certainly race enjoyably and successfully as such, and each class can decide on the levels of tolerances or differences it will allow among its boats. In mixed fleets, where there may not be a sufficient number of "one design" participants to make up a class, or where the differences among the "one-design" boats are greater than allowed by the class, handicap ratings can be useful. At US Sailing, we are happy to support both. As to the "old" IMS, I think you will find that for many boats, the ratings now provided through measurement rules -- Americap or IMS -- are much improved. Even so, as Collins points out, whether class compliance or rating, that's only one part of the formula for success. * From J. Joseph Bainton (Re IMS rating variance among "one-design" boats with beds): It would be interesting to see what rating variances, if any, would be applied under the IMS rule to more traditional one design classes such as Stars, Etchells, Dragons, etc. All of those classes have small tolerances in their rules which exist conceptually to allow for inevitable construction deviations but which in fact have generally be exploited to produce faster one design boats. * From Emory Heisler (re Scuttlebutt 1370, "Are we having fun yet?"): While you are writing about hypothermia, we are worrying about heat exhaustion! In near-record-breaking heat this weekend the Arizona Yacht Club held race 8 of 16 in our Tempe Town Lake Portsmouth Series. How hot does it get? Well, as the mercury approaches 120 degrees like it did yesterday, leather work gloves replace sailing gloves while stepping masts, start/finish markers are floating coolers filled with ice and various hydrating beverages, and the "committee boat" is an umbrella and cooling station. Fortunately, with the heat we also get steady summer winds running 8-12 mph and spinning into wonderfully confusing gusts, lulls and direction changes as they run over Tempe Butte, under Mill avenue bridge, and spin off the freeway that borders the north side of the lake. Feeling chilly? Maybe you should try some hot sailing! http://www.arizonayachtclub.org/ http://www.tempe.gov/rio/ * From K-K-K-K-Kenny Harvey (re "Are We Having Fun Yet?"): Yes I will fully admit that was me ... young and stupid at age 18. I think I remember only bring a backpack or something. I must still be young and stupid since I've done Halifax a couple more times. Those statements about the "alleged incident" might have been skewed slightly by a whole lotta free rum. I think I only spent a few hours downstairs recovering, but I'll tell you waking up to a grown man rubbing your skin is something that I'll never forget. * From Gary M. Swain: I just would like to correct the name of the Beneteau 50 in the article about the Marblehead to Halifax Race by Angus Phillips. He incorrectly states the name of the boat as "Summer Dream." The owner who is the Commodore of the BYC had a fit when the article came out in the Washington Post. The correct name of the boat is "Southern Dream" CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Only in America do we leave cars worth tens of thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage. |
