SCUTTLEBUTT No. 614 - July 28, 2000

MDT

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LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net)
Letters selected to be printed are edited for clarity, space (250 words max) and to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.

-- From David Pedrick, Chairman, International Technical Committee, Offshore Racing Council (Necessarily edited to our 250-word limit) - Peter Johnson's comments on IMS World Championships does a regrettable injustice to the thousands of IMS constituents worldwide and more than 100 volunteers of the Offshore Racing Council and other national IMS committees who contribute generously of their time and expenses to support the leading edge of competitive handicap racing.

I happen to disagree with his dismissal of IMS, and donate hundreds of hours of my time each year to improve the IMS. The fact that he and I choose to support different rules doesn't make one rule right and the other wrong, or either of them unnecessary.

The ITC does not "order" the IMS. The International Technical Committee is a working committee of the Offshore Racing Council. The ORC is the ultimate authority for IMS, and is governed by approximately 35 volunteer representatives of the national authorities of as many countries. They are the ones who vote the business of the ORC's various working committees. The ITC is one of those working committees, and consists of a dozen volunteers from academia, test labs, design offices and national authorities. To single me out is unfair to the enormous effort and commitment of the full ITC membership. To overlook the authoritative, representative governance of the ORC is remiss.

As one who has chosen to help the IMS, I am used to having people disagree with my beliefs about IMS. I don't mind that. By having my beliefs challenged, there is opportunity to confirm them or correct them, as appropriate.

-- From Juan Kouyoumdjian - I entirely agree with Peter Allen and Tony Castro's comments about IMS rule. This new bread of fully Kevlar pre-preg cruiser racers are definitely being designed and build with the intention to countour the rule's limits. Under the same argument I wonder when ORC Chief Measurer is going to apply to this boats Rule 101 in the same way as it was applied to Krazy K-Yote in last year's Admirals Cup. Maybe He can explain.... Furthermore, the ITC (ORC's technical people) is headed by a yacht designer and includes members of yacht design offices very involved in the IMS business. How can they justify spending 6 months of the year trying to improve the IMS VPP and the other 6 months exploiting the loopholes they left behind? Which they clearly do!! Grand Prix is about level rating (not necessarily one designs) and these problems will persist until there is any attempt to handicap boats within a grand prix level. Outside the America's Cup and the Volvo Race which are particular races among themselves, the only grand prix racing outside one designs that I know is the Trimarans 60' in France.

-- From Nicole Breault (Edited to our 250-word limit) - I believe that the press has every right to carry stories that reveal truth - both good and bad, especially about personalities in our sport. The press is a part of our society that makes people accountable for their actions. There is additional responsibility for your actions when you excel and gain notoriety. If you break the rules or sail unfairly in this sport, you deserve public humiliation. If you know this is a consequence, perhaps you'd think twice about doing such wrongful things.

As an educator, I believe when people do wrong they should be part of a learning process for our children growing up in the sport. We supposedly can learn from the mistakes of the past. If those mistakes are hidden, then we have a greater chance of repeating them.

My motivation for writing this note is not the desire to find out what Blom or Koch did, but rather it is more my concern about the role of the press in seeking the truth. When real events and actions of people --- newsworthy to major newspapers, not simply trashy magazines --- seem tabloidal, we should not find fault with the press provided they speak tastefully about the issue ... rather, we should find fault with the people that were involved in doing the action or participating in the event. If the story embarrasses the reader, then the reader should be ashamed of the people involved in the story, not the story teller and not themselves.

-- From Vernon Stratton - Of course Bob Fisher is right, the whole thing is a mess. My belief is those days are gone. The Americas Cup is like Grand Prix racing now. Two countries get a thrill when Ferrari win. The Germans and Italians. Think what the old Bentley boys must be thinking - 'not like the old days'. I feel just the same way as Bob about the Olympics too.

From a positive note all this means to me, is that a young man who has a talent for Yacht racing can now earn a living and maybe even land up with a pension. Beats sitting in an office in a city any day.

-- From David Lackey - While I agree with the tenor of Bob Fisher's editorial (scuttlebutt 612) - that the international flavour of the America's Cup has been lost in the wholesale bidding for talent. Perhaps, however, before we all get our bowels in a knot over ISAF rules, we should remind ourselves, the international press, and the world outside yachting, that the America's Cup is a Challenge between Yacht Clubs, not nations.

-- From Ike Stephenson, Torresen Sailing -I have seen the following statement in several releases and articles in regards to the Chicago Mackinac:"Last year, Ellison suffered disappointment when he missed breaking the course record by two minutes and four seconds (set in 1987 by Richard Jennings' Pied Piper 25:50:44)."

This is not correct Saynora almost broke the record in 1998.

-- From Bruce Vandeventer - Bob Fisher's suggestion in 'Butt 613 to make the 470 Olympic class a combined mens/women's event is right on! Sailing is one of the few sports where you can have effective mixed gender teams, so we should build on this. It can generate a lot of media attention, too - pairs figure skating is a good example. As far as what classes should go, I'd drop the Soling and the Laser. Have men sail the Finn and Europe, which would produce a larger spread of body sizes than the Finn / Laser combination. If you look at the actual worldwide male population, most men are probably too small to sail either the Laser or Finn competitively.

-- From Jim Champ - Agree 100% with Fish - bearing in mind that there is no chance of the dinosaurs being ditched the best alternative is to go mixed crew with the 470. A key argument Mr Fisher doesn't include is that (at least in the Countries I'm familar with) far more women sail in mixed crews than all female - in the Cherubs that I sail in a mixed crew has won every nationals since 1989, mostly but by no means always with the man steering.

INDUSTRY NEWS
SailNet.com, a MarineNet company and internet company dedicated entirely to the sport of sailing, announced that it has formalized a merger agreement with Boatscape.com, a boating website headquartered in Boston, MA. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

SailNet will absorb Boatscape's sailing-oriented membership and content under its brand, effective immediately. Boatscape's offices will move to Charleston, SC, with SailNet, but Boatscape will remain an independent site focused entirely on powerboating enthusiasts with boats between 25 and 50 feet long. http://www.sailnet.com/ http://www.boatscape.com

OPTI WORLDS
Fifty-nine nations registered for the Optimist Worlds in La Coruna, Spain. The 245 sailors are sailing in six divisions with 82 boats on a start-line. At the Optimist Worlds entry is limited to five sailors per country.

The logistics of the event are remarkable:
- All sailors plus three adults per team are lodged together in a university residence
- The entry fee including accommodation and all meals is just US$30 per day. Even this charge is paid by IODA for over 40 specially invited sailors from less experienced countries
- Charter is not mandatory but over half the fleet, 150 sailors, will sail boats chartered from the Spanish builder Naaix.
- The invited sailors have each received a free sail from Quantum/Toni Tio,
- All participants get free paddles and bailers from the Dutch firm Optiparts.
- The charter boats will be sold after the event at very special prices and already orders have been taken for over half of them
- A free clinic and coaching advice for first-time participant countries is given by two top coaches supplied by IODA
- Race management is supervised by Olympic Race Officer Michel Barbier. Measurement involves three International Measurers under Luis Miguel Horta, and the Jury includes eight International Judges.
- The shorebase, under the control of Beatriz Pastor of the host club, is strategically placed on the opposite pier-head from the magnificent clubhouse. It is typical of the atmosphere that the special ramp and pontoon used for launching was designed by the club president!

Standings after five races: 1 CRO, SIME FANTELA (29) 2 ARG, LUCAS DAMIAN CALABRESE (34) 3 BEL, BASTIEN MEUR (43) 4 ITA, MARCO GUERRIERI 5 GBR, THOMAS MALLINDINE (64) 6 SWE, ANTON DAHLBERG (64) 18 USA, MITCH HALL (87) 38 USA, PAT CURRAN (117)

Complete results: http://www.optimist2000.com/en/menu.htm

OLYMPIC SAILING
Long Beach, California, USA - Defending Olympic Mistral champion Lee Lai-Shan from Hong Kong narrowly defeated Australian Jessica Crisp; and Brazilian Pan Am Games Silver Medalist Ricardo Santos comfortably won the KAENON SERIES held in Long Beach, California over a two three-day regatta format.

Approximately one-third of the Olympic Mistral fleet came to Alamitos Bay Yacht Club for a two week stretch of serious training broken up by a 16 race series that saw classic Long Beach conditions of 12 - 18 knot seabreeze held in the unobstructed ocean for the first regatta, and an uncharacteristic 4- 8 knot shifty regatta inside the protected breakwall harbor.

OVERALL RESULTS, KAENON SERIES - MEN: 1) Ricardo Santos, Brazil; 2) Ted Huang, Chinese Taipei/St Francis YC; 3) Kenjo Motokazu, Japan; 4) Mike

Gebhardt, USA; 5) Ho Chi Ho, Hong Kong, WOMEN: 1) Lez Lai-Shan, Hong Kong; 2) Jessica Crisp, Australia; 3) Lanee Butler, USA; 4) Masako Imai, Japan; 5) Caroll-Ann Alie, Canada

A-SCOW INVITATIONAL
Oshkosh, WI (Lake Winnebago) - John Porter driving Full Throttle was victorious over 17 other 38 foot A-Scows over the weekend to win the A-Scow Invitational. Winning 3 of 4 races, he also won the coveted Felker Cup, which is believed to be the oldest trophy in North America (The America's Cup is still in New Zealand). Porter's crew consisted of Brian Porter, Jeff Ecklund, Hans Melges and Harry Melges.

Final results: 1) John Porter - Lake Geneva, WI 2) Tom Burton - Lake Minnetonka, MN 3) Buddy Melges - Lake Geneva, WI 4) Rob Evans - Lake Minnetonka, MN 5) Harry & Bob Allen - Lake Minnetonka, MN

JUNIOR MATCH RACING
Balboa YC - Single round robin in matched Santana 20s. Final results: 1. King Harbor YC (10-1) 2. Newport Harbor YC (8-3) 3. Coronado YC (7-4) 4. Balboa YC (6-5) 5. California YC (6-5) 6. Royal Prince Alfred YC (6-5) 6. Mystic River Mudhead SA (6-5) 7. Royal New Zealand YS (6-5).

WEST MARINE PACIFIC CUP
Final results - Division 1: 1. La Diana, 2. Mirage, Division 2: 1. Punk Dolphin, 2. Oeno, Division A: 1. Diminished Capacity, 2. Spirit, 3. Halcyon, Davison B: 1. Alicante, 2. Red Sky, 3 Cirrus, Division C: 1. Elan, 2. Adriana, 3. Heat Wave, 4. Soldini Division D: 1. E.T. 2. Bodacious, 3. Seafox, Division E: 1. Osprey, 2. Cha-Ching, 3. Black Knight, Division F: 1. Octavia, 2. Lina, Division F: 1. Ingrid, 2. Triumph, 3. Warpath, Division G: 1. Rage, 2. Pegasus.

Complete results: http://www.pacificcup.org/

GAY LYNN
Gay Lynn, of Newport, RI, and Scotland Cay, Abaco, Bahamas, passed away Tuesday, July 25 in Boston. She was 63. The widow of William Harcourt Lynn, Vice President and Worldwide Media Director of the Coca Cola Company and former President of the United States Sailing Association, Mrs. Lynn was one of the first women in the history of sailing to become a certified Senior International Judge and a Senior International Umpire. Throughout the 90s and into 2000, she served as a member of the International Jury at many of the biggest and most prestigious sailing events in the world including the International Star Class World Championship, the King Edward Gold Cup and Key West Race Week. At the time of her death, she was a juror at the Rolex IMS World Championship at the New York Yacht Club in Newport, RI.

Mrs. Lynn's love of and involvement in the sport of sailing began when she was in her 20s. She crewed for her late husband in many Star and Etchells class regattas over the years including the Etchells World Championship and Cowes Week before taking a more active role in the management of the sport. In the 1970s and 80s, she served as the Executive Secretary of the International Etchells Class Association, and she also served as a Vice President of the United States Sailing Association, the national governing body for the sport of sailing. She was a longtime member of the New York Yacht Club and Hopetown Sailing Club.

Mrs. Lynn was preceded in death by her husband in 1990. She is survived by her son William Harcourt Lynn of Marblehead, Mass., her daughter Margaret Stirling Lynn of San Francisco, CA, her brother James Paulman Stirling of Lake Forest, Ill., her partner David Brown and her three grandchildren, William, Hannah and Peter Lynn of Marblehead, MA.

A memorial service will be held at Trinity Church in Newport, RI, on Aug. 1 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in honor of Gay S. Lynn to: U.S. Special Olympics (Sailing), Donor Development, 1325 G Street - Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005 / Shake-A-Leg, 76 Dorrance Street - Suite 300, Providence, RI 02903

OUTTA HERE - AGAIN
Catalina was wonderful, but now it's time for the curmudgeon to catch a plane for Honolulu. For the next week and a half I'll be calling tactics on Jason Khoury's new Aerodyne 38, Matador, at the Kenwood Cup. My plan is to issue 'Butt each day from Hawaii, and I hope it works out that way. Aloha!

THE CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS
The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm. The colder it gets, the harder it is to swallow.