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SCUTTLEBUTT 2107 - June 2, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.PUSHING THE ENVELOPE (The Daily Sail subscription website spoke to skipper Thomas Coville and designer Nigel Irens about their new 100ft tri, for solo sailing. Here are a few excerpts.) At a time when the 60ft trimaran circuit seems to be in stark decline, so rising like a phoenix from its ashes is a new generation of giant multihull designed solely for solo offshore record breaking and, we expect ultimately, racing. While Ellen MacArthur's B&Q Castorama trimaran set the tone for this type of craft, so recently we have seen the announcement of Francis Joyon's new maxi-trimaran and this week that of another, a more hi-tech version, for Sodebo skipper Thomas Coville. While Sodebo may be more than 25% longer than B&Q Castorama, she is by no means a 25% 'bigger' boat. The beam, the first dimension of the boat to be decided upon, of Ellen's boat was 53ft (16.2m) and both Sodebo and IDEC will be around the same, says Irens: "The idea is that if you just scale up all the time you get very heavy as quickly as you get big and the power becomes completely unmanageable for a singlehanded sailor. And also there is weight involved in making the boat have that power in the deck equipment and the extra structure you need to make a wide boat. " Compared to B&Q Castorama the new Sodebo trimaran gains its length partly through its elongated bow, a type of proboscis as Irens describes it, the sheer dropping off dramatically forward of the forestay. As with Ellen's trimaran the rig is well aft in the boat to help prevent the bows digging in but the extra length in the bow acts as additional buoyancy forward, providing increased security against pitch-poling. -- http://www.thedailysail,com IT ALL STARTS AGAIN ON FRIDAY Friday, at cocktail hour, from a start line just off Southsea castle, six Volvo 70s will start on the penultimate leg of the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race to Rotterdam. At the start and while the boats are in the Solent there are plenty of opportunities for spectating. The start line inner limit is close to the shore and will bring the boats close in to Southsea castle before they head west. Mike Sanderson had a few words to say about the likely weather, “Stan (Honey, navigator) tells me it will be light up to the Fastnet. We will be relying on thermal winds and the night time drains off the shore. There’s not much gradient wind so we will be relying on sunny England to generate thermals. . .” Ironic laughter from his listeners. Paul Cayard also had a few weather-related comments, but focussing on the high probability of having to anchor, “Anchoring; that strange English technique - last time I tried it was in the 1977 Fastnet Race – how do you do that? “I think Mike (Sanderson) will be more likely to be doing that (anchoring), I hope we won’t drift backwards into him. . .” None of the skippers was too confident about what might happen on the latter stages of the race, though Mike Sanderson said that his navigator, Stan Honey had confidently predicted ABN Amro One type weather after the Fastnet Rock. The skippers of the Farr-designed boats looked disappointed. Asked about the in-between length of the leg, Neil McDonald was resigned to not getting a lot of rest, “It’s neither a long leg or a short one. There are plenty of corners, light winds at the start, tides. There won’t be a lot of time for sleeping that’s for sure.” -- Volvo Ocean Race website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/mhest CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar TOY BOAT Miami (Reuters) - A Florida man drowned after jumping onto an inflatable raft and paddling out to the middle of a lake to try to retrieve a stalled, radio-controlled toy boat, police said Tuesday. Another toy boat punctured the raft, causing it to deflate rapidly, and the 31-year-old victim could not swim, Miami-Dade Police said. The accident occurred Monday evening at a park northwest of Miami where the victim and several friends were racing the remote-controlled boats. "I think it was all purely accidental. It's a fluke," said Detective Joanne Duncan. -- http://tinyurl.com/nylna VIDEO OF THE WEEK This week’s video is too long, the music is too edgy, and the only sailboat shown is one that is sinking. If any of these things offend you, do not go any further. However, if you feel like being immersed into the kiteboarding world, you might enjoy this video produced by AdventureOnline.TV. Filmed alongside Hurricane Jeanne in Cape Canaveral, FL, and utilizing helmet cams and kite cams, this 'mini-movie' gets an A for Action. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for the video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/#media HEAD NORTH FOR TWO WAYS TO SAVE ON NEW SAILS! North Sails is offering two ways to save on the world's best sails! Between June 12 and July 31, you can participate in our Up'nDown or Trade In, Trade Up offers for great savings. Here's how: either buy any North upwind sail and get a downwind sail for 50% off, or trade in an old sail and get a 25% rebate on a new North sail. For complete information, contact your local salesman at 1-800-SAIL-123 x 977 or log on to: http://na.northsails.com/TituUpNDown2006.htm COLD CONDITIONS AND CLOSE RACING Langenargen, Germany (June 1, 2006) — Jesper Bank and Mathieu Richard are the early leaders at the cold and windy Match Race Germany, Stage 7 of the 2005-06 World Match Racing Tour. Bank and Richard top their respective groups at 3-1. Each is tied with another skipper, but owns the tiebreaker to hold the lead after four of five flights in each group. They survived chilly conditions that saw the temperature in the high 40s and winds anywhere from 4 to 20 knots, with intermittent rain. The wind was blowing west/southwest, off the snowcapped Alps, which made it so cold. Bank won a close race against Peter Gilmour in Flight 3 to hold the tiebreak advantage. After a split tack start Gilmour won the first cross and sent Bank back to the right. Bank found a little better breeze on the right and leapfrogged Gilmour to lead at the windward mark. The match was close throughout, but Bank held the lead. On the last leg to the finish they split sides of the course with Bank taking the left and Gilmour the right (looking upwind). Gilmour had better pressure and speed and made a furious charge. Approaching the finish he bore away but got nipped by one meter, according to Principal Race Officer Rudi Magg. Gilmour disputed the call. He sought video evidence to support his case, but the video boat didn’t have a direct line of sight down the finish line, so the outcome stood. -- SeanMcNeill, http://www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com Group A1 (After 4 of 5 scheduled flights) 1. Jesper Bank (DEN) 3-1 2. Peter Gilmour (AUS) 3-1 3. Evgeniy Neugodnikov (RUS) 2-2 4. Björn Hansen (SWE) 2-2 5. Tino Ellegast (GER), 1-3 6. Michael Hestbaek (DEN) 1-3 Group A2 (After 4 of 5 scheduled flights) 1. Mathieu Richard (FRA) 3-1 2. Sten Mohr (DEN) 3-1 3. Ian Williams (GBR) 2-2 4. Ian Ainslie (RSA) 2-2 5. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) 1-3 T. Eric Monnin (SUI), 1-3 A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN The all British Team Basilica were in a league of their own on the final day of the Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series in Portsmouth. Winning one race and scoring three second places in the remaining races, Alister Richardson steered the team to victory in the overall series. After a 17 race series, Team Basilica had managed an impressive 31 point victory over Conrad Humphreys’ Motorola-CHR. A win in Portsmouth sees Team Basilica close the gap on overall series leaders Tommy Hilfiger. After four events there is just two points separating the top two spots with all to play for at the final regatta in Rotterdam. -- http://www.VolvoExtreme40.org Final Results (after 17 races) 1st Basilica, Alister Richardson, 149 pts 2nd Motorola-CHR, Conrad Humphrey, 118 pts 3rd Tommy Hilfiger, Randy Smyth, 111 pts 4th Holmatro, Mitch Booth, 101 pts 5th Volvo Ocean Race, Yves Loday, 81 pts Overall Series Rankings (after four events) 1st Tommy Hilfiger 32 pts 2nd Basilica 30 pts 3rd Motorola-CHR 26 pts 4th Holmatro 24 pts 5th Volvo Ocean Race 20 pts COLLEGIATE NATIONALS Charleston, South Carolina (June 2, 2006) – Sailors at the ICSA/Gill National Coed Dinghy Championship were facing a busy day as the second day of racing for the championship got going early in order to catch up with the 36 scheduled races for both A and B Divisions. Racing was underway by 10:00 a.m. with a southeast breeze averaging 10 knots as isolated storms stayed out to the east. As happened on day one, racers had to rotate boats from the sailing center which slowed the action. After 12 races for both Division A and Division B the leaders are: 1. Charleston (74-58) 132 2. Georgetown (42-95) 137 3. Harvard (60-97) 157 4. Tufts (70-108) 178 5. South Florida (90-89) 179 6. Hobart/Wm Smith (102-80) 182 http://collegesailing.org/nas/spring06/ Photo gallery: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/icsa-d AS SEEN BY RUSSELL (Russell Coutts discusses the first TP 52 MedCup event of the season in a new posting on thedailysail subscription website. Here’s an excerpt.) It was an interesting regatta from a design standpoint. Certainly the three spreader rigs on the first three boats were not slow. The newer hull designs dominated the leading results but there did not appear to be massive differences in speed (except two sail reaching with maximum heel with the G0). However, it only takes small differences to influence results and I suspect that with more time, the newer boats will improve more than the older versions and I could easily see two distinct fleets developing. Still the MedCup is generally raced in light wind venues and judging by the hull shapes, I suspect the biggest differences will be in stronger winds, so while the wind stays light, the fleet could be relatively even. The sails are of course a very important factor and there is still a very wide variety of concepts, particularly in the downwind sails. Even knowing how to use a sail correctly and learning the optimum wind ranges is extremely important. The tight reaching sails have definitely improved a lot from last year but I still feel there is plenty of development left in the VMG type running sails. The next event will apparently attract even more boats. What a great series this will be. In the next event Paul Cayard comes onto the Lexus boat which will be a great experience. I've never sailed with Paul before so that will be a great opportunity. I'm also looking forward to hearing more about the Volvo Race. -- Russell Coutts, http://thedailysail.com SAILING SHORTS * More than 60 boat crews have signed up for the first ever Swan regatta to be held in Finland (26 – 30 July 2006) with races out around the archipelago of Turku, on the south-western coast of Finland. The event will bring together an estimated 1,000 sailing enthusiasts from across the globe. The fleet will include Swan 36 Tarantella, the first ever Swan to be constructed and a brand-new Swan 46. The Swan Anniversary Regatta marks the 40th anniversary year of Nautor’s Swan and the event has been devised in conjunction with Turun Pursiseura, the Yacht Club of Turku. -- http://www.swananniversaryregatta.com * The body of the 53 year old German sailing coach, missing since May 26, when his boat was discovered empty during the Holland Regatta, has been found at the “Vogeleiland” (Bird Isle) in the IJsselmeer. The search operation by the Dutch Coast Guard, was abandoned the same day, but Dutch Water Police continued searching underwater and the Dutch Police searched the water, but to no avail. The body of the man, who had been coaching his daughter, was found by employees of the Staatsbosbeheer (National Forestry Commission). -- BYM News, http://www.bymnews.com/new/content/view/30010/48/ * Corrections: Somehow in our summary of the ISAF World Rankings we overlooked Canadian Chris Cook who is ranked #6 in the Finn class and Bernie Luttmer (CAN) is ranked #9 in the Laser Class - not the Finn class. NEWPORT TO BERMUDA RACE 2006 A record number of entries have signed up for the 100th anniversary Newport to Bermuda Race. Safety and performance will be a key focus for yachts leading up to the start. The experienced service team at Rig Pro can help ensure your mast, rigging, and all sail handling systems are up to the task of sailing to Bermuda as fast and safely as possible. Rig and rigging inspections, cordage, and hardware supplies, complete hydraulic system inspections and halyard locking systems are just some of the items we can help with. Located in Portsmouth RI, 401-0683-6966, http://www.southernspars.com/rigpro LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thought at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Peter Johnstone: Carrying around a 40,000 lb keel is sort of like hooking up a horse buggy to a Formula 1 car. How can the America's Cup regard itself as a pinnacle when it's fleet is based on 16th century notions of stability? Great to see Bill Lee's comments. Ever faster is ever more fun. * From Rodger Martin: Bravo Bill Lee! I apologize to many friends I have who are deeply involved with the America's Cup as it is, but all of them would be even more deeply involved if the designs were contemporary. * From Tom Fischbeck: Horray! Mr Lee is correct! Finally a Corinthian wizard that will bless Multihulls for an Americas cup Make-Over! Come on people, it is ok Not to push lead through the water. Why must we still insist on having Long/ Deep keels (that do not fit in most pleasure harbors), canting keels, blatter bags, dangerous racks that fall off monohulls. all these crazy million dollar gadgets, when we can simply use multihull technology, heck the French have been doing this for years! I still do not understand this American Yachting elite that still demands monohull naval architecture, can't be just sailing angle advantages? I think it is old Corinthian dogs that do not want to accept new simple tricks! * From Wiley Parker: Point me to the Yellow Brick Road, oh mighty wizard … Bill Lee's proclamation that the A Cup's time in over priced, overly fragile and still slow monohulls is over is right on. Hmmmm .. seems a previous thread spent a lot of time and energy trying to "save the sport" and "create a new fan base to attract some of that TV money and interest". The V70 race may be as challenging as it gets for this life long keel boater, but the most interesting races were the 40 foot multi's screaming around the harbors helmed by Mr Smyth and company. As the Wizard says, "Fast is Fun !" * From Doug Gardner: Bravo to Bill Lee for hailing out “The Emperor has no Clothes…” I went to the Long Beach YC presentation of BMW Oracle’s AC team, and asked the same question: Why limit AC boats to non-canting keel monohulls? I was given the insane answer “to keep the budget down.” Budget? What budget? When Dennis Conner can’t fund a successful AC campaign, and there is only one US boat competing in the cup, the budget is already out of whack. Soooooo, why not make the AC what it started out to be, the fastest wind powered vessel to finish the course wins. Let it be canting keel monohulls like the V70’s, hydrofoils like the Moths, or multihulls like the 60-foot tri’s. Run what you brung, like the good ol’ boys. Technology just might leap ahead faster than a speeding bullet, and be more fun to watch because as Bill says: “Fast is Fun.” * From Ralph Taylor: I started to dispute Bill Lee's advocacy of multihulls for the America's Cup, based on "once one boat wins the start". But anyone who disagrees with the genius behind so many fast boats should be wary. So I asked myself "What is the America's Cup, really?" It's only a little about the boats and the sailing. The real game is a contest of money, engineering, recruiting, contracts and organization. There's a reason why the resource costs are so high; they "keep out the ribbon clerks" -- to limit the risk of an upstart winning. People who play these sorts of games don't like risks they can't control. In this context, a "lead mine" is the perfect vehicle. Changing to lighter and lower-cost multihulls would bring a completely new set of risks for the syndicate heads. Finally, our opinions don't count, only those who head the winning syndicate and the challenger of record. * From Ed Cesare: I have to comment on this year's Block Island race. The post race press release in Butt 2106 described the choice of a large part of the fleet (86%) to retire instead of, "spending endless hours worrying about when, and how, to get home". I always thought that was the point of ocean racing? There was a time (when the hot boat on the course was a New York or C&C 40) when finishing the Block Island Race late in the weekend the norm. The boats have gotten faster (thank the lord) and the world has gotten more complicated (I was on my cell phone scrambling for coverage for the junior soccer tournament I was supposed to be covering), but, dog gone it, we are supposed to finish these races. Please know that this a lament on the times not a criticism of the choices of individual competitors. * From Jay Sacco: I think it’s a shame that some race committees feel the need to avoid general recalls. When so many boats are over early that a general recall would normally be warranted, it is unlikely that a race committee can accurately call them all correctly. Some boats will be hidden behind others and not get caught. Some race committees try to get ahead of the game by noting those boats that are over early before the gun, but then get so busy trying to identify all the over early boats at the gun that they miss the fact that some of “early” over early boats had ducked under the line at the last second and so these get called over when they were not (assuming no I flag in affect). Rather than discipline the fleet, this practice can have the adverse affect as when the fleet realizes that no general recalls will be made, they tend to crowd the line to push over boats above them as they know that they can get away with a “cheater” start if they stay hidden under those boats that are also early. Having benefited and been the victim in both of these situations more than once over the years, I would prefer general recalls followed by I, Z and black flags to encourage the fleet to behave vs. inaccurate line calls or being on the line in the “second” row behind “cheater” boats starting above the line. CURMUDGEON’S CONUNDRUM Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway. Special thanks to North Sails and Southern Spars. |
