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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 583 - June 2, 2000
DENNIS CONNER
George M. Isdale Jr., commodore of the New York Yacht Club, announced today
the club will field a challenge to America's Cup XXXI, to be sailed in New
Zealand in 2002-2003. Dennis Conner will run the Stars & Stripes team that
will represent the NYYC. Conner, a four-time winner of the America's Cup,
has been a member of the NYYC for 20 years.
It is expected that many key players from Conner's challenge in 1999-2000
will rejoin the team, including tactician Tom Whidden, a club member since
1985. "I have unfinished business when it comes to the America's Cup," said
Conner referring to his loss in 1983.
Tom Whidden, Conner's tactician since 1980, put it this way: "We certainly
enjoy winning the Cup. We would really love to win it back for the New York
Yacht Club." Talks with leading designers and other prospective team
members will commence immediately.
Rear Commodore Lawrence S. Huntington said, "Time is of the essence." He
has turned to David K. Elwell, a trustee of the NYYC, to represent the
club. Elwell, a successful America's Cup sailor in his own right, chaired
the America's Cup Challenge Association, the challengers' organization to
America's Cup XXX. - Michael Levitt
LAURIE DAVIDSON
Davidson, who was primarily responsible for the hull shapes of NZL57 and
NZL60, made no secret of his frustrations at having to share equal billing
with Americans Clay Oliver in 2000 and Doug Peterson in 1995. Declaring he
was "too old for that crap," the septuagenarian insisted that he have full
and final design control this time. Discussions with Team New Zealand's Tom
Schnackenberg did not prove fruitful, so Davidson is packing up his design
pencils and joining the Seattle group.
"This time there is no question about it," he said. "My contract says I
have Final Authority, capital F, capital A." His authority will extend over
a design team he describes as very competent and which is understood to
include Phil Kaiko, who was involved with Bill Koch's America3 campaign and
who was chief designer for Dawn Riley's America True syndicate in 2000.
Davidson said his contract commences on August 1 and he expects to have
models tank testing in September or October. Davidson confirmed that he
already has post-NZL60 designs, which he is convinced are faster than the
black boats. "I am quite sure we can improve on NZL60," he said. - Ivor
Wilkins, Grand Prix Sailor
There is much more to this story: http://www.sailingworld.com
A NEW PLAYER
SYDNEY-A $AUD60 million Australian challenge for the America's Cup has been
forced to the surface as a result of the international poaching activities
around Team New Zealand over the past two weeks. The Australiafirst
syndicate, headed by Sydney yachtsman, former test pilot and successful
businessman Michael Jones, is scheduled to lodge a challenge in Auckland on
June 23. Jones decided to announce the campaign so his syndicate could be
recognized as a serious player in the 2003 America's Cup match.
Jones has spent the past month finalizing preliminary deals with some of
Australia's most experienced America's Cup campaigners including Iain
Murray, helmsman Peter Gilmour, Grant Simmer (head of the design team) and
Ian Burns.
* Veteran Australian America's Cup campaigner and ocean racing legend Syd
Fischer has already signaled that he plans to challenge in 2003 through the
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. It will be his sixth Cup campaign. - Rob
Mundle, Grand Prix Sailor
Full story: http://www.sailingworld.com
AUSTRALIA'S CHANCES
Former America's Cup helmsman Ian Murray believes Australia will face an
uphill battle to regain the America's Cup. Murray said a number of
off-shore syndicates were lining up to poach the country's best yachtsmen
and designers. -- NZ Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ac2000/
WOMEN'S ROLEX SWITCHES TO J/22
Big changes at US SAILING's biennial Rolex International Women's Keelboat
Championship. For the first time, the regatta will be sailed in the J/22s -
replacing the J/24s which have been used in the previous eight regattas.
The changes were implemented by US SAILING's Women's Keelboat Committee
after analyzing extensive questionnaires and conversations with=
participants.
Scheduled for September 22-28, 2001, a Rolex timepiece will be awarded to
the winning boat for the first time in the regatta's history. Another
change - the Annapolis Yacht Club (AYC) will be taking the helm from Ida
Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, R.I., which has hosted the event since its
inception in 1985.
"Changing to the J/22 will allow the teams to sail with four crew instead
of six," said 1995 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Cory Sertl (Rochester,
N.Y.), who finished third at the Rolex Women's event in 1997 and was second
in '95. "The boat will be that much more manageable, from owning to
trailering to sailing it."
The Rolex Women's event typically attracts between 30 and 50 teams
representing eight to 12 countries, with foreign teams finishing
consistently in the top five. The regatta does not require qualification
for entry, only that each team become a member of its country's national
governing authority for sailing.
For more information: Denise MacGillivray, P.O. Box 1172, Newport, RI
02840; 401-849-5492; email: JWRLD@aol.com.
US SAILING will have a Notice of Race available online in the coming weeks
at: http://www.ussailing.org
THE RACE
On Thursday, the maxi-catamaran Club Med cast off from her dock in La
Trinit=E9 to set off on her first offshore sail heading for Cadiz (Spain).
Club Med should reach the Andalusian port sometime on Sunday, where she
will go on standby from June 6th ready to attack the East/West Atlantic
crossing record between Cadiz and San Salvador (Bahamas), one of the
qualifying courses for The Race.
Website: http://www.therace.org/english/actualite/index.htm
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net)
Letters selected to be printed are routinely 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 people disagree.
-- From Russ Lenarz - I feel that the decision to make the Corel 45 the big
boat choice has reduced the status of the Admiral 's Cup. It has taken the
design element out of the picture. There is nothing wrong with one design
racing, but part of the whole team concept of the regatta was the different
design approach each team took. Not only should the team win on its sailing
ability, but it should have the opportunity to design and develop its own
boats which as history has proven leads to new innovations in design which
has a trickle down effect on the rest of the sailing world. Now the door
has been closed on this aspect and does not give any room for new ideas to
occur. This can have a negative affect on the sailing community and the
industry I agree that at least one boat from each team should be a one
design, but all three will essentially put an end to what was a premiere
showcase for designers as well as sailors.
-- From Diane Swintal - Wow. The dispersal of Team New Zealand sure has
everyone talking, and since controversy breeds publicity, maybe the more
the better!
However, if people really are still living in the days of 'friendly
competition between nations,' they haven't been paying a lot of attention
in the past 20 years. That would be the same as bemoaning today's baseball
salaries, and how everything was "better" in Lou Gehrig's day. Things
were very different, yes, but were they really better? I'm not so sure.
I for one am enjoying the "who's doing what to whom" since, really, the
America's Cup is often more interesting off the water than on! More
interesting activity came out of the Louis Vuitton Cup jury room than came
out of the Hauraki Gulf during the AC Finals. All of this interest, and
all of the guys going to various teams, will only make the sailing more
exciting. The time WILL actually come for sailing, won't it?
-- From Frank M. Gleberman, Marina del Rey --
Alas, alas, America's Cup is gone,
Its attraction of the past is no more.
Wait a moment, that might not be right,
The controversy on 'Butt's now a loud roar.
Far from falling off the edge of the world,
The next competition will be clear as a bell.
Design, money and mercenaries, I believe you'll see,
Will weave an oft story to tell.
Tired of the BS about AC you see on the 'Net?
We don't see anyone shutting his/her computer down.
Come 2003, America's Cup is likely to be
One of the most discussed contests in town.
Did our Yanks get finessed out of the Year 2000 hunt?
Unfortunately, that is a cold and sad fact of life, some call it a sin.
But at the end of the day, most of us would say
There was still enough to keep most of us tuned in.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE
With only 16 months until the start of the Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002,
preparations are at high speed for the illbruck Round the World Challenge.
Both crew training and research and development for a new Farr Yacht Design
60-footer are well underway. The team, under the leadership of skipper John
Kostecki (USA), is now training from a base camp in Spain. With the
announcement this week of two additional international sailors to the team,
Kostecki has named seven of the 12 permanent positions. He intends to have
his complete sailing roster in place by August. Later this year, the
building of the Volvo Ocean 60 racing boat will start in one of the
illbruck plants in Leverkusen, Germany.
Stu Bettany and Ray Davies, both from New Zealand, are now confirmed as
part of the race crew. In addition to Kostecki, they join four New Zealand
born sailors - Ross Halcrow (helmsman, trimmer), Mark Christensen
(helmsman, trimmer), Jared Hendersen (bowman) and Stuart Bannatyne (watch
captain). Stu Bettany, 27, joins the team as an all-rounder from Auckland,
New Zealand. From the foredeck to the helm, this Whitbread and America's
Cup sailor is multi-talented. He sailed the last Whitbread Race on
"Innovation Kvaerner". Ray Davies, 28, and also living in Auckland,
gathered his ocean experience aboard "Merit Cup". With Kostecki, he reached
the Challenger Finals of the America's Cup "earlier this year on
AmericaOne." Davies will be one of six helmsmen and a sail trimmer.
After intensive work with the two training boats in autumn, one of the two
1997-98 generation racing boats will be shipped to Australia. At the end of
the year, "illbruck" will take part in the legendary Sydney-Hobart Race
which will be also part of a leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002. - Jane
Eagleson
ICYRA HALL OF FAME
The Inter-Collegiate Yacht Racing Association (ICYRA) of North America will
recognize six individuals for their service to ICYRA and induct two
individuals into the ICYRA Hall of Fame. Winners of the Lifetime Service,
Outstanding Service and Student Leadership awards will be presented at the
ICYRA Afterguard Reunion and Hall of Fame Dinner at the U.S. Merchant
Marine Academy, Kings Point, N.Y. on June 3, 2000, just prior to the ICYRA
North American Coed Dinghy Championships.
The first-ever honorees for the new Lifetime Service Award are the six most
influential people in the establishment, growth and development of college
sailing during the 20th Century. Three of the inductees are true "pioneers"
and founders of college sailing:
- - Leonard M. Fowle, Jr. (Harvard '30), recognized as the "Father of
Intercollegiate Sailing," who steered the organization from its beginning
in 1934 until his death in 1974.
- - Walter C. "Jack" Wood (MIT '17), Sailing Master at MIT from 1935-65,
who brought together big boat and dinghy interests in a reorganized ICYRA.
- - Robert M. Allan, Jr. (Stanford '41), who organized the Pacific Coast
District.
The additional three subsequently built upon the foundation created by the
pioneers:
- - Harold "Hatch" Brown (Boston University '59), Sailing Master and head
coach at MIT from 1967-96 and Graduate Secretary of New England
from 1975 - 87.
- - George H. Griswold (Wooster College '61), Graduate Secretary of the
Midwest District from 1961-94.
- - Ann Campbell (Annapolis, Md.) Graduate Secretary of the Middle Atlantic
District since 1975 and ICYRA Intersectional Coordinator from
1989 to the present.
Outstanding Service Award recipient George "Doc" Wood (University of
Richmond '67) was chosen for his accomplishments while serving as head
sailing coach at the College of Charleston for more than two decades.
ICYRA Hall of Fame inductee Peter Beardsley (New Rochelle, N.Y), a junior
at Amherst College in Mass., is the second collegiate sailor to receive the
ICYRA Student Leadership Award.
For more information: http://www.collegesailing.org
CALENDAR
June 19-25, Seattle Yacht Club, US SAILING's USA Junior Olympic National
Sailing Championship. The championship is considered the foremost event for
youth sailors in the country and is expected to draw nearly 150 young
sailors, ages 15-20. They will sail in Laser, Club 420, 470, and Europe
dinghy classes. Over 250 applications were received.
CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS
Doug Peterson. David Egan and US lawyer Doug Holthaus were recently sighted
in Italy dining with Patrizio Bertelli of the Prada challenge. They all
appeared to have big smiles on their faces while being treated like
prodigal sons returning to Prada Family fold.
WOMEN IN SAILING
(Katie Pettibone, co-founder of Team Waterfront for the Volvo Ocean Race,
argues that women sailors need more experience to compete on an equal
footing with men. Here's a brief excerpt from here story on the Quokka
website.)
What women lack right now is depth in the field - depth at the top levels
of racing in tactics, navigation and skippering. The only way that is ever
going to improve is by getting them out, learning hands-on. That requires
money to hire coaches, the time to train as a team, and the belief that
women can do it. It may not happen overnight, but Rome wasn't built in a
day. And neither was Paul Cayard's crew of race winner EF Language.
Do most of us want to sail coed? I used to think so until I realized that
coed doesn't necessarily mean that you are sailing with good people or
enlightened people. I think most of us want to race with good sailors.
Hard-core, bloodthirsty and talented people, no matter what the gender. I
have to say that I've really enjoyed some of the all-female teams I've been
on because many of the women had those qualities, whereas some of the men
I've sailed with haven't.
What we would like to do with this team for the Volvo race is take good
women racers and bring them up to the next level. Make them ready to go on
to compete with Dawn Riley's or any other America's Cup team because they
are good enough to be there. As Viper tells his "Top Gun" class: "We will
make you better." Meat eater is not a gender-specific term.
I don't think that, on average, women will be as physically strong as men.
Trust me, I've spent many hours in the gym trying to get my arms to look
like America True grinder Al Palewicz's, and it's not going to happen. I
won't dispute the fact that strength has great advantages, and that an
equal number of women as men will have trouble with power ratios in the
upper half of the body. Maybe the answer is to give all-women's teams an
extra crewmember. We certainly could use the extra body in the overall crew
weight area. However, there always will be whiners who say that isn't fair.
- Katie Pettibone, Quokka Sports
Full story: http://sailing.quokka.com/stories/05/SLQ__0531_s_women_WFC.html
ALAN THOMA
Capt. Alan Thoma, 55, died unexpectedly May 27 in Puerto Vallarta of
complications of
undiagnosed diabetes. Al was a professional captain, world class navigator,
and consumate seaman
who competed successfully in all phases of buoy and ocean racing from
Clipper Cups aboard
CHECKMATE, to numerous Sauza Cup victories on FRONT STREET, and two
double-handed Pacific Cups on his Olson 30 OA OA. Most recently, Al was
captain aboard the Matson container ship LURLINE and was using his vacation
to sail his new J-120 JADE to Hawaii with his devoted wife Marie. Al was a
best friend and great shipmate. His ashes will be scattered Sunday, June 4,
off Diamond Head followed by a memorial at the Waikiki Y.C. - Skip Allan
OUTTA HERE
The curmudgeon is off for a long weekend at Catalina Island. Consequently,
there will not be a 'Butt on Monday, but I plan to return in time to put
together one for Tuesday morning.
THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNCIL
Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.
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