Is this still a race?

In the July 20, 2006 issue of Scuttlebutt (Issue 2141), the newsletter provided an advance report on the Velux 5 Oceans race, but also included the following Curmudgeon’s Comment:

“Scuttlebutt will undoubtedly follow this race given the top name skippers entered, and by virtue of the boats that they sail, which are among the fastest and most exciting classes of racing yachts available. However, with only ten entries listed, and with nine of them in the Open 60 class, time will tell how closely we will follow the race (Americans Tim Troy and Doug Hofman are among the entries in the Open 60 class).”

From that report to the Oct 22nd start of the race, the fleet dropped to seven entries (with six in the Open 60 class), with neither American Tim Troy nor Doug Hofman making it to the start line. Given the remoteness of this event to our North American audience, the lack of local entries, plus the shear lack of entries period, we were unsure how closely to follow the event as it approached.

The race is now in its 35th day, and there has been significantly more coverage in Scuttlebutt than any of us could have managed. Of course, the reasons for this are due to the enormously tragic events that have plagued the race. Huge storms and boat breakdowns have provided significantly more drama and story lines than this race should have earned. Thank god no one has been hurt.

Now the question is whether this is still a race at all. Most clubs need five entries for a start. Since Alex Thomson joined Mike Golding (following Thomson’s keel failure on Hugo Boss), their dismasting on Golding’s Ecover now has made their entry a doublehanded affair. Alex was supposed to be only a passenger, but when the mast went down, he was needed to put things back in order. How does that fit into the rules? Sir Robin is now peeling away from the course for the nearest port to address his auto-pilot problems. The rest of the fleet is limping, and hardly leading contenders on a good day.

Can you imagine how ridiculous this event would be without the two stops? Regardless of the elapsed time differences, what we need right now is some boat-on-boat action. But even with the stops, I am thinking race leader Bernard Stramm needs to pick up a Playstation 3 in Fremantle, as the rest of this “race” is appearing to otherwise be a book burner. – Craig Leweck

Better to be lucky

This letter sent to the Scuttlebutt furthers the concept that it is better to be lucky than good:

From R. Geoffrey Newbury: I know that your (Curmudgeon's) Observations are basically randomly selected, but this juxtaposition (in Issue 2223) is priceless!

(from a Letter to the Editor, regarding the classic yacht 'Dorade') ......He turns to his lissome companion and says..."What sort of idiot would name a boat after a deck vent?"

CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
It's best to stop talking once you've said all you know.

Where Time Stands Still

A day of editing the Scuttlebutt newsletter invariably includes several Internet surfing expeditions. Recently upon one such trip, we found the website of the St. Maarten "America's Cup" 12 Metre Challenge. From the ‘Where Are They Now Department’, we learn that five of the boats used by campaigns for the 1987 America’s Cup in Fremantle, Australia have been put out to pastor in the Caribbean (Canada II, True North I and IV, and Stars & Stripes 86 and 87).

If you find yourself in St. Maarten, there are apparently several regattas held per day, with each boat carrying 9-18 passengers along with a professional crew of 3. Before the race each crew attends a briefing, where they learn a little history of the America's Cup and receive some training for the various crew positions. Unlike the real America’s Cup racing, you have to buy your own schwag, but there is complimentary beer onboard. Oh yea, and they do mention that you might want to bring along a few duckets onboard, which leads us to believe the balance of order exists even in the Caribbean, where we presume the ‘haves’ are at the helm and the ‘have nots’ are turning the handles.

Gossip-busting

When the 2006 Etchells Worlds press release came out last week about Dennis Conner needing to pull out of the event because of "undisclosed health reasons," many assumed the worse.

My guess is that not too many of us want our health issues flogged about in the media. However, it seemed that by not being specific, it had opened the door for some folks to start making unsubstantiated assumptions.

Seeing how the gossip was gaining momentum, we sent Dennis an email to see if he was interested in being more specific. And you know what, he promptly replied with a nice note that thoroughly explained his plight. His partially torn Achilles tendon was going to keep him home, rather than attending the Worlds.

The sport is fragile, and denigrating it in any manner is not what it needs. Regardless of what you think of Dennis, he didn't deserve the beating he was taking, and Scuttlebutt appreciates that he allowed us to set the record straight. - Craig Leweck

Morning Light

When I was at the Allianz Cup, I had the good fortune to meet Genny Tulloch, who is one of the fifteen members of the Morning Light project that will comprise the youngest crew ever to sail Transpac. It was interesting to hear her talk about the program thus far, which has mostly involved the process needed to whittle the initial applicants down to the final fifteen. While I am not sure how many people initially applied, thirty individuals were invited to Long Beach, CA in the summer to provide the judges a chance to determine who would go on.

Since this team will be filmed during the race, and that the hopes are for the completed movie to wind up in movie theatres, I figured that the finalists would be based not so much on their sailing skills as on their looks and personality. Surely this movie would not be about “sailing.” In this day and age of reality TV, the chemistry amongst the crew, or should I say lack of chemistry, would be vital for the success of the film.

Not so, said Genny. In fact, she believes the judging was based completely on sailing skills. The coaches really want the team to do well in the race, and she feels they selected individuals that would enable to the team to excel. She surely was not boasting about this – given that she made the cut – but rather admitting to being somewhat surprised as well. She had her list of hotties that she figured would have an awesome screen presence, but apparently their big boat sailing skills weren’t sufficient to keep them onboard.

The team has revealed a couple adventures before the start of Transpac. Later in November they will be sailing a Polynesian canoe from Maui to Honolulu via Molokai, where they will experience the ancient ways of the sea and navigation. In January, members of the crew seek to be sailing in the 2007 Key West Race Week (contact Genny if you want one of the Morning Light crew to sail with you in KWRW).

After watching how exciting sailing can be portrayed from the videos listed on the Scuttlebutt website, I am pretty enthusiastic about this movie project. The impact of this project on the growth of sailing could be significant. – Craig Leweck

All in a day

Friday is clean-up day at Scuttlebutt World Headquarters; a chance to get caught up. With the next publishing deadline not until Sunday evening, Friday can also provide a chance to slip out of the office and check in with sport. Last Friday, with the Allianz Cup happening in San Francisco - marking the return of the World Match Racing Tour to the US - I decided to fly up from San Diego to check it out.

Catching the first flight of the day to Oakland, I arrived at St Francis Yacht Club just in time for my ride with America’s Cup skipper Peter Holmberg in the scheduled Pro-Am races. These races are a frequent feature on the tour, where each boat is led by a Tour professional that has the task of directing a crew of sponsor personnel, raffle winners, and media folks (like me) around the course, spinnakers and all. These races do wonders to bring the excitement of the event to the people who are supporting it, actually getting them off the bleachers and exposing them to the onboard action.

While some of the teams seemed a bit more focused on winning, Holmberg handled our boat more like a J/World class. He didn’t steer (most other pros did), and with the help of only one of his match race crew, they carefully handled the crew, and guided our J/105 upwind to the weather mark, and then downwind for the finish. After three races, we hadn’t done too well, but no one got hurt, and everyone got a chance to experience the type of sailing that occurs on the tour.

The St Francis Yacht Club provided an ideal location for the event. The club is right on the water, and the racing is just off the club, providing perfect spectating. The day seemed as much a show as it was a regatta. The schedule included an acrobatic airshow, complete with a play-by-play announcer and in-cockpit
communication. Loud speakers supported the color commentary for the races, with multiple video cameras providing a live feed for website viewing (click here for videos).

There was plenty to do and see, with famous folks all over the club and docks. Heck, even the yacht America, which has been recently based in San Diego, was on hand. It was hard to pry myself away, as I could have easily stayed through the weekend. But the racing was over, the press conference was completed, the kegs were dry. Time to catch my cab, so I could catch the BART train, so I could catch the bus, so I could get to Oakland airport to catch my flight back to San Diego. All in a day. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt