SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1381 - 10 DECEMBER 2007

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AN OPEN LETTER TO ERNESTO BERTARELLI, PRESIDENT OF ALINGHI FROM BOB FISHER

8th December 2007
Dear Ernesto,

I thank you for your open letter and for the 90 minutes of your valuable time that you granted for an interview.

At the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award dinner you took me to task for my criticism of your team's behaviour towards the 33rd America's Cup. I demurred, saying that if I were mistaken, it was due to a lack of communication from your team's leaders. That now is not the case.

While I notice that the passing of two weeks has not in any way altered your determination to run the 33rd America's Cup in a manner that would make the competition a far different event to all the 32 that had preceded it, and that you have attempted to make your intentions more widely known, I cannot agree that what you are proposing to do is for the benefit of the America's Cup other than turning it into a revenue source for Alinghi and ACM.

The America's Cup is not all about money. While huge sums are spent on the teams, there has never been the need for the event to support the teams financially. That is entirely up to those who form the teams that take part in this sporting event. And let us remember that it was the wealthier teams who benefited most from the distribution of the surplus, not those that could best benefit from a boost to their resources.

You propose to change the very dynamic of the event in a way that can only reduce it to the mediocrity of many other regattas. At present, it stands alone, clearly head and shoulders above every other regatta because of the very nature of the event. The cup was given to the New York Yacht Club by the owners of the schooner America, who wished to perpetuate the success they had achieved in defeating an old enemy and establishing the United States as a world leader in naval architecture.

Those owners foresaw it as an iconic representation of superiority, but wanted to challenge the world at large to prove this continuously. Above all, they proposed that it should be a challenge cup, held by the winner of the last event against all-comers. That intent is clearly stated in the Deed of Gift, throughout all three versions, culminating with that of 1887 that the last surviving owner, George Schuyler, wrote shortly before his death.

That deed, totalling 1,100 words, or 15 column inches in Harper's Weekly in 1895, is extremely clear in the intention of the donor who sought challenges from foreign clubs, based on the sea, to determine the faster boat in a match. The defender, therefore, would meet the challenger in a series of races whose structure would be by mutual consent and the winner would hold the cup until defeated by another challenger. Schuyler, like his fellow owners of the schooner America, did not propose any ordinary regatta, but a contest that would be outstanding. And that is what it has been.

Now, you seek to change the entire format and here I must offer a word of warning. Changing sporting events dramatically has not been shown to be successful in the past and one should always consider the wisdom of Sir Winston Churchill who advised a study of history in order to avoid making the same mistakes again. One very apposite example of a major change in a sailing event leading to its demise was the Admiral's Cup where the removal of the Fastnet Race from its programme proved terminal for the event. Be warned.

You claim to have created your team to share the passion of sailing and that this has proved successful for your team, which triumphantly defended the trophy in the closest match ever. That Emirates Team New Zealand pushed Alinghi so hard was a massive contribution to the success of the event. That there was never more than 35 seconds separating the boats at the finish was an added bonus.

Since that day when just one second separated Alinghi from the challenger in the seventh race there has been instability and I would suggest that this is of your making. Had you more carefully read the Deed of Gift and bothered to interpret its meaning, you could have chosen any properly qualified yacht club who would follow your intentions and there would not have been an opportunity for anyone to be upset to the point of taking the matter to the only arbiter available, the New York State Supreme Court.

As it was, the club from which you received a "hip-pocket" challenge, and who allowed you to issue a draconian Protocol that shows no evidence of mutual consent, has proved to be invalid and five months have been lost. Is this what you mean by "empower the organisers to implement further innovations without unnecessary disruptions". You state that the court ruling shows: "the Achilles heel of the event.. I argue that it shows the strength of the Deed of Gift to protect all concerned from potential bias.

Nobody in their right minds would allow ACM, a body created as an offshoot of Alinghi, rightfully to nominate the International Jury and the Board of Arbitration. This is a return to the pre-1980 days when the New York Yacht Club provided the Protest Committee; a state of affairs that led Sir Frank Packer to declare that arguing with the New York Yacht Club over the America's Cup is like "complaining to your mother-in-law about your wife.. Those bodies have to be independent of the defender and the challenger for the event to have veracity. Yet, in the next breath you are complaining that. "...the Deed does not actively promote parity for the teams..."

Your stated aim is to "make the event more relevant to today's sporting landscape.. One has to ask why. Within hours of the completion of the 32nd America's Cup, major sponsor, Louis Vuitton, who has supported the Cup for a quarter of a century, and who contributed 45.2 million Euros on this occasion, announced that it was leaving because the event had lost its tradition and elegance. Was that good for the event. The tradition of the America's Cup is what makes it special.

You go as far as to raising the question as to whether the defender should be automatically qualified for the final match - that is what makes the America's Cup special and without that there is no mystique or elegance. The event would be bland - just another regatta.

I can agree that the schedule of venues be announced in advance, but as each event is a separate entity, there is no reason to formalise the content of the regulations; these are a matter of mutual consent between the challengers and defender and should be available for alteration. The governance of the Cup could well be managed by the past and present trustees - that is the manner in which it is, arguably, currently controlled, but not by one team alone.

Finally, you indicate that unless you achieve your desired revision of the governing documents, you will have to accept the one-on-one challenge of the Golden Gate Yacht Club. Perhaps that would be the best way out of the current impasse. While it is not what the aficionados of the event would wish, it would clear the air and only be regarded as a minor hiccup in the Cup's colourful history.

With kindest regards,

Bob

* Bob Fisher is the dean of nautical scribes and author of the definitive work on the America's Cup, An Absorbing Interest, a very limited edition of which just a few copies remain. To purchase go to southatlanticpublishing.com

MIKE GOLDING FORCED TO RETIRE FROM TRANSAT BTOB
Solo British yachtsman Mike Golding has been forced to make the difficult decision to retire from the Transat Ecover B to B race from Bahia, Brazil to Port La Foret, Brittany.

It is not a decision that he has taken lightly but a number of ongoing technical issues have pressed Golding to put his and the new boat's safety first, particularly having now completed the required 2,500 mile solo passage with the boat that will qualify him for next year's Vendee Globe.

ECOVER 3 is about 560 miles south west of the Canary Islands.

Overnight ECOVER 3 has developed further serious engine problems, which leave the highly experienced solo sailor concerned that he would not be able to use the engine for the remaining duration of the race to charge essential batteries. Towards the end of the afternoon, the instrument and/pilot system completely failed leaving him without the automatic pilot This together with a number of issues have compounded ECOVER 3's troubles, leaving Golding feeling that he was no longer competing at anything close to 100%.

Last night the struggling engine blew an oil seal spraying the entire cabin, damaging equipment and making the whole area very unsafe. Mike spent much of the day cleaning it down, while also continuing to wrestle and repair the engine

He has decided that the pragmatic course is to reduce sail and head to port. Time saved at this stage of ECOVER 3's development is vital. Battling on to the finish of this race could jeopardise the boat and could be unsafe.

"This is not a decision I take easily. I am not given to giving up in the face of adversity but this is about what I consider good seamanship. There is too much at stake to put the boat through unnecessary miles in this condition. The primary goal of doing this Transat Ecover B to B race was to qualify for the Vendee Globe, and to get racing miles under our keel in a competitive mode." Mike Golding explained.

www.mikegolding.com

* Towards 8:00 am this morning (time in France), Marc Guillemot contacted his teammates on land to inform them about an incident that had occurred an hour earlier: a break in the keel actuator rod. Marc jury-rigged a repair by blocking the keel straight ahead and continued his route towards the finish line in La Foret-Fouesnant. The Safran skipper is just as motivated as ever, but his main goal now is to qualify for the Vendee Globe 2008 race.

"The boat went a bit crazy, and it took all my athletic skills to block the keel. But now the boat is settled again, and I've resumed my route towards the port of La Foret, with a modest complement of sails, namely the jibsail and main sail with a quick reef."

The weather conditions expected in the next 24 hours will considerably slow down the Safran monohull, but a quartering wind is expected Sunday afternoon, and that should not penalize the boat as much.

Transat BtoB standings as of 12/09/2007 18h00

1. Gitana Eighty, 1340.60 nm to finish
2. Groupe Bel, 29.40 nm to leader
3. Safran, 42.00
4. Foncia, 47.50
5. Generali, 81.30
6. Cheminees Poujoulat, 161.70
7. Cervin EnR, 285.80
8. Roxy, 312.80
9. Maisonneuve, 374.60
10. Akena Verandas, 377.60
11. Spirit of Canada, 474.90
12. Aviva, 475.50
13. Great American III, 562.60

www.transatbtob.com

COLLINS STEWART LONDON BOAT SHOW
London's largest annual event, the Collins Stewart London Boat Show, will take place at ExCeL - the heart of London's entertainment district - from 11-20 January 2008.

Throughout the Show, the Cutty Sark Trust will be working on selected artefacts from the main conservation project, restoring this famous Tea Clipper badly damaged by fire in May. Visitors to the Show will get a chance to see a mix of cutting-edge science as well as time-honoured craftsmanship.

www.londonboatshow.com

BARCELONA RACE: TOP FOUR THROUGH GATE FOUR
Paprec-Virbac 2 has led the top four boats through the fourth scoring gate over the past 24 hours. The race leader passed the gate to complete the fourth stage at 22:42 on Saturday night.

Skippers Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall were followed by Veolia Environnement (02:19 this morning) and Hugo Boss (05:25). This afternoon, Delta Dore became the fourth boat to cross the scoring gate this afternoon (13:37).

The leading two boats have added slightly to their lead over the past day, sailing in slightly better condi! tions than the others. On the 16:00 GMT report today, the top three boats were all racing along at over 19 knots of average speed. The trailing boats are further north than the leaders and are looking for an opportunity to get south.

PRB, after losing the top few metres of its mast yesterday, continues to head unassisted towards Cape Town. The team has less t han 400 miles to go and has been making good progress at about 10 knots. Skippers Vincent Riou and Seb Josse should make landfall at some point overnight Monday or into Tuesday.

Day 29 - December 9, 16:00 Gmt - Position Report With Distance To Leader

1. Paprec-Virbac 2 - Jean Pierre Dick / Damian Foxall - 0
2. Veolia Environnement - Roland Jourdain / Jean Luc Nelias - 82
3. Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson / Andrew Cape - 125
4. Delta Dore - Jeremie Beyou / Sidney Gavignet - 312
5. Prb - Vincent Riou / Sebastien Josse - 572
6. Temenos 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele Paret- 647
7. Estrella Damm - Guillermo Altadill / Jonathan Mckee - 919
8. Mutua Madrilena - Javier Sanso / Pachi Rivero - 990
9. Educacion Sin Fronteras - Servane Escoffier / Albert Bargues - 1720

www.barcelonaworldrace.org

* At 1800 GMT co-skipper Jonathan McKee on board Estrella Damm, skippered by Guillermo Altadill, contacted the shore team to report serious damage to their port rudder. The duo had experienced damage to their starboard rudder only the day before, after colliding with an object in the water, which they had managed to fix; however, in this separate incident, the damage to the port rudder can not be fixed on board the boat and Altadill and McKee have made the decision to divert to Cape Town to effect repairs with the assistance of their shore team.

Jonathan reported to his shore team: "We were sailing along in 30 knots of breeze in big seas, the same thing happened as with the other one but unlike the starboard rudder [damaged the previous day] this time it didn't swing up in the same way so I guess it spent a longer time in the water. The damage is a lot more severe, the shaft around the rudder stock is completely broken (this is th! e tube that surrounds the stock and holds the two bearings at the top and bottom of the stock together) and appears split horizontally. Is it fixable? We're not sure. It would require a lot of carbon work, more than we could achieve on board. We've made the decision to head to Cape Town and have informed Race Direction team of the Barcelona World Race. We're 620 miles from Cape Town and we would estimate getting there in around 2.5 days. I think we will get by on one rudder to Cape Town as its predominantly port tack which is good. For me and Guillermo, I think we're still a bit in shock and we need to think more about it and how we fix things." -- www.estrelladammsailingteam.com

* British sailor Alex Thomson and his co-skipper Andrew Cape have broken the 24 hour distance record for a 60 foot monohull yacht. Competing in the Barcelona World Race aboard HUGO BOSS, the pair covered 499.22 miles nautical miles (nm) between 11.15 and 11.15 GMT from 6th-7th December, at an average speed of 20.8 knots. Thomson already holds the 24 hour distance record for a single-handed sailor, having covered 468.72 nautical miles in a day on his previous yacht, which he lost in the Southern Ocean last year. -- www.alexthomsonracing.com

12 METRE YACHT FLEET RETURN TO NEWPORT USA
Following a successful tour of European regattas, Peters & May have successfully shipped the 12 metre fleet back to their home port of Newport, R.I. USA. The fleet started their adventure early in 2007 with their initial shipment to Gandia, near Valencia. Following a regatta prior to the Americas Cup, the 12 Metre fleet have competed at numerous regattas in France and Sardinia.

This valuable return shipment included some of the most famous yacht racing names - Freedom, Valiant, Kiwi Magic, Courageous, Hissar and Victory 83. Support containers and spare rigs also completed the shipment, which was unloaded safely in Newport at the end of November.

www.petersandmay.com

ARC 2007 - TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF DRAMA AT SEA
Once again the ARC Net was called into action to help sailors crossing the Atlantic - twice in the last 24 hours with a casualty evacuation from yacht Avocet and a dramatic MAYDAY alert and rescue involving five ARC yachts.

Late Friday evening (07/12/07) a crew member onboard the GBR-registered yacht Avocet received a serious head injury caused by the boom during a broach. With the casualty unconscious, urgent medical support was sought. A call was made via the ARC Net for medical assistance whilst MRCC in Martinique tried to locate a ship that could evacuate the casualty. After a difficult and stressful night for all concerned, a successful evacuation took place at first light on Saturday 08 December and the casualty is now thankfully onboard the cruise ship Costa Mediterranea, under the care of the two ship's doctors. The ship is now en route for Barbados where the casualty will be transferred to hospital.

A call from MRCC Falmouth initiated the ARC Net again late on Saturday morning (08/12/07) in order to help rescue the crew of a non-ARC yacht that had called a MAYDAY. A message was sent to the ARC fleet with an update on the position and situation of the yacht in trouble. Individual calls were also made to ARC yachts likely to be in the vicinity and able to relay the distress call via VHF radio. ARC yachts Blue Spirit, Worldwide Traveller, Cat-man-do and Regina all responded, but it was ARC yacht Navillus (Brian O'Sullivan IRL) that was first on station.

A 31ft catamaran called Spam - not participating in the ARC - had been dismasted and subsequently holed earlier in the morning. Luckily for the three crew, Navillus, a Bavaria 50, picked up the MAYDAY and was able to assist. The crew was transferred using a liferaft, which was then slashed to sink it. The dismasted catamaran was then abandoned, sinking but still afloat, and an advisory message sent to all ARC yachts to keep clear of it. Navillus has now resumed course for St.Lucia with her unexpected guests safely aboard.

Ten yachts have now arrived in St.Lucia with two more expected during Sunday 09 December. It was a close finish for two 60ft racing yachts with the Croatian Volvo 60 AAG Big One finishing just 10 minutes ahead of the British Carrol Marine 60 Venomus; a close call after 2,700nm and 12 days of racing! Whilst AAG Big One gets the honour of first ARC 2007 yacht to complete the course under sail alone, Venomous will beat her in the handicap results.

The steady trickle of yachts now arriving in St. Lucia will grow into a veritable flood over the next few days as the majority of the ARC 2007 fleet is expected between 11 - 15 December.

www.worldcruising.com/arc

'PLUG AND PLAY' AIS TRANSPONDER FROM OCEAN SAFETY
Ocean Safety has recently included the easy to use ACR Nauticast Class B AIS Transponder into their range, which is a 'plug and play' compact unit. This Class B transponder is a low power, lower cost version of the Class A unit. It transmits and receives, is water resistant, and has a remote safety related message switch. If necessary, the unit can be switched to a 'stealth' mode, which will receive only.

AIS is primarily a collisions' avoidance system, yet it provides vital information for a Search and Rescue (SAR) team to find a stricken vessel. A data cable directly interfaces the unit with a chart plotter or laptop, displaying information clearly for and instant and simple reference.

Further information from www.oceansafety.com

KIWIS CLEAN UP AT HARKEN YOUTH EVENT
RNZYS' James Williamson, William Tiller, Bradley Farrand and Michael Edmonds have won the 2007 Harken International Youth Match Racing Championship at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club defeating Sandspit Yacht Club's Adrian Short, Jed Martin, Reuben Corbett and Matthew Randell 3-0 in the best of five final in a 8-10 knot NE breeze on Sydney's Pittwater.

In the Petit final Josh Junior from Royal Port Nicholson defeated the other RNZYS crew led by 2007 "Coke Cup" winner Phil Robertson from RNZYS.

At the presentation function event patron Robin Wiltshire-Newman awarded the "Rockin Robin" memorial trophy to the RNZYS team whilst Harken Australia CEO Carl Watson announced that they would be back again for their 11th year of sponsorship in 2008.

Overall Results (provisional)

1. James Williamson RNZYS - NZL
2. Adrian Short SYC - NZL
3. Josh Junior RPNYC - NZL
4. Phil Robertson RNZYS - NZL
5.Robert Gibbs RPYC - AUS
6. Tom Spithill RPAYC - AUS
7. David Chapman RSYS - AUS
8. Byron White CYCA - AUS
9. Sam Sexton RPAYC - AUS
10. Ted Hackney CYCA - AUS
11. Richard McPharlin RFBYC - AUS
12. Jordan Reece, RSYS - AUS

THE LAST WORD
I gave up on new poetry myself thirty years ago, when most of it began to read like coded messages passing between lonely aliens on a hostile world. -- Russell Baker

OC Events, www.ocevents.org , organisers of two major IMOCA 60 oceanic events, the new double-handed Barcelona World Race 2007, and the original solo transocean race, The Artemis Transat 2008 (ex-OSTAR) plus the Extreme 40 Sailing Series for The iShares Cup.

www.YachtsandCruisers.com the new place to buy and sell prestige boats, the website has been designed to showcase high-end boats. People looking to buy prestige boats will be able to easily navigate their way around the site quickly. The portfolio of thousands of boats can be viewed by category, make, location and price. Alternatively the 'Advanced Search' facility will benefit those buyers who have a specific boat in mind.

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