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Brought to you by Yachtworld.com Europe and boats.com Europe, Scuttlebutt Europe is a digest of sailing news and opinions, regatta results, new boat and gear information and letters from sailors -- with a European emphasis. Contributions welcome, send to
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Clarification About World Sailing Speed Record Claims
There have always been unsubstantiated speed record claims, to such an extent that this was the reason for the establishment of the ISAF World Sailing Speed Record rules in the early 1970s. As WSSR rule 1 states "the purpose of these rules is to enable attempts to be made on Sailing Speed Records in any part of the world under comparable conditions".
There can be a number of ambiguities connected to any claim - for example:
1. The course length (500m) may be inaccurate.
2. The timing equipment may not be accurate.
3. The record craft may be power assisted or even be a power boat
4. The record attempt may be current or tide assisted.
The independent ISAF WSSR Council has initiated a series of safeguards to cover any such eventualities, with the sole reason of fulfilling the principle of rule 1. In the same order as above, these are:
1. A qualified surveyor shall carry out all necessary measurements and provide a report for the WSSRC.
2. Timing equipment shall have a certificate of accuracy published by an official timekeeping body. The attempt shall be videoed so that the timing can be subsequently checked.
3. Attempts shall be made in the presence of a WSSR Commissioner (one of a small group of experienced officials appointed as a result of their experience and probity)
4. Current is checked by our commissioner and allowance made for the resolved component of any tide or current. A venue is not suitable for record breaking if the current is more than 1 knot.
Any attempt where these checks are not in place cannot be said to fulfill the requirement that it was made "under comparable conditions".
The situation regarding personal GPS units is currently under review. At present they cannot demonstrate sufficient accuracy, but there is every hope that they may achieve improvement in the near future, and, if so, there is anticipation that rules could be produced to enable such equipment to be authorised for recording record attempts.
A final point: the WSSR Council has a responsibility to protect the achievements of the current record holders as well as permitting correctly authenticated attempts on such records. The current World Sailing Speed Record holder is Finian Maynard with a speed of 48.70 kts and, to date, there has been no claim to the WSSR Council that this record has been exceeded. -- John Reed, Secretary to the WSSR Council
The Southern-Hemisphere Trades
Gitana 13 is currently sailing up the coast of Chile, 26 days into its attempt on the record from New York to San Francisco. The maxi-catamaran left New York on 16 January.
Yesterday, skipper Lionel Lemonchois and his nine-man crew successfully negotiated their way from an area of unstable winds to the southeasterly trades. The maxi-catamaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild is taking full advantage of the trade winds today. Under full sail-flying the full main and the big gennaker-Gitana 13 is using the breeze of around 15 knots to pick up the pace.
In such tricky weather conditions, observations and decision-making are the responsibility of a trio comprising Lemonchois, Vittet and Sylvain Mondon from his Meteo France office in Toulouse. Together, the three men decipher the situation and seek the best route for Gitana 13. Their modus operandi is described by Vittet, the onboard navigator (who is exempt from watch duty so that he can focus on optimizing the 33-meter catamaran's trajectory): "Sylvain sends all the files that we need for the weather (GRIB, isobar maps, satellite images...) directly to our onboard computer. After studying and analyzing the information, he proposes a route. Then Lionel and I determine our strategy in accordance with the information received and the actual conditions that we are experiencing on the boat." As Lemonchois's route-finder during Gitana 11's victory on the Route du Rhum in 2006, Sylvain Mondon has an important advantage: he knows Gitana 13's skipper and can anticipate his intentions.
The cold and blustery weather has afforded little comfort to the ten men of Team Gitana over the past couple of weeks. Fortunately, in addition to offering a reaching breeze and the opportunity to ramp up the speed, the southern-hemisphere trade winds are synonymous with milder weather conditions: "As we make our way to San Francisco, the temperatures are rising, and that really makes a big difference. The boldest among us have already put on shorts. Yesterday the crew was allowed to shave, wash and dry. It was about time! After 26 days at sea the air onboard was getting a little thick..."
www.gitana-team.com
Crossroads In The Indian Ocean
Whilst the situation is improving along 48 degrees South, Groupama 3 is likely to cut across the virtual course of Orange II late this Tuesday afternoon, providing a precise indication of the giant trimaran's lead over the reference time. Indeed, in real terms this day's separation remains stable despite the rather unfavourable weather conditions...
Groupama 3 is wondering just what this Deep South is all about as conditions have not been very favourable and after three days of swell on the beam, a day of transition and a good 24 hours of slipping along nicely, here the giant trimaran has found itself under a front, which it is unable to overtake. The speeds are surprising in these breezes, which don't exceed twenty-five knots. Franck Cammas and his men are making headway all the same, but without being able to express the boat's true potential.
"We're not managing to catch up with the front, which is just 160 miles ahead of us and, between it and the breezes behind, there is a zone of relatively light winds. We'll have to get ahead of it to get going but, unfortunately, we can't get past it straightaway. As a result we're being forced to zigzag."
Whilst the time difference is beginning to make its presence felt between Race HQ in Paris and the trimaran, which "enters into the cover of darkness' at around 1400 UT and bathes in the full austral summer with just six hours of nightfall, the sailing conditions remain quite bearable for the crew, who have yet to experience the icy winds of the Antarctic/ Nevertheless, Groupama 3 is currently positioned at 48 degrees South, around 800 miles to the E of the Kerguelen Islands and over 1,200 miles to the SW of Cape Leeuwin. A manageable sea but a shifty wind, mean that a steady speed isn't feasible, though in relation to Orange II, their lead remains stable.
Find a detailed cartography at: cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne
Raymarine Warsash Spring Series
Action from one of the “Big Boat” weekends during the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series 2007. Photo by Eddie Mays
The Solent's premier early season racing series gets underway on Sunday 16th March. The Notice of Race and entry form are available on www.warsashsc.org.uk .
The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series dates are 16th and 30th March; 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th April. There will also be the Spring Championships, with multiple races over two weekends. For White Group classes these will be on 19th/20th ad 26th/27th April. The quarter ton class will also be racing.
The "Big Boat" weekends on 5th/6th April and 19th/20th April comprise three classes: 45 footers , boats with IRC rating over 1.090 and First 40.7s. The RYA will be using the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series as a trial event for selecting teams for this year's Rolex Commodore's Cup.
White Group will have two separate start lines and courses this year so that the SB3s will be separate from the Hunter 707s, J/80s and SBR sportsboats. Black Group comprises four IRC classes plus J/105s and J/109s racing as one designs.
2008 marks the Silver Jubilee of the event. In spring 1984 the Sailing Committee of Warsash Sailing Club, under the chairmanship of David Laskey, introduced a six race open series for the Warsash Salver, run on the six weekends prior to Easter. From the start it attracted a good entry and was renamed Warsash Spring Series in 1987. At that time the yacht designs of choice were Nicholson 303 and Sigma 33. One of the early Chief Race Officers was David Thomas, whose own Sigma 33 Circe was often a winner. -- Flavia Bateson
www.warsashsc.org.uk
Record Entries For AccBank Cork Week 2008
Having secured a major title sponsor for the event, organisers of Europe's Premiere Regatta, ACCBank Cork Week are buoyed up by the fact that entry levels for the 2008 event, which takes place from July 12th to 18th in Crosshaven, Co Cork, Ireland, are significantly up on 2006.
Dave Meagher, Chairman of the Cork Week Race Committee, is excited by the sheer range and mix of boats entering, "We already have six confirmed TP 52s entered who will compete for the Carroll Challenge Cup and the SB3s will have more than 60 boats racing on the One-Design Course."
ACC Bank Cork Week's unique attraction is that it offers the amateur sailor the opportunity to compete against the best in the world and the 2008 event has attracted, amongst others, Dan Myers' new Judel Vrolijk 66, 'Numbers' and 'Rambler' which smashed the Middle Sea and Transatlantic Records in 2006.
The Gentlemen's Class looks like being the biggest IRC Class with fifty to sixty boats competing and a large fleet of Farr 45s are expected.
For further information please visit www.accbankcorkweek.ie
Around The World in aTin Can
An American writer is hoping to follow in the wake of Francis Joyon's record-breaking round the world voyage. But unlike Joyon, David Vann plans to make the circumnavigation in a 50ft aluminium trimaran, Tin Can, that he has built almost entirely from materials from Home Depot, a US DIY store.
Vann's first boat sank under him - an experience recounted in his book 'A Mile Down'. This time he hopes that his boat's positive flotation will save him from a similar fate.
American sailing website Latitude 38 claims that Vann likens himself to Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Everest. But, the website points out that Vann is " seemingly forgetting that Hillary made use of the best climbing gear at the time...it's as though Vann wants to join the club of those who have made it to the top of Everest, but wants to be the first to make it having sewn his own shirt, pants, socks, and having cobbled his own boots." -- Yachting Monthly
www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20080112094538ymnews.html
* Your humble narrator worked with David Vann in San Francisco for a year... a brilliant fellow, great writer, and by no means insane. He has the sailing skills required, it's the boat that's the question mark. This from his blog:
My plan is to just keep going if everything goes well, making the circumnavigation San Francisco to San Francisco. But if I need to make any repairs or changes, I'll pull into San Diego, since I'm familiar with that port. And I'm willing to pull into a port at any point during the trip if the boat doesn't seem safe or I just don't feel confident. Contrary to what some folks on sailing forums seem to think, I'm not insane or reckless. I'm trying something which is challenging, a true expedition, the most exciting thing I've ever done, and I'm happy with how the boat has turned out. I wish I were leaving earlier in the season, but after studying the pilot charts, I think I'm going to be okay. And I've worked out a plan with Don and Buddy, my weather gurus. I'm going to wait for weather at Cape Horn if I have to, wait again before rounding Tasmania and New Zealand, and I'm also going to go farther north between Cape Horn and Australia than I had previously planned. I'll try to get up around 40 degrees instead of 45, if the wind cooperates. It means a longer route, but it avoids the highest probabilities of gales. And the main thing is, I'm willing to stop the trip and wait until next year if I need to. I'm not driven by pride or shame. I'm fine with admitting that things aren't working out if they're not working out.
www.esquire.com/the-side/blog/tincan
Deputy Racing Manager
Applications are invited for the post of Deputy Racing Manager of the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
The post holder will be responsible for assisting with the development, planning and execution of RORC races. Good salary and benefits.
Applications with accompanying CV should be made in writing marked confidential to the
Racing Manager
Royal Ocean Racing Club
20, St James's Place
London SW1A 1NN
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Minoprio Heads Hardy Cup Standings
New Zealanders Adam Minoprio and Laurie Jury, from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron's Stuart Pollard have finished in the top three placings after the first round robin of the 2008 Hardy Cup ISAF Grade 3 match racing event on Sydney Harbour.
Racing ended late this afternoon when a severe thunderstorm with torrential rain swept across the Harbour, ending a day of closely competitive sailing in a freshening nor' easterly seabreeeze that reached 18 knots this afternoon.
Shock result was the failure of West Australian Torvar Mirsky to qualify for tomorrow's top-six round-robin to decide the finalists. Mirsky last week won the Warren Jones Youth Match Racing Regatta in Perth and was favourite for the Hardy Cup.
A collision with the committee boat at the start (knocking off the starting horn) in a luffing match with arch-rival Adam Minoprio saw Mirsky not only lose the flight but then suffer a penalty of 0.5 point.
But for that he would have finished with 7 points and third in standings at the end of the first round-robin. Instead he has ended with 6.5 points and in seventh place. -- Peter Campbell
Standings after Stage One - Round Robin:
1. Adam Minoprio, RNZYS, 8 wins - 3 losses
2. Laurie Jury, RNZYS, 8 wins - 3 losses
3. Stuart Pollard, RSYS, 7 wins - 4 losses
4. Keith Swinton, SoPYC, 7 wins - 4 losses
5. Josh Junior, RPNYC, 7 wins - 4 losses
6. Evan Walker, CYCA, 7 wins - 4 losses
7. Torvar Mirsky, RPYC, 7 wins - 4 losses
8. Nicole Souter, RPAYC, 5 wins - 6 losses
9. Robert Gibbs, RPYC, 5 wins - 6 losses
10. David Chapman, RSYS, 3 wins - 8 losses
11. Nina Curtis RPAYC, 2 wins - 9 losses
12. John Back, RSYC, 0 wins - 11 losses
www.rsys.com.au/sailing/HardyCup2008.php
Konyukhov Heads Into Ice Territory
Bob Williams, CEO of the Antarctica Cup Management reports from Albany that Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov has chosen to head south of Macquarie Island (54°30S, 158°57E) en-route to crossing Gape 7 (90°W) within the Antarctica Cup Racetrack.
The chase south for more favourable winds is a function of Fedor's commitment to meet elapsed time expectations, which will test his powers of endurance as temperatures fall, and daytime visibility lessens. Ice in the form of 'bergs', 'bergy bits', and 'growlers' that are hard to detect by fully crewed racing yachts are a major hazard for the solo sailor, who cannot maintain a 24 hour lookout.
The 56 year old Russian is now 2,5600 nautical miles into his record setting endeavour with approximately 4,680 nautical miles to GATE 8 at Cape Horn, the half way point in this 14,000 mile solo circumnavigation of Antarctica.
Lee Bruce, Fedor's American weather router, predicts:
Widespread 30+kt wind near Fedor. The wind has been slow to clock to NW and NNW. The forecast still brings the wind to about 310-320T through 10/12 UTC, and then quickly backs it to W or WNW about the time Fedor nears Macquarie Island (so if he wants to leave that island to port, he should pad in some room to the south in case he gets forced north of east near the island). After 11/00 UTC, the wind should clock again to NW or NNW.
There are 18 Islands that are hazards on the Antarctica Cup Racetrack the two most southern being Macquarie Island and the South Sandwich Islands. Fedor is now south of Macquarie Island on the southern reaches of the 'Furious Fifty' latitudes
This unglacierised island was first found by sealers in 1810 and named after Lachlan Macquarie, then Governor of New South Wales. In 1998 Macquarie Island was granted World Heritage status.
www.antarcticacup.com
Better IRC Racing in the Solent Area
The Solent Cruising and Racing Association(SCRA) is proposing the formation of a Solent Area IRC Owners Association, to promote and improve IRC racing in the Solent Area.
An open meeting of IRC owners is being held at Hamble River Sailing Club at 1600 on Saturday 15th March 2008, the afternoon before the start of the Spring Series, at which the proposal will be put forward.
This follows up on an open meeting held at the Royal Southern Yacht Club last spring, whose conclusion can be summed up by the question "are you fed up with racing in fleets of five?" At present, there are so many IRC events on offer in the area that racing is fragmented into small fleets, often providing less than satisfactory competition. With hundreds of IRC boats in the area, surely we can do better.
SCRA believes that the quality of racing can be improved by better attendance at fewer events. Effective one-design classes have a beneficial effect on events run for them. They focus their members' attention on particular events; and have a dialogue with race organisers to co-ordinate the calendar of events and the sort of racing that is wanted. A local IRC Association could do the same.
The Solent Area IRC Owners' Association would come under the umbrella of the GBR IRC Owners' Association and some of its committee members would probably sit on the GBR committee. Draft terms of reference are being prepared so as to be consistent with the GBR and International IRC Association rules.
So SCRA invites all Solent Area IRC owners to the meeting on 15th March at 1600 at Hamble River Sailing Club. If you think better IRC racing in the Solent is possible - do be there.
www.scra.org.uk
Letters To The Editor
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Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.
* From Jenny Howells, RORC IRC Manager: We are pleased to announce that for the first time, the 2008 IRC Yearbook is now available for viewing or download from our website www.rorcrating.com . Please follow the link from our homepage for further details and to download.
Of course we realise that the 'hard copy' of the book is a popular aspect of IRC, and be assured there are NO plans to discontinue the production of this in the future: the on-line version is complimentary, not an alternative. However we hope that having it available on-line as well will prove useful to owners and the trade alike.
* From John Rousmaniere: John Donnelly is correct. The 1976 edition of The Oxford Companion was the first and only one until 2005. My rush to trumpet the advantages of the new edition misled me. Lesson: always doublecheck your sources!
The Last Word
There is precious little in civilization to appeal to a Yeti. -- Edmund Hillary
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