Rumors and Lies

China Bound?

There seemed to be some questions why none of the Melges family clan appeared at the Chicago Boat Show over the weekend. Where were they? We hear the word was that they were over in China looking at potential production facilities. Maybe Trinidad made M 32's just aren't good enough for them anymore...

02/06/07

VOR

The Film They Don't Want You To See

We hear that a documentary film that was made about the VOR, and paid for by the VOR, has been rejected by the VOR. Apparently, among other things, they did not like some of the more revealing footage that captured the powers that be trying to figure out how to convince the world that the race was not the disaster that they all knew it was. Among only some of the moments alegedly captured on film, but not explained:

Why was Brunel issued a safety certificate hours before the race start when all proper checks had not been completed?

Why then was Brunel's VOR certificate withdrawn in Melbourne?

Why did the VOR pay for Brunel's second keel bulb in Sanxenxo? This after already having paid for the first bulb that was kept on Skandia for the Sydney /Hobart?

Could the answers be in the idea of a $10 million penalty payment to ABN if seven boats were not on the start line, perhaps?

07/12/06

Rumors

Samba TP

John Kilroy's new Botin & Carkeek TP 52 Samba Pa 'Ti should be out of the oven from Cookson Boats and onto the truck by July. Bay sailors, expect to see it in Anderson's boatyard this summer. He certainly can put together a good program, Botin & Carkeek seem to be the hot designers and it will interesting to see how the boat stacks up. The TP cabin houses are sure getting interesting looking, aren't they?

06/15/06

Seems he has long since parted company with the aforementioned effort and is actively seeking greener pastures. He flies to Baltimore this week to finalise discussions with a team involved none too successfully to date in the same event. With the in-port race this coming Saturday there may be wholesale changes to the crew list of said team including the likely imminent demise of a recently appointed replacement skipper. As one of the more experienced and hard driving Whitbread/ VOR sailors in the game, his presence could well lift the struggling meatball eaters up the score sheet should the discussions bear fruit.

With regard to his former ride, his views on the modifications intended to get that vessel up to pace were decidedly less than optimistic. Apparently new canards are ready to fit but have not been trialled and in his opinion just won’t work with the limited work-up time now likely to be available due to the delayed arrival in Baltimore by the transporting ship. His views of the organizational capabilities of his former employer and their race strategies re dropping legs etc. are unprintable, even here!

04/24/06

The Cat is Back?

Wow, that was short lived. We have it that Roy Disney who, with some fanfare, announced that he was done with racing, donated the big Pyewackett and walked away. Looks like he's back.

We have heard from two pretty good sources that he has bought the TP 52 Pegasus from Philippe Kahn, and would seem to be right back in it. It will be interesting to see how much he likes the high intensity, extremely close fleet racing of the 52's versus usually running by himself out in front with the big rig, with a whole lot less pressure.

If nothing else, after a failed stint running Genuine Risk, it gives Robbie Haines a job.

04/14/06

Shut it Down

The AC K-Challenge is about to abandon ship while the ACM is in panic mode as they see their "fantasy projects" go down in flames. K-Challenge hasn't much money left, all possible sponsors are walking away from the project, and unless a last-minute miracle takes place, there will be no French syndicate for the 32nd America's Cup. Second in the firing squad is +39, but we told you that.

Oh and on the Coutts/Alinghi comeback rumors, yes Brad Butterworth did say they were courting a Couuts comeback following the Alinghi press conference in Switzerland last week. Schuman, Baird and Holmberg went apeshit, and Butterworth got his ass chewed out by Mr. Bertarelli. Then Butterworth tried to get out of it by going on the radio in New Zealand saying it was all a joke and the European press did not understand his Kiwi sense of humor. Funny stuff, that.

03/14/06

Truth in Advertising

The apparently permanently floundered big boat program, the 90' Genuine Risk, seems to at least be living up to it's name. From what we hear, most if not the entire sailing team has been let go, with promises of getting paid for what they signed up for not being fulfilled. Ah, and here is the rub - we understand that few actually signed up for anything, as in signing a written contract! Lawyers have been contacted by some sailors wondering what their legal standing is should they not get what has at least been thought to have been promised, but not written. Now this may turn to a non story if indeed everyone walks away happy, but if not.....Stay tuned.

02/03/06

B Boy

From an Argentinean Anarchist...

A group of Argentinean sailors that have sailed the maxis Alexia and Matador have gotten good enough that most of them are working for AC teams, not only in the sailing teams but also into the design and building areas. The skipper and project manager of the Alexia Sailing Team, Mr. Guillermo Parada is now a member of the Oracle BMW racing Team as the helmsman of B boat, maybe the best skipper and project leader that South American sailing has. We have sailed many regattas together and know him very well so we wish he can succeed into this new great challenge that him and the rest of the Argie`s that are in the AC have and wish to have an Argie Team for the next Cup!

1/31/06

Plug Pulled

Seems we've heard this before...

Yet again, one of the most under peforming big boat programs on the planet, the 90' Genuine Risk, has pulled the plug on their program, this time a planned Caribbean circuit. Apparently new honcho Robbie Haines has been trying to get the boat in order, at least as he sees it, and somehow it is not adding up for the owner so the plug has been pulled.

One would likely think that this boat will soon be on the market......

01/13/06

Keelgate?

Was there a problem with Wild Oats' keel at the end of the race - hence the real reason the mainsail came down? The boat was thought to look very overpowered under jib alone and apparently the keel was not being tacked the last few miles. Rumor is there was a problem with it. We think Adrienne Cahalan mentioned something about it dockside after they finished....Comments?

12/28/05

In n' Out
Word is that Philippe Kahn has put his TP 52 Pegasus up for sale - in fact you can even have it for Key West Race Week if you are so inclined. Damn, wouldn't it be nice to just write the check, call up some homeboys, and have a go?

12/21/05

-39
The strong word in Euroland is that the boys at +39 have not been paid for several months and many are "resting" elsewhere. They actually broke camp in Valencia earlier than planned (November) because of lack of pay. The sailors said "no tickee, no washee," but the Cup watchers weren't too concerned because that is not the first time the sailors have gone for a long stretch with no pay. The team issued a release saying the quit sailing early because they had achieved all they could with that shitter of an old boat (2000 vintage) ITA-59 which was given to them by Alinghi. But they have a few hidden sources of revenue (more on that later) and most people expect them to make it the the starting line again next year. However beyond 2006 remains to be seen.

+88
Indeed the Spanish have been issued sail number 88. A number is issued, in sequence, soon after the CM is notified by a team that lay-up of the hull has begun, and that has indeed happened

12/09/05

CBTF $$?

Rumor has it that CBTF has reached an extraordinary out-of-court settlement with Maximus, the 100' Maxi from New Zealand. Also rumored is that CBTF will file suit claiming a recent launch infringed its patented technology. There will certainly be more to these stories...

12/05/05

New Math?

So earlier in the week we showed you a pic of the new X 35 sailing and reported that 100 of them were on order. Ah, but sometimes the numbers don't tell the whole story? Rumours say that the reason for the large amount of pre-sold X 35's is that X Yachts told every dealer to order a number of boats, otherwise they'd lose their license to sell X-Yachts in the future. We looked into it and learned that this is not true - it is apparent that this is a boat that has resonated with the buying public, and we understand that people are snapping these boats up as fast as possible, in fact some dealers can't even get them!. We love to see momentum in this sport and it is clear the new 35 has it.

10/28/05

Bad Times

Verified by three different sources, this is bad behavior at its very worst. There is apparently extensive damage to these million dollar boats, all of it incurred by a couple of knucklehead "Rock Stars." Nice job boys. Here is a report from the scene:

So there we were in Annapolis in October for the Senator's Cup.What a nightmare that turned into! Two notable helmsmen, Gavin Brady and Chris Law, certainly presented themselves to be something less than class acts. Class a-holes perhaps. Running Decocean aground was one thing, but Chris Law driving Better Than into Devocean was something else. Offering up lame excuses like "there was nothing I could do", etc. did nothing to lessen the stupidity. We then understand that the two fine gentlemen proceeded to get into a fist fight! We did not see the fight, but I'm surprised no one who saw it charged them with the unsportsmanlike behavior rule. That display of bad behavior had to be the worst I've ever seen. Read On

10/27/05

Also from the same source, apparently Neville C is not too happy with Oatley for doing it. Rich pricks worry about the strangest things - egos mainly I guess!

8/05/05

SailNet in Trouble?

We have heard from a number of sources that SailNet is or is about to close their doors. We tried to get in touch with them, but got nothing but voice mail hell - in fact the sales voicemail said don't leave a message - not exactly a ringing endorsement for business. Here is what was sent to us today:

Someone who lives close to Sailnet has posted a series of pictures showing that the Sailnet sign has been taken down, the parking lot is empty, and the building is locked up, with a closed sign in the door. He went once at 9 am, and then when he returned a little later, there was a Mercedes parked near the door, but despite pounding on the door, there was no response. He asked around at a few other buildings nearby, and was told it's been mostly deserted there.

Ouch. Things don't sound any better over at their forum (which we have never visited but hear is pretty good). If anybody can verify, please do. Btw, we'd be happy to take over the message boards as a distinct entity here at SA. If anybody knows about them, get in touch with The Ed

7/20/05

Speaking of Transpac...

Hey we've gotten this wrong once before, so we'll try again.. We hear this time that Roy Disney's latest Pyewacket will be donated to the Orange Coast College sailing program after this, Disney's final Transpac. It would be interesting to know if they tried to sell it but could not, or simply opted for the donation first. Can't imagine there would be a line of people to buy a maxZ 86.....

7/12/05

The former Head of Syndicate filed court papers in April, claiming he had been deliberately shut out of the next regatta. He claimed his involvement had been limited to the design team once Grant Dalton had been brought in to manage the next challenge. Schnackenberg has agreed to cover all of Team New Zealand's legal costs - and it has in turn agreed to release him to join Luna Rossa.

Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton says he has pleased the dispute has finally been settled. He says he was becoming concerned at the amount of time and sponsors' money being spent on the row.

7/5/05

West Fight

We hear that West Marine was unhappy that Boater's World was discounting West Systems products, and WM compained to WS about that. Apparently West Systems then told Boater's World not to discount, there was some disagreement, and now WS refuses to sell to Boater's World. Boater's World is now having lawyers threatening a lawsuit. Woo-hoo!

6/28/05

Spilt from the Herd?

Of course the world of the America's Cup is dominated by North, but we are hearing of at least one team that is going in another direction. Any guesses which team and which sailmaker? First correct answer wins SA swag, though we can't tell you the answer quite yet.

6/8/05

We hear that some Big Boats are doing some Big Changes! Rumor has it that after the upcoming Transpac, the current crew on the Genuine Risk gets the flick, getting replaced by the entire team from Pyewacket! This has credibility, not only because the Pyewacket program ends right after Transpac, but also because of the level of crew changes that have taken place during GR's short existence. At least 8 guys have been asked or have left on their own from the GR program, and it is thought that Robbie Haines and his boys from Pye, needing some other maxi boat's teats to attach themselves to, already have a deal in place to feel the magic of GR. Oh this should fun!

5/18/05

AC EFFLUENCE

In another world exclusive, SA reveals once again what is going on behind the scenes in Valencia. We have been accused before of stirring the shit, but in this case it seems we are doing just that - literally - but sadly someone needs to while ACM and Valencia apparently "dither" to use the word below.

Get a load of this email thread, forwarded to us by a journalist in New Zealand who got it from Alinghi. We have heard similar stories about Barcelona during the 1992 Olympics from sailors who raced there. So this cannot come as a big surprise.

How would you like to be a genoa trimmer sitting to leeward on an AC Boat in Valencia on a windy day? Or a bowman? And if this is the kind of shit - no pun intended - Tom Ehman is having to deal with as chairman of the challenger committee, no wonder he is stepping down and turning it over to Team GBR's George Clyde in May. But good on him for trying to do something about it: Read On

4/21/05

RC vs Alinghi

RC & Alinghi - the war will be on the water...

RC has been hired to sail the D35 "Banque Gonet&Cie" on the lake of Geneva for at least 4 races including the "Bol d'Or". He will sail against Alinghi on one of these nice one-design cats. Will be fun to watch, especially after the race in the club house...

4/8/05

Colors

Here is an inter-loft memo that we intercepted from an unnamed large sailmaking company. -Ed.

From April 1st 2005 we will start a transfer to clear film and white taffeta on all XXX products. This change is due to certain complications in producing a completely and evenly tinted product when using a wide range of fiber denier counts and mixing conventional and tri-ply applications. There will be no opportunity to go back and produce 1 or 2 “tinted” sails after the change is done.

Anyone with XXX orders in pending due to lack of details or no deposit paid; please try to get those orders to production ASAP. If you can not move order to production, please communicate with your client regarding the change.

We will make sure all “inventories” on order will get through production before change is done.

Any XXX affiliates ordering their sails direct from XXX are responsible for their own orders.

If anyone have concerns regarding their sails on order, please call.

This change is final.

70 the Hard Way?

Word around Sydney Harbour this weekend, from a very reliable source, has Iain Murray also involved in the rumoured Coutts & Cayard circus. Further, the bloke who will be running the business/commercial side of things has already been dispatched to set up shop in Monaco.

The big news though, is the nature of the boats.... 70 footers that can be broken down and packed into 40 foot containers! No other details but speculation was that the bow and stern sections would probably be removable and the mast broken into three sections.

By our way of thinking, this series is still very iffy, and they have a lot of work to do and money to raise before it ever happens. Every other initiative like it has failed.

3/1/05

Box 65

We are hearing about some momentum being generated on the east coast about a Box 65 rule. The idea is to have a class with more technology than a TP 52 (canting keel), much faster, yet not one that is not part of the maxi arms race. Why not?

2/28/05

What of DC?

DC's Bill Trenkle has been seen in NZ - possibly offing the Stars$Stripes AC boats? At least two teams are trying to get them - Mascalzone Latino and C7 Malaysia, which has migrated there from Australia in search of government money. The S&S boats are the only decent ones left from the '03 Cup, but it could be that DC is just sending them back to SD to get them ready for corporate gigs in the USA or elsewhere.

Dennis was recently quoted that he would "be working for a woman" in the next Cup. C7's CEO is a woman. Stay tuned...

2/16/05

LeeVing?

A pretty well substantiated rumor has Bill Lee resigning as offshore chair of USSailing. He didn't realize how much time it took and didn't think he could afford the time to give the position its due. Major bummer. Being the Offshore Chair today is kind of like being Michael Jackson's PR team, but without the pay. No word on who's going to take Bill's place.

1/14/05