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2002 Archives The Beginning is at the bottom
That's A Good Number We are the first to admit that we can't get enough of the JS 9000. And based on feedback that we get, neither can many of you. I can't think of a recent boat that has caused this much interest. This from Swarbrick's Paul Burnham: Good news, we recorded 20 knots for the first time yesterday (Sunday)! In Albany, Western Australia, 'Wahoo' sailing two up, hit 20 knots in a 22-24kt breeze. But they really should remember to put a knot in that spinnaker sheet..... another pic 12/15/2002
They're Multiplying! See what happens when you leave a couple of young JS 9000's alone together? They fornicate! Or is that procreate? We think we've done both, but it's been awhile.... Anyway, here they are being built, and the first one to the U.S. arrives on the west coast in January. Of course we'll have a full review. www.sportzboat.com 11/29/2002
Rebut Race1 Answers Back Yesterday, under Rumors and Lies, we reported that the English company Race1 (U2canRace1), had pulled a fast one and that the company was in some level of trouble. This is not the first time we have heard things like this about this company from more than one source, so while we indeed did print it, we wanted to be fair and at least give Race1 a chance to respond, which they did. Here is their story. While we most certainly will not pull the original story, we have no axe to grind with these guys, and hope that the rumors are not true and that they do indeed run a successful business that will continue. By the way, we have already recieved inquiries for future business for Race1 from the original article. Sometimes, any press is good press......The Ed. Scot, This is totally wrong. Whilst we were asked some time ago to arrange this charter with the X332s, no agreement was made or signed by the TV company until the Friday before the boats were to go on the Wednesday. We organised an alternative as long as their fee arrived by Tuesday. However we had to cancel that on the Tuesday night. Their fee did finally arrive on Thursday (the day after they were planning to leave with the boats!) and was returned to them. They offered us a small compensation for the frustrated work involved that was agreed and accepted and an event with proper notice was discussed for next Season. Eyeworks (the Dutch TV Company involved) accepted that it was totally their fault for not organising their end in a timely fashion and thanked us for offering practical alternatives including a postponement or an alternative Round the Island or along the British Coast race which after referral was declined. They did send some crew to try to organise alternatives, against our advice as it was already too late, who went to the Isle of Wight, whereas our office is in nearby Hamble from where the boats were to be organised. Despite numerous telephone calls between them, us and Eyeworks they did not come to see us and we had no arrangements to meet them. As far as rumours concerning Race1 generally are concerned it is true that in common with many marine businesses since 9/11 we have had our problems. We have continued trading, re-organised and made some changes. Our charter bookings are strong for 2003 and we have recently sold a new Race1 Ker11.3 boat to Hong Kong. Your comments are unfair, scurrilous and damaging and we would expect an immediate withdrawal and apology. Best
Regards, 11/14/2002
Here is the latest story regarding the English charter company U2canRace1 (Also known as Race1). In the Netherlands there is currently a competition going called Planet Race sponsored by Planet Internet and covered by television network SBS6. On of the items in the competition (the competitors do not know their next challenge) was a sailing race from Cherbourg to Cowes. Boats (X-332's) were chartered with U2canRace1 and the charter fee was paid. 14 crewmen and 7 cameramen traveled to Cowes to collect the boats and guess what? There were no boats and no Jonny Falkner (u2canRace1 director). The owners of the X-332 boats were called and they stated that they told U2canRace1 6 weeks ago that they had no boats available as they were all chartered for the Hamble winter series. So everybody had to go home. Ouch. Race1 is rumored to be going belly up very soon, but apparently not without absconding with somebody else's money. 11/13/2002
OmoDONEdro North Marine Group has decided to close down the Omohundro composite facility in Minden, Nevada. Apparently just about every employee got the boot in the process. All composite spars and other components will now be built at the Southern Spars facility, also under the umbrella of NMG. Omohundro had always been dogged by the reputation of building a very marginal product. It looked nice, and it seemed like they knew what they were doing, but if it was a carbon spar and it broke, it was likely an Omohundro.A shame really. It was a very nice facility with a seemingly good staff, and of course some decent funding behind it. Omohundro started off well, got a lot of very good orders, but ultimately had a big problem: Their spars kept falling down. And guess what - if you are building a VERY expensive composite spar, that most insurance companies will not cover, and they keep falling down, you are not going to be in business for long. And so it is for these guys.
It's
My Toy and You Can't Play
Looks like someone has a new toy under construction. It is a new Andrews sled, but not one of the new MaxZ 86's. In fact it is, at 77', somewhere between the "old" 75' sleds like Pegasus and Chance, and the new breed of 86' introduced by Z5. From what we hear, the other "small" sled owners don't like the idea that the ante is being raised at their size level, and they supposedly they want the new 77 to be 6/sec a mile slower than what they currently have. Huh? That is one of the more ridiculous things we've heard. We understand that this new 77' is limited in how big it can be by the confines of the harbor it is kept in - somewhere in SoCal. We don't know all the details yet, but isn't it amazing how people bitch about what other people are doing. At this level, it is all the more inane. Rich kids just can't seem to play right. 10/27/2002
Not So Premiere? We received this which had been sent out by Premiere Racing regarding Key West Race Week and associated industry news: "YACHTING MAGAZINE: Since the last Partner Update, we reached a settlement. Premiere Racing and Yachting Magazine have officially and amicably terminated their agreement. The event founder will not be participating with the event in any capacity next January." We wonder why Premier Racing and Yachting Magazine (the founder of Key West Race Week) no longer have a relationship for the regatta and why Yachting Magazine is no longer participating after all these years? It's got to be, in part, because Yachting Magazine is now so far removed from what it once was all those years ago. Isn't it basically a giant classified section for used Browards in Ft. Liquordale? That and I imagine their circulation and ad revenues must be way off. Love to know what the "settlement" was. We also understand that Premiere and SW have preliminary talks underway - which would seem to make sense. Anybody have any info? 09/26/2002
Booted We just learned that Santa Cruz Yachts has been given 30 days to move out of the "Chicken Coop" - the famous shed that hatched many a wonderful boat. This is kind of sad as it was the birth place of all the cool Santa Cruz boats - Merlin, Chutzpah, the SC 27, 50 etc. Now, we don't know what this means for SC Yachts, in terms of where they'll land, but if anybody knows, please let us know. 09/23/2002
Swan Dive No, not the dismasted Swan 68 from the Swan Cup in Porto Cervo (which would be bad enough), rather it was the picture of that dismasted Swan 68 towing the first of the 3 Swan 45's which lost rudders back into the marina!!! This is a major fiasco for Swan - 3 of 5 new 45's lost their rudders, and Swan basically had to cover all the owners' costs for the regatta since they weren't able to continue. 2 other rigs ruined, lots of sails trashed, one guy missing overboard for 45 mins in 35+kts...Good times! 09/16/2002
Heres What the Hell Happened
For those of you who didn't get the real story in the forum, what looked like a hell of a story, turns out to be not so hellish. That is unless you are the owner. Or the boatyard. Or the insurance company.
The J-105 Green Jacket, that was the subject of yesterday's Rumors and Lies (see below), appears to have suffered most of the damage from simply falling over while on the hard! While it was fun speculating about what happened to the hull, the truth turns out to be something less intriguing. Apparently a storm caused the thing to fall over while hauled out to repair the damage that did take place during the race. We still don't know exactly what went wrong in the first place, but we're looking into that as well. The ll story can be found here. http://www.tammanyyachtclub.org/Boats/GrnJkt.htm 09/12/2002
What In The Hell Happened?
Check this out. These pics are from a J/105 that raced in the Gulfport to Pensacola race this past June. The race starts in Mississippi Sound just outside Gulfport, MS, and ends at the Sea Buoy at the Pensacola Ship Channel. It is a 100 nm overnight race and usually is a light/med air broad reach for most of the way. This year it was a 100 mile dead upwind slog in 20-35 kts and 10 ft seas. It started out nice at the noon start, winds around 10-12 but just before sunset started picking up in the high teens and dead on the nose. By around 9 pm the winds were holding steady in the 22-25 kts range with some gusts above 30. No storms, beautiful night to sail but honking winds and waves. About half of the 103 boat fleet dropped out at some point and we heard some mayday calls on the radio during the night for the CG to come help some boats in distress. In particular, Mad Max, a J/120 almost lost it's keel and had to be towed into Mobile, AL by the CG al the while being pumped to stay afloat.
At
the post race party, we heard that the J/105 had some damage to
it's hull that occurred right AFTER they crossed the finish line.
I'm not sure but I think they had to get CG help too because they
were taking on water. I never thought anything about it again
until I was cruising around a local boatyard here in Pensacola
and saw the same J/105 on the hard. When I went to look closer
- HOLY SHIT! I thought at first that they had hit something submerged
but then upon closer inspection
there doesn't appear to be any scrape marks at the "impact point" that you would expect if they hit something. Ditto for the keel damage area. I don't know the real story, but I think the keel and hull were damaged from the 20 hours of pounding through waves. It looks as if the keel tried to twist itself off and the hull just flexed and finally cracked. I may be wrong but that's surely what it looks like to me. I can't believe they were able to stay afloat with that much open to water intrusion. Just to be clear I do NOT know the absolute truth about the damage. The hearsay at the party (assumedly started by the crew itself) was the hull had "delaminated" right after the finish. That was the word used. The buzz at the post-race party was they heard a loud crack right after the finish line and had to get assistance. Not sure the extent of what help they needed but from the pics it looks like they would have been taking on water at a pretty fast rate. Fortunately the finish was a couple of hours after sunrise so at least it wasn't dark. At first I though they either hit something or ran aground but I don't think either happened. There is no obvious damage to the bottom of the keel or bulb to show a hard aground (plus its all sand here anyway) and there are no scrapes or impact point on the hull to cause the big dent and crack. The scrape you see in the pic looks like its from a block from the support stands as if they moved it once. I would think an impact that bad would have scrapes all down the side of the hull. Picture 4 Anyway, just thought you might be interested since there are a lot of J/105s out your way. Jeff
B 09/11/2002
The Latest From North! Our intrepid SA spies came across the latest laminated sail from North Sails. We understand the code name for this new product is called 1DL, which apparently represents what the unsuspecting, overpaying customer gets when purchasing one of these: The formula goes something like this Two layers of film, + One layer of fiber + Adhesive = One Delaminated piece of shit!
Just kidding. Sort of. This is what happens sometimes with laminated sails as they age. They become unlaminated. Christ knows I saw enough of this sort of shit when I worked for Sobstad with the Genocide product. And North is not immune to this happening sometimes as well. Good Times. 09/08/2002
Race 1 or Race Over? Word is that Race 1, the English company that has been selling the line of Ker designed boats, is way deep in debt and bad will. They had a boat seized on the last day of the Commodores Cup - the team leader (Peter Harrison, the Team GBR backer) had to negotiate with an open checkbook with the outraged owner who at the time was at the police station claiming his boat had been stolen! Turns out Race 1 had chartered it without his knowledge and were pocketing the cash! Two RIB's crash boarded the boat after the final race wrangling over who would get the sails back - during which all three drifted off into a collision with moored keelboats. Also, the Seattle-based Flash Gordon guys who chartered a Sydney 40 from Race 1 for Cork Week, were thinking of suing Race1 for the lack of new sails (part of the charter deal) and the crappy state of the boat. There is also more nasty talk of missing payments for sail orders which owners placed through Race1 but the sailmakers never got on completion. Or Race1 sending out their young maintenance worker/BN types to buy materials on their own credit cards because the company has no credit anymore, apparently not even with the Rating Office? The bottom line with these stories is that while they might be common knowledge on some level, the British marine industry feels too shaky to want to have any negative events happen... even though people are getting screwed. 09/02/2002
MOB, Too. This from a reader: Ed, when you asked Larry Leonard this question about the MOB incident on Z5, I about died laughing: "Regarding the man overboard incident, rumor has it that one night you decided to skip your watch, and spend the four hours down below drinking. You then wandered on deck, drunk and naked, except for a pair of Dee Smith's boots, and it was you who fell over while pissing and mumbling something about how fucked everybody was. Is there any truth to that?" That has to be one of the funniest Innerview questions ever! They're still not talking about who fell over... In Hong Kong this year, one of the old Pyewackets, now called Free Fire, was racing against arch rival Jelik, a Wylie 77' sled in the China Sea Race. The billionaire owner, Frank Pong, fell over the side while supposedly washing out his coffee cup. Funnily, no one would talk about it either, but almost the whole crew is made up of Filipino "Professional" sailors. Therefore apparently little credence can be put in the cup washing story and figured he fell off taking a piss too. For us, we simply tie a rope round the owner whenever he is on deck. Great site... keep it up! 08/29/2002
Booya! We love ESPN, and in particular guys like Stuart Scott who pump much needed humor and entertainment (not to mention some black hipness for our lilly white asses ) into the world of sports. They are also pretty good at calling 'em like the see 'em and they recently did just that on their internet site. They take a pretty good whack at ol' DC in this article. Good times. http://msn.espn.go.com/page2/s/wiley/020815.html 08/26/2002
The Last Hurrah The folks from the ID35 Class sent us a notice of their upcoming 1D35 National Championships, hosted by Coral Reef Yacht Club, in Miami, FL, at the Miami Beach Marina on 1,2,3 November 2002. Gee that's great and all, but we can't help but see the gray lining in this silver cloud. To wit, how many boats will they get? How many new boats are being built? How are the various ID 35 fleets around the country doing? How's that Farr 36, also built by Carroll Marine, going to impact the class? It's clear that the answers to these questions are not going to make any ID 35 people happy. The common refrain emitted by apologists everywhere who are about to tell the truth is "we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...". But nothing. We like calling it like it is, and the call here (perhaps an obvious one) is that this class is dead. It must hold some sort of record as one of the fastest flameouts in one design history. How long was this class viable? 4 years? An embarrassment to all involved. And who's to blame? Let's start with the designers, organizers, and the builder. Why did Nelson put the ridiculous looking low aspect symmetrical kites (with the "gee this is real fun to jibe" long pole) on the thing, when he could have stayed on the progressive curve with a sprit and huge asymmetricals? It would have made the boat much faster, easier and fun to sail. Nelson is a bright guy, if a bit of a know-it-all, but there is not an excuse in the world that I am buying on that one. They clearly missed the target on this. And why is it so tippy? They should have made it nice and stiff and cut the crew size down. Makes everybody happy. The ID organizing group admittedly put up the dough to get the ball rolling, but then because they need a return on their investment (In sailing? What, do they think this is a business? Didn't they learn from the ID 48 debacle?), they added a % to the price of each boat. So it was more expensive than it needed to be. And then you are left with the builder. Carroll, by many accounts, is not particularly well thought of as a builder. He has managed to stay in business for a long time, so he must do some things right. But, If the ID 35's were well made, why did a few owners opt for new boats to replace their existing ones? Questionable build issues and reputation did not help the class much. It's kind of a cool boat and they do go right along, but at the price, configuration and builder, just not cool enough. Sorry for the owners who are now looking at realistic resale prices in the $80,000 range. At this rate I'll buy one next year for about $40,000. Good times. Lest we forget, there is a National Championship looming and, if you want more information on the regatta, please contact the 1D35 Class. Tel: 800.525.3863 Fax: 252.442.4226 www.1d35.com email: 1D35@1d35.com 08/25/2002
New Old and New New Hobie 33 Production Update As promised (christ, I do a lot for you people), here is the latest on the new Hobie 33, straight from the builder. - Ed Just a quick word on the new H-33.....First 2002 production boat off the line next month. It is going to Detroit.....Lots of changes in the construction and materials, that werent available to us 21 years ago. Beefed up areas at stanchions, also stronger stanchions, molded in transom step, weight savings all over, with a stiffer deck and hull. Got to put out a stock class legal boat right now for six customers who are anxious to race class, but we are also designing the new "Carbon Copy" which will be built totally out of carbon and Kevlar, along with some other new hgh tech materials. This boat will have a modified cockpit and deck, along with full race interior....A brand new 2002 H-33 for $60.000.00 that is still competitive, seems to work for some people, and this will certainly keep us in production, so we can improve and update the H-33 as we go. Love your site and consider it a great honor to even be mentioned. Best Regards, Robbie Roberson Spartan Marine Co. 08/14/2002
Aussie Rules We seem to have tapped into some great energy from Down Under, both the Aussies and Kiwis. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've not met one of these blokes that I didn't like. They are really good people. Oh yeah, they seem have this sailing thing down pretty fucking well, don't they? - Here is a report from one of our new friends. -Ed Bit of interesting news from Australia. After the Sydney Hobart race this year, there is going to be an event called "Bass Strait Dash". This event will be started in Devenport, Tasmainia and finish in Melbourne, Victoria. Boats entered have a two week window to start and finish, to enable them to pick best breeze to set fastest time across Bass Strait. Fastest Boat will recieve $25,000, with another $50, 000 to any boat who can beat the Bass Strait passanger Ferry's fastest crossing. (Bass Strait Ferry averages 17 knots!) Expressions of interest already from Xena, 3 ex-Volvo boats now in Aus, Wild Thing, southern Ocean 55 catermaran Raw Nerve, and a couple of smaller yachts. Guess what? No Brindabella, maybe a case of no rules, no limits, flat out, go as fast as you can and no protests!! By the way great site, tell anyone who doesn't like it, to stick it where the sun would never shine!! Nice to hear some honest views for once. 08/12/2002
Wait, There Was One Slight Problem.... Christina, the training boat of the Swedish Victory challenge contender to Louis Vuiton and AC 2002-2003, and better known as former NZ AC winner NZL 38, is up for sale. Victory challenge states that they have had no serious incidents/accidents onboard while using the boat. Wonder what former Sydney 2000 Soling bronze medal crew Espen Stokkeland has to say on that one, having lost much of a finger after getting it jammed in a block during training with Christina at Seté in France? But well a finger is just a finger and not a dick I suppose. And compared with the fact that the Swiss Alinghi challenge lost the rudder of its training boat and almost sank on the same day, a lost finger is definitely minor :-D. Understand there is a market for seccond hand AC boats in the States. (There are some rich boys playing with these monsters in Northern California - Ed). Here in Scandinavia they are rather useless, as the options off where you can sail in our shallow coastal waters (skerries), with a boat with a draught more than 3 meters, is rather limited :-). Especially since if you hit bottom, you're more likely to hit solid rock than soft clay. Best regards: Jens Andersen in Denmark 08/11/2002
Bitter Fella Turns out the pissing match between the owners of Brindabella and Wild Thing goes back quite a ways. The most recent incident that re-kindled the feud was the rather pissy protest issued against Wild Thing by Brindabella, which resulted in WT getting chucked for some irrelevant eligibility issue. There is an amazing story developing right now between the owner of Brindabella, Wild Thing, some crew members, and Sailing Anarchy! We'll tell it as soon as we can - if we can. In the meantime we received this background info from one of our Down Under Brothers. - Ed Ed - Here's a bit of background for you on Wild Thing/Brindabella. I know both owners, and can tell you that it is just sour grapes on Brindabella's part. Once upon a time, 10-7 yrs. ago, Brindabella was fastest maxi in Australia. Along comes Wild Thing, built on a low budget, using heaps of A/C spares, including masts (the boat was actually half built on a farm outside Melbourne). It was on pace with Brindabella but no quicker. Good even racing. Along came Shockwave (now Morning Gory), which smoked everything. In order to have a line honors chance, Wild Thing got a bigger rig And was stretched by about 10 ft, and still struggled against Shockwave, but smoked Brindabella, mainly by being smart and putting some decent Asymmetrics on the thing. George Snow's boat is old, heavy, and too short now. No competition. This isn't the first time he has protested Wld Thing in a long distance race, over some bullshit issue. Unfortunately, he got away with it this time. Think George hates Wild Thing? He fuckin' hates Grundig Xena, which only 66ft, and unless it's light and upwind he can't touch the boat. This prick is Mega rich, and is just a whiner & sore loser. If he Wants to keep up, buy a new fuckin' boat. The new Wild Thing getting built is 96ft, canting keel, nomex/carbon, with huge assy's. The new Shockwave is 93ft and will smoke him too. There's a bit of insight into the Aus maxi scene, and George Snow's Lack of chances in winning anywhere except in the protest room. 08/08/2002
Nice Timing We read that Peter de Savary, the guy behind the 1983 Victory AC challenge, has announced his conditional challenge for the 2006 America's Cup. Hey Pete, that's some mighty fine timing. Yet here's the line from his spin doctor "In no way is this conditional challenge meant to detract from the excellent job being undertaken by Peter Harrison's GBR Challenge." Uh, sure it's not. Couldn't you have waited just a bit? Say, when the Harrison's boys get eliminated, for example? To many observers, it was incredible that the UK got one challenge off the ground, and by most accounts, this one looks pretty strong. It'll be interesting to watch them all fight over a few quid for the next go around. 08/06/2002
SA Is Good Luck? We are noticing a trend: almost all the participants in the Sailing Anarchy Innerview have gone on to greatness after their appearance here. John Kostecki won the Volvo; Mark Reynolds won everything; Chris Snow won the Lipton Cup; Bob Perry designed the Anarchy 30; Dawn Riley got hired by the French (okay so not everyone attained greatness). See the trend? Now add Harry Melges to the mix. He is winning the Melges 24 Worlds in Germany after 6 races. If he holds it together, we'll get a report from him. Go homeboy! www.melges24.com has all the dope. 07/31/2002
This Is What Kills The Sport Read this, which we got from Sail-World: Sean Langman’s 66-footer Grundig is the line honours winner of the Sydney to Gold Coast Race, after a Protest Committee upheld George Snow’s (Brindabella) protest against the eligibility of Grant Wharington’s maxi Australian Skandia Wild Thing to have competed in the race. As a result, Australian Skandia Wild Thing has been disqualified from the race. The Protest Committee decided that a boat must enter one of the three handicap categories in order to compete. The Protest Committee decided that a boat may not enter the line honours category only. While Grant Wharington initially lodged an IRC certificate in order to enter the IRC division, it was found that two measurements had not been verified by a nominated measurer, which rendered the certificate invalid. The Race Committee determined that Australian Skandia Wild Thing could be accommodated under the terms of the Notice of Race to sail for line honours only. The Protest Committee disagreed. Can you imagine a bigger bullshit protest? It's one thing if a boat is caught legitimately cheating, but eligibility? Wild Thing is a known ocean racer that did not appear to try to circumvent anything, they just wanted to race. So the clowns on Brindabella are pissed about Wild Thing getting line honors, and this is the shit they pull? There must be a bad history between the two boats. If anybody knows the real story, let us know. Regardless, from here on out, Brindabella is now known as Bitterbella. 07/30/2002
SA Not On The TDC Mailing List? We received this today from Bill Trenkle, who despite the occasional beating we have administered to TDC, has been very cool with us. We appreciate that. This is the PR piece that they sent out to everybody (except us, of course) about the status of USA 77. Note the sentience: "The full extent of the repair work to be done and the exact timetable are undefined until the work begins in New Zealand." That should tell you plenty about the situation. BTW, one reason they are so adamant about getting this boat sailable is they have fulfillment/incentive funding requirements meaning they MUST have two boats for their so-called two boat testing program. So even if they show up with a wounded duck, they can still claim a two-boat program and fool the stooges, er sponsors into giving them even more money. Scot, I have heard there is a lot of rumours flying in the SA forum and thought that I should forward this to you since you were not on our media distribution list. Bill Team Dennis Conner's America's Cup boats will be shipped to New Zealand as scheduled Long Beach, CA - Stars & Stripes USA-77 has now been inspected by Team Dennis Conner's engineers and has had a full ultrasound to determine the extent of the damaged areas where the bow hit the bottom. The whole incident has been analyzed and we have determined that it was quite a soft landing because the bulb and bow apparently went into the mud and silt almost together. The bulb was buried in more than three feet of mud. This explains the gentle stop the boat made as it slipped lower and lower into the water then just stopped going any further and finally came upright. There was never a sudden stop and that is why the damage is localized to the deck, because of the hydrostatic water pressure and forward topsides as a result of the bow impact with no deck support. USA-77 is presently being readied for her trip to New Zealand. All cracks have been temporarily reinforced and the hole where the rudder tore out has been covered to ensure a safe trip. She will be launched and side-towed to the container ship where Columbus Lines will manage the lift onto the cradle on the ship. Fifteen days later USA-77 will arrive in Auckland where she will be launched, towed to our base and put into our boat shed and the work will begin. The full extent of the repair work to be done and the exact timetable are undefined until the work begins in New Zealand. There could be more or less work involved as we get into the project but we are confident we will be sailing her sometime around mid-September for continued testing against USA-66 and if we so chose, she would be available to race in the first race of the Louis Vuitton Series, starting October 1. Details of the rudder failure will be kept confidential due to the sensitivity of the design information that would be revealed. Our designers and engineers do know what caused the failure and can prevent it from ever happening again with one design modification. Thank you to everyone who has written the team showing your support. We have received wonderful letters of encouragement from Team New Zealand, One World and Oracle/ BMW Racing, along with many New York Yacht Club members and lots of Stars & Stripes fans from all around the world. The morale and team spirit within Team Dennis Conner is very high and we are looking forward to the next phase of our program in Auckland. 07/30/2002
Inexcusable If you don't know, the Pac Cup class winning Transpac 52, J Bird III, was handed a two-hour penalty, dropping her to second place. Why the two-hour penalty? Incredibly enough, during the post-race inspection, they were found to not have a storm trysail onboard. What were they thinking? We know this is a weight-conscious group - did they think that this would be a place to save weight? Did they not bother reading the required gear rules? This is a very experienced and savvy crew, led by Pete Heck. We understand there was some miscommunication at their pre-race inspection, but that does not obviate the fact that the rules clearly state that a storm trysail must be carried aboard. Frankly, they are lucky that were not completely DSQ'd. The sad part is that the owner spent a bundle of time, effort and money to win this race, which they did. To win it on the water, yet lose it because somebody onboard made a poor decision in not complying with the most basic of rules is inexcusable. 07/25/2002
BMW Boobs While on the subject of BMW, we thought you might appreciate this close-up of the front passenger seat upholstery of a BMW (it would appear to be a 7 Series). This little gem, er gems (and not so little), was sent to us by a faithful contributor. Rumors are unconfirmed that this is Ellison's own BMW. 07/21/2002
Here's a picture of the first and second place boats from Olson 30 Nationals. The white boat is the winner steered by the North pro, Steve Reed. The blue boat was the runner-up. The blue boat ordered a sail that would be "exactly" like the genoa that the white boat would be getting for the regatta. Reed allegedly said the sails were the same, which were both new for the regatta. Then why the color difference? Isn't that indicative of one, the less yellow one, being lighter? Less fiber and glue? They don't look the same, now do they? What's more is that the winning boat was thought to have a speed advantage in the light, and got out of the sail earlier when the breeze came up than the blue boat had to. Sounds to me like the North pro built himself a light No.1 and the other guy got a medium No.1! Perhaps too much is being read into this, on the other hand, there appears to be a difference. And if so, and if the North guy built a lighter one for himself, and sold a heavier one to the customer, then it is true fuckery. Any of you North guys want to explain it? 07/16/2002
Z5 Z5, the new 86' R/P that is looking good in the Pac Cup, was seen sailing around in Frisco a couple of days before the start. Here's what we heard from onboard: In 25 true, TWA 130, AWA 90, with a main and jib top, the boat was doing solid 22's! Not bursts to 22, solid 22. Jesus. Is it too late to change my Pac Cup prediction? Robbie Haines who was on board with Roy Disney, was heard to say that Z5 was going something like 3-4 knots faster that Pyewacket would have been going in those conditions. Interestingly, the bulk of the sail inventory appears to be Quantum cuben fiber. We'll get Larry Leonard to write us the post race story. 07/15/2002
Pac Cup Update The Cal 40 Victoria went into the yard for some minor work on the stick, this was just last week. This Cal 40 has a deck stepped mast, no others that I know have. Anyway the crew pulled the clevis from the back stay and oops, the mast came down. They will not be going! A quote from the crew on Z5 was that they were going to point the bow at Hawaii and pull the trigger. Big deal - how easy is it to just make a blank comment like that? We shall see, its been blowing 35 to 40 off shore until recently. Now its coming off shore due to a stationary high inland. Should be about 90 degrees by mid week in the bay, 110 inland, different weather pattern is developing. Hope its doesn't turn into a floater like in 2000! 07/09/2002
New Wasabi Out here on the Left Coast, the TP 52's are becoming the de rigueur big boat class, and the latest convert appears to be Dale Williams, owner of the much-modified Farr 46, Wasabi out of Frisco. After deciding that the Farr ticket was too pricey, Williams has apparently chosen R/P to do the new boat. And after no takers on the current Wasabi, Williams has decided to donate her. A guy could do worse than picking up that rocket on the cheap! We also hear that the Nelson TP 52 Yassou is back from her, uh, problem, and going well against Victoria 5 in Long Beach. Hey Stan, don't hit anything! 06/25/2002
There Goes My Hero Most of you know that I take shots at DC, not because I have any axe to grind with him - I don't believe he's ever said one word to me - but because he goes about his busines in ways that I often find reprensible. The DC apologists will never accept that he is anything less than the All American Hero, but I beg to differ. I wanted to have a bit of a moritorium on DC stories because enough is enough, but the following, in my etimation, needs to be told. It is stories like this one, which took place about a week ago, and has been verified by a number of witnesses, only prove my point. The author of the story gave permission to attach his name to it, but I don't think it's necessary. We'll take the heat. Good Times - Ed. DC and 2 old Stars and Stripes Formula 50's were in Annapolis for the weekend and there were various Dennis sightings all over town. Jesus what a dick!!! Case in point numero uno....."we" the crew of the IMS 50 I race on here in town accompanied our own to AYC for a cocktail after our regatta was blown off. As we walked in the door, who do we see but the Fat Man himself. Guy basically begins to walk right by all of us (a group of 15 guys obviously all sailors). He says hello to about one person and keeps going. Some ambassador to the sport, huh? Fast forward to about 8pm. DC and a couple other guys roll into a fairly nice restaurant (which shall remain nameless) without a reservation. Well, I used to work there and the place is ALWAYS packed on a Saturday night. The hostess told me when I saw her this morning that DC was obviously shitfaced when he walked up to her and demanded a table. When she informed the Fat Man that he would have to wait about 45 minutes until a table opened up, he physically dragged her by the arm over to a picture of Stars and Stripes which hung on the wall which he had personally autographed. After fumbling to produce it for a few moments, DC pulls out his drivers license and lines it up next to signature and says "See this name on this picture? That is ME. That should be enough to get me a fucking table right fucking now!!" This is a direct quote from the hostess!! Well, needless to say the smart girl wasn't swayed (or impressed) by the Fat Man's assanine behaviour. She sent him to the bar to wait. And wait he did for about 30 minutes all the while swilling Grey Goose on the rocks. When he was finally seated in my buddy Nick's section, he was an asshole from the word go to Nick. To cut a long story short, when the bill came and DC went to sign the $260 Amex slip, rather then writing in a tip on the tip line, he wrote a big fat $0!! And underneath his signature in big block letters he wrote "You suck!!". What a fucking pompous asshole!! Just thought you guys would appreciate it. 06/17/2002
Bring Your A, er, B Game.
The PHRF "big boat" class here in Dago is a hodge-podge of boats, from a SC 70 to a Tripp 50 to Nelson 39's, most of which are either piggy, poorly sailed, or in most cases, both. We got wind that a new player is arriving soon, the Nelson 43 IMS Vim. Looking eerily like the less than wonderful CM1200's, and sporting what appear to be tiny little kites (yikes), the boat has been issued a rating of 12. Perhaps too soon for me to get on my "It's a fucking gift" soapbox, still, one would have to think that it would be at least 6 seconds per mile fater than High Five, the Farr 40 that we know has a gift of 18. So, based on that........well, you do the math. "Oh, and this boat is being bought by some weinie who sits on the local Dago PHRF board. Imagine that. Whatever, it's always nice to see something relatively modern come to town. Even if it is a Nelson boat! Just kidding........sorta.
06/12/2002
SC/DC Rumor has it that Good Ol' DC's next boat is going to be none other than an old Santa Cruz 50! Wow. An SC 50? The story goes that with the R/P 50 going to the east coast, he'll need something to race out west, so getting an old SC 50 is allegedly what he'll be doing. We are not making this up! If that's true, and frankly, we just can't see it, an SC 50 seems a bizarre choice. However, SC 50's are still great downwind boats, with very generous ratings, and you can bet that if DC gets one that is "stock", it won't remain stock for long. There are a few modified boats, Chicken Little being a very quick one that could be one of the possibilities. Anybody hear anything about this?? 06/09/2002
Old School I was presented with the drawings of a 40+ footer from a very well-known designer by a prospective customer. He wants me to drag my fat ass out of semi-retirement to steer it, if he buys it. It's unlikely that he will, but that isn't the story. The story is how surprised I was that the boat had none of the features of the modern boats that I expect to now be standard. That is, it had running backstays, genoas, and fractional symmetric spinnakers. I was wondering, where is the runnerless rig, the non-overlapping jibs, the sprit and the masthead asso's? Last time I checked, there are no rules to design to out here on the left coast, and even if there were, why bother? Seems to me that you just want to make ANY new boat faster and less complicated. Screw runners. Screw fractional symmetricals. Screw genoas. Give me a huge main, no runners, big asso's, Code 0's, and sprits are the way to go. That other stuff is just old school bullshit that is no longer needed. I told the customer to go back to the drawing board! We'll see what happens and I'll keep you posted. 06/07/2002
Schock 30 No Go You'll recall a while back during our InnerView with Tom Schock, that he talked about a new Schock 30. Tom's idea was to do a mini 40, and try to sell them for around 80k. Frankly it seemed to us like the wrong way to do a 30, from both a concept and price perspective, but what the hell, it would have been fun to see how they would execute such a thing. Make that would as in ain't gonna happen. They recently told us that the project was on hold. I suppose that is no surprise given that the 40 is apparently dead in terms of new orders and also used boat prices. I'd think it a very risky proposition to fund all the design, tooling and production costs to create a boat for a skeptical market. Maybe they'll come to their senses and build the Anarchy 30! 06/06/2002
Agenda, Indeed
Last week we told you that DC was attempting to get PHRF ratings for his AC boats, and despite claims to the contrary by some, lo and behold, here it is. "We obtained a copy of the upcoming agenda for PHRF So Cal. Some good things here, but the AC thing, man what is up with that?" Again, this to us is unacceptable on every level we can think of. AC boats in PHRF? Shouldn’t he be concentrating on something else that might be just a little bit more important? That little thing called the America’s Cup? Is NYYC handing him the keys to the bank so that he can go PHRF racing, while other syndicates are focusing on the task at hand? Anything for a pickle dish, apparently.
At least PHRF is hitting the TP 52’s. Although a six second hit may prove to be too little, it is a step in the right direction. For once.
AGENDA PHRF OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2002 LONG BEACH YACHT CLUB, 6:00PM
06/05/2002
Cherry Picking, Part II? Unless there is a good explanation (and you know there isn't), I'd sure like to know what Good Ol' DC is thinking by this little piece of news: We hear that he is trying to get PHRF So Cal ratings for his (or are they NYYC's?) AC boats, hull #54 and 66. First of all, why would he do this? So that he can parade around here in So Cal and say "Look at me - I'm the biggest Cock on the Walk?" It surely isn't to win more pickle dishes. I mean, hasn't he done enough of that yet in PHRF? Ans second, why would PHRF give them a rating? These boats are not legal - No lifelines, no lights, NO ENGINE! Lifelines & lights have been "exceptions" previously [Star, Etchells etc.] The Engine requirement is very specific. [however, it must have been "excepted" from Star & Etchells]. PHRF Class Rules can be had from www.phrfsocal.org We hear that he may want to sail one (or both?) of the boats in the Gollison/North Sails regatta in LB this summer. If so, Gollison shouldn't let them in. There is nothing remotely in the spirit of this type of racing that would allow these boats and crews in. It's like showing up for a modified race at Cajon Speedway with an F-1 car. No way. If DC is that horny for racing his AC boat, he should have gone to Frisco last weekend and raced with the AC boats there. To beat people up in PHRF with these things is pathetic. He shouldn't even race PHRF, and he certainly shouldn't do it with his AC boats. What an embarrassment. 05/30/2002
Oracle Goes South Their second boat is finished being built in Ventura, CA to be shipped to New Zealand very soon. Interestingly, their two boats were built using molds, eliminating much of the fairing that is needed when built without them. A very expensive proposition, building two molds for two boats. It makes one wonder: did they build two complete sets of molds for two different boats, or did they modify one mold and get two similar boats? Any thoughts or ideas? 05/28/2002
Uh, Is This What They Call Bad Luck? Leopard 2000 is a 90' R/P go-fast carbon/nomex bad ass cruiser built by Bill Green in the UK, who is reputed to be one of the best builders in the world. Leopard was sailing/delivery in the Europe side of the Atlantic when the rudder busted which ripped the lower bearing apart/out? (still a gray area), and started to take on serous water. So much so that the crew jumped ship into the life raft and was picked up by a passing ship. A salvage company later found the boat half submerged floating out in the ocean, we believe. They retreived the boat and put it on one of those yacht transport dry dock ships. Then the ship hit a storm and the cradle wasn't welded to the deck, etc., and the unlucky fucker slid accross the deck and slammed into the huge crane and fucked her up major. Now this makes us think the captain is a complete shmuck. First the dumb ass leaves a new approx 7 million dollar yacht abandaned and gets rescued and the fucker didn't even sink, then he doesn't make sure the thing is properly attached to the deck of the transport ship on the way back to get repaired at Green Marine. I wonder if this guy still has a job? That's about all we know, but unlike the other designers and builders, R/P has good damage control because there wasn't much said about this fuckup. 05/22/2002
Chester Let's say there's this guy who is pretty much disliked by anybody who has sailed with him. And let's say he's down to about his last two friends. Let's say one of the two last friends gets him a ride on a 1D 48 in a popular series in Newport Beach. Let's say this guy, we'll call him Chester, who of course knows everything there is to know about sailboat racing, is trimming spinnaker during the race. Chester receives some input about trimming from one of the other sailors. Chester, who is known for his tremendous ability to get along with others, simply hands the sheet to somebody else, and goes down below. Chester refuses to speak, and when the boat gets back to the dock, Chester gets off and goes home, failing to return for the next day of the regatta. Chester, once again, displays his sparkling personality and his true stick with it determination that make him so well liked. What's that sound? I think it's the sound of another bridge being burned. Good times, Chester.
Mine's As Big As Yours We hear that Philippe Kahn, after singing the praises of the TP 75 "Class" in our recent InnerView with him, is dropping it like a bad habit, and getting in line for his new R/P 86. After tasting blood in his last Transpac victory, and given that Roy Disney and Bob McNeil have upped the "I've got a bigger penis than you" derby, Kahn couldn't very well just sit there and let these two outsize him, could he? Christ, with all that money what the hell was he going to do? He has to build a new boat. Anything else is throwing in the towel, like almost all of these guys do at some point. I just don't think he's at that point. Yet. 05/01/2002
Best Builder? Dian Kreatif, the 'shadow' builders for Carroll Marine, based in Melaka, Malaysia, are potentially the next super big boat builder . We hear it is an awesome facilty: 100,000 sq ft air-conditioned plant, 5 axis milling machine, an 8 station IBM Catia CAD system, labor rates something stupid like $5 a day, probably in excess of 300 staff. They are the only Mumm 30 builder now, and also build the Farr 40 and 52. They are currently building the 115' rocket for Frank Pong: canting rotating wing rig with wings, water ballast, canting keel from another planet. It will be interesting to see what impact they have on the boat building market. 04/23/2002
TP (Throwaway) 52's? We recently showed you the Nelson designed, Goetz built TP 52 Yassou and the fact that something has gone seriously wrong with the design/construction of that boat ( we have heard nothing since, which of course indicates that yes, something has gone very wrong). Now there are rumors that the Choate built TP 52 Victoria has some construction problems. No surprise there - in our estimation he builds a marginal product, and DenCho himself is one of the bigger a-holes we've encountered along the way as well. He stays in business by building a cheap boat, and we also understand that at this time he has nothing on order to build. Will he go belly-up? Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. But, like the cockroach, he has a way of surviving. 04/22/2002
Farr Different? We hear that the newest generation of Farr IMS boat for the Med are rumored to be something completely different from what they have done in the past. Not that it matters as the IMS is dead, save a few rich Eyetalyons who want to keep flogging this dead horse. Of course Farr is brilliant and it will be interesting to see what the last of a dying breed will look like. 04/20/2002
REBUTTAL Get the Lead Out I read the M-Project story with interest and amusement. To fill in the holes on this one... What the writer says is true. M-Project did make changes to their boat that they did not report properly over two years ago. They were not only admonished but they were punished with a suspension from racing and a rating penalty by the regional board. I know because I was on the regional board at the time it happened. After amassing the required minimum of 5 sets of racing results they went to their local board and asked to be adjusted. They were adjusted back to the rating they have now, which incidentally, is higher than the rating they had at the time of said incident, and does take into account the lighter weight. I not only had never sailed on the boat at that point but had not even met the owner. Read on 04/15/2002
Wrong Guy? Nobody is more impressed with the way Mark Reynolds has mastered the Star Class than we are. Natural talent, a work ethic second to none, and a quest to be the best has put Mark clearly at the top of that heap. Yet, I was surprised to read that Team SEB had added Reynolds to their program for the 875 mile leg between Miami and Baltimore. We know this will be a tactical race, but what does Reynolds bring to the table? His tactical experience is in 22' boats on 2 mile weather legs. He has no experience in these boats, does not know the water and weather were they are racing, and has almost no offshore experience. One can never have too many good sailors, but Reynold's value in this arena will be limited. I suppose when you are getting your ass kicked like SEB is, you do whatever you can to stop the bleeding. 04/12/2002
Get The Lead Out We usually write these from info that we get, but this one is too good to fuck with. As written by a reader: Here's one for your column.... lets call this "GET THE LEAD OUT AND GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR @**" Here's some bar chat North of San Diego -- hey guys -- women ARE listening!! One would normally think when you REMOVE 2,000 pounds of lead from you boat -- your rating would change, right? WRONG -- just look at "M-PROJECT" a Sprint 50 out of Newport Beach. After serving a suspension sentence of 6 months, for removing said lead prior to a Mexican race, the rating has never changed. Just ask Craig Fletcher (or was it Cindy Feltcher) -- he was on the boat -- AND PHRF BOARD -- at the time this happened. OK -- fast forward to present time wherein we have Mr. Dave Millet (aka Mr. PHRF) leading the M-PROJECT program. Still 2,000 lighter from the previous offense -- lets tack on substantially larger mainsail -- one would think there would be a sizeable rating hit due to the 2,000 pounds AND the sail, right? I GUESS WE SHALL WAIT AND SEE..... Mr. PHRF himself (Dave Millet) is lobbying the Newport Beach PHRF board for a slap-on-the-hands 6 seconds a mile hit. Maybe if Dave & Craig sailed with the owner of the Dasher 34 -- maybe he could have got a lot better rating! But then again -- are Dave Millet & Craig Fletcher WORTH it? What would you take, the hit or their shit? Candy Happ 04/11/2002
Heavy No, for once not his weight, but the air he might be sailing in. We hear The Large One will be doing some heavy air training in Hawaii. I guess the 15 knots in Long Beach ain't cutting it, and they figure Hawaii might, at times, more closely resemble NZ. We would guess that they'll beat up one of the old Abracadabra boats rather than risk the new stuff. They have no money, remember? 04/08/2002 Speaking of NYYC We found out the NYYC Commodore is making a final inspection of the Nelson IMS 49' Bullseye to take back east for the Bermuda race. The boat, which is now in 'Frisco, has a great Americap rating, so we're told. Rumor has Bullseye selling for around $200,000. I'd say that boat is a buck short and a day late, if you know what I mean. Bob Garvie, the current owner, may charter a Farr 40. Maybe he will bring his paid lackey Kimo Worthington out of mothballs to remind us all how overrated he is. 03/26/2002
Another Phirst for Philippe Jeez, another win for this guy? Maybe it's time to boot him out of the sport. Maybe make a rule about spending too much and having too much fun. Maybe I'm just jealous and bitter. Anyway, he took his latest Pegasus, the new Andrews 55 racer/cruiser/cruiser/racer, to a first to finish in something called the Ano Nuevo race in Northern California. We asked him if he was sailing in the race, and dropped us a note: We did sail, we got there first to finish, we are not sure how we corrected. Hopefully we'll know soon. She was fun to sail with a very small crew... I think that were two or three SC 52s and one SC 50 in the race. - Philippe - Look for a new InnerView with PK in the coming weeks. 03/26/2002
Getting Old There is an owner of a boat who grocery shops at the same store I do (few things are as fun as taking my two year-old for a spin in the store!). Anyway, I see him from time to time, and every time I do he looks like an old man - stooped over, reading glasses, yet he's not that old. Perhaps being married to an evil bitch will do that to a guy. Good times, eh buddy? Anyway, this guy never steers his own boat, yet like a big boy, he manages to steer his own shopping cart. I saw him on Friday and wanted to congratulate him on that fact, yet when he saw me, he quickly turned and scurried away. Aw c'mon, you're not afraid of the wrath of Sailing Anarchy, are ya? So it got me thinking. You know how grocery stores have mini grocery carts with a flag that says "Little Shopper in Training" for kids? Maybe owners who don't have what it takes to steer their own boats, yet want to grow up to be big boys just like daddy, can get mini tillers with flags that say "Little Owner in Training"? They don't actually steer of course, they leave that to their lackeys. But they can sit there, with their little tiller and little flag and say "Look at me, I'm an Idiot!" Just a thought. 03/24/2002
The Torture Never Stops, Part II. The Torture Never
Stops - but may not have actually been that bad
Thanks
for taking the time to write. I appreciate that you care enough about
it to do so. you obviously have more information than Ido, however
to make a statement like "The place DC fit best was in with Magnitude,
Sorcery and Pendragon" is utter nonsense. The boats closest in
speed and concept to dc are the 52's. The 52's should have been in
in PHRF trim, and then put pendragon and DC in there as well. then
you have a good class. So what if there aren't enough big boats to
form an 'a' class? that's the way it goes, or you just let the two
of them match race.
Here it Comes Boo hoo. We feel so bad. How ever will they overcome this terrible situation? 03/20/2002
The
Torture Never Stops 03/12/2002
Don't Believe the Hype Of course when the news finally, feebly trickled out that TDC broke their rig, the disinformation was in full effect. This was what was reported in at least two sites: "Team Dennis Conner would not confirm to madforsailing which of their boats had suffered the dismasting, but it is believed to be USA 50 or 54 and not their new boat, on which they only began training this week." Believed to be? Bullshit! It was the new boat. We have a contact within the team, and that person states without question that it was the new boat that dismasted. Not that any of us really care about the mast breaking, but what's with the flat out deception from this camp? We know they are paranoid, and will play the "Poor Us" card until we all wretch our bile all over the dinner table, but why not just say what boat, and without divulging too much, what happened? Oh that's right - this is the top secret, hush-hush big leagues of sailing. Christ only knows what the other teams would do with the information that TDC's new boat dismasted. Like they don't already know. It's everybody else that has been handed the bullshit, and they expect you to swallow it and say "May I have another?" Don't forget, this is the same team that cheated twice (caught once) last go around. Why should we believe anything they say? 03/04/2002
Why I Hate PHRF San
Diego 03/03/2002
Be Careful What You
Wish For 03/01/2002
Drop 'Em! 02/26/2002
Another One Bites the
Dust 02/26/2002
It Gets Even Better! 02/24/2002
Cheaters 02/23/2002
Unsafe At Any Speed Miles said the boaters were unable to right the craft, and it filled with water about 9 p.m. They were in the water about five minutes before a 72-foot luxury "mega-yacht" came by to fish them out. Here's
what's really funny; Dog Meat is a Santana 23, one of the Shad Turner-designed
turds with the keel/centerboard configuration. Now throw 17(!) people
on it and there is no way it can't tip over! The "gust of wind"
line is particularly funny. This is San Diego, there's no such thing.
More likely is that you had a a bunch of a-holes hanging off the shrouds
and over she went. Ha! Think there was any booze involved?
The First Crack? Looks
like Good Ol' DC and his Cash Cow, er, America's Cup program might suffer
a little financial setback. We read today that Federal prosecutors have
opened a preliminary inquiry into whether Computer Associates International
Inc. deliberately overstated its profits to inflate its stock price and
enrich its senior executives. 02/20/2002
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