Around the World of Sailing

21 November 2001

This weeks features:

Finish Line

Roland Jourdain becomes the first skipper to have won the
Transat Jacques Vabre in both monohulls and multihulls,
as he co-skippered with the late Paul Vatine on Région
Haute Normandie to victory in 1995.

Water Level Update

Weekly Water Level Update
Available on line at:
http://www.torresen.com/atwos/2001/oc/1024/frw.htm

Below you'll find water level info that pertains
to Lake Michigan and Huron.
For information on other lakes see:
http://huron.lre.usace.army.mil/levels/weekly.html

Difference from Chart Datum 0
Difference from last month +1
Difference from last year +5
Difference from long term average for November -16
Difference from Record High -53
Difference from Record Low +15
Forecast for 16 December 2001 -2

Rowing Reporter

The Rowing Reporter is a weekly column of commentary and
observations by Ike Stephenson, Marine Informationist. It
concentrates on the home waters of Around the World of
Sailing, Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake.
****************
Tyco=Future Trivia
Last week Team Tyco suffered damage to their
rudder. The 2 piece rudder stock had come unbonded.
Reinforcements failed and after a 4 day sail back to
South Africa, skipper Kevin Shoebridge made the call
to drop out for Leg 2.
Tyco is not the first boat to suffer damage
while racing especially in the Southern Ocean. The
decision can't be faulted.
What can be seen as out of the ordinary is this.
Due to Volvo Ocean race rules, Tyco will soon board a
freighter and be shipped to Sydney. Further even though
they did not finish they will receive a single point in
the standings as if they had finished. The last place
boat on Leg 1 Amer Sports 2 received a point and
they finished!
Tyco will then have 6 legs to climb back up
the standings. Should things go well, they could still
win the race. This would make for an interesting trivia
question: what is the only boat to win an around the world
race yet not sail the entire way?
It's clear that the Volvo is in a new era and
is properly called the Ocean race and not the around
the world race. Further a rules system that awards the
same points for finishing and not finishing seems
illogical.
This can be contrasted with the Vendee Globe
where solo sailor Yves Parlier anchored off an island
to make repairs to his broken mast. He did so with only
the tools onboard and without stepping on shore. All
this just so he could be an official finisher in the race.
Which form of race and rules is better is debatable,
but it's clear that Tyco's situation is opening up a new
chapter in around the world racing.
*************
New Handheld Sailing Computer
Handheld computers such as palm pilots, etc. are
a growing trend in the main stream world. This handheld
trend will soon hit the sailing world.
Suunto has a new computer watch due out next
year. The M9 will sell for $ 619.00.
The M9 features begin with a GPS satellite
controlled time piece. This will be superior in
accuracy to most watches.
With user input of wind direction and starting
line location the M9 will calculate the favored end of
the starting line. During the approach to the line the
M9 will serve as a wrist sized bowman gauging the
approach to the line.
Once off the line the M9 will help with the first
upwind leg. Give it the position of the mark and it will
output VMG data, wind shift information, tacking averages,
and time and distance to the layline. Once around the
weather mark similar information is offered while sailing
downwind.
It has purposes beyond around the buoys racing.
There is storage for 500 waypoints, a barometer and
thermometer. Raste charts can be used to plan routes.
Data stored on the M9 is downloadable. This
data can even be used to produce polar diagrams of a
boats performance.
Inside the brains and engine are a small GPS
chip. This is matched to a 15 cm antenna.
Currently Grant Dalton of Amer Sports One is
using an M9. As he's off the pace, the M9's data is
probably not too pleasing.
Handhelds have gained acceptance in the on
land world. It'll be interesting to see how this
'wrist-top' does on the water.
*************
Jacques Vabre Analysis
With 2 of the 3 classes podium spots determined,
there are some interesting trends and conclusions showing
in the Open 60 classes.
In the Open 60 trimarans the top 2 boats were
designed in 1998 and 1997. Both were by Van Peteghem et
Lauriot-Prévost. 3rd was Loick Peyron's Irens design
which launched this spring. Clearly preparation, training
and sorting time are essential. Other current generation
boats such as Fila and Banque Poulaire finished down the
rankings.
In 1999 of the 6 sailors on the trimaran podium,
5 were French. This year Great Britain's Ellen Macarthur
finished 2nd while Swiss sailor Steve Ravussin was half
of the winning team. While the French have extensive
trimaran knowledge it's no longer exclusively so.
The Open 60 mono hull's saw 3 different designers
for the 3 podium boats. The winner was a Lombard design,
2nd was a Finot and 3rd was Kingfisher by a variety of
designers.
The internationalization of the Open 60 mono hulls
is quite complete. In 1999 there were 4 British sailors
and 2 English sailors on the podium. In 2001 it's 3
Englishman, 2 Frenchman and an Aussie. 4th was another
international duo of a Spanish and French sailor.
The top 4 mono hulls all sailed both the Vendee
Globe and the EDS Atlantic challenge. 5th place Voila
did only the Vendee, while 6th place Fila did only the
EDS event. Frequently sailing seems to be a significant
plus.
The Open classes now seem to be in an
international cycle where well prepared boats are
winning out over the newest stuff off the stocks.
There is no substitute for time on the water.
With all this in mind, there's word out of
Brazil that Mike Golding is thinking of returning to
Around Alone. Given the current trends, even in a
4 year old boat he could be the favorite.
*************
James Nelson Update
There's news of Maine based Author James L. Nelson's
activities. The Pirate Round the third book of his Brethren
of the Coast Trilogy will be published in August 2002.
Book 2 of this series, The Blackbirder was published earlier
this year. Nelson wishes Pirate Round would be out earlier,
but his publisher has different views. We all have bosses
in one form or another!
Also, Nelson's 3rd series about naval aspects of
the Civil War is coming into view. The first book will be
Glory in the Name. This is due out in 2003.
To purchase books from either The Revolution at
Sea Series or Brethren of the Coast visit
http://www.torresen.com/bookstore/james_nelson.asp