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Around the World of Sailing
14 August 2002
Finish Line
Marcus Egan won the Sunfish North
Americans sailed in Barington RI.
Leading
team @ RORC Commodore's
Cup is France
Red....Jean-Luc Van Den Heed and his boat
"Adrien set a new mono hull record
for the Cowes-Dinard Channel Record Trophy. New record time is 11h 44m
12s average speed of 12.96.....Slow going for Figaro
solo leader
Sebastian
Audigare, yesterdays leader Eric
Drouglazet is 2nd....
Water Level Update
Reference Point
Difference from Chart Datum +11
Difference from last month -1
Difference from last year +11
Difference from long term average for August -11
Difference from Record High -43
Difference from Record Low +21
Forecast for 9 September 2002 -2
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
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.
****************
Beach=Desert
I recently read, "the desert is stingy with everything
except space and light."
A desert and a beach are both a sand medium. I'm not sure
of the differences in sand, but there must be some.
Sailing along Lake Michigan's east shore you often sail past
beaches and dunes. Plenty of sand to be seen.
One of the obvious differences is water. By definition a
beach is right at waters edge. A defining desert feature is
mainly devoid of water.
Lake Michigan seems to store a still infinite amount of
water. One of the only things to grow in the desert is
cactus. On the beach dune grass grows.
The desert has light and space. The beach often features
light, it's sunny during Michigan summers.
Without rains deserts have high skys. Clouds and their
moisture don't intrude.
A beach has space in several dimensions. On the side that
meets the water you've got physically everything to the
horizon. In terms of imagination it is infinite.
Parallel to the beach there may or may not be great spaces.
In Muskegon you've got the channel to the north that is a
space limited.
If a beach is in a built up area often there's a crunching
modernity right near. This beach is bounded by green grass
covered dunes. May stop the space, but it's not a taco
stand either!
So next time you want a topic to muse on while on the water
try out juxtaposing the beach and the desert.
*************
Readers Write
I recently received an intriguing query regarding the
America's Cup and history.
It read as follows: "Years ago when I read of the tragedy of
the cup's destruction, I read that the gentleman who
actually smashed the cup threw down a piece of paper with a
quote from someone like Winston Churchill.
The quote goes something like..."Glory goes to those in the
battle covered in dirt and blood, for only they will know
true glory...'"
Any how - since then I've been looking for the that quote
and it's author - do you know what I speak of -- or whom I
should contact?
Again it apparently was the original slogan for the cup.
Thank you for your help.
Daniel"
Daniel refers to a 1997 incident when the actual America's
Cup was damaged by a sledgehammer wielding protestor.
There is no reference in reports of the attacker using any
type of quotation.
However, as an avid reader with an education in history I
thought I recognized the general ideas in the quote Daniel
mentioned. The quote brought to mind Theodore Roosevelt,
subject of a recently read biography.
A quick search brought me to
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/quotes.htm . Part of
the TR quotation reads, "The credit belongs to the man who
is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and
sweat and blood...".
Reading the full quotation again sparked my brain. I
grabbed the August 2002 issue of Seahorse Magazine. Sailor
Rod Davis currently of the Prada America's Cup challenge is
a semi regular columnist. Towards the end of his column he
mentions a quote he was 'given' by Michael Fay backer of
several unsuccessful New Zealand AC efforts. The quote
begins, "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in
the arena..."
So even if the quote was not used by the attacker of the
Cup, or as an official slogan for the Cup, it has several
connections to the event and its competitors.
***********
Team Tyco Lives
The recent spate of business and corporate related scandals
has been linked up with sailing. One of the CEO's is
possible criminal trouble is Dennis Kozlowski formerly of
TYCO. He was charged, and pleaded not guilty, in June
with evading more than $1 million in New York State sales
taxes.
It has been reported that Kozlowski kept a "yachting expert"
on Tyco's payroll. The expert was Michael Castania who
headed the Team Tyco Volvo Ocean race project. He became a
Tyco employee in 1996. Castania also helped Kozlowski build
a 150 foot aluminum hulled sailboat. The former CEO also
acquired Endeavour one of the few remaining J class yachts.
Mr. Castania believes that Team Tyco was of benefit to the
company regardless of the present circumstances saying "it
helped bring together the employees of the global company."
It's unfortunate that sailing has to end up involved.
Kozlowski is not your typical sailor. Nor should it reflect
on the crew of Team Tyco.
None the less a look at J class history (see
http://www.jclassyachts.com/jclasshistory.html) shows names
such as Sopwith, Lipton and Vanderbilt. Seems as though
money and the notoriety and controversy that goes with it
are part of the J class heritage.
******
Rowing Reporter Interactive- Bringing people together,
passing messages and answering questions. The Rowing
reporter seeks comments, questions and suggestions.
Send email to ike@torresen.com.
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