|
SCUTTLEBUTT 3560 - Monday, April 2, 2012Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors,providing a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: APS and IYRS. THE ZEN OF SAILING IS IN SAVORING THE QUIET MOMENTS By Chris Caswell, Sailing magazine I sailed with a friend on his Something-or-Other 40 recently and it was an altogether pleasant day on the water. We weren't going anywhere in particular, tacked when the mood took us, talked when we felt like it, and kept our silence when it seemed right. But when we returned to the dock, he turned into the Energizer bunny. Coiling lines, stashing cushions, getting the hose aboard to rinse away the salt water, all within minutes of hitting the dock. "Hey," I said. "What's the hurry?" "Oh, no hurry, really," he answered. "But what's the point of just sitting around on the boat?" And I realized that is exactly the point. It's about savoring an event just as you might linger over the last bite of a hot fudge sundae. Another of my bad habits besides boats is cars, and many, many years ago as a car-crazy youngster, I happened to ride my bicycle past a house with a bright red Ferrari in the driveway. I stopped and tiptoed up to get a closer look at this fabulous creature just as the owner came out to clean the windshield. I froze but he saw my interest and casually said, "Hey, wanna go for a quick spin before I put her away?" Well, duh! We zoomed up a narrow canyon and, to this day, I remember the ripping sound of the exhaust, the wind in my face, and the surge of the car under fierce acceleration. When we pulled back into his driveway, I started to get out but the man said to wait. "Just sit here for a bit," he said. "This is almost the best time, remembering the drive, thinking about how you might have taken a curve differently, and just enjoying the moment." He was right, and it was almost a Zen-like peacefulness as I felt the supple leather, examined the chrome windshield trim and truly savored my wonderful fortune. It was good advice that has been repeated by equally wise men other times in my life as well. When I was first taking flying lessons and after greasing an early attempt at landing, I was ready to jump out of the cockpit and, I don't know, perhaps roll on the grass in ecstasy. But my flying instructor said essentially the same thing as the Ferrari owner: "Hey, stay and savor the moment." And so I did, sitting in the quiet cockpit while the engine pinged and popped as it cooled. I pulled my logbook from the flight bag, carefully noted the hours and made a brief notation that included the word "greased," and handed it over for him to initial. He smiled at my notation, now that I had actually landed an airplane a half dozen times. He held it for a moment as we sat in the gentle sun, and I had another Zen moment, appreciating the typical cockpit aromas of hot oil and vinyl and perhaps a little sweat from that greased landing. I later moved into soaring and sailplanes, but now I was wiser and, after landing a single-seat glider, I would tilt my head back against the headrest, feel the soft breeze from the open canopy, smell the freshly mown grass of the field and, yes, that's right, savor the moment. And that's the way it is, or should be, with sailing.... read on: http://tinyurl.com/Sailing-040112 1000 MILE MATCH RACE (April 1, 2012; Day 15) - Even though there's no break in the Volvo Ocean Race work week, rounding Cape Horn last Friday for Groupama and Puma provided a rewarding TGIF kind of celebration. "As we approached (Cape Horn)," explained Puma media crew Amory Ross, "sailing past snow-capped mountains and a brilliant red sunrise, I began to realize that the Horn's spectacle is not in its beauty but its significance. This is Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, and the southernmost point of land on earth. It is cold, dark, and raw, and the living is tough. And as impressive as the rock stood, it stands for so much more: it represents total challenge and rewards those who accept it responsibly." But as these two teams continued up the Argentinean coast, the casualty count astern was stretching the imagination of shore crews to remain in the game. While rounding Cape Horn, Telefonica suspended racing on Saturday for 12 hours to repair structural damage at Martial Creek, a cove in Herschel Island in the Cabo de Hornos National Park. They were met there by team members who came by boat from Ushuaia with supplies and support for the repair, and left with bowman Antonio Cuervas-Mons who had incurred a lower back injury affecting his sciatic nerve. The team will sail a man short for the final 2000nm. While Camper is continuing on to Chile for repairs, Abu Dhabi has not yet revealed their intentions. While they appear to be trailing in Camper's path, they did reveal that the hull delamination which occurred on Thursday prompted them on Friday to bolt an exterior patch to the hull to stabilize the area. -- Event media Leg 5 - Auckland, NZL to Itajai, Brazil (6,705 nm) Standings as of Sunday, 01 April 2012, 22:03:03 UTC 1. PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA), 23.5 nm Distance to Finish 2. Groupama 4 (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA), 1.0 nm Distance to Lead 3. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP), 274.5 nm DTL 4. CAMPER (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), 1535.8 nm DTL 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR), 1762.6 DTL 6. Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL), Retired Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain (Oct. 29) and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles around the world via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com STAND OUT AT CHARLESTON WITH APS CRUGEAR! With 250 boats heading to Charleston Race Week in a little over two weeks, it's your last chance to make sure you're seen. Whether you want to be noticed on the course or at the party is up to you, but either way, we're here to help. APS Crugear has you covered from start to finish with our expert team ready to get you ready for one the biggest events on the east coast. Tech shirts, shorts, softshells or foulies, we've got it all. It's time to let Crugear help you stand out. http://bit.ly/CRWCrugear WILLIAMS WINS CONGRESSIONAL CUP THRILLER Long Beach, CA (March 31, 2012) - Drama? Suspense? Intensity? The Long Beach Yacht Club's ISAF Grade 1 48th Congressional Cup had it all on the final day when Ian Williams of Great Britain pulled off a memorable win over Gavin Brady of New Zealand in the decisive race as the sun set into a murky cloud bank Saturday. After Williams, the defending champion, had won the first race of their championship final by 9 seconds and four-time winner Brady claimed the second by 8 seconds, the Brit's Team GAC Pindar led all the way in the third, but he had a problem: a pre-start penalty that he had to erase before the finish. "We had to do that penalty [turn]," he said---but was he far enough in front to execute a 270-degree semi-circle without Brady taking the lead? At the dock Williams recalled, with an ironic smile, that "our team was discussing just this morning how we'd never seen anybody win with a penalty. The rule of thumb is when you can do it and come out still ahead. Gavin pressed really hard." The key moment came about halfway up the second windward leg. Williams, who led Brady by 15 seconds at the leeward mark, was crossing him on port tack when, instead of tacking to starboard, he turned down across his onrushing foe and came up still in front on starboard tack---a 270-degree turn that absolved him of his penalty. Brady said, "We knew it was coming. It was probably the right place to do it. We were just too far behind to do anything about it." But it wasn't over yet. The move cost Williams most of his lead, and they rounded the last mark stern to bow. But Williams didn't give another inch before crossing the finish line 9 seconds in front---his 16th win in his last 17 races, after Brady stopped his 15-match winning streak. Sailing with Williams was Bill Hardesty, Gerry Mitchell, Mal Parker, Mark Callahan, and Nick Blackman. -- Full story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13524#13524 COUTTS CALLS FOR MULLIGAN Maybe Oracle Racing CEO Russell Coutts should have focused on smaller changes to the America's Cup. Once his team won the 33rd match, maybe he should have focused more on defending it than reshaping it. But his vision of popularizing the America's Cup has been a long held dream, and with the backing of Larry Ellison, he would finally get to fulfill it. Despite the 34th America's Cup proving now to be a smaller event in 2013 than forecasted, Russell could easily remain focused on the positives. The stadium of San Francisco will be fantastic. The boats are expected to be extraordinary. The broadcast is already groundbreaking. But Russell is already owning up to some of the mistakes too. Here are excerpts from two recent interviews: * COST: A four-time America's Cup winner, Coutts admits in hindsight more could have been done to attract a larger fleet. "Maybe [the boat] should have been a one-design, or the AC72 could have been smaller. It could have been a 50 foot boat -Tom Schnackenberg suggested that in the early days," he says. "One of the problems teams have is that they are trying to build their brands. Do we have all the right answers this time? Absolutely not. But these problems have been around for more than two decades now." -- Boating NZ, full story: http://tinyurl.com/Stuff-040112 * NATIONALISM: Russell Coutts - the man who infamously defected from Team New Zealand to Alinghi in 2000 - is calling for the America's Cup to have a nationality component among the crews. "If I was doing it again, I'd have the nationality rule, absolutely," Coutts says. "I tried to push it in this time. At least I think I was gunning for 50 per cent. Then I said, 'No, no, maybe we'll do 20 per cent.' After talking to the teams, the teams didn't really want it. It was going to make it too hard for teams such as China and Korea. "Personally, I think it'd be a better event if you had a nationality component in the crews. But all of the teams, I think except Team New Zealand, voted against it. I think it'd be better because it'd give fans more to engage with, which I think would be good, and I also think it'd be better for the development of sailing. If we were forced to use Americans, we would be forced to develop those sailors." -- NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10795651 RESCUE OPERATION Oakland, Calif. (April 1, 2012) - The iconic Golden Gate Bridge marked the finish line of the 6,000 mile stage from China to the U.S. for the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race. The first boat to cross the finish line on Friday, March 30, at 7:16 p.m. was Gold Coast Australia which is currently in first place overall. While the rest of the fleet will arrive over the next three days, a brutal low pressure system whipped up the ocean and a huge wave crashed over the back of Geraldton Western Australia on March 31, wiping out their steering column and injuring four crew members. The US Coast Guard dispatched a vessel with a deck helipad to rendezvous with Geraldton Western Australia on April 1. Weather permitting, they plan to transfer an on board paramedic to the yacht in order to assess the injuries before deciding whether to airlift them to the Coast Guard vessel and then to shore for medical treatment. Earlier a C-130 aircraft dropped additional medical supplies to the yacht, including oxygen for one of the crew. "We were racing along in 40-60 knot gusts," described skipper Juan Coetzer. "The sea was alive with rage. We were making good speed, sailing with the third reef in the main, surfing at 15-20 knots. Then at our watch change, just before the sun came up, a monstrous foaming swell broke over our stern. Mark Burkes was on the helm at the time. The water had so much force in it that it pushed Mark into the helm, snapping the pedestal clean off. We had no steering and crew were falling all over the boat. Jane Hitchens, 50, a doctor from Kent, UK, has suspected broken ribs and is being treated with oxygen. Nik Brbora, 29, a software engineer who lives in London, has a suspected pelvic strain, and Max Wilson, 62, a farmer from Queensland, Australia, also has suspected broken ribs. Burkes, 47, sustained a back injury but is not on the casualty list. Geraldton Western Australia is continuing under emergency steering towards San Francisco Bay and is now approximately 300 miles from port. * The fleet will be joining the Strictly Sail Pacific boat show at Jack London Square on April 12-15. Activities for show attendees include the awards ceremony on April 12, climbing onboard the boats on April 12-13, and the race re-start on April 14. -- Details: http://www.strictlysailpacific.com/shows/clipper-round-the-world.asp BACKGROUND: The Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race started on July 31st from Southampton on the UK's south coast and will return to the Solent in July 2012 after 40,000 miles of ocean racing - the world's longest ocean race. Over 500 people representing more than 40 nations plan to compete among the 10 equally matched 68-foot long masthead cutters designed by Ed Dubois. They can sign up for the whole circumnavigation or one or more of eight legs. http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/ FINANCIAL AID 101 An IYRS Open House on April 3 will not only showcase the school's educational programs: it will also include an in-depth seminar on how to pay for them. At this event on the Bristol campus, IYRS Manager of Student Affairs Debra Huntington will talk about financial-aid strategies and the funding sources that help students get on a fast track to promising careers. The Open House takes place 4 to 7 pm; the seminar begins at 5:30 pm. The IYRS Marine Systems and Composites Technology programs located at Bristol now follow a shorter, six-month curriculum. For more information: http://www.iyrs.org. SAILING SHORTS * For the ranks of high school sailors who are seeking to continue their scholastic sailing in college, the number of schools competing in each of the seven districts determines the number of national championship berths that are allocated to that district. Here are the allocations for the spring and fall 2012 college national championships: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/0401/ * (April 1, 2012) - Staggered starts on Friday and Saturday saw 18 yachts begin the 800nm Corona del Mar to Cabo San Lucas International Yacht Race. Jay Spalding's SC50 is the current overall elapsed and ORC C leader. -- http://cdmtocabo.com/ * The third of seven ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas, the Trofeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia MAPFRE, will see competition on April 2- 7 April in Palma, Spain. As teams begin to step up their preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition the regatta will be key for sailors preparing for the Olympic Games, as well as those still aiming to qualify their nation at their respective upcoming World Championships. -- Event website: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia-mapfre.org/en/ * Cascais, Portugal (April 1, 2012) - The fifteen competing teams at the Cascais RC44 Cup endured the full weather range, with the Russian flagged Katusha helmed by Steve Howe (USA) and tactician Russell Coutts (NZL) that proved most adept to win after 11 races. This is the second of five season events, with Chris Bake's Team Aqua retaining the overall ranking. The next stop on the 2012 RC44 Championship Tour is the RC44 Austria Cup on Lake Traunsee from May 30-June 2. -- http://www.rc44.com * Due the unavoidable delay in arrival of the Global Ocean Race (GOR) 40ft shipping container carrying spare sails and vital supplies for the double-handed Class40 teams, the Leg 4 start from Punta del Este, Uruguay, to Charleston, USA, has been postponed by one day to Monday 2nd April at 1500hrs. The race, which started in Palma, Mallorca on September 25, stops in Cape Town, South Africa; Wellington, New Zealand; Punta del Este, Uruguay and Charleston, USA before its expected finish in Mallorca by May 2012. -- http://globaloceanrace.com SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Mike Urwin, joint Chairman IRC Technical Committee. I note with interest the comments about the overwhelming use of windward/leeward courses (in Scuttlebutt 3558-9). We have been saying for years that in handicap racing, this course is inappropriate and will inevitably lead to a predominance of winners from one section of the fleet. If designers know that boats will usually only beat and run, then that is what they will design for! The IRC Yearbook contains comment and advice on the subject. The IRC Yearbook is available on-line at: http://digital.edition-on.net/links/4428_irc_year_book_2012.asp. See page 56. James Dadd, RORC Rating Office Chief Measurer, also comments on this in his piece in the May 2012 issue of Seahorse. Quite apart from the design issues, James discusses the increased range of skills that a crew needs on courses including reaches. Not to mention the greater interest! IRC certificate holders have direct access to the on-line edition of Seahorse using the password code on their IRC certificates. APRIL FOOLS...NOT We were saddened to see April 1st on the weekend this year, spoiling our annual parody edition. As a result, this newsletter - Scuttlebutt 3560 - is all beef and no bull. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "Why can't the tiller extension have its own name?" - #sailorproblems SPONSORS THIS WEEK APS - IYRS - North Sails - Atlantis WeatherGear - J Boats - Gowrie Group Dieball Sailing - Ullman Sails - Summit Yachts - The Pirates Lair Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
