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SCUTTLEBUTT 2632 - Monday, July 7, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS WITH TEAM RACING Following a very popular New England team race event, Ken Legler (college coach, event PRO, etc.) offers the following commentary on the issues that face the advancement of Team Racing, of which an edited version is provided below, and the complete version posted on the Forum for further discussion: “I had the pleasure of watching and commentating on the finals of the Charles River Open Team Race. As expected, the level of competition was incredible. With an ESE wind, and a race committee squeezing a good course in right next to the dock, the view was fabulous. After the event, I followed the results link in Scuttlebutt, but due to the random team names, the results were almost totally meaningless. In order to see how well the players did, and I know most of them, I had to go to the entry page and write down my own short hand version of what I would call the teams such that I could go back to the results and figure out who did what. “There are a couple of team names that are familiar not only to those in attendance, but to the world of team racing. We all know the reigning World Champs Silver Panda and the former champs WHishbone. However, at the CRO, it seems every team except Panda made up a cute name just for the event. When I asked a player why they didn't keep their old name, they said they couldn't because they had a new player. Of course they had a new player; no team is going to use the same six sailors in every event, every year. But where's your marketing power, or the marketing power of the sport in general, when no one has any idea who is racing?” -- Read on, and post comments here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6020#6020 VENDEE GLOBE 2008 - AN ALL-TICKET AFFAIR The premiere singlehanded event is shaping up to be the 2008 Vendée Globe, the non-stop race in Open 60’s that begins and ends in Les Sables d’Olonne, France. The 30 places planned in the race notice have now been filled for the start on November 9th. An exceptional line-up, an unprecedented competitive level, this edition of the race deserves all the superlatives. The Vendée Globe has never been so popular. There were 13 sailors that took part in the 1989 edition, 14 in 1992, 16 in 1996, 24 in 2000 and 20 in 2004. There will be 28 men and 2 women (Dee Caffari and Samantha Davies), seven nationalities, which is another record for the race: 17 French skippers will be lining up, followed by 6 British skippers and 2 from Switzerland. Canada, the United States, Spain and Austria are each represented by one skipper. Twenty new boats, or in other words two thirds of the fleet, have been specially built for this race, while the other ten from the 2004 generation have been completely refitted. Never has a fleet of solo yachtsmen brought together so much experience in one race: the skippers taking part in the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe have completed 32 circumnavigations and 21 Vendée Globe races, which represents a total of 1.5 million miles raced around the world’s oceans. Added to that, there is the presence of two previous winners, Michel Desjoyeaux (2000-2001) and Vincent Riou (2004-2005), so there will be a record-breaking champion line-up at the start in Les Sables d’Olonne. -- Full report: http://xrl.us/kj7w5 ANNIVERSARY PRESENT FOR HUTCHINSON & CO. Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy (July 5, 2008) - One year ago this week, Terry Hutchinson (USA) was a key member of the Emirates Team New Zealand crew which had only just narrowly lost the 32nd America’s Cup match against Alinghi. Today off the Sardinian capital of Cagliari, Hutchinson, and his team aboard Quantum Racing (USA), with an afterguard that included tactician Morgan Larson and strategist Mark Mendelblatt, won the third of six events of the 2008 Audi MedCup Circuit, lifting the Audi Region of Sardinia Trophy. Quantum finished third in Alicante in May and fifth in Marseille last month and now, at the theoretical mid-point of the six regatta season, the American boat tops the Audi MedCup Circuit 2008 overall standings. Final report: http://2008.medcup.org/news/?id=283 Results: http://2008.medcup.org/results/venue.php?trophy=3 * Thanks to photogs Ian Roman, Thierry Martinez, and Ingrid Abery for the outstanding images posted on the Scuttlebutt website from this event: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/0705 MORRIS YACHTS BOAT SHOW, JULY 18-20, NE HARBOR, ME Morris Yachts will host the fourth annual Morris Boat Show at their service yard in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 18-20. Open to the public, this event will showcase dozens of Morris Yachts on the docks and in the sheds. Do not miss this once a year opportunity to board the widest selection of Morris Yachts plus meet with vendors from Awlgrip, North Sails, Mack Boring, and others. Have a service question about your boat? Our Morris Service reps will also be on hand. Show hours 10-6 Friday and Saturday; 10-4 on Sunday. For more information: http://www.morrisyachts.com/Morris-Yachts-Boat-Show or call 1-207-244-5509. LOCAL FAVOURITE WINS IN MARSTRAND Marstrand, Sweden (July 6, 2008) - Despite the first cloudy day in a week of otherwise beautiful sunny weather, thousands of spectators still braved the chill to watch local favourite Mattias Rahm (SWE) beat Torvar Mirsky (AUS) 3-0 to win his first Match Cup Sweden finale, the fourth of nine events that comprise the World Match Racing Tour. He and his Stena Bulk Racing Team of Oscar Angervall, Johan Barne, Daniel Bjorndal, and Fredrik Aurell put on an exciting display of match race sailing action in both the Semi-Final and Final rounds of today’s competition. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) beat Mathieu Richard (FRA) 2-0 in the Petit Finals. Rahm’s path to the Finals included a 6-5 record in the Round Robin, a 3-2 win over Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) in the Quarter Finals, and a 3-2 win in the Semi Finals versus Magnus Holmberg (SWE). Mirsky’s path to the Finals included a 6-5 record in the Round Robin, a 3-2 win over Peter Gilmour (AUS) in the Quarter Finals, and a 3-2 win in the Semi Finals versus Mathieu Richard (FRA). The next tour event is the Troia Portugal Match Cup in Troia, Portugal on July 15-20, 2008. -- Full report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/da/82681 Match Cup Sweden Final Results: 1. Mattias Rahm (SWE), Stena Bulk Racing Team $50,000 2. Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Mirsky Racing Team $34,000 3. Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Victory Challenge $28,000 4. Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team $20,000 5. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST $16,000 6. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Alandia Sailing Team $14,000 7. Jes Gram Hansen (DEN) Trifork Racing Team $12,000 8. Sébastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/K Challenge $10,000 9. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar $7,000 10. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team $4,000 11. Paolo Cian (ITA) Shosholoza Team $3,000 12. Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin $2,000 TWO RESCUES RETURNING FROM NEWPORT BERMUDA RACE The 965-foot cruise ship Norwegian Dawn, while sailing off the coast of Massachusetts and New York last week on its way to Bermuda, answered two separate distress calls within twelve hours, rescuing two injured sailors from different boats in rough seas as they returned following the Newport Bermuda Race. The first rescue was 210 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., where the J/122 Patriot 's crew member, Andrew Paul Giglia, 42, of Wilton, Conn., was suffering from shock-like symptoms and needed to be evacuated immediately. Norwegian Dawn was contacted by the United States Coast Guard since it was the closest ship to the sailboat, approximately 52 miles away. Within twelve hours of rescuing the first sailor, Captain Vorren was notified of another, potentially more serious, injury on the J/40 Misty approximately 260 miles south of Montauk, NY. Hillary Bercovici, 55, of Greenwich, Conn., a male crew member aboard the Misty sustained a head injury and was losing consciousness. Both rescues occurred in winds over 30 knots and 15-20 foot seas. -- Complete story: http://www.cruisereport.com/NewsReader.aspx?news=716 > Coast Guard approaching Patriot: http://xrl.us/kj7w9 > Fox News Report: http://xrl.us/kj7xd * From Bill Sandberg: The owner of Patriot was in his office when he got the call from the US Coast Guard that his EPIRB was going off. He told them the boat was returning from Bermuda, where then the CG said they'd call him back in 42 minutes. Exactly 42 minutes later he received a call from the CG saying they were over the boat. Speaks well for our often maligned, and unfairly so, USCG. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SAILING AND SKIM BOARDING by John Reed, Secretary to the WSSR Council The World Speed Sailing Record Council’s new rule on minimum water depth (50 cm) for speed record attempts has seemingly caused a great deal of excitement among the kite sailing community with strong opinions being expressed both for and against. Some people have sent several pages of requests for technical explanations of the most detailed kind while others have demanded that the new rule be cancelled or delayed. We really cannot be expected to give a detailed reply to hundreds of questions so the following is an attempt to give a general explanation of the new rule and what led to it. Every individual record attempt or observed speed event generates a report from the supervising WSSRC Observer. Last year it became clear from these that kite sailors were sometimes running in very shallow water - for instance in the lee of a mud-bank or sand-bar. Their objective was to find water as smooth as possible but it also rang alarm bells with members of WSSRC who wondered if there was some other benefit of running in shallow water which could give an unfair advantage to a particular type of craft. -- Read on and post comments here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6034#6034 QINGDAO: REQUIRED EQUIPMENT Little or no wind. Pea soup air pollution. Trash bags lurking just under the surface. Oil slicks. Algae blooms. Heaps of money spent. Years of training. And your life’s work is to get on the podium. A new Reality Show obstacle course? No. The Olympic sailing competition in Qingdao, China. The sailors have spoken. The most important tool and piece of equipment will be Kaenon Polarized and the patented SR-91 polarized lens in purpose-built, sailing-specific lens tints. Nothing will be more in-demand than Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. Available in prescription – Single Vision or Freestyle Progressive. http://www.kaenon.com SAILING SHORTS * Curacao , Netherlands Antilles (July 5, 2008) - Reigning champion Raul Rios of Puerto Rico retained his title by the narrowest of margins in the final race of the IODA North American Optimist Championship, besting 204 competitors. If he had not won the race or Rachel Lee (SIN) had registered another bullet, their positions would have been reversed. In the girls' ranking it was a different story. South American sailors Lucia Falasca (ARG) and Kamilla Sabogal (ECU) took open silver and bronze, while the closed North American prizes went to Morgan Kiss (USA), Nikki Barnes (ISV) and Christina Lewis (USA). -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6033#6033 * The Fox Sports Channel is showing a feature called "Amazing Sports Stories" that profiles Canadian Finn sailor Lawrence Lemieux. The show on Larry Lemieux that was filmed this spring, and it's about his rescue of 470 sailors in Korea during a race in the 1988 Olympics. The show is scheduled for Monday, July 7, 2008 at 4:30 pm, and is repeated during this week. Confirm show times here: http://msn.foxsports.com * (July 6, 2008) Doug Baker’s high-tech, four-year-old Magnitude 80 sailed out of the dark into a French Polynesian welcome Thursday night to finish the 3,571 nautical mile Tahiti Race at 8:13 p.m. local time and break the record by almost 3 ½ days. Starting from Los Angeles, the Alan Andrews design completed the course in 11 days 10 hours 13 minutes 18 seconds, an average speed of 13.02 knots. Next to finish was Bob Lane’s Andrews 63 Medicine Man, arriving today at 6:35 p.m. local time for an elapsed time of 13 days 8 hours 35 minutes 23 seconds. -- http://www.transpacificyc.org * Weymouth, UK (July 6, 2008) With 99 entries from 18 countries, the largest ever fleet of foiling moths have assembled for the CST Composites 2008 Moth World Championships at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy. The boats are split into two groups for the first three days of the qualifying series to divide the Gold and Silver fleets. The final two days will be a sail-off to determine the event champion. High winds cancelled the first day of racing on Sunday, with conditions for Monday are forecast to be more conducive to foiling with 15 to 20 knots, with conditions further easing later in the week. -- Full report: http://www.moth-sailing.org/reports/2008-0705_WorldsPressRelease.xml * Chautauqua, New York -- The Chautauqua Yacht Club went all out to make the 50th Anniversary E-Scow Championship regatta a memorable event. Andy Burdick with crew Peter Keck, Coye Harrett, and Lindsey Bartel, were dominant over the three day schedule as they handedly won the 2008 event. Mr. Consistency, Tom Burton was second and last year’s winner Sam Rogers was third. This was the first championship since the class adopted the asymmetrical spinnaker, and crew work was a premium throughout the event as teams strived to master the new tuning and techniques needed. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6035#6035 * The crew of Wink Vogel’s Riptide 50 Strum sailed over the finish line on July 4th at 1822.26HST under spinnaker at +10 knots, as the first to complete the 2008 Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race. Enduring more of the uncertain winds that have characterized the race, in the last 24 hours of racing the Vancouver, BC team experienced everything from screaming downwind sleigh rides of over 20 knots to beating into light headwinds. -- Race website: http://www.vicmaui.org/index.php?page=Interface.Home * (July 5, 2008) A spectacular welcome greeted the crews of the ten 68-foot ocean racing yachts in the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race as they arrived back in Liverpool at the end of their 35,000-mile circumnavigation. Crossing the finish line overnight at the end of the 14th and final stage that began in Cork, Ireland, the US entry, New York, claimed their sixth first place finish to finalize their overall win of the race. -- http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com * Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK (July 6, 2008) - While the GBR Red team started the final day of the Rolex Commodores' Cup with a comfortable lead, a double points scoring final race combined with a front passing over the Solent bringing with it solid 30 knot winds, even stronger gusts, rain and terrible visibility maintained the tension until the very last moments of the competition. The team survived the race win the 2008 Rolex Commodores' Cup comfortably, on 122 points with the two Irish teams White and Green on 144 and 161 respectively, pulling ahead of France Blue today, the defending champions dropping to fourth on 166.5. -- Full story: http://www.regattanews.com/pressrelease.asp?pid=1916&lang=1 * Correction: Here is a submission from the Newport Bermuda Race organizers to clarify information that was published in Issue 2631. “The St David's Lighthouse Trophy is awarded to the ORR corrected time winner of that single division. Under IRC, Sinn Fein won the new trophy donated by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the North Rock Beacon Trophy, as the corrected time winner out of all 127 IRC boats sailing in the combined St. David's Lighthouse Division and Gibb's Hill Lighthouse Division. Thus, Sinn Fein beat all 15 of the fully professional Gibb's Hill boats and all 112 of the amateur driven St David's boats combined.” GET MACKINAC RACE READY Ocean Racing's waterproof Offshore Backpack keeps your laptop and kit dry when everything else is wet! Polyurethane-impregnated fabric, sewn, taped & RF welded seams plus a removable neoprene computer sleeve. Add the matching Offshore Duffel & you’ll have the driest, best looking sailing luggage @ Mackinac or anywhere else. http://www.OceanRacing.com EIGHT BELLS Sonoma, CA - Businessman and sportsman Jay Brown died suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday, June 29, 2008. Jay was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1958. He had an early passion for golf, sailing, and photography. In 1987 Jay was part of the crew that won the America's Cup for the United States in races held in Perth, Australia. It was in Australia at that time that Jay met Karen, his wife of 20 years. Working on the 1992 film Wind, which documented the victory, Jay renewed his interest in photography. He studied at the Maine Photographic Workshop in Rockland, ME, where he later taught. Jay and Karen made Sonoma their home in 1998. Together they founded and grew the highly successful Sonoma based business, Brindisiamo, specializing in importing fine furniture from Italy. In connection with that, they were frequent travelers to Italy and students of the Italian language. He was also an active and popular member of Sonoma Golf Club. Jay was a devoted and loving husband and a loyal and generous friend. He will be greatly missed by all. -- http://xrl.us/kj7xf CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Ari Barshi, Cabarete, Dominican Republic: Our dream to get sailing to mainstream media has come true. Hundreds of marketing ideas were sent by buttheads through the years, none matured. The Chinese finally did it (with algae). Now what can we learn from this experience? * From Colin Mann (from the Forum; edited to the 250-word limit) A number of years ago we took our J/92 from Nova Scotia to Newport for the J/92 North Americans. At the end of the regatta (tired, happy) we motored up from Ida Lewis to Wickford where the boat was to be hauled on the tide the next morning. As we motored up past Goat Island and Rose Island, we were careful to watch the channel markers to stay off Gull Rocks. However ......... just at the point that we were looking up, saying 'isn't it weird how those bridges always look so much lower than they really are ... always look like they're going to hit the mast' ...... we hit the mast!! Well actually, the windex and wind instrument wand hit the understructure of the old Jamestown bridge! Anyway, just the other day I came across half a windex which has been in my toolbox all these years! What I would like to do is mount it on a board, along with a good picture (or series of pictures) of the demolition of the bridge. I would add a suitable plaque to commemorate the event. What I need is a hi-res (suitable for printing) copy (or series of pics) of the demolition. I can find low-res versions on the web, but nothing that would print reasonably. If anyone can help me out ....please PM me. -- http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6019#6019 * From Derek Bouwer: I read with interest Jan Pehrson’s article (in Issue 2631, WANTED: RAIL MEAT), and while yes this is the way to get into sailing, a smart boat owner or skipper will start by getting them interested in the act of sailing the boat by getting them involved in the sailing of the boat. I spent 5 years as rail beef where suggestion made by myself where ignored, but only proved to be correct. It was only when I moved to another boat where the skipper listened to the railbeef that sailing really became interesting as only then where you part of the team. I now run a vdStadt 34 and new crew are never just rail beef but shown, explained and used from day one. *From Jeff Riedle, Crew, Euro Trash Girl: In your photos from July 3rd when John Rousmaniere wrote "To my knowledge this is the top finish in any major ocean race by a crew with such a large proportion of women.", it made me wonder. Is the Annapolis to Newport Race not a "major ocean race"? When Nicole Weaver lead a majority female crew (5 women to 3 men) on her J-120 Euro Trash Girl to win her class and PHRF overall in 2005, does that not count somehow? -- Photo: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/0704/ CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION You might be a sailing bum if you used 5200 Adhesive Sealant to re-sole your sailing shoes. Special thanks to Morris Yachts, Kaenon Polarized, and Ocean Racing. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
