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SCUTTLEBUTT 2505 – January 7, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, featuresand dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. TEAM RACERS AND TUNNICLIFFE WIN TOP HONORS The Silver Panda Team Racing skippers Clay Bischoff/ Pete Levesque/ Colin Merrick and Anna Tunnicliffe have won the 2007 Scuttlebutt US Yachtsman and Yachtswoman awards. Based on a vote by Scuttlebutt readers, these award winners were selected based on their sportsmanship, varied accomplishments, and in the case of the men, value to their team. Runners-up for the awards were J/22 North American champion Greg Fisher and Silver Panda Team Racing crew Amanda Callahan/ Liz Hall/ Lisa Keith. In 2007, the Silver Panda team accomplished the previously unheard of triple crown of team racing: ISAF World Championship, the U.S. National Championship, and the Wilson Trophy, with the later being one of the longest running and best known team racing events (held in West Kirby, England). Additionally, the Silver Panda team has been huge boosters for the promotion of team racing, which is enjoying a record rise in popularity, and the team’s success is likely pushed by the strong participation of the top US Olympic and collegiate sailors. For Tunnicliffe, she is credited with consistently dominating the Laser Radial class, capping off a fine year with wins at the US Olympic Trials and Qingdao Pre-Olympic regatta. She also demonstrated her range by finishing third at the Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship. However, above and beyond her accomplishments is a reoccurring theme for Tunnicliffe: she is very well liked. This voter comment is similar to many: “Anna's continued dedication to the sport of sailing and her promotion of the sport throughout the world make her my #1 pick. She shares her talents by teaching young people at workshops in her off time, and she is also totally committed to being a team player during team competitions. She is a constant in the world of sailing.” -- Results and comments can be viewed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/polls/08/0102 * Scuttlebutt would like to thank US Sailing and the Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman committee for helping select the group of nominees for the Scuttlebutt awards. The Rolex award remains the most elite recognition provided to an American sailor; look for the announcement of the 2007 winners to be provided next week. DOWN UNDER OLYMPIC ACTION (January 6, 2008) The International 49er class was the first to launch the World championship season this past weekend for Olympic classes, with a fleet of eighty teams from 29 nations competing in the qualifying series on Friday through Sunday, with the championship to be sailed Monday through Wednesday. The top North American team is US 2008 Olympic rep Tim Wadlow and Chris Rast, who provide the following report after finishing 10th in the qualifying series: “It was all on today. 18-24 knots of breeze from the land. Flat water, shifty, and full on racing. The last race of the day was pretty intense. The wind was averaging over 20 knots. We sailed a great beat to round the windward mark in 1st, with some Brits right behind. They passed us on the downwind, but then shortly after flipped in a dramatic capsize. We pulled off the first jibe, but then coming into the gate we still had one more jibe to get down to right gate. We had a monster puff come through the fleet and we didn't survive the jibe. As we flipped, I looked up to see the French and Italian teams "pitch it in" right after we did. So in the end, the first four boats in the race all capsized. The teams just behind got to the gate in a lull and survived the rounding. After righting the boat, we ground back to an 8th place finish (becoming a 7th after protests). Only about half the fleet actually finished the race. Now that's 49er racing!” -- Full report: http://www.wadlowrast.com/2008/01/qualifying-day-3-at-worlds.html Results: http://www.yachting.org.au/site/yachting/event/14245/overall_2_1.html * As a precursor to the Laser World Championship that will be held in Terrigal, Australia on February 7-13, a 64-boat international fleet participated in the Australian Laser Nationals last week in Victoria. Winning the event was current World Champion Thomas Slingsby (AUS), with the North American contingent filling most of the top ten slots: 2. Michael Leigh (CAN); 5. Andrew Campbell (USA); 7. David Wright (CAN); 9. Abe Torchinsky (CAN); and 10. Michael Kalin (CAN). -- Results: http://www.yachting.org.au/site/yachting/event/13897/default.html RONSTAN SERIES 70 ORBIT BLOCKS ARRIVING SOON! Following the successful launch of the revolutionary Series 55 Orbits, Ronstan launches the next range of Orbit ball-bearing and ratchet blocks. Ideal for sheet applications on keel boats up to 30' and for control line applications on larger boats, the Series 70s offer the same innovative features that have made Orbit Blocks the hottest new blocks available today: light-weight fiber reinforced cheeks and sheaves and a "stronger-than-steel" Dyneema rope-link. The Series 70 Auto-Ratchet features 25:1 holding power and superior rope wear performance which allows many boats to forego the use of winches and the doubling-up of ratchet blocks. Details at http://www.ronstan.us TEAM RACING MIDWINTERS by Frank Ustach Jensen Beach, FL USSCMC (January 1-3, 2008) -- This year’s U.S. Team Racing Association (USTRA) Midwinters championship, like most, saw a mix-n-match of members from the US’ top team racing teams, along with a strong collegiate presence. With a cold front approaching and temperatures expected to reach record lows and winds expected above 20kts, the Race Committee was eager to get racing underway on day 1. With 23 teams registered, the events largest attendance since I have participated in 2001, the format for the event was a modified Swiss-league, used at events, like Hinman, Charles River Open, and Wilson Trophy, where a large number of teams are present and a round robin format is unlikely to be finished. Teams are preseeded and split into even groups and then are awarded points for wins in those groups, with the higher level groups earning more points for a win. After each round the groups are reseeded based on record, not points, allowing teams to move up brackets and have a chance to earn more points. The final standing are based off which team has earned the most points. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0106/ BARCELONA WORLD RACE Open 60 doublehanded round the world race (started Nov 11; 25,000-miles) (Day 57 – January 6, 2008) It’s been a challenging weekend for the Barcelona World Race fleet. The two leaders are having uncharacteristic Southern Ocean conditions on their route from New Zealand toward Cape Horn, with Paprec-Virbac 2 losing miles due to light headwinds, while Hugo Boss is blocked by a ridge of high pressure (though they have gained 54 miles on P-V2 over the past three days). Both Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña have concluded their stopover in Wellington (NZL) but have been suffering in light winds following their departure, which has also nearly becalmed Educación sin Fronteras in their approach to Cook Strait (NZL). -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com Positions at 18:00 GMT 1-Paprec-Virbac 2, Jean-Pierre Dick/ Damian Foxall, 8,111 nm DTF 2-Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson/ Andrew Cape, 762nm DTL 3-Temenos II, Dominique Wavre/ Michéle Paret, 2,767 4-Mutua Madrilena, Javier Sanso Windmann/ Pachi Rivero, 2,924 5-Educación sin Fronteras, Servane Escoffier/ Albert Bargues, 3,244 Retired - PRB, Vincent Riou / Sébastien Josse (broken mast) Retired -Delta Dore, Jérémie Beyou/ Sidney Gavignet (broken mast) Retired - Estrella Damm, Guillermo Altadill/ Jonathan McKee, (rudder damage) Retired - Veolia Environnement, Roland Jourdain/ Jean-Luc Nélias (broken mast) * (Day 44 – January 6, 2008 - 18:20 UTC) Calm weather conditions continue to plague Francis Joyon and his maxi-trimaran IDEC in their solo round the world record attempt. Speed and distance numbers continue to fall, with the latest 24 hour speed average of only 9.4 knots while covering 226 nm being nearly a third of what Joyon has posted for much of the trip. With 4,602 nm remaining toward the finish at Brest, France, positioned now in the Atlantic Ocean off the Brazilian coast, Joyon has lost over 500 miles in the past three days on his advance over the record set by Ellen MacArthur in 2005, which is now at 2,661nm. -- http://www.trimaran-idec.com * (Day 20 – January 6, 2008) Precisely five minutes after beating the 24 hour distance record and whilst sailing at the latitude of the Kerguelen Islands, Thomas went up on deck to reduce the sail area and discovered that he had lost the crash box from his starboard float. Even though it's too early to say whether it's the result of impact or not Thomas had observed that there were some growlers - pieces of partially submerged ice - around the boat. Acting as a kind of bumper, the crash box is there to avoid breaking the whole boat in the event of impact with something and also ensures the float’s watertightness. The trimaran is currently rerouting to Cape Town (South Africa) some 1,300 miles away. In setting the record (yet to be ratified by the WSSR Council), Thomas covered the 619.3 miles at an average of 25.8 knots. In so doing he beats the record held by Francis Joyon (616.03) by three miles. It should be noted that Thomas broke the record during his 20th day at sea, just like Francis Joyon, whilst in the same zone of the Indian Ocean, with a fairly similar weather pattern, ahead of a depression. -- http://www.sodebo-voile.com/actu/news-eng.html QUOTE / UNQUOTE “At 48° 45 South and 10° 19 East, I am an eyewitness to this infamous global warming. As far as I can remember, I’ve never seen ice so far North during this season.” -- by Thomas Coville, whose position was below and just west of the southern most tip of the African continent. FROM SKIS TO SNOW BLOWERS. HOW DO YOU MCLUBE? Winter has its own special set of challenges. Richard G. McLubes the inside of the chute on his snow blower to keep it free of snow and ice build up. Sydney R. McLubes his cross country skis to keep the fish scale surface ice free and fast on the glide, yet still grippy on the push. Bill L. McLubes the forestay and jib tabs on his Sonar to help the jib raise and lower more freely. Click on http://mclube.com/sailkote/recreation to see more creative McLube applications, and we invite you to share your favorites with us. How do you McLube? SHOOTING BLANKS – SWISS STYLE (Here is Part 12 in a series of America’s Cup articles by NY lawyer Cory Friedman, where he holds our hand and walks us through the legalese for an event that used to be about sailing. The trimmers and tacticians have been replaced by law clerks and litigators, with the next Act set for January 14th.) (January 6, 2008) Société Nautique Genève (SNG) lost before Justice Cahn despite having the “best lawyers.” With new counsel SNG is not just losing. It is getting crushed. If that were not bad enough, SNG’s counsel is making SNG look like a crew of lubberly knaves tumbling from the rigging on an out of control goose wing jibe. The capper of this “Pirates of Switzerland” performance is that the motion to renew and reargue is OCS and too late at the same time. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (“CPLR”) 2221, which governs motions to renew and/ or reargue is titled “Motions affecting prior order.” Although the term “settlement order” has somehow crept into sailing publication discussions of this case, there is no such thing in New York practice. Justice Cahn wrote a Memorandum Decision, not an order, and directed that Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) “Settle Order.” Settle is a verb used in the somewhat archaic sense of “settle the plate on the table.” On or after the settlement date, now effectively January 14, 2008, Justice Cahn will enter an Order. Until he does so, there is no order to affect. Indeed CPLR 2221(d)(3) mandates that a motion to reargue “shall” [mandatory] be made within 30 days after the order in question is entered and served with notice of entry. Why did not GGYC even mention that the motion is premature? Perhaps it was because the time to renew, which is a minor part of the motion, is not governed by the 30 day rule. More likely it is the same reason that a match racer slam dunks an OCS adversary, or a slugger crushes a fat slightly out of the strike zone pitch on a 3-0 count. Real litigators are competitors. Dominating is what they are about, just as it is for Russell Coutts, a major league slugger or pitcher, or any real athlete. More importantly, credibility is key to success in litigation. If you can destroy your adversary’s credibility, he sails on a perpetual header thereafter. Credibility is like virginity. It is hard to regain. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/cf * GGYC’s latest filings can be found at http://www.ggyc.com/acnews.php QUOTE / UNQUOTE “Journalists are supposed to try to balance their stories by presenting the arguments of both sides. But as television news pioneer Edward R. Murrow pointed out about 50 years ago, ‘Some stories only have one side.’” -- Eric Sharp, Detroit Free Press, regarding the latest legal actions by the America’ s Cup defender, http://tinyurl.com/2clvzf SAILING SHORTS * (January 6, 2008) The Star Levin Memorial Cup regatta, hosted by Coral Reef Yacht Club, raced on Miami’s Biscayne Bay this past weekend in shifty 5-12 mph winds revealing international rivalries that will continue to build toward April’s Star Worlds 2008 in Miami. With 38 boats entered from eleven nations, New Zealand’s Hammish Pepper and Carl Williams won the event, followed by Switzerland’s Flavio Marazzi and Enrico Demaria, Norway’s Eivind Melleby and Peeter Pedersen in third, and US 2008 Olympic representative John Dane and Austin Sperry in fourth. -- Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/2dz4eg * The International 470 Class Association launched in 2006 the Olympic Pathway Solidarity Grant (OPSG) to support talented 470 sailors with sailing ambitions and abilities on Olympic levels who were faced with financial or infrastructural obstacles. Over 10,000 Euros have been granted by the OPSG to finance transport or charter fees to the 470 World Championship in Melbourne, Australia on January 24-30 for those crews who have not qualified their country and have been admitted to the 2008 edition of the OPSG Programme. -- http://www.470.org * In a 27-page report released from the Valencian Finance Institute, the 32nd edition of the America’s Cup generated almost 74,000 jobs in Valencia, and the overall economic impact of the Cup races was responsible for a 3.29% hike in employment and an increase of 2.67% in the Gross Domestic Product of the Valencian Community. Regarding the current contract held for the 33rd event between the city and America’s Cup Management (ACM), there does exist the possibility of withdrawing from the contract, but not altering it. If ACM does need to break the contract, it must refund all the money paid thus far. -- The Valencia Life Network, mailto:publisher@valencialife.net EIGHT BELLS Abbot Montague Geer, of East Haddam, CY, died at home on Monday, December 31, 2007 at the age of 82 years. A lifelong sailor, he was the proprietor of Abbot Geer Public Relations, a firm that specialized in the promotion and marketing of marine manufacturers. He retired in 1998 after nearly 50 years working in the marine industry, including being the first professional hired to promote the America’s Cup in 1958. He was a life member of the American Boat and Yacht Council and a member of Boating Writers International. He is survived by his wife, Barbara (Cusack) of 52 years; his daughters, the Rev. Victoria McGrath of Chatham, NJ, and Sabra Donovan of Orange, CT; and his son, Cornelius of Chicago, IL, their spouses and 5 grandchildren. A memorial service was held on January 5th in East Haddam; donations in his memory may be made to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church or the East Haddam Historical Society. MORRIS YACHTS IS TRAVELING THE GLOBE JANUARY 2008! Team Morris heads to Germany for Boot Düsseldorf January 19-27. Come see the M36 in Hall 16 booth A53! The West Coast Team heads to Seattle for the Boats Afloat Show January 24-February 2, Chandler’s Cove where the Morris 48 makes her West Coast debut. Details at 207-244-5509 or mailto:sales1@morrisyachts.com LETTERS TO 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, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, 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 Ned Roseberry: While I presume there is some "deed of gift" for the Rolex, I find the comment about the nature of the role of the award to "recognize individual achievement" as outdated, but precisely why a dominant team racing team should be considered strongly. The whole point of team racing is that you have six athletes effectively acting as one, knowing precisely what to expect from every one of their teammates at every point in time - its something every team strives to achieve, some, like Silver Panda, with astounding consistency. If nothing else, team racing should in a way be the pinnacle of "individual achievement" because you can't win the US Championship, the Wilson Trophy, the Team Race Worlds, and every other regatta you entered unless you have six people acting effectively one individual. Taking nothing away from the outstanding accomplishments of the other nominees, it seems like the principle of the award is to recognize outstanding performance - "deed of gift" rhetoric notwithstanding. Good luck to all the nominees and congratulations to everyone on their successes. * From Pablo Godel, Cincinnati, OH: (regarding story in Issue 2504) As with so many things with this US Administration, I wonder what is happening with Common Sense ? A permit for deck runoff for a Laser? This is absolutely ridiculous when there are thousands of industries, power plants, and freight vessels contaminating our waters. * From Tom Donlan: (Re the note about the US Coast Guard from Robin Wallace in Issue 2504) About the TV ad showing Coasties on a CG boat underway with nobody wearing Coast Guard approved PFDs, I think it would send a perfectly fine message if it means the CG is getting rational about life jackets. Coasties wearing big bulky Type I life jackets on a pleasant summer day sends the (usually false) message that they are out of touch with reality. * From Scott Winn: (regarding story in Issue 2504) 10,000 pounds of coffee on a 42-foot boat? Wouldn't this amount nearly double the displacement of this boat? I imagine that the reserve buoyancy was next to nothing, which might explain why they encountered troubles in route to Texas and needed to be rescued. Must be some good coffee! * From Scott Smith: In Scuttlebutt 2503, The NY Times article, "Olympic Dream," highlights the importance of how US Sailing officials, acting as the national governing body, need to conduct themselves with the utmost diligence especially when selecting their Olympic athletes. It is incomprehensible that this Jury only heard testimony from the only person who would benefit from a positive outcome of the redress request and who they would elevate to first place and onto the Olympic team. The Jury must have known what was at stake when they made their decision, not to mention the years of personal sacrifice these girls must have endured, and that the decision would be non-appeal. Instead their conduct leads one to believe they were lazy, incompetent, or worse. Either way their conduct would have enraged competitors at a local beer can race. You have to feel sorry for both girls, especially Farrah Hall, who is forced to pursue a fair hearing through the USOC arbitration process at a cost that must be staggering. On the other hand what will it cost US Sailing to defend their actions? * Curmudgeon’s Comment: The NY Times article was not clear as it inferred that Hall was not involved in the hearing. Because she was not a party to the redress protest, she was not included in the process. However, because the outcome of the hearing would effect her final placement, she was invited by the jury to hear the facts found and the final decision, and was allowed to ask questions if desired. As I understand, it was within her right to file a redress protest of her own, however, she did not do so within the time permitted. In what now appears to be an attempt to correct this mistake, she is pursuing every option that remains available. CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION There is the speed of light and there is the speed of sound. There is also the speed of time, which after careful review in 2007, still remains at one second per second. Special thanks to Ronstan, McLube, and Morris Yachts. A complete list of Scuttlebutt’s preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
