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SCUTTLEBUTT 3672 - Monday, September 10, 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: Southern Spars and US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider. EACH TIME WE PLAY, IT IS A DIFFERENT GAME. WHY? By Glenn McCarthy Can you imagine the rules of Football, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, etc., or even Corn Hole (Bags) changing every time they're played? Apparently there are some changes in professional baseball; the home run length is different in different ballparks across the country. But that is about it. In sailing we have those nasty Notice of Race (NOR) and Sailing Instructions (SIs) that every individual who writes them wants to leave their fingerprint on. They change the game for each and every event we sail in. Do we ever stop and realize how utterly ridiculous this is? Most buoy courses are comparable. All we need on the water is which course shape, what leg length, what direction the first mark is and how many times around we're to go. The course can be standardized in the rule book and the signals on boats can be standardized and we don't need that put in NORs and SIs. It's not any different for port-to-port races, either. There are many other changes organizers always mess with, and at each event we have to adjust our thoughts and adjust our game. Really, are those changes cause for more people to sail, or for more people to get tired of having to figure out this weekend's new game? Too often sailors get caught not having read the NOR or SIs and get protested for some local rule. Is this inviting? Is this pleasureable? Do these sailors clamor to come back next year after getting a penalty? While maybe not the best example, a boat in this year's Pacific Cup (San Francisco to Hawaii) obviously didn't bother reading the NOR or SI's. Competing boats were not to look at the club's race tracking website during the race. Not only did they look at it during the race, they posted on their blog during the race how they were doing against their competitors, citing the race tracking website. Of course they were protested, and they received a 24 hour penalty. Rule after rule after rule. Does this make the sport more enticing? Kudos to Chicago Yacht Club for their NORs and SIs in 2012. They worked really hard at removing superfluous information from their NORs and SIs (did you notice that you didn't have to print very many pages and there was little to remember)? It is a step in the right direction, with the final stop being all we need is a rule book and signals and radio calls from Race Committee Boats. We really need to stop changing the game each weekend. At the end of the day, we should be able to go around the buoys in the right order and should get a score. Let's stop changing the game every time we race. K.I.S.S.! -- Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation, http://tinyurl.com/LMSRF-090912 U.S. CLUBS CONFIRMED Newport, RI (September 8, 2012) - After a seeding series on Wednesday and Thursday advanced the top twelve teams to the Gold Flight of the U.S. Qualifying Series, this group was now being thoroughly vetted in the new J/70s to see who would be among top three teams to advance to the amateur 2013 Invitational Cup presented by Rolex. After seven races on Friday, the final day on Saturday delivered 12-17-knots, setting the landscape for a litany of near capsizes, breakdowns, and penalties. In the end, the last qualifier for the Gold fleet, Larchmont Yacht Club, climbed to the top as Seattle and San Francisco yacht clubs held on to gain the final two spots and berths in the 2013 Invitational Cup presented by Rolex. "We struggled in the qualifying round, but really started to feel comfortable finally today," said Danny Pletsch, skipper for Larchmont. "The left side of the course was heavily favored today so we started there, then began starting at the boat to be more conservative near the end." For the top three in the Gold fleet, preparing for the Invitational Cup is potentially more intimidating than facing the tooth-and-nail racing each day this week. "They'll probably be shocked to find out we qualified," said Shawn Bennett, skipper of third place San Francisco Yacht Club. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for the club." Bennett, who has experience preparing for national and world championships, said that he is sure the members will step up the training for next year's event. Larchmont, Seattle, San Francisco will join New York Yacht Club as the U.S. representatives to compete against 20 international yacht clubs in next year's Invitational Cup to be sailed in the Club Swan 42. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/USQS-090912 Qualifying Team rosters: Larchmont: Danny Pletsch, Clay Bischoff, Cardwell Potts, Rebecca Liggins Seattle: W. Andrew Loe III, Michael Karas, Anthony Boscolo, Lindsay Bergan San Francisco: Shawn Bennett, Melissa Purdy Feagin, Tom Purdy, Jon Perkins Gold Fleet Final Results - Top 5 of 24 (13 races, no throw-outs) 1. Larchmont Yacht Club, 51 2. Seattle Yacht Club, 62 3. San Francisco Yacht Club, 64 4. Newport Harbor Yacht Club, 66 5. St. Francis Yacht Club, 82 Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/2012-USQS-results SOUTHERN SPARS AT THE MONACO YACHT SHOW 2012 Southern Spars is set to bring their passion, design, technology and performance to the 2012 Monaco Yacht Show, stand QJ03, New Zealand Street. Our sales and marketing team will be on-hand for any inquiries you have about Southern Spars' products and services, from the new and now proven-in-competition TPT technology to our EC6 composite rigging. Please contact info@southernspars.com WEST COAST CLASSIC San Francisco, CA (September 9, 2012) - On the fourth and final day of the 48th annual Rolex Big Boat Series, a majority of the eight classes competing had bristling showdowns to determine winners, while others held the line to establish yesterday's leaders as class victors, including IRC A's Jim Swartz (Park City, Utah) and his team aboard the TP52 Vesper, which also were named the IRC North American Champions for 2012. "In my mind, sailing is all about teamwork, and we just have a fantastic team," said Swartz, mentioning crew members Jamie Gale, Ken Keefe and Gavin Brady as among the greatest sailors in the world. "It really helps the program immensely when you have a group of people who know how to take care of each other." Keefe added that the team also won the IRC East Coast Championship earlier this year. "After having a successful summer on the East Coast and then to come here and do so well is just an incredible feat and shows how strong our team is." As it did last year here, Vesper also won the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy, one of six coveted awards given for best performances in specific classes at this regatta. The trophies remain on display at St. Francis Yacht Club; however, six Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner watches are presented to skippers as personal evidence of their teams having won them. Today's single "Bay Tour" distance race showed all classes (four for IRC, one for Catamarans and one each for Express 37s, J/105s and J/120s) the four corners of San Francisco Bay, routing 66 teams on courses that incorporated a start near Berkeley Pier to the east, mark roundings near the Golden Gate Bridge to the west and natural obstacles such as Alcatraz and Treasure Islands for assured testing of navigational skills. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/NEWS/12/0909/ IF IT AIN'T ONE THING, IT'S ANOTHER It took an act of Congress for the America's Cup to stage exhibition races last year. It may take another intervention by lawmakers to ensure good TV coverage when the main event hits San Francisco waters in 2013. That's because the planned America's Cup racecourse for 2013 - which sweeps from the Golden Gate to Piers 27-29 - includes an area where flights are restricted during Giants games at AT&T Park. Why should airspace matter for a boat race? Because the America's Cup has helicopters hovering above the boats at all times for race officials and TV coverage. Restricted airspace extends about 3 nautical miles from the center of the ballpark during the baseball season, which, it so happens, overlaps with the entire Cup race schedule. The FAA restricts flights during baseball games as a public safety measure. So - like last year - the federal government likely will have to make changes to accommodate Cup racing. Last year Congress passed, and President Barack Obama signed, the America's Cup Act of 2011. The legislation waived laws that restrict foreign vessels from operating in U.S. waters. It was needed because, unlike Cups of the past, this America's Cup is held close to shore, which would have put foreign boats in technical violation of the Jones Act and the Passenger Vessel Services Act. Thanks to that change, the America's Cup was able to hold exhibitions in San Diego. To deal with the airspace issue, San Francisco may seek an exemption for Cup-related aircraft, said Daley Dunham, a special projects manager at the Port of San Francisco. Dunham said he's confident a solution can be reached. But he has started working on it because, well, this is the federal government after all. "We've got time," he said, "but we need time." -- SF Business Times, http://tinyurl.com/SFBJ-090912 COUNTDOWN: The 34th America's Cup is now inside a year to go, with America's Cup defender Oracle Team USA to line-up against one of four challenging teams - Artemis Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa Challenge or Team Korea - for Race 1 on Sept. 7, 2013. Details: http://www.americascup.com/en/news/3/news/6670/t-minus-365 SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * (September 9, 2012) - Tropical Storm Leslie's outer bands buffeted Bermuda with gusty winds to 60 mph and rain Sunday as it proceeded past the British enclave on a path toward Canada's Newfoundland later in the week. With no reports of any major damage or injuries, government officials were breathing a sigh of relief since Leslie had several days ago been forecast to be a Category 2 hurricane as it passed Bermuda, possibly as a direct strike. U.S. forecasters said Leslie could regain hurricane strength Tuesday over open ocean as it was expected to approach Newfoundland. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/WP-090912 * Cleveland, OH (September 9, 2012) - After racing was cancelled on Saturday at the 2012 Beneteau First 36.7 North American Championship (Sept 6-9), the 19-boat fleet returned to action to complete their nine race series. Consistency delivered Gary Tisdale's team the title, collecting three firsts and posting all top eight scores. Details: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=597 * Marblehead, MA (September 9, 2012) - Among the 44 teams at the Viper 640 North American Championship, the battle for the title proved to be between Pieter Taselaar of Newport, RI and the overseas team of Glyn Locke/ David Chapman/ Ian Nicholson from the UK. Tied after day one, the pair sank a few clicks after day two but closed the third day with the Brits holding a two point lead over Taselaar. With light winds permitting only one race today, Taselaar's third place to the Brits ninth was enough to take the title. Finishing third was three-time defending champions Brad Boston/ Lee Shuckerow. Details: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=640 * Porto Cervo, Italy (September 8, 2012) - The 34 crews participating in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2012 had a long wait before Principal Race Officer Peter Craig abandoning the final day of racing due to insufficient winds. Final results confirm that Hap Fauth's Bella Mente, with Dee Smith calling tactics, took the title of Mini Maxi Rolex World Champion while Magic Carpet 2 (Wally), Aegir (Racing Cruising), Nilaya (Super Maxi) and Esimit Europa 2 (Racing) claimed the Rolex Trophy and timepiece in their respective divisions. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/YCCS-090912 * Nice, France (September 8, 2012) - The finals of the ISAF Grade 3 World University Match Racing Championship pitted the two Australian teams in the boy's division and the two Brazilian teams in the girl's division. For the boys, it was David Gilmour who beat Jay Griffin in two matches. For the girls, Renata Decnop beat Juliana Senfft 2-1. Boy's and girl's bronze medals were gleaned by Andrew Shaw (Great Britain) and Julie Bossard (France), respectively. -- Full story: http://www.sailing.org/news/32223.php * Monterey, CA (September 7, 2012) - Two children were rescued Friday from a sailboat that was stolen by their father, who is accused of abducting them from their mother's home in Central California. The Coast Guard, FBI and South San Francisco police had been tracking the 40-foot sailboat Unleashed, which was sailed from a harbor on San Francisco Bay on Tuesday. Police said earlier that day, Christopher Maffei had removed his 3-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son from their mother's home while she was out. The children's rescue occurred in Monterey Bay. Read more: http://tinyurl.com/SFC-090912 * Oyster Bay, NY (September 9, 2012) - Will Tiller and Team Full Metal Jacket sailed to a decisive win in the Oakcliff International Grade 2 final over Krzysztof Rosinski of Poland who ended up second and Nicolai Sehested who came in third. Light and variable winds prevailed on the fourth and final day. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/OS-090912 * USVI Skipper Taylor Canfield, who finished fourth in the Oakcliff International Grade 2, is the Grand Slam Match Race Series overall winner. With this win he received an invitation to the 2013 Grade 1 Congressional Cup held in Long Beach California. The Grand Slam series features ISAF Grade 2 match racing in four consecutive events: the Invitational, held at CMRC (Aug 17-19); the Detroit Cup at Bayview YC (Aug 23-25); the Knickerbocker Cup at Manhasset Bay YC (Aug 30-Sept 2); and the Oakcliff International. Canfield, 23 is ranked 15th in the open ISAF rankings. -- http://tinyurl.com/OS-090912 * Lake St. Clair, MI (September 8, 2012) - Twenty-five teams competed in the Etchells North American Championship (Sept. 6-8), hosted by Bayview Yacht Club. From the opening of the seven race series, Dirk Kneulman of Burlington, Ontario never relinquished the lead, eventually closing with a 15 point margin on second place Argyle Campbell of Newport Beach, CA. -- Event website: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=387 US SAILING TEAM SPONSORS CONGRATULATE PARALYMPIANS Sponsors of the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider would like to congratulate all of the Paralympic sailors who represented our country in Weymouth and Portland, England and a special recognition to Jen French and JP Creignou who collected a silver medal in the SKUD-18 event (Two Person Keelboat). Final standings for Team USA include Mark LeBlanc 6th in the 2.4mR (One Person Keelboat) and Paul Callahan, Tom Brown and Bradley Johnson 7th in the Sonar (Three Person Keelboat). GO USA!!! 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 Peter van Muyden: In regard to the question of how to expedite a multi-class trophy presentation when protests are delaying the results, I would go ahead with the trophy presentation if the outcome of the protest can't change the trophy recipients. If the outcome of the protest can change the trophy recipients, I would present the trophies in the classes that are not affected. There is nothing worse for the host and volunteers having to delay the awards ceremony and seeing people leave. * From Andrew Riem: Regarding the lead story in Scuttlebutt 3671 - Sailing and Team Work, I found it to be an excellent little read...although he did forget one thing. All things on a boat have a functional purpose and if they do not, or do not function, they should be jettisoned as they are dead weight and simply slowing you down (i.e. delaying you reaching your objective). * From Pete Silvers: Thanks for closing my week last Friday with commentary from someone who graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in economics and computer science and holds a Ph.D. in Information Technology from MIT. I can't wait until my next job interview where I explain how my lifetime of sailing has made me an ideal candidate for the position. WHAT ARE YOU MARKETING THIS WEEK? The Scuttlebutt website allows marine companies to post their personnel, product and service updates. For free. As a bonus, each week the Scuttlebutt newsletter includes some of the recent updates. Are you in the marine industry? Post your updates in the Industry News section of the Forum. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Sailing... when it's perfectly respectable to get wet with a total stranger. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Southern Spars - US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider - North Sails New England Boatworks - J Boats - Doyle Sails - IYRS - Pure Yachting Gowrie Group - Ullman Sails - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - The Pirates Lair Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
