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SCUTTLEBUTT 3510 - Friday, January 20, 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: Doyle Sailmakers and The Pirates Lair. WIND RETURNS TO KEY WEST Key West, FL (January 19, 2012) - With eight races in the books and two more still to be contested, the outcome of several marquee classes at Quantum Key West 2012 remains in doubt. To absolutely no one's surprise, the deep and talent-laden Melges 32 class has come down to the wire with Samba Pa Ti holding a slim four-point lead over Pisces. Skipper John Kilroy and the Los Angeles-based Samba team posted a strong score line of 2-4-3 on Thursday and will look to protect its advantage on Friday when two races are expected to be held. "Like most good regattas, it comes down to the last day and probably the last race," Kilroy said. "We just have to relax and minimize our mistakes. We're going to go out there and sail the way we normally do." It's a runaway in the 18-boat J/80 class as Glenn Darden has steered Le Tigre to a steady stream of first, second and third place results. John Gluek is serving as tactician on Le Tigre, which holds an 18-point lead over second place Rocad Racing (Mikael Lindqvist, Sweden). Le Tigre was named Mount Gay Rum Boat of the Day for winning the class which had the closest, most competitive racing for the day. The boat is co-owned by Reese Hillard, who works the bow while Karl Anderson trims the jib aboard the Forth Worth, Texas entry. They captured the class world championship in 2006 and are seeking to three-peat at Key West. Bora Gulari and the West Marine Rigging/New England Ropes team continue to cruise along in Melges 24 class, counting all first place results after being able to drop the sixth it took in Race 6. That gives the Detroit entry a healthy 10-point lead over runner-up WTF (Alan Field, Los Angeles). Racing concludes Friday. Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/KWRW-D4/ Here are some links to help follow the event: Event website: http://tinyurl.com/KWRW-2012 Results: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=547 Quantum Sails: http://tinyurl.com/Quantum-KWRW-2012 SAIL: http://tinyurl.com/SAIL-KWRW-2012 Sailing World: http://www.sailingworld.com/racing/quantum-key-west-2012 T2P daily videos: http://www.t2p.tv/guide/kw12.php BACK TO NORMAL ON SUNDAY (January 19, 2012) - The six Volvo Ocean Race teams will go head to head for the first time in more than a month when the Leg 3 Stage 2 race to China starts on Sunday (January 22) at 0800 UTC. The teams will have very little time to prepare for racing, with the ship carrying five of the yachts expected to dock at the safe haven port on Saturday. Team Sanya, which was seeking to complete the first stage of Leg 2 after their rigging failure in mid-December forced a detour to Madagascar, finally finished today. A mine-field of hazards await the fleet on the Leg 3 course to Sanya in China, including monsoon winds, a collision course with hundreds of merchant ships and a brutal week-long beat - sailing against the wind by tacking - in rough seas. The more than 3000 nautical mile course will steer the six teams from the safe haven port through the Indian Ocean to the notorious Malacca Strait and into the South China Sea. Volvo meteorologist Gonzalo Infante explained that the course consists of three distinct stages - - the first is a more than 1000 nautical mile stretch in prime monsoon territory from the undisclosed port to the northern tip of Sumatra. The second phase of the leg may be the shortest - - a 500 nm passage from the tip of Sumatra to the Singapore Strait - - where giant merchant vessels in their hundreds are the more obvious risk in the Malacca Strait, with small fishing boats, nets, pots and floating debris also likely to be troublesome. A long beat in the South China Sea is the easiest summary of the third and final stage of Leg 3. The fleet will make a sharp left turn out of the Singapore Strait, tending towards the coast of Vietnam where they can make gains from coastal shifts, and head north to China. The course is tipped to take the teams around two weeks to complete, with a finish in Sanya in early February. -- Event website, full report: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-011912 Course details: http://tinyurl.com/Piracy-121111 Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos Race schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles of the world's most treacherous seas 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 AMERICAN INNOVATION AT WORK Doyle Sailmakers is proud to introduce the Doyle Anomaly Headboard, winner of a 2012 Pittman Innovation Award by SAIL Magazine. The Anomaly Headboard allows a Square Top mainsail to be lowered and flaked with ease. To learn more about the Anomaly Headboard and how Doyle Sailmakers can make it easier for you to enjoy your boat, visit http://www.doylesails.com/anomaly DON'T REINVENT THE WHEEL Whether running a national championship, or just the annual yacht club regatta, you have your work cut out for you. If you don't want to reinvent the wheel, there's a checklist and lots of expert information available - from sponsorship to charter boat insurance to finding judges and safety protocols, and much more. The highly successful Buzzard's Bay Regatta, one of the largest events in the U.S. with over 450 boats, is run by expert volunteers. Do you have an Emergency Cancellation Plan? BBR does! How about job descriptions for each of the key regatta committee people? Honed over many years, BBR organizers share their tools and documents here: http://organizations.ussailing.org/Resources/BBR.htm US Sailing resources: Event Management: http://tinyurl.com/Event-Mgmt-2012 Race Management: http://tinyurl.com/Race-Mgmt-2012 SPORTSMANSHIP AND THE RULES - CASE 31 This is an installment by International Umpire/Judge Jos M. Spijkerman (NED) in a series of blogposts about the ISAF Call book 2009-2012 with amendments for 2010. All calls are official interpretations by the ISAF committees on how the Racing Rules of Sailing should be used or interpreted. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary of the Facts At the start of a race the visual individual recall signal required by rule 29.1 was correctly made, but the required sound signal was not. One of the recalled boats, A, did not return and later requested redress on the grounds that she started simultaneously with the starting signal and heard no recall sound signal. The protest committee found that A was not entirely on the pre-start side of the starting line at the starting signal. It gave A a finishing position as redress because of the absence of the sound signal. Another boat, B, then asked for redress, claiming that her finishing position was affected by what she believed to have been an improper decision to give a finishing position to A. B was not given redress, and she appealed on the grounds that rule 26 states: 'the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded'. Decision... read on: http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/2011/12/pillowcase-of-week-5011-31.html INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. Here are some of recent postings: * Sparkman Stephens 30 Daysailor * Wraceboats GP26 designed by Jim Donovan * New J/70 Speedster Sails 2012 View updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news SAILING SHORTS * The University of Texas Sailing Team and Austin Yacht Club will be hosting the 2012 Intercollegiate Sailing Nationals on Lake Travis. The team is currently fundraising to pay for a fleet of 18 new FJ's that will be used for the championship. To help contribute, details here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13175 * The Royal Yachting Association has reviewed the report regarding the incident which took place at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships involving British sailor Ben Ainslie from the International Jury at the event. The RYA has decided that the case might warrant further action, and have thus referred the matter to the RYA Tribunal in accordance with its established procedures for further consideration. A hearing is likely to take place in the next two months. Any additional sanctions could affect Ainslie's ability to compete in the 2012 Olympics. -- RYA website: http://tinyurl.com/RYA-011912 * The six-day Rolex Miami OCR, the second of seven 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas, will be held January 23-28. The event features elite-level competition in the classes selected for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with 359 entries representing 44 countries. Also registered are 120 coaches. The event is being used by Canada as the final selection series to determine their 2012 Olympic mens and womens representative in the Laser and Radial events. Currently leading are Chris Dold and Isabella Berthold. -- Event website: http://rmocr.ussailing.org/ * St. Thomas Yacht Club's 39th annual International Rolex Regatta in the US Virgin Islands, the oldest regatta in Rolex's yachting portfolio, shows a roster of entries with several hot new boats and first-time entries signed up for the three-day event on March 23-25. Stephen Murray, Jr.'s New Orleans entry, the recently launched Carkeek 40 Decision, will be one of the many intriguing boats competing. The return of last year's respective winners of class 1 and 2: Jim Swartz (Park City, Utah) with his IRC 52 Vesper and Willem Wester (Zeeland, The Netherlands) who will sail a Grand Soleil 46 Antilope. -- Full report: http://www.rolexcupregatta.com/press/prread.php?prid=61 DESIGN IS THE DIFFERENCE! Any hack can print your gear. But if you want the hottest graphics that sell the best, plan your event or team gear with The Pirates Lair! Design, Tees, Moisture Wicking, Gill Tech, Embroidery, Decals and Signage! Oh yeah, and official Mount Gay Rum gear too. Call us at (888)724-5286 or email ken@pirateslair.com PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include whales, desert sailing, youth sailing, Caribbean sailing, newbie sailing, Arab sailing, wood sailing, and last year sailing. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0120 SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK During the 2011 Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta (IOR), which was held at the Larchmont Yacht Club (NY) over Columbus Day weekend, each sailing team was given HD Flip video cameras to document as much action as possible onboard their boats and dockside before and after racing as well as during social events. Villanova University, with sophomore Scott Barnhill (Baltimore, Md.) serving as video editor, was declared the winner of the event's video challenge and will receive a $1,500 donation made out to its sailing team. Click here for their video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/12/0120/ BONUS: This week's 'America's Cup Uncovered' Episode 22 reviews the standings in the America's Cup World Series and highlights victories from the America's Cup World Series San Diego. Then we catch up with Energy Team's Loick Peyron after he recently smashed the round the world record on Banque Populaire in the Jules Verne Trophy. Next Ben Ainslie announces that he will be joining the America's Cup after the Olympics this summer with his UK team: Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR). Tune in on Saturday January 21 approx 0800 PDT 1600 BST: http://www.youtube.com/americascup#p/c/915CDC8233C7B14E BONUS: The January 20 edition of the "World on Water" Global Sailing News Show features the world's best A Class Catamaran sailors facing off in the Australian Championships on Lake Macquarie, the start of Leg 3 Stage 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race Abu Dhabi, UAE, British Olympian Ben Ainslie announce that he's going to both challenge and defend the Americas Cup, London, England, We preview next month's World Ice and Snow Sailing Championships in St. Ignace, Michigan, USA, the VOR IN-Port race in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and in "Fresh to Frightening" we review the fabulous 2010 St Francis Yacht Club Ronstan Bridge to Bridge Race in San Francisco which all pits all comers, 18 Foot Skiffs, Kite Boarders, Windsurfers and other foilers in a winner takes all race. See it on http://www.boatson.tv at approx 1200 GMT, 0700 EST. SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com 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 Jim Teeters A brief clarification to Dobbs Davis' otherwise fine article in Scuttlebutt 3509 about offshore handicapping: the characterization that ORR has "go-slow" features is misleading. The rule is calibrated with extensive tank testing of boat models and wind tunnel evaluations of sails. The speed predictions do predict that a heavier boat has more drag and will be slower. Is that a "go-slow" feature? The same can be said for boats with more wetted area, less draft, less stability, less sail area, etc. Shorter boats are slower too! To provide competitive fairness on the race course, the ORR VPP correctly predicts performance differences due to these varying features. This is what all measurement handicap rules try to do. OK, it must be admitted the VPP does give credit to the distorted (read go-slow) hull shapes designed to IOR. HPR is a very promising concept that measures and handicaps only the most fundamental features that drive performance. Like a box rule, HPR ignores many design details freeing the designer to develop what is simply a fast boat. Unlike a box rule, rating assessments are given for differences in displacement, length, draft, sail area, etc. HOWEVER, a design can diverge only so much from the HPR typeform before those assessments become penalties. The result: all boats are required to have "go-fast" features. * From Frederic Berg: Regarding Mr. Davis' examination of a new rating paradigm (in Scuttlebutt 3509), I would suggest the premise that performance cannot be easily predicted (alongside the bulk of the fleet sailing in more traditional displacement boats) is false. We are blessed with very accurate velocity prediction programs from today's designers. The problem we all face is the willingness of fleets to use sophisticated handicapping systems based on varying wind and sea conditions. The use of sophisticated handicapping systems has lead in the past to delays in producing standings at the end of the race day, lack of standings between races during the day and the supposed secrecy of the rule which only designers in the know seem to be capable of decoding. There are two solutions; either we use a sophisticated handicapping system that most sailors will never understand or continue to use less than optimal handicapping and live with some boats winning in their optimal conditions or. The first solution is the right one for grand prix racing. This group has the funds and technology to create and maintain a viable system based on real time positioning which could provide real time on board standings. The second is for the 99% who enjoy racing with their friends and occasionally aspire to race in a national event. In the real world the PHRF racer rarely races alongside the MC38's, Farr 400's, GP42's or TP52's, so why would we entertain yet another rating system that will end up being exploited for what it cannot or does not do in the name of transparency and simplicity? * From Andrew Riem: In the lead story 'Examining A New Rating Paradigm' in Scuttlebutt 3509, I found the comment "IRC favors heavier displacement production boats in the 40-foot range" particularly amusing given I placed second in the IRC Canadians a couple years back in a 1985 J/27 (27' psuedo ULDB). Granted I lost out to Red Jacket...the breakthrough Bruckmann/C&C Custom that was the first balsa cored fiberglass hull (light), won 11 of its 13 race series in 1967 and was SORC Champion 1968. COMMENT: Esteemed IRC designer Mark Mills had described to me about the 40-foot sweet spot that had been identified in the IRC rule, which was in part why the Summit 40 production boat was built to that length. Interestingly, the IRC overall results in Key West this week, where the boats span from 41 to 72 feet, have been dominated by Division 3 with boats from 41 to 46 feet. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt * From Gerard Koeppel: There is a bridge between the difference of opinion expressed in Scuttlebutt 3508 and 3509 over whether light air Southern California in winter is the right venue for a Youth Worlds Qualifier. The bridge is the expected conditions at the venue for the Youth Worlds. If a given year's Youth Worlds will be in a light air venue, a light air Qualifier venue would be best; if a given year's Youth Worlds will be in a heavier air venue, a heavier air Qualifier venue would be best. It's my understanding that the Qualifier venue rotates on a fixed three-year schedule from Florida to Texas to California. It might make more sense--and possibly generate a US Youth Worlds team best matched to the expected Youth Worlds conditions--if the Qualifier venue was chosen based on the Worlds venue. ISAF has already announced the Youth World Championship venues through 2014, thus providing sufficient time for U.S. planning. With this flexible approach, Florida might have been the better location for the 2012 Worlds to be held in Ireland (i.e., heavier air). That said, having observed the 420/Laser course last weekend, I can say that the RC squeezed every race it could out of light and shifting breezes, running eight good races in the two days with adequate wind, only one fewer than the scheduled nine races in three days. COMMENT: I have received my share of grief for commenting about the choice of Long Beach in January for the US Youth Qualifier. The reality is that no US venue is ideal year round. That is why major events avoid the southeast in the summer and avoid the west in the winter. But if I had to pick a California site for the qualifier in January, I would pick Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach. Great facility, great volunteers, great race course. Thread now closed. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION He who pulls the oars does not have time to rock the boat. SPONSORS THIS WEEK New York Yacht Club - New England Ropes - North U. Dieball Sailing - J Boats - US Sailing - North Sails - Ullman Sails JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Doyle Sailmakers - The Pirates Lair Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
