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SCUTTLEBUTT 3726 - Tuesday, November 27, 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, Quantum Sails, and Mount Gay Rum. WITHOUT THE HINDRANCE OF OLYMPIC INVOLVEMENT American Johnny Heineken has been caught in the middle. His world, kiteboard course racing, has been under intense scrutiny. The Olympic board event had teetered for much of the year - windsurfing or kiteboarding. Both sides were passionate, and weren't afraid at disparaging the other. At 24 years of age, Johnny helped develop the kiteboard event, and has won the past two world championships. Now that ISAF has decided for windsurfing to be the equipment used at the 2016 Olympics, Scuttlebutt checked in with Johnny for an update. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * How disappointed are you about the Olympic decision? JOHNNY HEINEKEN: I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. I'm definitely disappointed in that this was the one shot I had to be involved with a sport at the highest level. It's not often you're at the top of a game that all is suddenly adopted into the pinnacle of sporting events. We got more attention over the last six months than ever before. But along with that has come added stress, increased gear regulations, silly formats, and involvement of people who have never raced kites let alone seen us sail. I am very relieved to no long have to defend the sport I love from ignorant criticism. In my opinion, kiting is the most fun and free form of sailing in the world, and one aspect of this is that we can now beat almost every other craft around a windward-leeward. All this will remain true, maybe even more so without the hindrance of Olympic involvement. * Is there a kiting vibe that would have gotten lost as an Olympic event? JOHNNY HEINEKEN: Definitely. We have a great feel right now. I love going sailing, even after a hectic summer of traveling and racing. I plan to keep having fun with this as long as I can--that's the most important thing for my success. * The critics said kiting lacked a pathway needed for an Olympic event. JOHNNY HEINEKEN: Look at the current top sailors. Most of us are successful college sailors, skiff sailors, windsurfers, etc. All youth sailing is the pathway. I believe that a solid racing background, especially in high performance boats, is the best foundation for kite racers. It's easier to learn the board and kite skills than to become a solid tactical sailor. But I'm not saying kids shouldn't start kiting; I wish I'd learned earlier! * Is there a silver lining for kiting not to be included in the Olympics? JOHNNY HEINEKEN: ISAF wanted us because we are different, but their adversity to change has caused problems all the way along. We were making some hasty decisions because of this double-standard. Now our event can develop in a healthy manner--we can sail the courses we want, on gear that we choose, and have more fun doing it. If we end up as a class that ISAF wants to have in the Olympics, then they can take us as we are in the future. * How will you remain inspired about kiting? JOHNNY HEINEKEN: My sister Erika (2012 Women's World Champion) recently spoke at the St Francis Yacht Club, where the title of her presentation was "Kiting--Why We Do It". She focused partly on racing, but also on all the amazing experiences we have traveling around the world with friends pursuing our passion. She talked about the feeling of boosting huge airs, the incredible silence of a hydrofoil-board, riding waves on a surfboard, gliding down entire slopes snow kiting, and lining up with the AC45s off the City Front. This is why we love kiting, and we will continue to push the limits in all aspects of the sport. SAVE SOME GREEN THIS HOLIDAY SEASON The holidays are here which means the APS Holiday Catalog it out! Now you can save some trees and shop our catalog at any time with the easy-to-access web-based version: http://bit.ly/UJi2k5 This year's edition is packed with perfect gift ideas for everyone on your list (and maybe a few things for yourself). Each colorful page has hard to find parts, DVD's, apparel, books, and of course awesome APS gear. There are also great holiday season specials on Henri Lloyd as well as Free Shipping on orders over $150! APS is the place to go for every sailor on your list! Click here to see the specials: http://bit.ly/APSdeals LIFE OF A TEST PILOT The last time Frenchman Loick Peyron had a birthday, he was skippering the 130-foot trimaran Banque Populaire V into the record books, completing the Jules Verne Trophy (circumnavigate the world) in 45 days. When Peyron celebrates his birthday this Saturday, his 53rd, it will be with the Artemis Racing team in San Francisco. Peyron has been assisting the America's Cup challenger test their recently launched AC72, and shares here some of his early observations: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Regarding performance: "She is extremely powerful. To sum up, these are boats that aren't that wide or that big, but which have a very powerful 'engine'. To get an idea of what I mean, it's a bit like putting a V8 or V12 engine on a go-kart. So it is no easy matter making use of all that power. We saw what can happen when Oracle capsized. These machines require caution. My job was to be something like a test pilot on this AC72. I'm here to find just how far we can take things and avoid those hairy moments, when the boat starts to dig in, for example. Already by the second or third trip, I found myself out there on the helm and I can say it's fascinating." Compared to the AC45: "They don't have that much in common. Proportionally, the AC72s are much more unstable. Because looking at the base, the engine is that much more powerful. You need to add on a third more power to an AC45 to get some sort of idea. And then, there is the sheer scale: everything is that much heavier, including the wing, of course and the centre of gravity is not that well placed, as it is higher up. On top of that, there is a lot of inertia... the 'engine' is extremely powerful, but above all she is always in gear. And of course, you can't take in a reef." Avoiding capsizes: "Of all the boats I have sailed on, she is the trickiest. When you start flying downwind, it is very impressive and that is one of the major questions that interest us: you need to find a compromise, knowing when to fly, but above all without using too much energy to do that. After each day out there sailing, we need to spend several days ashore fine-tuning the boat on every level. For the moment, we are just working on boat number 1, but we have already got some ideas about the second one. With the first one, it's rather like racing with 30kg on your shoulders. Once the second boat is on the water, that weight won't be there anymore." Full report: http://energy-team.americascup.com/news/1717 ICE FIELD IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN (November 26, 2012; Day 17) - In approximately three days, the southeasterly descent of the Vendee Globe leaders will have them entering the Roaring Forties and the strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere. However, the journey will be tricky as the weather models are predicting a high pressure on the edge Saint Helena high and a depression forming off the coast of Argentina. "Finding the right route in the next few days will be very important for the rest of the race," noted Le Cleac'h. "The next few days will be complicated for us all, we need to stay safe too." The fleet is heading toward the Gough Island waypoint, their first ice gate positioned west of the South African tip. Intended to direct the fleet away from the risk of ice, recent ice movement required the gate location to be moved. "An ice field has been accelerating north, speeding up from 10 nautical miles a day to 13-14 nautical miles and in 40 days or so, if they continue moving north, will be arriving pretty close to the gate where you (the skippers) arrive," explained Louis Mesnier, who is responsible for tracking the ice fields." Today the gate was moved 1 degree north and 7 degrees east. Tracking: http://tracking2012.vendeeglobe.org/en/ Top 5 of 20 - Rankings as of Monday 26 November 2012, 20h00 (FR) 1. Armel Le Cleac'h (FRA), Banque Populaire: 19746.9 nm Distance to Finish 2. François Gabart (FRA), Macif: 34.4 nm Distance to Lead 3. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA), Virbac Paprec 3: 159.0 nm DTL 4. Alex Thomson (GBR), Hugo Boss: 165.4 nm DTL 5. Bernard Stamm (SUI), Cheminees Poujoulat: 171.7 nm DTL Full rankings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html RANT: It took some pestering but we eventually convinced the Volvo Ocean Race that there is a big difference between 'Distance to Leader' and 'Distance to Lead'. Now we must do the same for the Vendee Globe. Their tracking program references the former, but the data is for the later, and that is the term we use above. An example is how Armel Le Cleac'h has a lead of 34.4 nm over François Gabart (above, closer to the finish), but the actual distance separating Le Cleac'h and Gabart is 65 nm (which would be the 'Distance to Leader'). BACKGROUND: Twenty skippers began the 7th edition of the Vendee Globe, a solo, non-stop around the world race in the IMOCA Open 60 class. Starting in Les Sables d'Olonne, France on November 10, the west to east course passes the three major capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn before returning to Les Sables d'Olonne. In the 2008-9 edition, Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) set a new race record by completing the course in 84 days. -- http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ THE 'OTHER' JUNIOR DOUBLEHANDER When asked about youth doublehanders in the U.S., the quick answers are the institutional-style Club Flying Junior and the Club 420. But there are others, with Laser designer Bruce Kirby sharing the background of a boat he designed for youth sailing: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Pixel was designed in 2003-4 but had a rocky start with the Chinese builders. After some builder errors and false starts we got going properly in about 2006 with very good boats. The Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound chose it over several other boats as the new junior vessel to replace the Blue Jay. There were 84 boats at our first Larchmont Race Week, and now Long Island Sound has 200+ boats for the post-Opti, pre Laser kids. The builder replaced about 70 boasts in the early days because they had changed the structure without telling me and sent over some flimsy hulls. Since solving that problem, the boats have been particularly good - strong, stiff and down to design weight. The Chinese plant is very high tech and the hulls are injection molded so consistency is not a problem. The mainsail has a foam headboard which works very well. While it does not prevent turtling, it discourages it which has made it a good safety feature. We also have a carbon mast which helps with stability and reduces pitching, and as the mast is plugged at both ends it also discourages turtling. Under the side decks are open flooding lockers which fill when the boat is on its side, thus allowing it to sink a bit lower and again reduces the turtling tendency. At the time I was very pleased to be doing an all new boat because it gave me the opportunity to introduce features that helped a lot with safety without getting in the way of performance. -- Photos: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14791 QUANTUM'S WINNING J/24 CLASS SAILS ON SALE NOW With John Mollicone's win at the J/24 North American Championship in Jacksonville, FL, Quantum sails swept the four major class championships in 2012. The victory comes taking 1st, 2nd at the East Coast Championships, 1st, 4th at the US Nationals, and 1st, 2nd at Midwinters. At World's, Mollicone and Quantum Newport's Tim Healy placed second with Quantum Newport's Mike Ingham in fourth. Until December 15th, Quantum's J/24 class sails are available at 15% off list price. Get the best and improve your speed with personal attention from our dedicated class experts. More on Quantum J/24 class sails here: http://tinyurl.com/b83lz4c SAILING SHORTS * Buenos Aires, Argentina (November 25, 2012) - Reigning Snipe World champions Bruno Bethlem and Dante Bianchi (BRA) added another title to their resume by winning the Snipe Western Hemisphere & Orient Championship on the Mar del Plata. The five day event, which lost two days due to light winds, finally served up its famous sea breeze of 15-20 knots on the final day. The stronger winds saw locals Luis Soubie and Diego Lipsszyc (ARG) move up to second while Junichiro Shiraishi and Sinsei Ueda (JPN) slipped to third. The top Master was Augie Diaz with Kathleen Tocke (USA) in sixth overall. Full details: http://tinyurl.com/Snipe-112612 * On December 28, the Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami, FL will be hosting a College Night for youth sailors to meet coaches, captains, and team representatives. This is a great recruiting opportunity for college teams to meet the top junior sailors. The event is scheduled for 5:307:00 pm; over 560 junior sailors are anticipated. Contact Zach Brown for questions: zachary.brown.s@gmail.com * (November 26, 2012) - US Sailing and Rolex Watch U.S.A. today announced that the iconic watch brand will extend its support of sailing's national governing body through the renewal of its long-standing sponsorship. While continuing its position as the organization's official timepiece and title sponsor of US Sailing's Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards, Rolex will elevate its support of US Sailing by becoming a patron of its Afterguard and Medalist programs. -- Full report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2012/Rolex_112512.htm PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT The Scuttlebutt website provides a marketplace for private parties to buy and sell, or for businesses to post job openings. For free. As a bonus, each week the Scuttlebutt newsletter includes some of the recent ad postings. Have an ad? Post it in the Classified Ad section of the Forum. EIGHT BELLS Arthur J. "Tuna" Wullschleger (94 years) died Sunday, November 25, after a long and full life. Tuna was a longtime member of the New York Yacht Club, the Lauderdale Yacht Club and the Cruising Club of America. He was past Commodore of both the Larchmont Yacht Club, where he was a life member, having also served as Trustee and Treasurer, and the Storm Trysail Club, and was part of the group that founded STC's biennial Block Island Race Week. Tuna was also a past member of a number of other yacht clubs around the world. Raised in Larchmont, NY, he was a champion speed boat driver in college at Cornell University, and began frostbiting at Larchmont after his serving in the Navy in the Pacific during WWII. In addition to frostbiting, in the 1960s and 1970s, he raced his beloved mahogany-hulled yawl Elske with his late wife Diana ("Stork"), as well as Golliwog and Fire One in ocean and buoy races on both sides of the Atlantic. In the late 1970s, he began his career as a sailing judge, an avocation to which he devoted himself until his death. He helped develop umpiring at the 1987 Maxi Series and at the 1988 Congressional Cup, and quickly helped the discipline adapt to include team racing, smaller keelboats and dinghies. For his service to the sport, Tuna was awarded the ISAF Silver Medal, US SAILING's Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy in 1998 and the Harman Hawkins Trophy in 2010. US SAILING's Tuna Fund, which among things was designed to help attract younger umpires to the disciplines of match and team racing who might not have the financial resources, was launched in 2009. His long involvement with the America's Cup started in 1980 as part the support team for Ted Turner's Courageous campaign, and extended through to Operations Manager for the America II syndicate, for which he was awarded the New York Yacht Club Medal (1988) and an umpire for defender trials in San Diego in 1992. He served as co-Chief or the Chief Judge for too many regattas to mention, and was looking forward to returning to Key West Race Week in January 2013 as Chief Judge Emeritus. He was a mentor for countless competitive sailors, judges, and umpires around the world - a role he relished and for which he will be fondly remembered. -- Patricia A. O'Donnell THE SEASON IS CHANGING; STAY CONNECTED Winterizing your boat? Preparing for frostbiting? Looking for a warm breeze for sailing or getting the wood stacked for a warm winter fire? With Sailing Spoken Here exclusively on Facebook you can stay connected with sailors - in real time. Follow racing, read the latest sailing news - all updating daily through your news feed, reminisce about the summer racing and view photos and wrap ups on those Mount Gay regattas. Check for recipes, promotions and more... The Mount Gay Rum sponsored regatta calendar is posted so you can plan your 2013 sailing season, at any point. Visit http://www.facebook.com/sailingspokenhere, If it speaks to sailors, it's spoken here. Join in the conversation! 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 Gregory Scott: Wow...when was the last time we had a father and son in competition for Canadian sailor of the year (Scuttlebutt 3725)? And what about mom...she runs CORK, and likely keeps both son and dad on track. And daughter is a pretty darn good sailor as well. This is the total sailing family. Paul is Commodore of Kingston Yacht Club and runs North Sails One Design, Robert competing in Lasers for the Canadian Sailing Teamer event, and all of them are human and have time to chat and have beer. Not bad! It's like a US Marines ad. .. And what did you do before lunch? * From Renata Goodridge: It is such a shame to see so many boats taken out by objects in the sea, such as the latest incident in the Vendee Globe (Scuttlebutt 3725). Unfortunately this is a part of our times and our seas. The overcrowding and junk objects creating flotsam and jetsam - hard to avoid when you are skipping along at/over 20 knots! I hardily wish and hope that the rest of the Vendee Globe skippers get through without bumping into anything or anyone else! * From Michael Craddock: I read with interest Michael Schaeffer's offering on Global Warming in Scuttlebutt 3725. The opponent's of this Global Warming theory often place the blame on volcanic eruptions, citing the enormous amounts of CO2 contributed by these events. I haven't seen any reference or response to this in any of the Global Warming proponent's writings. I am concerned about our part in Global Warming. What is the truth here? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Hang up and drive. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - Ultimate Sailing - APS - Quantum Sails Mount Gay Rum - North Sails - Point Loma Outfitting - Soft Deck Ullman Sails - North U - Samson Rope - Team One Newport Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
