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SCUTTLEBUTT 3651 - Thursday, August 9, 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: Ullman Sails and Vineyard Race. 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES - SAILING EVENTS Weymouth and Portland, U.K. (August 8, 2012; Day 11) - Closure continued at the 2012 Olympic Sailing Regatta with the Medal Race for the 49er skiff event, while tight scores proved the theme on the Women's 470 and Match Race courses. While both the gold and silver were confirmed prior to the 49er Medal Race, Austria's Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch led from start to finish in hopes of gaining the bronze. However, on the second to last run, the Danes Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang took the left side of the course whilst everyone went right and it paid off as they climbed from seventh to third in the race to grab the final podium spot. On their gold medal, Australian Nathan Outteridge said, "We've sailed brilliantly for four years and this week has been our best so far and its great it happened at the Olympics. It was a tough race to get around, it was great for us and awesome to enjoy with the Kiwis." 49er Results - Top 5 of 20 1. Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) - 56pts 2. Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) - 80pts 3. Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang (DEN) - 114pts 4. Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch (AUT) - 124pts 5. Manu Dyen and Stephane Christidis (FRA) - 124pts On Wednesday, the Women's 470 completed their final two qualifying races, with the top two teams - Jo Aleh/ Olivia Powrie (NZL) and Hannah Mills/ Saskia Clark (GBR) - tied on points and assured no worse than silver when the Medal Race is held on Friday. The Women's Match Race finished their Quarter Final round, with many of the favorites getting eliminated. Advancing are teams from Australia, Finland, Russia and Spain, while the defeated included two time World Champion Claire Leroy (FRA) and World #1 and ISAF World Sailor of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe (USA). NORTH AMERICA: The 20-boat 49er event concluded with Erik Storck/ Trevor Moore (USA) in 15th, Gordon Cook/ Hunter Lowden (CAN) in 16th, and Jesse Kirkland/ Alexander Kirkland (BER) in 19th. THURSDAY: The race schedule includes the Men's 470 Medal Race, while the Women's Match Race will hold sail-offs to determine the standings of the four teams eliminated in the Quarter Final round. Southeast winds under 8 knots, with the possibility of un-sailable conditions, are forecast. OUCH: It was confirmed Wednesday that North America would be shut out of the sailing medals. Despite Canada, Mexico and the USA each having legitimate medal contenders, none of their top performing athletes were in contention at the end of their events. MEDAL TALLY: After the completion on Wednesday of 7 of the 10 sailing events, there are now 14 countries that have thus far stood on the podium. Full tally: http://tinyurl.com/2012-Medal-Tally ISAF news: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/london2012/news/latest_news.php Results/schedule: http://tinyurl.com/2012-Olympics-Results-Schedule Canada broadcast: http://tinyurl.com/bs5wqoj USA broadcast: http://www.nbcolympics.com/sailing/index.html FAILURE TO PERFORM The United States won't win an Olympic sailing medal for the first time since the 1936 Berlin Games. Anna Tunnicliffe, the last American skipper with a chance, couldn't fight back tears after her run at a second straight gold medal ended Wednesday. U.S. Sailing officials on both sides of the Atlantic had blunt assessments and promised an extensive review of why the Americans were so uncompetitive in an Olympics in which they were expected to take three or four medals. "This is not the distinction this team was going for," said Dean Brenner, the outgoing chairman of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Program. "Listen, there's no hiding. There's no way to spin it. There's no way to suggest anything other than we didn't perform." U.S. Sailing President Gary Jobson, who spent a week watching the games before returning to Annapolis, Md., was equally blunt, calling the failure to medal "a heck of a wake-up call." "In essence, we weren't competitive in any class," Jobson told The Associated Press by phone. "I was a little surprised, and, like all American sailors, disappointed," Jobson said. "The question for me is, what do we do about it? I can't predict how the review will go, but I can tell you it's going to be thorough. This isn't going to stand long-term." The U.S. has won 59 Olympic sailing medals, the most of any nation, although its 19 gold medals trail Britain's 26. -- AP, read on: http://tinyurl.com/AP-080812 MORE: Sailing World editor Stuart Streuli is in Weymouth, and sat down with Dean Brenner for an interview. "Not the distinction this team was going for," said Brenner, concerning the team's failure to medal. "There's no hiding the results. There's no way to spin it, there's no way to suggest anything other than we didn't perform. There's going to be an enormous amount of discussion - a lot of it is going to be productive, some of it probably won't be - on what we did wrong, and what we need to do better, and I'm going to lead that discussion with my successor Josh Adams, and we're going to look very, very closely at our program. But make no mistake about it; we're not proud of these results at all. We came here thinking we could compete for three or four medals, and we thought the track record suggested that that was legit. It didn't happen." Much more here: http://tinyurl.com/SW-080812 ULLMAN SAILS - DELIVERING THE SERVICE YOU DESERVE Are you debating between performance sails for the racecourse or durable sails for weekend cruising with the family? Or you maybe you only have the budget for one new sail this summer? At Ullman Sails, we're dedicated to personally working with each customer to determine the best sails for their sailing goals and budget. And it doesn't matter whether you're investing in an Endurance Cruising mainsail or buying a FiberPath GP Race genoa for your race inventory, our sail consultants will go the extra mile to make sure every customer is satisfied. Invest in your performance. http://www.ullmansails.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE "I'm sad to report that our dream of winning a gold medal for the USA ended today in a 3-1 loss to Team Finland in the quarterfinals. It hurts! I can't describe how upset and disappointed we all feel, but we know we gave it our all. We sailed the best we could, and as a team are extremely strong. We gave these last three years everything we had and are extremely proud of where we have come. Team Finland has been amazing training partners and it was a bittersweet finish to our series as one of us got to go on and the other to go home. Unfortunately this time it was us that had to go home, so we are cheering hard for them to bring home the gold." -- Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), on behalf of Team Maclaren (Debbie Capozzi and Molly Vandemoer), world #1 ranked women's match race team NATHAN HITS BACK After the story in Scuttlebutt 3650 about the Australian Gold Medal winning 49er boat being "not as one-design" as everyone else's, journalist Andy Rice provided Aussie skipper Nathan Outteridge a right of reply. Here's what he told Andy today... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ours is a Bethwaite boat, the other guys have got Ovingtons or Mackays. A lot of other guys said they never had the chance to buy one of those boats, but Julian [Bethwaite] built 10 of them and no one decided to buy, so people started complaining about it. It's a bit frustrating that people have talked about it like that, but we've sailed an Ovington, a Mackay and a Bethwaite and won a Worlds in all three. It makes no difference. The last Worlds was in a Bethwaite, the Worlds in Garda in an Ovington and sailed all through 2010 in a Mackay. The Worlds I won with Ben [Austin, in 2008] was in a Mackay. "The boats are one-design but there are small differences and you can get any boat from any supplier and I'm sure you'll find differences. It's a matter of spending the time over a four year period working out what's the right equipment to use for the weather. The hull is most important when it's windy, and our best day here was in the lightest weather and our worst day was in the windiest weather, so I don't think it's the equipment that's doing it for us. "It's been going on for about a year, people going on about our equipment. If someone had an issue about it they needed to come and talk to us about it, rather than just going behind our back. It's been quite frustrating. We had four boats here, in case we had problems. And we were ready to say, 'you tell us which of these four to use, so long as we can tell you which of your boats you can use.' We've got a few Bethwaites here and Mackays as well, and it was a case of, 'I don't care which boat we're going to sail because it's not going to make a difference.'" -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/SJ-080812 WHY KITES ARE WRONG FOR RIO There is plenty of lobbying going on at the Olympic Games concerning ISAF's decision to change the board event for the 2016 Olympics from windsurfing to kite-surfing. The decision, which may be overturned by a re-vote and/or legal action, will be finalized this November. Kate Laven provides an interview on Yachting World with Neil Pryde, who is the manufacturer and supplier of the Olympic RS:X board as well as a provider of kite-surfing equipment. Here is an excerpt... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "One of the key criteria of IOC in judging sports for Olympic competitions is the television coverage," said Pryde. "It's the biggest revenue earner for IOC so they look at it hard. And of course sailing performs very poorly. Outside the America's Cup, sailing does not get big audience and I think ISAF thought kite-surfing would add strength to media coverage. But I do not think the sport is ready for Olympic inclusion." "Windsurfing has done more to introduce the developing countries into the sailing fraternity. China came into sailing through windsurfing. It's the cheapest and easiest way into sailing and that has been ignored by ISAF and I think that is tragic." "In the past we have been able to sell off the equipment at a cheap price to help developing countries get into the sport but with windsurfing taken out of the Olympics we are sitting here today with no way of recovering a million euro (the cost Pryde estimates to supply the boards to the Olympics). "That is a pretty big commitment. I doubt whether there is any other sailing company in the Olympics who has made that sort of commitment. This will be a loss but we made a commitment to ISAF that for the next two years that we will go on supplying it and we will because we believe in it. "I think it is a terrible decision because I see what windsurfing has done for the sport of sailing," said Pryde. Full report: http://tinyurl.com/YW-080812 CASTING CALL FOR FORMER PROFESSIONAL SAILOR Do you know someone who needs a second chance at fulfilling their life's dream? USA Network's new reality series, "The Moment" takes men and women on a life-changing journey by giving them a second chance at reclaiming the career dreams that they put on hold when their lives took an unexpected turn. The show, due to premiere in USA in the fall of 2012, is currently looking for a former professional sailor who due to some type of hardship, were forced to give it up, but are now interested in resuming their career/passion for racing. This also includes former Olympians, etc. The show is in a time crunch, so if you know of anyone that fits this description, contact K'ia Stone at 310-417-1559 or castingbykstone@gmail.com Show details: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118049170 WHY SHOULD YOU ENTER THIS YEAR'S VINEYARD RACE? Take part in an East Coast classic. Three courses; huge awards party; cruising division; multihull division; race tracking; Corinthian challenge; NORT qualifier and much more. Join Bruce Nelson at our skippers' meeting. Start date: August 31. Register today: http://www.stamfordyc.com. Follow us @vineyardrace SAILING SHORTS * Shoreacres, TX (August 8, 2012) - The third day at the Lightning North Americans banked two more races for the 55 boat fleet. With a throw-out now included after six races, Jody Lutz moved up the standings from third position to now take the lead. Racing continues through Friday. Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14256#14256 * San Francisco, CA (August 8, 2012) - After the first day of racing at the 2012 Chubb U.S. Junior Championships, the early leaders are Addison Hackstaff in the Byte CII, Christopher Ford/Daniel Ron and Patrick Floyd/A.J. Libby are tied in the Club 420, and Michael Madigan/ Jimmy Madigan/ Jack Thompson/ Johannes McElvain in the J/22. Racing concludes on Friday. Results: http://tinyurl.com/USA-080812 * One hundred thirteen entries from 11 countries and five continents are entered in the Globaltech Formula 18 World Championship to be hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Sept. 7-15, the class's first world championship in the USA. The headliners include defending champion Darren Bundock of Australia and past Olympic silver medalists Pease and Jay Glaser. Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14239 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 Sally Lindsay Honey, US Sailing review panel chairperson: I think Rodger Martin (in Scuttlebutt 3650) may have misinterpreted the US Sailing Farallones report statement of "more conservative course selection" to mean the race committee should set a more conservative course, rather than the crew of Low Speed Chase should have chosen a more conservative course around the northwest point of the Farallon Islands. If that is what he understood, I agree with his "no no no!" However, as stated on page 14 of the report, we dismissed the notion of the race committee defining an offset mark or minimum clearance distance specifically for the reasons that Rodger seems to espouse: racers should be trained in better seamanship skills. This is our primary recommendation Report link: http://media.ussailing.org/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=18674 * From Guy Le Roux: I wholeheartedly agree with Bruce Kirby (Scuttlebutt 3649) that Paul Elvstrom is still the greatest Olympic sailor because he won 4 Gold Medals without the benefit of a throwout race. Without throw-outs at the 2012 Games, Ben Ainslie would have lost the gold by two points and finished with the silver. * From Michael Rudnick: Your reporting (in Scuttlebutt 3650) that only 3 USA teams were at the I420 World Championship in Austria last week is not correct. The US had 12 teams (6 open and 6 ladies). Besides the 3 teams that finished in the gold division, as you reported, the US ladies had a 2nd in Silver fleet (my daughter Megan, who also finished 11th at ISAFs last month in Ireland), and a 4th in the open silver fleet (Reinier Eenkema van Dijk, who went to ISAF in 2011). The top US open team that finishes 15th was also the top open team under 16 years of age - with two time Optimist worlds team member Wade Waddell at the helm after being in the I-420 for only a few months (which involved flying to NY/CT every weekend to train with LISOT as there are no I-420s on his home waters of south Florida) As I'm sure you know, the US does not place nearly as many sailors in the gold fleet as most of the European countries - which is directly related to your comments about the pipeline for Olympic sailors. EDITOR'S NOTE: We stand corrected, as we indeed were only looking at the performance of North American sailors in the Gold Division. * From Peter Commette: Regarding the comment "Future Prospects" (Butt-3650) by Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck, if he's saying it's a mistake to lay the blame for the disappointing U.S. Olympic sailing performance at the feet of our national programs, I somewhat agree. Much of what Chairman Dean Brenner and his team did to prepare our Olympic sailors and develop feeder programs for 2012 and beyond was quite good and insightful. However, with disappointment like this, it's natural to expect them to re-think all aspects of our system and implement some needed tweaks. With regard to Craig's other point, I agree wholeheartedly that one area for U.S. improvement is the development path for our young doublehanded sailors feeding into the 470 and other high performance Olympic boats. That's why, when you referred to our kids' 420 World Championship performance without the modifier "Club" or "International," you confused an important issue. The International 420, so popular in Europe, is a great feeder boat for the 470 and other Olympic class, but the U.S. national and local development programs instead support the Club 420. Comparatively, the Club 420 teaches little about tuning, mast bend, and matching different sails to masts and crew weights. Our kids are challenged at I-420 world competition, and their pre-470/other Olympic boats' growth stunted, because they rarely sail the I-420, unless they're in Europe. In South America, the Snipe fosters the same skills, without the speed, but it teaches brute hiking. We need to re-think our doublehanded feeder boats domestically; the 29er is the only good thing we're doing. * From Connie Bischoff: Maybe the question should be "Why is the Olympics our highest sailing goal?" With the educational system in the USA focused on college in order to get any decent job, and the reduced number of professional sailing jobs which can support a family (look at the limited number of Americans sailing in the Volvo and America's Cup World Series), there is no "entire development path of North American sailor." We all know that the only "pro" jobs for women in sailing are in coaching and very few of those are at the college level. Maybe sacrificing years and $$$ in order to reach the Olympic dream is not compatible with the American dream. What is wrong with world championship titles and Rolex Yachtsmen, Yachtswomen and a new award for Team of the Year honors? You cannot implement change from the top down. Let us support youth sailing, high school sailing, college sailing and team racing... and spread the love of sailing so that motorboats do not take over! COMMENT: My observation is the focus on the youth layer of the sport in the U.S. has never been greater, but I wonder if an equal dedication is needed to promote life sailing. Introducing young people to the types of sailing that exist outside of the "youth bubble" should help to insure their continued participation once they age out of youth events. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt 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: * Ultimate app for Expedition Software * Firstwatch Gear Introduces Flotation Garments to U.S. * Lewmar announces new Marketing Manager View updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION I dialed a number and got the following recording: "I am not available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes." SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - Vineyard Race - North Sails - J Boats APS - IYRS - Ullman Sails - Point Loma Outfitting Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
