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SCUTTLEBUTT 3665 - Wednesday, August 29, 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: Summit Yachts, US Sailing, and Allen Insurance and Financial. 'THE GAMBLER' READY TO ROLL AGAIN Paul Tingley isn't in London to "defend" his Paralympic Games sailing title. Make no mistake about it - the 42-year-old from Halifax believes he's more than capable of repeating as the champion of the 2.4mR class he mastered in 2008 in Beijing. He's done everything possible to get ready for his fourth Paralympic competition, including training with Swedish coach Stellan Berlin in waters off the English coast to prepare himself for the conditions he'll face in the days to come. But defence doesn't seem to be in the playbook of the sailor nicknamed The Gambler in some circles for his penchant for taking risks - many of which tend to pay off in a big way. "I have to just look at it as a new game, everyone's got a legitimate shot at it and I've gotta go out with a strong offence and not try to defend," Tingley said. "That (2008) was yesterday's news. I think I would be silly to look back and pump myself up as defending gold medallist because that's not going to help me on the race course." Tingley, paralyzed in a skiing accident when he was 24, won the 2008 mixed single-person keelboat regatta in Beijing with a gamble. One of five competitors with a shot at gold entering the final race, he and another sailor opted to go against conventional wisdom and split away from the other 14 boats. It paid off with a Paralympic championship. "There was a lot of kind of make your calls from your gut and this was no time to shy away from a tough decision," he said. "We chose the opposite side that everyone else went to and, lo and behold, it ended up being the right choice." Tingley has a second Paralympic medal, a bronze, from 2000 in Australia as a member of a three-person sonar boat. He won a 2.4-metre solo keelboat world championship in the Netherlands in 2010, beating 85 sailors - many of them able-bodied - for the title. He and Berlin, a seven-time world champion, trained off England to get a feel for the conditions and the equipment that will be required at Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour, on the country's south coast. He qualified as Canada's lone entry in his class at the Olympic venue last year. In January, he finished third in the world championships off Port Charlotte, Fla., and second in a World Cup event off Miami. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/TCH-082812 * Competition at the Paralympic Games is on September 1-6 in three sailing events. The complete Canadian team is: Single-Person Keelboat (2.4mR) - Paul Tingley Two-Person Keelboat (SKUD18) - John McRoberts/ Stacie Louttit Three-Person Keelboat (Sonar) - Bruce Millar/ Logan Campbell/ Scott Lutes Event website: http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/sailing/ * OLYMPIC VIDEO: An official DVD of the sailing competition at the 2012 Olympic Games in Weymouth, Great Britain is currently in production and is expected to be offered by October 2012. Purchase details to be published in Scuttlebutt when available. SAY A PRAYER (August 28, 2012) - Hurricane Isaac gathered strength as it bore down on New Orleans on Tuesday, bringing high winds and soaking rains that will pose the first major test to the city's multibillion-dollar flood protections, seven years after Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast. Hundreds of U.S. Army National Guard troops took up strategic positions around New Orleans, preparation meant to avoid the chaos seen in the days and weeks after Katrina in August 2005. Isaac's storm surge poses a major test of the so-called Crescent City's new flood-control systems and reinforced levees that failed in 2005, leaving parts of the city underwater. Forecasts from the U.S. National Hurricane Center showed the storm coming ashore in the Mississippi Delta late on Tuesday, possibly taking direct aim at New Orleans. New Orleans is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, which swept across it on August 29, 2005, killing more than 1,800 people and causing billions of dollars of damage. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/R-082812 UPDATES: WindAlert.com has created a dedicated Isaac tracking page as a public service, providing free access to their subscriber data which comes from their weather stations positioned in the path of the storm: http://www.windalert.com/storm/isaac A LINE OF BOATS THAT CAN MEET YOUR NEEDS Whether your focus is racing at the ultimate level, club racing with some light cruising thrown in, or anything in between, the Summit Yacht's line of sail boats can meet your needs. The Summit 35 and 40 have won international events throughout the world in both distance and around the buoys events. The Summit 45 will compete at the highest level against production and custom designs. All of our models are built in the USA, and all are designed by Mark Mills. Check out all of our models online at http://www.summit-yachts.com Choose the best. Choose Summit ANATOMY OF A COLLISION - WHO WAS AT FAULT, AND WHY? By Chuck Fort, BoatU.S The International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea, also called COLREGS or Rules of the Road, were adopted in the United States in 1864. Based on common sense, it has been said if all vessels always abided by the Rules, there would be no collisions at sea. In this issue of eLine, we'll take a look at one claim that supports the idea that Rules are meant to be followed. *********** The Collision... Two sailboats on San Francisco Bay are approaching each other, bow-to-bow, on a collision course. Both boats are under power, each traveling at four to five knots, and are closing quickly. A few seconds before impact, the skipper of the larger boat, a 40-footer, throws the helm hard over to starboard and yells at the skipper of the smaller boat, who responds by turning sharply to port. The two boats collide, with the smaller boat ramping up onto the deck of the larger boat. There were no injuries, but both boats suffered extensive damage (Claim # 0810161). As is often the case when two boats collide, both skippers insisted the other was at fault. There were no outside witnesses. These sorts of disagreements are routine and are typically settled by the respective insurance companies. In this case, however, no agreement was reached and the claim went to arbitration. Who was at fault? Discussion... Sails were neatly furled on the larger boat but on the smaller boat the mainsail was up. The smaller boat's skipper claimed he was "sailing" (A power-driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of a sailing vessel) but a check of nearby weather buoys confirmed that San Francisco Bay was uncharacteristically calm that day and his argument was quickly dismissed by arbiters. The skipper of the larger boat claimed the collision was solely the responsibility of the smaller boat; after all, it hit him. Again, the investigators were not convinced. One of the primary Navigation Rules (rule five) was ignored by both skippers: Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision. Had either skipper been paying attention, the collision would not have occurred. The Judgment... click here: http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/eline/collision0712.asp QUOTE / UNQUOTE "He yelled out. I think he was expecting me to come back, but there was no way I was coming back." - Russell Coutts, skipper of Oracle Team USA, about when gold medal sprinter Michael Johnson fell off during a race. Video: http://tinyurl.com/SFG-082812 SUSPENDED SAILORS Here is the most current public list of those sailors who have their ISAF Eligibility suspended: ----------------------------- Jeff Carter, Australia Offense not listed; November 3, 2011 - November 2, 2013 Sam Price, Australia Offense not listed; November 23, 2011 - November 22, 2012 Anne Caseneuve, France Breaches of good manners and sportsmanship; December 28, 2011 - February 27, 2013 Frank Bode, Germany Breaches of good manners and sportsmanship; December 1, 2011 - December 31, 2012 Andrejs Buls, Latvia Breaches of good manners and sportsmanship; Aug. 2011 - Dec. 2012 Alberto Campos Perez, Mexico Breaches of good manners and sportsmanship; May 7, 2011 - May 6, 2013 Maria del Mar Campos Perez, Mexico Breaches of good manners and sportsmanship; May 7, 2011 - May 6, 2013 ----------------------------- A competitor whose ISAF eligibility has been suspended or revoked shall not engage in any competition in the sport of sailing. Source: Sailor list: http://www.sailing.org/sailors/suspended-sailors.php ISAF Eligibility Rules, Rule 19: http://tinyurl.com/ISAF-Reg-19 US SAILING HAS YOU COVERED Did you know US Sailing has a store? We have new gear from leading brands and books on everything sailing related. Our fall product line features new life jackets, hats, belts and shirts. Dress up with our ties and tote bags or dress down with our tee-shirts and hats. The US Sailing Store has you covered! Visit us online for the latest gear, apparel, publications, merchandise, and much more at http://store.ussailing.org/ SAILING SHORTS * Racing is set to begin Wednesday for the Craig & Ross Canadian Youth National Championship at Gimli Yacht Club, in Gimli, Manitoba. With 104 boats registered in the U19 event, it is sure to be a week of tight racing in the Laser, Radial, Bic, 420 and 29er fleets. The Youth National Championships is the first event in the selection trials for the 2013 ISAF Youth World Team in the Boys' and Girls' Laser Radial, Boys' and Girls' 420, Boys' and Girls' RS:X and the Open 29er classes. -- Full report: http://www.sailing.ca/features/craig_ross_cya_youth_national_championships/ * The Welsh capital Cardiff will be hosting the fifth stop of the eight event 2012 Extreme Sailing Series August 31-September 2. Nine Extreme 40s will race on the UK's Cardiff Bay, with American Olympian Anna Tunnicliffe joining the circuit for the first time on GAC Pindar. The fleet will race in the stadium race mode that is synonymous with the Extreme Sailing Series, with live video streaming and an interactive blog from 1400 local time (CEST - 1). -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/ESS-082812 * The ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship is ISAFs longest running event, having taken place every year since the first championships hosted by Sweden in 1971. In advance of the 2012 ISAF Annual Conference this fall in Ireland, ISAF is inviting bids to host the 2016 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship. The 2012 edition took place in Dublin Bay, Ireland with Cyprus set to host the 2013 version, Portugal to host in 2014 and Malaysia to host in 2015. -- Full report: http://www.sailing.org/news/32124.php EIGHT BELLS ~ ALAN P. GURNEY By Ted Jones Alan Gurney designed boats the old fashioned way with drafting pencil on velum, using splines and ducks (weights), a planimeter, and a seaman's eye. He thought like the water through which he had sailed, in England, transatlantic, the USA, both polar regions and much of what lay in between. As a young lad, he would make boats out of toilet tissue (which at that time had characteristics of waxed paper) and float them in his bath. He spurned a career in the army to pursue a career as a yacht designer, and ultimately moved on to an early passion, Antarctic exploration. He had amassed an impressive collection of hundreds of photographs of every known Antarctic penguin species. I had the great good fortune -- a privilege -- to be his friend, and to have had lunch with him frequently as he was in the process of drawing the myriad details of what was to become "Windward Passage", the world famous dream boat of lumber tycoon, Robert F. Johnson. During each lunch-time visit, I would meet Alan in his basement studio on New York's East 54th Street, and he would show me the most recent drawings. Johnson had selected Gurney for the new design having been impressed by the performance of George Moffett's "Guinevere", a 48 foot Jacobsen-built aluminum yawl which had won the SORC in 1966, the second of two ocean racers Alan had designed for Moffett. The first was a wood-built boat, the Nantucket 38, aboard which I had the sailed in the 1964 Bermuda Race. Later, I transferred to Humphrey Simson for whom Alan had designed a yawl similar to "Guinevere", the 47 foot Derecktor built "Kittiwake", aboard which I sailed in the 1966 SORC, Bermuda, and Transatlantic races. "Kittiwake" did well in her class in the SORC series, overshadowed only by Ted Turner's legendary Cal-40, "Vamp X" which won everything in her class that year including the Transatlantic race from Bermuda to Copenhagen. I had met Alan Gurney in 1960 following that year's Bermuda Race. I was a yacht broker in the office of Tripp & Campbell in New York City when Englishman Gurney was brought around by G. Colin Ratsey (of the English sailmaking firm) to meet yacht designer Bill Tripp. Still only 24, Alan had won a prestigious competition for a modern "club racer" sponsored by the British magazine, "Yachting World" which brought him to the attention of Chesapeake Bay yachtsman Jack Lacy for whom Alan had designed a 35 foot sloop. While nothing came immediately of the meeting with Tripp, both partners at Tripp & Campbell had been impressed, and when Tripp's design assistant resigned a short time later. The firm offered the job to Gurney who flew back to New York to accept it. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14408 HOW'S YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE? No matter where you are, this health insurance goes with you. US SAILING endorsed program for professional sailors, coaches, instructors, Olympic team members, collegiate sailing athletes, international cruisers. 24/7 assistance in your language. Immediate, unlimited coverage. Flexibility, security for the demands of today's sailing professional. ENROLL NOW. http://www.AllenInsuranceAndFinancial.com/ussailing 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 Bruno Trouble, Louis Vuitton: Following Bruce's comments in Scuttlebutt 3663, I also would like to say how much I have been impressed by the success of America's Cup World Series event last week in San Francisco. At last, the AC Event Authority has been flooded with luck: - Wonderful weather and wind - Multiple lead changes - Drama: Coutts hitting the Race Committee at full throttle - A few capsizes (but not too many) - Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson falling overboard - Multiple come-from-behind situations (Spithill on Super Sunday) - Breathtaking finish (3 boats in 3 seconds!) - Extraordinary TV package which will change our sport forever! Sailing is very diverse and complicated to follow for the general public. Russell Coutts, Iain Murray and Stephen Barclay have delivered something which will attract a huge and young audience. This will be great for our sport! At Louis Vuitton, we are proud to be associated with the event through the Official Timing and the Louis Vuitton Cup. Only four boats on the starting line next year is not very good, but we have the strong teams. We are only missing the low budget teams which, in the past, participated with no real hopes of winning. You CAN'T compete next year unless you have 30-40 million. In the past we saw teams with 5 to 10 millions Euros (China, South Africa, etc.) I have never missed a day in the America's Cup since 1977, and I say with confidence that the 34th America's Cup will be a huge success in the U.S. and the 35th will be even bigger with many more teams if we manage to keep the budgets at a reasonable level. Changes in the America's Cup have been brutal and extreme in a short period of time. The world of sailing was so far a monohull world, but the top of our sport is now multihulls on TV. We all have to swallow this revolution. It takes some time but the future is bright. * From By Baldridge: The America's Cup World Series races in San Francisco and elsewhere have been exciting to watch. The Fleet races put on display the great boat handling in crowded waters which these pros make look a lot easier than I know it is. However, as long as they continue to use gate marks for the match racing, it will never be classic match racing. With the gate marks, there is no covering and control of your opponent. The legs become a series of split tacks with fairly close crosses until one competitor gets a shift that turns it into a parade until the next gate where they split again. EDITOR'S NOTE: More fan reaction, along with crowd photos, is posted on CupInfo.com: http://www.cupinfo.com/en/acws-san-francisco-august-fan-reaction-12076.php * From Tim Patterson: Well said, Mr. Jacobi (Scuttlebutt 3663): the sea could care less. And man has not built the vessel that the ocean could not sink or damage beyond usefulness. All of us who go offshore must be respectful of the risks we take. * From Gerard Wolf: Thanks so much to Rich Hayes (ever since Tom B I have never worn boots!) and especially Roger Marshall for their posts regarding MOB issues (in Scuttlebutt 3663). While I have tested inflatable PFD's, I have never tried to re-board a boat with one on. Your advice is quite sage and I will be forwarding it to all shipmates, past and present, as I consider what you have disclosed to be quite important in a life sustaining situation. While I have never been overboard, which usually happens in nasty conditions, what you wrote Roger, will likely save many lives. * From Norbert Marin: Quoting Bernard Shaw "Statistics is a science that shows that if my neighbor has two cars and I none, we both have one." In Response to Rich Hayes (Scuttlebutt 3664) regarding National Water Safety Forum Statistics, you have to bear in mind that the figure of six deaths under "sailing" in 2012 would have been much bigger if sailors would not wear PFD's as a norm either voluntarily or by law. So the way I read this statistic is that thanks to PFD's, there were only 6 deaths in 2010 relating to sailing. FREE CLASSIFIED ADS The Scuttlebutt Classified Ads provide a marketplace for private parties to buy and sell, or for businesses to post job openings. Here are recent for sale ads: * Furuno radar type RDP-139 & Navnet VX2 1834 C-Map * 2001 Schock 35 * 2003 Collegiate FJs -- $1500 Each (9 Available) View/post ads here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/classified_ads CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The propeller is just a big fan in the front of the plane to keep the pilot cool. Want proof? Make it stop; then watch the pilot break out into a sweat. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Samson Rope - Dieball Sailing - Gowrie Group - North Sails KO Sailing - Summit Yachts - US Sailing - Allen Insurance and Financial Melges Performance Sailboats - Ullman Sails - Doyle Sails - Pure Yachting Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
