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SCUTTLEBUTT 3136 - Monday, July 19, 2010Scuttlebutt 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: Kaenon Polarized and O'Pen BIC. DO WE HAVE OUR PRIORITIES CONFUSED? By Dave Reed, Sailing World Editor There's no denying that sailboat racing has two distinct attractions for you and I: the mental and physical elements of the game on the water, and the camaraderie onshore. In other words, there's the race, and there's the party. I'm starting to wonder if we have our priorities confused nowadays. Most often, the complaints I hear after certain regattas are not about the quality of the races, but rather, about the shoreside extracurriculars: "The party was too expensive," "The food was terrible," or "The line to the bar was absurdly long." When I hear such things, I can't help but think that we've become spoiled and expect too much of our post-race parties. Why is it that we feel we need big tents, bountiful buffets, one bar for every 10 sailors, live music, and a multimedia bombardment of photos, video highlight feeds, and virtual replays showing how every race played out? Videos can be exciting to watch, but I remember one recent regatta where organizers erected a massive screen smack in the middle of the tent and set up neat rows of metal folding chairs, 20 wide and 10 rows deep. One evening, most of the chairs were filled, their occupants staring at the replay of the previous day's highlights while the voice-over blared over the crowd, making conversation a chore. I remember thinking how sad it was that the "television" had crashed the party, and most everyone was tuned out like a bunch of zombies. I guess some part of me longs for the days where a line of kegs and good old-fashioned conversation were all we needed. Might all the money being spent on these onshore diversions be better spent giving the race committee better tools? I also think we can make better use of our downtime onshore. Postponements and abandonments are the two biggest time wasters in our sport, and most of us can't afford to waste it - as we sit around and wait, our to-do lists haunt us: the grass needs cutting, the car needs an oil change, etc. -- Read on: http://www.sailingworld.com/racing/the-suggestion-box USA TOPS MEDAL COUNT AT YOUTH WORLDS Istanbul, Turkey (July 16, 2010) - The weather conditions tested the worlds best youth sailors all week, with light and shifty winds prevailing most days, but competitors were finally greeted Friday with a spectacular summer day offering warm sunshine and a gusty offshore breeze ranging from 8-14 knots for the last day of racing at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. Among the 344 sailors from 63 countries, only 17 countries landed on the podium, with the USA as the only country to account for three medals. Five countries won two medals with 11 others earning one. "This is the first time since 1992 the U.S. has won three medals at this prestigious event, which is a true testament to the high level of rising youth talent, as well as our intense development training," said High Performance Director/Head Coach Kenneth Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.). "I am confident in the abilities of these young sailors, and I am enthusiastic for what the future holds." Erika Reineke (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), a rising star in the Laser Radial class, narrowly missed silver by one point and gold by four points in a competitive 46-boat fleet. "It feels really good to medal," said Reineke. "This is one of my peak regattas of the year. The goal was to win and I came back with a medal, so it's a pretty big deal. Also, representing our country meant a lot to me." The Bronze medal winning San Francisco-area 29er team of Antoine Screve/James Moody found the light, 5 knot-breeze and unstable conditions to be challenging this week, especially because of their size (together they weigh 140 kilograms, or 308.5 pounds). "It was a hard medal to win," said Screve, "The conditions didn't favor us at all. We had to use better tactics and strategies because we weren't the fastest team out there." Most impressive might have been the bronze medal in the 11-boat Sirena SL16 fleet by Taylor Palmer (Miami Shores, Fla.) and Mac Agnese (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.). This was the first time they had ever competed in the Sirena SL16, a multihull boat that isn't available in the U.S. The team also scored a major comeback this week, after being in last place going into the third day of racing. Overall Volvo Trophy for best performing nation went to 2009 winner France with Great Britain in second and Spain in third. Scoring for the Volvo Trophy does not account for overall finishing position, but rather awards points for the best four race scores per race among the eight events for each national authority. The tally of these points determines the winner. Event website: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/editions/2010 USSTAG report: http://tinyurl.com/3yrzgxy EYE PROTECTION You only have two good ones. They don't grow back. And in most cases, they gradually worsen over time. Are you protecting your eyes? Are you protecting your kid's eyes? The only peepers you have take a daily beating from the sun, glare, salt, spray, wind and debris. We use sunscreen and a hat, so why send your eyes on the water without proper protection? At Kaenon Polarized we take vision seriously. Protection, function and superior breeze reading - that's what Kaenon's patented SR-91 polarized lenses will provide - guaranteed! Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. Available in prescription. http://www.kaenon.com DELTA LLOYD 470 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS The Hague, The Netherlands (July 18, 2010) - Mother nature played ball for the last day of the Delta Lloyd 470 World Championships taking place in The Hague, with brilliant sunshine and a 12 knot southwesterly breeze for the Men's and Women's medal races, held directly off the beach at the Hague. In the Men's race Australians Matt Belcher and Malcolm Page had secured gold through their 20 point lead yesterday to claim the Men's World Championship title. 'This is my fifth World Championship win and every one of them has been hard," commented Page. While Belcher and Page were secure in first place going into today's medal race, the case was the opposite in the Women's medal race where the powerful Dutch defending World Champions, Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout secured their win only after beating New Zealand's Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie, who held a slender point advantage going in the medal race. While the American men were never in contention, the women's division held more hope. However, stronger winds for the final races proved to be a weakness, and Erin Maxwell/ Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar and Amanda Clark/ Sarah Chin finished overall in 11th and 12th position, respectively. Erin and Isabelle, who won the 2008 Worlds, report on their event: "The regatta was filled with highs -- winning both races on the first day of the regatta -- and lows -- struggling in windy conditions two days in a row. Additionally, Isabelle was battling a recently dislocated shoulder which did not make her life on the wire any easier. Overall, despite not placing better, we feel extremely upbeat about the regatta. We were extremely fast in light air and choppy water, conditions that we have NEVER been fast in before. We were slow in high winds, but have been fast in those conditions in the past, and are confident that we can find that speed again. "We placed 10th at the World Championship approximately a year ago in 2009, and we are essentially keeping pace with our international competitors despite spending fewer days on the water than them. We are looking forward to our next international regatta: Sail for Gold in Weymouth, England, the first full week of August. That regatta will be our first time sailing at the 2012 Olympic venue, and we can't wait!" Event website: http://www.470worlds2010.com Maxwell/Farrar website: http://www.470teamusa.com/wordpresstesting/ QUOTE / UNQUOTE Torben Grael (BRA) says that he has no plans on competing in the next Volvo Ocean Race, which he of course won last time as skipper of Ericsson 4. "It would be nice to do it again, but with a good campaign, with time to prepare, and with a structure and everything - an Ericsson-style campaign. It is not the kind of race you can do just for the sake of doing it or for money." -- The Daily Sail, http://tinyurl.com/26aeyhg COPING WITH STORM SURGE It's now hurricane season in North America. History has shown that it's not wind that wrecks most boats in a hurricane, it's the storm surge. Here's why - and what you can do about it: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- When Hurricane Fran had finally blown through, Whit Ruark ventured out of his house in Wilmington, North Carolina, glanced around his battered yard, and then headed for the marina to check on his sailboat. Despite having been awake most of the night, Whit said he wasn't worried; the boat had been pounded by other powerful storms and, thanks to careful preparation and the marina's sheltered location, it had always survived without a scratch. But when he pulled into the parking lot, Whit was shocked to find an almost empty harbor. He eventually found his boat - after wading almost 300 yards through the marsh - in a pile with dozens of other boats, every one of which was still tied to the marina's floating docks. While the entire marina had always fared well in storms, the difference this time was a 16-foot storm surge that lifted all of the floating docks off their pilings. Whenever a large surge is predicted, any marina is more vulnerable; the higher the surge, the greater the marina's vulnerability. Not just boats at floating docks with shorter pilings, but boats at fixed docks and even boats stored ashore. The July issue of the BoatUS publication 'Seaworthy' takes a look at which boats are most vulnerable to surge and what can be done to protect them. -- Read on (page 10): http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/magazine/SeaJul10.pdf SAILING SHORTS * (July 16, 2010) - Brother and sister Lido 14 sailors Mark and Sarah Ryan (Long Beach, CA) bested defending and six-time champion Stuart Robertson at the Lido 14 Class Championships held on Huntington Lake in California on July 13-15. Forty-two boats competed in the event. It took an OCS by Robertson and his team mate Mike Anctil in the first race - with no throw outs provided in the five race series - for the Ryans to prevail over Robertson, who was first to finish in every race except the first. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10151#10151 * This winter Steve White (GBR) will attempt to break the Solo Non-Stop Round the World record sailing Westabout "the wrong way round", against the prevailing winds and currents. White will be sailing a Volvo Open 70, with his route leaving from the Ushant-Lizard start line (English Channel and heading south to Cape Horn, then heading west across the Southern Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope before turning north to the finish line. Only five sailors have made this attempt in the past forty years, with the current record of 122 days held by Frenchman Jean-Luc Van Den Heede. -- Full report: http://www.whiteoceanracing.com/news_130710.aspx * One hundred eight entries will represent 16 nations at the 2010 Volvo Laser SB3 World Championships on July 19-23 at Torbole on Lake Garda, Italy. The Laser SB3 was designed by Tony Castro and launched in 2002. In 2007 the Laser SB3 was awarded ISAF Recognised Status and the first World Championships were held in Ireland in 2008. -- Event website: http://worlds2010.lasersb3.com/ * Tens of thousands of people lined the banks of Hull & Humber (UK) to greet the 10 non-professional crews of the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race as they arrived back from the end of their ten-month 35,000-mile circumnavigation. The Irish entry, Cork, won the final stage from Ijmuiden, Netherlands, with the top three teams in the overall standings as Spirit of Australia, Team Finland, and Cape Breton Island, respectively. Applications are now being accepted for the 2011-12 Clipper Race. -- http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com * Forty-seven of the top junior women sailors in the nation are in Miami, FL this week to compete in the U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Sailing Championship. Hosted by Coral Reef Yacht Club, entrants from 13-18 years will represent fourteen states as they race for the Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial Trophy in Laser Radials on Biscayne Bay. Eight of the sailors finished in the top twenty last year's championship. A clinic is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, with racing to occur Wednesday through Friday. -- Event website: http://championships.ussailing.org/Youth/USJrWomensSinglehanded.htm * The viability of the America's Cup racing coming to the Bay Area may become a bit clearer on Monday as San Francisco officials are scheduled to release an economic impact study prepared by the nonprofit Bay Area Council Economic Institute about the costs and benefits of hosting such a large-scale event. -- SF Chronicle, full story: http://tinyurl.com/39pwuo7 * A new law in Louisiana is seen as a "tremendous change" for that state's marine industry. Louisiana Act 1043, which was signed into law last Friday, now requires Louisiana dealers who cancel contracts with manufacturers to prove "due cause" before being able to have their inventory repurchased by manufacturers. -- IBI Magazine, read on: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20100616164355ibinews.html KIDS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN "Golf, tennis, and the ski mountains have modernized to attract a new generation of youngsters. Sailing must also. Adults have cool modern boats... and, finally, so do our kids. Enter the O'Pen BIC - a youth sport boat! At Chapin SC, our Lake Murray Sailing Association has newbie sailors rounding marks within two hours after arriving at camp. Easy, dry capsize recovery and jetting along in our light winds bring youngsters back day after day with big smiles. The O'Pen BIC is FUN, easy, durable, and has re-energized our program." -- Allan Gowans, Director, LMSA. For details, contact info@BicSportNA.com or http://www.openbic.com for the goods. NEW YORK YACHT CLUB RACE WEEK Newport, RI (July 18, 2010) - Seven classes concluded competition today in the first half of the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex, while a balance of five classes logged a second of three race days in dazzling conditions similar to yesterday's. The event is catering to 107 boats and 1200 sailors in its first half before switching gears on Wednesday to serve, in its second half, as the Rolex US-IRC National Championship for another 38 boats. For anyone viewing the racing held north of Pell Bridge (some classes sailed on Rhode Island Sound), it was an extravaganza of vintage boats - Classics, 12 Metres, 6 Metres, and Herreshoff S Boats - battling for regatta titles in a light to medium westerly breeze. The 12 Meters will return in September for their North Americans and the America's Cup 12 Metre Era Reunion, hosted by the New York Yacht Club, with luminaries such as Ted Turner and Gary Jobson expected to compete. PHRF, which was split into two classes, also named winners today. Racing concludes Monday for NYYC Swan 42s (Phil Lotz's Arethusa currently leads); J/122s (Thomas Boyle's Wings leads); J/109s (Ted Herlihy's Gut Feeling leads), Beneteau First 36.7 (John Hammel's Elan leads); and J/105s (Damian Emery's Eclipse leads). On-demand video by T2p.tv will be available after 9 p.m. ET each evening of Race Week. Complete event report: http://nyyc.org/archives_public/article_789/ EIGHT BELLS Mau Piailug will never be as famous as Capt. James Cook, a master of the classic European feat of discovering places with people already in them. But Piailug, who died last week (July 11th) at the age of 78, could have matched Cook's voyaging island for island across the vast immensity of the Pacific, and without charts, compass or sextant. He was a palu, a master navigator, one of the last experts in the ancient art of Pacific Ocean wayfaring. Crossing an open ocean without instruments in knife-edged canoes, as the Polynesians did a thousand years before Cook, is one of the great achievements in human exploration. To those of us who are blind to the night sky, and deaf to the language of clouds, currents and ocean swells, it seems like a mystical or superhuman act. It is not - the palu's skill is an achievement of reason, memory and calculation, though a staggering one. Mr. Piailug (pronounced pee-EYE-loog), a native of the Caroline Islands, began his training as boy, studying chunks of coral on a woven mat. Over decades, he learned an age-old map of his Micronesian universe. On it were etched hundreds of star names, the habits of fish and birds, landmarks and routes through reefs and shoals. He earned wide renown in 1976, when he led a daring 6,000 mile voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti and back in a 60-foot doubled-hulled canoe, the Hokule'a. -- NY Times, read on: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/opinion/18sun4.html SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, 'The Curmudgeon'). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Robbie Ferron, Sint Maarten Yacht Club: When reading Scuttlebutt recently I am attended to the many major sailing events that have very little sailing as a result of no wind or too much wind.(Scotland, Turkey etc) Here in the Caribbean we are blessed with incredibly good and consistent conditions, and although there have been days without wind or too much wind , they are relatively rare. Would it not make sense to have more events take place in those conditions? In so many cases, particularly international events, the participants are travelling long distances in any event. From an economic point of view if you calculate the cost on the basis of hours sailed in good conditions vs total costs, it would quickly become obvious that the Caribbean is very well priced for sailing. CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM How do you know when it's time to tune your bagpipes? Special thanks to Kaenon Polarized and O'Pen BIC. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
