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SCUTTLEBUTT 3636 - Thursday, July 19, 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 BIC Sport. CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? Eighty plus sailors from around the globe will be gathering this week in San Francisco, California to sail in the 2012 Formula Windsurf and Kiteboard North American Course Racing Championships hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club (July 19-22). This is the first event of its kind to combine the two fleets in the same championship grade event since the decision to exclude windsurfing from the Olympic Games. And the sailing world will be watching. At the helm of the event are two pioneering St. Francis Yacht Club Members, John Gomes and Steve Bodner. Gomes - a veteran kiteboarder - and Bodner - a seasoned Formula windsurfer - decided to test the waters late last year with the idea of a combined event in order to strengthen both fleets. "With the local Formula fleet in decline and the local kiteboarding fleet growing, Steve and I met and discussed our options," explained Gomes. "We came up with the idea of a combined event that both fleets could participate in. We both thought it was a great idea." But the two veteran sailors had no idea of the decision that was about to be made by ISAF about their respective fleets. Since the decision by ISAF to exclude windsurfing from the 2016 Olympics, both Gomes and Bodner have witnessed the bickering in the local fleets. "I don't think Steve or I would change any of our planning at this point," Gomes said, reflecting on the decision to hold a combined event. "The St. Francis Yacht Club has supported both fleets in the past and will continue to do so in the future. This event will be a bellwether for the future of both classes and how cooperation can be good for the fleets. "Just because a new discipline like kiteboarding is now an Olympic sport at the expense of windsurfing doesn't mean we forget about the windsurfing class. On the contrary, we need to embrace the class and strengthen it as we can. Both disciplines are an important part of modern sailing." Gomes and Bodner also agree on another thing; both classes, old and new, are a gateway to the Corinthian spirit of sailing. Regatta details: http://tinyurl.com/StFYC-071812 WESTBOUND RACING It's been a busy month with three distance races to the Hawaiian Islands. Here's an update: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (July 18, 2012) - With the arrival of David Liano's Island Packet 380 Champ, the 18th Singlehanded TransPac has come to a close. The deadline for the race is this Saturday, but all boats - with the exception of Derk Wolmuth's Vindo 40 Bela Bartok (abandoned on July 15) - were in and swaying in the warm Hawaiian breeze by yesterday afternoon, giving racers plenty of time to rest up for Saturday's awards party at Tahiti Nui's new Luau Lounge. In the meantime, the racers have worked out a plan to recover Bela Bartok before she comes ashore at Maui. Through their incredible generosity - in time and money - they've secured a boat to go out to her location today and drop two racers aboard to bring her safely into port. Wolmuth, who reports that he's recovering nicely from a case of septic shock due to a staph infection, is due into Oakland on a cargo ship today. -- Latitude 38, http://tinyurl.com/Lat38-071812a ************* (July 18, 2012) - On a hot, muggy, Lahaina Tuesday evening, Tom Huseby's J/145 Double Take of Seattle YC became the first to finish Vic-Maui 2012. Her unofficial time is 10 days, 12 hours, 39 minutes. "Tom wore a wide grin as he guided the boat into the dock after finishing off Ka'anapali Shores," wrote Richard Ballantyne. "Brad Baker, the navigator, said that they pushed hard all through the race, but the boat treated them well and there were no gear failures or torn sails. They were very nervous for most of the race as the tracker continually told them that Terremoto was right with them. Can Terremoto, Kinetic, Turicum or another boat make up the time allowance?" Terremoto, a Seattle-based Riptide 35, will likely finish next. They're expected in sometime mid-day (Hawaii time) today. -- Latitude 38, http://tinyurl.com/Lat38-071812b ************* (July 18, 2012) - With more than half the 2012 Pac Cup fleet now en route to Hawaii, albeit slowly, the remaining racers are not chomping at the bit to get off the dock, given the dour wind pattern that has plagued the early starters and the not-so-great outlook for the next day or so. As of 1300 hours PDT on Wednesday, current leader Jamani, the J-120 from San Francisco skippered by Sean Mulvihill and crew Jeff Mulvihill, had only 215 nm under their belts since their start on Monday. "It's unfortunate that the way that these things work with the staggered starts is that you generally have winners and losers right off the bat," navigator Skip McCormack, who will start on Thursday. "It's a real struggle out there - the buoy reports are showing absolute still calm conditions right outside the Gulf of the Farallones. It's just a bummer and I feel pretty bad for those guys." -- SailBlast, full report: http://tinyurl.com/SB-071812 NODS TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS Congratulations to Ullman Sails customers who swept up national titles in the last few weeks! Art & Scott Melendres' team on "One Time" won the Cal 25 Nationals in Long Beach in a tightly contested 3-day series. Racing with 100% Ullman Sails, "One Time" scored three bullets on the first day to help claim the trophy. And earlier this month, John Ross and Joe Hagen's "Gotcha" dominated the Santa Cruz 27 Nationals in San Francisco, winning the 7-race series with five bullets and eight total points! "Gotcha" competed with an Ullman Sails Race mainsail and Red Line spinnaker. http://www.ullmansails.com ISAF YOUTH SAILING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Dublin Bay, Ireland (July 18, 2012) - As the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships moved into its second phase on Dublin Bay in Ireland, after a well-earned layday (on Tuesday), the mounting pressure clearly had an effect today in several classes. With two races sailed in very different conditions, the possibility of a completely dry day was scuppered by a huge late afternoon cloudburst. That particularly malicious cloud not only drenched the 343 competitors from 61 different nations, coaches, race organisers and volunteers ashore, but it also dragged the direction of the breeze around and made tactical choices less than straightforward. The pressure to take more risks in search of higher rewards was evident in the very close Laser Radial Boys' class where a rash of Black Flag disqualifications were a salutary punishment for those who pushed the line too hard too early. Class leader Mitchell Kiss was a key transgressor in the first race, but the US Sailing Team's development sailor was able to bounce back with an excellent third in the second heat of the day to ensure his lead remains a useful 11 points going into the last three scheduled races. Kiss attributes some of his improvements to training with US Olympic representative Paige Railey. "That has helped my speed especially downwind. She is so good, and it kind of sucks getting beat by a girl, but I definitely want to get to the Olympics. But seeing how she works is a great insight into how hard you have to work, how hard you have to push your body." -- Full report: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/news/38953.php Top Positions - North America Boy's Laser Radial - 1. Mitchell Kiss (USA) Girl's Laser Radial - 20. Violet Stafford (CAN) Boy's 420 - 10. Ian Barrows/ Ian Coyle (ISV) Girl's 420 - 10. Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick/ Abigail Rohman (USA) Boy's RS:X - 11. Ignacio Berenguer (MEX) Girl's RS:X - 19. Cristina Ortiz (MEX) Open SL16 - 9. Jeremy Herrin/ Sam Armington (USA) Open 29er - 4. Quinn Wilson/ Dane Wilson (USA) Complete results: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/editions/2012/results.php 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: * New sailing glove that is a must have * Yacht blocks & equipments supplier * Marine Repairs View updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news SAILING SHORTS * Boca Chica, Dominican Republic (July 18, 2012) - While the opener of the Optimist World Championship on Tuesday enjoyed a warm, stable 8-10 knots, there were no races today due to foul weather conditions. With two races completed for the 230 boats, Yokoyamaelisa Yukie (SIN) holds the lead with compatriot Juin Jie Neo Samuel in second place. Romain Screve (USA), who posted a 9-1, sits 8th overall. Racing continues through July 25. -- Event website: http://www.optiworlds2012.org/ * Corona del Mar, CA (July 18, 2012) - The Governor's Cup youth match racing championship began today, with brisk weather and exceptional competition. All twelve teams completed six matches, with four teams leading the way with five wins, including the defending champions San Diego Yacht Club with Nevin Snow, Jake LaDow, and Jake Reynolds. Each of the teams will race every other team in a Round Robin format. Racing will continue through Sunday. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14196#14196 * Marstrand, Sweden (July 18, 2012) - The penultimate event of the RC44 Championship Tour kicked off with the match racing phase of the RC44 Sweden Cup, with the day belonging to two of the four Russian team's competing in this year's Tour. Synergy Russian Sailing Team and Team Nika, led by professional skippers Ed Baird (USA) and Tomislav Basic (SLO), topped the 11-boat field with 5 wins and 2 losses. Four days of fleet racing for the RC44 Sweden Cup starts on Thursday 18th July. Follow the racing on the live blog or tracking. -- Full report: http://www.rc44.com/news/view/russians_rule_in_sweden * Newport, RI (July 18, 2012) - A predicted 1 p.m. squall never materialized, allowing the 34 boats to safely rip around Conanicut Island in the 19-mile Around the Island Race. While George David's RP90 Rambler set the elapsed time pace, it was Jim Swartz's TP52 Vesper which claimed handicap victory. "This is the ultimate windward-leeward course," said Vesper tactician Gavin Brady, "and I think it is one of the coolest short coastal races you can do anywhere in the world." The second half of the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex begins Thursday. -- Full report: http://www.nyyc.org/archives_public/article_1228/ * America's Cup defender Oracle Team USA has announced a change to its proposed winter training plans. Initial plans had the team moving to New Zealand, but they will now be extending their summer and fall training session in San Francisco, which has effectively closed the New Zealand window. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-071812 * CORRECTION: Apologies to the Great Lakes nation for mistakenly describing the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac as a 333 mile route up LAKE ERIE to Mackinac Island. Yes, we messed up... of course the race is in Lake Michigan. We also messed up by referring to Mr. Thornton previous boat as Hula. It was Hulua. SEND US YOUR RACE REPORTS Posting your event information on the free, self-serve Scuttlebutt Event Calendar tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. But don't stop there... send us your race reports too. Here are some of the upcoming events listed on the calendar: * Jul 21 - Lake Ontario 300 - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada * Jul 21-22 - Atlantic City Race Week - Atlantic City, NJ, USA * Jul 21-26 - Highlander U.S. Nationals - Cleveland, OH, USA * Jul 22-29 - Optimist U.S. Nationals - Sandusky, OH, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar GIVE YOUR KIDZ THE BUZZ Sailing Programs and parents world-wide are discovering something modern and cool to keep the You Tube Generation excited about sailing. Find the kids' choice at 'Energized Sailing' (video link below), and see why fleets and events are happening all over. The O'Pen BIC uses new-age design and recyclable materials in a rocket-ship hull and contemporary rig. Just two minutes to rig, completely self-bailing, no maintenance, and less expensive. Capsizing is part of the fun! The bottom line? Kids love O'Pen BICs. Check out http://www.OpenBIC.com and contact info@bicsportna.com for junior program packages. BIC Sport also offers great Stand Up Paddleboard programs! Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9_botWb8KU 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 Dick Enersen: The '84 Olympic sailing events really were special for the U.S. Team (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3635). Not only did they medal in every class, but the Buchans, father Bill and son Carl, won gold medals in the Stars and FDs, respectively. There was television coverage of Long Beach, sort of. I can say this because, in addition to directing my own hour documentary, I directed the television coverage for ABC. We had half a dozen cameramen, some shooting 16mm for the film, some shooting Betacam for the TV, and some alternating between the two. Among them we had a part-time in-the-water camera man, appropriately named Gordy Waterman, who got very interesting angles at some marks. I said "sort of" above, because what we were really doing was fulfilling the ABC network's commitment, as host broadcaster, to provide "coverage" of every discipline. In fact, this meant we produced a "world feed" from Long Beach every afternoon. After every race day, I took the day's tapes to an edit bay in a trailer and, with an editor, cut five minutes of highlights into a "package" which was then offered to all the world broadcasters, as part of their menu of choices. Each was free to use all, some bits of, or none of our footage. I suspect some of our stuff was used in Europe, and probably the Antipodes, but I am pretty sure none of it "made the air" in the USA. It was, none the less, a terrific regatta, and I am sure, with so many more "channels" available these days, we will see a good deal of yachting from Weymouth. * From Cory E. Friedman: Regarding the recent Newport to Bermuda Race, there has been much sea lawyering about Carina, the NOR, the penalty (Scuttlebutt 3630), ISAF classifications, who is responsible for the mistake, whether touching the wheel for an instant makes any practical difference, etc., etc. Obviously, the organizers can run the race any way they and the potential participants want. What I do not understand is a simple truth in advertising issue. The St. David's Lighthouse Trophy is billed as recognizing the accomplishment of amateur Corinthian sailors in an increasingly professionalized sport, a worthy distinction. But if the trophy actually is for amateurs with pros on board, even if all they do is give advice or haul a line, what is the point, even if the NOR allows pros in the fine print? It is not an amateurs' trophy and should not be billed as one (even if the fine print establishes that it is not one). There is nothing morally superior about being an amateur, but a pro is not an amateur. It should be advertised as a trophy for mixed crews of amateurs and pros and in that case it probably loses a lot of its luster. * From Molly Mulhern: I have stood at the quayside, so to speak, here in the discussion of the tragedy of Olivia's passing for over a year, but Steve Caufield's insightful letter in Scuttlebutt 3635, and in particular his comment "you do not honor that poor soul's death unless you commit to a thorough and thoughtful analysis of how it could have been avoided, and implementing all learning from that analysis" has encouraged me to finally say what has been nagging me for this full long year as our community has researched, agonized, and discussed what me might all do to prevent another such incident. Missing from most everything I have read, and not surprisingly, given the commentators' and the sport's background as one in which we pride ourselves in a certain stoic, 'machismo' (for lack of a better word) is the role that a sailor's emotional state of mind has on their response time and ability to react effectively. When we begin to sail we throw ourselves into a very foreign environment. Humans were not built with fins nor gills. Over time it is our ability to wrestle that environment, and ourselves in it, via boats and their sails (as we gain confidence, and see that we can harness the wind, make the boats go fast) that is part of what provides the joy and expansiveness of the sport. But, it takes time to overcome the fears that we all start out with. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14194#14194 * From Eric Robbins: Guy Buchanan (in Scuttlebutt 3635) has seriously misinterpreted the safety initiatives of Beverly YC and others. Far from creating barriers to sailing and racing, these initiatives will enable more of our favorite activities. As a professional race officer, I know that the fundamental principle of race management is MAKE GOOD DECISIONS. Resources such as better weather information, more and better trained people on powerboats, and handy lists of emergency contacts and procedures help the race officer make good go/no-go decisions. Having these resources, or not having them, does not make any decision for you. Nothing in what Dan Cooney said implies that the race officer does not remain fully in charge of all race management decisions. Too many times I have had to curtail racing when the weather deteriorated, when just one more powerboat with people I trust on board, no matter their certification, would have enabled me to make the decision to continue. On the other hand, I remember starting races in a youth championship when thunderstorms brewed onshore just a few miles away, with the knowledge that the finish boat was monitoring them on a notebook computer. As soon as the storms began to move offshore, we hustled the kids back to the clubhouse after maximizing their day of racing. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14195#14195 * From Claude Bonanni: I am writing today to respond to the letter of Terry Bischoff in SB 3634. While there is clearly no excuse for those coaches and competitors to tow through another classes course, and is absolutely inexcusable, I would like to point out the Miami OCR does not sail under the rules of the individual classes, but under rules as defined by ISAF as part of their Sailing World Cup. The International Star Class has for over three years sailed its Continental and World Championship with very strict guidelines for coach and support boats. The rule states that "a yacht shall receive no outside assistance from support boats or otherwise once she has left the dock for the day until the finish of the last race of the day." It has been very well received by event organizers, PRO's, IJ's and competitors. It is also better for our environment. As a 100 year old class, the Star Class is again at the forefront of developing new ideas and rules for sailing. All classes should adopt this rule. As for ISAF, well, let's hope November elections bring stronger leadership to move sailing in the right direction. EDITOR'S NOTE: Sue Reilly sent to Scuttlebutt the rule used for coach boats in the Farr 40 class, which is similar in structure as the Star class. It is posted here in the Forum along with all the recent comments in this thread: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14193#14193 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold, pilots! 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