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SCUTTLEBUTT 3594 - Friday, May 18, 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: Melges Performance Sailboats and Quantum Sails. THINKING ABOUT HANS It is on Friday, May 18th which will mark the anniversary of the death of Hans Horrevoets, the Dutch sailor who was swept overboard while racing on ABN AMRO TWO during the transatlantic crossing in 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race. Six years on, Horrevoets' wife Petra van Rij has launched a book about her life with Hans and the effects of his death on their young family, called 'Yesterday, everything was good', while former colleagues have spoken about the popular Dutchman, as well as the constant concern they feel about similar accidents. Mike Sanderson, who was skipper of ABN AMRO TWO's sister boat ABN AMRO ONE, said Leg 7 of the current race, across the Atlantic from Miami to Lisbon, would be a poignant one. "Out of respect, out of grief, we will all be thinking about Hans on this next leg," said Sanderson, who is skippering Team Sanya in this race. Looking through the crews there's someone on nearly every boat who was directly affected by his loss. The whole Volvo family was pretty beaten. It was the biggest tragedy in our era of the Volvo Ocean Race." Horrevoets, then 32, was the fifth and most recent sailor to be killed while competing in the race's 39-year history, following the loss of Paul Waterhouse, Dominique Guillet and Bernie Hosking in the inaugural race in 1973-74, and Tony Phillips in 1989-90. Horrevoets was on deck trimming the yacht's sails when the boat nose-dived into a wave at 25 knots, sweeping him into the water in the early hours of May 18, 2006, around 1,300 nautical miles west of Land's End, UK. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/HH-051712 HISTORY: The 2005-6 race was the first edition for the VO70s, which were fraught with problems on the early legs. The loss of Hans occurred on the transatlantic leg from New York to Portsmouth, UK: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/the_race/9_history_2005-2006.html SCHEDULE: The Pro-Am Race is on May 18, the In-Port Race is on May 19, and the 3590 nm Leg 7 from Miami to Lisbon, Portugal begins on May 20: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos Race website: http://www.volvooceanrace.com BROADCAST: The YouTube stream will begin around 12:40pm EDT (local time) for both the PortMiami In-Port Race on Saturday, May 19 and the Leg 7 Start on Sunday, May 20: In-Port: http://www.youtube.com/embed/V71d2B5LusM Leg 7 start: http://www.youtube.com/embed/GbA8eGYka1A GOOD DAY FOR THE NEWBIES Venice, ITA (May 17, 2012) - Youth and experience won on the opening day at the America's Cup World Series in Venice, Italy. Team Korea's Nathan Outteridge (AUS), at 26 years old one of the youngest skippers in the fleet, won the first fleet race. Then, Loick Peyron (FRA), 52, rallied his team for a come-from-behind win in race two to top the day's leaderboard. "Look at that! Beautiful weather in Venice, snow on the mountains, and Energy Team (FRA) at the top of the mountain today," said an effervescent Peyron following his win. "The team did a tremendous job as usual. We still made mistakes, but a few less mistakes than the others, which is how you win." As Peyron indicated, it was beautiful racing weather in Venice on Thursday. The sea breeze was in the 8 to 11 knot range, under crystal clear, sunny skies. Not surprisingly given the conditions, the local spectator fleet was out in force to enjoy the competition. Overall AC World Series leader Jimmy Spithill (AUS) and his Oracle Team USA crew had a difficult day in the fleet racing Thursday, posting an 8-4 scoreline to sit in seventh place on the leaderboard. Kiwi Dean Barker's Emirates Team New Zealand, second in the overall Series, wasn't able to take full advantage, underperforming their own high expectations in fourth place, just three points clear of Spithill. In the opening races of the Match Racing Championship, China Team was eliminated in a one race qualifying match by Oracle Team USA - Bundock (Darren Bundock, AUS). Then, all of the Quarter Final pairings were 2-0 sweeps with Energy Team, Artemis Racing (Terry Hutchinson, USA), Oracle Team USA Spithill, and Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper, GBR) advancing to the Semi Finals. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-051712 Broadcast details for Friday through Sunday: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13802 AUDI MELGES 20 WRAP UP Over 60 Audi Melges 20's participated in this year's Winter Series of events. The class Audi Melges 20 continues to grow internationally allowing Melges Racers to experience exciting racing in North America and in Europe. Race to melges20.com to check out regattas, photos and the latest information. New boats are already being built for next season's Winter Series! -- http://www.Melges20.com GOOD DAY TO BE YOUNG (May 17, 2012) - For the first time in the history of the America's Cup, young, talented sailors have a clear pathway towards competing for one of the most prestigious trophies in sport. The Red Bull Youth America's Cup, with details announced today, opens the door for young sailors to gain the experience they need to contribute to a Cup team. In addition to national teams, there will also be a team representing the San Francisco Bay Area, as host city. "This is an amazing opportunity for young Bay Area sailors," said world champion Kite Board racer Johnny Heineken, who was featured at today's San Francisco celebration. "Not only will there be a Team USA, but also a Team San Francisco Bay. I just wish I was a year younger!" The format will be fleet racing, and will take place in the AC45 catamarans currently used in the America's Cup World Series. The Red Bull Youth America's Cup is scheduled for August/September 2013, in San Francisco, during the heart of the 34th America's Cup racing season. -- Full report: http://media.americascup.com/pressreleases/?id=727 Key Points * Submission of applications begins July 1, 2012. Entry fee is US $35,000 plus a $25,000 a damage deposit bond. * A crew of six between 19 and 23 years of age at the time of the event. Each crewmember must have held a passport of or have been domiciled in the country of the team for which he/she is sailing for a period of five years immediately prior to the first scheduled race of the regatta. * Practice period is 7 days prior to the start of the event, with the race schedule no more than 7 days. * Team branding and advertising must be pre-approved by organizers, and may be displayed on designated areas of crew clothing and designated areas of the soft sails. Event notice: http://tinyurl.com/YAC-051712 1-(3)-1-3-1-1-1-1-1 = TOTAL DOMINATION Falmouth, UK (May 17, 2012) - Awesome is an overused word, but today it doesn't really come close to adequately describe the performance of Ben Ainslie (GBR) on day five of the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. In the toughest, roughest conditions that much of the fleet have sailed in for many years he took three race wins and is now within a whisker of his sixth Finn World title. Ainslie now holds just 13 points, a 31 point margin over Ed Wright (GBR) in second while Jonas Hogh-Christensen (DEN) moves up to third. The morning forecast was somewhat daunting as the fleet set out under the threat of 30 knots winds and big seas by the afternoon. Three races were scheduled to make up for those lost on Wednesday, and though 85 boats made the first start, by the third race there were only 53 boats left on the water. The wind rose from 15-16 knots for the first race of the day to 20-25 knots in the third, and the wave also built to reach 2-3 metres in height, providing for some stunning downwind sailing so even those who were having a bad day were also having a fantastic day. "It was a pretty big day, amazing conditions," noted Ainslie. "There were massive waves. It was an amazing day's sailing for everyone I think. It is not often we race in conditions like that so it was great, I think there will be a lot of tired sailors but I think most people had a smile on their face most of the time." In Friday's medal race, Ainslie just has to finish cleanly to win a sixth Finn world title. Wright also has to just finish to win the silver. The real interest is the bronze, where technically any of the next six boats can take it out of the hand of Jonas Hogh-Christensen (DEN). The medal race will feature GoPro stern cameras on each of the 10 boats. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/Finn-051712 HISTORY: There are a several 2-Time World Champs and a couple 3-Time World Champs, but that's where it stops. Ainslie is alone with five Finn titles, and he nearly won his sixth in 2011 until a Rule 69 violation put a stop to it. That type of mistake likely won't happen again, though an all-nighter with his sweetie Rita could make him miss the start. Past winners: http://tinyurl.com/Finn-Gold-Cup-051712 INFORMATION YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO HEAR By Ian Thomson, Ocean Crusaders As sailors, the ocean is our playground, and for some, it is our office. Every day we go out on the water we make an impact on our ocean, yet so many people are unaware of that very impact. So here are some alarming stats for you: * There is a garbage patch in the North Pacific containing enough rubbish to cover Australia 3m deep. There are 4 other garbage patches, one in every major ocean. * The world uses 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags every year and it contributes to 100,000+ marine deaths from plastic suffocation and entanglement. Add another 1 million sea birds to that figure. * The world drinks 200 billion liters of bottled water every year, contributing 20.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses to the environment and using enough oil to fill every bottle of water 25% full of oil. Only 30% of plastic water bottles are recycled around the world. So if I said to you that the ocean produces 60-80% of the world's oxygen and that our every day habits are slowly killing it, would it make you think twice? Yes I am saying that your habits may be risking the very air we breathe. So how many of you use plastic water bottles on your boat. Okay, so your tank water tastes funny so you decide the easiest way to provide water to your crew is in plastic water bottles. It's easy and convenient right? Let's look at the stats. First of all why does bottled water have a used by date? Water doesn't go off or our world would be in trouble. It is simply because by that date, it is expected that the plastic bottle has leeched enough toxins into the water to make it toxic to humans, and if you leave it in the sun you will have experienced that plastic taste. It is a product known as Bisphenol A (BPA). More and more studies are being released showing this substance, and other toxins from plastic, are causing all sorts of health issues including Autism, cancers and ADHD. Then you have the bottle which you recycle right? Firstly the caps are not recyclable and only 30% of bottles are sent for recycling with 60% of America's plastic going to India to be down-cycled (created into products that can't be recycled. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13817 QUANTUM INTRODUCES SAILS FOR NEW J/70 Members of Quantum's J/Boat Team including Kerry Klingler, Tim Healy and Scott Nixon have been on the water testing and tweaking Quantum's new J/70 sails to perfect the shapes for peak performance. The team is providing information and feedback on initial set-up and tuning directly to J/Boats so customers can hit the water in top-form. The new sail designs feature high-quality material, long-lasting construction, and large radial patches in the head and clew. Quantum sails already dominate several of the J/Boat classes with national and world championships in J/22, J/24, and J/80. Learn more about the J/70 sails here: http://www.quantumsails.com/classes/class_detail.aspx?class=224 SAILING SHORTS * Barcelona, Spain (May 17, 2012) - Two more races were completed at the fifth day of the 2012 470 World Championships, with ten races now in the can. Australians Mathew Belcher/ Malcolm Page now hold a 21 point lead, while Americans Stu McNay/ Graham Biehl maintain their 18th position by posting a 11-OCS. On the women's side, a double bullet day by Hannah Mills/ Saskia Clark (GBR) moved them into the lead. A 20-13 by Americans Amanda Clark/ Sarah Lihan dropped them from 14th to 17th overall. After Friday, the top ten will advance to the medal race on Saturday. -- Event website: http://worlds.470.org/eventsites/default_s1.asp?eventid=66686 * Boltenhagen, Germany (May 17, 2012) - In cold but sunny weather with oscillating winds between 15 and 28 knots, the Audi Women's Laser Radial World Championship completed two races to close their qualifying series. Finn Sari Multala dominated the day with a 2-1 to lead the 130 entrants, with Tania Elias Calles Wolf (MEX) dropping from 11th to 14th after posting a 12-9. In the under 21 division, American Erika Reineke has now built an 11 point lead. Racing concludes Sunday. - Event website: http://www.laserworldchampionship.com/en/home.html * Annapolis, MD (May 17, 2012) - After four races at the Star class Western Hemisphere Championship, Peter McChesney/ Shane Zwingelberg (USA) have kept their scores in the top five to build a six point lead over the 31-boat field. Results: http://www.starclass.org/search.cgi?Action=view&Event_id=2497 * CORRECTION: The ISAF Women's Match Race Rankings as of May 16, 2012 in Scuttlebutt 3593 have been re-released following an ISAF administrative error. As a result, Team Maclaren led by skipper Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) retains the top spot. -- Full report: http://www.sailing.org/38612.php PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include the next generation, big rig, before and after, gravity storm, in phase, gearhead, and shades of yellow. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0518/ * Put on your period outfits and take a look at Bob Grieser's photos from The Yesteryear Regatta in San Diego: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0517a/ * Photographer Billy Black tracked the fleet of Class40s during the first leg of The Atlantic Cup from Charleston, SC to New York, NY. Here are some images: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0517/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK Sixty-five years before the first English settlement on the North American continent, eighty years before Mayflower crossed a much smaller ocean to New England; Spanish seafarers sighted, charted, and made first contact with the native inhabitants of what would one day be the west coast of the United States. When the small San Salvador entered the harbor now called San Diego, the galleon was perhaps the most powerful vessel in the Pacific Ocean. A full-sized, fully functional, and historically accurate replica of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo's San Salvador is being constructed in full public view, giving viewers the opportunity to watch from a close perspective as an example of the first modern industrial activity in the Americas comes to life before their eyes. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/12/0518/ Bonus Videos: * This week on America's Cup Uncovered Episode 39, get a taste of things to come in Venice as we look ahead to the start of the America's Cup World Series Venice May 15-20. We reflect back to fleet racing from Naples which drew in crowds by the masses, where fans alike witnessed AC45s racing in Italy for the first time. Then we take to the red carpet at the Emmy Awards to discover that it is not just the sailors who are winning silverware. Tune in on Saturday May 16 at approx 0800 PDT 1600 BST: http://youtube.com/americascup * The May 18 "World on Water" boating news show features exclusive on-Board footage on Antipodes the CSA 1A winner at Antigua Sailing Week, Giovanni Soldini's Maserati Transat record attempt, the Top of the Gulf Regatta, Thailand, the Star Worlds in Hyeres, the finish of the Volvo Leg 6 in Miami, Florida and in "Fresh to Frightening" we preview this year's Vendee Globe single handed round the world race. See it on http://www.boatson.tv at 1000BST, 0500EDT. * In this regular season finale, Chalk Talk Episode 10 provides a recap of the ICSA Semifinals, qualifying 18 teams to the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy Nationals in Austin. Get yourself caught up before the Big Show in Texas, beginning May 30 with ICSA/Sperry Top-Sider Women's Semifinals. View here: http://ussailing.blogspot.com/2012/05/chalk-talk-episode-10.html * How's your French? Photographer Leighton O'Connor is in Miami for the Volvo Ocean Race, and produced a video from his ride onboard the VO 70 Groupama: http://youtu.be/LqVl43YDdpg SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com 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 Chris Woods: A follow-up to Craig's comment concerning Pro and Amateur tiers in sports in Scuttlebutt 3593. While sailors rightly appreciate their frequent opportunity to compete against professionals, it isn't unique to our sport. It seems that competitions in most every "participation sport" (vs. spectator sport) are often "open". Triathlon, track and field, bike racing (mountain and road), swimming, and many other sports, regularly incorporate a mix of amateurs and "professionals" simply due to the inherent elements of finance, participation and public appreciation. As in sailing, most every participation sport has many people trying to improve one or more of those elements and see technology and cultural changes helping out. And most every sport has an interesting and surprisingly dynamic history in that regard as well. The NBA in 1962 and 2012? Horse Racing in 1952 and 2012? Triathlon in 1982 and 2012? Sailing in 1972 and 2022? * From Oscar Gallo: The stats in Scuttlebutt 3594 indicate there are more deaths from kiting than sharks. Amazing they put this into Olympics. * From Gregory Scott: I watch the kiters from shore and wonder if everyone is watching everyone else, knowing that most people sailing aren't looking up for kite strings. But I had an experience which taught me to keep a close eye on these boarders. One day a kite sailor hooked his kite into the one tree on the harboar breakwater. What a freakin mess! Him stuck to his board and me trying to do my best to untangle the strings. I hadn't given any thought to junior sailing programs and kites, but have to agree with Nvein in Scuttlebutt 3593... any yacht club with a brain will say no thanks. It's hard enough dealing with boats that float when a squall goes through. * From John Oliver, Belize: Was there a recorded vote on the selection of kiteboarding for the 2016 Olympics? I, and many others, I'm sure, would like to know how each of the nations voted. For a developing sailing nation, we have to concentrate our resources, and one of the paths we were considering was windsurfing which is popular with the visitors at some of our resorts. EDITOR'S NOTE: It should be stated that the responsibility of the vote holders is to vote for what are the proper events and equipment for the Olympic Games, and not for what is best for their country. Here is the vote as was published by VSAIL.info: http://box.jisko.net/d/521145ce CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Incompetence knows no barriers of time or place. SPONSORS THIS WEEK North Sails - Kaenon Polarized - APS - Gowrie Group - Mount Gay Rum IYRS - Point Loma Outfitting - e Sailing Yachts - Ullman Sails Hall Spars & Rigging - Melges Performance Sailboats - Quantum Sails Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers | |||
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