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Scuttlebutt Updates
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Archived NewslettersSCUTTLEBUTT 2219 – November 8, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). AND THE WINNERS ARE . . . The International Sailing Federation and Rolex have announced Laser Radial Champion Paige Railey (USA) and Mike Sanderson (NZL), winning skipper of the Volvo Ocean Race, as winners of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2006. At an Awards Ceremony in Helsinki, Railey and Sanderson were honoured for their outstanding sailing achievements between 1 September 2005 and 31 August 2006, when Railey won a number of major international regattas in the Laser Radial, and Sanderson led Team ABN Amro to a dominant victory in the Volvo Ocean Race. This is the second consecutive year that Paige Railey from Florida has been nominated for the female ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award. Last year Ellen Macarthur (GBR) pipped her to the title, but still only aged 19, it would be no surprise to see Railey nominated again in the coming years. Since the Laser Radial was selected two years ago as the new equipment for the Women's One Person Dinghy Olympic event, Railey has proven herself as the sailor to beat. With no prior experience of Olympic level sailing, the teenager's meteoric rise to the top of the sport has shocked Railey more than anyone. But her lack of experience has proven no barrier to success as she has moved seamlessly from the top of the youth sailing world to the top of the sport at senior level. Towards the end of the 2005 season Railey won the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Korea and then a few weeks later went on to win the Laser Radial World Championships in Brazil. Railey opened the 2006 season with victories at the French Olympic Sailing Week and the ISAF World Sailing Games in Austria, although she struggled during the summer at the European and World Championships with some below par performances. However in August she bounced back in fine style, to win a challenging Olympic Test Regatta in Qingdao, the venue for the Olympic Sailing Competition in 2008. Few teams have dominated a round-the-world race quite like Mike Sanderson's team on ABN Amro One in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06. Sanderson brought an understated yet authoritative leadership to the campaign, as the team spent the best part of a year learning how to tame and master the frighteningly quick Volvo Open 70 design that was introduced for this race. Sanderson's team not only came up with the fastest boat, but they knew how to sail the Volvo Open 70 better than anyone. Over eight months and 31,500 hard miles around the planet, ABN AMRO ONE won all but three of the nine offshore legs and all but two of seven In Port races. -- http://www.sailing.org/ The other female nominees for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2006 were: Dee Caffari (GBR) Dorte Jensen (DEN) Helena Lucas (GBR) Daida Moreno (ESP) Mónica Azon Canalda, Sandra Azon Canalda and Graciela Pisonero Castro (ESP) Other male nominee: Peter Gilmour (AUS) Sébastien Josse (FRA) Yves Parlier (FRA) Bruno Peyron (FRA) CONFESSIONS OF A PLASTIC BOAT SAILOR Ever since I was a kid, I've drawn boats. Not very well mind you, but I drew boats. Throughout, I have had a "thing" for Dorade (and most of the Sparkman and Stephen's designs of Dorade's era.) While it probably sounds weird coming from a plastic boat sailor, it has been one of my sailing / racing dreams to sail or race on Dorade. As you wrote yesterday, Edgar Cato purchased Dorade and shipped her back home to the East Coast. I was fortunate enough to be asked to sail on Dorade 4 or 5 times. We raced her in the Opera House Cup in Nantucket and the Museum of Yachting Classic Yacht Regatta in Newport. Both events had breeze of 25+ knots. Sailing on a reefed down Dorade, perfectly balanced was one thing.... Sailing in that condition with Olin Stephens on board making the sail selection decisions was remarkable. Listening to his assessment of Dorade as a design and how she evolved throughout the early years was extraordinary. He told us what he would do to make her better in the short and long run. Extraordinary and remarkable are often thrown around words, but it really was an amazing experience. Dorade is so unique, and her restoration is ongoing with Edgar and his team working hard to keep her in perfect museum quality shape, while also putting her through her paces in the classic yacht circuit. Dorade is a boat that "tells you" if you are trimmed correctly or not. Perfectly balanced and blasting along if you are trimmed correctly, and a downright bear to sail if you are not. It was and is the prettiest boat ever made. -- Brad Read EQUIPMENT Tuesday at the ISAF Annual Conference in Helsinki, Finland, equipment was the hot topic, with the classes coming under the spotlight at both the ISAF Women’s Sailing Committee and the Equipment Committee. Looking towards the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Committee gave their approval to Submission 079 to delete Regulation 16.1.6, which currently limits the classes from which ISAF can choose the equipment for the Olympic Games and Regional Games. Here’s the verbiage of the regulation: The equipment for the Olympic Games and all Regional Games shall be chosen from the following classes: - Windsurfing: Funboard, Formula, Mistral, Neil Pryde RS:X - Single-Handed Dinghy: Finn, Laser, Laser Radial, Sunfish, Byte, Zoom, Europe - Multi-Crewed Dinghy: 29er, 420, 470, Fireball, Flying Dutchman, Lightning, Snipe, 49er - Keelboat: Etchells, Flying Fifteen, H-Boat, J-22, J-24, Soling, Yngling, Sonar, Star - Multihull: Hobie 16, Hobie Tiger, Tornado http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j8fFh?,A? http://www.sailing.org/meetings/2006november/papers/sub_079.pdf THE ULTIMATE CAP FROM ULTIMATE SAILING "Tether" your cap to your shirt and be secure in winds up to 50 MPH. The "tether" retracts smoothly into the cap when not needed. Microfiber in navy or canary with our Ultimate Sailing logo. $19.95. Order Ultimate Sailing products at http://www.ultimatesailing.com NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE The Orange Project trimaran capsized in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 600 miles north-west of the Azores. At 0945 Tuesday morning, the Russian tanker Okhta Bridge, which was making progress towards skipper Stève Ravussin after having received the distress signal emitted by the Norfolk (USA) MRCC. The rescue operation has been a tricky one, and Stève was in a state of shock, but he's now safe and sound, en route towards the South of England where he should step ashore on 13 November. Orange Project, flipped over in heavy conditions - 35 knots of wind and short but steep waves. After a forced technical pit stop in the Azores last week, he was free from any result-related pressure, and was as he confessed sailing conservatively, with two reefs in the main and the Solent, ballasts filled in order to help the boat remain flat. While he was on the foredeck, busy tying up his gennaker to the net, the autopilot suddenly failed and the trimaran started luffing… Stève ran to the cockpit, but another pilot failure made the boat bear away violently this time! Nose-diving was unavoidable, the transoms were soon up in the air, the masthead came crashing into the sea… The boat is now drifting far away from inhabited lands. The beacon still sends a signal, giving its position to the maritime authorities. For the moment, recovering what will soon be nothing but a wreck is out of the question. "I wanted this Route du Rhum, I was prepared for it, and so was my whole team. It turned into a nightmare", adds Stève. -- Excerpts from a story on the Yachting World website, full story: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20061007154336ywnews.html http://www.orange-sailing-team.com/ ROUTE DU RHUM UPDATE (Following are some excerpts from stories on thedailysail subscription website about the Route du Rhum race, the 3,500-mile solo race for multi-hulls and monohulls from France to Guadeloupe.) A steady procession of 60ft trimarans followed Lionel Lemonchois into Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe yesterday at the conclusion of a record breaking Route du Rhum. Safely in second was Pascal Bidegorry on Banque Populaire, the former Solitaire du Figaro winner dispelling critic’s opinions of him not having had enough time racing his powerful three hulled yacht singlehanded. Bidegorry reached Pointe a Pitre in a time of 8 days 4 hours 25 minutes and 7 seconds, 11 hours 6 minutes and 1 seconds after Gitana 11, covering the 3835 miles he sailed at an average of 18.03 knots. However there was no let up in the tension as Thomas Covile on board Sodebo, found himself in a match race to reach the finish line with Michel Desjoyeaux on Geant. Eventually Coville's red trimaran prevailed beating the 2002 winner to the line by only 9 minutes 22 seconds. Taking fifth spot was Franck Cammas on Groupama II. Weather-wise this has been a highly unconventional Route du Rhum with the normal Azores high pressure system initially not evident and then putting in an appearance well to the north of its usual position. This has allowed competitors to take a route more direct than normal towards Guadeloupe and there's been none of the normal 'going south, til the butter melts' before turning west. -- http://www.thedailysail.com Event website: http://www.routedurhum.com/en STAMM EMERGES FROM THE DOLDRUMS The Swiss leader of the Velux 5 Oceans solo round-the-world race, Bernard Stamm, crossed the equator at 16.14 GMT Monday but, more significantly, he started to stretch out his lead again after failing to find an easy path through the Doldrums. Stamm's Cheminees Poujoulat lost ground to the only other competitor not forced to stop in the storms of the first week, Japan's Koji Shiraishi in Spirit of Yukoh, as well as Britons Mike Golding and Alex Thomson. "This time I am really out of here," Stamm said yesterday after a couple of false starts in wriggling free of the Doldrums. Shiraishi was 246 miles behind Stamm yesterday afternoon, while Golding had clawed back more than 200 miles to sit 325 miles off the pace as his Ecover picked a better path through the Doldrums. -- Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/tb6ek * Mike Golding will yet again go into the record books, as the only Briton who has raced more times across the Equator than any other professional sailor. This evening will seem him cross the Equator for a record 17th time. However, the Equator crossing was second in Mike's thoughts this morning as he was trying to solve a problem with the engine that has not been working properly for a few days. Velux 5 Oceans Leaders: 1. Cheminees Poujoulat, Bernard Stamm, 8,101 miles to finish; 2. Spirit of Yukoh, Kojiro Shiraishi, 291 miles to leader; 3. Ecover, Mike Golding, 340 mtl; 4. Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson, 580 mtl; 5. Saga Insurance, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 1423 mtl. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com MULTIHULLS (Glenn Bourke, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race talks about the Volvo Extreme 40 class in connection with the round the world race. Here are some of his thoughts.) “We were so pleased with the success of the Volvo Extreme 40’s that it is very likely that they will again participate in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. We are in discussions with the board at Volvo and working hard to make sure it happens again. The Volvo Extreme 40 embodies everything that is important about the Volvo Ocean Race. “For the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 we are currently looking at the kind of venues that allow racing in close proximity of the shore so spectators get full view of the in-port race and the Volvo Extreme 40 grand prix. This will be particularly important in territories such as Asia where it will be harder to get public interest as the sport is not so well known. In these territories we will definitely be looking to put more into the package and look at introducing video boards and public prize givings to help build momentum for the race. “I think if we changed one thing about the Volvo Extreme 40 series it would be to make it compulsory for Volvo Ocean Race teams to have one as it would be a greater platform for them to take out guests and for corporate entertainment during the stopovers, but we wont make it a mandatory option. It adds a different dimension to what they can do. The business to business relationships have become so important now and big deals are made throughout the duration of the race. Corporate guests can sail onboard the Volvo Open 70 for in-port races but the numbers are limited, so if the teams also had a Volvo Extreme 40, it would mean that corporate guests can sail every day in between the key days and it would add to the in-port hospitality package. “Next time around we would also look at increasing the profile of the Volvo Extreme 40 teams and hope that they again attract Olympic sailors and top multihull sailors. We would definitely be looking for guest appearances from Volvo Open 70 team members and of course be hoping that each team has their own boat that they would then get behind and support.” -- Glenn Bourke, http://www.volvoextreme40.org IF BMW ORACLE RACING WINS THE CUP… Interviewed by Las Provincias, Chris Dickson wants to remain open to all possibilities in case of victory. "The city made a great effort to build the infrastructure", the New Zealander said about Valencia. "I think the America's Cup will be linked with the City during the next years, through others acts or for another edition". A very "politically correct" answer from a Spanish point of view. But Chris Dickson also remains very cagey about the expressing his position as an "open subject". "The question was neither examined nor discussed in the Team", he said and then added that Larry Ellison never shared any information about that. "Valencia is an option but I repeat that nothing is decided yet", Dickson said. "We have first to win the Cup". When asked about the time schedule for the next America's Cup, Chris Dickson was more affirmative and explained that the Alinghi's calendar was not wanted by the American syndicate. "After Alinghi won the America's Cup, we explained when we agreed to become the Challenger of Record that we don't want to wait until 2007", the New Zealander said. "On the contrary, we considered 2005 as the really good year for the Cup. If we win the cup, we will choose the shortest possible time interval", Dickson concluded. "2009 seems to be the best time for me". -- Cup in Europe website, http://www.cupineurope.com/NewsEN/2006/Ac33.htm TOO BIG TO CHANGE SAILS The 120-foot J-boat “Shamrock” has just ordered new UK-Halsey loadpath laminate sails from our Hamble loft in England, putting us on a historic America’s Cupper and a current contender (“Team China”) simultaneously. ”Shamrock” wanted higher performance (J-giants are racing again) without needing to swap to cruising sails for chartering. Understandable: Shamrock’s mainsail has a 140-foot luff, is 4375 sq.ft., and requires a crane to be moved. Whether you have a J-giant, a J/Boat, or something in-between, contact UK-Halsey. For the same single-inventory convenience on yachts under 70-feet, UK-Halsey’s Spectra Tape-Drive offers proven racing performance and cruising durability. 800-253-2002, http://www.ukhalsey.com SAILING SHORTS * It is rumored that the combined 2008 29er/49er Worlds for Sydney, Australia are apparently in doubt after the NSW Government pulled their $200,000 of funding ($151,644.47 USD) Is this what it takes to host a world championship these days? - http://scott.projectsomewhere.com/13120,02,2-0-Latest.html * Photographer Carlo Borlenghi is an elite shooter, and whenever he submits photos to Scuttlebutt, they are always worth a view. His latest effort is from a sportboat event in Italy, where he captures the trapeze crewing, mast-breaking, hull planning action. He even pulled out his underwater housing for this event. Enjoy: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/1107/ * For those seeking a free source of GRIB files (a coded file that gives current and forecasted weather info), Scuttlebutt has come across a website where you can 'cut' a file to the exact area you want and get the file immediately - for free. The data is purportedly high quality 0.5 degree data from the GFS model. To get access, send an email with details of your intended use to mailto:request@grib.us LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forums. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forums: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From John Turvill: Emma Paul’s letter reminds me of the parental guidance provided at the beginning of Arthur Ransome’s wonderful story of ‘messing around in boats ’Swallows & Amazons’. The telegram from the absent father in response to a request for permission to go sailing was (from memory): Only duffers drown. Better drowned than duffers. Through many adventures which I recommend to all, the children demonstrate what I suspect is one of the Curmudgeon’s Observations: the consistent exercise of good judgment requires experience. Experience is most frequently obtained through the exercise of poor judgment. * From Jordan J. Dobrikin: Gary Jobson is Opening Pandora's Box with his story, “Going to Extremes to Win” (‘Butt 2218).. Just what is ethical/ unethical, moral/ amoral, acceptable/ unacceptable, fattening/ nonfattening as well as legal/ illegal in sail racing? Especially in boat preparation and enhancements as well activities on the water whilst racing. The Sport allows and encourages sail development as well deck layout/ hardware, optimization as well as the use of modern marine electronics and computers. The Sport regulates weight/ displacement in a somewhat inconsistent and haphazard way. It is also inconsistent with racing activities on the water varying from little or no recognition of the Rules with to many No Protest events thru to too many Judge Boats beating up on the peloton & "also rans", in "big" Regattas. I am curious about the change of keel/ ballast materials. Is another heavy, but not radioactive material acceptable? Is a composite mixture for keel/ballast acceptable? With respect to weight/ displacement reduction and/or redistribution; What is acceptable and what is not? The Sport and Handicap/Rating Systems mandate/require a clean, smooth bottom and rates boats with the assumption that the Boat is participating with a clean smooth bottom. When, how can one be too clean or too smooth? What is needed is some discussion in Scuttlebutt and the in a Forums on the ethics of boat preparation, handicap/ rating Optimization as well as activities on the water. CURMUDGEON’S COMMENT I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian. Special thanks to Ultimate Sailing and UK-Halsey Sailmakers. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
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