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Scuttlebutt Updates
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Archived NewslettersSCUTTLEBUTT 2351– May 24, 2007Scuttlebutt 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 THEN THERE WERE TWO The Louis Vuitton semi-final ended on a very different sort of day. It started off cloudy, cooler, blowing 18-20+ knots at the masthead, with a big lumpy sea. It was much more like an early summer day in the Hauraki Gulf than the Mediterranean, and the New Zealanders looked a lot more comfortable out in it. They finally crushed the spirited Spanish resistance, controlling the pre-start, shutting-out Desafio Espanol at the committee boat and extending on every leg to win by 1 minute 18 seconds. And so Emirates Team New Zealand goes through 5-2, to meet Luna Rossa in the Louis Vuitton Final on 1st June. ETNZ had the committee boat entry, and Barker elected to dispense with the dial-up. He scooted behind Desafio and then headed deep into the pre-start box, eventually leading into a circle. Jablonski slammed it into a tighter turn and prevented the Kiwis from tacking to port, and we effectively had our dial-up, but way down in the box with three minutes to go. And with Desafio on the right, it looked like ETNZ had given up the advantage. But Jablonski had got himself too close, and as he became windward boat, the pressure came on. Desafio bailed out to the right, onto port tack first, but it was Barker and his trimmers that got the boat moving faster with a big jib backwind. Jablonski found himself with Barker on his tail and the Kiwi boat in control. Barker was able to prevent Desafio from either tacking or gybing with some great boat-handling in tough conditions, and it may well be that Jablonski was struggling for control of his steed. The on-board audio picked up Desafio tactician John Cutler admitting defeat, and telling Jablonski to minimize the loss. And so the pair slowly eased their way out past the starboard tack layline for the committee boat, and Desafio eased out of the competition. -- Mark Chisnell, complete story: http://markchisnell.blogspot.com/2007/05/and-then-there-were-two.html Final results - Challenger trials 1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 1-1-0-1-1-0-1-_-_ = 5 - WINNER 4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP) 0-0-1-0-0-1-0-_-_ = 2 => Wednesday, Race 7 stats: Wind speed (14-18kts), Race length (01:18:19), Total tacks/ gybes (ESP-12; NZL-10), Avg boat speed (ESP-11.025; NZL-11.2) -- http://tinyurl.com/2trnju 2. BMW Oracle Racing (USA) 0-1-0-0-0-0-_-_-_ = 1 3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) 1-0-1-1-1-1-_-_-_ = 5 - WINNER => Sunday, Race 6 stats: Wind speed (12-15kts), Race length (01:22:34), Total tacks/ gybes (ITA-30; USA-31), Avg boat speed (ITA-10.575; USA-10.575) -- http://tinyurl.com/24oyq3 * Race schedule: Semi-final racing is now complete, with Emirates Team New Zealand to face Luna Rossa Challenge in the Louis Vuitton challenger finals beginning on Friday, June 1st. The finals will be a best of 9 series, with the first team to get 5 wins advancing to the America’s Cup match against defender Alinghi. -- Complete schedule: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php * Oh Canada: The northern North Americans have been in a television blackout so far, but look for the lights to come on for the Challenger finals on June 1st. Details at http://www.tsn.ca/yachting * Hot Auction: There has been some active bidding for the Desafío Español 2007 team gear that’s been donated by Paul Cayard. Maybe the Spanish team didn’t make it to the finals, but their gear was by far the fastest. Bid high for Paul’s autographed gear, with proceeds benefiting youth sailing. Items include cap, floppy hat, jacket, vest, and backpack. Details at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/07/cayard * Emirates Team New Zealand are the 4/6 favourites with bookies William Hill to win the Louis Vuitton Cup with Luna Rossa offered at 11/10. "Emirates New Zealand are the hot favourites to take on the defending champions Alinghi, but we were not expecting Luna Rossa to make it this far and they may well pull off another shock." said William Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams. -- http://tinyurl.com/2nlfen * The demise of Desafío Español 2007 was not the only casualty in Valencia on Wednesday. Eamon Conneely's new TP 52 Patches was out training and broke off the top section of their rig. TRIVIA QUESTION What do the three remaining syndicates in the America's Cup have in common? (Answer below) QUALIFYING THE COUNTRY Only the host country is guaranteed entry to the Olympic Games; all other countries must qualify to participate in each class. The principal qualification regatta for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition are the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships, taking place in Cascais, Portugal from 28 June-13 July. There 75% of all national places for the sailing events at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be decided. The remaining 25% of national places will be allocated at the respective Olympic Class World Championships in 2008 and the dates for these Worlds have now been finalized. The action kicks off in Australia with the start of 2008 Sail Melbourne right at the beginning of the New Year. Not only will Sail Melbourne be the first event in the launch of the 2008 ISAF Sailing World Cup, but it will also host the 49er, RS:X, Finn and 470 World Championships. Australia also hosts the Laser Worlds in Terrigal at the start of February before the Yngling Worlds in Miami. The action then returns down under for the Tornado Worlds, followed by the Laser Radial Worlds, both hosted in Auckland, New Zealand. The Stars finish things off in April, with their World Championship in Miami. -- Full details: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6qFnA?/?&format=popup 2007 ULLMAN SAILS INSHORE CHAMPIONSHIPS The next regatta in the 2007 Ullman Sails Inshore Championship series is Cal Race Week, hosted by California YC, June 2-3. NHYC’s Ahmanson Cup and SDYC’s Yachting Cup met with great success, and we expect the same at CYC and at the final regatta, Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week, June 22-24. This championship series encompasses these 4 major Southern California regattas and has grown in popularity and numbers each year. Experience what everyone is talking about and join us at Marina Del Rey and Long Beach for outstanding racing! For more information and the Notice of Race, please visit http://www.ullmansails.com/inshorechamps.htm OLYMPIC SAILING: BREITLING REGATTA Light and shifty winds and a lot of sunshine were the conditions for the first day of racing at the Breitling Regatta in Medemblik, where 579 entries will be competing from Wednesday through Sunday. The difficult conditions created changing of the courses and postponement for some classes, with the forecast predicting light winds and possibly rain, with the breeze returning for the weekends finals and medal races. The highlight of the day was Canadian Christopher Cook leading the Finn with his two firsts, while at the other end of the spectrum, Americans Sally Barkow/ Carrie Howe/ Debbie Capozzi in the Yngling earned a BFD (black flag disqualification) along with a 6-9, placing them down in 16th. -- Complete report: http://tinyurl.com/3yn6ej Top North Americans Finn (64 entrants): 1. CAN, Christopher Cook Laser Radial (75): 2. CAN, Lisa Ross 470 Women (33): 4. CAN, Jenn Provan/ Carol Luttmer Laser (108): 5. CAN, Michael Leigh 49er (57): 5. USA, Dalton Bergan/ Zach Maxam Tornado (39) 7. USA, John Lovell/ Charlie Ogletree Star (40): 8. USA, John Dane III/ Austin Sperry Yngling (30): 14. CAN, Sarah Bury/ Martha Henderson/ Katie Abbott RS:X Men (55): 18. USA, Benjamin Barger RS:X Women (26): 23. CAN, Demita Veta de lille 470 Men (52): No North American entrants OLYMPIC RESISTANCE Dozens of residents in China's coastal Qingdao, host of the 2008 Olympic sailing events, were holed up in their homes despite power and water cutoffs in a bid to stop authorities from tearing down their buildings, a farmer-turned-activist and his lawyer said last week. Residents of Hexi village in Qingdao's Sifang district were told their homes would be torn down last Friday although dozens have yet to sign compensation agreements with the local government, which plans to build new apartments on the site, said Yuan Bendu, a local farmer whose house was torn down last month. The standoff echoed an incident in south China's Chongqing city last month, when developers tore down the home of a couple who had fought eviction for three years. In that case, the residents and developer reached a settlement, and the family left willingly. Yuan said that he and his neighbors clashed with plainclothes police on March 16 and April 27 that came to protect construction workers as they tore down five houses in the area. Some residents tried to stop the demolition by standing on the roofs of their single-story homes and throwing bricks at the workers, he said. Four farmers were arrested and remain in detention, he said. He said the area's 932 households were offered compensation of $420 per square meter, which was well below the market value of about $900 per square meter. Qingdao, a popular coastal resort city, is undergoing a massive construction boom fueled by its being named host of the sailing events for the 2008 Olympic Games. -- SD Union, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2o8hey WOMEN’S COLLEGE NATIONALS Norfolk, Virginia (May 23, 2007) – Clear skies, cool breeze, and temperatures in the mid-70’s made for a great first day at the ICSA Women's National Championship. The wind was offshore out of the east to southeast today at Old Dominion University, which produced some unusually shifty breeze and creating very challenging conditions for the women. Although shifty, the breeze held consistent at 10 to 12 knots throughout the day with an occasional lull finding its way across the race course. Judges on the water flagged four competitors for rule 42 violations. -- http://collegesailing.org/nas/spring07/womens/index.asp Results after 6 races (top 5 of 18) 1. St. Mary's, 60 points (A division= 27; B division=33) 2. Charleston, 61 (A division= 47; B division=14) 3. Navy, 71 (A division=40; B division=31) 4. California-Irvine, 79 (A division=32; B division=47) 5. Stanford, 81 (A division=41; B division=40) GIVING BACK – MOVING FORWARD J24 Fleet 43, a Falmouth, Maine-based enthusiast sailing fleet, launched a fresh site just in time for the summer sailing season, care of local web development company Hall Web Services of Scarborough, Maine. The new site is completely user-editable using a customized Website Baker installation and blog with a seamless professional theme, all developed by Hall. "We all love sailing, and working on this site was our way to contribute meaningful to this local organization," said Tom Hall, President and CEO of Hall Web Services, and supervisor for the project. "By using powerful Open Source tools we could provide the sailors a great looking, functional site for less development time." Hall donates up to 10% of its yearly gross sales as in-kind donations of time to various local non-profit and athletic organizations, of which J24 Fleet 43 is one. The J24 Fleet site will allow members of the club to easily update upcoming events and news, upload photos and post results of the races. -- http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/18422 YEAR OF THE CAT FOR GOETZ The VOR 70 for PUMA Ocean Racing will be the fifth time that Goetz Custom Boats has built a circumnavigating racer for the Volvo/ Whitbread race. For ongoing updates on the PUMA project, and more information on The Card, Chessie Racing, America’s Challenge, and Tyco, visit the new Goetz website at http://www.goetzboats.com SAILING SHORTS * The World Match Race tour begins its jubilee year this week with Match Race Germany, with racing May 24-28 in Langernargen, Germany. Amongst the twelve starting teams are seven of the top ten of the ISAF World Match Racing Rankings and representatives from five America´s Cup teams. This includes World Tour and World Ranked number one, Brit Ian Williams of Pindar Racing, the number two Mathieu Richard of Saba Sailing (winner of last week’ s Congressional Cup) and his French compatriot Sébastian Col of Areva Challenge, number three of the world-ranking list. -- Full report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/default.asp?m=da&id=55686 * (May 23, 2007) Hugh Piggin and his fellow crewmembers Hank Hofford, Susan Ford, and Jeffrey Wargo piloted the Open Unlimited 50 Gryphon Solo across the Charleston to Bermuda Race finish line Tuesday night at 8:33 p.m. EDT, taking line honors in the sixth edition of this bluewater event. Though their unofficial time of 4 days, 8 hours, and 33 minutes in this race is well off the course record of 73 hours (set in 2001 by Rick Orchard’s Andrews 68 Grins), it should be good enough to keep them well-placed on the leaderboard. -- Results and fleet tracking are available at http://www.charlestontobermuda.com * Correction: The link in Issue 2350 for the 30th Anniversary Singlehanded Transpac was in error. The correct link is http://www.sfbaysss.org CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: May 25 - Storm Trysail Block Island Race - Stamford, CT, USA May 25-27 - Leukemia Cup Regatta - Carlyle, IL, USA May 25-27 - North Carolina Offshore Championship - Beaufort, NC, USA May 26-27 - Ashbridges Bay One Design - Toronto, Ontario, Canada May 26 -27 - Laser Atlantic Coast Championships - Jensen Beach, FL, USA May 26-27 - Leukemia Cup Regatta - Powell, OH, USA May 26-28 - Swiftsure International Yacht Race - Victoria, BC, Canada View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar TRIVIA ANSWER Of the three remaining syndicates in the America's Cup, each has a J/24 World Champion in their afterguard. The defender Alinghi has 1983 champion Ed Baird at the helm, Luna Rossa Challenge has 1987 champion Francesco de Angelis as skipper, and Emirates Team New Zealand has 1998 champion Terry Hutchinson as tactician. 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 Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Frank Betz: Regarding Ken Guyer's rant that there's no "American" boat in the AC races this year, last time I checked, Larry Ellison and Peter Isler were still Americans. Now, I've heard a lot of folks claim Mr. Ellison is a first magnitude S.O.B., but he's still OUR S.O.B! When a guy puts a $200 million pot together, with a big piece from his own pocket, and hires Peter Isler to tell a hired NZ driver which way to point the boat, it's still an American challenge in my book even if it is fueled by a ton or so of New Zealand beef! * From Pete Truman: When it comes to the country of an America’s Cup team, it seems that many of the ‘buttheads are stuck in semantics. Each team must represent a club, and the country of that club instantly becomes their identity. There is no argument that BMW Oracle was an American entry, as they represented the Golden Gate YC in San Francisco. The discussion than points to how much each team embraces this identity. Each team was peppered with many flags, and it is fair to say that BMW Oracle was not an American team, as that would imply that they really had embraced their US identity, which they had not. However, it is also fair to say that the sailing team of BMW Oracle was hardly a team at all. A team must embrace their leader(s), and this group clearly did not. * From Bob Bausch: I remember watching Dennis Conner bringing back the Cup in 1987, and among many other highlights, that great press conference during the Louis Vuitton when he said to Chris Dickson: “why would anyone sail a plastic boat, unless they wanted to cheat?” And Tom Blackaller then saying quietly “Ooh..I’m glad I didn’t say that!” Those views of the press conferences after the race were fun, something that seems to be missing from this Cup, at least the way it is being presented by Versus. Jim Kelly and Gary Jobson (and ESPN) did a job I guess could be termed a benchmark, that has perhaps not been equalled since. There was great information, but also a certain human quality in the the way Jim and Gary presented that information. Now that I’ve discovered I can get Versus, being able to see something is better than nothing, but I sure miss the “Cup Down Under”. I think I will dig out my Betas and watch some again! Curmudgeon’s Comment: As avid ‘buttheads, we are sure that Jim Kelly and Gary Jobson will appreciate your comments. No argument that Kelly set a high standard for how a professional broadcaster can move over to sailing, and provide the viewer with great commentary and direction. Versus is doing a good job, but it would be slick to see more footage from the post-race press conferences, and to interview the sailors immediately after the finish. We also feel it to be a tremendous oversight to not provide the viewer with a “scoreboard” in the corner of the screen that is updating which boat is ahead, and by how much. Also, also, maybe Versus can get some other shirts for Hummer and Green. * From John Rousmaniere: Am I the only reader who's a little disappointed with the analyses - make that psychoanalyses - of Luna Rossa's near-sweep of BMW Oracle Racing that have been coming out of Valencia? If the Red Sox whip the Yankees, it isn’t only because the losing owner has a vivid personality and his team came in cockily with a better record. Counting most is what the athletes do moment to moment with their equipment on the playing field. "Momentum is a good left handed reliever," goes the old baseball saying. Studying the races on the elegant AmericasCupAnywhere site, I saw Luna Rossa dominating every start because she was consistently more maneuverable and quicker to accelerate. So which boat could be turned sharply without stalling out? Which had the bigger rudder? Curmudgeon’s Comment: John presents an outstanding point, and not to be taking anything away from the brilliance of James Spithill, but is this analogous to a great athlete on steroids? No doubt that ETNZ and Alinghi are determining what starting tactics will work against Spithill and the LR team. * From Walt Paul, At Lagos, Portugal: The equipment used by the US Coast Guard to broadcast voice weather and weather facsimiles is at the end of life. The CG has gone on record stating the equipment is old, spare parts are difficult to obtain or not available and the infrastructure necessary to maintain this service is not up to standards. Comments from mariners to determine if there is a business case for continuing these broadcasts was posted in the Congressional Federal Register on 18 April 07 as docket USCG-2007-27656. The full docket is being posted on the CCA website (www.cruisingclub.org). It is oriented toward discontinuing this valuable service and as a result, failure to comment will result in termination of the weather broadcasts as we know them now. The issue is not that the weather analysis service is in jeopardy; meteorologists at the National Weather Service generate the forecasts we receive. Rather, it is the Coast Guard's ability to broadcast this valuable information. As mariners, we should do everything we can to encourage the CG to continue with the broadcasts. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.” -- Bill Vaughan Special thanks to Ullman Sails and Goetz Custom Boats. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
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