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Scuttlebutt Updates
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Archived NewslettersSCUTTLEBUTT 2523 - January 31, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. US SAILING'S 2008 ROLEX MIAMI OCR Miami, Fla. (January 30, 2008) – After three days of fleet racing at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR, the cream is rising to the top for the 369 sailors competing from 34 countries. The regatta, which is hosting fewer classes than normal due to conflicting world championships overseas, has shown no shortage of intensity or talent in the four Olympic classes (Laser, Laser Radial, Star, Yngling) and three Paralympic classes (SKUD-18, Sonar, 2.4mR) competing here on Biscayne Bay. On the subject of attracting top sailors, perhaps more pertinent than the regatta counting toward world rankings has been the plays that athletes must still make in this Olympic/Paralympic year. Not only must some still gain a nod of selection to their national teams but also several countries themselves must qualify for berths in China. With the Yngling Worlds following this event here next week and the Star Worlds scheduled for here as well in April, these two classes have proven to be the deepest in talent. "At the last Star Worlds there were teams from 32 countries, and only 15 countries can qualify for the Olympics," said Olympic Gold Medalist Mark Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.). "Now there are four slots left and 12 countries vying for them, so out of all the Olympic classes, this is the toughest for getting into the Games." -- Read on: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5779#5779 Day 3 Results Laser (24 boats) -- 7 races 1. Marcin Rudawski (POL), [11]-3-4-2-4-4-2, 19 2. Kyle Rogachenko (USA), 1-4-1-[24/OCS]-6-1-7, 20 3. Maciej Grabowski (POL), 2-1-6-4-2-5-[8], 20 Laser Radial (39 boats) -- 6 races 1. Paige Railey (USA), 1-4-1-1-3-[5], 10 2. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), 3-1-3-2-1-[12], 10 3. Penny Clark (GBR), 6-2-6-[9]-9-2, 25 Star (70 boats) -- 5 races 1. Rick Merriman/Brian Sharp (USA), 1-4-2-1-[22]; 8 2. Flavio Marazzi/Enrico De Maria (SUI) 2-1-5-(11)-4; 13 3. Eivind Melleby/Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR), 6-2-1-5-(7); 14 Yngling (28 boats) -- 7 races 1. Ekaterina Skudina/ Krutskikh/ Ivanova (RUS), [19]-2-3-3-9-1-5; 23 2. Mandy Mulder/ Faber/ Witteveen (NED), 10-5-(22)-5-2-11-1; 34 3. Monica Azon/ Azon/ Pisonero (ESP), [16]-3-2-2-13-8-7, 35 2.4mR (25 boats) -- 7 races 1. Damien Seguin (FRA), 4-2-1-3-1-3-[11], 14 2. Paul Tingley (CAN), 1-9-[26/OCS]-2-4-1-3, 20 3. Stellan Berlin (SWE), 2-[7]-2-4-2-6-7, 23 SKUD-18 (10 boats) -- 6 races 1. Nick Scandone/Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (USA), 1-1-1-1-1-(2), 5 2. John McRoberts/Stacie Louttit (CAN), 3-2-3-[4]-4-1; 13 3. Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett (USA), 5-3-2-2-2-[11/DNS], 14 Sonar (11 boats) -- 6 races 1. Jens Kroker/ Schuetz/ Mainka (GER), 1-3-2-2-1-2, 8 2. Bruno Jourden/ Larhant/ Vimont Vicary (FRA), 2-4-3-7-[8]-1, 17 3. John Robertson/ Stodel/ Thomas (GBR), 6-2-1-5-4-[7], 18 Complete results: http://www.rolexmiamiocr.org/results/index.htm ON HAVING MORE FUN THAN THE NEXT GUY by Lynn Fitzpatrick Who has more fun, Jon Vandermolen or Iain Percy, the decorated Finn, Star, and America’s Cup sailor from Britain? Let’s rephrase the question, how much more fun does Jon Vandermolen’s V3 Racing Team have than Iain Percy? Forget it. It’s not even a question. Jon Vandermolen - competing this week at the Miami OCR - has taken irreverence in the Star class to heights he alone can surpass. Percy’s first generation of sponsorship logos opened up a whole new sandbox for the three Vandermolen brothers and V3 Racing was born. Percy, whose Star was flown in from Europe and arrived few days before US Sailing’s Miami OCR, lifted the boat cover to reveal the latest in Team Skandia GBR graphics. The blue swish has disappeared. Skandia has gone green with its corporate logo. When you look at it, you know that the graphic artists had a difficult time blending the green with the Union Jack. Vandermolen kept his latest NASTAR paint job simple and stuck with primary colors seemingly applied by his youngest son with magic markers. This gave him more time to trademark “…who has more fun …” and to give more thought to where to place all of his sponsors’ logos on the team jackets. Vandermolen, a Corinthian All Star has lined up No.7 Bourbon, Team Enzyte and the North American Sailing Center to fund his genuinely fun and well-funded campaign. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/lf AMERICANS WIN AT 470 WORLDS (January 30, 2008) - Erin Maxwell (Stonington, Conn.) and Isabelle Kinsolving (New York, N.Y.) concluded their winning streak down under by winning the 470 Women's World Championship. The impressive victory follows their win earlier this month at Sail Melbourne, an ISAF Grade 1 event. The team of 28-year-olds defeated a very competitive fleet of 58 boats from across the globe, finishing an emphatic ten points ahead of world's number one ranked team and silver medalists in this event, Italians Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol. Last fall, Maxwell and Kinsolving finished second at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Sailing, narrowly missing the spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. "If there was ever a way to make me feel better about not being selected for the Olympics ... this is it," an ecstatic Maxwell said. "I don't know what the future holds but we're going to savor today, that's for sure. "We're going to campaign for 2012 but jobs, graduate school and marriages come before that," Maxwell added. Also representing the USA at the 2008 470 Women's World Championship were 2008 U.S. Olympic Team members Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler, who finished 11th overall. * Brits Nic Asher and Elliot Willis overcame great odds this week to pull off a stunning 470 Men’s world championship victory, rallying from a nasty mid-race collision in Race 8. Willis was out of action for 24 hours with severely bruised ribs, but following a successful application for redress points for Races 8, 9 and 10, he and Asher were elevated into the bronze medal position for the start of the medal race, which the 2006 world champions won to earn their second world title by just 0.9 of a point. Similar to the women’s winner, Asher and Willis were not chosen by Britain for the Olympics, but rather Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield who finished ninth overall. -- Event website: http://www.sailmelbourne.com.au/event/470worldchampionships2008 CORSAIR 28R CLASS DUKES IT OUT AT KEY WEST Big breeze and close racing on the final day of Acura Key West 2008 ended with Ullman Sails customers sweeping the top four places in the Corsair 28R division. Tom Reese and crew on ‘Flight Simulator’ won the division by just half a point, beating out Peter Katcha and team on ‘Relentless.’ The two boats battled closely over the week, staying within points of each other every day. Kathryn Garlick’s ‘Evolution’ finished in third, followed by Valdek Kwasniewski on ‘Hi Five.’ For more information on the ‘Fastest Sails on the Planet,’ contact an Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com BUILDING NATIONAL-CALIBER PROGRAM San Francisco, CA -- Youth sailing coach Adam Bennett didn't take home a big trophy full of oranges from the Orange Bowl Regatta. But he did get respect. Held each year between Christmas and New Years in Miami, the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta is the largest Junior Olympic Sailing Festival in North America. This year 680 competitors represented 17 countries and 24 states. When Kentfield's Antoine Screve won top honors in the Optimist Dinghy class, the 7-foot long boat in which young people of the world learn to sail, Bennett, his coach, won recognition as well. "Adam is a great coach," said 14-year-old Screve, who trains under Bennett at the San Francisco Yacht Club on the Belvedere Lagoon. "I think coaching is vital to any opti sailor because coaches help you make the right decisions and push you to race at 100 percent of your level." As the sport of sailing becomes increasingly professional, coaches are everywhere on the opti scene and Bennett is the man to see in Marin. -- Jan Pehrson, Marin Independent Journal, read on: http://www.marinij.com/sports/ci_8056927 FULL SPEED ON SPLIT TACKS by Cory E. Friedman, America’s Cup legal analyst I have been trying to avoid AC litigation fatigue, so I will keep this update short. On Monday, as reported in Part 15, Société Nautique Genève (SNG) had managed to maneuver Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) into a hole, with GGYC stuck without an optimum presentation of its arguments and SNG sailing in decent pressure with a full presentation of its argument that GGYC’s Notice of Challenge is defective and hence GGYC is not a valid challenger. In New York practice, there is a simple solution when all the papers are in and you have not made your argument – forget about rules and submit more papers, usually in the form of a letter to the judge. GGYC did exactly that in a succinct, forcefully argued, back to the basics letter to Justice Cahn. Stripped for action of any discussion of what a “keel yacht” is or is not, GGYC argues that it has provided all the information (rig and dimensions) required by the Deed, the parties can race what they please within the parameters of the Deed and that neither has to disclose the type of vessel or configuration until they line up at the starting line for the first race for all to see. GGYC goes on to argue that the defender cannot cherry pick amongst challengers by quibbling over the Notice of Challenge, but can always negotiate for more information from the challenger. Finally, GGYC argues that SNG has refused to specify the applicable rules for the match, which cannot contravene the Deed, so SNG cannot rely upon ISAF rules or pronouncements, which are not applicable in any event. In short, GGYC argues that Justice Cahn should only consider three criteria: the Deed, the Deed, and the Deed. -- Read on (including Parts 1-15): http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/cf BARCELONA WORLD RACE Open 60 doublehanded round the world race (started Nov 11; 25,000-miles) (Day 81 – January 30, 2008) Over the past five days, Hugo Boss has managed to cut the lead of Paprec-Virbac 2 in half, gaining nearly 450 miles in terms of distance to finish. It’s a phenomenal pace, aided in no small part by their quick passage of the doldrums over the past day or so, when Alex Thomson’s Hugo Boss roared through what is typically a hard roadblock with 10 knots of boatspeed. But skipper Alex Thomson says the gain on the leaderboard is a bit misleading, due to what he predicts to be the upwind nature of the remainder of the race. However, Damian Foxall, from the leading Paprec-Virbac 2, cautions, “It can change from an upwind situation to a downwind one quite quickly. If we had a cold front or a low come through they could maybe pick up into that behind us and in that scenario they could come back to us further...I think we have to be careful.” -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com Positions at 18:00 GMT (+gain/-loss from leader since previous day) 1-Paprec-Virbac 2, Jean-Pierre Dick/ Damian Foxall, 2,294 nm DTF (+175) 2-Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson/ Andrew Cape, 442 nm DTL (+10) 3-Temenos II, Dominique Wavre/ Michéle Paret, 1,537 (+75) 4-Mutua Madrilena, Javier Sanso Windmann/ Pachi Rivero, 1,620 (+59) 5-Educación sin Fronteras, Servane Escoffier/ Albert Bargues, 2,828 (+7) Retired - PRB, Vincent Riou / Sébastien Josse (broken mast) Retired -Delta Dore, Jérémie Beyou/ Sidney Gavignet (broken mast) Retired - Estrella Damm, Guillermo Altadill/ Jonathan McKee, (rudder damage) Retired - Veolia Environnement, Roland Jourdain/Jean-Luc Nélias (broken mast) DISCOUNT TICKETS FOR STRICTLY SAIL CHICAGO Strictly Sail Chicago, the largest indoor sailboat show in the country, will be held January 31 – February 3, 2008 at Navy Pier. Scuttlebutt has discount tickets to help attend the four-day event to see the latest sailboats and sailing accessories on the market. While you are there, the Bitter End Yacht Club will be hosting some tropical cheer and awesome snacks, Friday February 1st, 2008, from 6 pm to 8 pm, Booth #182 at the Strictly Sail Chicago Boat Show (at Navy Pier). Join BEYC's General Manager Mikhail Shamkin, Director of Reservations Robert Gorman, V.P. of N.A. Sales John Glynn, and BEYC owner Dana Hokin. Take a break from the hustle and bustle of the show and let your thoughts sail away to Virgin Gorda. Hear the latest from West Marine's Pam Wall on the 16th Annual Women on the Water Week, plus learn about the 22nd Annual Pro Am Regatta and the 7th Annual Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championships. -- Details: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/01/butthead-benefit.html FOR THE RECORD (Day 6 - January 30, 2008; 18:38 UTC) The passage of the equator is the first intermediary time, which enables a direct insight into how capable a candidate is of winning the Jules Verne Trophy. Nearly a day ahead over the round the world reference course, the 103-foot maxi trimaran Groupama 3 has gained a 408 mile lead and has just achieved the best ever time by a yacht between Ushant, France and the equator: 6 days 6 hours 24 minutes! Already sailing in the Southern hemisphere this Wednesday afternoon, Groupama 3 confirms what it had already demonstrated last summer when it racked up four Atlantic records: though it has no inhibitions in wind in excess of 25 knots, in relation to Bruno Peyron's catamaran, it has demonstrated remarkable pace below fifteen knots of breeze! Weather conditions haven’t been particularly favorable to this point, and Cammas theorizes that a time of five days would have been achievable given a similar weather sequence that Francis Joyon enjoyed during his recent solo round the world record run. -- http://www.cammas-groupama.com/en * Route de l'Or (crewed route from New York to San Francisco): (Day 13 - January 30, 2008; 23:30 UTC) Conditions for the 110-foot maxi-catamaran Gitana 13 have been mild, averaging 13.3 knots over the past 24 hour period, and accumulating just 320 nm to be now 7,118 nm from the finish. Their current route has them cruising at 20 knots along the Argentinean coast, positioned south of Buenos Aires (ARG) at 43.2 degrees S latitude, and about 900 nm from Cape Horn. -- http://www.gitana-team.com/en/gitana10/homepage.asp SAILING SHORTS * The Farr 40 Class announced the venues for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championships from 2009-2011. Following this year’s Worlds in Miami, FL (April 16-19), the class will take the event to Porto Cervo, Sardinia (June 24-27, 2009), Dominican Republic (2010), and Sydney, Australia (2011). -- http://www.farr40worlds.com * St. Thomas Yacht Club in the U.S. Virgin Islands has announced that they will host the Inaugural Carlos Aguilar Memorial Match Race Championship for December 5-7. Match Racing teams from both within and outside of the Caribbean are invited to submit their resumes. Slots are available for up to eight teams in the Open Division and up to six teams in the Woman's Division. IC24s, equipped with competitive sails, will be available. An application has been submitted for the event to have Category 3 grade. -- Additional details: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0112 * Twenty-four Buccaneer 18s battled Jan 18-20 in the East/West Buccaneer 18 Showdown between Key Largo Upper Keys Sailing Club's Fleet Captains Regatta (East) and Arizona Yacht Club Birthday/Leukemia Cup Regatta (West). In the blustery East, Alabama's Rick Scarborough with visiting Vermont crew Max Birnbaum lead the way. Out West, Bucc newcomers Nick Mockridge & Dennis Martinelli topped the podium. The Leukemia Lymphoma Society was the big winner with over $25,000 in donations raised by the Bucc 18 fleets. http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5761;#5761 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 Jim Mahaffy: You stated in ‘Butt 2252 that Dave Ullman didn’t qualify for the Olympics, but I believe that he qualified for the 1980 Games that President Carter boycotted. At least that what I remember him telling me. * From Russ Wasden: A few years back I sent a post to Scuttlebutt that criticized the Olympics in general and China in particular. Go to today's New York Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/world/asia/30dissident.html to view what you are funding when you follow the Olympics and patronize its sponsors. I'm not telling anyone what to do. We're all free to make our own choices (that is, all of us who aren't located in China are). * From Charles J. Doane: As ever, I am enjoying Cory Friedman's account of the AC legal battle but am now utterly baffled as to why the GGYC and the court are stumbling so over CNEV's specious argument with respect to the definition of "keel." Whatever GGYC's 90x90 foot vessel will be, it will certainly have some sort of underwater foil to resist leeway and create lift. It will either be fixed or will slide up and down like a daggerboard. In that the Deed of Gift specifically permits "sliding keels" and has no requirement with respect to ballast or, more specifically, ballast keels, it seems GGYC's presumably unballasted mystery yacht cannot fail to have a keel in the larger sense of the term as it is used in the Deed itself. End of argument, as far as I'm concerned. Or am I missing something??? * From David F. Clinnin, Towson, Maryland: Relative to Paul Henderson's comments in Issue 2522 on the AC Cup legal battle - can I get an Amen? Can all right thinking sailors not agree that "enough is enough?" If the crown jewel of the sport of sailing has devolved into a flock of legal scholars debating the definition of "keel", can't the sailing community as a whole cry out in protest and petition the players in this game, Bertarelli and Ellison, to stop acting like spoiled brats and play nice in the sandbox? I propose a writing campaign by all Scuttlebutt subscribers to the parties in this disgraceful action demanding that they work out a compromise either inter se or in binding arbitration that will allow the AC Cup to go forward in 2010 at the latest. Will Scuttlebutt provide the email addresses for this campaign and follow through to see that all possible pressure is brought to bear on those who have managed to hold hostage the World's oldest continuously contested sporting trophy? To you the subscribers: Scuttlebutt represents a powerful force - no less than the length and breadth of the sailing community from names as well known as Henderson, Rousmaniere, and Holland to names as little known as, well me. We, the sailing community, carry in our hearts the love of this sport and cannot, shall not, and must not stand by silently in the presence of forces that threaten to ruin, nay make a mockery of the principles for which the sport stands. Honor and integrity. Think - how will you feel if there is a repeat of the absurd contest of 1988? Time is slipping by. Speak up! => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Here is the info: Team Bertarelli: http://tinyurl.com/39xhth Team Ellison: http://tinyurl.com/2ta3gf CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Red meat is not bad for you. Fuzzy green meat is bad for you. Special thanks to Ullman Sails for their support of Scuttlebutt. A complete list of Scuttlebutt’s preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
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