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Scuttlebutt Updates
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Archived NewslettersSCUTTLEBUTT 2962 - Friday, October 30, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/facebook Today's sponsors are Holmatro and JK3 Nautical Enterprises. EARLY ENDING The Baja Ha-Ha, an annual cruisers rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, began its 750-mile route this year on October 25th. Sadly, for one of the participants amid the 170 boat fleet, the trip ended much too early. Here’s the story: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (October 29, 2009) - Shortly after yesterday morning's Baja Ha-Ha check-in, the crew of J/World, the J/120 skippered by former Punta Mita Yacht & Surf Club commodore Eugenie Russell, experienced one of the highlights of the cruising life: They spotted a whale. Then they saw another. They quickly realized that they'd sailed into a pod of whales - big whales. That's when they felt a bang, then another and another. At least one whale was attacking J/World's rudder! According to Wayne Zittel, owner of the boat and the J/World Sailing School, Eugenie and her four crew checked under the floorboards and found green water coming in. He reports that they pumped for a few minutes before realizing it was futile - the boat was a goner, and they would be too if they didn't get the hell out of dodge. The crew threw a couple sea bags and the boat's ditch bag into the cockpit, set off the EPIRB, and then scrambled to launch the liferaft. "The boat sank so fast that they barely had time to get in the raft, much less grab the bags," Zittel said. "Initially, Eugenie thought it had gone down in seven minutes, but when I talked to her this morning, she thinks it might have been closer to five." What they did manage to grab were two handheld VHFs, which are quite possibly what saved them so quickly. Less than four hours after activating the EPIRB, a Coast Guard helo was passing over the area. "It looked like the helo might miss the raft," Zittel reported, "so they just called them on the VHF." Within minutes, Coast Guard personnel were lifting all five crewmembers aboard, and whisking them off to San Diego. The only injury was reported to have been Eugenie's bruised hand. Zittel and the rescued J/World crew had nothing but praise for the Coast Guard. -- Latitude 38, read on: http://tinyurl.com/yg8d8pt MELGES 24 WORLDS Annapolis, MD (October 29, 2009) - When the fleet left for the racecourse on day four of the Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis 2009 Melges 24 World Championship, collective hopes of any racing were pretty low. The promising early morning breeze out on the Chesapeake frustratingly evaporated almost immediately the fleet reached the race area. Consequentially a long wait ensued while the Race Committee tried to track down some more. The delay lasted until just before midday, when Principal Race Officer Jeff Borland decided to try to get the fleet racing around a four-leg racetrack, in breezes which averaged no more than five knots. The lack of breeze at the start resulted in a somewhat chaotic scene as the barely moving boats struggled to build enough speed to get away from the line, as well as almost twenty boats being called over at the gun. As the fleet made their way slowly up the first leg, the left phase breeze initially helped those on the left to secure their position as the leading pack. However a twenty-degree right shift at the top of the leg caught out those who had gone furthest left; including early leader Eivind Melleby (NOR), who had to settle for rounding the windward mark just inside the top ten. It was Lorenzo Bressani helming 'Uka Uka Racing' who made the most sense of the variable conditions to round the top mark already well ahead of the pack, ultimately turning this lead into a virtual horizon job for the win. Friday’s forecast is rumored to call for similar weather to today, however there is some hope on the horizon for the racers, in the form of a local prediction of big breeze on Saturday's final day of racing. Twelve races with one throw-out are scheduled. Complete daily report at http://www.melges24.com/?p=news/&id=1728&SID=06t5dsils3el4h06neskmmok51 Standings after Day 4 (top 10 of 51) 1. Chris Larson (USA), West Marine Rigging/NER, 5-2-6-4-2-3-(12), 22 pts 2. Eivind Melleby (NOR), Full Medal Jacket, 8-4-4-(22)-5-1-6, 28 3. Gabrio Zandonà (ITA), Joe Fly, 6-(18)-3-1-1-4-17, 32 4. Lorenzo Bressani (ITA), UKA UKA racing, 26-10-1-2-4-(30)-1, 44 5. Nicola Celon (ITA), Fantastica, (23)-23-8-5-6-2-5, 49 6. Terry Hutchinson (USA), Quantum Racing/Gill, 1-(38)-14-10-10-7-8, 50 7. Carlo Fracassoli (ITA), Gullisara, 9-1-10-13-8-14-(35), 55 8. Brian Porter (USA), Full Throttle, 2-12-5-12-12-13-(21), 56 9. Alan Field (USA), WTF, 4-7-11-18-14-(22)-3, 57 10. Bill Hardesty (USA), Event’s Clothing/Atlantis, 19-3-2-7-7-(37)-22, 60 Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/yh3ra64 Event website: http://www.melges24worlds2009.com Weather forecast: http://tinyurl.com/yks94ec LIVE UPDATES: Here are some of the sites posting videos, photos, and text updates during (and after) the races: * Melges 24 class blog: http://www.melges24worlds2009.com/IMCABlog.asp * Sail22: http://sailingupdates.com/?page_id=3 * SailGroove: http://tinyurl.com/yjw2qe6 ** In addition to the above sites, T2P.tv is posting a highly produced daily video show by 9pm EST: http://tinyurl.com/T2P-tv EILEAN, A PRESTIGIOUS PROJECT FOR HOLMATRO. Following on the success of Holmatro over the past years with a number of large classic yachts choosing Holmatro Classic Winches, once more an extremely prestigious project has gone to Holmatro. Two years ago Panerai CEO Angelo Bonati found the Fife ketch Eilean in a swamp in Antigua and since then has had her restored to her former glory in Viareggio, Italy. Fairlie style winches have been especially designed and constructed by Holmatro for this remarkable yacht. We are proud to be associated with this project and it is once more a confirmation of the unique quality of our winches that they were chosen for this ‘no expense spared’ restoration that will set new standards in the upcoming classic events. For more information: http://www.holmatro.com CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR Paul Larsen and the VESTAS Sailrocket team fell short in their final attempt to break the world speed sailing record in Walvis Bay, Namibia. Here is his report: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (October 29, 2009) - Well, it looks like it's over. Today was officially the last day of our record attempt. The wind wasn't forecast to blow... and it didn't. Soon we will be packing up VESTAS Sailrocket for the last time on the lawns of the Walvis Bay Yacht Club. Yesterday I felt pretty choked up at the end of our last run. We topped 50 knots for two of yesterday’s three runs despite average winds of only 22 and 23 knots on each. The boat was in brilliant form. As easy to sail as any other well developed boat. No evil vices, no tricks... just easy, fast sailing. Very few boats could just go and bang out 50 knots as easily as this boat can, run after run. I feel that we have finally refined her to the point where we could put any decent, thrill seeking sailor in that boat and send them down the course on their 50 knot way. I savored every moment of the day. When it was over, I felt that I could have just sat out there on speed-spot with Helena and the boat alone for hours thinking of the journey that had just ended. I walked back to the cockpit in the twilight and thanked Helena for sticking with me and my crazy dreams all this way. Then we lowered the rig and brought her back across the lagoon for the last time. It seems that we have been hitting some sort of speed limiter around 52 knots (60mph). Time and time again we have hit this peak speed. We have tried sailing in different conditions and using different settings. I have modified the fences on the foils and polished the surfaces until they are mirror like. So, something is not right. Even in gusts to 27 knots we never hit the mid-high 50 peaks necessary to drag up a 50+ average over 500 meters. The foil is obviously still working though as the boat sails beautifully... but she seems reluctant to go faster. --Read on: http://www.sailrocket.com/node/248 * While the VESTAS Sailrocket team failed to establish a new outright world sailing speed record on the 500 meter course, which was set September 4, 2009 by Alain Thebault on Hydroptere at 51.36 kts, Larsen’s team does hold the B Class record (from 150 sq. ft up to and inc. 235 sq. ft) of 47.36 kts. -- http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/ COULD THE AMERICA’S CUP BE BACK ON TRACK? (October 30, 2009) - America's Cup holder Ernesto Bertarelli was reported yesterday to be making arrangements to strike camp in the United Arab Emirate of Ras al Khaimah and ship his Alinghi team and his radical Alinghi catamaran, out to what has yet to be declared the new venue for the head-to-head clash with his American challenger Larry Ellison. The move implies that he will not appeal against a New York court decision this week that the Middle East venue did not meet the regulations for an event which goes back to 1851. The most likely back-up venue remains Valencia, where both men have established team bases, where the mayor, Rita Barbara has said the city would welcome the Cup back "with open arms", and where a heads of agreement is reportedly already signed. The sports director, Cristobal Grau, has refused to confirm that the deal is done but knows that the city would not be required to find much budget for an event which is likely to last less than a week starting on February 8. -- Stuart Alexander, The Independent, read on: http://tinyurl.com/yjeg4ht SAILING SHORTS * Rye, NY (October 29, 2009) - James Rathbun of Toronto, Ontario leads 28 other teams after day one of the J/105 North American Championship. The team, racing Hey Jude, finished with 8 points for the day at the American Yacht Club in Rye, NY. Brian Keane from Weston, MA sailing Savasana lies in second with 11 points. One point behind are locals Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on Kincsem with 12 points. Competitors were greeted with blue skies, temperatures in the 50s and winds between 8-12 knots that diminished throughout the three race three race day. Racing continues through Sunday. -- Full story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8512 * Ft Myers, FL (October 29, 2009) - Thirty-eight boats are competing in the 2009 2.4 mR US National Championship hosted by the Edison Sailing Center on the Caloosahatchee River October 28-30. Therry Schmitter of the Netherlands is in the lead with top North Americans John Ruf (USA) and Paul Tingley (CAN) in fifth and sixth, respectively. The nationals are also a tune-up for the 2009 2.4 mR World Championship, which will be held at the same site on November 1-6. -- http://24mrworlds09.edisonsailingcenter.org/index.php * Torbjorn Tornqvist’s team Artemis (SWE) is in the final stages of preparation for the Louis Vuitton Trophy to be held in Nice from November 7-22. Under the direction of legend Paul Cayard (USA) and Team Manager Jared Henderson (NZL), the team is comprised of sailors with extensive America’s Cup experience, including Terry Hutchinson and Morgan Larson (USA) who have joined Artemis as helmsman and tactician respectively. -- Valencia Sailing, full story: http://tinyurl.com/yku4kg9 * On Monday night the 26th of October, Algoa Bay Yacht Club in Port Elizabeth, South Africa suffered catastrophic loss of their walk-on moorings in their marina when it was hit by a 10 hour South Easter Gale with wind in excess of 64 knots and gusts of 78 knots, measured at the Port Control tower. Five boats sunk while numerous were damaged in a fleet of 116 boats. -- Derek Bouwer JK3 BROKERAGE HIGHLIGHT JK3 has been selling boats! The economy is picking up and there is no better time than now to buy or sell a yacht with JK3. We currently have listed a J/65, 3x J/160s, a J/130, a J/125, 2x J/120s, 2x J/109s, a J/124, a J/105, a J/32 and a J/22, along with numerous other makes and models. For power yachts, check out our 2x Back Cove 29s and 2x 38-foot Pearson True North's. View all the listings on the JK3 website, or give us a call at the San Diego office (619-224-6200) or at Newport Beach (949-675-8053). -- http://www.jk3yachts.com TACTICAL YES, UNSPORTSMANLIKE NO By Paige Brooks In the New York Supreme Court on Tuesday, the judge and attorneys arguing for the America’s Cup used the word "UNSPORTSMANLIKE" repeatedly. This usage is bothersome because they aren't in a sport - they are in the courtroom. They are negotiating a regatta, which has become a task of finagling lawyers, Masters of the Universe, and a tremendous amount of money on the line. But it is not a sport. Rule 1 in the Racing Rules of sailing says the following about Sportsmanship: “Competitors in the sport of sailing are governed by a body of rules that they are expected to follow and enforce. A fundamental principle of sportsmanship is that when competitors break a rule they will promptly take a penalty, which may be to retire.” No dictionary definition of unsportsmanlike speaks of lawyers or businessmen; it is consistently applied to competitors in a sport. When we call someone unsportsmanlike in sailing, it is not a term we use lightly. It's a very serious and heavy charge, one that none of us sailors want to be called. It's one we use when a competitor’s action is an overt and purposeful attempt at cheating before, during or immediately after racing. The moniker, if endorsed by a protest committee, can have very serious and long term effect on the competitor. If one of our racing brethren decides at the last minute to change the host club of an upcoming regatta for something that is more beneficial to him, we may say his decision was unfair, stupid, not well thought out, rude, or self-serving. We don't call him unsportsmanlike. In the business world, if someone says or does something that isn’t in the interest of the health of our company, we call them unprofessional, unfair, or inappropriate. If they make a brilliant move for the good of themselves or their own company, we call them a shark, strategic, or tactical. We don’t call them unsportsmanlike. They aren’t in a sport, and neither are the lawyers for Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and Société Nautique De Genève (SNG). They are in the business of organizing a race. Some would say GGYC made a brilliant tactical move in opposing the venue, and perhaps in the eyes of SNG, they were unfair and unprofessional. But they were not unsportsmanlike. Let’s leave the use of 'unsportsmanlike' on the race course, and not permit the dilution or confusion of its meaning by applying it to the ‘on land’ actions of America’s Cup teams and their well-heeled lawyers. Certainly their expensive vernacular includes more appropriate words. -- Forum, http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8510 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include a $41 million load of boats, a new Euro singlehander, another Euro match racing champion, the latest slice of bread from Harken, the latest slice of bread from the US Navy, one happy New Englander, the latest design modification to the Alinghi 5 catamaran, and a newly discovered addition to the Scuttlebutt family of fine things. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/1030/ VIDEO OF THE WEEK Newport Shipyard presents La Loupiote, an around the world acrobatic team who perform on the deck of their boat. For five years they have been sailing around the world with their two young children, performing their acrobatic show as they go. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/09/1030 * The Windsurfing Task Force presented this video last week to the Board of Directors, House of Delegates and President of US Sailing at the US Sailing Annual General Meeting. The Windsurfing Task Force is working with US Sailing's Olympic Sailing Team to develop a National Youth Sailing Team, and this video recaps some of the major youth windsurfing events in the USA in 2009. Pretty cool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNIWFH2M25Y&feature=youtube_gdata * If you have a video you like, please send your suggestion for next week’s Video of the Week to mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com EIGHT BELLS Passionate sailor, cameraman, editor, technician, producer, director, author, linguist, musician, loving husband and father…Hans La Cour Andersen has finally lost his long and typically courageous battle with cancer. The 54 year old Danish Kiwi was known to top racing sailors around the world, the world being his “patch.” He covered virtually every major international regatta - from the America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race to the Fastnet and MedCup - and to many he was the ultimate renaissance man. He was completely fluent in English, Spanish, German, Danish, Swedish and French and could get by in Italian, Portuguese and Maori…the latter learned from a former Television New Zealand colleague with whom Hans shared an apartment in Valencia during the America’s Cup. Hans and his family lived in New Zealand from the early 1990s until 2005 when he based himself back in Denmark from where he covered the America’s Cup and key regattas in Europe. Hans had arrived in New Zealand by sea while filming a ship-based television series and went on to work for an astonishing variety of programmes outside sport from “Dancing with the Stars” to “The Amazing Race”. -- Martin Tasker, read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8511 LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Vernon Merritt: Mr. Friedman continues to impress with his analysis of the respective parties legal arguments in NY Supreme Court. His latest report from the frontline, "Part 48" (in Scuttlebutt 2960) was perhaps one of the most interesting because he was able to create a somewhat disturbing account of what he clearly believes - and what I now believe - has become a theater of the absurd. Everything that seemed good and right about having a knowledgeable Judge and the best attorneys that money could buy to parry back and forth over arcane but not inconsequential matters relating to the AC competition has apparently gone out the porthole. Whereas hale matters of precedent and procedure and the Deed all seemed as though they should be integral to the ever-changing lines of engagement, now the matters are fluff, hype, outright prevarication(s), and other deceptions. How can the process EVER permit such legal minds to engage so aimlessly and ineffectually in what should be purposeful fact-finding and argument? It is a disgrace. And it seems as if (despite the correctness of Judge Kornreich's bench decision re: venue) that you can see these dubious rulings, empty argument and et cetera coming in painfully slow motion. OUCH! How does each billionaire hire such hapless legal talent? How does the uber-well paid, hapless legal talent so ingloriously prepare for their supreme moment in the brightest limelight of this world's foremost yachting royalty? Not to mention just REALLY rich, REALLY well-connected society with REALLY big bank accounts and personal and professional legal matters they believe are REALLY important?? As in, a theater filled with potential future clients all easily capable of paying multi-thousand dollar/hour legal fees. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2009/10/letter-of-week.html CURMUDGEON’S HALLOWEEN OBSERVATION Why do vampires need mouthwash? They have bat breath. Special thanks to Holmatro and JK3 Nautical Enterprises. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
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