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SCUTTLEBUTT 2415 - August 21, 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 the support of its sponsors. TIME TO COME OUT OF THE CORNER After America’s Cup defender Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli’s news conference on July 25th to announce the selection of Valencia as the site of the next America’s Cup (and famously exclaim how he felt Larry Ellison's lawsuit in New York was “bullsh&t”), the media mouths from all camps have been taped tightly, and the backroom negotiations have been stepped up to find a way out of the corner that the Protocol for the 34th event now finds itself. Until the deed is changed and the event gains a truly independent commissioner, the defender will always be guilty of playing with the advantages they are afforded. However, this time by all accounts, and I believe it is fair to say, BY ALL ACCOUNTS, the Alinghi group has overplayed their hand. Bertarelli is likely getting more blame than he deserves, and could take a page from our American sporting teams by whacking a manager to send a signal for change. To remind us of where we are, and where we are headed, below is a well-written story by Eric Sharp of the Detroit Free Press. -- The Curmudgeon * The America's Cup was a joke almost 20 years ago when a 60-foot American catamaran clobbered a lumbering, 135-foot monohull from New Zealand. But the scam the Swiss defender is trying to pull for 2009 is even more laughable. Only days before the Swiss team, Alinghi, successfully defended the cup at Valencia, Spain, a Spanish group incorporated a new yacht club, Club Nautico Espanol de Vela. It was created as a subterfuge to give Alinghi's billionaire owner, Ernesto Bertarelli, total control over both the challenger and defender sides of the next America's Cup. Not so coincidentally, Bertarelli let Valencia keep the event -- and the money it brings -- in 2009. The 1887 Deed of Gift that governs America's Cup competition says a challenger must be an established yacht club that holds an annual regatta on an arm of the sea. The new Spanish club, with the dye still wet on its burgee, did hold its first regatta last month -- in Optimist prams. This ersatz challenger-of-record counts as an America's Cup qualifier, a race in which 30 children sailed cat-rigged mini-boats 7 feet, 7 inches long. Truthfully, I was delighted to see the pram event. It reinforces American billionaire Larry Ellison's argument that the Spanish challenge is invalid and provides more ammunition for legal arguments that Bertarelli's plan is a sham and violates every provision of the Deed of Gift. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/yvgsaw ERICSSON RACING TEAM SKIPPER RESIGNS Stockholm, Sweden (August 20, 2007) -- John Kostecki, one of two skippers in the Ericsson Racing Team, has resigned and will leave his assignment with Ericsson, due to family reasons. "I have decided to resign my position on Ericsson Racing Team. I realize what it takes to win the Volvo Ocean Race and feel that this is the best decision for the team, me and my family," says John Kostecki. The process to appoint a new skipper is underway. The goal is to get a skipper on the same level as Kostecki - a skipper that can harness all the talent in the team to achieve Ericsson Racing Team's goal to be a top contender in the next Volvo Ocean Race. With the start more then a year away in Alicante, Spain in October 2008, the team is currently making preparations to begin training at their base in Lanzarote. The training boat (the old ABN Amro One) will be re-launched shortly after a refit, now bearing the Ericsson colors and new graphics. -- http://www.ericssonracingteam.com/news_20070820.html NOT MADE IN CHINA! Is there a difference? Yes! Camet products are made in San Diego, California with high quality U.S. materials. They are offered in a variety of designs and colors to meet the needs of individuals and teams. Made out of a lightweight, fast drying Supplex fabric with the reinforced Cordura seat for the optional foam padding. New to our line are the Rio shorts, Hobart Extreme shorts, and the new Navy Cargo shorts! There is a difference; come and see our new selection at http://www.camet.com/?Click=235 COUNT DOWN TO THE MEDAL RACE (August 20, 2007) At the 2007 Olympic Test Event in Qingdao (CHN), all fleets again were treated to the increasingly expected routine of arrive early, endure a lengthy postponement onshore to wait for wind, and finishing very late in the day. The 49er, 470 men and women, and the Laser and Laser Radial classes were the first to reach their races courses, ultimately getting in two races except for the Laser (1) and the 49er (3). The Yngling, Star, Finn and Tornado fleets were finally released from shore just after 1600hrs, and returned to the dock as darkness fell, after just one race. The RS:X men and women were the only fleets that were skunked on this day, making it the fourth of six race days where the boardsailors did not sail. About the day, American 470 Women Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler comment, “At 2:30pm, a light thermal finally filled in and out we went for two races. Conditions began with 3-5 knots, current ebbing to the east at 1.3 knots, and a light swell with chop. By the last leg of the second race, the current finally shifted but the wind began to die. Needless to say, keeping momentum in the slop was key. We towed back to the harbor in darkness but happy we got some racing in.” Racing is scheduled through Thursday, August 23rd. -- Event site: http://www.2007qdregatta.com Preliminary Results – Top Three plus North Americans in Top 10 RS:X Women 1. GBR - Bryony Shaw, 1-2-1-3, 7 2. FRA - Faustine Merret, 4-1-3-1, 9 3. CHN - Jian Yin, 3-3-2-4, 12 17. CAN - Nikola Girke, 18-17-16-15, 66 RS:X Men 1. CHN - Yuan Guo Zhou, 1-6-1-1, 9 2. NZL - Tom Ashley, 3-2-3-2, 10 3. FRA - Julien Bontemps, 2-8-4-7, 21 11. MEX - David Mier Y Teran, 9-13-11-14, 47 Laser 1. GBR - Paul Goodison, 3-4-1-(10)-7, 15 2. NZL - Andrew Murdoch, (21)-7-2-4-3, 16 3. SWE - Rasmus Myrgren, 8-3-6-(14)-5, 22 12. CAN - Michael Leigh, 4-6-18-11-(24), 39 Laser Radial 1. NZL - Jo Aleh, 9-1-3-1-7-4, 16 2. USA - Anna Tunnicliffe, 7-19-1-3-6-1, 18 3. CRO - Tina Mihelic, (15)-3-4-9-1-3, 20 5. MEX - Tania Elias-Calles, 4-(13)-7-4-8-5, 28 Finn 1. GBR - Ben Ainslie, 1-(2)-1-2-1, 5 2. CRO - Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, 3-3-(7)-3-2, 11 3. NOR - Peer Moberg, 5-5-(18)-1-9, 20 7. USA - Zack Railey, (20)-18-2-11-6, 37 470 Men 1. ISR - Gidi Kliger/Udi Gal, 2-(13)-3-4-1-6, 16 2. AUS - Mathan Wilmot/Malcolm Page, (13)-1-6-1-13-3, 24 3. GBR - Nicholas Rogers/Joe Glanield, 4-5-5-9-2-(17), 25 13. USA - Michael Anderson-Mitterling/David Hughes, 14-14-13-2-(17)-8, 51 470 Women 1. AUS - Elsie Rechichi/Tessa Parkinson, 1-5-8-3-1-(12)-8, 26 2. UKR - Ruslana Taran/Olena Pakholchyk, 10-(13)-4-1-5-2-4, 26 3. JPN - Ai Kondo/Naoko Kamata, 9-2-1-4-2-11-(12), 29 9. USA - Amanda Clark/Sara Mergenthaler, 5-12-(18)-10-12-8-10, 57 Star 1. NZL - Hamish Pepper/ Carl Williams, 4-6-2-1, 13 2. FRA - Xavier Rohart/ Pascal Rambeau, 3-3-4-5, 15 3. SUI - Flavio Marazzi/ Christoph Christen, 7-1-1-9, 18 9. USA - John Dane/ Austin Sperry, 6-10-14-7, 37 Tornado 1. AUT - Roman Hagara/Han Peter Steinacher, 3-2-1-1, 7 2. AUS - Darren Bundock/Glenn Ashby, 1-9-2-3, 15 3. GBR - Leigh Mcmillan/Will Howden, 5-6-3-5, 19 9. USA - John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree, 13-13-4-7, 37 49er 1. DEN - Peter Hansen/Soren Hansen, 10-1-7-10-3-5-1-(12)-5, 42 2. GBR - Stevie Morrison/Ben Rhodes, 6-(19)-4-16-2-7-4-1-2, 42 3. AUS - Nathan Outteridge/Ben Austin, (18)-6-6-1-4-2-2-16-9, 46 4. USA - Morgan Larson/Peter Spaulding, (15)-3-5-2-5-3-8-10-12, 48 Yngling 1. GBR - Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson, 2-1-1-(7)-2, 6 2. USA - Sally Barkow/Carrie Howe/Debbie Capozzi, 1-3-2-(5)-3, 9 3. RUS - Ekaterina Skudina/Diana Krutskikh /Natalia Ivanova, (5)-4-4-2-1, 11 Complete results: http://www.2007qdregatta.com/node/node_8874.htm “QINGDAO KNOTS” (August 20, 2007) Patience – “patience is a virtue” – I have often preached patience and realize within the sailing world we must surely test all of our respective partner’s patience in some way or another. Qingdao has taken this to a new level, wind or lack there of, it was once again the topic of discussion around the boat yard, in the athlete lounge and for that matter, pretty much anywhere you could find a sailor to talk to. To the complete credit of the Race organizers, today they waited, no pulling the plug early, no long and arduous waits on the water in 30+ degree temperatures with humidex ratings somewhere in the mid 40’s, simply the task of killing time ashore and then re-focusing your efforts to put up some solid scores. The winds did cooperate in some regard with a gentle breeze finally covering the complete race area with a 4-6 knot sea breeze. Some courses were fortunate enough to steal two races, while others racing against the shadow of darkness stole a single race, all important to everyone concerned as we fight to get in enough races to kick in the much talked about “Medal Races”. Conditions look like they may even cooperate for the race committees with forecasts suggesting breeze in excess of 6 knots throughout Tuesday. As a side bar, we are all quietly hoping that is 6 real knots and not 6 “Qingdao knots” as they have already affectionately been named. These “Qingdao knots” are those forecast by the weather gurus in an effort to keep everyone’s spirits up, by my math skills a Qingdao knot is about ½ a North American knot and definitely less than a ¼ of a true European sailor’s knot. Whether it is a Qingdao knot or not, everyone would be happy to see any pressure at all, particularly something that allowed the scheduled races to be executed. -- Ken Dool, Head Coach, Canadian Sailing Team, http://www.sailing.ca/feature/2007/08/preolympic.html ANOTHER NEIGHBORHOOD FOR UK-HALSEY SERVICE Following last week’s announcement of a new loft on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, UK-Halsey now announces that the largest group of lofts in the Netherlands has just joined their team. Renze Runia, a principal of the DeVries Sailmakers, stated, “UK-Halsey is a sailmaking network on the move with the new products and technologies we need to keep growing and delivering the best sails.” And as Scott Gibbs, UK-Halsey’s new addition in Maryland said, “Unlike other groups, UK-Halsey’s lofts work well together.” UK-Halsey now offers 60 local lofts and service centers worldwide. Get a quote: 800-253-2002 or http://www.ukhalsey.com EARNING THE RESPECT OF OTHERS The St. Francis Y.C. hosted the 2007 V15 Nationals this past weekend, where four races were sailed daily in the twelve-race, one throwout series. Flood tides and winds of 8-24 knots kept the 29 teams busy, and by the close of the event, only one point separated the top three teams. While it was Nick Adamson and Jago MacLeod that came away with the well earned title, the runner-up team may have come away with an equally stunning award… respect. Comments event PRO John Siegel, “The eventual second place winner - Steve Hunt and Nick Kaschak - had been disqualified in race three for a rule 10 violation on a very close crossing. This clearly cost him the regatta. At the awards presentation, this sailor took the microphone and thanked the StFYC for a great regatta and added: ‘… although we were on the losing end of a protest in race three, we have to commend the protest committee for their professionalism. They made the right decision.’ How often have you heard comments like this? Steve Hunt, a high school coach from San Diego, made these remarks on accepting the trophy with crew Nick Kaschak. When you hear comments like these, you remember why you happily spend so many hours volunteering for the sport.” -- Complete results: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0820a A GUIDE TO STINKPOTS When sailors hear the annoying chug of a stinkpot on its way toward us, we need to know what, exactly, has invaded our territory and some simple advice on how to deal with the approaching douchebaggery. Concise categories should help sailors deal with stinkpotters. Below is a guide to help navigate through the exhaust-filled waterways of American stinkpotism. And we must recognize that some stinkpotters are worse than others --- not all deserve the same treatment. 1 - The Rich, Revving Rednecker: This is the most egregious of all stinkpotters. Land Lubbers think Hummer drivers are bad? These boats are like a dozen floating SUVs, seriously. Many of them brag about having upwards of 2,000 horsepower and can reach over 110 MPH and there are no speed limits. 2 - The WTF is a Compasser: There was once a story in SAIL magazine about a stinkpotter who bought a boat and asked if "that glass thing with the numbers" could be removed to make room for a bigger radio. 3 - The Rodney Dangerfield Wannabe: These guys are basically golfers that think the water is a moving version of the fairway. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: A word of warning that this excerpt successfully skirted around some of the raunchiness that is in the balance of this blog post: http://lonniebruner.blogspot.com/2007/07/guide-to-stinkpots.html SAILING SHORTS * Long Beach, CA (August 19, 2207) -- In one of the closest races in this event, Scott Dickson, Long Beach, beat Dave Perry, Southport, CT., across the line by one boat length Sunday to win his 11th Ficker Cup, a match race event hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club. After all seven teams sailed a double round robin format, it was the last race of the event between Perry and Dickson that decided the winner, and who would earn the bid for the 2008 Congressional Cup. Finishing up the event in third was Brian Angel of Redondo Beach, CA. Complete event reports at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0820 * (August 19, 2007) The third and final day of the Chicago Yacht Club’s fifteenth annual Verve Cup was cancelled due to heavy rains and strong winds. Saturday’s final round ended with a downpour, with storm conditions continuing throughout Sunday morning and afternoon until event officials abandoned racing. The winners were chosen by a tally of results of the two previous days of racing. The Chicago Yacht Club’s Verve Cup Regatta trophy was awarded to the overall winner’s team, Donald Wilson’s Farr 40 ‘Convexity ’. -- Final results at http://tinyurl.com/27ecd6 * While other major sailing events appear to be hell bent on plumbing the lower limits of sailable breeze, the Breitling MedCup TP52 Circuit's first venture into Atlantic waters for the Portugal Trophy, sailing from Portimao, appears to be rewarded with good winds. Racing starts Tuesday with up to nine windward-leeward races and two coastal races scheduled before close of play on Saturday. Nineteen boats are entered, with the current circuit standings going into the Portugal Trophy, after three of five regattas, has Caixa Galicia leading by 12 points over Russell Coutts and the crew of Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis. -- http://2007.medcup.org * Oshkosh, WI -- The 2007 Inland Lake Yachting Association Champs saw 143 entries competing on Lake Winnebago during August 11-19, featuring three portions that hosted 7 scow fleets. The A One Design fleet was won by Lake Geneva John Porter, who defeated Minnetonka’s Rob Evans. Geneva’s Andy Burdick, Buddy Melges and Tom Freytag were 3rd through 5th. The E fleet was won by Geneva’s Vincent Porter. The C championship was won by Pine’s Augie Barkow, MC by Pine’s Dan Fink, I-20 by Oshkosh’s Aaron Lynn, M-16 by Lake Lavalette’s John Applegate, and the A Open by Minnetonka’s Tom Burton. -- Complete results: http://ilyachamps2007.oshkoshyachtclub.org/Results.htm * Brant Beach, New Jersey (August 20, 2007) -- The Sunfish World Championship got underway at the Brant Beach Yacht Club with some 100 competitors from 12 countries attending the event. First day sailing conditions found the sailors dealing with winds of 12-18 knots with intermittent rain. The highlight of the first race was a very large banner at the finish line that read: "Judy, Will You Marry Me?" It was from sailor Arthur Littleton to sailor Judy Lazo, who replied with a resounding "Yes." After three races, Paul-Jon Patin (USA) is leading by 7 points over Malcolm Smith (Bermuda). Full results at: http://bbyc.net/SunfishWorlds/index.htm HOT SUMMER, COOL BREEZE The coolest... check the Team One Newport website for the 25% off sale on their best-selling Henri Lloyd Breeze Jackets, Vests, and Trousers. Quick-dry fabrics, great styling, and all the features you need to navigate from summer to fall. While quantities last, go to http://www.team1newport.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HL51070 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 Buzz Blackett: The "Evolve or Die" blog in Issue 2413 raised interesting questions about El Toros and Optis and the junior programs supporting them. As an El Toro instructor, I have seen younger kids anxious about sailing El Toros become enthusiastic and confident in smaller, stabler Optis. And I know of several El Toro kids who moved to a professionally coached Opti program. They became a team, had fun, and gained great experience before graduating to bigger boats. But I support junior El Toro sailing for several reasons. First, El Toros provide room for average adults to sail comfortably and similar performance across a wide weight range. This allows parents to sail side-by-side with their kids (a wonderful experience) and coaches to provide do-what-I-do instruction. Kids race, and sometimes excel, in adult El Toro fleets, greatly increasing their learning curve. Second, El Toros provide a smoother transition to bigger boats. Kids are competitive in El Toros until they're big enough to move into performance dinghies. Similarly, the Marconi rig in El Toros and their relative instability provide better training for other boats. Finally, I believe in the family traditions of El Toro programs, with parents providing coaching and other support. El Toro programs face challenges, including maintaining streams of volunteers with skills and time, attracting kids from non-sailing families, and jump-starting production of affordable boats. But Opti and El Toro programs should be able to co-exist peacefully, because each offers something special for our kids. * From Jenny McAllister: Normally I don’t like to pile on too hard when an event website is lacking (I let the Curmudgeon do the heavy lifting), but can the site for the Olympic test event be any worse? To their credit, each day seems to get better, but you get the feel that the keys to the car were given to a 13 year old with more energy that execution. There are likely volunteers abound, and you hate to chew on the help, but this is the Olympics, and there should be no standard accepted other than the very highest. Give me daily event reporting. Don’t litter me with a multitude of browsers. Don’t give me site pages that can’t get me back to the home page. Maybe we had our blinders on this time, and now are finding out what “Made In China” really means. * From Gregory Scott: (regarding the increased activity at Montreal-area yacht clubs) What we have seen is a move towards older 30 foot boats. I started it at KYC - I bought a C&C Mega 30 which led to two Abbot 33's then a Kirby 30 and then I stepped off my Mega and put our old IMS crew back together on a Pearson Flyer which led to one more Flyer and four Olsen 30's. Here's the formula I figured out to save clubs: the boats are cheap and still fast enough to be fun - need 6-7 to race - they are big enough to sit on and have a beer after a race - they are just big enough to travel to nearby events and all are easily truckable but sails don't cost a fortune even when buying good sets. You can get dinghy types out because they feel dinghy like so they attract a large base. Net result new members or retained older ones, more beer sales, more burgers sold because the crew hang around after racing. The famous Youngstown Levels regatta gets about 300 boats each year. I don't think KYC has seen a new racing boat purchased since the Heatwave days when our owner kept us well fitted out with new boats. Since then it was a decline and then what I have just reported. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION You know you're a redneck when your house doesn't have curtains, but your truck does. Special thanks to Camet, UK Halsey Sailmakers, and Henri Lloyd. |
