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SCUTTLEBUTT 3099 - Tuesday, May 25, 2010Scuttlebutt 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.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt Today’s sponsors: JK3 Nautical Enterprises, North Sails, and Schaefer Marine. FIVE QUESTIONS FOR PETER REGGIO From the Olympics to the America’s Cup and plenty in between, Peter Reggio is either on a plane or running races somewhere in the world. This week he is PRO for the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena, where journalist Angus Phillips endured some second-hand smoke for this Sailing World interview: 1. How did you get the nickname Luigi? There were five guys on the floor named Peter when I worked at North Sails-Connecticut in the 1970s. I got Luigi because of my last name. The ones (nicknames) for the other four are unprintable. 2. Were you disappointed not to run the last America’s Cup in Valencia? No. I’m American and there was a U.S. boat involved, so it wasn’t going to happen. We should all be grateful it was Harold Bennett. He’s as fair as fair can be. I wouldn’t have been less fair, but I probably would have been less diplomatic about the events on the committee boat (when Swiss representatives balked at starting the final race). 3. What’s your favorite venue for AC boats? Auckland was the most challenging, from my standpoint and the sailors’. Marseilles was best for visuals, with the limestone rocks, islands, and the incredible images that came from that event. The most enjoyable was Trapani (in Sicily), because the people were really involved. They even let the kids out of school. Everyone came out. 4. How about La Maddalena? I’ve been to Porto Cervo a lot, which is only 12 miles down the coast. We ran the J-24 Worlds in these waters two years ago. They call it “Bomb Alley” because the mistral funnels down through the Straits and it can get really bad, but this time of year it’s great with flat water that’s well protected. The sea breezes are predictable in June and July. In the spring it’s more about weather systems. It’s weird, one day in June it’s like somebody flicked a switch and summer’s here. 5. Can the America’s Cup recover from its recent woes? Yes. I believe Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison are going to do what they say. The group at BMW-Oracle are being very careful to rebuild not just for the 34th Cup but for the future. Their actions convince me they’re absolutely committed. Larry Ellison says all he wants is, if he loses, to have a fair chance to win it back. I’m a skeptic by nature, but I’m convinced. Whether it will succeed, I don’t know. It’s not going to be easy. The event, if not shattered, has been badly hurt, in the sponsors’ eyes especially. Additional stories here: http://www.sailingworld.com/blogs WINDS DELAY RACING Sardinia, Italy (May 24, 2010; Day 3) - The problem today for the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena was not a lack of wind but a lack of consistent wind direction. Crews waited all day until the first of six match races started at 4:00 pm, local time, with the last race finishing in fading light just after 8:00 pm. Following a 'hard contact' incident in their race against All4One on Monday, Mascalzone Latino has been docked a point. The collision occurred on the approach to the top mark for the first time, when Mascalzone Latino was penalised for tacking too close to All4One. Following the completion of their tack, All4One was forced to take evasive action, and their spinnaker pole swept across the transom of the Italian boat. At the time, the on the water Umpires assessed a red flag penalty, forcing Mascalzone Latino into an immediate penalty turn that handed the lead to All4One. Following the race, a one point penalty for 'hard contact' was added, as per the regatta rules. Mascalzone Latino request for redress from the additional one point penalty was later denied. -- Daily report: http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/news/news.php?nws=20100524_Italian_teams Current standings 1. Artemis, SWE, skipper Paul Cayard (USA), 2-0, 2 pts 1. Aleph, FRA, skipper Bertrand Pace (FRA), 2-1, 2 pts 1. All4One, FRA/GER, skipper Jochen Schümann (GER), 2-1, 2 pts 4. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, ITA, skipper Gavin Brady (NZL), 2-1, 1 pt* 4. Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL, skipper Dean Barker (NZL), 1-0, 1pt 4. Synergy, RUS, skipper Karol Jablonski (POL), 1-0, 1pt 4. Azzurra, ITA, skipper Francesco Bruni (ITA), 1-2, 1pt 4. TeamOrigin, GBR, skipper Ben Ainslie (GBR), 1-2, 1pt 9. BMW ORACLE Racing, USA, skipper James Spithill (AUS), 0-2, 0 pts 9. Luna Rossa, ITA, skipper Ed Baird (USA), 0-2, 0 pts * Penalty deducted by Jury/Umpires Racing is scheduled to start each day with a warning signal at 10:00 local time (GMT+2). Racing concludes June 6th. Complete coverage, including live streaming Virtual Eye tracking of each race of the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena is available at http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com BACKGROUND: The Louis Vuitton Trophy series is designed to be a cost-effective format for match racing competition in Version 5 America's Cup Class boats. For the La Maddalena event, teams will take turns racing on four equalised America’s Cup Class boats: two have been provided by BMW Oracle Racing (USA 87 and USA 98) and two by Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (ITA 90 and ITA 99). After La Maddalena, the 2010 series continues on to Dubai (Nov. 13-28). J/CONCIERGE - KEEPING THE SPORT FUN Is regatta preparation taking the fun out of your regatta? J/Concierge provides a unique service that is focused on providing customer and regatta support to J/Boat owners. J/Concierge is dedicated to growing the sport of sailing by making one design regattas as fun as possible and by simplifying the process of getting started in racing. Building fleet participation, finding crew, hotels, dive services, and coming up with fun and creative ways to make the regatta experience memorable are just some of the services for J/Boat customers. J/Concierge - a complimentary service provided by JK3 Nautical Enterprises. Interested in J/Boats? Contact J/Concierge at mailto:amanda@jk3yachts.com and JK3 in San Diego (619-224-6200) or Newport Beach (949-675-8053). - http://www.jk3yachts.com VIDEO: Curious but not convinced? Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck met with J/Concierge’s Amanda Denton to learn more about this free service: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCRGioXqaUY NO WIND FOILS FINALE Langenargen, Germany (May 24, 2010) - Mighty Mother Nature was Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing’s best friend today as he took the Match Race Germany Trophy when winds failed to materialize. The completion of the Semi Final stage was cut short at midday after no morning racing, with Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team advancing to the finals over Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team at 2-1 and Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing cemented his finals spot after yesterday’s score of 2-1 over Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team. In the afternoon as the air temperature soared to 26 degrees, the wind failed to increase as well. But sadly nothing changed and by 16:00 hours the race committee stopped the dormant drifting and decided on a boat parade for the fans announced through a blaze of horns akin to that of the Volvo Ocean Race starts. Current ISAF Match Racing World Champion Minoprio took the title by virtue of the races completed. Radich, a newly rejuvenated match racer, was slightly down hearted on not being able to race the final. “It would have been great to race the current World Champion as my team and I were really on form to take on the final after winning the semi matches yesterday. I know tomorrow I will look back and be pleased with our performance and I am now having a serious think about getting back into match racing if I can keep this team together. It’s such a great sport to be in.” In the overall 2010 Tour standings, France’s Richard stays in the lead and Minoprio takes an outstanding leap from 6th to 2nd place and Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN in joint 3rd with Radich (DEN). The next stage of the tour is the Korea Match Cup, June 8-13, 2010. -- Full report: http://www.wmrt.com/world-champion-minoprio-wins-stage-2.html Final Standings 1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing, $10,000 USD 2. Jesper Radich (SWE) Radich Racing Team, $8,000 3. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, $7,000 4. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team, $6,000 5. Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar, $5,250 6. Peter Gilmour (AUS) Yanmar Racing, $5,000 7. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge, $4,000 8. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia, $4,500 9. Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Proximo 10. Mads Ebler (DEN) Ebler Matchracing 11. Kathrin Kadelbach (GER) EWE Sailing Team 12. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/373bn4l BACKGROUND: The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) is the leading professional sailing series featuring 10 World Championship events across the globe, sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). The tour website provides live event blogging along with daily videos and images: http://www.wmrt.com/ A RACE TOO FAR Nearly every year there is now a race or record where the route goes around the world. Some with stops, many without. While the undertaking is daunting, it has been achieved many times over. Yes, failures exist, but they are rarely tragic. Advances in communication and support prevent that. But it wasn’t always this way. The book ‘A Race Too Far’ follows the real life story of the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, the very first non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world yacht race. What we may take for granted now was then, the equivalent of space travel. It was like walking on the moon. It was very simply not known whether a human could endure such an undertaking. Earlier books and the movie ‘Deep Water’ have also covered this story, but author Chris Eakin was able to get many of the participants to tell their story for the very first time. Of the nine sailors who started the race, there was one suicide during the race, one suspicious death after the race, with many more lives suffering consequences. Only Robin Knox-Johnston succeeded, sailing much of the race without an autopilot, and overcoming formidable obstacles along the route. Eakin succeeds at sharing this gripping tale, and for revealing the relevance this event had on how races are now managed. It is hard to imagine where we would be if Knox-Johnston had not succeeded, as the book demonstrates the immense influence he has had on the sport. At 320 pages, it is great read if you are looking for one. Additional information here: http://tinyurl.com/29r4gfv GOETZ FILES FOR CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY Bristol, R.I. boatbuilder Goetz Custom Technologies filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Rhode Island. According to court documents, filed last month, the company claims $950,000 in assets and about $3.5 million in liabilities. It lists nearly 100 creditors in its bankruptcy filing. Last December, Goetz Custom Technology, owned by Eric Goetz, laid off its entire work force for the second time in 2009, as work came to a halt on an 82-foot racing sailboat at the center of a lawsuit, which is still pending. The boat was being built for Aegir Racing Ltd., the legal entity created by a Scotsman who hired Goetz to build the Rogers 82 in August 2008 for more than $6 million. In October, Aegir filed a lawsuit against Goetz in U.S. District Court. Aegir claims the boat has a structural problem, "in that some bulkheads and longitudinal beams have not been fabricated or installed in accordance with the plans." Goetz denies that allegation. In early 2009, Eric Goetz's former company, Goetz Custom Sailboats, was petitioned into receivership. However, he bought the assets back in a March 2009 auction and created a new company. -- Soundings, read on: http://tinyurl.com/22vzemf => Curmudgeon’s Comment: While I feel badly for the 100 creditors, the idiom “Once bitten, twice shy” should apply here. After Goetz crashed the first time, I received a check for 1% of what I was owed, which is now framed and hangs on my office wall so that I don’t ever forget. NORTH SAILS GEAR - TESTING.... North Sails Gear has just launched a new eCommerce Web site and in celebration of our new look & feel, we want to test our coupon code feature by offering a 20% discount to all Scuttlebutt readers! Spend at least $65 and enter the coupon code SBUTT during check-out and we will deduct 20% from your order sub-total... Don’t delay; this offer is only valid until Sunday, May 30. http://www.northsailsgear.com COLLEGE NATIONALS START TUESDAY Madison, WI. (May 24, 2010) - Whether ranked as the best place to live in the USA (Money 1996), the healthiest city in America (Men’s Journal 2004), or second in the nation for overall education (Forbes 2007), Madison, Wisconsin, will surely rate well with the college sailors who have travelled to “The City of Four Lakes” for the 2010 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) National Championships. For the next 10 days, Lake Mendota, a.k.a. Third Lake, will be the proving ground for competitors from the 32 schools who have earned the right to challenge for one of ICSA’s three championship titles: the ICSA Women's National Championship (May 25-28), the ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship (May 29-31), and the ICSA/Gill National Championship (June 1-3). All three events are being hosted by the University of Wisconsin, utilizing their fleet of 420s, from the regatta base at Memorial Union and Hoofer Sailing Club. Of the 32 schools participating in the championships, eight qualified to compete in all three events: Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.), Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.), St. Mary’s College (St. Mary’s City, Md.), Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.), Tufts University (Medford, Mass.) the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.) and Yale University (New Haven, Conn.). -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9933#9933 HUGE PROPS: Yale sailor Thomas Barrows, an All-American who sailed in the 2008 Olympics and captained Yale to the 2009 Fowle Trophy as the best team in college sailing, is the recipient of Yale's William Neely Mallory Award for 2010. The award, the most prestigious honor given to a senior student-athlete at Yale, was announced at Class Day ceremonies on May 23 as part of Yale's Commencement Weekend. A St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands native, Barrows is the first sailing athlete to win the award in school history. After the conclusion of the Yale season, he will continue training for the 2012 Olympics. -- Full story: http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/c-sail/2009-10/releases/201005232kuism SAILING SHORTS * Seattle, WA (May 23, 2010) - Thirty-five teams competed in the J/24 North Americans, which was won by Pat Toole from Santa Barbara, CA. Toole’s team dominated the final day when half of the 10 race series was completed, remaining in the top five in all races to distance themselves from second place Keith Whittemore and his local team on Tundra Rose. -- Full results: http://cycseattle.org/2010_specific/J24NAs.html * New York, NY (May 24, 2010) - The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) has determined its official list of invited yacht clubs for the biennial Invitational Cup event. Scheduled for September 10-17, 2011, the club plans to build on the success of the inaugural event held in September 2009 that hosted 19 teams from 14 nations. -- Full report: http://nyyc.org/home/article_746/ * Thirty Olympic medallists are ready for the Delta Lloyd Regatta 2010 in Medemblik, Netherlands, the 5th event in the ISAF Sailing World Cup. The 2010 edition has set record high pre-entries with a total of 707 boats from 53 countries, with 62 entries from Canada, Mexico, and the United States scheduled to compete. Racing will start on Wednesday May 26th and will conclude with the Medal race on Sunday May 30th. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/28zffpl SCHAEFER’S SOLVES BIG PROBLEM FOR “ATHOS” Schaefer Marine’s patented articulating mast track is on the 203 ft. “Athos”. Schaefer’s track articulates so the batten ends and luff bolt rope move as one when the sail is trimmed effectively eliminating chafe. The track also allows the “Athos” crew to furl her sails entirely into her boom. -- http://www.schaefermarine.com 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 George Morris (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3098): At a high profile event (Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena) on which the careers of many may depend, does the race committee not have some responsibility to ensure that the starting area is free of lobster pots? And conversely, if a bunch of hugely rich yachtsmen choose to sail in an area used for fishing, do they have an absolute right to cut away gear which belongs to someone who earns a fraction of what they do? Surely the dozens of support boats, umpire boats and spectators could busy themselves during the many postponements dragging the offending pots clear of the start? * From Robert Wilkes: While Eric Matus (Butt 3098) may or may not be correct that the “larger the pool of sailors; the more talent there will be to compete; the more awards Americans will earn”, history does not support his idea that one should de-emphasize racing. At the 2008 Olympics at least 67% of the medallists (excl boardsailors) were racing INTERNATIONALLY by the age of 15. See http://www.optiworld.org/olympicexops.pdf * From Richard Jepsen, Chair, US SAILING Education Division: I'd like to respond to Eric Matus' advice (in ‘Butt 3098) that we reboot sailing in the US. While, as a sailing school owner, I'd like nothing more than for US SAILING to make sail training even more of a priority, sailing instruction, at community sailing programs around the country, is pretty darn inexpensive. Just in SF Bay alone there are two great examples: the Cal Sailing Club offers all the training and sailing you can handle for $30 a month and some volunteer work. Treasure Island Sailing Center provides scholarship based free sail training for SF city kids based on need. And, there are hundreds of community sailing programs around the country that specialize in low cost, professional, convenient sail training. Regarding professionalizing instructors.....Firstly, US SAILING has a program that is for those less skilled or less interested in demonstrating professional skills. It is called the Sailing Counselor program and is very popular with sailing camps where sailing is just one of the activities counselors need to be able to teach/guide/mentor. However, the vast majority of sailing instructors are looking for a professional certification that is realistic, formal and provides the instructor with a credible sense that he or she is truly qualified to be responsible for the safety of new sailors. I'm a huge advocate of fun, camaraderie and sportsmanship. But, for it to be fun, it needs to be safe. Instructors need to be good coaches and mentors. Curriculum needs to be well thought out. There's lots that goes behind a 'fun, social and sporting' sailing experience for new sailors. So, update the software for supporting the gateways to our sport? Introduce more of our public to sailing? Absolutely. Complete reboot of sailing? I'm not sure that it would be right to throw out what I think is a pretty effective national sailing gateway. * From Bryan McDonald, 2010 ICSA Nationals Chief Umpire (re, ‘Butt 3098): While there may always be disagreements in the interpretations of the racing rules of sailing, I'm a huge fan of discussing with competitors how the umpires or judges will be interpreting certain rules. Rule 42 is a passionate area of debate. I love how team racing allows for open discussion with competitors, coaches and umpires before racing, during racing and after racing on exactly why people were penalized or not. College sailing remains one of the most observed and umpired forms of sailing with a majority of certified judges and umpires enforcing on the water rule 42 compliance at it's intersectionals, semis and national championships. At the team racing national championship, we are blessed to have 18 umpires assisting with on the water rules compliance and are from a pool of talented racers, national and international umpires and rule committee members who have been meeting regularly before the event to make sure everyone is on the same page of the rule book when the first starting sequence goes off to determine our national champions of collegiate sailing. It's inspiring to see both the level of racing and officiating rise each year. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. Special thanks to JK3 Nautical Enterprises, North Sails, and Schaefer Marine. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
