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SCUTTLEBUTT 3326 - Friday, April 22, 2011Scuttlebutt 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. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: Gowrie Group and Hall Spars & Rigging. PREPPING FOR A WINDY MELGES 24 WORLDS Kristen Lane and her team Brickhouse (tactician Charlie McKee, Willem Van Waay, Johnny Goldsberry and Matt Pistay) won the Melges 24 Charleston Race Week Championship last weekend. In just a few weeks she'll be taking on many of the same teams in the Melges 24 World Championships in Corpus Christi, Texas (May 12-21). Lane, who lives in Tiburon, Calif., and turns 40 in just a few weeks, has fast become one of the country's top match racers - particularly impressive given that she only first stepped foot on a sailboat in her late 20's. Lane talked to SailBlast about winning in Charleston in one of the country's most competitive fleets, what she expects to face in Corpus, as well as some other fun things she's taking on to fill her dance card these days. The following is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Lane: --------------------------------------------------------------------- SailBlast: What did you do particularly well that helped you in Charleston? Lane: We knew going into it that the Nationals were going to be bigger in terms of numbers than what the World Championships is going to be (for whatever reason there's only 30+ boats registered for Corpus), so we knew it was going to be a fun challenge from the fleet management side. We went out and sailed the boat like we had been sailing it in all the regattas leading up to it. We'd been working with a coach in Miami before the event so everyone on the team felt like we were progressing every time we went sailing and we felt that way at the regatta too. We put that all together, executed it and it all worked out. The tactics were very challenging so it helped that we had made a lot of really good decisions. It all came together, it wasn't any super formula, everything was just firing on all cylinders. SailBlast: You've sailed Charleston before - was that a benefit? Lane: I've done quite a bit of racing in Charleston so knew what to expect. It's very challenging. Charleston is one of those places where you just cannot sail the shifts, you have to know where to put your boat on the racecourse - it makes all the difference in the world. The more boats you pack onto the racecourse the harder it is to fight for that piece of real estate that you need to keep the boat going in the fast lane for the currents. But we love sailing there. The weather is fantastic, the time from getting from your perfect dock to the racecourse is five minutes. It's a perfect venue for the 24 on the inshore course. SailBlast: What's the competition looking like for Corpus? Lane: I have a tremendous amount of respect for what Bora Gulari has done with his new boat not having been in the boat for long. He's very fast. We were definitely chasing him around the racecourse more times than not. He's one of the fastest US boats, if not the fastest. One of the strongest US teams is Full Throttle - they're the nicest guys out there on the racecourse as well as being the toughest competitors. I love racing against them. I'd probably put those two at the top, but it's always great to spar with my teammates (LOL). Peter (my husband) and I have been working alot training on our two boats. He oftentimes is faster than me and that pushes me to work harder. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/42xy7gc PARENT RULES - POSITIVE SPORTS PARENTING By Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor The sailing bug lost its grasp on my oldest son, losing out to baseball. While disappointed that I could not pass my guidance on to him in a sport I knew well, I found watching his baseball games much more enjoyable than watching his sailing races. Not knowing much about the finer points of baseball proved to be an asset. He's now a junior playing Varsity baseball, and I'm amazed that there're still a lot of 'little league' parents in the stands. Since I doubt that baseball is that unique, below is a list of 'Parent Rules' I received while attending a college recruiting seminar. Most don't need to be edited to adapt well to any sport... even sailing: 1 - Make sure your child knows win or lose, that you love them, you appreciate their efforts and you are not disappointed in them. 2 - Try your best to be completely honest about your child's athletic capability, competitive attitude, sportsmanship and actual skill level. 3 - Be helpful but don't "coach" on the way to the track, diamond or court.... on the way home... at breakfast... and so on. 4 - Teach them to enjoy the thrills of competition, trying, working, improving their skills and attitudes... taking the physical bumps and coming back for more. 5 - Try not to relive your athletic life through your child in a way that creates pressure. Remember, you fumbled too; you lost as well as won; you were frightened; you backed off at times; and you were not always heroic. Don't pressure them because of your pride. 6 - Don't compete with the coach. The young athlete often comes home and chatters on about "coach says this, coach says that." This is often hard to take, especially for a father or mother who has had some sports experience. 7 - Don't compare the skill, courage or attitudes of your child with that of other members of the squad or team, at least not in front of them. 8 - You should get to know the coach, so that you can be assured that his or her philosophy, attitudes, ethics and knowledge are a good influence on your child. A parent's "Coaching Job" is the toughest one of all and takes a lot of effort. Sometimes in your desire to help your child, best intentions can end up being counterproductive. Applying the Rules for Parents will go a long way towards fostering an environment your child can use to enjoy and excel in their sport. -- Recruiting Realities: http://www.recruitingrealities.com/parentrules.html GOWRIE GROUP: NOW MORE THAN EVER, COMPARE. Boat insurance pricing has changed with the marine marketplace. When boat values change, and boat usage changes, it's time to look again at your insurance protection. The insurance experts at Gowrie understand the complex risks that go along with boat ownership, racing, and cruising. Through our direct relationships with the best "A" rated marine insurance companies, we provide you with multiple, cost effectives quotes to consider. Get a quote from Gowrie Group now. It's smart. It's fast. It can save you money. Call us 800.262.8911 or fill out our easy online quote form: http://www.tinyurl.com/gowriequote (use code: Scuttlebutt). KIWIS MAKE IT OFFICIAL (April 21, 2011) - Emirates Team New Zealand announced today that it was challenging for the 34th America's Cup to be sailed at San Francisco in 2013. Managing Director Grant Dalton said the team was now in a position to formally announce its campaign. "We believe that we can mount a credible challenge which will have a very good chance of winning the America's Cup. That's our mission and that is the expectation of our sponsors, partners, suppliers and the people of New Zealand. It is an expectation that every member of this team is determined to fulfill." "Racing in catamarans will make the 34th America's Cup very different than the 32nd at Valencia in 2007. In 2013, teams will be racing 72ft catamarans. Design, engineering, logistics, and sailing skills are very different. To handle this new challenge we have assembled a very accomplished group of people both on and off the water. The Emirates Team New Zealand design team now numbers more than 30 designers, engineers and people who bring specialist multihull knowledge and skills. They have been working on the 72ft catamaran for some months and we believe we are right on the pace. Our sailing team is working to acquire the skills and experience necessary to compete well. Six months ago Dean Barker raced in a multihull regatta for the first time. Last weekend he, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas and Glenn Ashby were second in an Extreme Sailing Series regatta in China. Results in the A Class catamaran regattas in Australia earlier this year were remarkable," Dalton said. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/3ongofy * Team NZ's news doesn't come without some apprehension from the Kiwi taxpayer, according to the following report from Radio NZ: GOVERNMENT DEFENDS FUNDING FOR AMERICA'S CUP The Government says it had no option but to comply with a contract set up by the previous government to give millions of taxpayer dollars to New Zealand's America's Cup team. Team New Zealand on Thursday confirmed it is launching a campaign to contest the Cup in San Francisco in 2013 and will receive $36 million from the Government to mount the challenge. The funding was set up by the Labour Government in 2007 after Team New Zealand was beaten at Valencia. The money is held in a Ministry of Economic Development fund meant for major events with potential economic benefits. Acting Minister for Economic Development David Carter accepts the timing of the handout in tough economic times is far from perfect, saying the Government did look at getting out of the fund. "We gave that a brief bit of thought. The advice we got was legally, there was no opportunity to get out of it. We therefore have to make the best of a decision made by the previous Labour Government. I will now work with Team New Zealand to make sure that we get the best possible economic benefit to New Zealand from this investment." -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/3ehtqe3p REVISITING A SPRIT FOR THE 505 The International 505 fleet held its Annual General Meeting during the SAP 505 Worlds 2011 last month on Hamilton Island, Australia. Mike Martin, 2009 World Champion and recently appointed Chief Umpire of the America's Cup 34, made some comments prior to the regatta on the possibility of the fleet converting to a sprit pole as reported at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0316/). Following the AGM, Martin provided some feedback on what went down: "Just to get a feeling of the class's interests we took a show of hands to see who was in favor of going to a sprit - it wasn't an official vote - just to see who was generally in support of it and who generally wasn't. I'd say it was 60% in favor and 40% were against but then again, that was people at the Worlds who are generally more progressive than the people who don't go to the Worlds. In order for it to pass it's a vote by the majority of the entire membership so it's still pretty on the fence. My general pitch is that it's going to make the boat easier to sail - the hardest part about sailing 505s is that it's really hard to find a crew. It's a very difficult job up front and it's very busy so it'll make finding crew easier, it's probably going to make the boat more tactical because it's easier to jibe and it's going to make the boat cheaper because right now we have this twin spinnaker pole system with two topping lifts and two guys, two sheets, pole back systems and retractors - it's going to take about 40 fittings off the boat to go to a asymmetric kite so that's my pitch." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/3knddek PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include the trickle down of wing technology, the comforts of the cruising division, Dacron mains, youth is king, new and improved, ivy league superiority, and New England wave jumping. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0422/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK The 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race will begin in October, with teams now beginning to complete their new boats. Making a flashy splash in the 2008-9 VOR was PUMA Ocean Racing, sporting imaginative graphics to claim second overall. Their latest ride will be emerging soon from New England Boatworks for final prep before they take it across the Atlantic for the race start in Alicante, Spain. Lisa Ann Wagenbach was a big fan of the PUMA team from the last race, so much so that she downloaded 13 of their videos (50 minutes of footage) from YouTube and put her spin on the team and the crew's personality to create a 1:39 video. Comments Lisa, "As a non-sailing fan, who has read Scuttlebutt religiously since 2007, I can attest that in order to keep me interested in the sport of sailing when I have never been at the helm, you have to grab my attention with 'cool' visuals, give me a reason to connect with the team (personalities, drama, style), and be able to tell me a story in 3-minutes or less." We agree... enjoy: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/11/0422/ SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com THE ONE WITH THE LOWEST DRAG WINS Replacing your shrouds with Hall SCR Airfoil results in windage reduction so incredible, it beats even continuous rigging. The secret is SCR's streamlined, Airfoil shape. Plugging the numbers into the VPP, over a four-mile windward/leeward course, a 40-footer rigged with Hall SCR Airfoil wins by seven boatlengths over the same boat with round rigging (University of Michigan VPP study, 2011). And because it's made by Hall, the experts in Seamless carbon construction, Hall SCR Airfoil is strong, safe, and long-lasting - life expectancy matches that of our extraordinary spars. Get Seamless today. http://www.hallspars.com SAILING SHORTS * (April 21, 2011) - With just a few days to go until the 44th Antigua Sailing Week, English and Falmouth Harbour is filling up with yachts of all shapes and sizes. Dockside, the air is filled with the sound of different accents from across the globe, including Ron McKenzie and his crew racing on First 40.7 Lancelot, from Vancouver, Canada. The Canadian sailors are not the most distant visitors to Antigua Sailing Week: Lenjohn van der Wel's Class 40, Ocean Warrior originally started their journey to Antigua from Cape Town, South Africa, over 6000 miles away. -- Full report: http://www.sailingweek.com/v3/news.php?id=151 * (April 21, 2011) - The entry list has been finalized for the 32 ocean-going yachts, including two youth teams - one from Germany and one from the US - who will set sail at the end of June in the Transatlantic Race 2011. The race charts a course that stretches 2,975 nautical miles from Newport to Lizard Point, at the end of a peninsula in South Cornwall (UK). This history-making event is organized by the Royal Yacht Squadron, New York Yacht Club, Royal Ocean Racing Club and Storm Trysail Club. Three separate starts - June 26, June 29, and July 3 - are planned to stagger the yachts of different sizes and ability so that they will arrive in England in proximity to each other. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/3pgl324 * (April 20, 2011) - PUMA Ocean Racing announced that Arden Oksanen has been added to the team as the Media Crew Member (MCM) role aboard PUMA's Mar Mostro for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012. Oksanen, 36, hails from the worlds of extreme skiing and kayaking with 14 years experience in producing, directing, shooting and editing action sports programming. New to sailing but no stranger to the world of adventure sports, he will put his sea legs to the test using his expertise as an adventure storyteller to produce video, image and audio content of the PUMA Ocean Racing team. -- Full story: http://www.puma.com/sailing/news/introducing-arden * (April 20, 2011) - Not exactly news, but still cool to look at - a story in the May 2, 2011 issue of ESPN The Magazine offers a list of 182 of the world's highest-paid athletes by country. 114 play soccer, with 33 playing in the English Premier League. But give it up for New Zealand's Russell Coutts, who banked $10 million last year and is the only yachter on the list. -- Report at: http://tinyurl.com/3oe7xus * Palma de Mallorca, Spain (April 21, 2011) - The Mapfre PalmaVela begun today on Palma Bay in easterly winds of 14 to 16 knots. The Maxi Wallies, Maxis and TP 52s were the first fleets on the water racing on the 8.6 nm course. The TP52 fleet, with three new builds in this year's Mapfre PalmaVela was dominated by Audi Azzurra Sailing Team. American Ed Baird skippering Quantum Sailing was expected to challenge the Italians but finished six points behind. Swedish newcomer RAN finishing fourth tied in points (11) with British Gladiator who finished third. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/44tdsm6 GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Tom Hyatt (re, Scuttlebutt 3325): I enjoyed the comments about the IACC boats in Cabo. My mind wandered to a wonderful day in St. Maarten a few years ago when I got to helm the 12 meter Stars and Stripes # 55 on our way back from a mock match race - the glory of the gunmetal blue greyhound as she sailed in her element. This establishment has five 12s from the 1987 Cup series in Perth - the two Stars and Stripes, True North, and Canada I and II. Much like what was described in the article, crews were picked and positions assigned from trimmers, grinders, a timer to winch wrenches. What a beautiful place with the 20+ trade winds replicating the Fremantle Doctor. This experience of sailing ten knots rail down made my bucket list. It's been a great memory having sailed the exact boat that brought the Cup home. Long live the 12 Meters! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If you are worried about being crazy, don't be overly concerned. If you were, you would think you were sane. SPONSORS THIS WEEK APS - IYRS - New England Ropes - North Sails- J Boats JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Quantum Sails - LaserPerformance Harken - Ullman Sails - Gowrie Group - Hall Spars & Rigging Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
