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SCUTTLEBUTT 2974 - Tuesday, November 17, 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 North, APS, and Ocean Racing. REINVENTING US OLYMPIC SAILING By Dean Brenner, US Olympic Sailing Committee We’re at the end of the first year of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic quadrennium, and just like last time around, a large number of our top sailors spent the first year training and racing hard in preparation for the Games. And, also like last time around, the Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) continues its efforts to revitalize the US Olympic Program. Over the course of the last four years, we made some significant and fundamental changes to our program. And last month we made yet another one, this time changing the time-honored process of qualifying for the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics’ Olympic classes. Historically, US sailors could qualify for the national team without ever leaving the USA. The OSC designed a circuit of domestic events, almost always in the winter season in the southern USA. And for a long time this worked well. But now, serious Olympic-caliber training requires extensive international competition, and training exclusively in domestic events is not a recipe for international success. So we have been incentivizing our athletes to compete internationally for the last several years, and that has taken full root in our program, as all our funding is tied to international performance. No serious athlete even considers a domestic-only Olympic training schedule. Yet until now, we had maintained a domestic-only qualification schedule for our national team selection. It was a disconnect that we wanted to resolve. Here’s the link to the official selection criteria for the 2010 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics’ Olympic classes: http://tinyurl.com/yfea72n And here’s a little explanation on what we are trying to achieve. Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/1106 GROUPAMA 3 ABANDONS JULES VERNE TROPHY (November 16, 2009; 17:00 UTC) - It was at 1216 UT today that the skipper of the 105-foot trimaran Groupama 3, Franck Cammas, called the Jules Verne Trophy team to inform them that an aft beam bulkhead had broken, leading to serious damage to the float. Despite the storm, Groupama 3 is slowly making headway towards Cape Town some 1,700 miles away (3,000 km) and is therefore abandoning this particular Jules Verne Trophy. At around 1200 UT today, a big cracking sound dashed the hopes of Franck Cammas and his nine crew in their bid to break Orange 2's round the world record from back in 2005 (50 d 16h 20'). A bulkhead attached to the aft beam simply gave up the ghost in the harsh conditions as the giant trimaran was sailing with her sails angled at 90° to the true wind in a powerful NNE'ly air flow and rough seas. The crew knew they had to go fast to stay in the right sector of the warm front, hot on their heels, in order to drop down towards the Cape of Good Hope with the Brazilian low. The resulting weakness then caused the windward float to fissure and, in light of the sizeable damage, the crew immediately stopped the boat and concluded that it would be necessary to abandon this round the world attempt. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/yz899r4 NORTH-POWERED J/105’S FINISH THE SEASON ON TOP! Congratulations to Bruce Stone and crew aboard POWER PLAY for winning the 2009 J/105 North American Championship. Armed with a complete North Sails J/105 Class Sail Development (CSD) inventory, Stone and company dominated the event. “The sails set beautifully and our boat speed overall was a major factor,” said mainsail trimmer Nicole Breault. In Annapolis, Peter McChesney and his crew aboard THE MYSTERY MACHINE won the J/105 Chesapeake Bay Championship with Marty Hublitz and Eddie Hornick and company on VELOCE finishing 2nd by one point. Both boats race with 100% North sails. When speed matters, the choice is clear: http://na.northsails.com SEMI-FINALS SET AT LV TROPHY Nice, France (November 16, 2009) - There’s one match outstanding to complete the round robin portion of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur, but the four semi finalists are confirmed. Emirates Team New Zealand will win the round robin and have the opportunity to select its opponent in the semis. Team New Zealand didn’t race today and has one match remaining, against upstart Synergy Russian Sailing Team, but the veteran team led by skipper Dean Barker has a 9-1 record and cannot lose the top spot. The Kiwis will pick their opponent from a group including TeamOrigin (8-3) of the U.K., Azzurra (7-4) of Italy or Synergy. After starting the regatta 0-3, the Russian crew today won its fifth consecutive match and sixth out of seven with a hard-fought victory over Azzurra. Synergy now stands at 6-4. The second half of the leaderboard has Artemis (5-6) in fifth, BMW Oracle Racing (4-7) in sixth, All4One (3-8) in seventh and TFS - PagesJaunes (1-10) in eighth. These four teams will race a knockout round to determine places 5th though 8th concurrent with the semi finals. “We’re getting stuff done, but it hasn’t been easy,” said Peter ‘Luigi’ Reggio, principal race officer for the regatta. “The last two days have been very similar to each other, unlike the eight or so before that; every day was different. In the last race we had 13, 14 knots. In the second flight we started to see whitecaps. We haven’t seen those since last Tuesday.” -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/ygbn83e Event website: http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/home/ Video interviews: http://www.youtube.com/user/btsbroadcast BACKGROUND: The Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d’Azur is the inaugural event of the World Sailing Teams Association. The WSTA event is designed to be a cost-effective format for the teams, with the four America’s Cup class boats being used in Nice on loan from three teams: ALL4ONE (FRA-93), Mascalzone Latino (ITA-90, ITA-99) and TeamOrigin (GBR-75). The boats have been equalised as much as possible to create a level playing field. ALEX CAIZERGUES BREAKS WORLD KITEBOARDING RECORD Ludertiz, Namibia (November 15, 2009) - Frenchman Alex Caizergues (F One) has broken the world kiteboarding speed record with an incredible time of 50.98 knots, breaking his previous world record of 50.57. Rob Douglas (Cabrinha) also set a new American outright speed sailing record with an equally impressive time of 50.95 knots, just three one hundredths of a knot shy of Alex Caizergues. Many other competitors also recorded noteworthy times including Sebastian Cattelan (Solid) who completed a run of 49.51before falling foul of equipment problems. Christophe Prin-Guenon (F One) got 48.44, Jerome Bila (Genetrix) came in with 47.73. Charlotte Consorti (F One) again led the ladies with a speed of 44.27 knots. Fast, but still a full knot short of Sjoukje Bredenkamp’s outright record of 45.20 set last year. There are two weeks still left in the Luderitz Speed Challenge, where many of the world’s top kitesurfers have descended on the remote Namibian town of Luderitz to compete during the month of November against each other and the clock, with the ultimate prize being the world outright speed sailing record of 51.36 knots set by the French hydrofoil l’Hydoptère in September of this year. -- Details: http://www.luderitz-speed.com/News/tabid/182/EntryID/63/Default.aspx THOMSON RETIRES AFTER COLLISION (November 16, 2009) - At approximately 1820 GMT on Sunday (Nov 15th) HUGO BOSS crew Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel, reported a collision with an unidentified object in the water while racing in the Transat Jacques Vabres. HUGO BOSS was lying in 4th place when the damage was sustained and it was reported that they were taking on water. A pump worked overnight and the crew confirmed that they were managing the ingress of water. On inspection in daylight this morning skipper Alex confirmed the damage is located on the starboard bow and although fairly localised it is allowing a fair amount of water in the boat. The skippers are discussing the damage with their shore team to finalise a temporary fix which will allow them to make for the nearest land which is The Azores. Although the damage is small it will not be possible to stop the water until the area is free from water, something not possible in the ocean. Regrettably today at 1300 GMT Alex and Ross made the difficult decision to officially retire from the race. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/yh7ycmg * The ninth edition of the 4800-mile doublehanded Transat Jacques Vabre race from France to Costa Rica began on November 8th, where among the original starters, 10 of the 14 Open 60 monohulls and 4 of the 6 Open 50 multihulls are still competing. -- Event website: http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en * Yachting journalist Mark Chisnell comments on the TJV: “It’s been a great first week in the Transat Jaques Vabre - after a fascinating ‘risk versus reward’ dilemma was set up for all the skippers as they left Le Havre eight days ago, bound for Puerto Limon in Costa Rica. It was the kind of situation that makes race commentators salivate. And a week later, the pay-offs have been harsh, with two sailors pulled off a stricken boat (BT - Sébastien Josse/Jean Francois Curzon) in the North Atlantic, and with several others limping from damage.” -- Read on: http://markchisnell.blogspot.com START TO FINISH Looking for a place to get your holiday shopping done start to finish? With great gifts for sailors like Gore-Tex socks, Suunto watches, or the ever-popular Dr. Crash calendars APS, "The World Leader in Outfitting Performance Sailors", is poised to throw you a life ring and save you from holiday shopping hassles. So, keep your eyes peeled for our annual holiday mailing to be arriving any day or visit our gift ideas page. APS makes it easy by breaking down your gift options by price and the type of sailor you're shopping for. Now start finishing your shopping! http://www.apsltd.com/GiftIdeas JUST AS IT SHOULD BE By John Wilson I am frustrated that the America’s Cup, an event that I have cherished and has defined much of my life, is still locked up in court. However, my frustration is tempered by my appreciation for the quest for this unique and unwieldy thing called the America’s Cup. Outside the sailing community, no one paid much attention to the Cup until 1983. The fuss about Australia II’s keel garnered some attention, but it wasn’t until Liberty lost, or was on the verge of losing, that people began to pay attention. In 1987, we were treated to a riveting comeback story in Australia, half a world away in the middle of the night. Then there was 1988, amid a court battle pundits then were sure would ruin the Cup, we witnessed a sleek catamaran - more like a children’s toy when lined up against a 130 foot behemoth which itself was literally held together with duct tape and bailing wire - defend the Cup in San Diego. Then came the development of the IACC class, and the inspirational and heartwarming story of the Kiwi boys on Black Magic as they became the people’s champion and a nation swelled with pride. And in 2007, when the Swiss hosted the Cup in Valencia, we were welcomed to the largest and most competitive Match ever. For an event with a remarkably staid history, that is about as good a quarter century as you’re going to get. I cannot wait until we have another America’s Cup that is the multi-cultural, multi-dimensional celebration we witnessed in Valencia. In the meantime, we’ve been treated to great theater where it’s hard to tell who the good guys are, although my money is on the NY state judges. Today’s barons are no better or worse than yesterday’s. For my money, Larry and Ernesto take a back seat to Lipton, Vanderbilt, Mosbacher, Bond, and Fay, but their epic battle will keep them at the forefront in the colorful history of the Cup. I do know that if George Schuyler could, he’d have a big ole grin on his face right about now. We are now approaching an opportunity that we’ve not had in a long while. When these two behemoths head off on the first beat of the first race of the 33rd America’s Cup, no one is sure what will happen. The result will be theorized and debated to no end, but no one will know for sure. It will be an old school Cup, mano-a-mano, with the anticipation to match. That’s just as it should be, and I for one cannot wait. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: John was the producer for the Versus channel during their America’s Cup coverage in Valencia. When asked about television coverage for the multihull event, he replied, “When these boats are traveling at speed the biggest challenge is staying ahead of the action. Covering it well from the water will require boat drivers who really understand how these boats move. You need quick and stable camera platforms, and boats that can both track and get ahead of the action. The biggest challenge is that you won't have hundreds of races to get the choreography of the boats and helicopters sorted out. With a constantly shifting playing field, and the speed of the boats, maintaining an accurate perspective will be a big hurdle as camera angles can either magnify what is happening or completely distort the action. There should be all sorts of opportunities for great on-board perspectives, assuming that each team will let broadcasters be a bit creative.” LASER’S IAN BRUCE APPOINTED TO THE ORDER OF CANADA The Father of the Laser, Ian Bruce, an Industrial Designer by profession and a boat builder by occupation, was recently honored with the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest honor, by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Governor General of Canada. The award is in recognition of his service to sailing, both in Canada and internationally, and in particular for his involvement in the design and development of high-performance boats for young sailors. During 40 years in the business he has either designed or assisted in the design, developed and built all the following International or Recognized Classes: Finn, Fourteen, Contender, Laser, Optimist, Fireball, 470, Laser II, Tasar, Laser Radial, Byte and 29er. For the 29er, Bruce was part of a team assisting Julian Bethwaite in the development of the boat, providing the design team with both his product design knowledge and his sailing experience. His own design, the Byte, is the male and female singlehander to be used in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. -- Boating Industry Canada, full story: http://tinyurl.com/yd69prr SAILING SHORTS * Auckland, New Zealand (November 15, 2009) - Laurie Jury has won the 2009 Telecom New Zealand Match Racing Championships, beating Reuben Corbett 3-1 in the first to win three races finals. Jury and his crew sailed consistently well through the entire series, qualifying for the semi finals in second position and having to face a daunting competitor in Chris Dickson, whom he beat 3-0. Jury’s crew is Mike Edmonds (main), Logan Fraser (trim), Matt Stuart (pit) & Rhys O’Cain (bow). Jury, Edmonds, Fraser & Stuart are all graduates of the RNZYS Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme. -- For results: http://www.rnzys.org.nz/ * Busan, Korea (November 15, 2009) - The Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) has accepted and approved all changes made by the International Technical Committee (ITC) to next year’s VPP to be used in ORC International and ORC Club rating systems. This is the first year the ITC had met to finalize their changes and ratify them through the ORC test fleet of 300 designs prior to the ORC’s Annual General Meeting in Busan. -- Read on: http://www.orc.org/ * The marine and yacht clothing lines from iconic brand Line 7 will now be represented internationally by Events Clothing Ltd, a supplier of superyacht uniform, marine and corporate clothing, in a new exclusive deal. The new owner of the Line 7 brand, Charles Parsons (NZ) Ltd, has confirmed the appointment of Events Clothing as the exclusive distributor of Line 7 marine and yachting apparel in all markets outside New Zealand and Australia. -- Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8587 HOLIDAY GIFT GIVING MADE EASY Optimum Time sailing watches are purpose designed and easy to use feature large displays, pre-programmed 5,4,1,0 ISAF start sequences and 1 year warrantees. Ocean Racing's waterproof Offshore Duffel and Offshore Backpack (with removable neoprene laptop sleeve) utilize heavy-duty material, zippers and seams that are sewn, taped and RF welded. Find all the products and gift ideas at http://www.OceanRacing.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 Robbie Doyle, Doyle Sails: It was interesting reading Andrew Campbell's remarks on the lack of definition of the starting line (in Scuttlebutt 2973). Thirty years ago I was asked to call the starting line for the Finn Olympic trials and asked the other committee members what part of the buoy constituted the "line". I received a lot of curious looks and got a variety of answers. Similarly that evening we put the questions to the judges and they had similar differences of opinion. We chose to define the "On the course side" as to being beyond the edge of the buoy closest to the windward mark. Until I read Andrew's remarks I thought that this question had been put to bed. It certainly seems important to have it in writing so it is impossible to misinterpret. Umpires are always going to have their own interpretation of strike zones, but at least we need to start from the same definition. * From By Baldridge: I feel Andrew Campbell's pain. Many times I have been told that the committee is improperly sighting the top tip of a tetrahedron as the line rather than the most course side point of the mark. One reason sailors and race committees dislike tetrahedrons as starting marks is that the true course side edge of the mark comes to a point at the water's edge and can be hidden by a wave. Most good race committees recognize this and use cylinders with a well defined course side edge. Even balls are better than tetrahedrons since their proper edge is higher. * From Eric Lind, Race Officer, Suttons Bay, MI: For as long as I can remember, I have written the SIs for events that I work with and the definition for both the start and finish line as being "between a staff displaying an orange flag on the RC Signal Boat at the starboard end and the course side of the starting/finishing mark at the port end". I don't recall a competitor ever asking about it and it has never been an issue in a redress hearing. When I speak at a rules seminar or to our local youth group, I always mention this as one of the important points to look for in the SIs at any event. * From Jeroen van der Beek, New Zealand: As I commented in Scuttlebutt, Dock Talk Forum, “America’s Cup & Alinghi”, Alinghi had to appeal the decision regards location due to a problem with RAK investing $120 million based on Alinghi’s assurances. This could end up being the most expensive America's Cup Ernesto never gets to sail. -- Forum thread: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7999 CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Another problem with drinking and driving is spillage. Special thanks to North, APS, and Ocean Racing. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
