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SCUTTLEBUTT 3165 - Friday, August 27, 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. 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: Atlantis WeatherGear and Navtec. COLLEGIATE SAILING ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Board of Directors has announced an initiative to eliminate single-use plastic bottles from all ICSA regattas in an effort to reduce plastic waste from the landfills, the oceans, and the environment in general. The directive issued includes a requirement for ICSA regatta hosts to provide a suitable water source to replace bottled water customarily purchased by each sailing team at each regatta throughout the sailing season. Collegiate sailors will be required to bring reusable water bottles to events. Recycling bins will also be provided at each regatta site. The stated purpose of this initiative is to "eliminate the amount of single-use water bottles at ICSA events to the extent practicable." Working with Sailors for the Sea, a non-profit organization composed of sailors that educates and empowers the boating community to protect and restore the oceans and coastal waters, the ICSA hopes to reduce and perhaps eliminate entirely the approximately 25,000 single-use bottles purchased each season for ICSA regattas. Several facts have contributed to this decision. Single-use plastic bottles of water cost up to 10,000 times the cost of tap water. Bottled water does not undergo the quality testing that tap water does. Seventeen million barrels of oil are used in the production of water bottles yearly. The bottles take thousands of years to degrade and contribute to litter problems onshore and offshore. Only 1 in 5 water bottles are recycled; the other 4 contribute to 3 billion pounds of waste. Sailors for the Sea: http://www.sailorsforthesea.org ICSA: http://www.collegesailing.org HINTING TOWARD MULTI-HULLS FOR AMERICA'S CUP The next America's cup is gradually taking shape and Sir Russell Coutts is hinting towards multi-hull racing in San Francisco. It's six months since BMW Oracle CEO and Skipper Coutts hoisted the old mug for the fourth time at the 33rd America's Cup after beating Alinghi 2-0 in a Deed of Gift match. Design rules for the next edition come out next month and Coutts is suggesting multi-hulls are the best way forward."We are quite positive about multi hulls because there are quite a number of teams that would bring a number of new teams to the game and some of the existing teams are relaxed about it," Coutts said. Extensive tests have been carried out in Valencia on multi and mono-hulls to see what works best on television with the audio now recognised as being as important as the pictures. "It will take a fair bit for the sailors to get used to all the audio being available for broadcast. That's going to sound a bit strange from me because I was one of the worst offenders at turning the microphone off but it's probably the way it's got to go," Coutts said. He's also suggesting television could become the decider for umpire calls and all forms of technology used in other sports are under consideration to try and make the regatta more exciting. San Francisco remains Oracle's preferred venue for the race with the decision and the date of the next cup to be made by the end of the year. Here is the link to watch Martin Tasker's 21:05 minute interview with Sir Russell Coutts: http://tinyurl.com/34xrohr DISCOVER: THE ATLANTIS R&D LAB ON FACEBOOK The AWG product development process is driven by you, our customers and fellow sailors with strong opinions about what you like and don't like about your sailing gear. We want to hear from you, and our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/atlantisweathergear provides a great way for us to connect. You can also find out what's going on here at AWG World HQ in Marblehead, and check out our latest "Boatyard Product Test" video in which summer intern Sam Jr. gives the Aegis jacket and hybrid bib the ultimate workout (http://tinyurl.com/AWGvideo). Discover Your Atlantis. INTERNATIONAL C-CLASS CATAMARAN CHAMPIONSHIP Newport, RI (August 26, 2010) - What a difference a day makes. Today was all Canaan all the time at the International C-Class Catamaran Championship at the New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court. The stars today were the Canadian defenders Fred Eaton and Magnus Clarke, who won all three races, while Alpha, yesterday's leader, sailed by Australians Glenn Ashby and James Spithill, finished second in all three races. In point of fact, Canaan has won four straight races, winning the last one on Wednesday. These two teams will match-race tomorrow and Saturday to determine the winner of the International C-Class Catamaran Trophy in play since 1961. This is the 25th iteration of this regatta. Missing from today's racing - indeed the competition - was Aethon, sailed by Steve Clark and his nephew, Oliver Moore. Seconds into yesterday's first start, Moore fell overboard and Clark crash landed into the wing, which unfortunately suffered significant damage. They had to drop out of this much anticipated regatta. -- Read on: http://nyyc.org/archives_public/article_841/ Results after Day 2 1. Canaan (CAN 9), Fred Eaton/ Magnus Clarke, (2)-2-1-1-1-1, 6 pts 2. Alpha (AUS 1), Glenn Ashby/ Jimmy Spithill, 1-1-(2)-2-2-2, 8 3. Invictus (GBR 38), Paul Larsen/ Gordon Kaiser, 3-(4)-3-3-3-4, 16 4. Orion (CAN 8), Dan Cunningham/ Rob Paterson, (7)-7-7-4-4-3, 25 5. Patient Lady VI (FRA 2),Antoine Koch/Jeremie Lagarrigue,(7)-3-4-7-7-7,28 6. Aethon (USA 104), Steve Clark/ Oliver Moore, (7)-7-7-7-7-7, 35 Event details: http://www.nyyc.org/CCLASS/ Additional information: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/0521/ WHAT HAPPENED: American skipper Steve Clark describers the circumstance surrounding the destruction of his wing on Aethon: http://www.nyyc.org/archives_public/article_840/ OUCH: Here is a video that shows the destruction of Aehon's wing: http://tinyurl.com/2e6d4gf OUT ON A WING The America's Cup rumor mill is back in full swing. The latest story making the rounds has the event being staged in Italy in 2013 using 60-foot wing-masted multihulls. Adding fuel to this rumor is the appearance of BMW Oracle's Glenn Ashby and James Spithill at this week's International C-Class Catamaran Championship, lovingly referred to as the "Little Americas Cup". The duo is sailing the yacht Alpha against five other international teams in the weeklong event, taking place off Newport, R.I. Since wings are all the rage now, and notables such as Juan Kouyoumdjian, Tom Schnackenberg, Kevin Shoebridge, and Dirk DeRidder are in Newport to study the wings, let's explore how a wing rig works on a sailboat. The C-class rule is quite simple. Build a symmetrical catamaran 25 feet long, 14 feet wide, and with a sail area of 300 square feet or less, and you're in. The devil, of course, is in the details. Modern C-class boats are at the cutting edge of design and technology, and the wings are works of art. It's no wonder why BMW Oracle secured the services of Fred Eaton and Magnus Clarke, the current Little America's Cup holders, when they decided to pursue a wing sail for the 33rd America's Cup. The wing, in fact, has been critical to the success of the C class for many years, since a wing can produce nearly twice the driving force of a soft sail of a given area. Typical C-class wings consist of three elements: a twistable leading edge section that doubles as the main load carrying member (Element 1), an interim flap that can deflect to a small angle (Element 2), and a large, slotted, trailing-edge flap that can deflect up to 45 degrees (Element 3). (Due to time constraints and build simplicity, BMW Oracle's wing only consisted of two elements, the leading edge and large, trailing-edge flap.) The wings are built of a series of carbon frames and then covered with heat-shrink plastic-much the same way as a model-airplane wing is built. -- Sailing World, read on for full story and video: http://www.sailingworld.com/blogs/racing/americas-cup/out-on-a-wing ETCHELLS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Dublin, Ireland (August 26, 2010) - Australian John Bertrand's dominance of the Etchells World Championship at Howth Yacht Club continued on day 4 of the regatta with a win in the afternoon race after scoring a disappointing 9th earlier in the day. His lead, however, has been trimmed back by his main rival Ante Razmilovic (GBR) whose 4th and 5th places have closed the gap to 7 points after discards The other Razmilovic - Nils - had mixed fortunes on the day and lies third overall, a further seven points adrift. The 42-boat fleet faced a freshening north-easterly for the start of Race 5, sailing in 18 knots of wind and a choppy sea, which later decreased during the 6th race in the afternoon. The Championship, sponsored by the local Fingal County Council, has three more races on the schedule, two on Friday and one on Saturday, with only one discard allowed for the 9-race series, underlining the need for consistency at this level. Four wins in six races by Bertrand is undoubtedly exceptional consistency! -- Full report: http://www.etchellsworlds2010.org/etchells/Main/news_Day4.htm BIGGEST COMPOSITE CABLE MADE BY NAVTEC Navtec have manufactured the biggest biconic composite cable they have ever supplied to a sailing yacht. And it is only fitting that it is for the world's biggest sailing catamaran, SY Hemisphere. The 145' Van Peteghem Lauriot Prevost-desgined superyacht is being completed at Pendennis, UK and Navtec is supplying the standing rigging. Navtec experts from France and the UK met the US team in Guilford, CT to assemble over one hundred metres of the 70mm diameter plus Kevlar cable. The cap shrouds breaking load is 300 tons! Find out more about Navtec fibre rigging at http://www.navtec.net SKUNKED IN THE MED Cartagena, Spain (August 26, 2010) - Today's sea breeze off Cartagena proved too feeble to allow any racing at the TP52 Audi MedCup Circuit's Caja Mediterraneo Region of Murcia Trophy. The long wait, in stiflingly hot temperatures, proved to be in vain and the race committee sent the fleet back across an almost glassy sea to the historic harbour in Cartagena at just before 1600hrs. Britain's TeamOrigin remains the event leader following the only two races held thus far on Wednesday. Although conditions had looked vaguely promising when the fleet set out, with around 6-7 knots of wind, when the teams assembled around the start area, it was clear that a wait was on the cards. A better forecast is predicted for tomorrow (Friday), where the race schedule has been altered to offer up to three windward-leeward races, thus cancelling the planned coastal race for this regatta. Racing concludes Sunday, August 29th. -- Full report: http://www.medcup.org/news/?id=3782 BACKGROUND: The five event TP 52 Audi MedCup Circuit is acknowledged as the top regatta Circuit in the world today and attracts the very best designers, sailors and technicians. This has inspired many owners and professional sailing teams to compete on the Circuit and to continue to participate along the five year history of what has become Audi MedCup tour. TAKING PRISONERS The ninth annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta is this week on San Francisco, bringing together 13 teams from Australia, New Zealand, and the USA to compete on the Bay during the most volatile time of the year. A unique feature of the regatta is a distance race that is open to Kiteboards and Formula Windsurfers, and this year the Bay was taking prisoners. Read on: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- It blew doors. At 2pm it looked like idyllic conditions of 80 degree 16-18 knot winds and blue skies. By the 5:30pm starting gun the fog had overrun the sun, the wind had jumped to 25 knots and the 3 knot ebb tide had turned the San Francisco Bay in to a cauldron or mini mountains for the record breaking 57 competitors in this year's 2010 Ronstan Bridge to Bridge Race. Hosted annually by the St. Francis Yacht Club the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge is a unique event that is part of the San Francisco International Skiff Regatta. The event is actually race #8 in the 5 day skiff racing series and while on the score card it's just a single race it's unlike any other event in the world. The race is a 7.5 mile all downwind speed dash between two of the Bay Area's iconic bridges. First up the Golden Gate Bridge serves as the starting line while the Bay Bridge is the finish line. Well sort of that is. Actually due to the obvious difficulties of spotting the line inflatable boats and buoys are set as close as possible to the bridges to serve as start/finish lines. This year's wild conditions saw only 33 of the 57 competitors make it to the finish line. In years past the Kiteboards had been given a bit of an edge in that, for safety reasons, they were slotted to the North end of the starting line while the Formula Windsurfers and Skiffs started together on the south end. This placed the Windsurfers and the Skiffs at a bit of a disadvantage in that they would need to make one extra jibe and generally had poorer water and wind conditions off the line. This year however, given the years of experience of running the race, and the high caliber of the competitors the race organizers opened the line up to a single starting line for all. Thirty seconds before the gun went off the audible crunch of two skiffs coming together rang across the fleet. Unfortunately New Zealander Kiwi skiff skipper Graham Catley was injured in a crash just after the gun. The kiwi's leg was severely cut and we hope he is OK. In another smash up Chad Freitas thought at first he had broken his ribs but was looking much better at the awards dinner and it looks like just bruised and battered body parts for him. -- Waterhound, read on for full report, photos, and GPS track: http://tinyurl.com/35ocalr FULL COVERAGE: All the daily reports from the 18ft Skiff International Regatta are posted at the Scuttlebutt Forum: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10310 AN EMPHASIS ON TEAM RACING Over the first three weekends of August, a total of 289 sailors from across the United States as well as a team from England sailed in 225 races in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay off of Goat Island. Amazingly, the New York Yacht Club's August team racing championship series is not over yet. With this coming weekend's Vanguard 15 regatta, 120 more sailors will be out on the bay doing mark traps, passbacks, high-lows and the other competitive team racing tactics. Together with Race Committee and on-the-water umpires, 409 sailors will have participated in nearly 300 races over 12 days of competition. What could be more fun than that! Team racing is arguably the most exciting and spectator-friendly form of sailing. NYYC Past Commodore George Hinman noted "Our commitment to team racing has been a tremendous asset to our club. Our members are able to compete in a format that calls on all their sailing skills, builds lasting friendships and is at the leading edge of the sport. As importantly, it makes our club attractive to younger sailors and as relevant now as it has been across its 166 year history." -- Full report on all the August events: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10436 SAILING SHORTS * Newport, RI (August 26, 2010) - In each of the four classes (2.4 Metre, SKUD-18, Sonar and J/22) competing at the eighth annual C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta for sailors with disabilities, an unbroken winning streak on the second and final day of racing determined the championship winners. The storm that pulled out of the area overnight left behind a perfect day for racing on Narragansett Bay, starting with a 5-7 knot westerly breeze that built to a top speed of 12-14. -- Results: http://www.clagettregatta.org/raceResults/2010/results2010.php * The 2010 Audi Melges 20 U.S. National Championship gets underway August 27-29 at the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club in Holland, Mich. At least twenty-three teams are expected to attend from as far away as California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New York, South Dakota and Washington with several others coming from Canada. Current National Champion Eric Wynsma on Superfly will be seeking to defend his title, with strong competition expected from 2010 Charleston Race Week Champion Michael Kiss on Bacio and Chuck Holzman's Flyer with 2009 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Bora Gulari as tactician. -- Full report: http://www.melges20.com/news-article-1168.php * CORRECTION: In Scuttlebutt 3164, a listing of this week's events from the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar included the Melges 17 U.S. National Championship. However, the class apparently changed the venue and date and did not update the calendar. The event is now being held September 17-19 at Lake Okauchee, WI. PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include a Stone Horse, a new trimaran, a flock of Optis, a perfect start, an Aussie lead, a Melges 32 wipeout, a brilliant idea, and a classic moment. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0827/ 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 When Anthony 'Campo' Campbell signed on to do the round the world Global Challenge race, he didn't know what to expect. He craved adventure, and loved the idea of circumnavigating the globe using nothing but the wind, and wanted to test himself in some of the most inhospitable environments known to man. But that was about it. There was no master plan. He had never sailed before. However, after a couple of training sails beforehand he realised that he could make another of one of his dreams a reality. There was a great film just waiting to be shot. For a year there would be 12 people stuck on a boat that was little bigger than a London bus. They would be up close and personal. They would be tired and in danger. There would be the whole range of emotions. And that is what he did: sailed in the race and documented the experience. But now he is stuck without funding to complete the project. This week's video profiles his excellent trailer: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/10/0827/ BONUS 1: Join 2009 Melges 32 World Champion Pieter Taselaar and his BLIKSEM team as they train on San Francisco Bay for the 2010 World Championship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAcbK4Nctgo BONUS 2: Since J/Boats announced last fall at the U.S. Sailboat Show plans to build their latest model, the J/111, a good deal of buzz has followed it though the design and construction process. Recently launched and now being sea trialed, optimism remains high in the J camp with 34 orders on the books. The editors at SAIL magazine took the J/111 for a test sail - here is the video: http://sailmagazine.com/videos/boat_reviews/introducing_the_j111/ BONUS 3: Every year two great San Francisco Bay area clubs put on the Delta Ditch Run, the point to point drag race of 68 miles from Pt. Richmond to Stockton Sailing Club. It's a lot of boats and one great party at the end! This year was the 20th anniversary that saw 184 entries ride the strong winds in the Bay eastward into the warm weather of the ditch: http://t2p.tv/guide/freeviewers/ddr10b.php BONUS 4: For 24 hours on Saturday, August 28, Brad Churchill, coach of the Boston University sailing team, will rollerblade up and down the coast of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, connecting his hometown of Boston with Durham, NH, home of the UNH Wildcats. He will undertake this daunting task to raise money and awareness for the University of New Hampshire Community Sailing Program and the UNH Sailing Team, which suffered an arson fire on March 3rd 2010: http://www.sailgroove.org/page/24-Hour-Skate-for-UNH 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 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 Ginny Jones: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3164) I can only echo various comments about the value of the SAIL MV sailing program for the island kids here. When I was growing up we had zero chances to participate in any sailing programs. The Yacht Clubs didn't provide many membership opportunities for islanders and our parents were too poor to pay for private instruction. We were on an island, surrounded by spectacular sailing and cruising, but without any opportunities to learn about the maritime world, or to enjoy it. Sail MV has changed all that and now island kids have been able to learn about seamanship, sailing, cruising, and various maritime subjects. There have even been limited opportunities for island kids to make some passages, including one to Bermuda on the SPIRIT OF BERMUDA. It would be wonderful to expand those opportunities -- kids from around the world sailing together -- think of the cultural exchange and how they might contribute to a more peaceful world! But that is not the purpose of the current appeal; Sail MV needs donations to pay for repairs and to replace vandalized equipment. Sail MV depends upon donations and whatever funding can be obtained from events and grants; it is very hard work to raise even the modest amounts of money needed. Using any of those limited funds to make good on the vandalism just limits the sailing opportunities for island kids. Donations can be submitted here: http://www.sailmv.com/support-sail-marthas-vineyard.php * From Jim Champ: This footnote was in Scuttlebutt 3164: "FOUL: The International C-Class Catamaran Championship (I4C) is known, informally, as the 'Little America's Cup' though the event is not licensed to use the name 'America's Cup'. Foul? That's no foul: what was a foul was the behaviour by the greedy sonsofbitches who attempted to stop the Cs using the competition name they'd used for 40 years or more and long before the idea of trademarking a name and getting cash for it had crossed the minds of most sailors... CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION We never really grow up; we only learn how to act in public. Special thanks to Atlantis WeatherGear and Navtec. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
