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SCUTTLEBUTT 2597 - May 15, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. AMERICAN TEAM RACERS CONTINUE DOMINANT STREAK Last weekend the New York Yacht Club team Silver Panda, comprised of Clay Bischoff/ Martha Carleton, Colin Merrick/ Amanda Callahan, and Pete Levesque/ Mandi Markee, defended their title at the 2008 British Open Team Racing Championship, becoming the first ever American team to repeat as winners. The team is picking up where they left off in 2007, wherein they garnered the unofficial triple crown of team racing: the British Open, the US Nationals, and the ISAF Worlds. Here is an excerpt from Levesque’s report: “Video cameras were rolling for a spectacular final series (against fellow Larchmont YC, USA) that saw old friends and rivals meet again and where each of the 6 boats had a past or current Team Racing World Champion in it. The Pandas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead winning the first race 1-2-4. Race 2 was one of the most exciting, interesting and classic 1-4-5 / 2-3-6 battles any of the competitors remember being part of. It was so intense that I can barely remember what happened other than the Pandas converted a 2-3-6 into a 2-3-4 on the run. The final beat involved so many tacks, circles lead changes and combination changes that I can't even pretend to sort out the details. So, on to race 3.” -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0514 DON’T HATE ME ‘CAUSE YOU AIN’T ME Ya, Ben Ainslie’s a Brit, part of that dominant Olympic sailing team, plus he is good looking. Probably has nice manners too. All in all, the kind of qualities to wish for. Therefore, human nature says we’d like to see him fail, right? Steal his girlfriend, slip him a mickey, give him wrong directions… who could blame you? Last week it looked like the 5-time Finn World Champion, 3-time Olympic medalist, was going to stub his toe in the Finn Europeans, really get a big, bloody stump. Guess again. Here is his report following the victory: “I'm finished with racing. Well, for the next three months anyway. The European Championships have just ended in Italy for my Finn class and that's it for me and my main rivals until we all meet again in China. So it was nice to lay down another marker before the Olympics by claiming victory off the coast of Tuscany. It was a difficult one to pull off, though. The conditions were changing the whole time and for a number of reasons it was not the best regatta I've sailed. At one stage it even looked as if I might not make the top ten and going into Saturday's medal round I was eight points behind Guillaume Florent, of France, meaning I had to beat him by four places to take the title. Florent and I have what you might call “form”. In the second race of the Olympics in Athens four years ago, he made an official protest that I had blocked his right of way. I didn't agree, but the judges disqualified me from that race. Fortunately, I did well enough in the subsequent races to win my second Olympic gold medal.” -- Times Online, read on: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/sailing/article3912724.ece NEW LEADER AT TP 52 MEDCUP CIRCUIT OPENER Alicante, Spain (May 14, 2008) -- The second day of the 2008 Audi MedCup Circuit belonged to Peter de Ridder’s new Mean Machine, scoring back to back wins in Race 4 and Race 5 of the regatta. But it is the current holders of the City of Alicante Trophy, Bribón, whose consistency across three good quality races today earns them an overall lead of eight points after five races. Jose Cusi’s Bribon, with double Olympic medallist Ross Macdonald (CAN) calling tactics for helm Dean Barker (NZL), won the first race and then posted a pair of fourth places to lead the American afterguard duo of Terry Hutchinson (helm) and Morgan Larson (tactics) onboard Quantum Racing, while the 2005 MedCup Champions, Mutua Madrilena skippered by Vasco Vascotto (ITA) sit third overall. Day one sweethearts Tau Ceramica Andalucia, who won both races on Monday sailing 2007 MedCup champion boat Artemis, have dropped to fourth overall after averaging 8th place in the second day races. With the sun breaking through later in the afternoon the breeze increased across the races to provide a great blend of tactical racing in 5-7 knots in the first contest, giving way to a more physically demanding 15-16 knots in the third. Once onshore, Bribon had to sweat it out due to a protest against them by Platoon, but it was later dismissed after considerable deliberation. Wednesday is the 30-mile coastal race, which has a scoring gate half way through the race, with each entrant’s position passing through the scoring gate and the final finish line counting as two separate scores. -- Event site: http://2008.medcup.org/home PERON & DANET TAKE THIRD AT TRANSAT AG2R WITH ULLMAN SAILS Congratulations to the Concarneau-St. Barth team skippers Eric Peron and Miguel Danet who took third place in the 9th Transat AG2R Tuesday afternoon after 23 days, 9 minutes and 26 seconds of racing. Peron and Danet, sailing with Ullman Sails, were awarded the trophy for the most progress in 24 hours FIVE times during the race as they accelerated through the fleet last week, moving from 27th to 1st place. The team finished the race just over five hours behind the winner ‘SNEF et Cliptol Sport.’ Contact a local Ullman Sails loft and visit our new website at http://www.ullmansails.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK This week’s video is a brilliant spoof from the movie “A Few Good Men” (1992) which starred Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore. In this particular scene, Lieutenant Kaffee (Cruise) is questioning Colonel Jessep (Nicholson) in court, which leads to the famous “You can’t handle the truth” speech. For our video, this outstanding production adapts the speech toward a storyline that had a bowman cut the spinnaker halyard on a ‘samurai douse’, and who is later confronted regarding his decision in the bar when the high cost of the replacement halyard is learned. Really funny! As a bonus, we also have the Cruise-Nicholson video, and that section of the script. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/08/0512 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: May 15-18 - J/24 National Championship - Staten Island, NY, USA May 15-18 - Oregon Offshore International Yacht Race - Astoria, OR, USA May 16-18 - North American Albacore Championships - Rock Hall, MD, USA May 17-18 - Jamie Boeckel Fund Memorial Regatta - Oyster Bay, NY, USA May 17-18 - Lipton Cup - San Diego, CA, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * After two of the nine stages of the World Match Racing Tour, Team Pindar skippered by Ian Williams leads the World Match Racing Championship standings with by one point over Sweden’s Bjorn Hansen. Team Shosholoza’s Paolo Cian and Damien Iehl are two points back in a tie for third. The World Tour now heads to Korea for the first time for the Korea Match Cup on June 10-15, which boasts $320,000 in prize money to make it the richest event on this year’s World Tour. The event will take place in the Gyeonggi province as part of a new marina development and the Korean International Boat Show. -- http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/da/79013 * Nick Peate, a member of the Australian team that was to compete in the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in Denmark this July, suddenly passed away last weekend after experiencing depression. He was just 17. -- Full story: http://www.northernstar.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3772429 * The ISAF Sailor Classification Code has been updated to clarify the affect of paid-for advertising on a sailor's classification. The changes to the Code follow the ISAF Council’s approval of Urgent Submission M05-08 at the 2008 ISAF Mid-Year Meeting in Qingdao, China. The ISAF Sailor Classification Code is a service provided by ISAF, giving events and classes a cost-free, international system for classification of sailors. -- http://www.sailing.org/23325.php * France continues to dominate at the top of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings as Mathieu Richard and Claire Leroy hold on to the world #1 spots as of May 14, 2008. Both French skippers hold significant leads over their nearest rivals after an impressive start to their 2008 seasons. Their success is just the pinnacle of a very impressive performance from the French match racing team, who count a total of six skippers in the world top ten across the Open and Women’s Rankings. -- http://www.sailing.org/23324.php * (May 14, 2008) The leading Open 60 pack in the solo Artemis Transat is still amazingly tight in terms of distance to the finish, after more than 800 miles spent at sea following their start last Sunday in Plymouth. Tactically speaking, the big question of the day lies within the 80-mile latitude gap separating the top six boats in the 13 boat fleet. Class40 leader Giovanni Soldini’s Telecom Italia holds a 19 mile lead over the 10 other entrants, as both fleets head toward the finish in Boston, MA. Race officials announced today that a 36-hour positions blackout will start Friday at 18:00 GMT. -- Race site: http://www.theartemistransat.com * (May 14, 2008) The ten catamaran teams competing in the six leg 500-mile race from Key Largo, FL to Tybee Island, GA have completed their fourth leg from Cocoa Beach, FL to Daytona Beach, FL, though damage is starting to become a factor. Chief amongst today’s incidents was the dismasting of Marleys Orange while passing Cape Canaveral, a broken spinnaker pole following a rough beach landing by Marleys White, and some undisclosed damage that caused Team Moose-Burd to limp home in last. Team Tybee gained another leg victory to further pad their overall elapsed time lead. -- Event site: http://www.tybee500.com * A record 32 competitors from 18 nations will get funding support from ISAF's Athlete Participation Programme to attend the 2008 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, which will take place in Arhus, Denmark from July 10-19. Sailors from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America will all benefit from the APP this year, an ISAF initiative to expand the global reach of key events by assisting with entry and travel costs for athletes from those countries who may not otherwise be able to participate at the championship, and also provide them top-level coaching once on site. -- Complete report: http://www.sailing.org/23192.php?PHPSESSID=93e4f1aa2c9ca3f77adad32f6cf3a047 FRONT OF THE BOAT, FRONT OF THE FLEET Stay in front this season with Harken’s Carbo Racing Foil. Built of high-strength, impact-resistant engineering resins, the foil’s super-smooth twin sail grooves let the bowman set, douse, and change headsails fast. For bowman tips on how to prepare for the hoist, choose the correct groove/ halyard combination, and change headsails when you’re overpowered, visit http://www.harken.com/furling/Carbo_Foil_2008.php 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 John Rousmaniere: Once again we see how prescient John Cox Stevens and George L. Schuyler were when they kept the deed of gift simple and focused on putting on a race. The judge's job is to lay out their rules, not play Daddy and work things out to the perfect convenience of the parties. The deed allows racing in March, correct? It also allows the parties to negotiate almost everything, correct? The two sides have plenty of room and opportunity to follow his order without further instructions. So let's get on with it. * From Adrian Morgan: Glad to see the smug, holier than thou Oracle have been told by Judge Cahn to give the poor, downtrodden Swiss a sporting chance to get a cat on the water in time for a proper match. Just waiting for them to declare what weapon they intend to wield or we'll have an ignominious mismatch (again). As for the venue, let them do it somewhere out of sight in the Southern Ocean so we don't have to endure any more pathetic bickering between these spoilt billionaires. Or maybe just scrap the match and donate the proceeds to Burmese cyclone relief (fat chance). * From Matt Bounds, US SAILING Club Race Officer: (re, letter in #2596 about weather cancelling racing at Detroit Cup) I was a member of the race committee team for this event. At the skipper’s meeting on the last day, the Umpires and PRO set an upper wind limit of 25 kts sustained, at which time boats would be sent to shelter to await further instructions. We were able to complete one flight of matches with wind in the low 20’s before it spiked up into the mid 30’s, at which time the boats were sent to the dock. We had already observed several breakdowns and one capsize (by the eventual winner of the event) before that happened. We were having a hard time keeping the marks in place, despite being anchored in only 25 ft of water. Eventually, the committee boat broke loose, even with a large anchor, 35 feet of chain, lots of scope, and 60 lbs of mushroom anchors to keep the rode on the bottom. Conditions were monitored until 2:30 PM. The wind never went below 25 kts sustained and frequently gusted to the mid 30’s. This event was sailed on club-owned boats. If Mr. Levy was willing to reimburse Bayview Yacht Club for the damages caused by match racing in such conditions, I’m sure they wouldn’t have cancelled further racing. However, they made the prudent and appropriate decision for the sake of the competitors and the club’s property. * From Andy Rose: (Re: Earthrace) At risk of disagreeing with my good friend Craig Fletcher, all biodiesel and ethanol is not bad, in fact if you produce them in the right way, they could contribute significant beneficial results. Both biodiesel and ethanol can and are being produced from waste materials both agricultural and otherwise and those technologies should be encouraged. However, he is correct that corn and subsidy based ethanol produced in the United States is probably more part of the problem than the solution. * From Capt. Scott Rhoads: (re, story in #2595) What! A cap on Open 60's?! Oh no, please say it isn't so. We already have a bunch of classes that are capped and doing just fine. There is a never ending supply of capped boats and PHRF for those of us that need to stay on a "normal" budget. We can also create a new class called the Not Quite So Open 60's and that would be fine. If you can't take the heat or can't find the money you can race in any of these classes. But to cap the Open 60's would be a crime. Now I want to make it clear that I do not have the budget or skill to handle one of these new boats. I have enough of a challenge with the older model Open 60 that I currently sail. At the same time, I am a fan of the ultimate sailors that challenge themselves and our imaginations with these unlimited boats. I am not one of the top sailors and don't pretend to be but it does look like the real top dogs are about to show thier faces to the crowd. No limits will be their cry. Please don't even start thinking of putting these most demanding of boats on a diet. Let the top dogs run in the top boats and let’s cheer for them. * From Doug Mills: (re, sailing language story in #2596) Sorry to be a curmudgeon, but John Riise's commentary distresses me. We live in a world where everything around us is increasingly dumbed down, such as classes in all levels of schools which set intellectual challenge aside to make learning fun, fun, fun, and news media that feature light hearted commentaries rather than serious analysis of the day's events, to name just two. Tradition in many areas of our life is being tossed aside as irrelevant to today's moment, with its emphasis on sound bites and flashy schematic images that scamper across our screens in seconds. Sailing terminology, most of which an interested person may learn in minutes of modest effort, is a delightful and charming part of our language. Part of the fun and intrigue of entering the sailing community is learning these terms and incorporating them into one's thoughts and language. Isn't there any area of our life free from attacks from those who want to reduce everything around us to bland pablum? I know many young people who delight in learning about interesting traditions, despite the deluge of banal trivia we are immersed in these days. -- View and add comments here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/05/sailing-language.html * From Jamie Ewing, NYC/Charleston: (re, judge certification story in #2596) There seem to be two types of commenters here (in the Scuttleblog comments section): active judges who sail occasionally and active sailors who judge occasionally. A well-constituted jury should encompass both. Problems, however, can arise when one group superimposes a good idea for them on the other. In this case, active judges want to keep their standards as high as possible, which poses an undue burden on active sailors. In addition reducing the number of judges available, increasing the requirements would also separate the full-time judges further from the sport they judge, which is already a contentious issue in our sport. Active sailors would find it more difficult to become certified judges while maintaining themselves at the level of competition they enjoy. This outcome benefits no one, and thus, a consideration of further time requirements to certify judges - without provisions for those who actively sail - would be foolhardy. An alternative that would accommodate and encourage active sailors to judge would be some sort of sliding scale, where first any seminars and then required regatta judging to maintain certification would be reduced (though never below a certain baseline) in proportion to the number of juried class or rule-sanctioned regattas one sails each year. -- View and add comments here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/05/certification-process.html CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see a guy without an erection, then he is looking for a sandwich. Special thanks to Ullman Sails and Harken Yacht Equipment. Thanks also to new website advertisers LaserPerformance and Line Honors Performance Sailing Supply. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
