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SCUTTLEBUTT 3184 - Friday, September 24, 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: Doyle Sails and Team One Newport ISAF WOMEN’S MATCH RACE WORLDS Newport, RI (September 23, 2010) - Today was do or die at the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship. For the third day, the top six had advanced to the Gold where they would race to determine their quarter final rankings. But for the remaining 14 teams, they were split into two Repechage groups that were seeking to avoid elimination and gain one of the two remaining quarter final berths. “We have everything to win and nothing to lose,” said Julie Bossard (FRA), the Repechage B group winner. The three fleets raced in a fading northerly that led to a 180-degree shift for some racers, then a steadying southeast breeze of around eight knots. By days end, the field was reduced by 10 teams. Bossard and Ekaterina Skudina (RUS) were the top two teams of the B group, finishing at sunset today. They will have a first-to-two wins knock-out series tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. against the top two winners of Repechage A. The pairings will be Bossard versus group A runner up Renee Groeneveld (NED), and Skudina versus group A winner Anna Tunnicliffe (USA). The winners of these knockout series will go right into the quarterfinals where number one seed from the Gold fleet, Lucy Macgregor (GBR), will meet the number eight seed. Sally Barkow (USA), seeded second, will meet the seventh seed. The known quarterfinal matches are between the two Australians, Nicky Souter, seeded third, versus Katie Spithill, sixth seed, and Genny Tulloch (USA), fourth, versus Claire Leroy (FRA), fifth seed. The forecast for Friday and Saturday is vintage fall sailing here with bright sunshine and building southerlies in the mid teens. -- Michael Levitt, NYYC Event website: http://nyyc.org/ISAFWOMENS/ Scorecard: http://nyyc.org/gui/nyyc1/uploadedfiles/Dups/WMRWresults.pdf Competitor blogs: Julie Bossard (FRA): http://www.windupsailing.blogspot.com Claire Leroy (FRA): http://www.mermaidsailingteam.blogspot.com/ Lucy Macgregor (GBR): http://www.matchracegirls.com/ Samantha Osborne (NZL): http://www.silversailsracing.com/ Genny Tulloch (USA): http://getsailing.org/ Anna Tunnicliffe (USA): http://www.annatunnicliffe.com/ TROUBLE IN TORONTO With the America’s Cup moving toward winged multihulls, the C-Class catamaran has been in the spotlight. Unfortunately for Steve Clark, who is one of the godfathers of the class, his latest design Aethon (USA 104) has recently experienced a couple of notable failures. The first was during the 2010 International C-Class Catamaran Championship (August 22-28) in Newport, RI, when Clark and crew Oliver Moore capsized and destroyed their wing seconds after the start of the first race. The latest was this week in Toronto, where Clark had hoped to test Aethon (USA 104) against the winner of the 2010 ICCC, Fred Eaton and Magnus Clarke on Canaan (CAN 9). Steve picks up the story here: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We went to Toronto to sail with Fred and Magnus. Oliver and I were trying to get some closure after crashing so spectacularly in Newport. How good is this platform really? Fred wanted to know as well, so he agreed to loan us the Orion (CAN 8) wing for a few days of two boat testing. It would not be exactly a recreation of what could have happened in Newport, but it should be mutually instructive. We assembled and set out (on Tuesday, Sept. 21st), winds were south 12-15, but the Lake Ontario sea state was doing its big confused wave thing. So while it wasn't necessarily windy, it was pretty testing. Oliver and I don't really agree on whether or not we would have been racing in those conditions. Fred Eaton was in the middle of a family emergency, so Canaan was being helmed by Magnus Clark with Rob Paterson as crew. They were cautious because this is not their best team and so were showing an abundance of caution. After sailing upwind for several miles, we turned back toward the harbor. Magnus was being very cautious with their varsity boat. I on the other hand was trying to make Aethon go fast in a confused sea state. I had given a lot of thought to this during the design process and so was testing how well those compromises had worked. So we weren't just sailing back to the beach but experimenting with different crew positions, sailing angles and wing settings in order to get Aethon settled down and trucking. About 2 miles from shore there was a loud crack/bang and the platform folded up. The wing went down in between the bows and Oliver and I are the meat in a wing nut taco. The rescue effort was difficult and ultimately not much of the wing was salvaged. The Toronto Police were testing propellers on their big RIB and were able to tow the broken platform to the safety of the RCYC. We have not completed the forensic analysis of what went wrong. The Aethon platform was subjected to several complete thrashings in the work up to Newport and we were highly confident in it. The engineering was grounded on actual loans taken from strain gauges bonded to the Cogito platform, and the platform had been dry land tested to loads well above the loads recorded. So either the beam was damaged in Newport or our understanding of the loads is incorrect. Reviewing the tape of the capsize shows that could have damaged the beam and that we should have retested the platform before sailing again. I hope that in the next few days to get the local experts on fractured carbon to examine the broken bits and give me an opinion. -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10563 NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER? Make your sailing easier and more enjoyable without breaking the bank. Convert to a Doyle StackPack. It can be added to your existing mainsail - your mainsail doesn't have to be new, and it doesn't have to be Doyle. Doyle StackPack is the ultimate mainsail handling system. Call your local Doyle loft now for best prices of the year and 20% off a TidesTrack with the purchase of a StackPack. Visit: http://www.doylesails.com/stackpack ANOTHER FULL TILT DAY San Francisco, CA (September 23, 2010) - The second day of the Melges 32 World Championship continued much like the opener, with winds in the 20’s providing drag race conditions both upwind and downwind. And along with the motor racing metaphor, there were its share of crashes too. With the intent of the event to hold ten races, there has been some front loading in the schedule. While the entrants were battered after the three race session on Wednesday, they pleaded for a mere doubleheader today. However, with winds expected to soften near the end of the four day event, they received more than they wanted - another bruising three race day. Posting consistent scores is proving to be one part speed, one part tactics, and several parts boat handling. As local skipper Don Jesberg said before the event, “We’re all struggling with the boats being over-powered all the time. Downwind, they are full lit up. It’s typical that on a run, you may tip over - that’s part of the game. Whoever can minimize mistakes in a big breeze going downwind will make a big difference.” Protest pending at press time involve Red (GBR 700), Bronco (USA 184), and Dark and Stormy (USA 151). Here are the preliminary results (Top 10 of 32): 1. B-lin sailing, ITA23, Luca Lalli - 15, 6, 1, 8, 8, 2, [15] ; 25 2. Rougarou, USA136, Andy Lovell - 2, 4, 3, 25, 13, 6, [25] ; 28 3. Leenabarca, USA174, Alex Jackson - 10, 5, 4, 21, 6, 5, [21] ; 30 4. FULL Throttle, USA49, John Porter - 3, 23, 10, 4, 4, 11, [23] ; 32 5. STAR, USA32, Jeff Ecklund - 6, 19, 9, 13, 1, 8, [19] ; 37 6. Goombay Smash, USA142, William Douglass - 13, 1, 14, 1, 25, 9, [25] ; 38 7. Bliksem, USA169, Pieter Taselaar - 23, 12, 2, 14, 2, 13, [23] ; 43 8. Warpath, USA32917, Steve Howe - 33/DSQ, 9, 17, 5, 12, 1, [33] ; 44 9. roXanne, USA77, Kip Meadows - 17, 7, 13, 6, 19, 3, [19] ; 46 10. Teasing Machine, FRA202 , Jean François Cruette - 22,17,6,3,16,7,[22];49 Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/2010-M32-Worlds Complete crew lists: http://www.melges32.com/?p=news&id=672 Sailgroove Live video and replay: http://tinyurl.com/2010-M32-Worlds-video Kattack GPS tracking: http://tinyurl.com/Kattack-M32-Worlds GRAND PRIX YACHTING IN THE MEDITERRANEAN Cagliari, Italy (September 23, 2010) - Skipper Guillermo Parada’s (ARG) Matador team exorcised last season’s ghost of Sardinia and lifted their coastal race jinx today when they won the 1.5 points multiplier 30 miles passage to picturesque Poetteo and back. In 2009, Matador lead this coastal race but erred too close to the point at the Devil’s Saddle and ran out of breeze, letting a handful of boats pass them. But today, with Vasco Vascotto and Francesco Bruni combining on tactical choices along with navigator Bruno Zirilli, the Italian trio ensured that Matador did not put a foot wrong and were able to win by a comprehensive 1 minute and 46 seconds. In a light to moderate sea breeze, which built to 12kts midway through the race, the start was critical, setting the order for the windward mark, where Matador lead. "At the start we were kind of concerned we didn't know which side to take, so we were sort of lucky at the beginning, starting at the pin end,” admitted Matador tactician Francesco Bruni (ITA). Bruni also revealed how they used an A3 during the race, which only Matador and TeamOrigin have, and that helped them open a gap on the fleet. “We were in a good position to use it, cause we were at the front. And then the long reach came and there's where we made the bigger gains, that was the best part." -- Full report: http://www.medcup.org/news/?id=4072 Racing concludes on Saturday. Here are the results after Day 3: 1. Matador (ARG), 2+8+2+1+5+1+1,5= 20,5 points 2. Synergy (RUS), 6+5+3+4+1+5+7,5= 31,5 3. Quantum Racing (USA), 9+3+7+2+6+4+3= 34 4. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 8+2+1+10+2+3+9= 35 5. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), 5+1+5+6+3+11(DNF)+6= 37 6. TeamOrigin (GBR), 7+4+4+8+4+2+10,5= 39,5 7. Bribón (ESP), 1+9+8+3+8+3(RDG)+8(RDG)= 40 8. Artemis (SWE), 3+6+10+5+9+8+4,5= 45,5 9. Cristabella (GBR), 4+10+6+9+7+6+12= 54 10. Luna Rossa (ITA), 10+7+9+7+10+7+13,5= 63,5 MedCup photos and video: http://www.medcup.org/gallery/ SHOWTIME: Audi MedCup TV is offering live racing action from the race course including real time 3-D tracking with VirtualEye Interactive. Details: http://www.medcup.org/home/ MATHEMATICS: With this being the final event of the 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit, Emirates Team New Zealand had mathematically defended their 2009 title following the racing on Tuesday. SAILING SHORTS * Hoorn, the Netherlands (September 23, 2010) - Light winds again greeted the 82 boats on the third day of the 2.4mR World Championship. The fleet added two more races to their total of eight, with Canadians Paul Tingley and Bruce Millar now holding the top two spots in the standings. Three more races are scheduled before the championship concludes on Saturday. -- Full report: http://www.sailing.ca/features/2010_24_world_championships/ * Sheboygan, WI (September 23, 2010) - The U.S. Men's and Women's Championships started this afternoon at the US Sailing Center of Sheboygan. This annual US SAILING Adult National Championship is a four-day event that runs through Sunday. The Malletts Bay Boat Club’s Heather Rowe-Ambrose is in a tie for the lead with the San Francisco Yacht Club’s Katie Maxim in the women’s Lightning fleet. Ken Kleinschrodt (Buccaneer YC) and crew Benz Faget (New Orleans YC/Southern YC) and Bill Culberson (Buccaneer YC) won the first two men’s Sonar fleet races and finished third in race three to take a one-point lead. -- Full story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10564 * Rochester, NY (September 23, 2010) - The 2010 Melges 24 North American Championship got underway today with the 19 boat fleet completing four races. In winds that slowly built through the day from around 6 knots to the mid teens, Corinthian competitors Adam and Lori Burns sailing USA378 Presto are leading the fleet having finished in second place in all four races. Alan Field in USA 811 WTF is lying second just one point behind them with Henry Filter sailing USA721 Wild Child in third eight points back. Complete results: http://www.myyc.org/uploads/racePdf/6bc1c5a11db296aff39b588202ef1a27.pdf * The latest ISAF World Sailing Rankings were released this week, with the next release to be on December 15, 2010 up to and including the Sydney International Regatta in Australia. North American skippers ranked in the top five are all from the U.S.: 2. Paige Railey (Laser Radial); 4. Zach Railey (Finn); 3. Mark Mendelblatt (Star); 5. George Szabo (Star); 5. Anna Tunnicliffe (Women’s Match Racing). -- Full report: http://www.sailing.org/news/34406.php * (September 23, 2010) - Brad Van Liew arrived in La Rochelle, France today, having sailing his Eco 60 Le Pingouin more than 4,000 miles to mark his qualifying sail to compete in the upcoming solo race around the world. A small crew accompanied Van Liew on the transatlantic voyage from Charleston, South Carolina to France, a perk allowed by VELUX 5 OCEANS race officials based on Van Liew's two previous solo circumnavigation races. This offered Van Liew the chance to utilize a team to fully test his boat under various extreme conditions. The V5O race starts October 17th. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/V50-092310 * The Canadian Yachting Association Nominating Committee has announced the final list of candidates for the Board of Directors to be elected at the CYA Annual General Meeting on Saturday, October 30, 2010. The Board of Directors comprises of the President, six Directors at Large and two Athlete Directors. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/CYA-092310 WHEW… The staff @ Team One Newport have survived another exciting Newport International Boat Show and have one more ‘Boat Show Special’ up our sleeves… Get 40% OFF all Magic Marine in store and online. This includes smocks, jackets, salopettes & gloves! When shopping online add SSB2010 to your shopping cart and your discount will be applied before your order ships. Visit http://www.team1newport.com or call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327). Alternatively, mention this add at our retail store to get the discount! While supplies last or until September 27, 2010. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter.com/teamonenewport or join us on Facebook at Team One Newport Inc for future sales and promotions! PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include a sword fight, fall training, fear of elevation, sprit straddling, Flintstone generation, king Larry, king Scott, and the new Foncia. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0924/ BONUS 1: The world’s most famous sailing amphitheatre, aka San Francisco Bay, was on display last week during the Rolex Big Boat Series. And thanks to photographers Daniel Forster, Erik Simonson, Dave Keane, Chris Ray, and Charlie Bergstedt, we now have the images on the Scuttlebutt website to prove it: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/bbs/ BONUS 2: The America’s Cup has long been a source of innovation and technology, with much of these discoveries trickling down into the various corners of the sport. For those that are not thrilled with all the changes, and would like to wind back the clock, here are some images from the 12 Meter North Americans to help bring back - metaphorically speaking - the good ol’ days: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0922 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 Red Bull Flugtag (German translation: air show) is an event in which competitors attempt to fly homemade human-powered flying machines off a pier. Most do a better job of falling into the water than flying over it. When the event came to Long Beach, CA last month, a record breaking crowd of 105,000 people attended the event. So what does this have to do with sailing? The harbor that hosted the event is one of the venues that made a presentation to host the 34th America’s Cup. While the focus is now on San Francisco as the lone North American city being considered to host the Cup, this does not preclude Long Beach from possibly hosting a pre-event. This sailing area has long been known to provide strong winds and convenient racing, but now we know they also have a lot of people that like to party. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/10/0924/ BONUS 1: The St. Francis Yacht Club last week hosted the "grandaddy" of grand prix racing on San Francisco Bay, and T2PTV was there to produce daily video reports. View here: http://www.t2p.tv/guide/bbs10.php BONUS 2: Come onboard James Mitchell’s RP 52 Vincitore during the start sequence and first beat of the Rolex Big Boat Series 2010 in San Francisco. Watch Kiwi helm Chris Dickson whip the wheel around like he was back home sailing a P Class dinghy. Video by Ultimate Yachtshots: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzxPfzUgLyA 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 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 are 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 Doug Welsh: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3183) As a sailor who happens to own a power boat, I recently discovered the joys of ethanol usage and the damage it can do. Recently our 31 Bertram sport fisher had to have its fiberglass gas tanks replaced because the ethanol in the gas had eaten through the fiberglass. Nothing like getting to replace them with stainless steel tanks and an unscheduled trip to the yard. * From Mike Esposito, Chicago: While I dislike the boat selection by the America’s Cup Defender and Challenger of Record, who, when they were faced with a choice between apples and oranges, they went bananas. I’m also prepared to step back and see if they are right. After all, they aren’t going to change their minds no matter how much others whine, they don’t really want input from anyone older than 29 (if that old) from outside their own compounds and, really, since the old AC audience didn’t rally enough viewership, who needs them, right? Go with the kids. The folks that the old time racin’ sailors should address are the Louis Vuitton people, who seem to be pulling the plug on a very nice series to jump back in bed with the Auld Mug. Maybe it’s not too late to save good, close monohull racing under their banner, while the AC runs off to its silly battle of the oddities. Think of the LV series as NASCAR and the AC as the Indy Racing League. There’s still an IRL, right? * From Ray Tostado: Given the length and width of the S F Bay, then factor in the commercial traffic and the, likely to be banned during event, pleasure boats; no, 35 kt boats are not the best selection. These are open water racers and after the first million "ohhhs and ahhhs", as to their technology, very boring to watch. I want to see crews making mistakes; challenging each other with rapid tacking duels. What happened to the "mano a mano? There is no authentic America's Cup in existence today. Give it back to NYYC, let them draw up new rules, race it in Newport and let the billionaires play their own games in some virtual coliseum. * From Lucia Nebel White, 87 year old Star boat sailor: It was a sight to behold last Saturday when we watched the Twelve Meters cruise around Newport Harbor. These boats were so beautiful, and also other Yachts , Schooners, Yawls, Ketches - big vintage motor boats , a "Rumrunner" and even a small Tug boat. It was like a painting with the light coming from the West. Please let the Twelves race for the America’s Cup again. Return the Cup, with grace, to the New York Yacht Club --- to which it was given in 1887 by George L. Schuyler , in the Deed of Gift . Put it back in the Trophy room at 44th Street - and let the billionaires and advertising men have their own Cup - which is more in keeping with their style. * From John Oliver: I see stories of wind farms being planted in many areas used by sailors in the North sea, the Celtic sea, and with many more planned for the U.S. and other coasts. I'm sure someone has done the studies, but I've never seen any of the results. - Does the turbine extract energy from the wind, is the wind shadow just a mush with low pressure, or is it all twisted or roiled up, how far does the shadow extend? - How capable are these structures of withstanding extreme wind speeds? - Is that why there are none existing or planned for the Caribbean? These things are being planted all over and I wonder if any of Scuttlebutt’s readers have any knowledge they could pass on. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Can you help regarding John’s question? Please send by email or post here: Forum: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10534 Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/Wind-Farms-FB CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “Absolute maximum growth is probably incompatible with maximum quality.” - Larry Ellison, Founder/CEO of Oracle Corporation. Special thanks to Doyle Sails and Team One Newport. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
