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SCUTTLEBUTT 2153 - August 7, 2006
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary,
opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
SEEKING A WIDER FOLLOWING
For 150 years America's Cup has existed on the fringe of athletics. A
sport for the rich. But, corporations have come to the game, dumping in
hundreds of millions of sponsorship dollars, and they want their
investment to pay off. Tell a cup athlete that his beloved sport is
often perceived as an elitist activity for billionaires and you'll
likely get this: "You know I take issue with that from a sporting
standpoint. Everybody can get a used sailboat and out to the beach and
enjoy themselves," said Alinghi helmsman, Ed Baird.
Thus, the marketing dilemma for this sport. How to take sailing from the
fringe to the mainstream. "That is an interesting question because
there's quite a lot of debate in the sailing world as to what is the
right level," said Seahorse magazine editor, Andrew Hurst.. And what I
would say is this corporate arena, with all the money that comes in. To
me, this is not really living on the back of mainstream marketing. In
other words, billionaire sailors love to entertain at their Spanish
regattas, but there isn't an international broadcast deal and even the
most rabid sports fans would have great difficulty distinguishing
between a keep and a spinnaker, a grinder and a downwind trimmer.
There are loyal fans. When the BMW Oracle guys showed up at a Valencia
autograph session, they were received like rock stars. There are two
business icons leading the charge for more fans and a wider acceptance.
"In terms of billionaire personalities, you'd have to say Ernesto and
Larry," said Hurst. "They're mega-stars on the Forbes scale and they've
become mega-stars in the sailing scale." Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry
Ellison have dramatically increased exposure and corporate sponsorship
dollars. Allinaz, BMW and Oracle back the Ellison boat. UBS and BT
Infonet back Bertarelli's Alinghi.
The message sponsors try to exploit: The power of teamwork. Messages
appearing in external and internal campaigns, a mantra for sales and
marketing managers. "In investments, you have short-term tactical moves
so it's not so much the association with a premium sport, but an
association with a sport that's about team work. That's about long-term
goals and it's about making adjustments to get to that goal", said Phil
Neugebauer, director of marketing for Allianz. -- MSNBC, full story:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14064453/
GETTING IT RIGHT
Fair Do's VII's outright victory as the best boat in the Black Group
half of the entry at Skandia Cowes Week is good news for more than just
its owner, Prof John Shepherd, and his crew. It is heartening for the
critical mass of the cruiser-racer market. Sleek and gunmetal grey, Fair
Do's VII is a 46-footer designed by Jason Ker and drives home the
message that the rule-makers can get it right for the benefit of all.
All rating rules produce a characteristic type of yacht as their
algorithms whir and grind the numbers to assess the factors which make a
yacht fast, such as length and sail area, and match them against the
go-slow factors, such as weight. The trouble is that in the past the
rules have produced some pretty unpleasant yachts.
Fair Do's VII is the epitome of a modern IRC rule boat. With plenty of
sail carrying power, it is efficient upwind, fast downwind,
well-mannered in its handling and has a safe and simple rig. In a
nutshell, it is how you want a boat to be. So here is a racing boat that
is genuinely dual purpose. Pencilled into Fair Do's VII's 2008 diary is
racing in the Scottish Series next May and it will stay up there to
cruise the west coast. -- Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, full story:
http://tinyurl.com/zyslp
THREE CONTINENTS SHARE THE PODIUM
Marina del Rey, Calif.- Lijia Xu said, modestly, that her victory in the
women's Laser Radial Worlds is not the first world sailing championship
for a citizen of the Peoples Republic of China. A girl much younger than
her 19 years won back-to-back Optimist class titles at Qingdao, China in
2001 and Houston, Tex. in 2002. A girl named Lijia Xu. But, she added,
"Maybe it's the first in an Olympic class," which the Radial will be
when Xu's career comes full circle to her native country for the 2008
Olympics.
This may not make her another Yao Ming back home---"Oh, he's the most
famous athlete in China," she said of the NBA Houston Rockets'
center---but her English is much better than his. "I just learned it
myself," she said, "watching American movies [and TV] like Prison Break
and Desperate Housewives. It's a good way to learn English." Xu was
hardly desperate as she sailed into the last 2 of 12 races with a
12-point lead over Germany's Petra Niemann and 25 on Belgium's Evi Van
Acker, this year's European champion. Mexico's Tania Elias Calles Wolf
won the first race in 9 knots of fairly steady wind to score second
overall. Xu finished fourth for a mathematical wrap-up and called it a
regatta.
No. 2-ranked Anna Tunnicliffe, 23, of Florida, led the event at mid-week
until she nosedived to sixth Thursday. She said before Friday's racing,
"There are still two races to go and I'm already concentrating on
turning on a better performance." Sure enough, she bounced back with two
third places to finish in fourth place as the top American.
Meanwhile, Xu sailed back to the host California Yacht Club, and Paige
Railey didn't last that long. The struggling 19-year-old star of the
class from Florida---defending champion and No. 1 rank in the
world---drew her third yellow flag of the week from on-water judges for
violating Rule 42, which concerns three basic types of kinetics to
propel the boat: pumping the sail, sculling the rudder
and---appropriately, the way her week had gone---rocking the boat.
When she was yellow-flagged for the latter on the first upwind leg of
the first race, giving her a sweep of Rule 42 for the week, she was
compelled to drop out, a stunning end to what may have been the toughest
week of her young career. Technically, with the Big DSQ, she wound up
last among 45 Gold class finalists with all of her results purged from
the scoring. Altogether, including the Silver fleet won by Hanne Hansch
of Germany, there were 89 women from 31 countries.
And now, the California Yacht Club is gearing up for 181 sailors, ages
15 to 18, who will vie for the Laser Radial World Championship Regatta
which begins on Monday. An American has never won, but the country has
never hosted the Laser Radial Youth Worlds before, so with 89 of the
total entries the sheer weight of numbers could work in their favor. --
Rich Roberts, http://www.calyachtclub.com
Gold Fleet:
1. Lijia Xu, China, 6-4-6-(33)-3-2-3-3-11-1-4-(DNS), 42 points.
2. Petra Niemann, Germany, 5-1-4-(25)-1-(16)-16-6-2-5-5-1, 44.
3. Tania Elias Calles Wolf, Mexico, 8-8-8-3-9-(23)-1-(26)-6-1-8, 61.
4. Anna Tunnicliffe, Florida, 2-1-3-7-7-(8)-23-5-(32)-9-3-3, 63.
5. Evi Van Acker, Belgium, 2-3-(25)-20-10-5-(23)-9-14-5, 72.
Silver Fleet:
1. Hanne Jansch, Germany, 102.
2. Maria Elin Samdal, Norway, 119.
3. Olivia Powrie, New Zealand, 126.
4. Alberte Holm Lindberg, Denmark, 136.
5. Nathalie Brugger, Switzerland, 155.
Men's Radial World Championship:
1. Fabio Pillar, Brazil, 16-12-5-1-4-9-(30)-(27)-2-4-1-2, 56.
2. Steven Le Fevre, The Netherlands, 4-4-1-(41)-15-2-4-(31)-17-1-3-10,
61.
3. Steven Krol, The Netherlands, 2-1-(20)-15-3-(19)-7-20-14-7-10-1, 78.
4. Jon Emmett, Great Britain, 18-2-(25)-16-6-1-5-7-11-(23)-8-4, 78.
5. Ryan Seaton, Ireland, 5-25-9-(46)-13-7-2-10-16-12-(32)-19, 117.
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SAILING SHORTS
* Erik Johnson of New Jersey won the Eastern E-Scow Championship held
August 2-4 on Lake Hopatcong New Jersey for the third year in a row. The
winds were good despite the near record high temperatures in the New
York Area. With crew Jay Darling and son Clay Johnson, Johnson beat out
34 other E Scow racers from around the East Coast. Finishing second was
Dave Magno, followed by Paul Magno both of Lavallette Yacht Club. The
fleet was studded with young racers who have raised the level of
competition in the Eastern Fleet. Full results and photos:
http://www.e-scow.org
* More than 150 000 visitors saw three Americas Cup teams racing in the
Fjord of Kiel. BMW Oracle Racing won the first German Sailing Grand Prix
as United Internet Team Germany had to give up with a broken forestay on
the concluding day. Shosholoza team member Charles Mankins fell over
board and severely hurt his back and although he did not suffer any
neurological damage, he will need surgery for several fractured
vertebrae. Final scores for the series of match and fleet races: 1. BMW
Oracle Racing, 65pts; 2. United Internet Team Germany, 28pts; 3. Team
Shosholoza, 25pts.
* Sandy Point, Hayling Island, Hampshire, England -- Mark Upton-Brown
and Ian Mitchell (GBR) have won the 505 World Championship for the
second time, securing a narrow two point series victory over their
American challengers, Howard Hamlin and Jeff Nelson. Jens Findel/
Johannes Tellen (GER) took third place, while Douglas Hagan/ Robert
Woelfel (USA) finished 10th in the 112-boat fleet.
http://hisc.co.uk/openresults06/505worlds.htm
* Lysekil, Sweden -- After five days of racing with 12 of the world's
best female match racers, Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN) won the Lysekil
Women's Match and 10 900 Euros prize money. Claire Leroy (FRA) won 6750
Euros for her second place finish Linda Rahm (SWE) finishing third (5540
Euros) with Malin Millbourn (SWE) earning 4 565 Euros for her fourth
place finish. -- http://www.lysekilwomensmatch.se/page/94/page.htm
* Light shifty air, that disappeared completely at times, is the reason
why only 53 of the 128 starters finished the 81-mile race from Santa-
Barbara to King Harbor. It was a clean sweep for Doug Baker's Alan
Andrews-designed Magnitude 80 - first to finish, first in class and
first in fleet. Magnitude sailed the course in 11 hours and 16 minutes,
finishing essentially an hour ahead of Orange Coast College's Pyewacket,
which took second overall. --
http://www.sbyc.org/sb_kh_final_2006_results.pdf
* The third time was indeed the charm for the Sea Scouts of the Del Mar
Ship from Newport Beach, California. Defending champion Corey Kemp,
(skipper) and Jonathan Harada (crew) held off a strong challenge from a
New Zealand team to keep the William I. Koch International Sea Scout
Cup. More than 60 Scouts from around the world competed in the six day,
match race regatta held at the Coral Reef YC in Miami, Florida. Wind
conditions ranged from six to seven knots at the start of the regatta to
a strong 15 to 20 knots on the final day. -- http://www.seascoutcup.org
* Ian Walker and the crew of Siemens secured their second win in three
regattas on the Breitling MedCup TP52 championship circuit with a four
point win over Tom Stark and his American crew on Rush Valle Romano at
the XXV Copa del Rey. With 179 points, Siemens now lies fourth overall
in the Breitling MedCup TP52 standings behind: 1. Mutua Madrilena, 129
points; 2. Warpath, 130 points; 3. Caixa Galicia, 177 point. --
http://www.medcup.org
* Laura Sudarsky and her 'Cassiopeia' of New York and Jeff White and his
'Makai' of Radnor Pennsylvania have each been awarded the "Bermuda Ocean
Cruising Yacht Trophy" presented by Sail Magazine for their combined
scores in the 2005 Marion to Bermuda and the 2006 Newport Bermuda ocean
races.
* For the past 37 years CORK has hosted sailors from around the world to
train and compete on the waters of Lake Ontario, at Kingston, Ontario,
Canada. Sailors will soon be arriving in the city for the two week
August event, to compete in the world's largest fresh water sailing
regatta. Beginning August 10, regatta organizers have planned two weeks
of training, sailing competition and social events. This year's regatta
will host five Canadian and two North American Championships, in
addition to the usual schedule of class races. In 2007 CORK will host
the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. -- http://www.cork.org
* The International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) has been chosen as
the nonprofit partner of the Newport International Boat Show for the
second year in a row. Partial proceeds from the Exhibitor Party on
Friday evening, September 15, will help fund the school's Joyce Selig
Memorial Scholarship Fund. The Newport International Boat Show is a
four-day event held September 14-17 at the Newport Yachting Center.
Exhibitor Party tickets are $50 per person and must be purchased in
advance by calling IYRS at 401-848-5777, ext. 201 or emailing
ksantos@iyrs.org.
PHOTO GALLERIES
* The TP52 fleet were in Palma de Mallorca, Spain for the latest event
on their Mediterranean schedule, and photographers Amory Ross and Max
Ranchi captured some of the action here:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0806
* Rich Robert was busy last week providing daily reports from the Laser
Radial Worlds in Marina del Rey, CA, but found time during the day to
also provide a sampling of photos here:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/radials
* 1,040 entries were competing at Skandia Cowes Week at the Isle of
Wight, UK, and thanks to the Kos Picture Source and Rick Tomlinson,
there are nearly as many photos from this event now on the Scuttlebutt
website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/cowes
SHIFTS
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LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
(Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may
be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter
per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others
disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for
elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thought at
the Scuttlebutt website:
http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi)
* From Susie Pegel: I have been sailing full-rig Lasers since 1971.
While living in Southern California recently, I raced my Laser in events
like the Laser Midwinters West off of Mission Beach. I was appalled at
the amount of sculling going on in the last 45 seconds or so before the
start. People were sculling to windward, sculling to leeward, sculling
right across my deck. It was insanity. I would call home at the end of
the race day absolutely infuriated by this pre-start mayhem. So I
applauded any judges who have the guts to clamp down on illegal
kinetics, especially sculling at the start of a Laser (or Laser Radial)
race. Our younger sailors need to be taught how to 'sail' their boats
around the race course, not just kinetic their boats around the race
course. Hopefully the judges will continue to hold a hard line enforcing
the rules especially in the Olympic classes as pressure heats up leading
up to 2008.
* From Keith Taylor: It's good to see Rich Robert's efforts at the Laser
Radial Worlds getting some attention in Scuttlebutt, albeit for the
wrong reasons. As PR person for the California Yacht Club Rich has the
responsibility for getting out a quick written snapshot to the media in
a manner that will grab their attention. And he's required to do it
under extremely trying circumstances to meet deadlines, including the
Scuttlebutt deadline. Bertie Werley should understand that Scuttlebutt's
"near silence on Anna Tunnicliffe" results solely from the constraints
Rich faces and the choices he has to make. Anyone who wants to know more
about Anna's regatta can go to her website at www.annatunnicliffe.com.
As for Tom Dolan, let me tell him that my colleague Rich and I both come
from newspaper reporting backgrounds that preclude criticizing
competitors or praising judges unless it's in a piece that's clearly
labeled as analysis or commentary. If more clubs found a Rich Roberts in
their backyards to consistently come up with reports on major events
within minutes, or an hour or two, of the end of racing each day,
Scuttlebutt and we would be the richer for it - and that ain't no pun!
* From Dieter Giese: I love the video of the foiling moths. This would
make an exciting new Olympic class. Looking at the clearance for ducking
under the boom while tacking or gybing makes me wish this class had come
along a few years earlier, but I may have to give it a try anyway. My
biggest surprise was when I saw the boat head on. I've seen water skis
with more beam! All the video was of the boats up on their foils. How
the heck do you sail one of these when it's not flying?
* From Ken Voss: Anyone know what happens when a moth sails in an area
with weed? They look like fun, but can it get up with Biscayne Bay (or
Mission Bay) grass on the foil?
Curmudgeon's Comment: We posed Ken's question to 2005 World Champ Rohan
Veal: "With regards to the weed, we sail in weed occasionally (including
at the worlds in Denmark recently). It is annoying but you either have
to tip the boat over to clear it, or launching the boat to get air
downwind, and it comes off. It is best to sail without any weed on the
foils at all as it will slow the boat marginally, but you can still
sail."
* From John Gross: (regarding 'Vhf Radio Starts' article in Issue 2152)
Do you think with today's technology they could produce a VHF radio or
another frequency so we are not fooling around with the squelch? I was
on race committee a month ago for Palm Beach Sailing Club, where we only
had six boats to worry about. I am sure there were numerous headaches in
Newport and their fleets up there. Solution: get rid of this antiquated
VHF system we use on our boats. Develop something we can use without
static, and to worry if some kid on a vessel sent down below to stay out
of the way is not playing with daddy's mike. The kid has no clue he is
making headaches for race committees, Coast Guard, or anybody else that
is listening.
* From Richard M. Jepsen: Re: M. Sherman's remarks about the simplicity
of rules and Dave Perry's unfortunate Sea-Lawerly efforts. I understand
and respect the point he was trying to make. Part of what he said was
true. The rules are surprisingly simple but using them properly takes
lots of thought. It also takes education for those of us not blessed
with a MENSA membership. I don't find Perry's efforts 'unfortunate' at
all. He's a treasure of sailing in the US as are his quadrennial updates
of "Understanding the Yacht Racing Rules"
* From Alfred Poor: Regarding the Curmudgeon's Comment about how the
29er class may want to rethink their XX reference, as email spam filters
often see that designation meaning something more sordid. Gee, and here
I was just thinking that the "XX" referred to chromosomes.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS
Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
Today's Scuttlebutt provided by Hall Spars & Rigging and Kaenon
Polarized.
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