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SCUTTLEBUTT 3620 - Tuesday, June 26, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: North Sails, US Sailing, and Allen Insurance and Financial. HEADS DOWN AND FOCUSED U.S. Olympic Sailing Team members Amanda Clark and Sarah Lihan had a steep but exhilarating learning curve aboard the International 470 when they came together as a team just 15 months ago. Yet their performance has been nothing short of epic. Earlier this year, they upset the favored U.S. team and, on a tiebreaker, won the U.S. Olympic Trials, giving them the nomination on the 2012 Olympic Team - pending U.S. Olympic Committee approval. Then, on June 9, Clark and Lihan took a silver medal in the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth, the host city in the United Kingdom for the 2012 Olympic sailing competition. With the team recently placing first in the ISAF 2012 World Cup circuit as well, this duo may well be the one to watch starting Aug. 2. "Sarah and I have worked really hard for this," Clark said after their Sail for Gold silver medal this month. "We're psyched to take this momentum into the Olympics." "I think we're the strongest we've ever been," Lihan added. "Amanda is one of the most talented skippers in the world, and I'm honored to sail with her." Clark, 30, who is from Shelter Island, N.Y., is a veteran Olympic sailor, having placed 12th at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the International 470. Meanwhile Lihan, 23, is a former Laser Radial sailor who has competed in three Olympic trials. The two women came together after Clark's 2008 Olympic teammate Sarah Chin retired from sailing 15 months ago. Clark found herself seeking a new teammate and found one in Lihan. "There is no precedence for this and joining forces just over one year before the Olympics seemed like an impossible task," said Lihan, who hails from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "We have had our heads down and focused so long that we sometimes have to look around and realize what we have accomplished." One unique aspect to their sailing style is that they share the tactical decisions. "For me to be calling tactics on the upwind and Amanda on the downwind requires a sort of trust that is really awesome," Lihan said. For Clark, having that trust in Lihan means that she can focus on driving the boat and optimizing the boat's speed. And that has resulted in a winning combination. "The 470 is an incredibly hard boat to sail and steer consistently, but I am really able to focus on the steering while Sarah calls the tactics," Clark said. "We really function well together without stepping on each other's toes. I may have been able to get Sarah to the next level as far as learning this boat, but she brings a wealth of information in her own right." An additional key to their success is their coach, Udi Gal, a two-time 470 Olympic sailor from Israel who has brought the team his expertise and experience. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/TeamUSA-062512 MAKE YOUR QUARTERFINAL ROUND PICKS Eight legendary sailors are left standing through three rounds of the "Greatest American Sailor" Tournament and Sweepstakes. This week's Quarterfinal matches will determine who moves on to the semifinal round next week. Here is a rundown of this week's matches: Red Division: #1 Buddy Melges, Jr. vs. #6 Anna Tunnicliffe White Division: #1 Lowell North vs. #2 Paul Cayard Blue Division: #1 Dennis Conner vs. #2 Paul Foerster Gold Division: #1 Mark Reynolds vs. #2 Ed Baird Each round of voting runs a week, Monday through Sunday. Results will be finalized every Monday at noon ET. The Tournament continues every week until the champion is crowned on Monday, July 16. Vote here: http://ussailingentry.com/Bracket/tabid/84/Default.aspx COMMENT: For those of you paying attention, you would have noted that five of the eight quarterfinalists are Star sailors. Yes, that's the same class ISAF eliminated from the 2016 Olympics in hopes of improving interest in the sailing events. So what does create interest? Is it connecting with your favorite athlete/team or is it the action within the game? - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CONGRATULATIONS CARKEEK 40 'DECISION' Congratulations to Stephen Murray and crew on 'Decision' for winning the RBYC Anniversary Regatta resulting in the 'Onion Patch Series' win! The Onion Patch is made up of combined results from NYYC Annual Regatta, Newport-Bermuda Race and the RBYC Anniversary Regatta. Racing with 100% North sails in Bermuda, 'Decision' sailed nearly perfectly to win the regatta and also the Henry B. du Pont trophy. The Navy's TP52 'Invictus', also powered by North, finished 3rd in the Onion Patch with Jon Wright aboard, who will be inducted into the AC Hall of Fame this week. For more, visit: http://www.northsails.com HOMECOMING The final stop in the inaugural America's Cup World Series (AC World Series) is this week in Newport, Rhode Island, with a schedule of both fleet and match racing on June 28-July 1. Eight boats representing six teams will compete. Full schedule: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-062512a BROADCAST: For the North American viewer, YouTube.com will carry race activity on Thursday through Saturday. It is not clear yet what races will covered, as the emphasis in past broadcasts has been the fleet racing and not the match racing. In the United States, the live broadcast on Sunday will be carried only on NBC. Replays, highlights and on-demand will be available on YouTube in the USA throughout all four days of the event. Details here: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-062512b TRACKING: Another broadcast option is the CupExperience "AC Race Tracker", which is available free for Android and iPhone users to follow the AC World Series races. Both versions use real time data from LiveLine, the Emmy Award winning technology developed for ACTV and used by the umpires to judge on the water protests and course limit penalties. Users will be able to follow all the match races, fleet races and speed trials in real-time. CupExperience will be inviting all users of the AC Tracker for drinks on Friday June 29 at a classic Newport watering hole. The invitation will be posted together with instructions for downloading the app on the CupExperience homepage at http://www.cupexperience.com ATTEND: The racing will be held inside Narragansett Bay, with the AC Village at Fort Adams to be the primary location to absorb the event. General admission tickets are $10 per day and children under 12 enter for free. Details: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-062512c SPECTATING: If you plan to be a live spectator to the races, the challenge is remaining informed during the day. Getting twitter updates on your phone (@americascupLIVE) will help, and iPhone users can also follow the YouTube broadcast. BONUS: Among the events in Newport this week is the film premiere of '07.07.07, Amorita's Unlucky Day' at the Jane Pickens Theater on Tuesday, June 26, 2012. Amorita , the classic yacht rammed and sunk off of Newport in 2007 (Scuttlebutt #2386) is now the subject of this original documentary film by award winning director Pierre Marcel (Tabarly, 2009). The film recounts the history, dramatic sinking and resurrection of the classic 107-year-old Herreshoff yacht. Details: http://tinyurl.com/JP-062512 SCUTTLEBUTT TRIVIA America's Cup defender Oracle Team USA is led by tactician John Kostecki (USA), who has won 11 World Championships in various classes of boats. What was the first world title that he won? (Answer below) ACHIEVING SUCCESS AT CLUB LEVEL Tony Bull, Bull Sails Weekend warriors, twilight terrors. Call them what you will, but this describes most of our racing fraternity. Sailors who head out each week at a set time to participate in a race at the local club. Sailing has become a part of their routine. But they have one thing in common with the more elite end of the sport - they want to taste success. Success is obviously a term that relates individually to all of us. Winning a regatta or a club series is usually the benchmark, or it can be as simple as getting home before our old rival "Dastardly Dan". Most sailors heading out to the racecourse have a definition of success they would like to achieve whether it is podium orientated or not. In speaking to and sailing with a lot of club sailors, there is no doubt they have a much better day on the water when they achieve their relative accomplishment. Improving results go a long way to whetting the desire to return and do it again, which in itself is the ultimate success! A few years ago I was sailing in a Masters regatta and each day met the sailor who had an adjoining locker. He was an 80 year old Sabre sailor; our interaction developed from a slight nod to a brief chat over the course of the regatta. Each day I inquired "how was his day" and always received the same reply, "I am just out there bringing up the back, making sure they all get home". On the last day, he came in, and despite it being the end of the series, he was looking very sprightly and beaming. Before I could ask he let me know "beat a few home today" and went into detail about his covering tactics up the last beat. It made his week and whilst always enjoying his sailing, the whimsical acceptance of last place had completely disappeared, replaced by barely suppressed elation. To see an improvement regardless of our lot is a great incentive to keep working away at it. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/D1D-062512 COMMENT: If you are among the usual trophy contenders, think for a moment what it would be like without a crowd on the start line. Ultimately, keeping that start line crowded has as much to do with your fun as it is beating the crowd to the finish line. Trophy contenders are usually influence peddlers too. Using your influence to help the crowd could prove to be the biggest reward of them all. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt DO YOU WANT THE ULTIMATE AMERICA'S CUP EXPERIENCE? Fans who register to vote in US Sailing's "Greatest American Sailor" Tournament and Sweepstakes receive a chance to win a Grand Prize that includes the America's Cup experience in San Francisco during the 2013 event, an invitation to US Sailing's 2012 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year ceremony, and another special Grand Prize. By joining US Sailing, you can double your chances at winning the Grand Prize. Enter the Sweepstakes and vote on these great Quarterfinal match-ups! And remember... your US Sailing Membership Matters. Join or renew today at http://www.ussailing.org/membershipmatters SAILING WITH DISABILITIES When competitors hit the water for the 2012 C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta from July 6-9 at Sail Newport (in Newport, RI), they will be helping to mark the 10th anniversary of this remarkable event for sailors with disabilities. From its start as an event for a single class of boat, The Clagett not only has evolved over the years to include all three boats which have been chosen for Paralympic competition but also has become widely respected as North America's premier event for sailors with disabilities. The hallmark of the event has long been the pre-race clinic for competitors - to be held this year on Friday, July 6. However, for the second consecutive year, organizers will concurrently run a safety seminar for race committee members and other on-the-water volunteers which will address the types of issues first responders might encounter when coming to the assistance of a person with disabilities. The majority of sailors who participate in events such as The Clagett Regatta are managing limb amputations or neurological disabilities (including spinal cord injury, Multiple Sclerosis and Muscular Dystrophy), and accessing their boats, both at the dock and on the water, can be a major challenge. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/CR-062512 SELLING. BUYING. HIRING. The Scuttlebutt website provides a marketplace for private parties to buy and sell, or for businesses to post job openings. For free. As a bonus, each week the Scuttlebutt newsletter includes some of the recent ad postings. Have an ad? Post it in the Classified Ad section of the Forum. SAILING SHORTS * Pewaukee, WI (June 24, 2012) - Seventeen teams descended on Pewaukee Yacht Club for the 2012 A Scow National Championship, which proved to be a light air regatta on June 22-24. PRO Hank Stuart worked hard with his crew to successfully provide five races over the three-day event. With no sailing on Saturday, the event was a display of skill for the I-28 Silverhawk team. Owner Terry Blanchard, skipper Andy Burdick and crew Peter Keck, Joe Kutschenreuter, Jim Petersen, Ben Porter and Molly Forbes seemed untouchable and a smidge lucky on one finish. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/AScow-062512 * Toronto, ONT (June 24, 2012) - The three day Laser Canadian National Championship attracted 50 full rigs and 48 radial rigs. Dominating the event was Lee Parkhill in the full rig and Brenda Bowskill in the radial rig, both representing Royal Canadian Yacht Club. -- Results: http://eyc-laser.com/results.php * As the conclusion of the current Volvo Ocean Race approaches, CEO Knut Frostad will reveal plans on June 28 for a new boat design for the next edition of the premier round-the-world sailing event in 2014-15. With significant changes made to the rules for the 2011-12 edition to decrease costs to compete, it is anticipated that this new boat will continue this trend in hopes of promoting future participation. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.com TRIVIA ANSWER John Kostecki won his first of 11 world championship titles on the Sunfish in 1982. "I was a Laser sailor, about 18 or 19 years old," said Kostecki. "Some friends of mine that were Sunfish sailors said that the worlds were coming to San Francisco. The group that I was sailing Lasers with said let's give it a go. We did a little bit of training and ended up going to a few regattas and events and having a good time with it. It was a new challenge and a new boat. We all ended up doing quite well at worlds and I managed to win; it was pretty cool. That was in 1982. It happened all in a three or four month period. We did two regattas and a lot of training with some buddies. It was good fun. I don't really remember what color the sail was, but the boats and sails were supplied so it was some sort of orange and yellow and white sail. It was a good time." -- http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-062512d COVERAGE THE WORLD OVER Do you sail professionally or cruise or race internationally? Are you an Olympic team member, instructor, coach or US SAILING team member? US SAILING is proud to offer all members a creditable health insurance plan with coverage at home and abroad. 24/7 assistance in your language. http://www.AllenInsuranceAndFinancial.com/ussailing 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 may be 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 Tony Sanpere: I agree with Ken Read (in Scuttlebutt 3618) that variety is best. I have been racing for over 40 years and I have seen the sport go from buoy racing and around island racing to windward/ leeward courses. In the last six years I have been doing mostly "cruising courses" and have found the fun in racing again. Since 1995, I have been racing mostly in the Caribbean where W/L came in with a bang but now it is the exception. I have raced the Rolex regatta in St. Thomas quite a few times but for the past 6 years I race in the non spinnaker class because it was the only class doing island courses. Unfortunately the organizers have decided that we are not worthy of getting a watch even though I won my class at least four times. The BVI has also been getting away from sausage courses and are using the islands as marks in the course. Why come down to the Caribbean at a great expense to do the same kind of racing as in the U.S. Variety is the spice of life. * From Alistair Murray, Managing Director, Ronstan: A great loss for Australian sailing (Eight Bells, Sbutt 3619). My dear friend Rolly Tasker was a true legend, having done hundreds of thousands of sea miles and winning an Olympic medal in 1956. He was a great sailor, boat builder and sailmaker, and established most recently an amazing sail loft in Phuket and an America's Cup museum in Western Australia. Rolly was 86 and worked to the end of his life with amazing energy, passion and hands on knowledge. He intimately knew every nook and cranny and workings of his sail loft, rig shop, chandlery and factory. He was also the nicest guy you would ever meet, having a quiet sense of humour and a friendly, gentlemanly nature. Our thoughts are with his wife Kerry. * From T.J. Perrotti: It is with deep sadness that I read the news of Rolly's passing. He was certainly one of yachting's great ones. I had the pleasure of working with Rolly briefly in the 1990's (in conjunction with David Pedrick) as he was assembling his America's Cup museum collections. His dedication and passion for the sport and for preserving its history were unsurpassed. And while his legendary status shined brightly for decades, his personal repoire was always incredibly down to Earth, warm, and inviting. I'm pleased to know that his many contributions (Tasker Sails, Australian Sailing Museum, etc.) venture ahead with such strong foundations. Future generations will surely be inspired by Rolly's spirit and enthusiasm for sailing. Smooth horizons, Rolly ... smooth horizons. * From Paul Newell, Isle of Wight: I must amend the Curmudgeon's Observation in #3619: "Beer is the answer...but I can't remember the question". Beer is not the answer to a question - it's a statement of fact! It's the reason for sailing. It's the reason for racing. And the faster you get round the course, the more time you have to drink it. So therefore "beer is the reason" DO THE TREES MAKE NOISE IN YOUR FOREST? The Scuttlebutt website allows marine companies to post their personnel, product and service updates. For free. As a bonus, each week the Scuttlebutt newsletter includes some of the recent updates. Are you in the marine industry? Post your updates in the Industry News section of the Forum. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before." - Steven Wright SPONSORS THIS WEEK Quantum Sails - Melges Performance Sailboats - North Sails US Sailing - Allen Insurance and Financial - IYRS - Summit Yachts KO Sailing - Ullman Sails - APS - Pure Yachting - Henri Lloyd Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
