|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2344 – May 15, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). THE REVENGE OF THE WESTERLY (May 14, 2007) It was a big first day in the semi-finals for the Louis Vuitton Cup - Luna Rossa beat BMW Oracle by 2m 19s, and ETNZ went a race up against Desafio Espanol by 43s. But don’t let those finish deltas fool you – it was shiftier than a bloke selling 'second-hand' Rolex’s at a car boot sale, with the gradient wind blowing out of the west and off the city. The first move came at the pre-start entry with Oracle coming in from the pin against Luna Rossa and crossing them on port. We’ve seen Oracle pull this one off half-a-dozen times (at least) in the two Round Robins, and they did it again – crossing ahead of Luna Rossa, the starboard tacker, who was entering at the committee boat. Once Oracle had got past them, they owned the right-hand side of the pre-start box and had negated the disadvantage of the port tack entry. A huge amount of effort goes into the software used in the pre-start, but it ’s easy to forget about the timing for the entry. All the work goes into modeling and predicting the boat’s approach to the start line through the different tactical maneuvers – the gybe or tack back, reaching down to the starboard tack layline for the pin, accelerating from downspeed to the line. The focus is on approaching the line, sailing upwind in the final seconds. And we’ve seen over and over how good the teams are at this, with perfect start after perfect start. -- by Mark Chisnell, read on: http://markchisnell.blogspot.com/2007/05/revenge-of-westerly.html First team to win 5 races advances to challenger finals. The pairings are: 1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 1-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_= 1 4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP) 0-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_= 0 2. BMW Oracle Racing (USA) 0-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_= 0 3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) 1-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_= 1 * Television schedule: Versus’ coverage of the Semi-Finals will consist of live coverage from 8:30–11:00 a.m. ET, with replays from 12-2:30 p.m. and 4:30–7 p.m. ET. -- http://www.versus.com/americascup * Semi-final racing will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the first reserve day scheduled for Thursday. The next block of racing is on Friday and Saturday, with the second reserve day on Sunday. Complete schedule: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php * After extremely challenging conditions on Monday, day two of the Semi Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup should provide more ‘normal’ conditions. The forecast for Tuesday is calling for Southeasterly sea breezes of about 12 to 14 knots. -- http://tinyurl.com/2rbve7 QUOTE / UNQUOTE * Ray Davies, Strategist, Emirates Team New Zealand, on whether to play the wind or the opponent in those conditions: “It was a risk/ reward type calculation the whole time. If you are anything less than 70% confident you can be easily bitten. These are not Lasers and you can’t just tack on every wind shift. Coming into the top mark it was very shifty, and there were some pretty close and hairy moments there - they just kept chipping away at us. It is really just a balancing act between the two.” * Peter Isler, Navigator, BMW Oracle Racing, on the pre-start: “It was clear that it was about connecting the dots with the puffs, and neither the left or right was necessarily better. On a day like today you have to keep an open mind, throw away the classic tactics and open your eyes. We were happy with our position at the start. After a drag race to left, a fifteen-degree leftie hit us near the left lay line - you can’t plan for that, but it ended up being a turning point in the race. Another tiny overlap at the leeward gate put them not only ahead immediately, but engineered a split, the one thing you didn’t want on a day like today. Good sailors won today by keeping their eyes open and having good boat handling.” -- http://tinyurl.com/3c8qoj TRIVIA QUESTION Among the challengers now competing in the semi-finals, which team has a member of its afterguard that is also a highly decorated iceboat sailor? (Answer below) ASKED AND ANSWERED A question from Scuttlebutt’s America’s Cup Hotline asked about financial penalties, and where the money goes and who benefits from it. The genesis for this question comes from the Jury decisions in the Round Robin 2 series against Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia, which twice fined the team 10,000 Euros for infractions. Regarding these fines, Scuttlebutt asked Marcus Hutchinson, ACM Director of Media and Communications, who replied, “All monies go to the event organiser - America's Cup Management (ACM). Any surplus at the end is split amongst the teams according to the Protocol.” Scuttlebutt also received this info from Peter Rusch of ACM Media and Communications: “The money goes to ACM general revenue, which is forecast to generate a surplus that is split among the teams, as per the Protocol. The Defender gets 45%, the Challengers (as a group) get 45%, and ACM receives 10% as a management fee.” -- Read all the hotline question, or post your own here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/acup/hotline ULLMAN SAILS LBRW YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME The usual sea breeze, sharp race management, and competition are givens at Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week June 23-25, but there's more ashore. With Long Beach and Alamitos Bay Yacht Clubs as co-hosts, hospitality will be abundant. Breakfast, lunch, and free parking will be available at both clubs, with parties following the racing. For those staying on their boats (free docking courtesy of the Long Beach Parks, Recreation, and Marine Department), there will be free showers and water shuttle service between the clubs. Check it out and sign up at http://www.lbrw.org GUEST COMMENTARY - TIM KENT Although this is in response to a letter in Scuttlebutt, it hits to the core of a subject that I have spoken about at safety seminars and other meetings over the last three years. I am a trifle passionate about this, due not only to the loss of my friend, and not only to the long conversations I had with my children before starting the Around Alone race about staying clipped to the boat as a promise to them. I am most passionate about this because of all of the suppositions and misinformation about being tethered to the boat that goes around during bar talk presented as fact. Tethers, properly used, are hardly “death straps.” I hope you will consider the opinions below. -- by Tim Kent, Around Alone Race 2002-2003, 2nd place, Open 50 class “I know the man mentioned in Scuttlebutt 2340 (in the story "Safety Harness of Death Strap?") that lost his life at the end of a tether in Lake Michigan. He was both a fine sailor and a good friend. That he should have come to such an end while confident that he was being prudent about safety makes his loss even harder to bear. “I have raced around the world solo, almost every moment of it clipped onto my boat with a safety harness and tether. I was cautious about being on deck, but you can only be so cautious on the foredeck of a boat alone that is traveling at 20+ knots, is awash in heavy water while careening down (marvelous) Southern Ocean waves – staying on board in such situations is mandatory. My friend lost his life less than a week after I started my around the world race, and it caused me to re-think my own safety precautions. Here are the conclusions I came to: around the world race, and it caused me to re-think my own safety precautions. Here are the conclusions I came to: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0514 CHOOSING THE NEXT OLYMPIC CLASS (Jen Glass was among those who gathered in Hyeres, France last month to evaluate six boats under consideration for the 2012 Olympics. She posts her report below.) In this age of "extreme," where the better boat is the one that's faster and wetter, ISAF is considering adding a high-performance dinghy to the women's Olympic sailing disciplines. At the Women's High Performance Dinghy Evaluation Event in Hyeres, France, last month, ISAF took the first step towards choosing a women's high performance dinghy for the 2012 Olympics. ISAF's fundamental criteria call for a monohull capable of sailing faster downwind than upwind, suitable for two women with a combined weight of 265-308 pounds, and priced around $19,650 ready to sail. In Hyeres, I joined a group of female test sailors and an ISAF committee to evaluate six different designs: International 14, RS800, Cherub Daemon, Carbonology GT60, 29erXX, and 29er. With a few exceptions, the six boats are very similar—self-tacking jibs, twin trapezes, masthead kites, 3 shrouds, and tube-launching spinnakers. -- Sailing World, read on: http://tinyurl.com/3y3ecr MULTI-TASKING New Zealander Ray Davies is multi-tasking. He is splitting his time between tactical duties with Emirates Team New Zealand and keeping a close eye on commercial developments with the Mean Machine entry, which he will skipper in the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race. “The focus at the moment is on the Cup but we are at a stage with our Volvo campaign that is very critical – securing the funding – and we’ve got a team of guys working on that so that’s the emphasis at the moment,” Davies said. “Even though from a sailing side it’s all America’s Cup for me right now, I’m looking forward to the next Volvo. “I was fortunate to have a few days break earlier in our time here in Valencia and I was able to get away and sail on the Mean Machine 70 (ex Pirates) during my time off which was very enjoyable.” Davies says that combining training for a sprint (America’s Cup) versus the conditioning required for a marathon (the Volvo) has been manageable to date. “America’s Cup is all about having a peak performance through a very narrow time frame whereas the Volvo is all about endurance and ensuring your equipment is going to last the course. They are very different demands but there are tangible comparisons.” -- VOR website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2007/may/kiwiseyecup/index.aspx AFFORDABLE WIRELESS CONTROL Introducing the new Ockam Lynx, an affordable wireless remote controller for the Ockam system. Each of the 5 key fob control buttons is capable of being easily programmed to output any Ockam command. Scroll through the pages on any display, operate the stopwatch, or control the lighting (to name a few of the possibilities). It’s pre-programmed with a MOB function that switches the displays to back range and bearing to the point of activation. Like all Ockam components, the Lynx is compatible with any Ockam system. Just simply connect it to the existing bus; no additional wiring required. Contact mailto:sales@ockam.com BULLIMORE: ANOTHER FINE MESS? It's time for Tony Bullimore to give up his fantasy of beating Ellen MacArthur's record. It just isn't going to happen. Here's why: • He is a 68-year-old man - it's a shame it matters but it does. A 68-year old is not going to win any competitive solo round the world race, • His 102ft boat is now too heavy and too cumbersome for the job, • Thomas Coville and Francis Joyon are both building smaller, lighter boats and will have a far better chance of breaking the record next season. Bullimore deservedly won the Yachtsman of the Year in 1985 for his successes in Apricot, one of the most advanced multihulls of the time and the progenitor of the ORMA 60s of today. That year he and the boat's designer, Nigel Irens, won the two-handed Round Britain Race. But Bullimore has also had more than his fair share of scrapes. He was rescued from Toria in the 1976 OSTAR when she caught fire, rescued again off Apricot when she was wrecked on the Breton coast during the 1986 Route du Rhum, and yet again from his Open 60 Exide Challenger in 1997 when the keel fell off during the solo Vendée Globe Race. I see that Sky News are calling him 'Captain Calamity'. Unkind though the name might be, I see their point. Someone commented astutely on our forum pages that it would be better for Tony to stop now, before he becomes better known for his failures than his successes. Regretfully, I agree with this. -- Elaine Bunting, Yachting World's Features Editor, http://www.yachtingworld.com/yw/blog/20070411151323blog_elaine_bunting.html MONDAY MORNING TACTICIAN (US Olympic Laser hopeful Andrew Campbell reports on his past weekend as he continues to heal from his broken thumb.) With the days counting down until my cast comes off my wrist and thumb, I found myself on the water as a judge again, this time for the 2006-2007 ISSA High School Double-handed Nationals for the Mallory Trophy held this past weekend off Long Beach Pier in Southern California. While spending the two days and 36 races watching high school sailors go around the track in 6-12 knots of very stable breeze may not be the most exciting way to spend my weekend on the water, the amount that you learn from the jury’s perspective continue to amaze me. Two weeks ago, I wrote about my experience judging the Pacific Coast High School Team Race championships where the judging was very hands-on making numerous calls per race which had major consequence in the sailing. Fleetrace judging can be incredibly frustrating in this regard. After massive pile-ups at leeward marks, multiple instances of contact between boats and marks, skippers and crews exchanging choice words, and 20 boats rounding within 12 seconds of each other, there would be not a single protest filed. Major infractions involving a every team this weekend would have resulted in quick “red-flag” penalties from teamrace umpires. However, the “self-policing” nature of the sport is artificially preserved in fleetracing of all kinds, and jury members can only look on in astonishment as sailors cruise away from incidents unconcerned about the potential fouls they committed because of the widespread lack of enforcement by their competitors. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/3dyb8o * Photographer Glennon Stratton/GTS Photos was on hand at the HS Nationals and shares a few dozen images of the action: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/HSnatls SAILING SHORTS * The agenda for the upcoming ICSA Annual Meeting on Saturday, 26 May 2007 at the Robert Crown Center, US Naval Academy, has been posted on the ICSA website at: http://www.collegesailing.org/BoardInfo/boardmeetings.asp * (Burlington, ONT) Two young Hamilton boys are charged with setting fires that destroyed three boats moored at the Burlington Sailing Club. Police also found evidence of 40 break-ins into vessels. Halton police said two boys, 13 and 15, are charged with five counts each of arson and mischief over $5,000 and 40 counts of break and enter. The younger boy is also charged with two counts of breaching probation. -- Toronto Sun, full story: http://tinyurl.com/3cf6cc * Beginning June 1, 2007, the Pacific Cup Yacht Club and Storm Trysail Club will be accepting registration for The Pacific Cup Yacht Race 2008. Dubbed the “Fun Race to Hawaii”, the 2008 Pacific Cup is the 15th Biennial running of the event that has been held in even numbered years since 1980. It begins in San Francisco Bay the week of July 14, 2008 and finishes 2,070 miles away in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu. Online registration and race information at http://www.pacificcup.org PROFESSIONAL GRADE Not just for yacht clubs and safety professionals, the Ribcraft line of professional grade rigid inflatable boats will meet your family’s every boating need. Ranging from 15’ to 30’, Ribcraft has a RIB that’s perfect for you. To learn more, contact Ribcraft today or visit http://www.ribcraftusa.com TRIVIA ANSWER The Louis Vuitton semifinalist that has a highly decorated iceboat sailor as a member of its afterguard would be Desafío Español 2007, where their helmsman is Karol Jablonski, a 7-time DN World Champion (and a 4-time bridesmaid) 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 Kerry Deaver: High five to Dave Ullman, as he continues to hustle hands over fists to win! I only hope to be competing in any forum when I'm eligible for AARP! Curmudgeon’s Comment: Dave Ullman has won big events before, but at 61 years of age, his win at the 2007 Melges 24 Worlds in nuking breeze deserves an extra shout. Post your congratulatory note here: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4844#4844 * From Ray Tostado: Just got my cable server to hook me up with VERSUS and watched the Monday morning semi finals. My question is: "I have not noticed any mention as to the of the location for the proposed tactician rehab medical center. Will it be by some tranquil Swiss lake?" Will the patients share therapy with the financial sponsors, or be segregated for their own protection? What I witnessed between Luna Rosa and BMW will undoubtedly result in severe mental disorders in the after guard decision makers. How can two boats, of equal talent and quality, be beam to beam at the leeward mark, then 7 minutes later have one with a 450-meter lead? I cannot recall any such "gain" in watching ACC TV coverage for decades. It sort of drags the sport back to that discarded stratagem of covering the competition. Now that it is a stark reality that the winds cannot be studied and predicted, maybe the competitions will return to beam to beam tacking duels, a-la-Newport. Any solo course is a flyer. The sudden wind shift that gave BMW the chance to round in a beam to beam position, making up a 300 yard deficit should have been a wake up call. But it wasn't. This is a whole new study in excitement: Wind 2, Boats 0. * From Brent Boyd: I am impressed with the VERSUS America’s Cup coverage so far. They have great camera angles i.e. three or four deck shots, camera in the sewer, overheads, etc. The commentary matches the camera work with constant clear comments from three or four knowledgeable sailors who make it quite clear what is going on and what may happen given the wind shifts and velocity changes over the course. This coverage has got to be only second to actually being on one of the boats; maybe even better. I can only bet their work will get better and better as the racing continues although right now I can’t see how to improve it unless they start spraying viewers with saltwater. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Typewriter is the longest word that can be made using only the letters on one row of the keyboard. Special thanks to Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week, Ockam, and Ribcraft. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
