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SCUTTLEBUTT 2679 - Thursday, September 11, 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. JACK BE NIMBLE... AND QUICK Match racing is about nimble teams outmaneuvering their opponent. When talk began of 90 foot multihulls competing in the America's Cup, it was assumed traditional tactics would need to be replaced. The amount of speed a multihull loses through a turn is costly, making it hard to adequately control their opponent... or so we thought. Now, after a day of observing the BMW Oracle Racing (BOR) trimaran in action, the consensus among the media was that this boat was far more maneuverable than expected. Going upwind there are a few interesting aspects to note. The mast can be canted to windward up to 8 degrees, which means that when the boat is sailing on the main hull and leeward float, the mast is roughly vertical. The mast only has one set of side stays, and they are mounted aft on the floats, just forward of the aft beam. When sailing upwind, the loaded windward shroud twists the aft end of the float up. According to the team, while this looks odd, the twisting is limited to the windward float, and since the hulls in the water remain properly aligned, the extra weight needed in construction to prevent this would not be warranted. There is a huge hydraulic ram that connects the side stay to the float, which is then used to adjust the cant. The controls for the ram are in the form of foot pedals at the helm station, with another set of controls at the mainsheet. Watching the boat tack is pretty impressive. here are the steps to observe: * There is a lead RIB that watches for debris. When the RIB "tacks" you know that the boat is soon to follow. * With the helm stations so far apart, there is a helm assistant that steps into the leeward station prior to the tack. * As the boat begins the tack, the mast cant is dropped completely to leeward, which soon will be the new windward side. This happens quickly, and with a mast height of 158 feet, the amount of distance the mast tip travels is over 45 feet (our best estimation based on a swing of 16 degrees). * During the tack, four coffee grinder stations are in full tilt. These stations could not be any closer to each other, positioned just forward of the aft beam. At this moment over half the crew are spinning handles within a very confined space. * The boat is now on the new tack, the mast is already canted to windward, and the primary helmsman is now running up the trampoline to the windward steering station to resume driving. Complete story with images: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0909 => Curmudgeon's Comment: The questions for the BMW Oracle Racing team that were posted in the Forum have all now been replied to: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6344 OVERCOMING ODDS - DEFYING EXPECTATIONS The starting gun was fired on Monday, September 8 for the US Paralympic Sailing team in Qingdao, China as racing begins for up to 25 nations in three fleets at the satellite Olympic sailing venue through Sept. 13. For the team of six disabled U.S. athletes, the struggle to get to that starting line cannot be underestimated. Primarily handicapped through events encountered in their adult lives, these lifelong sailors don't just talk about overcoming adversity, they live it every day. Disabled sailing has evolved as a worldwide sport and was included in the Paralympics at Sydney in 2000. For many of these athletes, the transition from able-bodied to disabled sailors brings their prior sailing knowledge and more recent physical limitations to the highly competitive playing field. "These other sailors here are more than just sailors in the Paralympics, more than just great competitors, they are accomplished individuals that did not 'get over' their disabilities by accident," said Maureen McKinnon Tucker, 43, of Marblehead, Mass. who is competing with skipper Nick Scandone, 43, of Newport Beach, Calif. in a Skud-18. "They are champions in life too, and we are fortunate to know and compete with these other sailors and to have their camaraderie and respect." -- Read on: http://teamusa.org/news/article/6651 * Qingdao, China (September 10, 2008) - Wednesday was a lay day at the Paralympics, with two races planned for Thursday. Standings after five of 11 races: One-person keelboat (2.4MR - 16 boats) 1. CAN, Paul Tingley, 1-1-5-2-(9), 9pts 2. USA, John Ruf, 2-6-1-(9)-1, 10pts 3. GER, Heiko Kroger, 3-2(11)-6-4, 15pts Two-Person Keelboat (SKUD18 - 11 boats) 1. USA, Nick Scandone/ Maureen McKinnon Tucker, 2-1-1-1-(3), 5pts 2. AUS, Daniel Fitzbibbon/ Rachael Cox, (4)-2-2-2-2, 8pts 3. CAN John Scott McRoberts/ Stacie Louttit, (3)-3-3-3-1, 10pts Three-Person Keelboat (Sonar - 14 boats) 1. FRA, Jourdren/ Larhant/ Vimont-Vicary, 4-1-1-2-(8), 8pts 2. AUS, Harrison/ Boaden/ Martin, (8) 4-2-3-3, 12pts 3. GER, Kroker/ Prem/ Mainka, 5-(6)-3-1-4, 13pts 8. USA, Rick Doerr/ Tim Angle/ Bill Donohue, 1-9-10-7-(12), 27pts 13. CAN, Ken Kelly, Don Terlson/ Marc Shaw, 10-12-(14)-11-10, 42pts Complete results: http://www.sailing.org/24859.php FASTER BECAUSE WE DO OUR HOMEWORK For over 40 years, Ullman Sails' sail development and speed-testing programs have been second to none. We make sure we've refined our products so you get the fastest sails possible. And it pays off! For example, after extensive two-boat testing in the Flying Tiger 10 class, our customers took first place at the 2008 Pacific Coast Championships with 100% Ullman inventory! But it didn't stop there. Since then, we've been back on the water tweaking designs and refining our tuning guide to help maximize our customer's performance. Ullman Sails - Invest in your performance. Visit us at http://www.ullmansails.com SO YOU WANNA BE A PROFESSIONAL SAILOR . . . Becoming professional in sailing has a lot to do with luck; being in the right place at the right time and meeting the right people. For me personally it wasn't actually a conscious decision but something that evolved out of coaching some university teams and Olympic classes, and being captain of a boat led on to other things too. I did a Soling Olympic campaign where I met a few more people, went sailing one day on an America's Cup boat for fun and ended up getting hired to do the Young America Cup campaign! So there is a little bit of luck involved as well as the timing, being asked to do some fun things and being available to do them! I had a great deal of support from my family just out of university, as the first few years weren't so lucrative, but I now have a family of my own and two children. We live a nice life, and I get to do some fun things - I can sail for a living and that is fantastic! I think I have two different skill sets. One is communication (which incidentally was what I studied at university) and that has really helped me in my sailing career, more than I could possibly have imagined when I studied it! The other is having an understanding of all the different aspects of the boat. I've spent a lot of time doing other kinds of sailing (next week in Sardinia I'm tactician on a Maxi), some match racing, trimming, and the pit for example, and it gives you a bigger picture of what is happening around the boat at all times. You actually anticipate what the tactician is thinking coming into a mark rounding, and that makes a boat-handling role more proactive than reactive. I think that is very beneficial to the team, and has helped me get where I am. -- Tom Burnham, Pitman on TP52 Quantum, full story: http://2008.medcup.org/blog/?id=113 TIMING (IN) THE RULES by Jos M Spijkerman, International Umpire/Judge In rule 61.1 there's a critical timing in displaying the red flag and hailing protest with the words: "first reasonable opportunity for both". Protest Committees are asked to give a decision on that timing when the validity of a protest is being investigated. In my opinion there are a couple of criteria that should be considered before deciding this: > Where there any safety issues that delayed the hailing or displaying the flag? > What was said first? > Was the flag available to be displayed immediately? > What where the circumstances? I.e. waves, wind strength, type of boats, place of the incident, etc, etc. After rule 61.1 there is another directly linked timing issue in rule 44.1: How much time does a boat get to decide to take a penalty after a protest has been hailed and a flag has been shown? The wording in rule 44.1 is a lot less specific: "may take a penalty at the time of the incident" The penalty itself in rule 44.2 may have a specific short time: "... as soon after the incident as possible", but that time only starts after you have decided you may have broken a rule. Something that now has been emphasized by the other boat showing a red flag "... at the time of the incident" ? Well, for sure, not half an hour later on a different leg or just before the finish. But a minute? Or maybe two? Or should it be within seconds? -- Read on: http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/2008/07/timing-in-rules.html SAILING SHORTS * Clear Lake, IA (September 10, 2008) - While the second day of racing was abandoned on Tuesday due to light winds, today at the Hobie 16 North Americans brought perfect winds averaging about 15 knots with gusts in the 20's. Seven races were run on the day making for some exhausted sailors when everything was over. Conditions were shifty and puffy making for lots of gear changes up wind as well as lots of jibing downwind as sailors tried to stay in the narrow wind bands moving down the course. -- Full report and results: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6375 * Porto Cervo, Sardinia (September 10, 2008) - Day two of the Rolex Swan Cup found the Swan Maxis on a hefty 30 nautical mile hike up and down Bomb Alley, whereas the Classics undertook a shorter, 24 nm stroll. Meanwhile, the sprightlier Swan 45s and Club Swan 42s were given their own part of the park to play in and tackled two four-leg windward/leewards of 8 and 7.2 nm. The overall leaders of the four competing divisions are Hendrik Brandis' Earlybird (FIN) for the Swan 45s, Enrico Scerni's Kora 4 (ITA) for the Club Swan 42s, Roel Pieper's Swan 601 Favonius (BVI) among the Maxis and John Bainbridge's Swan 48 Zen (GBR) in the Classic division. Daily report: http://www.regattanews.com/pressrelease.asp?pid=1983&lang=1 Results: http://www.yccsresults.com/swan08/results1.htm Audio: http://tinyurl.com/Pro-Sight-Sailing-SwanCup * Lake Minnetonka, MN (September 10, 2008) - Today was the second day of the J/24 North American Championship Regatta, where Tim Healy has taken the lead in the lead of the 33-boat fleet, followed by Bill Fastiggi and Will Welles. Winds were 15 to 20 knots with about the same forecasted for Thursday. -- Results: http://www.j24northamericans.com/pages/day2.html * Newport, Rhode Island was synonymous with the America's Cup for a generation. In 1983, after the loss of the cup, the future of the Newport marine community was in doubt. Out of the ashes of the loss of the Cup came a renewed interest in Sailing Events through the creation of Sail Newport by three local businessmen, with forward thinking sailors of all types rallying around that cause. On Friday, September 19, 2008, Sail Newport commemorates the end of one era and celebrates the beginning of another with their Sail Newport 25th Anniversary Celebration. -- Details: http://www.sailnewport.org/npt/m/_general/silveranniversary.asp * In co-operation with US-IRC, US SAILING has agreed that all new certificates or re-validations issued after September 30, 2008 will be priced at 50% off the regular price. Discounted certificates will be issued after September 30th. They will be valid for all IRC events from October 1 through December 31, 2008. -- Details: http://www.ussailing.org/offshore/IRC/US-IRC_year_end_discount.pdf TEAM MCLUBE HULLKOTE HELPS TO MAKE DRAGON CLASS HISTORY The talent laden Dragon Class has held its annual Gold Cup Championship since the 1930's, but this year was different. Gavia Wilkinson-Cox became the first female helm to ever stand on the podium. Double-Olympic Gold Medalist Poul-Richard Hoj-Jensen narrowly won by making the gains he needed in the final meters approaching the finish. Both teams credit McLube Hullkote for a clean, super-fast hull after being moored in the waters of Cascais, Portugal for the required 7 days and nights. No oily waterline and zero marine growth. What are you waiting for? Go make your own history with McLube Hullkote. -- http://www.mclubemarine.com THE RACE OF HIS LIFE We are the crew of the yacht Rumours, the Thompson 35 owned by Tim Woodhouse who is having the race of his life against Leukemia. As Tim is undergoing Chemo this week we wanted to sail and raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Foundation. Scott Murray who owns Unplugged has offered us his boat as Rumours has been put away for the season. The Leukemia Cup is to be held at the New York Y.C. in Newport on September 12 and 13, and hope that we may ask for your support for Unplugged and the Rumours Crew in honor of Tim Woodhouse for this event. Participating in the Leukemia Cup is an opportunity for us to make an effort to give something back through a sport which has given us so much, and any donations are truly appreciated by the victims and families of those suffering from leukemia and associated diseases, the number one disease killer of children. Please make a donation to help our cause: http://www.active.com/donate/leukemiacupri/lcrGSchwei CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: Sept 11-14 - Rolex Big Boat Series - San Francisco, CA, USA Sept 12-14 - Special Olympics Georgia Sailing Regatta - Lake Lanier, GA, USA Sept 13-14 - Bruce Goldsmith Memorial Regatta - Manitou Beach, MI, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, 'The Curmudgeon'. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get one letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Adrian Morgan: (re, story about America's Cup trimaran in #2678) Oracle is trying to pull a fast one with a 90ft tri that's really 100ft. What's the game? To have a fair match, like for like or turn up with a pistol when your opponent has a rapier? What happened to fair competition (let alone friendly)? While Ernesto has real fun blitzing the opposition in a smaller boat vs larger ones, Mr Ellison plays fast and loose with the words of the Deed of Gift. C'mon. It's not clever, just sneaky. And it doesn't say much for sportsmanship. Reminds me of the Big Boat vs Catamaran fiasco, which robbed the yachting world of a genuine spectacle in favour of a farce. OK, so the Cat won, but not in the spirit of the game. Pah... * From Damian Christie, Melbourne, Australia: The Wall Street Journal On-line article about Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison was fascinating reading (in 'butt 2676). It illustrated just how out of touch with reality Bertarelli is in his desire to micromanage the America's Cup. Bertarelli's analogy about multihull sailing on Lake Geneva at the close of the article perfectly sums up the Cup's current impasse: "I killed the competition. But I learned that money can be a detriment to fun." Well, clearly, Bertarelli hasn't learned anything at all. Thanks to his hubris, the Cup has ground to a halt and even if he is victorious in the end, the quality of the Cup competition will sink to an all-time low. Prada and Louis Vuitton have already left the building, Oracle will walk away from the game, TNZ may even struggle to make it to the start-line and we will be left with a second-rate competition where Alinghi is dominant over a weakened field of lapdogs such as CNEV and Shosholoza. Who would want to watch that? To also accuse Coutts of "destroying Team New Zealand" and now "trying to destroy Alinghi" is also plain childish. Bertarelli certainly had no qualms about hiring Coutts in the first place and raiding the sailing stocks of TNZ and a host of other countries in his desire to win and defend the Cup! He is certainly no bleeding heart or innocent in this controversy. The day Ernesto Bertarelli leaves the America's Cup will truly be a day to cherish. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The hidden flaw never remains hidden. Special thanks to Ullman Sails and McLube Hullkote. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
