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SCUTTLEBUTT 2298 – March 12, 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). ACURA MIAMI GRAND PRIX Miami Beach, Fla. – (March 11, 2007) Sailors from 11 different countries traveled to South Florida seeking great sailing conditions and world-class racing. The 2007 Acura Miami Grand Prix delivered on both counts. Sunny skies, temperatures in the 80s and double-digit breezes arrived like clockwork all four days of the regatta. All four classes came down to the final day and none was more exciting than the professional-laden Farr 40. Warpath, sailed by the father-son team of Fred and Steve Howe, posted a second in Race 8 to move into first place then protected a narrow two-point lead in the ninth and final race to capture the Rolex North American Championship. Tactician Ian Williams and strategist Dave Armitage did the math following the first race and figured out that Twins was the primary threat. Warpath got off the line clean and was able to cover the French entry, which finished seventh in that race – two places behind the California boat. “We only got two good starts all week and one of them came in that last race when we really needed it,” said Howe, who also earned the prestigious Acura Boat of the Week honor. -- Full report: http://www.premiere-racing.com/07_AMGP_Results/miami_2007_news.htm Farr 40 (Rolex National Championship – with no discard) 1. Warpath, Fred & Steve Howe, San Diego, CA, 4-10-13-1-3-4-1-2-5, 43 2. Twins, Erik Maris, Newport, RI, USA, 6-1-2-7-9-5-4-4-7, 45 3. Nanoq, HRHPrince Frederik, DEN, 12, 7, 5, 5, 1, 9, 3, 1, 6, 49 IRC (with discard) 1. Samba Pa Ti, TP52, John Kilroy, USA, (3)-1-3-2-1-3-1-2-(7), 16 2. Magic Glove, Ker 50, Colm Barrington, IRL, 1-3-2-(5)-3-2-3-1-4, 19 3. Windquest, TP52, Doug DeVos, USA, 4-2-1-3-(6)-5-4-4-1, 24 Melges 32 (with discard) 1. Let’s Roll, Claudio Recchi, ITA, (3)-2-2-2-3-2-1-1-2, 15 2. Star, Jeff Ecklund, USA, 4-1-1-3-1-(13)-4-5-1, 20 3. New Wave, Carroll/Kullman, USA, 5-5-(9)-1-2-1-3-2-6, 25 Mumm 30 (with no discard) 1. Mean Machine, Peter De Ridder, Monaco, 1-2-1-1-1-1-4, 11 2. Groovederci, Deneen Demourkas, Santa Barbara, CA, 3-1-2-2-2-4-3, 17 3. Champosa, Jonathan McDonagh, USA, 5-3-3-3-4-2-2-3-3, 28 -- Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/2t3u7h -- Daily videos: http://www.jobsonsailing.com -- GPS tracking replay: http://tinyurl.com/3akgfo GONE TO NAMIBIA The radical UK backed Sailrocket project has added two huge pieces to the puzzle in its quest to be the fastest sailing boat in the world. The Sailrocket project has been relocated to the incredible Walvis Bay speed-strip in Namibia. The team and craft are on site and ready for action. Hometrack, the UK based housing information business has recently joined up as a major sponsor of the Sailrocket team. Malcolm Barnsley, Sailrocket’s British designer, has had all of his performance predictions and real world data independently scrutinised. What the VPP shows is a capability to sail (in smooth water) at around 2.6 times wind speed in 20 knots of wind assuming the foil keeps the water flow attached. In theory this means Sailrocket should be able to break the existing word record of 48.7 knots in a little over 19 knots of wind. It is our challenge to convert this theory into reality. -- Sail World, full story: http://www.sail-world.com/uk/index.cfm?nid=31668&rid=3 * Curmudgeon’s Comment: All the recent boardsail and kiteboard records have been set at this speed strip adjacent to Walvis Bay in Namibia. To learn more about the area, we turned to Markus Schwendtner - Secretary General of the International Speedsurfing Association: “Namibia lies in Southwest Africa and borders the South Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola to the north, Zambia in the northeast, Botswana in Southeast and South Africa to the South. The specialty of this place is the thermal wind from the southwest, produced by the heated air over the desert and the cold air over the south Atlantic. This gives daily flow, starting around noon and increasing until 5 pm, normally in the strength of 25 knots average in the afternoon. Depending on pressure systems, this flow increases to a good 30 knots average about two times a week and probably once per wind to 35 knots average or more. Due to the thermal system and the fact, that absolutely nothing is in the way of the wind, the wind is very, very constant. 2 knots around average is the normal thing. “The wind system works best in the spring months - September and October - because the temperature difference is biggest then. The other factor of this place is the wing-like shape of the sandbar, which is 2 km long and very straight, and has shown that it effectively boosts the wind by an extra 2-3 knots depending on the wind direction. Great photos are available at http://www.speedweek.co.za/2006/html/aerial_pics.html “ TRAVEL BAG UPDATE The latest in sailcloth travel bags are now made available by True Wind. Located in California, True Wind’s travel bags are manufactured in the USA, and constructed exclusively with premium Dacron sailcloth that is always new and never recycled. Features include solid brass hardware, vibrant color combinations, and a nautically-inspired design. These travel bags not only look great, but are also extremely durable and functional. With three different shapes to choose from, each bag offers a spacious main compartment with plenty of zippered pockets to hold your gear and essentials. View the collection at http://www.truewindusa.com READY TO BUILD After five months of research, computer simulations, and tank tests, the construction of the Ericsson Racing Team Volvo Ocean Race VO70 is about to commence in Kista (Sweden). Commenting on the build situation, Killian Bushe the construction manager said: "The build site is going to be state of the art. Since November, we have worked hard at putting the right team in place and getting all the necessary tools ready. This includes two ovens - one of them as big as the boat (25 meters) - and a smaller one for all the components. Our team is ready to start the construction and we are looking forward to this new challenge." Yachting World, full story: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070209103728ywnews.html * In their preparation for the next Volvo Ocean Race, the Ericsson Racing Team has purchased the last Volvo Ocean Race winner, ABN AMRO ONE. John Kostecki, the Ericsson Racing team skipper, competed (and won) the Heineken Regatta last week in St-Maarten (Caribbean) onboard ABN AMRO ONE. He commented: "It was great to sail on this boat. What I have seen and learned comforts me in our choice. She is quite different to sail compared to my experiences so far on board VO 70's. This boat is the current benchmark and will allow us to quantify the improvements we make with our new boat." BACARDI CUP: FINAL REPORT (March 9, 2007) New Zealand’s Hamish Pepper, the current Star Class World and North American champion, sailing this week with his crew and coach David Giles of Australia, won the 2007 Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta Friday on the waters of Biscayne Bay, near Miami. Despite the duo’s seventh place in the final race of the six-day series, Pepper and Giles held on to their first place overall to win the coveted Trofeo Bacardi in one of the most prestigious Star Class events in the world. Sweden’s Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom, reigning Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta champions, finished third to climb to second in the overall standings. – Janet Maizner, full story: http://www.starclass.org/artman/publish/article_258.shtml Final results after six races (top ten of 77 boats) 1. NZL, Hamish Pepper/ David Giles, 2-3-1-(16)-2-7, 15 points 2. SWE, Fredrik Loof/ Anders Ekstrom, 8-2-2-(18)-3-3, 18 3. POL, Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Dominik Zycki, 4-9-7-2-1-(11), 23 4. AUS, Ian Murray / Andrew Palfrey, 6-5-6-8-(76/OCS)-4, 29 5. GER, Marc Pickel/ Ingo Borkowski, 10-(48)-8-10-6-2, 36 6. GER, Matthias Miller/ Manuel Voigt, 7-7-(17)-11-11-1, 37 7. BER, Peter Bromby / Bill McNiven, 5-11-10-5-(76/OCS)-10, 41 8. NOR, Eivind Melleby/ Petter Morland Pedersen, 12-14-20-4-10-(76/OCS), 60 9. ITA, Luca Modena/ Michele Marchesini, 11-18-(31)-6-19-6, 60 10. SUI, Henrik Dannesboe/ Eki Heinonen, 20-(46)-5-14-5-18, 62 -- Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/3278pr -- Relive the Bacardi Cup by following Lynn Fitzpatrick’s daily diary posted on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/StarBacardiCup HEINOUSLY TIRING The temperature is close to boiling point, your eyes are burning with salt, your lungs screaming for air. You have already completed 30 gut-busting tacks and it is only the first upwind leg. Worst of all, your opponent is breathing down your neck. A slow tack now and it could be game over. Grinding may not be one of the glamorous jobs in the America's Cup but, in a very real sense, the grinders are the engine of the yacht - powering the winches that reel in the sheets and halyards during sail hoists, tacks and gybes. -- New Zealand Herald, full story: http://tinyurl.com/yr8ya9 MARION BERMUDA RACE 2007 – READY, SET GO. The 30th Anniversary Race is ready for the starter’s gun on June 15. We’re pleased to welcome back Globalstar as a Signature sponsor for iBoattrack, and Goslings long association with the Race has been heightened with their sponsoring of the Founders Trophy for the Overall Race Winner. Registrations keep rolling in and we are certain it’ll be one of the largest events in recent years. IRC class, the Bermuda Ocean Cruising Yacht Trophy presented by SAIL, iBoattrack, Multihull class, and great 30th Anniversary events planned on both ends. Still time to pull that winning crew together and register: http://www.marionbermuda.com SEEKING NOMINATIONS The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America (ICSA) Hall of Fame Selection Committee invites nominations for 2007 honorees in each of the categories listed below: Student Leadership - James Rousmaniere Award Recognizing extraordinary leadership and achievement by an undergraduate whose efforts have made a significant contribution to the development, progress, and success of his or her club or team, conference, or the ICSA. Demonstrated leadership over a period of years, rather than a single year, will receive the most serious consideration. Lifetime Service Recognizing a career of extraordinary service to college sailing, whether as volunteer or professional; one honoree per year; nominees must have passed their 60th birthday. Graham Hall Award - College Sailing Professional Recognizing organizers, administrators, advisors, or coaches who have served the best interests of college sailing at the club/team, conference, or national level; one or two honorees per year; nominees must have passed their 45th birthday. Outstanding Service - Volunteer Recognizing those who have volunteered their time, talent, or resources to advance the interests of college sailing at the club/team, conference, or national level; one or two honorees per year; nominees must have passed their 45th birthday. Nominations are welcome from anyone, but those submitted by, or receiving the endorsement of, ICSA conferences will ordinarily carry more weight. Each nomination must include: 1. Full name of nominee, college, and year of graduation; 2. Current home address; 3. A supporting statement explaining how the nominee meets the criteria established for the award. The deadline for submission of nominations is April 2. Nominations may be submitted by email to: mailto:Mbrindley@collegesailing.org or the individual conference Hall of Fame Representative. -- Mitch Brindley, President, Intercollegiate Sailing Association J/24 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (March 9) Brazil’s Mauricio SantaCruz and his team on Bruschetta are the 2007 J/24 World Champions. Sitting in top spot all week, SantaCruz went into the final day needing only to hold off the three USA boats that have been chasing him since Day One. Mike Ingham’s Brain Cramp (12-7) finished in second place with Mark Hillman (28-4) driving WIP in third. Chris Snow on Bogus, who was in the top four most of the week, dropped to 8th place after 36-8 finishes Friday. SantaCruz retired after the first race, the Championship in hand after his 18th place finish. - Kathy Taylor Final results (top ten of 70 boats) 1. Mauricio SantaCruz, BRA, 3-3-8-1-7-6-13-4-1-8-(71\DNS), 63 2. Mike Ingham, USA, 7-2-(16)-11-8-2-16-16-12-7, 81 3. Mark Hillman, USA, 18-1-25-4-2-3-9-19-(28)-4, 85 4. Yasutaka Funazawa, JPN, 14-16-11-5-10-4-12-(18)-5-12, 89 5. Wataru Sakamoto, JPN, 21-20-1-7-6-12-18-7-(71/BFD), 94 6. Southworth / McLaughlin, GBR, (50/ZFP)-12-15-9-1-16-7-1-17-17, 95 7. Alejo / Gonzalez, ARG, 12-18-(71/DSQ)-33/SCP-3-10-4-5-2-14, 101 8. Chris Snow, USA, 8-4-5-2-(36)-5-14-9-36-18, 101 9. Rossi Milev, CAN, 10-19-19/SCP-3-5-18-(22)-6-13-10, 103 10. Grimaldi / Contessi (ARG), 16-5-3-12-25-(71/DSQ)-2-20-19/RDG-3, 105 Complete results: http://www.j24mex.com/day1.htm Curmudgeon’s Comment: While all reports indicate the event organizers threw one heck of a party, they were less than stellar at providing timely results and race news. As a result, we used the Forum to post items as they came in. Amongst the Forum posts are the daily updates from Mike Ingham, plus a diary from the US all-womens team skippered by Sarah Buckley: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/J24Worlds SAILING SHORTS * The fifty-one boat fleet in the 800-mile Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas Race endured a rollercoaster ride last week, where the thrilling high wind stretches were mixed amongst many light air sections. All boats are finished, and final results are available at http://tinyurl.com/22l7m2 * Greg Fisher bested thirty-six other teams at the J/22 Midwinters last weekend, sailed on Lake Ponchatrain in New Orleans, LA, and hosted by Southern Yacht Club. Texans Kelson Elam and Terry Flynn finished second and third respectively. -- Results: http://tinyurl.com/26rrbf * (March 11, 2997) 17 years ago today, ITA 1, Il Moro di Venezia I was christened in Venice. It was the first yacht of the then new America's Cup Class, which the AC community had wisely conceived during the unfortunate Big Boat vs. Catamaran contest in 1988. The ACC (IACC as it was known then) succeeded the aged 12 Metre Class. The 12s, built under a rule established in 1906, were chosen for Cup racing 1958 until 1987 -- a remarkable 30-year run. -- BOR Blog, full report: http://bmworacleracing.twoday.net/stories/3316247/ * Clearwater, FL (March 11) Augie Diaz and crew Tracy Nan Smith are leading after the first day of the Snipe class Midwinter Championship and PanAm Trials, hosted by Clearwater Yacht Club. -- Full report and results: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/snipecircuit/ 1000 BOATS, 10 NATIONS, 1 DESIGN 45 boats are headed to Spain. 50 are backordered for 7 other countries. Used by the French Navy for Academy training, by RYA (UK) for their keelboat program, by SSSR (Sweden) for match-racing, and by J World in 5 locations. It’s the J/80 … fast, rugged, easy-to-sail & ISAF recognized. http://www.jboats.com/j80/ CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 Bill Doyle, Chair, Museum of Yachting: (RE: Juan Kouyoumdjian's 6-Metre and the upcoming 6-Metre Worlds in the UK) Many of us in the 6mR class have recently seen early sketches of Juan's radical design and it remains to be seen if he can actually pull it off as successfully as many of his other designs. It is quite interesting to say the least. It should be noted that there is currently a resurgence of interest in the 6-Metre class here in North America as well, with a strong fleet in the Northwest and a burgeoning group in New England that expects as many as a dozen+ classics to be restored and/ or sailing against each other in Maine and Newport over the next year or so. These include several Olympic medal-winning boats. This, of course, is prompted by the news that, for the first time in decades, the following bi-annual 6-Metre Worlds will be held in the US, hosted by the Museum of Yachting in Newport RI. Nothing compares to the classic beauty of a 6-Metre, and there is still time to build, restore, or get one in shape for the US Event, scheduled for September 2009. http://www.6mrnorthamerica.com * From Bruce Thompson: (regarding letter in Issue 2297) Eric Feigel is wrong on two points. First, we had expressly stipulated that the RC had set a fair line. Therefore, the RC was blameless; the competitors were 100% responsible for the problem. He’s also wrong in his estimate of my usage of the black flag. In nearly two decades as a PRO I’ve never had to use one. Never. I try to pre-empt the problem by talking to the racers at the skipper’s meeting. I ask them to produce clean starts so we can have good racing. I do remind them of the alternative. It’s worked. Under favorable conditions, I’ve had Lightnings complete four races totaling 16 NM in under four hours. That’s a regatta Vmg of over four knots. You won’t get there doing a graduated escalation of recalls. I’ve been blessed with talented sailors. I do my thing and turn them loose to do theirs. They’ve shown themselves to be skilled, knowledgeable, and appreciative. The also are capable of doing a seven race weekend regatta with zero protests. Rather than waste time in hearings, I get to mingle. I like to pass on tips to tail enders based on my observations. The faster that last boat finishes, the faster we can start the next race! Working together we’ve created some fine racing. Mr. Feigel is right that often there’s no place like home. I’m much happier running races for my Lightning friends then I would be dealing with overly aggressive Olympic hopefuls. They seem to be too. * From Richard du Moulin, Chairman, US-IRC Owners Committee (in response to Kimball's remarks about IRC in Issue 2295) I just returned home from a very enjoyable experience racing in my first Newport Harbor to Cabo San Luca Race on the West Coast. A 51-boat fleet of great boats optimized for the downwind conditions, and crewed by about half/ two-thirds the number of crew you find on east coast boats that face more upwind and power reaching conditions. Nice to live aboard a boat without the big crowd and "Das Boot" environment. I came ashore to find Kimball Livingstone's letter regarding IRC. He is correct that we can do a better job with the website, but otherwise he seemed to be missing a lot of what is happening. The recent response by IRC on the "spinoas" and the immediate release of the information to Scuttlebutt is one example, plus the organizing of our Owner's Committee who had major input into the spinoa issue. IRC is somewhat u nique in that it has a professional staff combined with Owner's Committees that are highly active in providing input. The IRC calendar is very full in 2007, and Barry Carroll's part-time leadership has been instrumental in kicking off our successful first 3 years. We welcome suggestions, which can be sent to Barry (mailto:barry@us-irc.org) and/ or to me (mailto:rdumoulin@intrepidshipping.com). * From Jim Gardiner: The "Bubba Test"... film (from ‘butt 2297) merely imitates life. Some 35 years ago, Ralph Sawyer built a test canoe from the then new material Kevlar and a standard fiberglass canoe from the same mold. The two canoes were tied to the bumper of his pickup and daily in the course of business dragged back and forth around Oscoda, Michigan to the point where all that was left was a frayed rope that had been tied to the fiberglass canoe. When you are a nine-time Champion of the AuSAble River Canoe Marathon in them parts, I guess the Constables cut you some slack. The Kevlar canoe survived. * From Sue Reilly: I could be wrong but I believe it's the Star Class that says no I or Z flag - only Black as starting penalty. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane, you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash. Special thanks to True Wind, Marion Bermuda Race, and J Boats. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
