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SCUTTLEBUTT 2477 – November 16, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, featuresand dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. ANGEL FUNDING Fundraising programs for community sailing centers is hardly news. We would suspect that most every community sailing center relies heavily – and annually – on donations to keep their programs running. However, the news quotient does rise when the fundraising goes particularly well, or has the ability to do so. Enter the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center. Since 1977, this not-for-profit, volunteer-driven, open-to-the-public sailing organization has introduced more than 100,000 people to the sport. Nearly 8,000 adults and 20,000 children have taken formal sailing and racing classes there. Additionally, MCSC is also internationally acclaimed for bringing sailing to children and adults with disabilities, and to kids that otherwise would never have a chance to sail. And it has all been done, 7 days a week May through October, from a sagging, leaky 900 square foot building with no indoor plumbing and one cluttered poorly-lit classroom. MCSC has been working for almost 5 years to raise the funds to improve its facilities and programs and increase its reach. Buddy Melges has served as campaign chairperson, and Harken kicked it off with a major commitment. But it has been a long road. Then last month, a donor challenged the organization to stop fundraising and start building. If MCSC reaches $2.4 million in commitments by December 1st, 2007, it will receive challenge grants of more than $1 million and the expansion can begin. Additional details on their plans are at http://www.sailingcenter.org/expansion.php To make a donation: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=21789 READER’S DIGEST VERSION Here are some updates for the committed America’s Cup follower: => AC90 Class Rule coordinator Tom Schnackenberg explaining the reasoning behind the Competition Regulations for the 33rd America’s Cup on the ACM website: http://33rd.americascup.com/en/index.php?idContent=32&idPage=1 => BYM News chatted with Alinghi lawyer Lucien Masmejan, providing him another pulpit to further explain their side of the abruptly ended settlement talks this week: http://www.bymnews.com/august/lucien-masmejan.php => The Valencia Sailing website posted comments from the Golden Gate YC/BMW Oracle Racing spokesman Tom Ehman, where he provides some information on why the claims made by Alinghi regarding the causes that lead to the end of negotiations are unfounded: http://tinyurl.com/2xc9ao ROLEX INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S KEELBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP Houston, TX (November 15, 2007) -- Three.two.one.blast off! That familiar sound from nearby NASA Johnson Space Center is also the scoreline of Olympic hopeful Sally Barkow's (Nashotah, Wis.) race results today at US SAILING's Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship. With a total score of 11 points, Barkow and her team - Debbie Capozzi, Annie Lush and Amanda Callahan - lead the 39-boat fleet racing out of the Houston Yacht Club in Shoreacres, Texas. "We were a little bit jet lagged Wednesday and we had to get used to the boat," said Barkow of her quick jump into the International J/22 keelboat after match racing in slightly larger boats at last week's Vitória Brasil Women's Cup, which she won. "We kind of had to force ourselves to wake up and get moving. We are taking it one day at a time. It was a good day today." Yesterday's leader Cory Sertl (Rochester, N.Y.) slipped into third-place overall, a mere eight points behind after discarding a seventh place result from day one. The regatta's sailing instructions allow competitors to throwout their worst result once six races are completed in the series. -- Read on: http://www.regattanews.com/pressrelease.asp?pid=1778&lang=1 Day two standings (top 5 of 39) 1. Sally Barkow, 2-(16)-3-3-2-1, 11 pts 2. Derby Anderson, 1-(22)-4-2-4-6, 17 3. Cory Sertl, 5-(7)-1-6-3-4, 19 4. Anna Tunnicliffe, 3-18-(21)-4-1-2, 28 5. Nicole Breault, 4-(OCS)-14-1-5-8, 32 Complete results: http://www.riwkc.com/index.php?pageID=3 Daily videos available at 9pm (CST) on http://www.t2p.tv/guide/riwkc07.php DISCOVER THE ATLANTIS DIFFERENCE Atlantis WeatherGear delivers innovation and style that stand out in a sea of grey and black. Jump on board with the leaders from one-designs to classic yachts to the new 66-foot IRC rocket Numbers, and join the movement to a different kind of gear company. Discover the new Atlantis. Visit http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com to find a dealer near you. WORLD TOUR – BRASIL SAILING CUP Vitoria, Brasil (November 15, 2007) -- The conditions of high winds and big seas which kept the SM 40’s at their moorings and the World Match Racing Tour sailors ashore Wednesday afternoon at the Vitoria Brasil Sailing Cup did the same Thursday, but not before allowing the six teams from Group B to complete three flights of morning Round Robin action. In this group, Paolo Cian (ITA) from Team Shosholosa remains undefeated on three wins, while Mathieu Richard (FRA), the second-ranked skipper on the Tour, has led his Saba Racing Team to two wins, as has fellow Frenchman Philippe Presti of Luna Rossa. Principal Race Officer Joao Pedro Cascais kept Group A ashore in the afternoon in the hope that the 30-knot winds and big waves would abate, but as late as 1600 there was no let up, so racing was postponed for the remainder of the day. Cascais feels confident the weather will be more cooperative Friday, and has called for the teams in Group A to meet tomorrow at 0700 local time. The Vitoria Brasil Sailing Cup is Stage 14 on the ’06-’07 World Match Racing Tour, with competition among 12 teams continuing through this Sunday, 18 November. -- Complete report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/default.asp?m=da&id=64650 Group A Bjorn Hansen, SWE – Team Apport .Net 3-0 Magnus Holmberg, SWE - Victory Challenge 3-0 Ian Williams, GBR - Team Pindar 2-1 Alvaro Marinho, POR - Seth PT Team 1-2 Daniel Glomb, BRA – Team Bravissimo 0-3 Claire Leroy, FRA - Team Mermaids 0-3 Group B Paolo Cian, ITA – Team Shosholoza 3-0 Philippe Presti, FRA - Luna Rossa 2-1 Mathieu Richard, FRA - Saba Sailing Team 2-1 Pierre-Antoine Morvan, FRA - Extrem Team Morbihan 1-2 Eric Monnin, SUI - Team Meister Ropes 1-2 Torvar Mirsky, AUS - Mirsky Racing Team 0-3 Standings: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/default.asp?m=da&id=64445 BARCELONA WORLD RACE Open 60 doublehanded round the world race (started Nov 11; 25,000-miles) (November 15, 2007) Paprec-Virbac 2 led the fleet from the Med and into the Atlantic on Wednesday night, winning the first stage of the race in the process. The opening leg carried a prize of 60 cases of Estrella Damm beer for the first boat to reach Gibraltar, and the Franco-Irish duo of skipper Jean-Pierre Dick and co-skipper Damian Foxall were just able to squeeze past PRB to claim the stage win. A total of eight gates will break the course down to nine portions, but the overall result will nevertheless remain on elapsed time – the prizes awarded at each gate will have no bearing on the final result overall result – the first back is the winner! Damian Foxall explained the winning move, "Upwind in the last stretch of the Alboran Sea, we were following PRB and positioned ourselves right behind them for the last tack off Malaga - trying to catch a shift close to shore. That's where we were able to overtake them,” PRB has since regained the lead, taking a more direct route south towards the Canaries, while Paprec-Virbac 2 elected to head further west initially. The passage into the Atlantic doesn’t mean things immediately get easier. The trade winds the fleet would normally expect to pick up over the next few days simply aren’t there and the weather situation remains complex over the coming days. -- Complete report: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com/default.asp?section=10&sid=10643 Day 5 Positions - November 15, 2007 - 18:00 (GMT) 1. PRB - Vincent Riou (FRA)/Sébastien Josse (FRA), 23,971 DTF 2. Paprec-Virbac 2 - Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA)/Damian Foxall (IRE), 0 miles DTL 3. Estrella Damm - Guillermo Altadill (ESP)/Jonathan McKee (USA), 62 4. Temenos II - Dominique Wavre (SUI)/Michéle Paret (FRA), 73 5. Veolia Environnement - Roland Jourdain (FRA)/Jean-Luc Nélias (FRA), 89 6. Mutua Madrilena - Javier Sanso Windmann (ESP)/Pachi Rivero (ESP), 91 7. Delta Dore - Jérémie Beyou (FRA)/Sidney Gavignet (FRA), 96 8. Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson (GBR)/Andrew Cape (AUS), 105 9. Educación sin Fronteras -Albert Bargués (ESP)/Servanne Escoffier (FRA),188 Race website: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com A CAT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Islamorada, Florida (November 15, 2007) In winds of around 10-12 mph, light chop and no kelp, Glenn Ashby of Australia sailed two near-perfect races to take a 2-point lead over USA’s Lars Guck following the fourth day of the 2007 A-Cat World Championship in the Florida Keys. For the first race, Ashby held the lead all the way around with Guck staying close at first, but later fading. Pete Melvin of the USA had a bad first leg, but made it back to to finish in 9th place. In the second race Ashby was challenged closely by Luc Du Bois of Sweden. Nine races are scheduled for the event, with racing set to conclude on Friday. -- The Catamaran Sailor, read on: http://www.catsailor.com/Stories_Temp/AWorlds07DayFour.html Series Standing (top six of ninety-eight) 1. Glenn Ashby (AUS) 1-3-1-2-(4)-1-1, 9 2. Lars Guck (USA) 2-1-(3)-1-2-2-3, 11 3. Pete Melvin (USA) (10)-2-2-3-3-9-4, 23 4. Luc Du Bois (SUE) 13-5-5-6-(23)-6-2, 37 5. Mitch Booth (NED) 6-4-10-(12/RDG)-5-7-7, 39 6, Charlie Ogletree (USA) 8-(15)-8-5-6-15-5, 47 Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/2cycff Event website: http://www.acatworlds.com ONE WEEK TO LAUNCH The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year - the perfect day to launch the new Hall Spars & Rigging website. Our massive online store will offer everything from high-performance rope to cotter pins. The site is huge - there are more than 400 blocks alone! You can re-rig your boat without leaving the house. So while the rest of the family runs to the mall, log on and find the rigging upgrades you crave. From Nov. 23 to Dec. 1, every order over $200 receives a free Hall backpack. http://www.hallspars.com SAILING SHORTS * (November 15, 2007) Harry “Buddy” Melges Jr., a two-time Olympic medal winner in sailing, was one of six sports figures who were inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame Thursday evening. Since 1951, nearly 125 individuals have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, with a new group being selected and inducted every two year. Besides Melges, the other inductees include basketball coach Dick Bennett, NFL star lineman Mike Webster, Milwaukee Brewer Cecil Cooper, Milwaukee Bucks owner Sen. Herb Kohl and sportsman Fred Miller. -- Full story, http://gazettextra.com/news/2007/nov/09/melges-sails-hall-fame/ * A 44-year-old sailing instructor has been arrested and charged with two counts of indecent dealing with children. Following a sailing lesson at a Cairns boating club in Queensland, Australia, Police say two high school students were changing in his office when one noticed a digital camera with its lens extended. The police were called and Detective Inspector John Harris says they found video footage of the girls on the camera. -- Complete story: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/16/2092409.htm * (November 15, 2007) All of the ORMA 60 multis will be in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil harbour Friday, finishing the doublehanded Transat Jacques Vabre that began nearly two weeks ago in France. The doldrums have begun to shake up the IMOCA 60 fleet, with Bernard Stamm/ Tanguy Cariou onboard Cheminées Poujoulat now leading the IMOCA fleet, having passed previous leader Ecover 3. -- Event website: http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en * On Thursday morning November 15th, three possible winning crews sailed off Palm Beach for the final race of the 17th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. After a long course with three sausages and two triangles, Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk (NED) took the bullet and the overall victory. Gunnar Larsen and Bastiaan Tentij (NED) managed to finish third just one spot ahead of Wouter Samama and Sam Frank (NED). Both teams are tied on points, but Larsen/Tentij became second overall on count back. Thomasch and Hankart (AUT) won in the small class of slower catamarans. -- http://www.arubaregatta.com PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include the latest device for rig tuning, boats getting thrashed in Newport, RI from Hurricane Noel, boats going aground in Northern California, a 90 year old birthday boy, and some freaky antics at a pre-race party. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/1116 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: Nov 16-24 - Raja Muda Selangor Intl. Regatta - Port Klang, Malaysia Nov 16-18 - US SAILING OD Sailing Symposium - Columbus, OH, USA Nov 18 - Around The Island Race 2007 - Hong Kong, China View all the events 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 Eric Lind, Grand Traverse Yacht Club (re: the A-Class Catamaran Worlds) We hosted the A-Class NA's here in Traverse City a few years back and they were a wonderful group to work with and at 165# all up, these are amazing boats to watch. The World's website is well done and interesting. One of the posts under 'News' discusses the fleet makeup -- 16 Olympic medals, and more than 50 World Champs amongst a fleet of 100 boats! Pretty impressive to say the least. I'm envious that I'm not there. The site also tells me that the Black Flag is req'd after the first general recall. This may be a class rule or a decision by whoever wrote the SIs, but ultimately it handcuffs the PRO. This is most likely why the first attempt at a start on Wednesday was postponed instead of recalled. The decision of the I-jury to grant redress to an OCS competitor has created some controversy as he evidently admitted he was OCS, but used the fact that Code Flag X was not raised immediately as the basis of his request. I don't know who it was, but I'm sure he's having fun at the social gatherings. All this considered, it sounds like a hoot of an event. I'm eagerly awaiting the stories from the final two days. * From Christian Jensen: (regarding ISAF’s suspended sailor list in Issue 2476) Not that there isn't already enough of a mess surrounding America's Cup - BUTT - if Simon Daubney ends up getting the flick for illegal drug use during the last cup event, will that mean Alinghi hands over the pickle dish to Team NZ as they would have then (as a team) violated the anti doping/ drug rules? That would make the whole circus move from a 5-ring version to a 3-ring one. Breaking a rule is breaking a rule - wonder if we are going to see an exemplary display of sportsmanship from Alinghi by asking to be scored RAF for all races? Curmudgeon’s Comment: On September 29, 2007, the 32nd America’s Cup jury ruled that Simon Daubney did have an illegal drug in his system during the event, but that he had not knowingly taken the substance. As for the event, it was case closed. However, the long arm of ISAF still has a grip on the case, and the outcome remains to be seen. Here is a link for the 32nd America ’s Cup jury decision: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/1001 * From Brett Phillips, Honolulu, Hawaii: It's a sad day when the 470 AND the 49er stay but the Tornado goes. The 470 is outdated and should be eliminated. * From Geri Conser: What is going on with the Olympics? Are we going back to the dark ages? One of the most beautiful and exciting parts of the games is the Multihull sailing event. I have shot many parts of the games but the Multihulls are the most exciting. * From Karen Marriott (US Windsurfing Olympic Trials competitor): If the powers that be at the IOC want to reduce the number of participants in Olympic sailing even more in the future, ISAF should take the lead in really revolutionizing Olympic sailing and setting an example for other Olympic sports. If we really want to find out who the best sailor/athletes are, let every country send the required number of sailors (6, 8, 10 whatever - half men, half women) to compete in a different sailing event each day of the Olympic sailing regatta. One day they might all sail together on a keel boat, the next day pick two sailors for dinghies, the next cats, and then windsurfing and so on. The trick would be that events and boats would not be announced ahead of time; you might be match racing, you might be fleet racing - there may be windsurfing or skiffs - there might be team racing. Well-rounded, adaptable, quick thinking sailors who are also athletes would be rewarded. And as a plus it eliminates picking classes that are "Olympic Classes" and all the arguing that goes along with that (does it help a class or kill a class?). Let's make Olympic sailing about great sailors showing off all their skills - not just classes competing for Olympic representation. CONGRATS TO LINE 7 GEAR WINNER Scuttlebutt teamed up with Line 7 to give away an Offshore jacket and Aquatec 2 pants to a randomly selected e-Newsletter subscriber that had signed up between Oct 22 and Nov 15, 2007 (by 3pm PT). Line 7 has been the official clothing supplier for the past twelve years to Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup, and just recently became the official clothing supplier for the World Match Racing Tour. And now, Line 7 will be outfitting …. ROB VAUGHAN! Thanks to everyone that joined Scuttlebutt, and stay tuned for future sweepstakes that benefit all e-Newsletter subscribers. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The reasons a redneck murder is so hard to solve is because all the DNA is the same and there are no dental records. Special thanks to Atlantis WeatherGear and Hall Spars & Rigging. |
