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SCUTTLEBUTT 2580 – April 22 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. PREVENTING HISTORY FROM REPEATING ITSELF by Bruce Brown It was four years ago when the beginning of the beer can season for a Southern California harbor had a terribly wrong start. One boat sank, four people in the water, one person died. However, what has happened since by host California Yacht Club and other local clubs is an effort to help prevent history from repeating itself. Each year since that tragedy, a pre series program has been offered on the lessons learned from that night and crew overboard rescue. Invited participants have included the US Coast Guard, County Sheriff and the Life Guards (the real Bay Watch) from the area as well as local instructors that are trained to teach COB rescue techniques. While not a full Safety at Sea Seminar, this element of sailing is often overlooked on the around the buoys events, and with recent COB events in the two short handed races in the San Francisco Bay area, it should be apparent of the need to remind sailors about the proper use of safety harnesses and tethers as well as COB rescue techniques. I was among the group of individuals invited to speak this year, and as a manufacturer's representative for marine accessories, I advise that without practice, safety gear is only another tool onboard a boat. Our presentation did not focus on step by step "training" of Crew Overboard techniques (because an on the water demonstration really makes the point of the need for practice with the on board equipment.) However, the emphasis was that each owner must know how the gear operates, and offer instruction to the crew about techniques for deployment, activation and use. I would recommend all of us continue to look at programs like this to instruct sailors about basic safety techniques. Often we consider "around the buoys" sailing to be "safer" than offshore events. When we consider the variety of skill levels onboard, and the list of maneuvers requiring crew movement and coordination in tight quarters, we are all putting people at risk of falling overboard. I hope that sailors consider rescue techniques to be important parts of practice for race or cruise events. I commend Cal YC and their local clubs for their continued efforts to learn lessons from a past incident. Making this kind of effort can prevent a repetition. NON-QINGDAO CONDITIONS CONTINUE IN HYÈRES Hyères, France (April 21, 2008) The second day of racing in the 40th Semaine Olympique Française was blessed with ideal racing conditions and sunshine. The clouds and rain cleared quickly by mid-morning with the apparition of a steady 15 to 20 knots Mistral for the 920 Olympic class boats representing 58 countries. Stronger winds are expected for Tuesday, with Andrew Campbell (USA) commenting, “The debate around many of the boatparks is whether some of the fleets will even venture out to race in more than 25 knots. Of course there isn’t any chatter like that in Laserland, where regardless of how windy it is, I’m sure we’ll be sent out as guinea pigs to see if the more fragile classes might be able to handle it.” Following Monday’s racing, the Canadian male singlehanders remain strong, with Michael Leigh (Laser) and Christopher Cook (Finn) both in second place. As the ISAF top ranked Laser Radial sailor, American Anna Tunnicliffe rolled a 2-1 to pull her up to fifth overall, while her teammates in the Yngling class, Sally Barkow/ Debbie Capozzi/ Carrie Howe, stumbled hard with a 16-10 to drop to fifth. Remaining consistent in the 49er class are Tim Wadlow/ Chris Rast (USA) and Gordon Cook/ Ben Remocker (CAN), who are in 6th and 10th respectively. -- Regatta website: http://sof.ffvoile.net GEAR UP FOR THE NEWPORT TO BERMUDA RACE There are many variables that go into performing well in this race. Some are controllable, some are not. Clothing is a controllable variable. Therefore, when looking for high performance clothing, our Bermuda Sailing shorts are the perfect choice! These shorts offer a comfortable fit with extra room in the seat and rise. Made out of a breathable fast drying, lightweight and durable Supplex®. With a reinforced Cordura back pocket for an optional foam pad to be inserted for added comfort. A great choice for your team when crossing the Gulf Stream! Also check out our VPS shirts at http://www.camet.com/?Click=774 WHAT IS THE RIGHT COMBINATION? by Lynn Fitzpatrick Looking down the score sheet for most international Women’s Yngling regattas, there are three Dutch boats in the lineup, with the Netherlands utilizing a decidedly unique process for selecting their Olympic representative. Following the 2004 Olympics, casting calls went out over the Internet and the federation received 80 responses, including the members of the Dutch Yngling team that sailed at the Olympics in Athens. Following initial auditions in Mememblick, the field has been methodically reduced down to nine sailors that now sail the three boats, are fully funded, and on the road for 240 days a year. While the three teams have all the advantages of being completely supported, they also must live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether they will be named to the team that goes to Qingdao until very late in the game. For each event, Coaches Maurice Paardenkooper and Marjon Kooistra decide who takes the helm, who takes the middle and who takes the bow of each of the three boats, with all nine women attempting to please one another and embody all of the right things that they feel it will take to be among the remaining three contestants in a game of survivor. Most other countries have finalized their decision about which athletes will be on their Olympic squad. The rationale for those countries’ selection process is that it will remove one of the greatest uncertainties of being an Olympic athlete; knowing that you are going. Sometime in June 2008, coaches Paardenkooper and Kooistra will make a decision about who will be among the best of the best Dutch representatives to the 2008 Olympics. As Coach Paardenkooper put it, “The best go.” Until then, it’s anybody’s guess who will be sailing NED I, NED II, and NED III. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/lf/#dutch THE KENNEDYS WERE SAILORS A survey carried out by a leading US boat insurer has revealed that boaters put their vessel ahead of many other major life purchases, such as a house or a car, and are happier for it. In a recent survey of more than 1,000 boat owners, nearly half said they bought their boat before they purchased a car or a home. More than a third disagreed with the statement: "a boat owner's two greatest days are the day he buys his boat and the day he sells it" with an overwhelming majority saying they 'love boating' and wish they had more time for it. It seems that many boaters surveyed got into boating during more carefree times in their lives. Nearly a third of boaters surveyed said they bought a boat before they got married (28 percent), had children (30 percent) or finished university (19 percent). Carried out by the insurance company, Progressive, the most revealing statistic was perhaps the attitude towards insurance. While 70 percent of boaters say they know they should have insurance, even in the off-season, 29 percent admit to having no boat insurance at all. Meanwhile, twenty percent of boaters said that they would NEVER sell their boat and six percent went as far as to say they would only sell if threatened with physical harm. And for all the politicians out there.. heed this: 15 percent of boaters say they're more likely to vote for a political candidate if he/she is a boater. -- Practical Boat Owner, http://www.pbo.co.uk/auto/newsdesk/20080321164021pbogeneral.html SAILING SHORTS * Annapolis, MD -- Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. announced the launch of the second annual Charles Schwab Junior Sailing Cup. The Charles Schwab Junior Sailing Cup was developed to provide teens interested in sailing with an environment that promotes skill development and team-building through a fun, structured sailing competition. The program is open to all teens ages 13 to 18 with sailing experience. The Charles Schwab Junior Sailing Cup is a season-long, points-based regatta open to participants in junior sailing programs in Annapolis on the upper Chesapeake Bay. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/49a3hl * LaserPerformance has announced the appointment of Devin Kelly as President and Jim Forrest Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Kelly was most recently with INBEV where he served as Vice President of Marketing for UK and Ireland. INBEV is the global brewer of many well known brands including Beck’s and Stella Artois. Mr. Forrest brings to LaserPerformance over 25 years of financial and managerial experience, most recently as Chief Financial Officer of the Standard Electric Supply, one of New England’s (US) largest electrical distributors. Both appointees will be based at the North American offices in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. -- http://www.laserperformance.com * The Spanish deep-sea Tuna ship Playa de Bakio was seized by pirates as it was fishing off Somalia, taking its 26-man crew hostage. The ship was apparently first attacked with grenade launchers and then boarded by three or four men, who carried out the hijacking without inflicting any injury on the crew. A Spanish frigate is now sailing from the Red Sea towards the site, and in Madrid the ministries of Foreign affairs, Defense and the Environment are coordinating their efforts to free the crew. This latest incident comes just weeks after hijackers seized the luxury yacht Le Ponant in the same area. -- The Valencia Life Network, mailto:publisher@valencialife.net * Providence, RI -- The state will seek bids from private developers to build and operate an offshore wind farm designed to generate 1.3-million megawatt-hours per year just south of Block Island, under a plan announced this afternoon by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri. Such a project would require an estimated 105 wind turbines, making it about the size of the proposed Cape Wind project off Cape Cod. -- Read on: http://propercourse.blogspot.com/2008/04/dear-gov.html CELEBRATE EARTH DAY WITH NORTH SAILS Save yourself some 'green' with free shipping from North Sails Gear! When you order North Sails gear this week ($75 or more excluding tax), we will ship it to you at no charge. Simply write the words 'earth day' in the comments box during check-out and we will deduct the shipping charges. Ground shipping within the USA only. Offer ends April 25. http://www.NorthSailsGear.com 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 Quentin Walsh: (re, Farr 40 Worlds protest) I went to pro-sight-sailing.com for the first time and was delighted to get their audio reports to flesh out the circumstances of the "protest". So Joe Fly is one point down to Mascalzone Latino going into the 9th race and both are between 3rd and 5th at the first weather mark of race 9. After the rounding, Joe Fly is told that Mascalzone will protest and Barking Mad will be a witness and thus they should do a penalty turn. Joe Fly made an egregious misjudgment to risk a DSQ and championship possibility lost instead of just several lost places at that point of the race. Maybe justice was truly served since Joe Fly "seriously overplayed their hand" and accordingly to audio comments was involved in other problematic close at hand situations during the regatta. Finally, where was the judge's boat? => Curmudgeon’s Comment: We spoke with Tom Ehman, who headed the Jury, and he explained that they were in position on the water, saw the infringement, but were unclear on whether anyone was going to protest. Apparently, the jury has an on-the-water whistle system, and if they see an infringement, AND they know that someone intends to protest, they will blow a whistle so the parties to the incident know that jury witnessed the incident. This system has been in place for several years, and the competitors know that the jury is not on the water to file protest, but rather to be a witness to the racing. The reason the jury needs confirmation of a protest before whistling is because there is so much give and take amongst the boats, that they don’t want to add confusion to an incident where no one felt they were fouled. For the Joe Fly-Barking Mad-Mascalzone incident, they did not blow a whistle because they did not know if anyone was going to protest. As for the appropriateness of Mascalzone’s third party protest, we have chatted with several folks involved, and the story would not be complete without mentioning that there were several incidents during the regatta when the Joe Fly team were arguably overplaying their hand. Sailing is a self-policed sport, and when the game is played hard and fast, it is up to the competitors to counsel the offender. Sometimes it occurs onshore, perhaps with a chat in the bar, and sometimes it happens on the water with a protest. Nobody likes to see the winner of a major championship decided on a protest, but from all accounts, the jury goes this one right. * From Adrian Blunt, Victoria, BC, Canada: Cliff Bradford (in SB 2579) commenting on the Artemis Transat race, said he would like to see, "one of the ocean races .... prevent the sailors from knowing where the other boats are for the whole race." The MiniTransat 650s race without SSB, cell & sat phones, e-charts, weather faxes and routing information. Mini Transats race under the rules Cliff advocates. Mini skippers may hear a daily list of fleet positions (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc) over VHF if: they are in range of the accompanying support boats VHF; understand French; are awake at the time of the broadcast; and care to listen in. But they do not know the lat-longs of the other contestants. Cliff points out that knowing everyone else's position results in covering and clustering and no one taking "wild flyers". I hope Cliff will not settle for just seeing such a race, but might buy a Mini and take a wild flyer himself. * From Chris Ericksen: (re, letters in Issue 2579; edited to the 250-word limit) First, as the Curmudgeon knows well, SCYA rules do not allow the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club to be a member. So-called "paper clubs" such as those referred to by Craig Fletcher that meet certain requirements do belong to SCYA. SSC was formed for a particular reason; allowing its non-dues-paying members--of which I am one--to enter regattas was not it. Second, most regattas, including the Ensenada Race, are not organized by SCYA but by individual sailing associations and yacht clubs. Each one gets to choose the entry criteria, and some choose to open their doors only to dues-paying members of SCYA-member clubs. Their choice, not SCYA's. John Tormey may not know it, but most other sports DO require membership in a local club to participate in events sanctioned by or run under the rules of that sport. And the final point, Paul Warren, is this: it's yacht clubs and sailing associations that allow folks like you to participate in our sport. They and their members pay for the trophies, buy or loan the race-committee boats, own or borrow the race-committee gear and staff the race committee. I can tell you that the entry fees paid by participants usually covers only part of the cost--the rest is subsidized by the members of yacht clubs and sailing associations who sponsor these events. So, before one starts bad-mouthing yacht clubs and sailing associations, one should realize who really does the heavy lifting in our sport. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: If any America’s Cup campaigns are looking for a club, I think SSC would qualify, as last year we enjoyed our 7th Annual Scuttlebutt Sailing Club championship, held each year at the Bitter End Yacht Club in the British Virgin Islands (2008 dates are November 1-8). As for SCYA membership, I am not aware of any rules that would prevent SSC from being a member. The big hurdle seems to be getting the five SCYA member clubs as sponsors. SCYA application: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/scya.jpg * From Brian Morris: To clarify some of the inaccuracies by Mark Reynolds (in Butt 2579) in his attack on the Tornado Class, the 2007 ISAF Annual meeting did not vote in classes but DISCIPLINES. So there is no reason to suggest the Tornado will be the Olympic boat for 2012. The 2008 ISAF meeting in Spain will match CLASSES to the DISCIPLINES. So even if the keel boat remains, there is no guarantee it will be the Star. From the ISAF papers one other ISAF International multihull has put its name forward as well as another non-international class to challenge the Tornado to be the Olympic Class for 2012. Also if Mark is going to quote Past President Henderson, then please he should include all his recommendation which included the multihull. Finally if ISAF does keep the keelboat and it chooses the Star then I believe it would be the only sport in the Olympics which has chosen a discipline to keep the old champions active. All other sports look to the future…not the past. (Paul Henderson’s recommendations can be found as the lead story in Issue 2570: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=3890) * From Bob Matthews: (re, letter in 2579) Nice to see that Mark Reynolds is protecting his income, seeing that his sailmaking business is largely reliant on the Star class. However, there is no promise that the Star is guaranteed to be in the Olympics (or is there?). The only thing that has been decided so far is the events, not the equipment, so Mark is kind of off target in his references to the Star and Tornado. The reality is that the 2012 Olympic events are being reviewed at the ISAF Mid-May meeting because a lot of countries have complained. Has this happened a lot in the past? Plus, Mark seems to think that classes should be awarded Olympic status as some kind of reward for their hard work, rather than having events selected for the kind of sailing they provide, and how that fits into the Olympic ideal. At least there are no secrets about his bias. OWN A LEGEND Kialoa III, an incredible sailing yacht and one of the greatest maxis, is for sale. Certainly the most beautiful S&S/ Pedrick/ Palmer Johnson. Very nice full interior, great owner's stateroom, guest, four heads, huge salon. Set up for cruising and fun racing. 79 x 17.6 x 12. For details, contact mailto:Brad@occsailing.com CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Marriage: It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her masters. * The theme this week is marriage… please submit your advice and observations here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/04/marriage-theme.html Special thanks to Camet International, North Sails, and Orange Coast College. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
