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SCUTTLEBUTT 3011 - Wednesday, January 20, 2010Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors,providing a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/facebook Today's sponsors are Paul Buttrose Yachts, APS, and Quantum. LEAD CHANGES AND CHALLENGES, DAY TWO KEY WEST Key West, Fla., (January 19, 2010) - A northeast wind that started off at seven knots and built to 13, allowed race organizers at Key West 2010, to sail two races on Tuesday. In the Farr 40 class, Joe Fly, an Italian entry skippered by Giovanni Maspero posted a pair of fourths to take the lead in class, now ahead of fellow Italian boat Nerone by one point. Barking Mad, skippered by Jim Richardson of Newport, R.I., rallied from last in the 12-boat fleet to fifth in a race for the second straight day and is fourth overall. In the Melges 32 class, John Kilroy and his team aboard Samba Pa Ti vaulted from third to first in the 22-boat class. "We had confidence in our boat speed based off of yesterday so today wanted to have good clean starts so we could get clear lanes," Kilroy said. "We were seventh at the last mark in the first race and rallied to get a fourth. We got a great start in the second race and were able to just extend and extend." In the 21-boat Melges 24 class, Alan Field and his USA 587 team moved into a tie with UKA UKA Racing. Former College of Charleston All-American Steve Hunt is calling tactics for Field, "It's pretty shifty out there so it's important to be in the front row and able to control your own destiny. Alan won the start (in Race 3) and that allowed me to play the shifts better," said Hunt, "Our boat speed is pretty decent and we really improved our tacking today." -- Full story: http://www.premiere-racing.com/KW10_Results/kw10_news.htm Results: http://www.premiere-racing.com/KW10_Results/kw10_results_reports.htm Key West Event Website: http://www.premiere-racing.com/ * After four races Chuck Allen's J/80 team is holding a narrow lead in Key West 2010. Here he reveals a tip from his post-day review: "In today's second race we killed the start off the third to pin end, we had the opportunity to tack and cross the fleet. I got falsified into how the left had paid for us in the first race and hung it out there a bit longer than we should have. Sure enough, boats that had had poor starts and cleared right behind us were back in the game. We literally went from top two to top ten. It really helps to get to the weather mark in the J/80 class out in the top group, clear air, lanes, etc... all help the first few boats extend and sail almost their own race. We got pin balled around during this race, falling back into the teens fortunately grinding some back finishing eighth. Lesson Learned: Tack and cross when you can - this was also our college motto." -- Scuttlebutt KW2010 micro-site: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/kw/#8 SURPRISING...OR NOT Valencia, Spain, (January 19, 2010) - The America's Cup defender, Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG), issued today a revised Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions for the 33rd America's Cup Match. Shortly thereafter, Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) spokesperson, Tom Ehman, released a statement, claiming that, "Both documents are riddled with errors, and continue SNG's practice of interpreting rules, or creating new ones, solely to favor Alinghi and harm the chances of the Challenger." Ehman continued, "The Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions are heavily biased in favor of the Defender and its yacht despite input from GGYC and ISAF, the sport's world governing body, during last week's meeting in Singapore and a meeting in late December in Sydney." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/y9jkbld * Read SNG's revised Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions at: http://tinyurl.com/ye8phtx "PLASTIC FANTASTIC" 12 METRE CHAMPIONS ON THE MOVE KZ5 won three consecutive North American Championships in 2003-06 and the World Championship in 2005; KZ3 won all three European Regattas and the Championship in 2007 and was second in the 2009 World Championship. KZ7 won the 2009 World Championship. Congratulations to the three owners who equally optimized these unique 12s to the limit. The "arms race" in the 12 Metre Grand Prix fleet is over. Winning is in the hands of the owners and crew. All three boats are in pristine condition, lying in Portsmouth RI, and ready to race in 2010. KZ 5 and KZ 3 are for sale. Call 954-294-6962 or online at http://www.paulbuttrose.com BRITS MAINTAIN LEAD IN STAR WORLDS Rio de Janeiro, (January 19, 2010) - Brits Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson continued to dominate the 2010 Star World Championship with another win today in Race 4 for the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalists. Rick Merriman, 2008 North American Champion, and 1993 World Champion crew, Phil Trinter (USA) had a solid command of second place throughout the race, while Andre Mirsky and Marcelo Jordao (BRA), bettered their 6th place finish in Race 2 by finishing third today. The breeze outside of Guanabara Bay and miles off of Copacabana circulated a bit more today than it did during Race 3, yet the majority of the fleet played a similar strategy by favoring the left side during the first windward beat in the 6-8 knot breeze. Percy and Simpson were clear leaders around the first windward mark and extended as the wind picked up and the conditions grew more to their liking. Merriman and Trinter have steadily improved throughout the regatta. Said Merriman, "We came down here for the South Americans and the Royal Thames and were a little frustrated with our performance. It feels better, today." Talking about the conditions, Trinter added, ""We started on the upper end of the line. Within 10 minutes, we were in a different current and they (Percy/Simpson) shot up next to us." -- Full story: http://www.starclass.org/artman/publish/article_469.shtml The Star World Championship brings together 81 teams, representing 20 countries, with racing in Rio de Janeiro on January 16-22, outside of Guanabara Bay. Event website: http://www.starworlds2010.com Preliminary Results (after four races) - Top 10 of 73 1. GBR, Iain Percy/Andrew Simpson, 16 2. BRA, Alan Adler/Guilherme de Almeida, 35 3. NOR, Eivind Melleby/Petter Pedersen, 39 4. SUI, Marazzi/De Maria, 41 5. ITA, Negri/Colaninno, 52 6. CAN, Ross Macdonald/Andre Lekszycki, 52 7. SWE, Fredrik Loof/Johan Tillander, 54 8. GER, Babendererde/Jacobs, 56 9. BRA, Grael/Ferreira, 58 10. BRA, Mirsky/Jordao, 64 Results: http://www.starclass.org/search.cgi?Action=view&Event_id=1845 BOR 90 BECOMES USA 17 Valencia, Spain (January 19, 2010) - When BMW Racing's America's Cup trimaran left its mooring in the Port of Valencia today, it did so with a big USA on the back of the boat. Keen observers will remember that USA is the name of the boat described in the challenge for the America's Cup by the Golden Gate Yacht Club. CEO Russell Coutts later told media that as the boat was now in Spanish waters, it should sail under its racing name, USA. On the wing sail, the boat is identified as USA 17, a sail number that team founder Larry Ellison has used with great success on many of his sailing campaigns, including his Maxi boat Sayonara, which won five world titles. After sailing today, as expected, the team decided to pull the wing sail out and put it back in the tent, in anticipation of the strong winds forecast for Wednesday. The initial test sail was a success. "About as good a first day as you could hope for," was the way trimmer Ross Halcrow (NZL) put it." The sailing programme will continue as soon as possible, with Thursday and Friday currently looking positive in terms of weather. -- Read on: http://bmworacleracingblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/bor-90-becomes-usa.html * Valencia Sailing reports on USA 17s first day out: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Amazing, spectacular. These two words would suffice in order to describe the first sail of BMW Oracle's USA-17 today in Valencia. Conditions were, unfortunately, really poor. It was cold, foggy and the breeze peaked at 7 knots. Nevertheless, match racing maestro James Spithill gently squeezed the giant trimaran up to 22 knots of speed, sailing with just the wing sail. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/y8lsgg4 US SAILING SELECTS 2010 YOUTH WORLD TEAM Portsmouth, R.I. (January 19, 2010) - Eleven youth sailors have qualified for US SAILING's 2010 Youth World Team, and will receive invitations to represent the United States at the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 8-17, 2010. Nine of these athletes were selected based on first-place finishes in their respective classes at the 2010 US SAILING International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Youth World Qualifier in Clearwater, Fla., which concluded Monday after three days of racing. The multihull team was chosen by resume and did not compete at the Youth World Qualifier. The members of US SAILING's 2010 Youth World Team are: Laser Radial (boy's one person dinghy): Mateo Vargas (Treasure Island, Fla.) Laser Radial (girl's one person dinghy): Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) International 420s (boy's two person dinghy): Ian Liberty (Colt's Neck, N.J.) and Colin Murphy (New York, NY) International 420s (girl's two person dinghy): Marlena Fauer (New York, N.Y.) and Christina Lewis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 29er (open high performance dinghy): Antoine Screve (Kentfield, Calif.) and James Moody (Tiburon, Calif.) RS:X with 8.5m2 sail (boy's windsurfer): Cullen Ahearn (Clearwater, Fla. ) Sirena SL16 (open multihull): Taylor Palmer (Miami Shores, Fla.) and Mac Agnese (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) No RS:X girls registered to compete in the qualifier, so the U.S. will not send an athlete in that class to Turkey. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/y9hol5h GROUPAMA ON STAND-BY FOR NEW ATTEMPT AT JULES VERNE (January 19, 2010) - After three weeks sailing off Lorient designed to validate the completion of work carried out since her South African stopover in December, the maxi trimaran Groupama 3, skippered by Franck Cammas, is today beginning a stand-by period for a fresh attempt at conquering the Jules Verne Trophy. Franck Cammas said, "Groupama 3 has never been as solid as she is today. That clearly isn't a performance bond as she's a prototype, but we've done everything we can to ensure she is capable of getting us safely back to port. It's up to us to find the right pace and some acceptable weather conditions, even though it's evident that on a round the world we'll have to tackle some bad weather. This is as much the difficulty of the Jules Verne Trophy as the appeal". Cammas continued, "We're giving ourselves until 5th February to set off. Beyond that date, we'll have to give up our stand-by for two reasons: the first is that it will become very risky to sail in the Southern Ocean, because the summer in the Southern hemisphere will be over, resulting in violent winds, longer nights and numerous icebergs." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/y8sf6nd TIE ANOTHER ONE ON The holidays and their parties are behind us so it's time to focus back on what's important, getting your boat race ready for next season! In an effort to help take the sting out of it we at APS, "The World Leaders in Outfitting Performance Sailors", encourage you to take advantage our Annual Rope and Rigging Sale. From now until the end of January save 25% off rigging services, 20% off one design packages, and 15% off cut lengths of cordage and wire. With these kinds of savings you really shouldn't feel bad about tying another one on! Details: http://tiny.cc/a3MNC WHAT COMES AROUND, GOES AROUND The sentiments written by L. Francis Herreshoff, as found in his book "The Common Sense of Yacht Designs" (1946-1948), demonstrates once again that there are no new problems; the old ones just get more publicity: -------------------------------------------------------------------- The reader may think that it is quite a jump from sea anchors to sailing machines, but I can assure you that they both can be equally salty. Nevertheless laying overnight to some sort of drogue is the exact opposite from making quick passages, and I must say I prefer the latter. To me the pleasure of sailing is almost in direct proportion to the speed, and wallowing around in some potbellied abortion, heeled over and straining under a lapping jib or some other rule cheating windbag, seems quite ridiculous. Some yachtsmen seem to think the sole object of sailing is to beat a brother yachtsman, and have adopted certain rules of measurement that insure the wealthy to be the winners. They sail around courses perhaps at a rate of five miles an hour, and if they have won they consider themselves great sailors. But the general public, and particularly the sailor, is getting sick of that game. He sees no sense in trying to force several thousand dollars worth of lead through the water with several thousand dollars worth of rule cheating sails handled by a big crew. The sailor wants to sail, and says to hell with the wealthy, bridge playing sea lawyers who win their races traveling at a rate slower than their ancestors. This reaction can be seen all over the world in the recent interest in catamarans, proas, etc., which supports my opinion that some sort of sailing machine can be developed which besides being fast, can be safe, strong and seaworthy. I must confess that I get much greater thrill out of sailing fast than winning a race, and care very little for the luffing, backwinding and crowding at the marks. That sort of business may be all right for sea lawyers and sadists who want to hurt someone else, whose only thrill in racing is to spoil the other fellow's chances or rule him out on a technicality. But the true sailor is a pretty good natured cuss and says to hell with all that folderol. He says, "I want to see which boat will sail the fastest." The principal thing he wants to beat is the record around the course or the record between ports, and when he beats some long standing record, he says, "There now, that is sailing." -- L. Francis Herreshoff SAILING SHORTS * The 2010 O'Pen BIC Mid Winters at Shake A Leg Miami was held last weekend. Twelve races, speed relay, and freestyle challenged the sailors aged 7 to 14. Kids traveled from as far as Wisconsin to take advantage of the fun, but it was Miami YC who brought their fleet of twenty O'Pen BICs and dominated the standings. Ian Sanders from Edison Sailing Center pulled out the Over 11 division, while Orange Bowl Opti winner, Geronimo Norez, took the racing in the Under 12 Division. -- Full story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8953#8953 * The next 2-3 weeks (at least) are likely to provide more active winter weather across California than any other similar period in recent memory. The potential exists for a dangerous flood scenario to arise at some point during this interval, especially with the possibility of a heavy rain-on-snow event during late week 2. In some parts of Southern California, a whole season's worth of rain could fall over the course of 5-10 days. This is likely to be a rather memorable event. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8954#8954 * Dubai, U.A.E. (January 17, 2010) - Dubai has been unveiled as the Middle East venue selected to host the Louis Vuitton Trophy, a two-week carnival of elite sailing scheduled for mid-November. It will be held at Mina Seyahi, the home of Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) next to the Palm Jumeirah, in Dubai. -- Full story: http://www.dimc.ae/ LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, 'The Curmudgeon'). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). 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 Bruce Munro (re Scuttlebutt 3010) My standard source for the definition of a word like "sail" is my old Funk & Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary, circa. 1963. It defines a sail as "... a piece of canvas, or other strong material attached to a vessel so that it may be spread to the wind..." and be used as the means of propulsion. That is the primary definition. A secondary definition is "Anything resembling a sail in form or use; as: a) The broad part of the arm of a windmill, b) The faired conning tower of a modern submarine, c) A bird's wing." I think SNG will have an up hill argument if they claim that the BMW Oracle "wing" is not a sail. * From Paul Hewitt I am currently on a business trip in China and find it very interesting that about every other day I have seen some report about the Alinghi/ Oracle squabble either in the English language newspaper, Shanghai Daily, or on the English language local television news station. It seems their mainstream media respects sailing as a sport much more than the US media. B/T/W my daily Scuttlebutt comes through loud and clear even though Facebook and U Tube are no longer accessible and the future of Google here is unclear. WHAT'S BEHIND QUANTUM'S iQ TECHNOLOGY? Visit Quantum at the Chicago Strictly Sail Boat Show (booth #202) to learn what iQ Technology can do for you and discover Quantum's newest product offering! In addition, Jack Klang will be conducting his popular cruising seminars throughout the show, 1/28 thru 1/31. -- http://www.quantumsails.com CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "Talk low, talk slow, and don't talk too much." - John Wayne Special thanks to Paul Buttrose Yachts, APS, and Quantum. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
