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SCUTTLEBUTT 2250 – January 2, 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). SYDNEY HOBART RACE (The drama of this classic ocean race unfolded last week while Scuttlebutt was on holiday break. If you need a good recap of the race, which includes the maxi dismastings of Maximus and Oakley, and the sinking of Koomooloo, the following story will do it for you.) With winds of no more than 20 knots forecast just prior to the start, this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart was lining up to be a relatively benign event. But despite a moderate forecast, the world's toughest 'classic 600 mile' offshore race did not fail to live up to its reputation, with competitors not only having to survive, but race through one of Mother Nature's most treacherous obstacle courses, an event which eight years ago claimed the lives of six sailors. Seventy-eight yachts took the start line of the 2006 Rolex Sydney Hobart, a smaller field than previous years, but by no means lacking in quality. While in 2005 the focus for line honours was the fight between two brand-new 98ft sisterships Wild Oats XI and Alfa Romeo, this year there were potentially five boats gunning for line honours - Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI back to defend her title, this time against two other 30m supermaxis Charles Brown and Bill Buckley's Maximus from New Zealand and Grant Wharington's heavily modified 2003 winner Skandia. Added to the mix were the Volvo Open 70s, Volvo Ocean Race winner ABN AMRO One and Matt Allen's Ichi Ban (formerly Grant Wharington's Brunel), 28ft shorter, but no less potent given hard enough conditions. Outside of the maxis, some of the hottest competition was to be found in the 50-60ft range where several skippers were lining up for an equally heavyweight bout with their latest hardware. This included Geoff Ross' brand new 55 footer Yendys, Stephen Ainsworth's all conquering Loki, the canting keel Cookson 50s Quantum Sails and Living Doll and Graeme Wood's newly acquired Nelson Marek 52, Wot Yot. -- Full story: http://www.regattanews.com/pressrelease.asp?pid=1571&langid=1 Handicap division winners: IRC A: Ichi Ban, Matt Allen IRC B: Yendys, Geoff Ross IRC C: DSK Comifin, Danilo Salsi IRC D: Challenge, Lou Abrahams IRC E: Love & War, Lindsay May PHS 1: Ocean Skins, Tony Fowler PHS 2: Another Fiasco, Damian Suckling Sydney 38: Challenge, Lou Abrahams Cruising: Capriccio of Rhu Michele Colenso -- Complete results: http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/standings_ext.asp?key=524 SINK THIS SILLY RACE (Dec 31, 2006) It is time to pull the plug on the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race. This high-maintenance, high-risk event caters for a privileged few while threatening the safety of sailors and rescue crews - and it relies on taxpayers' money to bail out crippled participants. Again this year there has been a bout of the serious injuries and dangerous rescue efforts that we have come to expect with this race. Only 24 hours after it started, nine boats were forced out of the race and six yachtsmen taken to hospital. Race organisers may claim it is a tough race and not nearly as bad as the 1998 race that saw six sailors lose their lives, but that doesn't wash with me. Enough is enough. The race has become too dangerous. On Wednesday, three crew of Maximus had to be rescued by helicopter when its $800,000 carbon-fibre mast broke and fell on the yacht. Water police had to haul another two crew members to safety and one, Sydney sailor Ian Treleaven, said they were lucky to be alive. Rudders have been ripped off and masts snapped, but so have limbs and ribs. That is not sport. Vintage timber yacht Koomooloo, which won the 1968 Sydney-to-Hobart, also was a casualty and now rests at the bottom of the Tasman Sea after it was cracked open like a crab. Owner Mike Freebairn and his family had dedicated a decade to restoring the yacht to its former glory. What a waste. The bottom line is that the race is too brutal on boats and bodies and we can no longer turn a blind eye. It may be part of our history, but common sense must prevail. -- by Robyn Riley, Sunday Herald: http://tinyurl.com/yzfago ORANGE BOWL Imagine yourself as an eight-year old who has taken sailing lessons for three or four months and finding yourself in among over 600 junior sailors and as many coaches and parents and your first international regatta. The Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta, held every year between Christmas and New Years, in Miami, is quite an experience for the uninitiated and veterans. Junior sailors from all over the world descended on Coconut Grove’ s waterfront to compete in Optimist prams, Laser 4.7’s, Laser Radials, Lasers and Club 420’s. While the Juniors and their parents were busy finding parking spaces, rigging and launching out of the neighboring US Sailing Center, Coral Reef Yacht Club and Biscayne Bay Yacht Club the Laser Masters and Lightning sailors enjoyed peace and tranquility over at Coconut Grove Sailing Club. -- by Lynn Fitzpatrick, full story: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0101/ Club 420: 1. T. Sinks & M. Renoir; 2. T. Canfield & P. Emsiek; 3. C. Barnard & C. Segerblom; 4. T. Fink & B. Ross; 5. R. Vann & A. Lorenzen Laser Radial Rig: 1. Colin Smith; 2. Marco Teixidor; 3. Sarah Lihan; 4. Michael Menninger; 5. Philip Alley Laser Full Rig: 1. Kyle Rogachenko; 2. Zack Marks; 3. Fred Strammer; 4. Charlie Buckingham; 5. David Hernandez Laser 4.7: 1. David Alfonso; 2. Eric Lawrenc; 3. Olin Davis; 4. Patrick Carolus; 5. Grady Timmins Optimist (RWB): 1. Mac Agnese; 2. Anthony Bailey; 3. Declan Whitmyer; 4. Takumi Saitama; 5. Kenta Nakauchi -- Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/yjbgcp NOT JUST ANY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION! New Year’s Resolutions: #1 - Lose weight! #2 - Buy a new pair of Camet sailing shorts! We know that they are durable, long lasting, and you might be able to get other season out of them…but it’s time to change colors or styles (or even get yourself a Camet vest to keep you feeling just right in Key West). Plus our shorts have an adjustable waist just in case you succeed at Resolution #1! Shop, Click, Buy! -- http://www.camet.com ORANGE BOWL ESSAY CONTEST Year after year, the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta in Miami, FL is the largest junior event in North America. This year’s event attracted 522 entries, and for those that have ever attended - either this year or in the past - there are likely some special stories to share. Therefore, Miami Regattas is sponsoring a contest. Tell us your favorite Orange Bowl Regatta story in 200 words or less. You can even include pictures. This contest is open to anyone who has ever participated in the regatta in anyway - juniors, coaches, parents, sisters, brothers, judges, regatta organizers from any year or any country. Winning story(s) will be published in Scuttlebutt, with prizes including a 2-night stay at a Grove Hotel, VIP tickets to Miami area attractions and more! Submit entries by January 20, 2007 to: Essays@MiamiRegattas.com OPTIMIST WORLDS The last event of 2006 will also be the most international Class event in world sailing. Fifty countries will be represented by some 230 sailors in the 2006 IODA World Sailing Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay which starts on 29 December. The championship is a major exercise. All Optimists are supplied (by Rio Tecna in neighbouring Argentina) and all teams, with a maximum of five sailors and three adults, will be accomodated in the Radisson Hotel. The International Jury includes twelve IJs, race management will be supervised by two IROs and measurement by three IMs. Major development work has been undertaken by the host Yacht Club Uruguayo which celebrates its centenary this year and a big team of volunteers will be giving up their Christmas break to ensure a successful event. The great turnout is a massive increase on the last time, fourteen years ago, that the Worlds were also at Christmas, also in South America (in Mar del Plata, Argentina) when there were just 133 sailors from 29 countries. Nine of the additional countries were not even members of IODA in 1992, mostly from the Caribbean and other parts of the Americas, These include Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, both Virgin Island groups, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico and Trinidad. Others rarely or never travelled abroad in those days. Of what we then thought of as the ex-communist countries, only Croatia was represented: this year Poland, Slovenia and Ukraine are also present. The IODA Asian Championship had only been created two years before and neither China nor Singapore were represented: nor, from Oceania, were Australia, New Zealand or Tahiti. These additional countries may well be among the medals. Slovenia, China, Bermuda, New Zealand, Poland and Trinidad have already won them in the intervening years. -- Event website: http://www.optimistworlds.org.uy/index.html FIELD TRIP Like any 14-year-old schoolboy, Michael Perham has spent the Christmas holidays reading books, playing his guitar, and doing the dreaded homework. Remarkably, however, he has done all this on a 28ft boat and is now on the verge of becoming the youngest person to sail across the Atlantic Ocean single-handed. After battling waves as high as a house, sailing through shark infested waters and braving hurricane force winds, Perham, from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, is expected to sail into Nelson’s Dockyard, a harbour on the Caribbean island of Antigua on Tuesday morning, some seven weeks after setting off on the 3,500-mile journey from Gibraltar. -- by Will Iredale, Times Online, full story: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2524439,00.html THE ULTIMATE PIONEER (Thurs., Dec 28, 2006) At 20:57 local time (11:57 UTC), Sir Robin Knox-Johnston crossed the finish line in Fremantle (Western Australia) in leg one of the Velux 5 Oceans. After 67 days, 00 hours and 57 minutes alone at sea, Saga Insurance sailed past the race committee boat in the waters off the Fremantle Sailing Club. It has been a monumental effort by the veteran sailor, racing over 12,000 miles in one of the fastest ocean yachts on the planet. Sir Robin finishes the leg in third place behind Bernard Stamm (SUI) and Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN), after two of the big British names in the race (Mike Golding and Alex Thomson) were forced to retire following severe damage in the Southern Ocean. After spending Christmas at sea, Knox-Johnston was met by hundreds of supporters and well wishers on the dockside, as well as his shore team and many friends from the Western Australia region. The Ultimate Pioneer, who made history as the first person to ever circumnavigate the globe alone in 1969, received a rapturous hero’s welcome to celebrate the wonderful and inspiring achievement for the 67 year old. He has sailed a total of 12,411 miles since leaving Bilbao, averaging a speed of 11 knots, and is looking forward to steak and chips, washed down with a few beers. Speaking as he disembarked Saga Insurance, the icon of world solo sailing commented, “The boat seems OK; the main issue is the mainsail as I have no power due to the broken battens. It will be fine once I have decent battens. There are jobs to do, but I am happy with Saga Insurance. This was a shakedown leg for me to learn about the boat. I’ve done that now, so everyone had better watch out on the next leg.” -- Velux 5 Oceans race website, full report: http://tinyurl.com/yzttv8 FIRST STOP: SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco will host North U Trim and Tactics seminars on January 28 and 29 (Trim and Speed on Saturday; Tactics, Rules and Strategy on Sunday). Then it’s on to Boston, Toronto, and 21 other cities. Trim and Tactics back-to-back, with top instructors plus books and CDs to take home. You can spend a lifetime learning to be a better racer, or you can come to North U and accelerate the process. Learn more. Visit http://www.NorthU.com SAILING SHORTS * British yachtsman Mike Golding has been awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his contribution to the sport of sailing. Golding, 46, who lives in Hampshire, is regarded as one of the world's best offshore racing sailors. The OBE distinction is among the five division of the British honours system. * (Tasmania, Australia) British yachtsman Tony Bullimore has delayed his attempt to break the solo, round the world record. His crew has postponed its departure from the River Derwent until all the Sydney-Hobart competitors have finished. A team spokesman, Barry Pickthall, says they have been advised that it could be too dangerous to leave while the racing yachts are sailing across Storm Bay. Bullimore's 31 metre catamaran could set off early in the New Year if the weather is favourable. 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 Curmudgeon’s Comment: Tom Ehman's commentary in Issue 2246 stirred up the 'butthead letter writers, and when Scuttlebutt went on break during the holidays, a lot of good chatter never saw the light... until now. Tom's post along with all the letters that are part of this thread are now on the Forum, and any additional letters should be submitted there: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3907#3907 * From Harry Anderson: The resurgence of Finn competition would have gladdened the heart of the late Glen S. Foster. He imported the first Finns into the USA for racing on Long Island Sound. He and I formed the national class association with the aim of providing exposure for our sailors in an Olympic class for which there was a dearth at the time. Credit is due to Finn veterans such as August Miller, Dave Branch, Buzz Reynolds, Art Diefendorf, Pat Healy, plus original vets Ding Schoonmaker (and myself) for founding the US Finn Foundation to spearhead the resurgence. * From Ted Jones: Has the Curmudgeon gone bonkers? Instead of regaling us with exciting tales of canting keel maxis beating out through Sydney Heads on Boxing Day or Foiler Moths balanced on a knife edge at 20-plus knots, he wastes precious band width on a boat built in the 1930s (to a rule 20-years older than that) which if you tried to push it beyond 10 knows would drown in its own stern wave. Gimme a break! Then I followed the thread to the photo of the Six-Meter Saskia on the North Sails web site and was brought up all standing. It absolutely took my breath away. My first keelboat ride at age 19 -- not too many years after Saskia's launching -- was a Six-Meter. You're correct. One never gets over a Six. After staring mesmerized for many minutes, I copied the picture and posted it to my desktop so that every time I turn on my computer, nine Saskia's smile back at me. * From Phil Frost: The Saskia that Peter Campbell referred to (in Issue 2248) is a Fife eight metre, not a six. She was brought to Australia by Bill Northam, the 1964 Tokyo Olympic 5.5 metre gold medalist, and later sailed by Joe Palmer. She is now raced regularly on Sydney Harbour by John and Michael Stephen out of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. Having languishing for some years following Joe's death, she is back racing with a new rig and the latest sail technology, and is in magnificent condition - one of the most graceful eights - a true Fife classic. To sit to leeward along side her, sailing to windward in a Sydney Harbour nor'easter on a clear sparkling day is a picture to keep you coming back, and one of the joys of sailing - except when she gives you her gas. * From Tony Griffin, Vancouver: A quick read today of your recent issue (2249) with a letter from Rees Martin concerning Saskia II. He is correct. She is (and was) Saskia II, build number 807 from the Fife yard in 1934. Rainer Muller original 6mR is Fintra II, also a Fife boat, build number 799 (1933). Fintra II is unrestored, a long lost classic waiting in Mark Wallace's yard. -- Saskia II - http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/saskia.jpg -- Fintra II - http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/fintra.jpg Curmudgeon’s Comment: Hopefully this sorts out the mystery, so we declare this thread dead. * From Paul Henderson: (edited to the 250-word limit) My comment (in Issue 2247) about the vote being self-serving was not gratuitous - just reality. The USSA delegate on the ISAF committee who selected the Soling years ago over the Etchells supported the Soling so it was not Europe against the World for the Soling. The Olympics is just one of the pinnacles of Sailing but not the only one. Sailing excellence is not a pyramid but the Himalayan Mountains with many peaks to climb with some more difficult than others but all challenging. Match racing, in supplied and equal boats, puts a great emphasis on talent rather than an armaments race and there can be running commentating, which explains what is going on. It is cheap for the sailors to not have to bring equipment but more expensive for the organizers. Having said that voting in match racing and dropping 3 classes for London 2012 will be interesting to watch (one decreed by the IOC and two for Match Racing equals three.) There should be a men and women's event or mixed doubles, which would be unique as Andy Kostenecki tried to get for years. So as to possibly go with existing classes, do not rule out using the Soling (Men) and Yngling (Women) in supplied boats without hobbles to stop droop hiking as it is dangerous. The vote for London 2012 events will take place in November 2008. Get the ducks in line! * From Eric Hall: (Re: Chris Ericksen's letter in ‘butt 2249) I too fell victim (once again) to Paul Henderson's "gratuitous shot" at Americans (this time about their vote on Olympic boats). As usual my thought was: here was just another example of Paul's levelheaded view of Americans (i.e. he has chips on BOTH shoulders about us). But I should know better by now. Paul's charm is that he he knows that a playful dig will get your attention every time. I once heard him speak while seated next to a woman who also fell hook, line, and sinker for another kind of "gratuitous shot." He knew what he was doing and the instant feedback saved him a lot of time. Paul has always been Paul and he always succeeds in getting our attention. Today in a world where we fall over ourselves trying to out-bland each other, Paul's a puff of fresh air. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Whenever I get the urge to exercise, I lie down until it goes away. Special thanks to Camet International and North U. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
