|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2759 - Wednesday, January 14, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Today's sponsors are Harken, North Sails, and the Marion Bermuda Race. . RAMBLING ACROSS THE SOUTH ATLANTIC by Peter Isler (Jan. 13, 2009) - The sport of sailing is enjoyed the world over... but for most of us, our nautical horizons are limited to a few locales. But just like our predecessors on the high seas, many of us yearn for the sights and experiences that previously uncharted waters provide. For that very reason, I was thrilled to be invited to sail aboard George David's Reichel/Pugh 90, "Rambler" in the Heineken Cape Town (South Africa) to Bahia (Brazil) ocean race. In its previous incarnation as the Cape Town to Rio race, this event earned its spot as one of the world's great ocean races. So now I'm out here... over 1100 miles out to sea, sailing across the South Atlantic with an experienced team about one of the great ocean racers of the past decade. A lot about it is pretty generic to any ocean race - the endless routine of the watch system, sail changes and the simplistic, albeit very wet life afloat, hanging on for dear life as the boat hurtles along at over 25 knots, sitting to leeward up by the shrouds in a glass off, seemingly endless hours in the nav station wringing weather data out of intermittent and painfully reluctant satellite connections, and then the crucial decision making process once the data is sitting on your computer. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6878 THE FUTURE OF SAILING The Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta is among the most sought out holiday presents for young sailors. When an event is scheduled on December 27-30, a letter to “Dear Santa” is apt to include a new sail and trip to Miami. Here is an excerpt from a story by Chris Snow, North Sails One Design, who joined his family for a Christmas Day flight across the country to attend this spectacle: What does the future of sailing in North America look like? Are we always going to have a sport that is essentially stable? Given the current economic climate it would be safe to assume that sailing will not be growing anytime soon. And given my experience in the business I could not argue with that. Imagine my surprise when back in the middle of December, Bill Scheuermann, co-chair of the 2008 Orange Bowl Regatta called me and asked me something like this: "Chris, Bill Scheuermann here from the Orange Bowl in Miami, I realize I am a little late calling you but we are having the Orange Bowl Regatta here in Miami right after Christmas and I have 700 kids coming to sail for 4 days on Biscayne Bay. I think we might get a record turnout. Would North Sails be interested in helping us out with some raffle prizes?" I practically dropped the phone. I had just come out of a North Sails One Design meeting where we weren't predicting the end of the world but certainly we weren't predicating record turnouts at any events in the near future. Of course we agreed to help support the raffle night at the event and that night it went home a logged on to see if Bill was just pulling my leg or doing a good sales job. 120 Laser Radials, 110 Club 420's, 275+ Optimists, 30 Laser Full Rigs, 35 Laser 4.7's all preregistered and ready to head to Miami. -- Full story: http://www.onedesign.com/articles/article26.html WHEN SELF-POLICING DOESN’T WORK by Andrew Campbell In the game of basketball, players commit fouls all the time. Even in a non-contact sport, infractions are going to happen. It would be ridiculous to throw a basketball player out of the game in the first quarter as soon as he committed one minor foul. Then why in sailing is it reasonable to penalize a boat with a DSQ for a penalty that happened in the pre-start of a race? What if that incident happened and the other boat didn’t want to have to throw that boat out, should the incident be simply overlooked? If we were talking about basketball the play would not be overlooked. Play would be whistled dead, the player would be singled out, the reason for the call would be briefly explained, the player would have a foul added to his five-foul limit and play would resume. Last week we saw a letter posted in Scuttlebutt from a senior judge obviously bothered by the recent protest activities in the Volvo Ocean Race: From Ted Beier, Senior Judge: (re, Volvo Ocean Race story in #2755) “Shame on the jury for allowing Telefonica Blue to withdraw their protest for reasons of scores. If Blue felt that a foul had been committed at the time she should go through with the protest regardless of other considerations. That’s how the game is supposed to be played. Using a protest or not following through with a protest as a strategic tool for score considerations is NOT how the game should be played.” While I agree with Mr Beier’s assessment that if there was a rule broken, then a penalty should be imposed, I think this is a great example of a problem in the sport of sailing. -- Read on: http://linkbee.com/A1TP KWRW TECH & TAP SERVICE TEAM Need to tune your winches or replace that handle you misplaced in the Gulf? Harken's full-service mobile workshop is equipped with a drill press, grinder, corkscrew, and lots of spare parts - we'll even charge your VHF or European cell phone. Next week in Key West, if you don't find Harv, Scott, Neil E, Oakley, Jim A, Craig, or Wiss on the water or at our tech trailer on the corner of Caroline and Williams, try the local establishments where we'll be fine-tuning and cycle-testing the taps! -- http://www.harken.com/scuttlebutt/keywest_scuttlebutt.gif TAKING THE PENALTY FOR NEW BLADES (Jan. 13, 2009) - Telefonica Black is to change the rudders on its Volvo Open 70 for the fourth leg from Singapore to Qingdao, with the goal to improve the performance of the Volvo 70 in heavy downwind conditions. The new rudders are identical in shape to the original ones but with 27 per cent increased length and volume. Under the rules, the team will take a three point penalty for changing the rudders. Telefonica Black will trial the new rudders with a view to also replacing the rudders on Telefonica Blue if the team feels the change is successful. Telefonica Black also announced that Pachi Rivero, 44, will replace Argentinian watch leader Santiago Lange for the next two legs. -- Complete story: http://linkbee.com/A1UB The fleet begins Leg 4, the 2,500 nm route from Singapore to Qingdao, China, on January 18, 2009. Current standings after Singapore In-Port Race: 1. Ericsson 4 (SWE), Torben Grael/BRA, 39 points 2. Telefónica Blue (ESP), Bouwe Bekking/NED, 33.5 points 3. PUMA (USA), Ken Read/USA, 31.0 points 4. Ericsson 3 (SWE), Anders Lewander/SWE, 24.0 points 5. Green Dragon (IRL/CHN), Ian Walker/GBR, 22.5 points 6. Telefonica Black (ESP), F. Echavarri/ESP, 22.5 points 7. Team Russia (RUS), Andreas Hanakamp/AUT, 10.5 points 8. Delta Lloyd (IRL), Roberto Bermudez/ESP, 10 points Race website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 Race replay and tracking: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com GALES, REDRESS, AND LONGEVITY (Jan. 13, 2009; Day 65) - Cape Horn will be a welcome relief for Dee Caffari, who has been struggling to keep her delaminating mainsail in service. With over 500nm to the mythical rock, Caffari reports, “It is still horrendous. That is the best way to describe it. The sea state is massive. I have seen a top wind speed of 64 knots, and probably the last seven hours I have seen 50 plus knots, I am OK, the boat is OK but the mainsail did not make it. I am down to four reefs and below that there is not a lot of mainsail left.” The international jury has made its decision concerning the redress requested by Vincent Riou (PRB) and the redress claim for Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) for the rescue of Jean Le Cam. Armel Le Cléac’h is awarded 11 hours for taking part in the rescue of Jean Le Cam. These eleven hours will be subtracted from his final finishing time. Vincent Riou, in third place when he was called to the rescue of Jean (taking into account that Jean was already out of the race following his capsize), will be ranked third equal in the Vendée Globe with the competitor, who finishes third. Only Raphael Dinelli, who has started all four races since 1996 and finished 12th in 2004, is still in this race with the former Akena that was launched in 1996. Dinelli lost his sponsor just before the start of the 2000 race. He started nevertheless but hit a whale and damaged his boat, limping round to complete his solo circumnavigation. In 1998, he built his own eco-friendly house and since then has been committed to green causes. In the 2004 Vendée Globe, he tested solar panels and only used 60 litres of fuel in four months of sailing. In 2007 he created Fondation Océan Vital, and works as Head of research. It brings together firms, researchers and all those interested in creating sustainable development solutions and renewable energy sources. Solo, non-stop, around the world race in Open 60s. Standings as of 18:30 UTC (30 entrants; 12 now competing): 1. Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA), Foncia, 4758.0 nm Distance to finish 2. Roland Jourdain (FRA), Veolia Environnement, 260.8 nm Distance to leader 3. Armel Le Cléac´h (FRA), Brit Air, 693.7 nm DTL 4. Samantha Davies (GBR), Roxy, 1670.3 nm DTL 5. Marc Guillemot (FRA), Safran, 1944.0 nm DTL 6. Brian Thompson (GBR), Bahrain Team, 2629.5 7. Arnaud Boissières (FRA), Akena Vérandas, 2781.3 8. Dee Caffari (GBR), Aviva, 2839.7 nm DTL 9. Steve White (GBR), Toe in the Water, 4043.7 nm DTL 10. Rich Wilson (USA), Great American III, 5060.2 nm DTL 11. Norbert Sedlacek (AUT), Nauticsport-Kapsch, 6573.9 nm DTL 12. Raphaël Dinelli (FRA), Fondation Océan Vital, 6731.3 nm DTL Redress Given - Vincent Riou (FRA), PRB Event website: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en Complete standings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html Race tracking: http://tracking.vendeeglobe.org/en => Curmudgeon’s Comment: In response to several recent emails requesting that all the remaining Vendee Globe competitors get listed in the results, I will try my best to do so. Noted Bill Spalding, “This is one of those contests that finishing is an accomplishment greater than winning most regattas.” FAR CRY FROM AULD MUG ANTICS Considering the current climate of the America's Cup, the sight of an Oracle boat holed up in the old Alinghi base in Auckland's Viaduct harbour with a huge silver fern emblazoned across the stern seems rather incredible. But the organisers of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, which begins in Auckland at the end of the month, have always said this is going to be a very different regatta. An Oracle boat sporting New Zealand insignia is just one of a number of little ironies that will surface over the course of the two-week event. After weeks of work by the shore crew, the two Oracle boats, on loan from the American syndicate for the Louis Vuitton regatta, and the two Team New Zealand yachts have been fully recommissioned and are ready for sea trials beginning at the end of the week. -- NZ Herald, read on: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10551737 * BMW Oracle Racing confirmed the team’s race crew for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series , which will include three-time America’s Cup winner and team CEO/Skipper Russell Coutts (NZL) at the helm and Hamish Pepper (NZL) as tactician. -- Full details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6877#6877 HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A VICTORY LIST THIS BIG...? As a small token of appreciation to our clients, North Sails is offering a FREE NORTH RACER HAT to those who finished in the top three in ANY regatta in North America during 2008! Simply find your name on our online Victory List (please send us your name if we missed you) and register for your free North Sails Racer Hat! One hat per customer, please. Offer available in North America only and expires April 1, 2009. If you don't currently race with North sails, check out this list & you might change your mind...! http://na.northsails.com * North Sails has partnered with Sailing Weather Services to provide FREE weather forecasts for Acura Key West Race Week 2009 from January 19-23 with an event overview on Sun., January 18. To sign up, log on to http://na.northsails.com SAILING SHORTS * Long Beach, CA - Once again the path to glory for the best young sailors in the United States leads through Long Beach and the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club as host of the 2009 US Sailing ISAF Youth World Qualifier and US Youth Multihull Championship Saturday through Monday, Jan. 17-19. The winners in each class will qualify for the 39th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship at Buzios, Brazil July 9-18. For ages 19 and under, classes competing are Boys Laser Radial (35 entrants), Girls Laser Radial (10), Boys International 420 (9), Girls Club 420 (9), and Open Hobie 16 (14). -- Full details: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0113 * The ISAF Sailor Classification Commission has announced that it will be holding a presentation and panel discussion at next week's Acura Key West 2009. The event is titled ‘ISAF Classification: Facts and Myths’, and is scheduled for Tuesday 20 January from 17:00-18:00 local time in the event’s main tent. Attendance is open to all sailors, organizers, Jury members, class administrators, media, and all others interested in the structure and use of the ISAF Sailor Classification Code. -- Read on: http://www.sailing.org/26834.php?PHPSESSID=0dd9d6b57289568243736fc0bfa0e49e * With 1,600 miles from the finish, nearly level with the Azores, solo skipper Thomas Coville and the 105-foot maxi-trimaran Sodeb'O will not succeed in beating Francis Joyon’s record time this year, the latter taking 57 days and 13 hours to sail single-handed around the planet on IDEC during the same period last year. Coville is expected in Brest, France late on Friday 16th January UT, taking around two days more than Joyon, achieving the fourth fastest outright time, following on from IDEC in solo configuration and the crewed performances of Orange II and Cheyenne 2. -- Team website: http://www.sodebo-voile.com/actu/news-eng.html * US SAILING’s 2009 Rolex Miami OCR is shaping up to be an international “must-sail” regatta for elite Olympic and Paralympic-class sailors. As the second stop on the seven event inaugural International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup, this popular regatta will bring previous Olympians/Paralympians and future Olympic/Paralympic hopefuls together to compete on the waters of Biscayne Bay from January 25 to 31, 2009. Many sailors are eager to compete at US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR in order to kick off the Olympic and Paralympic quadrennium at the top of their fleets and to see how they stack up against their foreign competitors. -- Full report: http://linkbee.com/A1VA MARION BERMUDA RACE Interested sailors with a broad range of experience are joining the Marion to Bermuda blog. Whether you plan to do this year’s race or not, it is a good place to ask a question, do some research, join a discussion thread or even lead a particular group. Go to http://www.racetobermuda.ning.com today and join in the conversation. If you are planning on doing this year’s race or any other offshore race for that matter you should consider attending the US Sailing sanctioned Safety at Sea Symposium being held on March 28 at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Go to the Marion Bermuda web site to register or get additional information regarding the race. http://www.marionbermuda.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get 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 Richard Hazelton, Editor, 48 ° North Sailing Magazine: (re, W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. National Sportsmanship Award) I think this is a very important award for the sport. It rewards what used to be expected "gentlemanly" behavior. In today’s extremely competitive, win at all costs, world, the people up for this award exemplify what we should all take away from the sport. They may not win all the trophies but will certainly be welcome on any race course and in any clubhouse. * From Siebe Noordzy, EuroMarine Trading: (re, submerged shipping container thread beginning in Issue 2757) As a VP operations working for container lines in my former life, I wish to put my $0.02 in on this subject. a. Captains do not randomly “dump” containers in the ocean! There are a number of reasons why containers are sometimes lost overboard, e.g. weather, equipment failure, unsecured cargo inside containers, collisions. I can go into greater detail regarding the reasons, but am afraid I will run out of available space in this column. b. It is obviously very inconvenient when cargo is not delivered in good condition at their destination, a nominal compensation will be paid for lost or damaged cargo by the ship owner or the shipping line, for this, and other reasons, should the owners of cargo insure their goods. c. IF the container can be located, then the insurance company will decide whether it is worthwhile to salvage the container. d. That would bring the EPIRB idea into the equation. Should every container in the world have to be permanently equipped with a $1k device? Or should these devices be attached only to containers stowed on deck? Theoretically possible, but a total operational nightmare. In any case, with most containers allegedly “floating” submerged, an EPIRB would not work anyway. Besides, certainly not every container that is lost-overboard will float in the ocean. Containers are made of steel , they are not airtight, which means that they will fill with water, and depending on the merchandise inside most of them will go straight to the bottom of the ocean. The “worst” is probably an insulated container which, and again depending on the merchandise inside, will float longest because of the insulation materials. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6876#6876 * From Mark Lammens: (re, coaching story in Issue 2755) Originally power boats on the water at regattas were for a little regatta servicing, a place to get and drop off food and gear, sometimes a tow, for rescue/safety, and even when needed, Race Management. The boats on the water were usually available for almost anyone that asked. When you got a tow from the FRA or DEN coach, you usually had to get them a beer or a tow for their sailors when at a different event. We needed to be pleasant to each other because we needed each other’s help. Today we have National Teams and even club teams focused exclusively on their team, especially for the little boats (Laser, Radial, and windsurfer) where there is no room/space for kit. It is part of all the Olympic Classes, as well as the small youth boats. At the Olympic level it has been this way for quite a few years, perhaps since the early 90's when the benefits of coaching were realized and really took off. At this level it is understood. Other sports have coaches on site as well; it is in every sport. Will these bans (in the Star and Etchells classes) on "on the water" coaching trickle down to the smaller boats? This may be oversimplifying the issue but with race courses far from shore venues you have to be careful about making rule changes because people are upset they did not get a fast tow. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The one item you want is never the one on sale. Special thanks to Harken, North Sails, and the Marion Bermuda Race. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
