|
SCUTTLEBUTT 1976 -- November 29, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.TIPS FOR OCEAN EATING Team ABN Amro chef and food consultant, Gordon Ramsay gave these tips to their Volvo Ocean Race crews: 1. Bring long lasting bottles of condiments that do not require refrigeration (such as Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and runny honey) to instantly liven up food. 2. Olive oil and butter can provide immediate richness to soups and savory dishes. To preserve butter without refrigeration, pack them (unsalted) into sterilized jars and fill to the rim with a cooled brine mixture consisting of 100g sea salt to 600ml boiling water. Use a clean knife to dip out the butter then top up the brine with clean water. The brine will preserve the butter for up to 6 months. 3. In addition to salt and pepper, use dried herbs and ground spices to season food. Pack them in small re sealable bags and keep them in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Or make up flavoured salts by grinding together coarse sea salt with dried thyme, rosemary, oregano and mint. For added spice, combine sea salt with cayenne pepper, paprika or curry powder. Sprinkle onto fish, chicken and meat dishes to enhance their flavor. 4. Aged hard cheeses such as parmesan and pecorino romano are fantastic for grating over pasta and mashed potatoes. Remove them from their plastic wrapping, cut into smaller wedges and envelop each one in a kitchen paper moistened with cider vinegar to prevent mould from growing. Rewrap in a breathable bag and keep in a cool dark place if refrigeration is not available. 5. It is now easy to find domestic versions of inexpensive vacuum sealers that are fantastic for preserving food. Wrap batches of space-saving flat breads such as whole wheat pitas, tortillas and potato farls in vacuum sealed bags, to provide additional carbohydrate or use as meal accompaniments during the first week or two out at sea. 6. Nuts, seeds and dried fruit are great healthy snacks to help keep hunger at bay in between meals. In addition, bring little jars or bags of toasted sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds or sliced almonds for sprinkling over chicken, fish or rice dishes and to provide extra texture and crunch. -- www.gordonramsay.com TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE Led by Coordination Commission Chairman Denis Oswald, an IOC delegation will arrive in London Monday, for a two day London 2012 Orientation Seminar hosted by the Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXX Olympiad - London 2012 (LOCOG). This Seminar is an integral part of the IOC's transfer of knowledge programmes. This is the first time that such a seminar has been held for a Summer Games Organizing Committee. The IOC has implemented an approach to managing the Olympic Games that helps Organizing Committees learn from their predecessors, from start to finish. The transfer of knowledge now begins long before the host city is even elected. The London 2012 Orientation Seminar aims to provide key guidance for the early part of LOCOG's work. -- Complete report: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?PID=16700 JOINT VENTURE Australian based yacht builders McConaghy Boats and China's JinLi Composites, have announced a joint venture partnership, McConaghy International. The new company will build large, custom designed composite ocean racing yachts for the world market. McConaghy will also continue business in Sydney. Production will be based at a new facility JinLi has established just outside Hong Kong. Management and staff from McConaghy will coordinate and manage building procedures while JinLi will deliver composite technology to each project. McConaghy Boats plans to rotate its three teams of builders currently working at its headquarters in Sydney to work on projects in China. McConaghy Boats has built some of the world's largest, most technically advanced ocean racing yachts, including Genuine Risk and the latest Morning Glory. During the past six months the company has completed two 30-metre long Reichel-Pugh designed canting keel race boats, Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo and Bob Oatley's Wild Oats. JinLi was established by sailing enthusiast Francis Wu in the late 1980s and since then has grown from being one of the world's largest suppliers of high-tech sailboard equipment to a company creating a widely diversified range of sophisticated composite products, including motorised paragliders, bicycles, snowboards, kite boards and more recently composite panels for high performance motor vehicles and race cars. The company created the world's first mass production carbon fibre aircraft propellers. -- http://www.mcconaghy-aus.com/ LOOKING FOR EXQUISITE HOLIDAY GIFTS? Want to be unique? Already have that wide screen TV? Invest in fine art; give the gift of sailing this holiday season with Cory Silken's award winning photography. An avid sailor and accomplished photographer, Silken captures the true elegance and excitement of sailing in his limited edition sepia-tone photographs. Every photograph is sure to be a conversation piece, wow-ing guests in a cottage, office, or yacht. Silken's editions are limited to 20 prints (15 medium, 5 large), after which no more will be available. Mention Scuttlebutt and receive a 10% discount on limited editions! Log on to http://www.studio6x7.com, +1.617-268-4672 A DAY TO REMEMBER ABN Amro One's top 24-hour tally was 546 nautical miles for the period that ended at 1910 GMT Sunday, averaging a speed of 22.75 knots. This record will now be presented to the Word Sailing Speed Record Council for official ratification. Meanwhile, further back on the racetrack, Ericsson (Neal McDonald) has set up 94 nm north of the two Dutch boats, with Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) sandwiched between them. McDonald's team is disappointed. Hampered after losing the special reaching sail on the first night of the leg, this is now the sail they most need. They are now out of touch with the two Dutch boats and Brasil 1s lead over them is continuing to increase. On Monday, Sanderson reported, "Just had the exciting experience of hitting a shark doing 25 knots heard the thud on the keel, didn't really slow the boat down but you could feel it shaking the boat, had to get the sails down and back down off it, unfortunately for Mini jaws ( about 8 to 10 feet long), the shark didn't make it, But BB (Black Betty -- ABN Amro One) seems fine and is back up to full pace." Unless the weather changes from the forecast over the next 48 hours or so, there will be no significant slow downs for the boats and the chances for a lead change will dwindle further. It is possible that conditions close to the finish could be more variable as the effects of the South African land mass are felt. Position Reports -- Monday, 2200 GMT 1. ABN Amro One, 1037 miles to finish 2. ABN Amro Two, +116 miles 3. Brasil 1, +219 miles 4. Ericsson Racing Team, +256 miles 5. Sunergy and Friends, +1601 miles 6. Pirates of the Caribbean, Retired 6. Movistar, Retired Event website: www.volvooceanrace.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE "After about ten days in a leg like this enthusiasm begins to wain, the freeze-dried food is on its third or fourth go round to the point that you know the chicken stew is followed by the beef curry, followed by the roast lamb and potatoes. Somehow a banana power bar doesn't have the same appeal and there is only so much beef jerky you can eat a day. Downstairs the stench has started, personal hygiene is a thing of the past, although most people make an effort, and although you have a change of clothes, it seems a waste to put them on a dirty body." -- Mark "Crusty" Christensen, Watch Captain, ABN Amro One ON THE TRAIL (The following story comes from the #2 ranked US 470 team, Stu McNay and Graham Biehl, which discusses the training that occurs 'behind-the-scenes.") The team recently had the opportunity to attend to fitness testing at the US Olympic Training Center near San Diego, CA, which is one of two Olympic training facilities in the US (the other is in Colorado Springs, CO). Instructors specializing in sports physiology, sports medicine, and weight training joined them for two days of evaluation. Fitness goals and proper work out programs were discussed, along with a general evaluation that included the standing long jump, balance test, coordination, push ups, sit ups, and pull ups. McNay/Biehl participated in a demonstration on how to use fitness balls to develop their core strength, and later worked with a weight trainer on routines to enhance their movements on unstable surfaces to better develop their muscles for the balance needed in sailing. On day two there was a lecture on the Biomechanics of sailing, where the discussion included different tests that could be conducted to develop the proper movements and compare them to one another. Then came the Erg test, which as Graham describes, was "8 minutes of pure hell!" This involves an ergometer, which is a type of rowing machine that requires the user to strain their physical limits in simulating a 2,000-meter distance, and as some believe, brings forth questions about the meaning of life. Overall, the training sessions at the US Olympic Training Center provided the team with both the direction on how to pursue their physical training, along with the confidence and motivation to make it a priority. -- You can follow the McNay/Biehl team at http://www.teammb.org RUMORS ARE TRUE Camet International has the outstanding reputation of always being the best in design, quality, and service. The Camet sailing shorts are the leaders in technology and comfort. They are made out of a breathable, fast drying Supplex with a UV rating of 40+ (blocks 97.5% of UV rays) and reinforced with a Cordura seat patch to insert an optional foam pad. Camet has a variety of men's and women's shorts, pants and colors. Now New smaller sizes in the 7000 pants. See it all, including Code Zero shirts, Canvas shorts, Mylar bags etc. at the Camet website: http://www.camet.com NEWS BRIEFS * The Disney-backed (Volvo Ocean Race) boat, The Black Pearl, which is also a promotional tool for the launch next July of Pirates of the Caribbean 2, starring Johnny Depp, has imposed an almost total news blackout after retiring damaged from the leg after less than 24 hours. It was due to be shipped from Lisbon to Cape Town to complete major repairs last Friday. No decision on whether to do the same with movistar has been announced. -- Stuart Alexander, The Independent, http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/article329755.ece * Any college regatta where racing is delayed to thaw frozen halyards and mainsheets must have great parties to balance the on-the-water misery. The Timme Angsten Memorial Regatta is that kind of regatta, which was held last weekend in Chicago, IL, and won by Boston College. While we don't have a report from the evening portion of the event, we do have some great sailing images now posted on the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/timme * Clipper Ventures PLC, the company founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and organizers of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and the VELUX 5 Oceans Race, announced the results for the 6 months through to October 2005. Clipper Ventures recorded sales of £3.5 million, up from £580k for the same period last year, and pre-tax profits of £570k. The company expects to sustain profitability going forward and is forecasting a dividend for the full year 2005. These results do not yet reflect the recent announcement of VELUX as the global sponsor of the 5 Oceans Race. -- www.clipper-ventures.com * The Australian V70 skippered by Grant Wharington will sail the second leg in the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town to Melbourne as ING Real Estate / Brunel. Currently, the Australian team participates in the race under the name of Sunergy and Friends with both Brunel International and ING Real Estate as sub-sponsors. -- Sail-World, complete story: http://www.sail-world.com/news.cfm?Nid=20276&RequestTimeOut=180 * Australia's newest 98 foot super maxis, Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo and Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI, which is due to be launched at Rozelle in Sydney later this week, will go head to head for the first time in this year's Big Boat Challenge on Tuesday 13 December. While it is largely regarded as a fun race, this annual Sydney Harbour spectacle does offer a sneak preview to the looming Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honours contest. * The traffic from an ad in the Monday issue for Onne van der Wal Photography was apparently heavy enough to crash their website server. If the link was down for you, it is now working: http://www.vanderwal.com/scuttlebutt.asp B&G ANNOUNCES MOST POWERFUL INSTRUMENT PROCESSOR YET While each team in the Volvo Ocean Race uses B&G instruments and processors, 6 of 7 yachts also use WTP (Wave Technology Processor). The WTP is well established amongst the world's most competitive fleets, but the best just got better, with the new WTP2 being launched at METS 2005. http://www.BandG.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Latham Bell: I have been following the debate on private coaching over the past weeks. I feel that there are some things which need to be brought up. First, private coaching is not a slight to those of us which that at one time or another have been or are currently club coaches. Club coaches provide a valuable and necessary function in giving young sailors a solid foundation in our sport. Often the club coaches are the ones which instill a love of our sport to our children. Secondly, private coaches tend to be older than club coaches and bring with them a greater range tactical and boat handling experience which can only be gained by time on the water. I know of few parents of beginner or intermediate racers which are hiring private coaches. Nor, do I know of many parents of sailors who do not enjoy racing hiring private coaches. Private coaches allow the serious young racer to move up the ladder with gained confidence and skill. * From Barbara Gold (In response to Nicholas Stark): You are so right. I cannot believe what I just read. Last summer at many regattas I spoke with a lot of different level sailing kids as various regattas about their coaches or who was coaching them at an international regatta. Most of the responses I got were negative, unfortunately. I was thinking that maybe the adults that run the board should survey the kids who go to the international regattas representing the US Optimist Association and the kids on the US National Team. That would start to be a fair assessment of what these kids want, think they need and better judge who the kids like.. It is time the kids had a say as they are the ones who have to spend the entire day on the water with these coaches. I am not saying coaching is bad and I am not saying the coaches are bad, please understand. I am saying just what Nicholas Stark is saying ask the kids! He also brings up a very good point that maybe some of these kids should make up a board of their own as Yacht Clubs have Junior commodore and and flag officers, their own meetings and make decisions that are going to affect them. I think Nicholas is on to something. Stir the waters. Change is good. * From Brett Gregr: The Volvo race problems should really be no great surprise. Those of us who are old enough to have raced in the S.O.R.C. when three or four spreader masts came out they will remember all those Stearn Sailing rigs stacked up like cord wood. It was a great time to work as a mast salesman not so great to be an owner. The point being is that sailing has allways been a sport that relies on evolution. While all the engineers think they can use computers to model loads and stresses the ocean allways seems to out smart them. The Volvo 70s will evolve and become stronger and less likely to fail, hopefully in the meantime no one gets hurt. * From Mike Esposito: Maybe I've got this wrong, and I'm sure nobody will be bashful about telling me so, but don't such Olympic events as sprinting and swimming have a series of heats where the top few athletes progress to the next round, narrowing the field to one final medal event? Couldn't that work for sailing? I know that changing weather, etc., etc., can mean good teams could get eliminated in early upsets, but double-weighting the last race offers the possibility of a goofy result too. Plus, upsets make some of the best television (e.g. a team from landlocked Mali making it to the finals). It seems that every time a sailing problem crops up, the answer is to consult Rube Goldberg. * From John Glynn: About a year ago now, I submitted a guest editorial on positive imagery (or lack thereof) geared toward enticing toddlers, and pre-schoolers into our sport. The debate that ensued turned into a referendum on the Optimist class and junior sailing. That was hardly my intention. I was more interested in the pre-junior sailing set. In the year since, I have happily seen numerous children's books listed in boating catalogs (ie. West Marine), a variety articles on kids afloat, and a genuine focus on the joys of sailing for kids (both racing and cruising). Perhaps it was always there, and I have become more aware of this in the media. I do hope this trend continues. It is very healthy for our sport, and puts more kids into the Opti, and junior sailing pipeline--if that's the road they so choose. * From Mark Playsted: It seems to me that a love of sailing comes from within. I have two kids who have very little interest in sailing, and are reluctant to go out even when their friends want to come with us. On the other hand I always wanted to sail for as long as I can remember, and I was lucky enough to start out in Optimists when I was 8. Optimists may not have the speed and excitement of most dinghies but I absolutely loved my Optimist. I loved just doodling around the local lake and exploring, and I loved racing, sometimes in fleets as large as 300! Being on the water with other kids your own age in boats that are essentially identical was wonderful; I don't buy into the idea that kids have to be put into high speed planning boats to have fun. If you love to sail you will love whatever you sail in, and I believe that applies to kids today just as much as it did when I was a kid. Don't knock the Optimist; It is surely the most popular boat for kids by far around the world, you can find fleets to race against anywhere, they are a wonderful boat to learn to sail in,they are safe and they are a design that has stood the test of time. * From Jorge Lopez: The Lightning World Championship ended last Saturday, but unbelievably, the final results are still not posted on the official regatta web site, the ISAF website nor the web site of the Class Association. At this late date, who won the regatta does not seem as important as the apparent apathy of this once great class. CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: "Take two aspirin" and "Keep away from children." |
