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SCUTTLEBUTT 3459 - Monday, October 31, 2011Scuttlebutt 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. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: APS and Interlux. REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS US SAILING conducted three independent panel reports on accidents that occurred in 2011 involving U.S. participants: the 2011 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac accident involving Wingnuts, the youth sailing 420 tragedy on Severn River, and the Rambler 100 incident. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CHI-MAC (70 pages): After two sailors' lives were lost during the recent Chicago Yacht Club-Race to Mackinac, the Chicago Yacht Club, the race's organizer, requested an independent study of what happened and to consider what lessons might be learned and also to make recommendations. Here are a few of the findings: * The crew of WingNuts was very experienced, most of them having raced in numerous Chicago-Mac races or similar races, and most of them having extensive experience on WingNuts. In fact, this was the fourth time that several of them had sailed WingNuts in the Chicago-Mac. * WingNuts was a highly inappropriate boat for a race of this duration, over night, without safety boats, and in an area known to have frequent violent thunderstorms. Her capable crew and preparation could not make up for the fact that she had too little stability, which led to her being "blown over" by a severe gust. * Six of the crew members, including one who was below decks at the time of the capsize, were able to free themselves from the vessel but Mark Morley and Suzanne Makowski-Bickel were unable to free themselves and died as a result of head injuries and drowning. -------------------------------------------------- YOUTH (25 pages): Severn Sailing Association requested a review concerning the accident and response involving the fatal accident of a teen sailor participating in the Severn Sailing Association youth program in Annapolis, MD. Here are some of the findings: * The accident was caused by a chain of small events. Had Olivia not been dousing the spinnaker at the moment the boat jibed accidentally, she probably would not have been pressed by the boom and vang into the area of the trapeze, where she inadvertently hooked onto the bail and became tangled in the rigging. Evidence that this connection was accidental is that the hook was in the wrong eye on the bail. While the accidental connection might have been avoided had there been a nubbin or guard under the hook, nubbins have been known to obstruct a connection or make it difficult to disconnect. The harness did not have a quick-release system, but this also is not a reliable cure-all. * According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Olivia's death was an accidental drowning, with no head trauma or other serious injury. Like many drownings, this one occurred extremely rapidly. * Both sailors wore appropriate Coast Guard-approved life jackets. As Sarah's brave effort indicates, the life jacket would have floated Olivia up into the air pocket had it not been for her entanglement in the rigging. * The conditions were not excessive for the boat and crew. While the crew was somewhat inexperienced with spinnakers and trapezes, they had sailed this boat all week in more wind, without trouble and with caution (as the early spinnaker takedown indicates). Both had had been trained in capsizes and recoveries, though not in a trapeze boat. -------------------------------------------------- RAMBLER (12 pages): As a result of the US yacht RAMBLER 100 losing their keel and capsizing in the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Race, US SAILING conducted a Safety Review to answer two questions: What should American Sailors learn from the RAMBLER 100 capsize during the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Race and what improvements to US SAILING Procedures and Regulations might prevent a reoccurrence of this incident. Here are some of the safety reviewer's observations and notes: - Digital Selective Calling (DSC) was installed but not used - Handheld VHF never made it topside - Satcom C was installed but not turned on - Have not found the 14 ton keel yet. Salvage cost exceeds value of metal in the keel. * Many things went very seriously wrong. The fact that there were no major injuries or casualties can be credited to the calm and professional manner in which the crew worked together and helped each other but LUCK also has to be mentioned. Had any one of several fortunate circumstances been different the outcome would surely have been significantly different. * No casualties or injuries should not be interpreted to mean that serious corrective actions are not required. All offshore racers, especially those with canting keels and movable ballast, should at least have access to a grab bag and a liferaft from an inverted position. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Conclusions should not be made based on the report excerpts listed above. Please read the complete report. These three reports can be found in their entirety here: http://about.ussailing.org/US_SAILING_Meetings/USS_Reports.htm RECOGNIZING CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SPORT Annapolis, MD (October 28, 2011) - US SAILING presented its highest honors during Friday night's Annual Meeting Awards Dinner at the Annapolis Yacht Club in Annapolis, Md. - Dave Rosekrans (Cincinnati, Ohio) received the prestigious Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy for his outstanding contributions to the sport of sailing in the U.S. - The Annapolis Yacht Club earned the St. Petersburg Yacht Club for its superior organization and execution of the Beneteau First 36.7 North American Championship, held in October of 2010. - Matthew Chao (Boston, Mass.) was honored with the Gay S. Lynn Memorial Trophy for his exceptional contributions to sailors with disabilities and to the sport of disabled sailing. - Sailing safety expert Ron Trossbach (Green Cove Springs, Fla.), and sail trainers Jo and Dale Mogle (Punta Gorda, Fla.) received the President's Award. - Ken Legler (Reading, Pa.) was announced as the recipient of the Harman Hawkins Trophy, awarded annually to an individual who has played a major role in advancement of race administration. - Veteran Umpire Ron Ward (Annapolis, Md.) received the Judge's Emeritus Award for his long and distinguished service to the Judges Program of US SAILING. Complete report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2011/AGM_2011_Awards.htm YOUR FAVORITE HAUNT You won't find any Tricks at APS, the World Leader in Outfitting Performance Sailors - only Treats. Not the kind that give you cavities, either. We're talking the kind that will keep you warm from head to toe despite the ghastly chill in the air. APS is stocking waterproof fleece-lined caps from Musto, Henri Lloyd's Blue (Eeek!) Eco Fleece neck gaiters, Capilene 4 heavyweight base layers from Patagonia, Gill's Neoprene Winter gloves, and Gore-Tex waterproof Rocky Socks so you can be comfortable doing what you love. That's why APS is your favorite Haunt! Click here to browse the selection: http://bit.ly/SailingTreats REDEMPTION FOR WALKER (October 29, 2011) - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing surged to a commanding victory in the Iberdrola In-Port Race in Alicante, taking maximum points from the first competitive action in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 to gain an early advantage over their rivals. Light shifty winds ultimately shorted the course. The crew, led by British skipper and double Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker, roared home to a massive 14-minute win over their closest rivals to make it a dream debut for the first team from the United Arab Emirates to enter the race. Walker led the modestly-resourced Irish/Chinese Green Dragon team to fifth place in the eight boat 2008-9 edition. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG were second, ahead of CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand in third. Team Sanya edged Groupama sailing team in the battle for fourth and fifth, with Team Telefonica trailing home. "It's a great win -- I feel fantastic," said Walker on board Azzam, the team's strikingly designed racing yacht. "It's a great start for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. I don't think it means too much but I said before we left the dock that whoever wins today's race can go home with a spring in their step and look forward to the week ahead." The in-port race marked the start of the epic 39,000 nautical mile round the world race, tipped to be the most hotly contested edition in the eventīs 38-year history. And after opening their account with a crucial win, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing will go into the first offshore leg (to Cape Town on Nov. 5) with a maximum six points and a psychological advantage. In-port races take place in all 10 Host Ports around the world, testing the crews' skills at close-quarters manoeuvres and tactics. More than 20 per cent of all points are up for grabs in the in-port racing, which could prove vital when overall positions are decided. The races also provide a show for the millions of people who will watch the race worldwide. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-103011A PROTEST: Groupama sailing team submitted a protest against Camper for using a system enabling them to cant the mast astern, which is strictly forbidden in the VOR race rules. This protest follows on from those lodged by Abu Dhabi, Puma and Telefonica on the same matter, without success. In this latest process, Groupama sailing team has the benefit of Telefonica as a witness. However, their protest was later dismissed. "Camper's adjustable headstay system has been a major topic," PUMA skipper Ken read said in Scuttlebutt 3454. "While the rest of the fleet pinned their headstay at one length, Camper has a hydraulic ram to adjust the rake of the mast in different conditions. For sure the rest of the fleet read the rule in a way that you couldn't do this, but the rules makers had a different idea." Results (Skipper, Team, Yacht Design) 1. Ian Walker, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Farr Yacht Design 2. Ken Read, PUMA Ocean Racing, Juan Kouyoumdjian design 3. Chris Nicholson, CAMPER, Marcelino Botin design 4. Mike Sanderson, Team Sanya, Farr Yacht Design 5. Frank Cammas, Groupama, Juan Kouyoumdjian design 6. Iker Martinez, Team Telefonica, Juan Kouyoumdjian design Photo of all the teams can be seen here: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/gallery/photos.html VIEWING: Assisted by coffee, I clicked on to watch the 0500 PDT start of the In-Port race, and must commend the broadcast team on their first race production. There were cameras on and off the boat, multiple angles on everything, and commentators who only occasionally dumbed down their observations. They even had Camper navigator Will Oxley mic'd during the race to provide his strategic analysis. The start of Leg 1 to Cape Town on Nov. 5th will be shown live. Start time is 1400 CET (Spanish time). - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt TUNNICLIFFE WINS FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND Key Biscayne, FL (October 30, 2011) - In a dramatic conclusion to five days of racing, Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) and her Team Maclaren crew Molly Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) won the 2011 U.S. Olympic Team Qualifying Regatta over Genny Tulloch (Sausalito, Calif.) and her Team GetSailing Alice Manard Leonard (East Haven, Conn.) and Jenn Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.). With this win, Tunnicliffe secures the berth to represent the USA at the 2011 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Combined World Championships, Dec. 3-18, in Perth, Australia. First up was the final match of the semi-finals to determine third and fourth place between Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.) and Stephanie Roble (Chicago, Ill.). Barkow came into today with one win on her score card in the "first-to-two-wins" round and went at Roble, quickly winning the match to seal third place. Barkow sails with Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham (Miami, Fla.) and Alana O'Reilly (Charleston, S.C.) as Team 7 Match Race, while Roble, Maggie Shea (Chicago, Ill.) and Darby Smith (Chicago, Ill.) represent Chicago Match Racing Center. As the top four skippers at this qualifying event, Tulloch, Barkow, Tunnicliffe and Roble advanced to the second, and final, selection event for the 2012 Olympic Team Qualifying Regatta, scheduled for May 4-7, 2012 at the Olympic sailing venue. The winner of that event will represent USA at the 2012 Olympic Games. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/USSTAG-103011 LIFE IS ALWAYS GOOD IN THE BVI Virgin Gorda, BVI (October 30, 2011) - It was another perfect day in paradise as 47 teams lined up in the qualifying rounds of the Gill-sponsored Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championship at the Bitter End Yacht Club. For both the morning and afternoon flights, there was bright sun, flat water, with breeze in the mid-teens as the competitors raced in Hobies, Lasers, Rhodes 19s and Hunter 21s for the eight spots in the club championship that takes place in IC 24s on Thursday. The Gill SSC Championship is being held in conjunction with the 25th Annual BEYC Maclaren Pro-Am, where the resort guests crew for the invited skippers that include Anna Tunnicliffe, Ed Baird, Zack Railey, Dave Ullman, Andrew Campbell and Peter Holmberg. - http://www.beyc.com/index.php/proam.html NEW INTERLUX REDUCED EMISSIONS MICRON CSC HS ANTIFOULING Micron CSC HS (High Solids) reduced solvent emissions paint controls the release of copper for better longevity with reduced impact on the environment. Provides multi-seasonal performance and reduced maintenance: haul & re-launch - no need to repaint. Get more info at http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa SAILING SHORTS * La Trinite-sur-Mer, France (October 28, 2011) - The fourth and final day of racing at the Student Yachting World Cup added three more windward-leeward races to the total of 13 races. Having led from the first day, Euromed Arthur Loyd (FRA) closed out today to win the 2011 edition. Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and Maine Maritime Academy (Castine, Maine) are in sixth and eleventh, respectively. Fifteen university teams representing 14 countries raced in the 9.54 m Grand Surprise. Event website: http://www.sywoc.org/ * At 05:13:25 GMT on Friday 28 October, New Zealand's Ross and Campbell Field took first place in Leg 1 of the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR) crossing the finish line in Cape Town after 32 days 17 hours 13 minutes and 25 seconds and 7,300 miles of racing from Palma, Mallorca, on their Verdier-design Class40 BSL averaging 9.3 knots. They finished 89 miles ahead of Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron on Campagne de France, who arrived in second place at 19:43:40 GMT (21:43 local) on Friday evening. -- Full story: http://globaloceanrace.com * The 4,730nm double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race, scheduled to start on October 30th, has been postponed. The decision was taken because of the approach of a very significant low pressure system due to generate storm force winds for the 35 teams that will race from Le Havre, France to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. The start is postponed to a date to be announced later depending on the evolution of this depression. But it will not be set before Wednesday. -- http://www.transat-jacques-vabre.com/english-section * (October 29, 2011) - San Diego Congressman Brian Bilbray (CA-50) today introduced H.R. 3270, the America's Cup Act of 2011, with strong bipartisan support. This legislation temporarily and narrowly waives the provisions set forth in the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act, making it lawful to hold the sailing competition closer to the coastline and in U.S. bays and harbors. The Act will protect the interests of the America's Cup World Series event scheduled in San Diego on November 12-20. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/Laws-103011 * World Laser Champion and 2010 ISAF World Sailor of the Year, Tom Slingsby from the Gosford Sailing Club, has been named Australia's 2011 Male Sailor of the Year, beating a field which included five other world champions. -- MySailing, read on: http://www.mysailing.com.au * Grant Beck, New Zealand's most successful Olympic Coach ever, received the Sir Bernard Fergusson Trophy as the 2011 Sailor of the Year. This award won by Beck on 28 October 2011 is the premier award in New Zealand Sailing, for outstanding contribution to yachting, and is given to someone who has demonstrated absolute world class abilities over their career. -- Full story: http://www.yachtingnz.org.nz/NewsletterDetail.aspx?NewsletterID=534 SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Chris Caswell: Loved the photo in Scuttlebutt 3458 (Photos of the Week) of the boat with the skipper name. Cole Trickle was actually the race driver played by Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder. Whatever the source of the name, I also love the idea of skipper's names on the hull. But if it becomes like WWII fighter pilots, who put their names below their cockpits, the next step is to have little symbols not to show enemy aircraft shot down, but perhaps winners in protests (a tiny rule book), class championships (tiny trophies) or, for long-distance racers, a symbol for the race (tiny lei for TransPac/tiny margarita glass for Mexico). * From Alistair Munro: Further to John Oliver's escapades in his 10 foot international Cadet without a lifejacket (in Scuttlebutt 3458), I am a bit younger and times had changed. We had to wear a Kapok buoyancy aid that made you sink like a lead balloon. If you fell in you had to swim to the surface to keep alive. Mind you we were a lot harder in those days as the wind used to blow harder and the seas were definitely bigger. * From Kitty Slocum Eaton: I was most tickled to see Chaz's name in print (last week in Scuttlebutt). We were crew mates on CHARISMA with Capt. Robbie Vaughan on a delivery from Annapolis to West Palm Beach in 1973. I have never met anyone who could talk so much and tell so many different stories. Chaz was a great addition to the crew for his liveliness as well as his sailing skills. * From Bruce Thompson: I agree that conducting radio communications between the race committee and the racers is a racer friendly policy. I would point out that the Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation (LMSRF) Area 3 race management committee has been doing this since the mid 1990s. Here is a direct quotation from the 1996 race book under the general heading Radio Communications: "20.2 The Race Committee shall attempt to report visual signals and other pertinent information over VHF Channel 69. This information is provided as a courtesy to competitors and does not in any way alter the responsibility to observe the Race Committee's visual signals which govern the conduct of the race. Errors or omissions involving such courtesy broadcasts shall not be grounds for redress." CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Beware of the afternoon, as it will come sooner than expected, and remind you of how little you did this morning. SPONSORS THIS WEEK APS - Interlux - West Marine - Morris Yachts - Lewmar North Sails - Melges Performance Sailboats - Southern Spars Ullman Sails - Point Loma Outfitting - Quantum Sails - Ultimate Sailing Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
