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SCUTTLEBUTT 2459 – October 23 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, featuresand dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday with the support of its sponsors. THE DAY THE AMERICA’S CUP WENT TO COURT (October 22, 2007) “A bad day on the water beats a good day in the office." - Anon. Unless you are Justice Cahn. If you are, you can allow the cameras from New Zealand and European TV into a packed courtroom and have some fun. First, accept the amici brief from Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia and Mascalzone Latino, but warn them that, if there has to be a trial, they are not participating. That’s fine with them. On to the main event. You let Jim Kearney representing GGYC get started on the subject of how CNEV is not a yacht club and then, with a smile, twist his tail a little. You throw out a question: What difference does it make; they do something with boats don’t they? Let him think his finely tuned arguments have not registered at all. See how he reacts. You then let David Hille representing SNG get started about how CNEV is a real club. He’s feeling good because of the question you asked Kearney. Maybe you don’t care about the details. He is talking about CNEV’s upcoming regatta. Time to twist his tail. Give him the same Cheshire Cat smile and interrupt him: Their first annual race? He’s too on message for irony and doesn’t get it. Repeat the question and see if he catches on that maybe you do care about the exact words of the Deed. Watch him react. Ask a question of Kearney about the time frame and have a brief discussion about the 10-month time frame of the Deed, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere. OK, enough of this, there’s a busy calendar waiting. Thank you, you’ll get a decision soon. On to the next case. -- Cory E. Friedman, read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/cf/#p8 * Posted Monday on the Latitude 38 magazine’s Lectronic Latitude website: “If you were out on the (San Francisco) Bay this past weekend, you might have noticed two BMW Oracle Swedish Match Racing Boats out sailing, looking as if they were practicing match racing starts. We couldn't help but notice that James Spithill, helmsman of Luna Rossa in the last America's Cup, was at the helm of one boat, and Russell 'Mr. America's Cup' Coutts, the new honcho for BMW Oracle, was at the helm of the other. “Despite the fact that it was a busy weekend of racing on the Bay, and the two were seen by hundreds of sailors, we were contacted and asked not to reveal this information. It was sort of like Britney not wearing panties to The Ivy restaurant and then having her publicist ask all the patrons not to tell anyone. Ridiculous. Couldn't BMW Oracle at least have spent a little money on Halloween masks for their skippers?” -- http://tinyurl.com/3blh9k DRAMATIC TALES FROM THE MED Two stories of dramatically contrasting fortune have unfolded over the past 24-hours of the 606-mile 2007 Rolex Middle Sea Race, an even that Ted Turner once described as "the most beautiful race course in the world." Both stories ended happily. Both could have ended quite differently. In one, an American crew defied the elements to destroy a seven-year old course record. In the second, an Australian crew were rescued from their yacht as she threatened to founder on the wind-lashed northern coast of Sicily. The crews of Rambler and Loki will remember this race for years to come. Rambler skipper Ken Read does not strike one as someone prone to hyperbole, and when he describes the race as ‘really windy' you get the feeling he is not letting you in on the whole truth. This is confirmed when he continues, "when we went around the north west corner of Sicily heading out to the islands we actually took the mainsail down for almost twelve hours. With a storm jib and mainsail in 45-knots it was white out, you couldn't see. The boat was literally just flying off waves. We found a really nice rig a bit unexpectedly, it was a storm jib on the front-stay and a genoa staysail on the middle-stay." For Loki the drama was truly life threatening. Sailing along in 35-knots at 15/16 knots of boatspeed there was a sudden bang and the crew saw the rudder floating away behind the boat. With the lee shore of Golfo di Castallammare fast approaching and the weather conditions atrocious the decision was eventually taken to evacuate the crew by helicopter. The Italian Airforce Base in Trapani sent a Sikorksy HH3 F from 15 Wing to undertake the lift. Such was the motion of Loki and height of her mast that the crew had to get into a liferaft for the lift. The first eight crewmembers were picked up at about 10.20pm and the second batch at midnight. Before leaving the stricken yacht an anchor and about 200-feet of rode were laid and this morning it appears that the anchor had held with Loki spotted floating off the coast in reasonably deep water. -- Excerpts from the complete report: http://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/news/index.cfm?ID=132&f * From navigator Peter Isler onboard Tom Hill's RP 75 Titan XII: “We bailed out at 10PM the first night... and got back to Malta before the storm. The forecast was simply too hairball... we did not feel it was a wise thing to do ... and although we could have pushed further up into the straights and let the situation develop a bit more without risk (because we could still bail out to a Sicilian port), by pulling out when we did, we were able to get back to Malta.... before the blow. All other big boats in our class (except Rambler) bailed out - most when the storm hit.” * From skipper Ken Read onboard George David's Rambler: “Every time I step on this boat, it blows 50 knots. My advice to anyone planning to do a race is to see if Rambler is entered.” Scuttlebutt spoke to Ken Read by phone from Malta, where he talked about avoiding waterspouts and watching the foredeck hatch busing loose from its hinges like a champagne cork. The complete eight-minute interview can be heard here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/1022 SAIL1DESIGN A HIT AT THE 505 NORTH AMERICANS Congratulations to USA-8919, Tom Gosch & Doug McKeige. The team sailed a great regatta and finished tied for 5th at the 505 NA’s in Annapolis. Sail1Design provided coaching and on-the-water support for this team. Along with our core one-design classified and sailing job post service, S1D now offers professional coaching and regatta support, complete with our own 17’ RIB, to help your program get better. From weather/ wind analysis, video, pre-regatta tuning, towing to the starting line, to bigger picture observations on the race course, S1D can give you the competitive edge. http://www.sail1design.com HOW IT WENT DOWN Among the thirty-three entries at the US Laser Olympic Trials was veteran campaigner Marc Jacobi, who provides this report on how close it was at the end between winner Andrew Campbell and Brad Fink: “At the front of the pack (on the final day), Brad Funk and Andrew Campbell were separated by just a few points. Campbell had the early edge in the first race, but Funk made a bold move, separating to the left on the second beat and leapfrogging ahead. At the weather mark, Funk tried to push Campbell back by taking him past the mark and into the spectator fleet. During these shenanigans, Funk protested when he felt Campbell failed to keep clear. From there, Funk charged through the fleet and miraculously won the race; Campbell limped in at 7th. With one race to go, Funk had pulled back into the lead by a scant one point! “The wind was really piping for the penultimate race. Once again, Funk and Campbell were neck-and-neck, with Campbell barely ahead in second. The two titans were, at the end of 8 days of 16 races, tied on points! Everything would boil down to the protest: if Funk won, he'd be the United States representative at the 2008 Olympics; if not, Campbell would win the title on a tiebreaker. The protest itself took forever. Understanding the full import of their decision, the protest jury no-doubt poured over every fact and every shred of evidence before disallowing Funk's protest--Campbell was the winner in what had to be the closest, most tightly fought trials battle in the history of the United States!” -- http://journals.aol.com/marcjacobire/blog/ ROLEX OSPREY CUP St. Petersburg, FL. -- Hosted by St Petersburg YC and sailed in Sonars, this International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 1 women’s match racing regatta was held October 18-21, and saw a total of 113 races, including a complete double round-robin, semi-finals (first to win 3), three consolation series (first to win 2), petit-finals (first to win 3) and finals (also first to win three). The wind varied between 5 and 10 knots, with excellent match racing conditions every day. The results of the double round-robin, which was completed Saturday morning, were as follows: 1 Katie Spithill (15 points) 2 Liz Baylis (13) 3 Giulia Conti (12) 4 Sally Barkow (11) 5 Katy Lovell (9) 6 Anna Tunnicliffe (8) 7 Sabrina Gurioli (7) 8 Caroline Behar (7) 9 Sandy Hayes (5) 10 Rachel Silverstein (3) In the semi-finals, Katie Spithill won three matches against Sally Barkow, without a loss. Liz Baylis took a 2-0 lead against Giulia Conti, but Giulia came back to win the next three races. In the finals, Katie won three races over Giulia, without a loss. In the petit-finals, Sally Barkow lost only one race to Liz Baylis, winning the series 3-1. -- Event website: http://www.rolexwomensmatch.org SEARCH EXTENDED WITH NEW HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES 19 October 2007, Nevada USA: As early winter weather begins to descend on the rugged high country of northwestern Nevada, the search for aviator Steve Fossett, missing since September 3rd, continues from the Flying M Ranch (near Yearington, NV) with an important extension to the privately funded and directed effort planned for the coming week. This will include the use of high altitude digital mapping technology linked with computer analysis and anomaly search techniques. Rotary and fixed wing aircraft as well as ground personnel are still in place to run down leads and theories as they emerge. And although visual, infrared and hyper-spectral analysis of large areas have all generated specific leads over the past 6 weeks (as have radar trace and satellite image analyses), all have so far failed to reveal any sign of Steve's Bellanca Super Decathlon single-engine aircraft. Additionally, side scan sonar searches of the several area lakes have now been completed. -- Complete report: http://www.stevefossett.com * Curmudgeon’s Comment: John Harwood-Bee, who has worked closely with Fossett and his record-breaking challenges, told Scuttlebutt that the Fossett family remains hopeful in their search. Admittedly, after six weeks with no positive sightings, they have to be very practical in their consideration of the likely outcome of events. However, they are optimistic that the latest technology will provide some answers. We are too. THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER While the British get much attention regarding the strength within their Olympic ranks, a look the 2008 Australian Olympic Team show that they deserve a share of the spotlight as well. Among the candidates that have been announced to represent the country within the 11 events, here are some of Australia’s strongest classes: 470 Women - Elise Rechichi/ Tessa Parkinson 1st - 2007 Olympic Test event in Qingdao, China 470 Men - Nathan Wilmot/ Malcolm Page 3-time class World Champs Laser - Tom Slingsby 2007 World Laser Champion Tornado - Darren Bundock/ Glenn Ashby - 2006 World Champion, 4th - 2007 Worlds, 2007 F18 World Champion 49er - Nathan Outteridge/ Ben Austin - 3rd - 2007 World Championship RS:X Women - Jessica Crisp 7th - 2007 World Championship DISCOVER THE BEST BOATING GEAR/EQUIPMENT Our goal at MyBoatsGear.com is to inform and educate boaters on the very best boating products. One valuable tool we offer is our informative newsletter collection where you can learn about a variety of boating topics. Sign up for the newsletter http://www.myboatsgear.com/newsletter/2007925.asp to see the different equipment this owner of a Wauquiez 45 uses. Browse the Newsletters subjects for, Safety, Communications, Navigation, Boat Show products, Racing & General. By signing up for the newsletters you will have the source to the ultimate knowledge in boating equipment, for access anytime, anywhere. SAILING SHORTS * Sailing World's College Rankings as of October 18, 2007 has Boston College and St. Mary's continuing to lead, respectively, the coed and women's rankings. Complete rankings at http://tinyurl.com/3cowtd * Long Beach, CA -- Co-skippers Marylyn Hoenemeyer and Sue Taylor and their team from the California Yacht Club were declared the winners last Sunday when the 16th annual Linda Elias Memorial Women’s One Design Challenge was shortened by one day because of heavy winds. At Sunday’s scheduled noon starting time, principal race officer John Busch declared that racing was abandoned with easterly Santa Ana winds of 22-24 knots and gusts to 35 blowing across the race course. Hoenemeyer/ Taylor were tied on points with Dana Point Yacht Club, co-skippered by Sue Senescu and Denise Eldredge, but edged them out on the tiebreaker. -- Complete report and standings: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/1022 * The 2008 M 30 North American Circuit Championship has been announced, with qualifying events including Acura Key West 2008 (Jan), St. Petersburg NOOD (Feb), Annapolis NOOD (April), Cedar Point OD Regatta (June; Westport, CT), and Sail Newport Regatta (July). Additionally, the class North Americans will be in Newport, RI (Aug 22-24), with the Worlds also at the same site (September 24-27). Formerly referred to as the Mumm 30, the class organization is currently coordinating the name change that will soon be submitted to the owners for a vote. The new class name will be officially announced once it is approved by ownership. -- http://www.mumm30.org SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION OFFER Based in New Zealand, Line 7 have been outfitting America's Cup crews since 1977, having been the official clothing supplier to Team New Zealand for the past twelve years. Now they are teaming up with Scuttlebutt, and are giving away a new Line 7 Offshore jacket and Aquatec 2 pants to a new e-Newsletter subscriber between now and November 15, 2007. Want to do something nice for your hardworking crew? Tell them about the free Scuttlebutt newsletter, and help them earn a chance at winning some new gear from Line 7. Details at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/subscribe 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 * From Troy Sears: Here are my two cents from attending the America’s Cup hearing on Monday in NYC. The hearing lasted about 25 minutes and I got the feeling that Justice Cahn wanted it to take no more than 15. He seems very prepared on the issues. Cahn did not seem to care if CNEV was a "Federation" or a "Club". However, it did seem very material to Justice Cahn that CNEV has not had an annual regatta at the time of its challenge. Lawyers for SNG cited a Canadian challenge from the 1980's in similar circumstances but that argument seemed very weak since they were not the COR. When Justice Cahn asked the lawyers from GGYC where they wanted the regatta to take place should their motion prevail made me think that he was leaning towards GGYC. We'll see. * From Dr. Jim Sears: After seeing Dick Tillman’s name on the competitors list for the Championship of Champions regatta, I immediately dug through that box of old sailing books in my attic. Soon I found the old dusty first-edition of Laser Sailing that I got with my first Laser when I was eight years old. I must have read that book 50 times and remember sleeping with it under my pillow. Now, 32 years later, I finally would get a chance to meet the author as I headed south to Mission Bay Yacht Club to watch the regatta. At the post-race BBQ, I had a nice conversation with Dick and am happy to report that at 70 years young, he still looks like a lean, mean, sailing machine - both on and off the water! He was gracious enough to autograph my old book with a personalized note. We chuckled as he suggested that we’d both benefit if I bought one of the new editions! That old, light-blue book has now earned a spot on the self...right next to my copy of The Racing Edge, autographed by one of my other childhood heroes, Gary Jobson. * From Eric A Sorensen: Regarding the Estrella Damm story in Issue 2458, I suspect their mention of one prep day for every day of sailing is a benchmark for all levels of racing and cruising. Boats are not a sure thing by any means, and that is one of the things that keep us all coming back. I would think that Estrella Damm syndicate is likely spending even more prep days than it will take to complete the Barcelona World Race, given the harsh conditions for where they are going! It would be great if all we had to do was get a perfect boat and then go do it. However, the fun comes from the unexpected and dealing with it in a successful manner. Those that keep from getting a Cluster F. situation can go further with less effort than those who find them constantly. As was pointed out, Team Estrella Damm got the Curmudgeon as a fan because of Jonathon McKee. They also got a lot of backing from up here in the NW too. Jonathon is a very popular sailor up here just because he is a great dude, not to mention he truly knows how to sail well and always has a well prepared boat. Go Team Estrella Damm! * From Bill Reilly: (regarding letter in Issue 2455) Tell Patrick Dietz to read Scuttlebutt at home if he has a problem with possible "pornographic" pictures popping up on his monitor... besides, If he's at work he should be working, not reading sailing stories... If I was his boss he'd be fired whether he had "pornographic" pictures on his monitor or not... no wonder the dollar is so weak with people like this working in "highly regulated banks and financial companies"... * From Vic Snyder: (re Elaine Bunting comments in Issue 2456) Not that this has much to do with boats, but it has always amazed me that in the U.S., naked bodies are so often considered pornographic. It should cause one to pause and ponder the fact that web pages showing mutilated victims of rape, murder, and other violent crimes can be opened by any public official, lawyer, banker, etc. without any fear of reprisals, but expose one human feeding organ and Oh the humanity! I guess I sometimes just don't get it. Curmudgeon’s Comment: No comment – thread ended. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION If you don't like the news, go out and make some. Special thanks to Sail1Design.com and MyBoatsGear.com. |
