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SCUTTLEBUTT 2650 - Thursday, July 31, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. READY FOR THE WEATHER GATE? by Jeff Zarwell, National Race Officer Going into my first windward-gate regatta as a race officer, I anticipated increased mark-set responsibilities and a need for experienced hands to pull off the initial set and then to maintain a four-buoy weather-mark configuration. I was right. However, the benefits of the windward gate were greater than I expected. The two-day regatta was sailed in J/105s out of The San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere, California. Courses were laid in what we call the Olympic Circle, a relatively shallow, relatively tide-protected area on the Berkeley side of San Francisco Bay, often used for higher-level competition. We ran the first two races with a single weather mark and offset, adding the weather gate for the final race of the day after an initially backing breeze stabilized. In the first rounding of the windward gate, it was clear that that most of the 28 competitors had not calculated (or were not able to calculate) risk/benefit between left and right marks. With the left side of the course favored for the downwind leg, only 9 (including the ever-competitive Chris Perkins) took the starboard mark. On the second rounding, however, that number increased to 16. -- SAIL, read on: http://preview.sailmag.com/racecourse/ready_for_the_weather_gate/index.aspx OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN: 9 DAYS TO GO * From American Laser representative Andrew Campbell, regarding the process for assigning the supplied Laser boats and boards: “The boat draw was done with oversize ping-pong balls in the official Chinese lottery powerball machine, … and Chinese numerology played a huge part in whether coach Bill Ward, team Leader Dean Brenner, myself and Anna (Tunnicliffe) reacted with happiness or disdain to the numbers called in the bingo-like atmosphere. Eight is an extremely lucky number here in China, as demonstrated by their insistence on starting the Olympics on the eighth minute of eight o’clock the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the millenium (even though they don’t use the same calendar as we do? hmm…) 8:08pm on 8/8/08. We found out from the Chinese guys sitting in front of us at the meeting that the number 4 means “death” so we were obviously cheering for other teams to receive the 4th, 14th, 24th, etc. boats out of the ball machines. 44 was especially bad as far as well could tell.” -- Complete report: http://xrl.us/omcmy * The Canadian Sailing Team has gone live with their Olympic microsite, which includes athlete bios, images and blogs. View site at http://www.canadiansailingteam.ca/home.html?lang=en * CBC's digital channel ‘bold’ is home to exclusive, live daily coverage of Sailing events for BEIJING 2008: THE OLYMPIC GAMES. Peter Rusch and Fiona Kidd will track all the sailing action and medal hopefuls from Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center. -- Read on: http://www.sailing.ca/feature/2008/07/bold.html VIDEO OF THE WEEK The event schedule in San Francisco, CA this summer has been full of dinghies, and this week we pay tribute to a few of these events. Nicely edited videos from the U.S. Youth Championship and the Laser North Americans succeed at delivering the “scent of the event.” Following the Laser NA’s, we have a video of the first heat from the revitalized Laser Slalom event that was taken from the railing of St Francis Yacht Club, providing the same outstanding vantage point enjoyed by the spectators for this event. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/08/0728 J/105s DOMINATE IN SCREWPILE LIGHTHOUSE CHALLENGE At last week’s Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge in southern Maryland, Ullman Sails customers dominated the J/105 division as they swept the top four spots in the 15-boat fleet. Cedric Lewis and Fredrik Salvese’s team on “Mirage” led the way, taking first overall with a definitive 11.5 points ahead of second place. Michael O’Toole and crew finished in second, followed by M. Hubiltz and E. Hornick’s “Veloce” in third. Fourth place went to Bob Reeves’ “A Train.” All four boats competed with 100% Ullman Sails inventory! Make an investment in your performance. Contact a local Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com TO HAVE, OR TO ALREADY HAVE HAD When the New York Supreme Court removed the Club Nautico Español de Vela (CNEV) last fall as the 33rd America’s Cup Challenger of Record (COR), it was because it believed that CNEV did not fulfill a term of the Deed of Gift that – in the eyes of the court - required challenging clubs to already have a regularly held annual event on its calendar. This decision was appealed by the defending club, Societe Nautique de Geneve’s (SNG), and the opinion issued this week by the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the decision, and reinstated CNEV as the COR. To have, or to already have had, is the question, and who better to understand the intent of the Deed of Gift than America’s Cup historian John Rousmaniere. Here is John’s report: “There is a statement by George L. Schuyler and John Cox Stevens providing good, strong evidence of their intent when they wrote the now famous and (I think) unambiguous “having” clause in the America's Cup Deed of Gift that requires a challenger to hold an annual regatta. “The statement goes this way: ‘There shall be an Annual Regatta for a prize cup, to be given by the Club. The Regatta to take place immediately after the second general meeting. There shall be an annual expedition of the Squadron immediately after the Regatta.’ That’s Bylaw 13 of the Rules and Regulations that Schuyler, Stevens, and the three other members of the Rules Committee of the New York Yacht Club wrote after the club was founded in July 1844. The membership as a whole approved those bylaws in March 1845. Four months later the club held that regatta (which meant a fleet race). Then its squadron (fleet) headed out on that expedition (the club cruise). The Annual Regatta and Annual Cruise were still being sailed at the time Schuyler amended the Deed in 1887 (as, indeed, they are today). “When the Deed was drafted in 1851, just about the only experience Schuyler and Stevens had with fleet racing was the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta (of course, there was that race around the Isle of Wight a year earlier). Here, therefore, was a simple, handy standard of race management experience. Four points deserve emphasis.” -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6151 MAST DESIGNER FOR THE STARS Scott Ferguson, who recently won the 2008 Laser Masters US Nationals held at the New Bedford Yacht Club, is busy these days as he leads the spar design team for the 33rd America's Cup with the BMW Oracle Racing syndicate as well as being the head spar designer for the 2008-2009 Spanish Volvo Team "Equipo Telefonica" which is the Volvo around the world race. "It has been a very busy year for me. Exactly a year ago we signed with the Volvo Spanish team and got right into that and just have not stopped. Last August we were hired by BMW to do the mast for the America's Cup and since then it has been crazy," Ferguson said. Part of that craziness stems from the fact that it is important to Ferguson to be there for the test phase of his masts, which means traveling to Spain and other foreign waters. He spent the better part of 2007 in Valencia, Spain working with the Luna Rossa (Italian) team in the 32nd America's Cup. Ferguson feels lucky that the Cup masts are being built by Hall Spars in Bristol, although the boat was built on the West Coast. In his own company of engineers and others, Scott Ferguson, LLC, he designs the masts and other bits and components that attach to the boats. -- The Jamestown Press, read on: http://www.jamestownpress.com/news/2008/0703/news/035.html SAILING SHORTS * Honolulu, HI--(Marketwire - July 30, 2008) - The Waikiki Yacht Club announced today that Skipper Philippe Kahn, with co-skipper Richard Clarke of Canada, set a new doublehanded record for the 2008 Pacific Cup race of 7 days, 15 hours, 17 minutes and 50 seconds. The prior record, set by Volvo Ocean Race winner Stan Honey in 1992, was 8 days, 20 hours, 47min on the Santa Cruz 70 Mongoose. The Pegasus Open 50 had the fastest elapsed time of all 61 boats, including fully crewed racing machines that ranged from 45 feet to 73 feet in length. -- http://www.pegasus.com/news080731.htm * In what has to be the closest 11th hour scenario in the US recreational marine industry's history, President George W Bush yesterday signed the Clean Boating Act of 2008 into law. The president's signature prevents a "bureaucratic nightmare" for millions of US boaters as well as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It also represents a significant lobbying victory for the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and other boater groups that campaigned for the passage of the bill through both houses of Congress, all the way to the White House. -- IBI Magazine, read on: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20080630155304ibinews.html * Three out of four boaters say that sky-high fuel prices are changing the way they go boating this season, encouraging them to get on the water less often, take shorter trips and make other accommodations. A nationwide poll of 400 boat owners commissioned by Mad Mariner provides a unique window on how fuel prices are changing the habits of everyday boaters, who have been forced to adjust as gas prices climbed above $4 a gallon and diesel flirted with $5 a gallon. -- Read on: http://xrl.us/omcm2 * (July 30, 2008) - Garmin Ltd, which designs, manufactures and markets GPS navigation, communication and sonar products, today reported sales of US$912 million for its second quarter, a gain of 23 per cent compared to the same period a year ago. The company also reported a 19 per cent increase in its net income, up to US$256.1 million compared to US$214.4 million a year ago. Its marine division, which saw sales decline by 11 per cent to US$71 million for the quarter, was the only business segment to report lower sales. -- IBI Magazine, complete report: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20080630142339ibinews.html * Lysekil, Sweden (July 30, 2008) - Number two on the ISAF world ranking, Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen from Denmark, stays together with home sailor Jenny Axhede (SWE) on six victories and two lost matches after Wednesdays continued round-robin in Lysekil Women’s Match, the world’s largest women match racing event. Defending champion Linda Rahm from Sweden is, after 4-4 in matches so far, forced to win her remaining three matches to be sure of reaching the next round-robin. Claire Leroy from France remains unbeaten at 5-0, while lone North American entrant Elisabeth Baylis (USA) was 2-3 on the day (2-6 overall), and is now in tenth position of the twelve entrants. -- Complete report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6152 * (July 30, 2008) - Today, at the start of the tenth day of racing and on the eve of a triumphant finish from Crêpes Whaou!, the fleet taking part in the seventh Transat Quebec-Saint Malo (Canada to France) is exposed to one of two extremes on the Atlantic. Out at the front, the multihulls and leading Class 40 boats are weathering the storm on seas that are full of potholes in a 35-knot NW’ly (gusting to 40 knots). Further back, it is mostly light airs, with entrants trying to find a way out of the persistent calms. -- Read on: http://www.quebecsaintmalo.com/en/news.asp?id=127 * Mathieu Richard is back at the top in the open division of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings and together with women's world #1 Claire Leroy completes a French double with the latest release of the standings on July 30th. Richard is one of three French skippers in the world open top five. -- Complete report: http://www.sailing.org/24589.php MORRIS M-SERIES AND OCEAN SERIES AT ROCKLAND, ME SHOW The Morris M36, M42 and Morris 46RS will be shown August 8-10 at the Maine Boats Homes & Harbors Show in Rockland, Maine. This show launches team Morris’ Boat Show Season! This year the team will be splitting up for September half the team will cross The Pond for the Southampton Boat Show Sept 12-21st. The M36 will be shown there for the first time. The stateside team will head to Newport, RI. The teams will join up and fly south with the geese for the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis Oct 9-13. For more information: http://www.morrisyachts.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: Aug 1-6 - 2008 I-LYA Regatta - Put-In-Bay, OH, USA Aug 1-3 - IRC Pacific Coast Championships - San Francisco, CA, USA Aug 1-3 - Dillon Open Regatta - Dillon, CO, USA Aug 2-8 - 2008 Shark Worlds - Hamilton, Ont, Canada Aug 4-8- Snipe US National Championship - Pt. Richmond, CA, USA Aug 4-8 - Thistle US National Championship - Pensacola, FL, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar MAYBE YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN While the America’s Cup event flails helplessly like a trout on a dock, another event that embodied the fighting spirit of sailing in the 70’s returned this week to San Francisco, CA – The Laser Slalom. Here is the report from Kimball Livingston, SAIL WEST: “Even if we never get enough regatta-type regattas there's a yen for that different thing, and the Laser Slalom fits that need but good. Newly-crowned North American Laser champion Dave Wright went undefeated through the eliminations ladder to an all-Canadian final three and then to the final round and… that's where Abe Torchinsky came in. “Torchinsky had lost to Wright in their first meeting in this double-elimination round, but he then went on to eliminate Anthony Boueilh and set up a final shot at Wright, who needed just one more win to take the title. Torchinsky needed two wins. Maybe not the house bet, but a good bet. He did what he had to do.” -- Read on: http://sailmagazine.blogspot.com/2008/07/torchinsky-it-is.html * If you have never seen the Laser Slalom video from the early 70’s, where 30 competitors faced 40 knot winds, here it is again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3uhghIrwQY 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 may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). 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 Skip Doyle: (re, quote in #2649) Normally Paul Henderson uses many words in telling us his take on a variety of sailing subjects. He never spoke more clearly or accurately than in Wednesday’s ‘Butt when he used just four little words to describe the current America's Cup situation: " What a f--- up !!" * From John Servais, Bellingham, WA: (re, story in Issue 2649) Cory Friedman is superb in explaining the legal trauma. He is also a good writer - very good. The second last paragraph of his Part 27 post is an absolutely hilarious summation of a sad, sad situation. The humor is needed for us to make sense of it. Thank you Scuttlebutt for carrying Friedman's posts. Let us hope that GGYC and Larry Ellison will challenge this judgment to the Appeals Court. As a lifelong sailor and as one who has enjoyed following every AC since 1958, I feel this decision not only is the wrong decision but could wreck the AC for the future. The America's Cup future now depends on the GGYC and Larry Ellison to go forward in a challenge of this travesty of a ruling. I hope other sailors from around the US will also add their voices of support to GGYC going forward on appeal. * From Richard Hazelton, Editor, 48 ° North Sailing Magazine: With the last bit of dirt being thrown on the grave of the America's Cup, one might look at racing on the local level and see a correlation between litigation (protests) and interest. The northwest sailing scene is thriving because of the fun races that have sprung up. Lots of boats, lots of fun, and the prizes are drawn out of a hat. It's unfortunate that, especially on the local level, winning by all means is more important than the experience. Of course you need rules to sail, but there are many club racers who, if they sailed more and studied the rules less, would be better sailors. If, at the end of your sailing career, you've got more trophies than friends, you're not doing it right. * From Andy Vare, SF Bay: Oh yeah, another good thing about the Laser slaloms: they never ended with guys in court suing each other while everyone else sat around with their thumbs otherwise preoccupied. The big thing on the SF Laser Slaloms? Whether to go for one reef or two. In a Laser you can reef by wrapping the sail around the mast, which may not be necessary now there are smaller rigs. A couple of times Madro won, it blew 40 and two reefs (plus pulling the top batten) was the fast ticket. The other striking thing about some of the nukefests on the City Front was the dichotomy of spectator and gladiator. Inside the comfy, dry and well-oiled StFYC grill room, blazered spectators looked on as the wet and cold Laser sailors did epic one-on-one battle, clad in life jackets, multiple sweatshirts and wetsuits. The oohs and ahs which arose from full-monty, backdoor wipeouts to weather at 23 kts... then turtling in the ebb in 3 foot chop, grey fog on the deck and early stage hypothermia eliminating any sort of rational thinking..."Darling, will you be having another fizz?",(clink clink) "not now, deary, someone is in the water again and it looks positively awful"... Most of the gladiators have now become successful professionals. The Slaloms did so much for their generation, one wonders whether, in the absence of the regatta, the vacuum behind them serves anyone, much less the spectators in the grill room? Who's up for the first reinaugural? Ernie? * From Skippy Cole: Congratulations to Joby and Bill, winning all the pickle dishes for the Pacific Cup in high style. When I spoke with them after the race their understated comment was - 'well the boat did all the work'. Come on boys - that's a Cascade 36 not a Volvo 70'. And you did it double handed! And you were the underdog of the decade (I can't say 2 decades because you did it 20 years ago)! You make the Northwest proud to have sailors like you living up here. * From Howard Bentley, San Francisco, CA: Steve Fossett was flying a wood airplane covered in fabric (a single engine Citabria Super Decathlon). Unlike aluminum planes, not much to see if it crashes with any fuel aboard at all. Time to go back to your other conspiracy theories folks. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: We agree, it is time to move on and close this thread. For those interested in more details on Steve’s plane, here are a couple sources: Photo of his plane: http://xrl.us/fossettplane Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citabria CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION I intend to live forever. So far so good. Special thanks to Ullman Sails and Morris Yachts. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
