|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2943 - Monday, October 5, 2009
Scuttlebutt 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.
Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt
Today's sponsors are Summit Yachts, MyBoatsGear.com, and Dinghy Locker.
THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
Just hours after Alinghi 5 was unloaded from a freighter in the United Arab
Emirates state of Ras al Khaimah, the Challenger for the 33rd America’s Cup
was filing papers in the New York Supreme Court contesting the venue selected
by the Defender. For what was its shop window event, the sailing world now has
a tragicomedy.
Currently two show-stopping legal actions are underway in the New York Supreme
Court. The venue of the Match and the Rules under which it will be conducted.
A third, alleging breach of fiduciary duty by the Defender is believed to be
imminent. That was signaled by CEO Russell Coutts in a statement released by
the Challenger which said: 'The choice of RAK underscores SNG's abject failure
in its responsibilities as Trustee of the America's Cup. It seems that the
Defender is prepared to go to any lengths to make this America's Cup a
travesty.'
While the Defender, Societe Nautique de Geneve is quick to claim that the
Challenger, Golden Gate Yacht Club is trying to win the America's Cup in the
Courts, rather than on the water. The fact of the matter is that the legal
traffic is pretty well all one way. Of the six or so decisions that have been
handed down from the New York judicial system, only one has gone the way of
the hapless Swiss - and that was a majority decision which was overturned 6-0
by the Appeal Court in Albany NY. That is not a good look. -- Sail-World, read
on: http://tinyurl.com/y9fn8tr
* SNG statement: http://tinyurl.com/yd4d2wf
* GGYC statement: http://tinyurl.com/ydy6ahw
WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?
With the flurry of America’s Cup court action last week, Scuttlebutt enlists
its talented legal tactician Cory Friedman to provide his latest analysis:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As autumn approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, the leaves are starting to
fall, but not as fast as paper in the America's Cup battle between Golden Gate
Yacht Club (GGYC) and Société Nautique De Genève’s (SNG) are landing.
Just as GGYC finished briefing its motion to renew its rules motion, it served
a motion to throw out Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) as the venue for the February
Match. SNG then used a letter about a routine scheduling issue to lay out the
broad strokes of its response to GGYC’s venue motion. In the anti-climax of
the month, GGYC submitted its long sought Certificate of Documentation, which
is devoid of useful information save the basis for calculating how many
barrels of Mount Gay Rum USA can carry as movable ballast and/or refreshment.
At the rate this is going, I am going to have to start batch processing the
papers. The seasonal metaphor will probably change from falling leaves to
white out blizzard conditions.
By switching from motions brought on by orders to show cause, to motions
brought on by 16 day notices of motion, GGYC gets to file reply papers
responding to SNG’s papers answering the motion. On the rules motion, GGYC has
put its reply to good use, easily covering and slam dunking SNG. Even more
importantly, having the last word allows GGYC to organize the dispute in a
nice, neat, user friendly bundle for Justice Kornreich. -- Read on:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/cf/#p46
SUMMIT YACHTS CONTINUES IT’S WINNING STREAK
The new Summit 35, by Summit Yachts won Best Sailboat in the Newport For New
Products competition at the Newport International Boat Show. This was the
introduction of the newest boat in the Summit line of racer/cruisers designed
by Mark Mills. Show attendees loved the boat for its open cockpit, and
spacious interior. Come and see the Summit 35 at the U.S. Sailboat Show in
Annapolis, October 8-12. http://www.summit-yachts.com
THE SUMMER OF SHENANIGANS
In Scuttlebutt 2941, Stu Johnstone shared the story from the 1983 America’s
Cup about how the gang at J/World succeeded in learning the look of the
Australia II winged keel early in the summer, and had shared that information
with the New York Yacht Club well before they lost the match to end their 132
year win streak. And now Brent Foxall shares this story on how the Canadians
knew too:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the summer of 83, Newport was the place to be. Every night was Saturday
night and Saturday night was New Year's Eve. A golf shirt with a legitimate
12's sail number on it was a ticket to some of the finest stock the eastern
seaboard could offer. As a member of the Canadian team, we won more parties
than races and would consume Friday's weekly $100 wage before the weekend was
over.
One evening at our Sherman House digs, a few members of the shore crew decided
to embark on a recon mission to check out Alan Bond's flash new ride. Fairly
organized and with two cameras, the divers managed to get some great shots in
the wee hours of the morning until things went pear-shaped. The getaway chase
boat driver, who shall remain nameless, got a rope around the prop and in the
ensuing bunfight, one of the divers was apprehended by Bond's tender driver.
Canadian folk hero, James Johnson, spent a day in jail, but the Aussies didn't
know about the other camera. -- Read on:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8355#8355
WIN AN OPTIMUM TIME WATCH
Did you have a mentor that helped you in the sport? Was there someone that
took you under their wing, helped with your learning and opened some doors for
you? Scuttlebutt will raffle off three Optimum Time watches on October 6, 2009
(noon PT) to anyone who posts who their mentor was. Here is a submission from
Mark Lammens:
“My mentor at a critical age was Rob Woodbury. He was my sailing instructor at
the Brockville YC. He took me on my first very exciting ride on the trapeze as
a 10 yr old on a Fireball. Then as a 12 yr old he took me to my first big
regatta, the Quebec open where there was 200 Lasers. After the disappointment
of the 1980 Olympic boycott, Woodbury was the CAN rep in the Finn, he sold me
his boat with all of his gear, at a great price. He gave me lots of important
Olympic campaign advice, specifically do everything and figure out what
everything is,......and become professional. The other thing he taught me was
his contagious love of sailing and racing at an elite level. It was cool to
see his son sail at the National Youth's, he is pumped about sailing and does
it very well.”
Either send your submission to the Scuttlebutt Editor, or post in Forum:
Email: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com
Forum: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8302#8302
SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR
Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar
STUDENT YACHTING WORLD CUP
The Student Yachting World Cup (SYWoC) is the only regatta enabled by the
International Sailing Federation (ISAF) to award the student sailing world
title, and will be held this year in late October in Marseilles, France.
International teams will compete in the equally matched 9.54 m Grand Surprise,
with each team required to include at least 2 women. All team members shall be
born after November 1st 1982, and shall be students of the same University or
College (or equivalent) during the first semester of the year 2009.
Only one team is allowed per country, with the US Naval Academy having
represented the U.S. in 2006 and 2008, while the University of Rhode Island
competed for the U.S. in 2007 alongside Queen’s University of Canada. This
year the lone North American representative will again come from URI, with
team skipper Jesse Fielding providing this report:
“Long story short, we are in the final stages of preparation for our trip to
the Student Yachting World Cup in Marseilles France. We depart the U.S. on
October 18th. We have been fundraising all summer as well as sailing as much
as possible. We have had some incredible good fortune this fall and have been
able to use Nelson Stephenson's Team Bold Farr30 for training out of the Sail
Newport Facility, received incredibly generous donations from members of many
different communities, and the support of our University staff, students and
alumni. We are very proud to be representing the United States while sailing
abroad. We have had so many U.S. sailors to be proud of and admire this year
that we are motivated that much more to leave it all the line in Marseilles.”
Team website: http://www.sywc2009.blogspot.com
Event website: http://www.sywoc.org/
INFLATABLE DINGHIES AND TENDERS
Whether you are preparing for a trip south this winter, or are looking for a
tender for next season, inflatables are popular items at Boat Shows. There are
many inflatable models on the market and it is confusing, why one model is
better than another. To help you understand what to look for in an inflatable,
the MyBoatsGear.com website has posted an article titled ‘Choosing a Dinghy or
Tender’ that describes design characteristics & construction methods from
basic inflatables to RIBs. The article is available here:
http://www.myboatsgear.com/newsletter/2009926.asp
SAILING SHORTS
* Heath, TX (October 2, 2009; Day 3) - Phil “Flip” Wehrheim, Max Skelley and
Greg Koski secured victory at the 2009 Genesta J/22 North American
Championship at Rush Creek Yacht Club when a lack of wind on Lake Ray Hubbard
prevented racing. The team went into the final day with a mere one point lead
over Scott Young of Austin, TX. When the Race Committee was unable to complete
races eight and nine, Wehrheim finished the event with 15 points compared to
Young’s 16. -- Reports and video:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8342
* Portoroz, Slovenia (October 3, 2009; Day 5) - Torbjorn Tornqvist along with
tactician Dean Barker onboard Artemis topped the fleet racing portion of the
Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup, but it was Pieter Heerema and tactician Ray
Davies onboard Team No Way Back that took the event’s overall title. No Way
Back was third place in the match race and second in the fleet racing, winning
the tie breaker for the overall title with Paul Cayard’s Katusha due to their
better performance in the fleet racing. The final 2009 RC44 tour event is
November 25-29 in Dubai. -- Final report:
http://www.rc44.com/en/regattas/news/index.php?idContent=2147
* The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) announced that in 2009 the ISAF
Beppe Croce Trophy - which honours an outstanding voluntary contribution to
the sport of sailing - has been awarded to rules expert Bill Bentsen (USA).
Bentsen’s record of service to the International Sailing Federation includes
membership on its Racing Rules Committee for 25 years until 2004, at which
time he was Vice-Chairman of the committee. -- Read on:
http://www.sailing.org/29933.php
* After a hiatus of eight years, the Sunseeker Australia Cup has returned to
Perth to host an elite match racing event from 26 – 29 November 2009. Using
the Foundation 36 One Design yachts, skippers will include triple gold and
silver Olympic medalist Ben Ainslie (GBR), current leader of the World Match
Racing Tour Torvar Mirsky (AUS), reigning double World Match Racing Tour
champion Ian Williams (GBR), second ranked Adam Minoprio (NZL), and third
ranked Mathieu Richard (FRA). -- Details:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8356
* Plans were revealed for an international programme combining an eco
responsible initiative and a sailing competition, including ocean races, a
World Tour, a European Tour and “city races”, attracting the best skippers in
the world. One-design 70’ multihulls - all equal on the ocean - will carry the
message of the eco responsible initiative called the “Multi One Attitude”
defending a vital cause: the preservation of Water. Racing is to begin in
2012. -- Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/1002a/
* The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) is to launch a new challenge under the
name Azzurra to participate in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta, scheduled to
be held in Nice from 7th to 22nd November 2009. The new Azzurra team will be
led by YCCS member Giovanni Maspero of Joe Fly under the responsibility of
skipper and helmsman Francesco Bruni, supported by tactician Tommaso Chieffi
and team manager Alessandra Sensini among others. -- Full report:
http://www.yccs.it/portal/news.php?newsid=73&lingua=2
* The twenty-four teams sailing for the King Edward VII Gold Cup Trophy in
Hamilton, Bermuda will have their first shot at practice on Monday before the
three-group round robin phase of the event starts on Tuesday October 6th. This
is the eighth event of the nine event World Match Racing Tour. Ten of the top
twelve skippers in the ISAF Open rankings will be racing, with eight of these
teams in the top eight on the World Tour. -- http://www.argogroupgoldcup.com
* The 2009 International Sonar Class World Championship was hosted by Noroton
Yacht Club, home of Sonar Fleet 1, in Darien, CT. With fifty-eight boats
competing from seven countries, the championship went down to the wire.
American Dave Franzel built his lead through the first four races, and held on
with a 17-11 through the final two races to win. Losing on a tie breaker with
Franzel was Jud Smith (USA) in second, with Karl Ziegler (USA) finishing
third. -- Results:
http://www.sonarworlds.org/Results/SonarWorlds2009Results.htm
* Aging ocean racers will remember when SORC was the ‘go-to’ event in Florida
and the Bahamas, and that PORC was its lesser equivalent in Southern
California. A lot has changed since those days, but Mexico continues with
their version, MEXORC. The thirty-second anniversary of the Mexican Ocean
Racing Circuit, will take place from the 27th of February through the 6th of
March 2010. A series of informational meetings are being held Oct 5-9 in
California. -- Details:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8344#8344
J SAILS DOMINATES AT WORLDS. GET YOURS AT DINGHY LOCKER.
J Sails wins Optimist Worlds! Congratulations to the winners of the Optimist
Worlds in Brazil: 8 of the top 10 places sailed with J Sails, including 1st,
2nd, and 3rd places. Get your J Sails @ Dinghy Locker and get in the winner's
circle! Contact Jamie Gilman (800) 487-0775 x30 or visit
http://www.DinghyLocker.com
=> Curmudgeon’s Comment: Please welcome Landfall and their small boat division
Dinghy Locker as a new Scuttlebutt advertiser. The J Sails were everywhere at
the U.S. Optimist Nationals, and their dinghy lines also include the Laser,
Moth, and International 420, plus all the gear you need for these and other
boats.
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
Please submit your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’).
Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words
(letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). 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 Jim Gretzky:
In Scuttlebutt 2941 Stuart Johnstone has one point wrong: there was no problem
with the rating of AUSTRALIA II. The midship girth difference is taken between
the skin and chain girths from the measurement waterline to a point 1.5 meters
below the measurement waterline. The rule could care less what the keel looks
like below that point. The rule does require that the boat exist at that point
and further sets minimum curvature restrictions to prevent hard bumping. It
also prevents bridging by a strut. The 12M Third Rule, the basic rule used in
1983 and in fact dating from the late major revision in the 30’s is still in
effect today for the Twelve Metre class.
Any challenge to the boat’s legality would have had to have been made on the
point of design origin. This was the approach used by the NYYC. As an
interesting aside, the NYYC did not send a representative to the official Cup
measurement of AUSTRALIA II that took place at Cove Haven Marina. This seems
like a significant lapse, particularly in light of Stuart’s Story.
There were a number of sketches making the rounds in the summer of 1983, the
majority seemingly spot on to the actual keel. Perhaps they all had their
basis in his original espionage!
* From Derek Bouwer:
Decline in sailing numbers seems to be worldwide phenomena felt by all clubs.
Here are a few personal insights into the reasons from a South African
perspective:
1. The increasing number of new dinghies on the market dilutes the already
dwindling numbers as the sailor spread themselves across all the differing
classes.
2. The rock stars jump from class to class to win the different local class
champs, which disheartens budding sailors within those classes.
3. The media concentrate on only the "Big Boat" which gives the impression of
a very expensive sport.
4. We have too many boat owners and not enough yachties.
5. Prospective boat owners fall in love with the "mystique of sailing" and
then buy boats beyond their experience.
6. The Boat owners, due to lack of experience, look for "qualified crew" to
compliment their short comings, as they are not competent to show the new crew
the ropes nor are they willing to learn together.
7. When qualified crew is hard to come by they lean back and say I cannot find
crew.
8. Their expensive boats become floating status symbols at best or floating
unkept caravans at worse.
9. Sailing is seen as recreational past time and not as a dedicated sport "so
why bother reading the rules".
10. In racing boat owners look for a handicap that takes into account their
short coming, rather than looking at the boat’s handicap and sailing to that -
win or lose. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/yb8poay
* From David E. Cain, Jamestown, RI:
In regard to Paul Grimes’ letter in Scuttlebutt #2942: Yes right on, and let's
also revert back to including the Scantling Rule in the Formula along with
adding a healthy dollup of Corinthian Spirit!! Hear, hear!
* From Dobbs Davis, Seahorse International Sailing:
I had some views on the MedCup piece in Butt 2942. Contrary to what some might
think about the "steady decline" in participation in the MedCup circuit, the
marriage of the GP42's with the TP52's in my view has been a great success
story and a very clever way to combine the two most prominent pro-level
classes into one series which benefits both.
Yes, the numbers of active programs in both classes have declined this year
compared to last year, but what numbers alone don't tell is the tremendous
level of competition for participants at each of these events, and the huge
exposure each event on the circuit brings to their sponsors. The venues are
enormous race villages where thousands get direct exposure to the sport, and
millions more through the mass media. It’s too bad more people in the US can't
see this impressive show except through the internet portals.
Early indications are among GP42 owners that the same teams will return in
2010, plus another team or two, so for this class "the tide" may have already
turned. They have not yet approved some of the rule changes seen in the
TP52's, except that they too will have guest riders on board to provide
another value for sponsors and media. The class meeting at their Global Cup
event over 13-17 Oct in Lanzarote will make the final decisions.
* From Jennifer Hall:
It is not clear to me what Matthew Gregory is trying to clarify in his posts
about sponsorship (last week in Scuttlebutt); perhaps his goal is to promote
his own services.
In his second post he neglected to mention the critical role of the team's
marketing, PR and sponsorship personnel in selling and activating the
sponsorship, in sync with external agencies and the team.
Sailing sponsorship is no longer about one CEO's passion; it is about making
it work for the brands involved. This requires a concerted team effort and
means creating and delivering programmes which have measurable results for the
companies investing in the sponsorship property. Teams need the in-house
expertise to develop the strategies and implement them together with the
resources offered by external agencies.
CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATIONS
It doesn’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
Special thanks to Summit Yachts, MyBoatsGear.com, and Dinghy Locker.
Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
|
| |