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SCUTTLEBUTT 3200 - Monday, October 18, 2010Scuttlebutt 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: Lewmar and BIC Sport North America. U.S. WINS CANADA’S CUP Chicago, IL (October 17, 2010) - In one fantastic finale to a hard-fought series, where both teams traded the lead and the tension was always high, Don Wilson’s Team Chicago Match Race Center has successfully defended the 2010 Canada’s Cup for the U.S. in a three-day challenge made by Grant Hood’s Vincere team from the Port Credit YC. The winning team, which besides Wilson included Brent Ruhne, Mory Matias, Payson Infelise, Caroline Young, Zach Hurst, Michael Bradley, Jennifer Wilson, Mal Parker, and Eric Doyle, prevailed on a final score of 5-2 in the series sailed at CMRC. “This was a great three days of match racing,” said Wilson. “Grant and his team put up a real fight, especially yesterday, but we are so pleased they came here to challenge for this prestigious trophy. Like I said on Friday, I have never entered a race where I didn’t know how the other boat would sail. Grant sailed an amazing race and credit goes to him and his team, for helping make this event happen, and to make it such an exciting event.” “It was an epic match,” claimed commentator Scott Dickson, “Because with any small shift or any wave, the advantage could shift to the other team. It was all very exciting to watch, and the U.S. coach Ian Williams (2-time match race World Champion) said he too was on edge the entire match.” Hood’s Vincere team included Curtis Florence, Dave Jarvis, John Gunderson, Gerry Mitchell, Andy Horton, Matt McDonough, Chelsea Davidson, Dani Gamache, and Mike Wolfs. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10477 NEXT MATCH: The next Canada’s Cup will be held in Farr 40s at Macatawa, MI by Macatawa Bay Yacht Club on 30 August - 1 September 2011. A Defender Series amongst any entries put forth from U.S. clubs on the Great Lakes will occur over 25-27 August 2011 to select the representing team. Details here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10683#10683 AROUND THE WORLD THEY GO La Rochelle, France (October 17, 2010) - With the sun shining brightly and a fresh breeze blowing, five international skippers succeeded in starting the VELUX 5 OCEANS, beginning the 30,000-mile race around the globe in their 60ft Eco 60. The VELUX 5 OCEANS features five ocean sprints over nine months. After heading from La Rochelle to Cape Town, the race will then take in Wellington in New Zealand, Salvador in Brazil and Charleston in the US before returning back across the Atlantic to France. Polish ocean racer Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski showed his aggressive style of racing honed during years of top level dinghy racing hitting the start line right as the starting gun fired. American sailor Brad Van Liew crossed the line in second place and chased hard, overtaking Gutek after the first mark. Brad has already completed the VELUX 5 OCEANS twice, winning class two of the race in 2002. His yacht Le Pingouin also has a claim to fame, built by legendary French solo sailor Catherine Chabaud for the 1998 edition of the Vendée Globe. Among the starters was Christophe Bullens (GBR) who is still fulfilling his race requirements. He will sail a 48-hour qualification passage before returning to La Rochelle to carry out final preparations for the race. He already qualified in his yacht Five Oceans of Smiles but she was cruelly dismasted en route to La Rochelle three weeks ago. Christophe’s team worked tirelessly to find another Eco 60 to race on and with just days to go he acquired Artech 60, now renamed Five Oceans of Smiles too. Christophe is expected to set sail again from La Rochelle on Thursday. -- Full story: http://www.velux5oceans.com/race-news/the-velux-5-oceans-starts/ SCOREBOARD: The winner of the VELUX 5 OCEANS will be the ocean racer who scores the most points over the course of the five ocean sprints. The VELUX 5 OCEANS skippers will be racing for their share of a 500,000 euro prize pot. Details here: http://tinyurl.com/2csxua7 OBSERVATION: From Brad Van Liew: “The build up to this morning has been amazing. Velux and the Clipper Ventures have really developed such an incredible experience, not only for the skippers and crew, but for the entire public. The docks are lined. Family, friends, fans and thousands of others have rallied for this special day. I want to thank all of the individuals and sponsors who have helped get here. It is nice to have family here. My father is on the docks, along with his cousin from Annapolis. It will be hard to say goodbye to Meg and the kids. I am eager to see how the “42 year old version” of this race works. “The weather looks good. The first 500 miles will be focused on getting through safely. Cape Finisterre is heavy with fishing and other commercial traffic. The Bay of Biscay can of course be one of the most treacherous places on Earth, but right now it looks as if we may have pleasant North to Northeasterlies and 15-20 knots. Not bad considering the beating the bay has delivered in the past.” -- http://lazarusracing.blogspot.com/2010/10/good-morning-start.html LEWMAR CHOSEN FOR NEW-GENERATION J-CLASS YACHT Lewmar has announced the signing of the latest of the new-generation J-Class yachts, Yankee. She will feature a full set of Lewmar aluminum high performance racing winches, and a compliment of satin-blast stainless deck hardware. Designed by Dykstra & Partners Naval Architects, Yankee will be built at Holland Jachtbouw alongside the fully Lewmar-equipped J-Class, Rainbow. The Lewmar team has a long association with the J- Class, and Yankee will benefit from the breadth of custom design experience. With previous projects including Velsheda, Shamrock, Endeavour, Hanuman, Lionheart and Rainbow, Lewmar has worked with both designers and skippers to develop a series of cutting edge solutions for the demanding performance requirements of a modern J-Class racing yacht. For more information about Lewmar custom equipment, including the Custom Project Portfolio: +31 (0)38 427 34 90 or http://www.lewmar.com LUDERITZ SPEED CHALLENGE 2010 The Luderitz Speed Challenge 2010 is being held October 4 to 31 in Luderitz, Namibia, just over 1100 miles north of Cape Town, SA along the western African continent. This is the 4th edition of the event, which is held under the scrutiny of the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). With a custom canal approximately 10m wide and 50-100cm deep along the shoreline, the challenge is to see who will set the fastest average speed over a 500-meter distance. Here is the latest update: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (October 15, 2010) - The expected strong winds were delivered today, which led to four more National records to be broken. High tide was at 9.30 am so it was an early start for everyone. Racing began at 9:00 am, and conditions were good in late morning but by afternoon the tide had receded and the strip had to be closed as the WSSRC deemed it to be too shallow. The strip opened again late in the afternoon at around 6:00 pm, however, the wind had dropped by then. The strip has remained record free since Friday as light winds are expected to remain through Tuesday. The four new National records (yet to ratified by WSSRC) are: Rob Douglas - USA, 52.58 knots Taro Niehaus - South Africa, 50.62 knots Marc Avella - Spain, 48.55 knots Jernej Privsek - Slovenia, 46.22 knots. The time set by Douglas is the second fastest time yet set, with Alex Caizergues (FRA) remaining the overall leader after his run on October 12, 2010 of 54.10 knots. Caizergues time bested the current Outright World Speed Sailing Record set by skipper Alain Thebault (FRA) on the foiling trimaran Hydroptere, which in 2009 set a speed of 51.36 knots in Hyeres, France. Luderitz Speed Challenge: http://www.luderitz-speed.com World Sailing Speed Record Council: http://www.sailspeedrecords.com RAAB/KINNEY DOMINATE CHAMPIONSHIP OF CHAMPIONS Greenwich, CT (October 16, 2010) - In his sixth appearance at US SAILING's 2010 Championship of Champions, Chris Raab (Sunset Beach, Calif.) won his first Jack Brown Trophy on Saturday. Raab and crew Robert Kinney were the most consistent team all week and won by a 12-point margin. The fleet of 20 one-design champions completed just ten races over three days due to extremely high winds on Friday and Saturday. They managed just two races on Saturday and one on Friday. Raab and Kinney expanded their lead six point lead from Friday by posting fifth and fourth place finishes on Saturday morning. Raab didn’t finish worse than fifth (twice) in any race. He won one and finished in the top three in five races. Local standout, Danny Pletsch (Greenwich, Conn.) and crew Mark Kroening finished second overall. Raab explained, “We pounded the middle of the course. In these really shifty winds, we couldn’t pick a side. With the largest crew in the fleet, we put our bow down and let it rip when it got windy.” In previous Championship of Champions events he has collected four top three finishes, but never quite got over the top until this week. -- Full report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2010_C_of_C_Final.htm Final Standings (top 10 of 20) 1. Mercury 18, Chris Raab/Robert Kinney, 29 2. Interclub, Danny Pletsch/Mark Kroening, 41 3. Thistle, Mike Ingham/Bryan Jerman, 48 4. Lightning, Marcus Eagan/Cardwell Potts, 51 5. Etchells, Jud Smith/Lindsey Smith, 54 6. Melges 24, Alan Field/Steve Hunt, 64 7. 505, Augie Diaz/Luke Lawrence, 68 8. Highlander, Ernest Dieball/Jim Allen, 77 9. Snipe, Carol Cronin/Paul Cronin, 88 10. FJ, Olin Paine/Caleb Paine, 90 Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/C-of-Cs-101710 SHOWDOWN: The Endeavour Trophy regatta is the UK version of the U.S. Championship of Champions, and The Bitter End Yacht Club envisions a showdown between these two events at their upcoming 2010 Pro Am Regatta in the BVI on Oct 30- Nov 6. Said BEYC event director John Glynn, "We will provide accommodations & meals for the winning skipper and one companion from each event, and entry into the Pro Am, where they will line up with Russell Coutts, Paul Cayard, Ken Read, Peter Holmberg, Anna Tunnicliffe, and Zach Railey." The UK team has confirmed their attendance at the Pro Am Regatta, but will the U.S. team take on the challenge? Contact John Glynn for details: jglynn@beyc.com. Event website: http://www.beyc.com/index.php/proam.html QUOTE / UNQUOTE “My next sailing will be in Virgin Gorda in two weeks for the Bitter End Yacht Club Regatta where my friend Russell Coutts and I will fight it out with a few other friends...haha. Rum punches will be the only punches we will be throwing and "down" is the direction they will be going.” -- Professional sailor Paul Cayard, about attending the BEYC Pro Am and Scuttlebutt Sailing Club championship on Oct. 30-Nov. 6. Event website: http://www.beyc.com/index.php/proam.html ROD JABIN’S RAMROD DOMINATES ROLEX FARR 40 NAS Annapolis, MD (October 17, 2010) - It didn’t take long for Rod Jabin (Annapolis, Md.) and his Ramrod team to show who was boss at the 2010 Rolex Farr40 North American Championship. On Friday (Oct. 15), the first of three days of racing, Ramrod won two races straight off the bat, in each case leaving second to defending champion Helmut Jahn (Chicago, Ill.) on Flash Gordon. When the two teams traded finish positions in race three, it left some hope that the next day could see Flash Gordon or one of seven other teams rebounding for a lead change, but it was not to be. Ramrod, with Jabin at the helm and fellow Annapolitan Chris Larson calling tactics, was unstoppable, winning not only all three races on day two but also the final two races on Sunday. In the end, Ramrod posted a mere nine points to Flash Gordon’s 20. Kevin McNeil’s (Annapolis, Md.) Nightshift finished third with 28 points. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10685 Sara Proctor photos: http://www.facebook.com/proctor.sara#!/album.php?aid=560313&id=508155203 NEW WAVE “We are having a blast. The O’pen BICs have captured the attention of many sailors we would otherwise lose. What a thrill it is for these sailors to overcome their anxieties and now love sailing! I know how much the coaches appreciate this. The kids love the O’Pen BICs and they are doing everything for our program that we advertised they would!” - Jon Faudree, Program Director, Rochester YC. Check out why more than 65 programs have energized their juniors with O’Pen BICs. This is what the kids want to sail. Contact info@bicsportna.com for special fall offers on 2011 junior packages. FROM THE PENTHOUSE TO THE OUTHOUSE For Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, his first foray in competitive multihull sailing has been a humbling experience, but also a valuable one. With the next America's Cup in 2013 to be staged in high-tech wing-masted catamarans, Emirates Team New Zealand have shifted their focus to multihull sailing. Their swift introduction came when Barker and his Team New Zealand crewmates Jeremy Lomas and Winston McFarlane, with Australian multihull specialist Darren Bundock, took part in the final round of the Extreme 40 series in Almeria, Spain (Oct. 9-12). From a results point of view Team New Zealand had a regatta they would rather forget, finishing last - 25 points from the next placegetter. There were a couple of creditable race results, but for the most part Team New Zealand's inexperience in the Extreme 40 class was obvious. For a skipper at the top of his game in monohulls, finding himself at the bottom of the heap in a new class could be a demoralising experience, but Barker said he was always realistic about to expect in Spain. "It's been a very refreshing experience, completely different to anything I've raced before. There's certainly a lot of challenges. You know what you want to do, it's just executing it is another matter, which is really frustrating," he said. When Team New Zealand lined up for the first start at Almeria, they had no real appreciation of what was required to race multihull boats successfully. But after 27 races over four days, Barker said they now have a list "a mile long" of areas they need to work on in order to get to the top. -- NZ Herald, read on: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10680902 QUESTIONABLE: Team New Zealand's CEO Grant Dalton expects to know if they will take part in the new, multi-hulled America's Cup by early next year. If Team NZ decide to compete - "and that's a big if," says Dalton - he will then begin his familiar search for more sponsors and funding, although the largest component of the costs is salaries and they will be down from last time as fewer sailors are required on the big cats. The key is the selection of a venue. Dalton favours San Francisco but, either way, needs to know a venue before he can target sponsors with a view to the environment such backers can leverage. -- Full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10681155 COUTTS WINS BATTLE - SPITHILL WINS WAR Lanzarote, Canary Islands (October 16, 2010) - Australian Jimmy Spithill, Anders Myralf of Denmark and the international crew of the yacht 17 concluded a banner week in the Canary Islands by winning the inaugural RC 44 World Championship for the Islas Canarias Puerto Calero Cup. After three days of match racing at the outset of the week, the regatta wrapped up today with the conclusion of the fleet racing, which counted 10 races in total. The yacht 17 won the match racing and finished second in the fleet racing to claim the championship. Spithill, Myralf and the 17 crew entered the final day in the lead, but an early start in one race and penalties in the other two nearly scuttled their regatta. With just the Miami RC 44 Cup remaining on the 6-event 2010 season schedule, BMW ORACLE Racing leads the season standings with 8 points, followed by No Way Back with 10 points, 17 with 12 points, Artemis with 12 points and Team Aqua with 15 points. The Miami RC 44 Cup is scheduled Dec. 7-12. -- Full story: http://www.rc44.com/en/regattas/news/index.php?idContent=2649 AC72 CLASS RULE FINALIZED AND PUBLISHED (October 15, 2010) - From concept to completed Class Rule in less than four months, full details were published today for the new high-performance wingsailed catamaran that will be used in the 34th America’s Cup. The final design details for the AC72 wingsailed catamaran, which has a speed potential of three times the wind speed, is now available to prospective challengers and defenders alike. The review period of the draft class rule received broad input, and was fine tuned by a committee led by Pete Melvin and his team at Morrelli & Melvin Design & Engineering. “There will be nothing else like them, which perfectly matches the allure and appeal of the America’s Cup,” said Melvin. Among the changes incorporated into the final rule were added provisions and rules for a short wing. The AC 72 is to be capable of competing in winds of 5 to 30 knots to minimize racing delays due to winds too light or too strong. In 2011, teams will compete in identical AC45’s, “the little sister with attitude.” This one-design catamaran will provide teams with state-of-the-art wingsail technology and fast-track their multihull racing skills. Teams may design and build a maximum of two AC72 catamarans, which will then be raced from the 2012 season onwards in America’s Cup World Series events that will lead to the Selection Series and the America’s Cup Match in 2013. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-101710 AC 72 fact sheet: http://www.americascup.com/downloadsAC72+Fact+Sheet AC 72 class rule: http://www.americascup.com/downloadsAC72+CLASS+RULE SAILING SHORTS * (October 15, 2010) - Forty-nine teams from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico and Guatemala traveled to Lake Mohave, NV for the 2010 Hobie 16 North American Championship and USA team selection event for the Pan Am Games. After four days of racing through the full range of conditions, day five provided something they hadn’t seen yet: no wind. Defending champions Enrique Figueroa/Victor Aponte (PUR) won the event with 11 bullets in 16 races, followed by Jason Hess/Guillermo Rosemberg (GUA) and Francisco Figueroa/Jolie Berrios (PUR). Greg Thomas/John Williams (USA) were the first USA team and win the Pan Am Games qualifier. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10646#10646 * October 18th marks the 40th anniversary of the start of Sir Chay Blyth's non-stop solo circumnavigation against the prevailing winds and currents. Sailing his 59ft ketch British Steel, Chay set out from Southampton on October 18, 1970. Two hundred ninety two days later, having steered by hand for more than 20,000 miles after the yacht lost its self steering off Cape Horn, he returned as the first person to sail non-stop westwards around the world. -- http://www.pplmedia.com/online/lightbox.lasso?id=12663681 * The 2010 Australian Yachting Awards were announced, with James Spithill named Male Sailor of the Year after becoming the first Australian since John Bertrand in 1983 to helm an America’s Cup winning boat. Australian Women’s Match Racing Team skipper Nicky Souter and her crew Rayshele Martin, Nina Curtis, Lucinda Whitty, Kat Stroinovsky and Amanda Scrivenor were named Female Sailor of the Year following their victory at the 2009 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship in Sweden. -- Full report: http://yachte.com/news/story.asp?story=30432 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 are 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 Keith Logan: As Scuttlebutt is an international media leader, it’s a shame that the Sailing Family of the Year award is not open to all. If it was the case I would like to nominate what is probably a world first: Last year a son, mother and father and grandfather, three generation, were all World Champions in the same class. Jason Waterhouse won the World Youth titles in Brazil in a Hobie 16. His father and mother, Rod Waterhouse and Kerri Waterhouse (nee Woods), won the World Masters in Sydney in Hobie 16's, and his grandfather won the Great Grand Masters title also in Sydney in Hobie 16's. Rod and Kerri have also been Open World Champions in the fiercely contested Hobie 16 class. The Waterhouse's and Woods all live in Sydney, but I am sue they would consider moving to Nth America to qualify for SFOTY. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Sorry, but the SFOTY is limited to North American entrants. Details here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/sfoty * From Rob Ball: There are a number of comments now about whether match racing cats will be close enough for excitement, or decided too quickly to hold interest. Why is there not tremendous focus on the trials that BMW Oracle ran, to try out exactly this question? I would think we would be studying and analyzing those with a fine tooth comb, and hearing reports back from those involved. But, silence . . . seems very strange. SCUTTLEBUTT ADVERTISING IN 2011 Scuttlebutt provides a limited amount of text ad slots in each newsletter, and these are often sold out well in advance. Most of the ad slots for 2011 will be booked in the next few months, so if you are interested in advertising, but always had heard how hard it was to get on the schedule… think again. Ad placement for 2011 is now available; contact for details: 619-299-5678 or advertising@sailingscuttlebutt.com CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION For Sale: Wedding dress, size 8. Worn once by mistake. Make offer. Special thanks to Lewmar and BIC Sport North America Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
