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SCUTTLEBUTT 2764 - Wednesday, January 21, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Today's sponsors are North Sails Gear and the all new Summit 35. QUALITY CONDITIONS CONTINUE IN KEY WEST Key West, FL (Jan. 20, 2009) - Mother Nature changed her mind and smiled on Acura Key West 2009 today. Advance forecasts called for extreme winds, but instead a consistent 15-20 knot north-northwesterly enabled this high-powered international fleet to enjoy two great races. The Melges 24 Blu Moon, skippered by Franco Rossini of Switzerland, finished second in both races to receive Tuesday’s Sperry Top-Sider Boat of the Day honors, awarded to the winner of the day’s most competitive class. Three-time Olympian Chris Rast is tactician aboard Blu Moon, which stands second in the overall standings - two points behind Lorenzo Bressani’s UKA UKA Racing. IRC 2 is loaded with innovative new designs that are giving each other some real competition. Cool Breeze, a brand new Mills 43 owned by John Cooper of Cane Hill, MO, won Race 4 to vault from third to first in the 13-boat fleet. An indication of how close the top boats are in IRC 2 comes from the fact a mere 18 second separated the top four finishers in Race 3. Soozal, one of three King 40-footers that are making their competitive debut in Key West, finished second in Race 3 by just seven seconds behind the J/44 Gold Digger (James Bishop). PHRF 3 leader Tangent, a Cape Fear 38 owned by Gerry Taylor of Annapolis, Md., is the only boat in the entire fleet that has won all four races. Tangent, the cruising version of the design, is heavier than most of its competitors in the class and thus welcomed the strong breeze. “We are definitely loving the conditions. When the wind is up, we are smiling,” said Taylor, whose team won Race 3 by just one second over fellow Annapolis entry L’Outrage (Beneteau 10M), which has been runner-up in all four races. XS, a Robertson 41 that had been leading PHRF 1 after Monday’s action, dropped its rig in Race 3. Owner Douglas Fisher said gear failure was more to blame than the strong wind. Racing continues through Friday. -- Results and reports: http://www.premiere-racing.com/09_KW_Results/kw09_results_reports.htm * The event newspaper, Race Week News, which includes all the results along with race stories and competitor profiles, is available online in digital form: http://www.premiere-racing.com/09_KW_Results/kw09_race_week_news.htm 2009 YOUTH WORLD TEAM SELECTED Ten youth sailors have qualified for US SAILING’s 2009 Youth World Team, which will represent the United States at the 39th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Buzios, Brazil from July 9-18, 2009. Eight of the athletes were selected based on first-place finishes in their respective classes at the 2009 US SAILING International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Youth World Qualifier and U.S. Youth Multihull Championship Regatta in Long Beach, California, which was held Jan. 17-19. The members of US SAILING’s 2009 Youth World Team are: Laser Radial (boy): Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, CA) Laser Radial (girl): Marissa Lihan (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Intl. 420 (boy): Ian Liberty (Colt’s Neck, NJ)/Alex Whipple (Plandome, NY) Club 420 (girl): Morgan Kiss (Holland, MI)/Laura McKenna (Palo Alto, CA) Hobie 16 with spinnaker (open): Korbin Kirk (Long Beach, CA)/Daniel Segerblom (Costa Mesa, CA) Athletes in the boys’ and girls’ windsurfing classes were chosen by resume and did not compete at the 2009 Youth World Qualifier. Also qualifying for the 2009 Youth World Team are: RS:X (boy): Chris Gardiner (St. Petersburg, FL) RS:X (girl): Solvig Sayre (Vineyard Haven, MA) Complete team report: http://linkbee.com/AI6K Daily reports, results, and photos from the US SAILING ISAF Youth World Qualifier and U.S. Youth Multihull Championship Regatta: http://www.abyc.org/event.cfm?id=324 BADLY CHARTED AND POSSIBLY IN ERROR (Jan. 20, 2009; Day 3) - The South China Sea became an obstacle course on day three with shoals and debris ever-present on the passage to Qingdao. Dodging and weaving is de rigueur for the navigators. ”It is a little stressful as we had to weave our way through some nasty shoals,” Telefonica Blue’s Simon Fisher said. “I think it probably made it worse that I had taken the time to read the Admiralty Sailing Directions which described them as both 'badly charted' and 'possibly in error by many miles'.” The fleet has continued on port tack, but has gained some separation between closed hauled and slightly footing for the anticipated right shift and favorable current that has been forecasted from the right side of the course. Trying best to control the group has been PUMA, who has stayed center of the high and low road, but won’t know how well they played their hand until the fleet reaches the northeastern corner of Malaysia, as land has a way of forcing boats to tack. The fleet will still be well short of the starboard layline to the mandated waypoint (at South Point Light), so expect a game of tactics and chicken as the fleet negotiates these largely unmapped waters of Malaysia and its northern neighbor of Palawan, Philippines. The accuracy of the depth sounder may prove to be the winning variable for this section of the course. Leg Four from Singapore to Qingdao, China is 2,500 nm, with the finish estimated on January 30th. Current positions (as of Jan. 21, 1:00am GMT): 1. PUMA (USA), Ken Read/USA, 1,787 nm Distance to Finish 2. Ericsson 3 (SWE), Magnus Olsson/SWE, 3 nm Distance to Leader 3. Telefónica Blue (ESP), Bouwe Bekking/NED, 4 nm DTL 4. Telefonica Black (ESP), Fernando Echavarri/ESP, 4 nm DTL 5. Ericsson 4 (SWE), Torben Grael/BRA, 8 nm DTL 6. Delta Lloyd (IRL), Roberto Bermudez/ESP, 24 nm DTL 7. Green Dragon (IRL/CHN), Ian Walker/GBR, 25 nm DTL 8. Team Russia (RUS), Andreas Hanakamp/AUT, Did Not Start Race website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 Race tracking: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com 12 PHOTOS TO KEEP YOU INSPIRED If you love sailing as much as we do, surely a 2009 sailing calendar would be a great addition to your home or office wall -- and will keep you inspired even during the winter months! North Sails will send you a free 2009 sailing calendar with every North Sails Gear purchase over $60 (excl. tax & shipping) through Friday, January 23 (mention 'S-butt calendar' in comments box during check-out). Do you have the Volvo Ocean Race buzz...? North also carries a great selection of PUMA VOR gear. http://www.northsailsgear.com RACING RULES QUESTION A regatta is held over two days, with five races scheduled and one drop race if five races are completed. On the first day, only Race 1 is completed and Boat A finishes in second place. On the second day, Boat A finishes fifth in Race 2. Before the start of Race 3, A collides with B and is unable to compete in all the remaining races due to the damage. She protests B and requests redress. The protest committee finds that A is entitled to redress under rule 62.1(b). The protest committee awards A average points according to A10(b) for races 3 and 4. A scores DNC in Race 5, but discards that score and is placed first in the total score. Therefore, A wins the regatta, having competed in only two out of five races. Did the protest committee make an error? (Answer below) A NEW RECORD WITHIN REACH (Jan. 20, 2009; Day 72) - Michel Desjoyeaux is now in the North Atlantic, with the worst of the Doldrums behind him, getting to taste the NE’ly trade winds that will help him increase his lead as rival Roland Jourdain takes his turn at the Intertropical Convergence Zone. More so than ever, Vincent Riou’s 2004 overall race record is well within Desjoyeaux’s range. He has taken 21 hours off Riou’s record from Cape Town to the Equator, and now has 14 days to set a new standard, needing to reach the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne, France by 23hrs 49 mins and 55 seconds on the night of Wednesday 4th February. If a new record is set, it will be even more remarkable due to this race’s longer course. Because of the Ice Gates between Cape Town and Cape Horn, the total distance for the 2008-2009 edition will be 24,840 miles instead of the 23,680 miles covered in 2004-2005. This race will be 1160 miles longer, which equates to about three and a half days of sailing at a typical average of 340 miles per day. Solo, non-stop, around the world race in Open 60s. Standings as of 18:30 UTC (30 entrants; 12 now competing): 1. Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA), Foncia, 3130.7 nm Distance to finish 2. Roland Jourdain (FRA), Veolia Environnement, 313.9 nm Distance to leader 3. Armel Le Cléac´h (FRA), Brit Air, 1034.7 nm DTL 3. Vincent Riou (FRA), PRB, Dismasted - Redress Given 4. Marc Guillemot (FRA), Safran, 1883.4 nm DTL 5. Samantha Davies (GBR), Roxy, 1911.7 nm DTL Event website: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en Complete standings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html Race tracking: http://tracking.vendeeglobe.org/en KEEPING THE MONEY IN EUROPE Different sponsors want different things, but it seems that Spanish electrical giant Iberdrola doesn’t believe it can activate its sponsorship of the (current) America’s Cup Challenger of Record, Club Nautico Español de Vela (CNEV) outside of Europe. It is believed that one of the reasons the team will not be competing in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland New Zealand is that Iberdrola has no immediate place to move into the New Zealand power market. While the world’s ‘largest sustainable energy operator’ says it is fully committed to supporting Desafio Espanol, the Spanish team has reduced its operations and is not operating its base, during the winter months, pending decisions on the summer sailing programme, including possible GP42 and TP52 campaigns that, inevitably, hinge on the decision of the New York Court of Appeals. -- Yacht Sponsorship, read on: http://linkbee.com/AI65 SAILING SHORTS * US SAILING’s Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) has announced the recipients of the 2008 Coaches of the Year Awards, a program that is part of the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Coach Recognition Program, highlighting the accomplishments and contributions of coaches who train athletes at all levels of sailing. Based on nominations from the public, the OSC has named Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.) as National Coach of the Year, Brett Davis (Naples, Fla.) as Developmental Coach of the Year and Carrie Rohde (Richmond Hill, Ga.) as Volunteer Coach of the Year. -- Complete details: http://linkbee.com/AI62 * (Jan. 20, 2009) - Today, 100ft British supermaxi yacht ICAP Leopard, owned by Mike Slade, took line honours in the Heineken Cape to Bahia Race, setting a new course record. Having left Cape Town on 10th January, she crossed the finish line off the coast of Salavador de Bahia, Brazil, at 17:46:35 (UTC), completing the 3,330 nautical mile course in just 10 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 35 seconds. ICAP Leopard’s closest rival Rambler was approximately 230 nautical miles behind when she crossed the finish line in light and tricky conditions, and has approximately 28 hours to get in to nip them for corrected time honors. -- Complete report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6919 * Washington (AP) - The Interior Department on Friday issued a detailed proposal for widespread oil and gas drilling off both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts in areas that have not had energy exploration for decades. The proposal, issued in the Bush administration's final days, calls for oil and gas leases to be made available within two to six years "in areas of hydrocarbon potential" from New England to Florida and off the length of California. -- Mad Mariner, read on: http://linkbee.com/AI6R * In an effort to stem California's fast-rising budget deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting the state's Department of Boating & Waterways. In his "Road Map for a More Efficient Government," Schwarzenegger outlined 18 areas where the state could either streamline or eliminate government agencies to save billions of dollars. The boating proposal, which would save an estimated US$600,000 per fiscal year, would merge the agency with the Department of Parks and Recreation. It "would allow for better coordination and management of projects and grants relating to boating access and safety programs," according to a statement. -- IBI Magazine, read on: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20090020145431ibinews.html SUMMIT YACHTS ANNOUNCES NEW SUMMIT 35 The Summit 35 is the latest dual purpose boat to be added to the Summit Yachts range of exciting sailboats. With its comfortable interior, race inspired cockpit, and powerful sail plan, it promises to offer the best of race winning performance, and enjoyable family cruising. Fresh off the drawing board of Mark Mills, designer of our highly successful King 40, the Summit 35 can put you ahead of the competition whether racing IRC, PHRF, or ORC. First boats are planned for mid summer, 2009. Check it out at http://www.summit-yachts.com RACING RULES ANSWER Although the protest committee did not break any rule, its decision in awarding the redress was not the fairest arrangement for all boats affected. In this case, allowing a boat to use average scores for half of the counting races in the series is not fair to the other boats. A more fair redress decision by the protest committee should ensure that out of the counting races in a boat’s series score, the majority of scores are based on finishing positions in completed races. Different situations may require different redress to be granted. One possible suggestion in this particular case is that the protest committee could have awarded redress only for the race where the collision took place. -- ISAF website: http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/QA2007001-[6783].pdf 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 be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). 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 Chris Ericksen: (re, Coaching during regattas) As one who has seen coaching from both sides of the table, as an un-coached competitor in regattas that saw several coached teams and most recently as a race official for a youth regatta where there was one coach boat for every three racing boats, I could not possibly agree more with anyone than I do with Joe Williams when he suggests in 'Butt 2763 that every "one-design regatta (should) eliminate coaching from the moment the boats enter the race area until the end of racing for the day." It seems to me to strike at the very heart of one-design racing, the idea that the contest is sailor against sailor, not less-well-heeled sailor against more-affluent sailor. As one who lies in the latter category in my class, I am resigned to the fact that some of my fellow competitors will have newer boats that are better finished and have newer sails. I just think having to compete against a team of professionals both on and off the racing boats is to me a "bridge too far." As a current member of the Etchells class and former member of the Star class, I am proud of the stand these class associations have taken in this regard. And don't get me started on coaching at youth events... * From Michael Esposito: I hate to disagree with Dawn Riley (letter in Issue 2762), but coaching from other boats should not be allowed in the race area. For the reasons previously stated, on-water coaches provide an unfair advantage to the racers who have them. They also add more boats to the already congested pre-start area, raising the possibilities of collisions and injuries (of which we already have several near-fatal examples). Coach all you want before the event. Coach all you want after the event. Get the team ready to go, but once the regatta begins, the skills of those on board the racing boat are all that should matter. (That's why you hire pros to race WITH you.) And the argument that getting 20 to 40-year olds up to speed faster is specious at best. No matter how well-coached they all are, if there are 100 boats in a regatta, 90 percent of them will finish outside the Top 10. So gimme a break, someone's going to be the cannon fodder on any given day. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: All the letters regarding coaching are getting posted in the Forum. If you have more to add on this thread, add it here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6898#6898 * From Adrian Morgan: (re, Submerged shipping containers) Some years back I researched the danger posed by containers lost off ships. The details are now hazy but the figures were frightening. Although I established from shipping lines that only a tiny fraction of containers were lost, that added up to an alarming total given the huge number of containers circling the world at any one time. More worrying was the fact that a disproportionate number were lost in certain 'hot spots'; the southern tip of Africa, as I recall, being one where ships were liable to lose badly stacked cargo soon after leaving port and hitting notoriously bad weather and waves. Finally, lost containers appeared to drift 'in convoy', the world's currents herding them into 'gyres'. This was some years ago and the safety of containers may have been improved, but the dangers of hitting the corner of a semi-submerged container of Far Eastern-made training shoes must still be worryingly high. How high? Anyone have any current data? * From Andy Aitken: (re, Submerged shipping containers) To describe this as a red herring Jim (2763) seems to trying to belittle this situation. Comparing sharks and whales that are free to roam around in the oceans to containers negligently lost at sea is a stretch. How about a little responsibility for our oceans? Sinking or not, stop dropping containers. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.” - Eleanor Roosevelt Special thanks to North Sails Gear and the all new Summit 35. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
