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SCUTTLEBUTT 1907 - August 22, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.AMERICAN SAILORS NEED NOT APPLY -- Rich Roberts The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) calls it "the pinnacle award of recognition in the sport of sailing," and that's probably true - as much as it hurts to admit it. he near-truth is that Americans need not apply for the award. In the 10-year life of the Rolex World Sailor of the Year awards, the only American winner was in 2000 when the team of San Diego's Mark Reynolds and Miami's Magnus Liljedahl achieved the Star class rarity of Olympic gold medals and a world championship in the same year. No American woman has ever won. Europeans have dominated, winning six men's awards and nine women's honors. I mention this as a reminder that the deadline for your pointless nominations is September 1, after which a panel will pick the winners to be announced at an $80-a-plate banquet during ISAF's meeting in Singapore in November. If ISAF's own class rankings are a guide, this country's strongest candidate is not any of the usual aging male achievers but an 18-year-old from Florida, Paige Railey. She burst from the junior ranks this year like Smarty Jones in the 2004 Kentucky Derby. The ISAF rankings are notoriously suspect because they're so heavily tilted toward Europe. Only 24 of the 125 events listed on the ISAF schedule this month are in North America. It's expensive for Americans to travel overseas in order to compete with the elite. And ISAF's rankings address only the 10 Olympic classes, ignoring, for example, Snipes, 505s and 18 Skiffs, all strong international classes where Americans Augie Diaz, Morgan Larson and Howard Hamlin are present or recent world champions. Nevertheless, Railey is ranked first in the world in women's Laser, the only American higher than sixth in any class. That's remarkable - and evidence of her talent - because the ISAF rankings rate sailors on their best seven results over two years and she has been out of the junior ranks for only three months. One doesn't have to be an Olympic-class sailor to win ISAF honors, although it's been automatic for both men and women in the three Olympic years since the awards were introduced. When Brazil's Robert Scheidt and Britain's Ben Ainslie weren't swapping Laser Olympic gold and world titles to collect two of the honors each, Russell Coutts won for leading America's Cup wins in 1995 and 2003. Dennis Conner would have been a shoo-in for bringing the Cup back from Australia in 1987, but that predated the award. Otherwise, the strongest U.S. hopes may have been Paul Cayard and John Kostecki for leading victorious Whitbread/ Volvo Ocean Race campaigns in 1997-1998 and 2001-2002, respectively. But those two went to Ainslie and, uh, Ainslie, for sailing his Laser so well. -- Rich Roberts, The Log, full story: http://thelog.com/columnists/columnistsview.asp?c=166461 ALL SIZES AND SHAPES (Tom Weaver, manager of Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia America's Cups Team, discusses the bulbs and wings on the boats gathered in Malmo, Sweden. Here's an excerpt.) They are 20,000 kg of lead that keep the boat upright while providing counter to the sails which are driving the boat forward. The deeper the bulb is the more power the boat can use. There are two schools of thought. Conventional low drag bulbs look like a killer whale - quite fat and has low wetted surface. Currently Alinghi, Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team and Luna Rossa are using this shape. Then there is the "high stability bulb" that is very long and thin - it looks like a barracuda. Some of the bulbs on display are over 7m long; the center of effort is low but the trade-off is more wetted surface area which will increase drag. Oracle and K Challenge have been using this shape and two nights ago Emirates Team New Zealand changed to this shape too". Added to the bulbs are the winglets which were first made famous in 1983 on Australia II. They shed the vortex that the bulb creates. They can create lift upwind and affect all sorts of complicated fluid dynamic interactions. The wings during this event seem to be all over the place. In the wind tunnel and with advanced computer modeling we see that only one position seems to be effective, but in real-size testing we get different answers. Walking down "cup row" in Malmo it is easy to see that there is no consensus. We see wings at the back, wings in the middle, wings low down, short fat wings, long skinny wings, etc... From January 2006 all of the teams will go back behind the high walls of their bases in Valencia. They will be able to skirt their boats and no one will know what they're using. Here and in Trapani are the last opportunities for us and the public to get inside the heads of the teams". -- www.mascalzonelatino.it CONSISTENCY OF PERFORMANCE IS A BIG ONE Performing consistently will be an aim for Team New Zealand heading into the next lot of America's Cup pre-regattas, which start in Sweden on Thursday. Although the regattas are not being sailed in the host city, Valencia, Emirates-sponsored Team New Zealand will have plenty they'll want to achieve in the year's final events in Malmo and in Trapani in September. Consistency of performance is a big one, making sure they retain their spot in the top four alongside Alinghi, BMW Oracle and Team Luna Rossa. It will not be the end of the world if they drop a couple of races, but they will be wanting to remain in that first division. It has been pleasing to see the key members of the afterguard - Dean Barker, Terry Hutchinson, Kevin Hall, Adam Beashel and Ray Davies - doing a lot of racing in between cup regattas, competing in different styles of boats, whether it be Transpac 52s or in the Swedish Match Tour. What that is doing is broadening their knowledge base, and it is great that syndicate boss Grant Dalton has encouraged that. Although Team New Zealand have already begun building the hull of their first 2007 generation boat, work will still be going on with the keels, bulbs, finns rudders, masts and sails, etc. At the end of the Malmo regatta, Team New Zealand will be looking to analyze who won the starts and from where they entered the start box starboard end or port end (taking into consideration the starboard end has the right of way), what tactics were used at the first cross and whether a boat has an edge in certain conditions. Oracle has undergone some personnel changes since the regattas in Valencia, and it will be interesting to see how they fare. World class American tactician John Kostecki has moved from the sailing team to a consultancy role, and there is a question mark over New Zealand helmsman Gavin Brady. Other changes may follow. It will be interesting to see how many, if any, choose to join Paul Cayard's round-the-world team. The rumour mill suggests as many as eight, which would have quite an impact on Oracle's crew. -- Peter Lester, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=4&ObjectID=10341619 YRALIS CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTA PRESENTED BY TOYOTA There's still time to participate in western Long Island Sound's largest and most inclusive regatta. Whether you sail Lasers, Sonars, Etchells, PHRF, or IRC (or anything in between), this event is geared for you. Entries are rolling in, has yours? The dates are August 27-28 with racing at four of the Sound's premier yacht clubs (Cedar Point, Stamford, Riverside, and American). On Saturday there will be a nice post-race party with live music at Riverside YC, plus team awards for the best combined performance across the different fleets. For more information, please visit http://www.yralis.org or contact Jonathan Nye: mailto:nyehome@optonline.net SZABO/MONROE WIN STAR NAs George Szabo and Eric Monroe won a tie-breaker with Rick Merriman and Rick Peters - and with it the Star North American Championship at the California YC in Marina Del Rey. Four days earlier, Szabo was not a happy camper when he found out at the weather mark of the first race that his terrific start was just a bit too terrific. He was waved off the course with an OCS. After thinking about it for more than two hours he came back and won the second race of the day, but was never a serious player until the discard kicked-in after five races. The Szabo/Monroe team had a three point lead going into the last race and they needed it all when Merriman/Peters finished third (for the fourth time in the six race series) -- three places ahead of Szabo/Monroe. However, Szabo's two bullets decided the tie-breaker and gave him his second Silver Star championship. John Dane III sailing with Austin Sperry was the only competitor in the 41-boat fleet to finish all six races in single digits. He finished third in the fleet, just three points behind the leaders, and ran away with the Masters title in a regatta that was sailed in 7-15 knots of wind, lots of white caps and generally only subtle wind shifts. -- Complete results: http://calyachtclub.com/cms/RaceResults/Series151.htm BAIRD WINS ST. MORITZ MATCH RACE St. Moritz, Switzerland -- Ed Baird became a four-time winner on the Swedish Match Tour when he captured the St. Moritz Match Race, Stage 3 of the 2005-'06 Swedish Match Tour. The helmsman from St. Petersburg, Fla., and his crew of Mike Drummond and Nils Frei, members of America's Cup syndicate Alinghi, defeated Mark Mendelblatt 3-0 in the final. The final was sailed in a light north/northeasterly wind between 5 and 8 knots. A steady rain fell and the air temperature hovered between 45 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. It left the crews shaking from coldness as they disembarked the Streamline 7.15s. "I'm a lot colder than I've ever been in Florida," said the 47-year-old Baird. Both skippers hail from St. Petersburg, Fla., and Baird gave Mendelblatt his first match-racing experience. "I crewed for him in some match-racing events and we had some success," said Mendelblatt. "I learned about the game from him." -- Sean McNeill, www.swedishmatchtour.com St. Moritz Match Race Final Standings: 1. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 12-3, (approx. $28,000) 2. Mark Mendelblatt (USA), 9-7, (approx. $17,600) 3. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, 8-7, (approx. $14,000) 4. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Musto, 9-7, (approx. $11,700) 5. Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand, 8-5, (approx. $10,500) 6. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 4-9, (approx. $9,400) 7. Sebastien Col (FRA) K-Challenge, 7-3, (approx. $8,200) 8. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 5-5, (approx. $5,800) 9. Eric Monin (SUI), 3-7, (approx. $4,700) 10. Mathieu Richard (FRA), 6-4, (approx. $3,500) 11. Marcel Walser (SUI), 4-6, (approx. $2,300) 12. Mark Bradford (AUS) BMW Oracle Racing, 0-10, (approx. $1,100) (*1SFr = .784004 USD on Aug. 21, 2005) Swedish Match Tour Standings (After 3 of 9 stages): 1. Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand, 30 points 2. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 29 points 3. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 25 points T. Staffan Lindberg (FIN), 25 points T. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 25 points 6. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 23 points 7. Gavin Brady (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing, 20 points T. Mark Mendelblatt (USA), 20 points THE SUPER MAXIS Neville Crighton (AUS) steered his impressively fast 30m super maxi Alfa Romeo to a remarkable record breaking performance in the opening race of the Hamilton Island Hahn Premium Race Week in the Whitsunday Islands. Alfa Romeo generating enormous power over all angles of sailing completed the 23n/ml Lindeman Island race in 1 hour 58 minutes 45 seconds slashing over 8 minutes of the previous record set by the Stewart Thwaites skippered Konica Minolta last year. Remarkably this was the first competition race for Alfa Romeo which still remains relatively un-tuned with the crew still learning the required speed sailing technique. This was easily the most convincing maiden race performance every recorded in the 22 year history of Hamilton Island Race Week with Alfa Romeo also outperforming her 1.738 handicap rating to claim the overall corrected time trophy by 1 minute 45 seconds over Stephen Ainsworth's new Reichel Pugh 60 Loki while Wild Joe the canting keel Reichel Pugh 60 56 seconds away third. The Edward Island Race, the second event in the Hamilton Island Hahn Premium Race Week, has provided New Zealand super maxi 'Alfa Romeo' her second line honours win when skipper Neville Crichton completely outsailed the rest of the fleet in the IRC division.-- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j8fFh5~BC RETURNING TO THE SCENE In 1976, St. Louisan Robert "Lal" Burridge took his then 15 year old son Matt to the Lightning North American Championships in Sheboygan Wisconsin. In the first qualifying race, in high winds and big waves, they capsized and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard. The boat was abandoned and found many miles down the shore line the next morning totally destroyed. Move to August 2005, 29 years later, and a return trip to Sheboygan and the Lightning NA's. Lal now retired from competitive Lightning Sailing was in attendance with his wife Pat to watch their now 44 year old son dominate the 66 boat fleet to win his first Lightning North American Championship. Crewing for Matt was long time team mate Dan Moriarty and Dan's wife Tobi. After 29 years, after 17 tries, Matt returned to the dreaded site of '77 and tamed the Sheboygan seas. -- Rick Bernstein OFFSHORE EXPERIENCE Forewarned is forearmed. And that certainly applies to understanding the weather that's approaching you or your boat. Bill Biewenga, veteran ocean racer and weather router is available to coach you, your crew, speak at your club, or provide professional delivery of your yacht. Whether racing or delivering your boat, Bill brings over 340,000 ocean miles and 18 years of routing experience to each project. For information, email mailto:billbiewenga@cox.net directly or visit http://www.weather4sailors.com to find out more about his book, CD or seminars. IT'S A LEANER A rather grey day in Melbourne, Australia was brightened considerably on Friday by the arrival of 'Premier Challenge' -- Australia's only entrant into the Volvo Ocean Race 2005 - 2006. The yacht, was tipped over by 25 degrees to starboard, using her canting keel and helped further by a large bag full of water winched up her mast. The yacht heeled over and with Grant Wharington nudging her along in his 12 meter tender, and Andrew "Hendo" Henderson at the top of the mast checking for height, 'Premier Challenge' glided effortlessly under the bridge, with meters to spare. The VO70 will be sailing on Port Philip Bay for the next week or so before she heads off to New Zealand to board a ship bound for Spain, and the start line of the Volvo Ocean Race in November. -- www.premierchallenge.com.au NEWS BRIEFS * The light wind on the final day of the U.S. Singlehanded Championship for the George O'Day Trophy at Alamitos Bay YC in Long Beach, California resulted in two fifth places for Kevin Taugher -- his worst finishes in nine races -- but by day's end his agony had turned to the ecstasy of his first national championship. Runner-up Reed Johnson, 19, of Toms River, N.J., cut Taugher's 18-point lead to a final 13 with a fourth and a first, "but there was too big a gap," Johnson said. Thomas Barrows, St. Thomas, USVI finished third. -- Complete results: www.abyc.org * Izmar, Turkey - Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif./Georgetown University/Laser) and Anna Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va./Old Dominion University/Laser Radial) sailed in with the gold and silver medal respectively on the final day of the Sailing competition at the 2005 Summer World University Games. The USA's Brendan Fahey (Kingston, Wash./University of Washington) finished 12th in the overall regatta standings ,and in her first international competition Jenny Gervais (Charleston, S.C./St. Mary's College of Maryland) finished in 15th place. The USA finished fifth overall in the Games -- behind Russia, China, Japan and Ukraine. Teams from 10 nations competed in 15 individual activities. -- http://www.universiadeizmir.org/en/ * The Ericsson Racing Team's Volvo Ocean 70 was christened last week by HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, in Gothenburg, Sweden. The VO 70 is now officially named "Ericsson." With only 75 days to go before the race begins, the Ericsson Racing Team will now sail back to their training base in Vigo, Spain, where they will train until the start of the Volvo Ocean Race on November 5. The race will take Ericsson to nine stopovers on her journey around the world, finishing back in Gothenburg on June 17, 2006. -- www.ericssonracingteam.com * The El Toro Class held their 39th North American Championship Series on the San Joaquin River at the Stockton Sailing Club. The eight race series was won by California Yacht Club senior sailor/rower Gordie Nash in a fleet of 22 without needing to sail the last race. Boats came from North America and Hawaii. Last years senior champion Art Lange finished fourth behind last years' Junior champion 15 year old Max Frazer and senior Fred Paxton. -- www.eltoroyra.org * Thomas Coville (FRA) on the 60-foot trimaran Sobedo is looking at a possible Sunday departure from Ambrose Light, New York, USA in an attempt to break Francis Joyon's (FRA) solo transatlantic record of 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds. Sodebo is on orange alert for a Sunday start to her transatlantic attempt, with any departure dependent on a depression which is forming north of New York which Coville is hoping will provide him with 18-30 knot winds as far the finish line at the Lizard, Great Britain. -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6,Fh5~B~ SCUTTLEBUTT AND RSS If you like reading Scuttlebutt on the website, you might also like RSS. It stands for "really simple syndication," and it delivers you a reminder link whenever a new issue of Scuttlebutt is available. Best of all, it's free. Additional information on RSS is available at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is neither a chat room nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere.) * T. J Schaffer: We'd like sailing interest grow in Oregon, especially in the Gorge which has some of the best opportunity for sailing. 1) The locals have to get accustomed to marketing. The world will not find their website. They have to attract the meandering public, and in the Gorge there are plenty meandering public. Get a twelve foot banner with an informative silhouette. Display it to the I5 traffic that otherwise whizzes by completely uninformed of what's happening so near. 2) The website has to have an email address, so people can ask a question. 3) The website has to have more contact points. 4) School and camps need to be exposed, so basic inquiries can be encouraged. 5) Governments are intensely interested in promoting tourist activity in the gorge. Challenge them. Ask how they can help introduce tourists and families to completely wholesome fun. I am * From John Sweeney: Just wanted to point out that I am joining South Africa's America's Cup Team as Sporting Director. My previous role was as a sailor on America True and BMW/Oracle Racing. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Some days you're the dog; some days you're the hydrant. |
