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SCUTTLEBUTT 2304 – March 20, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). US SAILING SPRING MEETING (Newport, RI) US Sailing's Spring meeting wrapped up on Sunday after three days of meetings, hallway discussions, idea sharing, and decision-making. The meeting kicked off with a presentation by US Sailing President Jim Capron who introduced the organization's new mission, "Providing leadership for the sport of sailing in the U.S.," and vision, "We will be the recognized leader in training and certification, in support for the racing sailor, and in facilitating access to sailing." Executive Director Charlie Leighton followed with an overview of 2006 highlights, which include a budget surplus and membership upturn, and 2007 goals. Throughout the weekend, numerous presentations were given and discussions held on leading and growing the sport of sailing. Awards were also presented: Jack Lynch (Annapolis, MD) received the One-Design Service award and David Michos (Euclid, OH) received the One-Design Leadership award for their dedication and commitment to growing the sport by building classes and fleet at the local and regional levels. * US Sailing presented its National Sportsmanship award, the W. Van Alan Clark Jr. Trophy, to J.D. Reddaway (Suwanee, Ga.) for his outstanding display of sportsmanship behavior at the Orange Bowl Junior Olympic Sailing Festival last December. Reddaway, who at the age of 14 is the youngest-ever recipient of the trophy, was presented with the trophy at Florida Yacht Club in Jacksonville last Saturday where he was competing in the Thistle Orange Peel Regatta as crew for his father. - http://www.ussailing.org/pressreleases/2007/sportsmanship.htm ACUP MAST MAN (The Valencia Sailing blog has published an interesting discussion with Ben Hall, Vice President of Hall Spars, regarding their involvement in the America’s Cup. Teams using Hall Spars are the defender Alinghi along with challengers Luna Rossa, Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team and Victory Challenge.) Valencia Sailing: What is the most important evolution in America's Cup masts between the previous edition and this one? Ben Hall: First of all, the rules have changed. The biggest difference obviously is the modulus of the material. From the beginning it was always intermediate modulus carbon fiber, from 1992 when the rule started through 2003. After that year, they increased it to a high modulus material, to put it in very simple terms. The America's Cup has limits in modulus you can go up to and I'm sure every team, whoever is buying their carbon fibers, try to reach the maximum. Another important change in the rules was the drop in the minimum weight of the mast. There have also been other changes such as allowing the use of PBO (high-strength polymer fiber) or carbon rigging for the headstay and the jumpers. I think there has been a fair amount of development in that field. Valencia Sailing: If I understand well, the change was mainly in materials, not design. Ben Hall: Not exactly, the design also changed as a result of these modifications. Another change was that they allowed the autoclave pressure to increase from 3 atmospheres to 5 atmospheres. Valencia Sailing: Higher pressure is then translated into higher resistance? Ben Hall: More compaction of the material. It is the routine pressure the aerospace industry uses, not 3 or 5 atmospheres. I believe this is due because most of our competitors didn't have the equipment to reach these pressures when the rule was created. -- Complete interview: http://tinyurl.com/yuxv2o IT’S SPRING: TIME TO THINK ABOUT SUMMER! On this first day of spring, start making your plans to attend the second annual Morris Yachts Boat Show, July 20-22 in Northeast Harbor, Maine. As part of Morris Yachts’ 35th Anniversary Celebration, this three-day event is a truly unique opportunity to step aboard more than a dozen privately owned Morris Yachts ranging from the M36 and M42 to Ocean Series yachts from 34-62 feet. All brokerage boats will also be available for your inspection. This is a not to be missed opportunity to view the widest selection of Morris Yachts! http://www.morrisyachts.com MONDAY MORNING TACTICIAN It usually goes without saying, the best sailors in the world are those consistently the best prepared for the racecourse before they get there. Those competitors who have spent more hours on the water, more hours sanding, fairing, buffing, rigging, re-rigging, testing, more hours training in the gym or with their teammates are generally those who win more events. Whether we’re training for the Olympic Trials or the regional One Design Championships, we should all strive to be better prepared than our competition long before we even get on the water. That said, more times than not we find ourselves scrambling the few days leading into race day to find that last-minute crew or even that last-minute boat to race in the upcoming weekend. More often than not, when it comes to racing the Wednesday night races, or local weekend series the need to do the best with what we have at hand becomes the top priority. Sacrificing experience for availability is a reality that we all have to live with. How do we deal with this sacrifice? -- Andrew Campbell, full story: http://tinyurl.com/yrqwt5 GUEST COMMENTARY I was disappointed no west coast sailors were picked for the US Elite Youth Development Sailing Team, as there are some very talented sailors deserving of this sponsorship. I imagine the team was concentrated mostly in the eastern region because they also manage the coaches available for the events. While the introduction of this team might seem significant, we need not look too far to see the US is still so lacking in an Olympic strategy! Take a look at the recent Seahorse Magazine and the article on the English 49er team and you realize we don't hold a candle to the efforts in England. In the US, our youth sailors go from an incredibly competitive high school sailing environment, then continue on to college to do the same double-handed fleet and team racing in FJs and 420's. While we are on this track, the rest of the world helps to sponsor their highest talent into the Olympic Classes. Our kids typically start their Olympic quest upon exiting their college years, and they don't have a chance against the kids that started that bid while still in high school. To begin to bridge this gap, we should have junior sailors competing in Europe in Lasers and Laser Radials and I-420's. Maybe the Olympics is just an overrated event in sailing, and our kids are better off to sail classes that thrive here in the US, where they can enjoy the sport and possibly aim at a world championship, which may be more relevant, competitive, and meaningful than a gold medal. But if Olympic success is our mission, we still seem to be many quads away from even sniffing that goal. Our youth sailing talent has never been better, but we are still lacking any real plan to develop it into better Olympic results. The Elite Youth Team is a reminder of just how far behind we are... - Bill Menninger STICK A FORK IN IT If this is Monday, that must be eau d’van I smell. Many Southern Circuit competitors are still driving home today, nursing various levels of sailing injuries: from windburn to blisters, from bruises to the after effects of the rum front, from raccoon-eye and hiking-boot sunburn lines and sore muscles. The natural result of a whole lotta sailing in a short 8 days. I am confronted by the Matterhorn of salty, fully ripe gear. The mistakes I make in this report are the natural result of being personally in the wash cycle for nearly two weeks. North Sails’ Ched Proctor of Cedar Point YC in Connecticut won the 2007 Southern Circuit with crewmembers Jay Mueller and Jim Barnash. Proctor squeaked out a one-point victory (54 points for the 13-race series) over last year’s winner Jeff Linton of Tampa, FL. 42 Lightning teams completed all three races, including four first-time Circuiters. James Taylor of Cleveland, OH finished first among the “new guys” in 11th overall to take home the Humphrey Newcomer Award, with Debbie Probst and Juan Santos of Ecuador hot on his heels in 12th and 13th respectively. The third of three circuit events - the 60th Annual St. Petersburg Winter Lightning Championship – finished up over the weekend, and included 6 races in mostly heavy air and big chop. Jeff Linton of Tampa, FL won the event by a single point over Ched Proctor. Linton sailed with long-time crew Mark T. Taylor of Tampa, and yours truly, Amy Smith Linton. -- Read all the circuit reports with complete results: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/LightningCircuit A TEST OF CHAMPIONS, WITH OR WITHOUT YOUR OWN BOAT Seventeen of 166 boats at Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week last year won class championships, plus greater glory: Pacific Coast Championships (Olson 30, Schock 35, J/29), Southern California Championship (Beneteau 36.7) and Nationals (Catalina 37). The latter winner, Will Durant, didn't even own his boat. He chartered it. Check it out at http://www.lbrw.org If you're bringing your boat from out of town, no worries. There's free mooring. Early entry discount deadline is May 31. Enter and pay the entry fee online or by mail, as you prefer. More information: mailto:raceoffice@lbyc.org HAMILTON IS THE HOT SPOT Canada's future Olympic sailors may be flying across the waters of Burlington Bay this summer when the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club hosts the National Sailing Championships. The Canadian Yachting Association event runs Aug. 9-15 with all races being held on the Bay. The Open National Championship, a new event, runs the first two days and is followed immediately by the Youth National Championships from Aug. 11-15. That's where things could really get interesting. Colin Jacobs, who is co-chair of the event with Paul Vayda, says many of the sailors in the Youth National Championship will be trying to make Canada's 2008 Under-18 national team. It's the first step, he says, toward making an Olympic team in the future. Jacobs said the Volvo Youth World Championship is being held in Kingston in July and most of the Canadian sailors in that event will be coming to Hamilton. "A lot of people will say 'why Hamilton?,'" says Jacobs. "It's because we have the best piece of dinghy sailing water on Lake Ontario. The races never get blown off because of bad weather as they do out on the lake. The location of the club on the harbour also means that the kids, when they leave to go sailing, it's only 20 minutes to the start. At Kingston, for CORK, for example they can have 45 minutes to an hour to get out to the course. The club and Hamilton Harbour provide an absolutely superb sailing venue." -- The Hamilton Spectator, full story: http://tinyurl.com/ysn5p6 SAILING SHORTS * The Auckland captain of the Earthrace catamaran, Pete Bethune, will appear before a Guatemalan judge today following a collision with a fishing boat that left one man missing and another seriously injured. The tragedy, which occurred off the Central American country, is the latest setback for the $3 million biodiesel-fuelled catamaran's attempt to set a new round-the-world record by a diesel-powered craft. -- New Zealand Herald, full report: http://tinyurl.com/yuqfjt * Ian Williams’ win at the Marseille International Match Race, a Grade 1 event last week in Marseille, France, will reportedly move up to first place in the ISAF Match Race Rankings when future rankings are announced. * Strong winds and cold temperatures dominated last weekend’s Truxtun Umsted Regatta, hosted by the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. The ‘Trux’ is one of the largest and most important regattas in college sailing, and T2P.TV has video highlights of the final race to decide the winner. Narrating the action is Tucker Thomson, who will be among the America’s Cup television team for the Versus channel. -- http://www.t2p.tv/guide/trux07.php * Knickerbocker Cup Foundation announces that the 2007 Notice of Race for International Match Regatta Grade 2 in Manhasset Bay, New York is now available. The Knickerbocker Yacht Club will host the regatta from 22-26 August. -- http://www.kyc.net/kcup/Notice%20of%20Race/noticeofrace2007.pdf * The 10th Annual Strictly Sail Pacific boat show will be held April 18-22, 2007, in Oakland, CA., and Scuttlebutt now has $5.00 discount tickets for all the ‘buttheads. Look for their banner ad on the Scuttlebutt website for info, or go straight to the show’s e-commerce site to buy your discount tickets: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/jump/strictlysail * Virgin Gorda, BVI - As part of its continuing renovation and enhancement program, Bitter End Yacht Club has named recreation, sailing and watersports specialist Captain John T. Holmberg as director of Marine Operations. Holmberg will focus on enhancing and expanding the resort’s waterfront operations and programs. These currently include a full service marina with 72 moorings and 25 slips, a fleet of 104 recreational watercraft, a ferry service, excursion boats, the Quarterdeck Club, and visiting yacht service center. Bitter End is the British Virgin Islands’ premier boating destination. -- http://www.beyc.com SEAMARSHALL HAS A BETTER WAY: Keeping your crew from going overboard is rule one. But all too frequently, man-overboards tragically occur. Only SeaMarshall’s water-activated beacons mated to our new, affordable direction-finding receiver offer the world’s best system for locating a victim even in severe conditions. Prepare now for the worst case. Chip Barber: mailto:admin@chabrber.com or http://www.chbarber.com/seamarshall.html LETTERS TO 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, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Scott Fox: Regarding Craig Fletcher's comment in Issue 2303 about all East Coast kids being named to the US Youth Development Team, 4 of the 6 are South Coast sailors (Florida), 1 is from the Mid-West and only 1 is an East Coast sailor from New Jersey. The team is made up of only Laser and Laser Radial sailors and it is not subjective; it is taken right off the U.S. Sailing team ranking list (i.e. no West Coast sailors qualified). The better question is why are there no double-handed sailors, no catamaran sailors, no keelboat sailors, no skiff sailors, or no board sailors. It is a step in the right direction for youth development, but still has a long way to go. Curmudgeon’s Comment: To address Scott’s question, we sought out Dean Brenner, US Olympic Sailing Chairman, who provided the following comments regarding the US Elite Youth Development Team: “This is the first year we are trying something like this – focusing serious resources towards a small group of elite, young developing sailors. As with every other new initiative we have started over the last three years, the Olympic Sailing Committee is focused. We only begin initiatives that, A) we can afford to support, and B) we can do well. If we start this program too big, it will be much harder to manage, much more expensive, and easier to fail. By starting in a more focused way, we have a greater chance of doing it well. If we do it well, it should be easier to raise funds and find sponsors to help us continue the program. “So for 2007 we are supporting three male Laser sailors and three female Radial sailors. They are receiving generous grants and coaching at several important events. They will have access to our Olympic coaching staff, our Performance Enhancement Team of trainers and physiologists, and be invited to events with the US Sailing Team. Our plan is to eventually add other disciplines to this program. When, you may ask? When we are ready to do so!” * From Bill Elmer: Good on the kids selected for the US Elite Youth Development Sailing Team. But that said, is it just me or does the selection seem exceptionally Southeastern/Eastern centric with four of six kids from Florida, one from Pennsylvania, and the farthest west from Illinois. One has to ask: Were there no sailors in Texas, or the entire west coast that would qualify (like the 2006 Laser Radial Youth World Champion maybe)? Or do the kids from the west decline because there is either no travel cost support or no training provided on the left coast? * From Frank Betz: (regarding Scuttleblog report in Issue 2303) So, in its infinite wisdom, ISAF has telegraphed its intention to omit catamaran and sailboard competition from 2012 games? And US Olympic Sailing Committee (USOSC) seems poised to go along, wishing to avoid confrontation regarding the issue, in that its views would be unlikely to prevail regardless. Say what? What about the tens of thousands of sailors who have been brought into our sport nationally and throughout the world as a result of the two All-American products embraced worldwide that were launched almost half a century ago by Hoyle and Diane Schweitzer and Hobie Alter - the Windsurfer and the Hobie Catamaran? Ahh, Neville Chamberlain lives! And while we are about it, let's cede American political sovereignty to the UN! Phooey! * From Tom Hayhoe: Come on USOSC - take the lead and make the case for team racing in the 2012 Olympics! After all, it's the most naturally ‘televisual’ and action packed branch of our sport. If we must adjust the Olympic regatta to make it media friendly, let's incorporate an event that is designed to run for fifteen minutes and has never a dull moment. It's also arguably the most evolved discipline and should have a place in the 21st century Olympic line-up just for that reason (in contrast, match racing - a nineteenth century discipline with a heritage going back to a challenge for an 1853 wine jug - is merely team racing for people who can't count and who don't have any friends). And it doesn't require big budgets - just savvy tactical sailors. I'd like to think that the 2012 hosts would fall in behind your lead - the chairman of the RYA's racing committee was team racing star with former UK champions Grantchester Flash, and when Ben Ainslie deployed team-racing tactics to sort out Robert Scheidt in the last race of the Lasers in Sydney, the footage was played over and over again on prime time TV in his home country. Portland Harbour would be a great place to showcase this finest branch of our sport. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. Special thanks to Morris Yachts, Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week, and SeaMarshall. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
