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SCUTTLEBUTT 3751 - Thursday, January 10, 2013Scuttlebutt 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: Ullman Sails and Atlantis WeatherGear. THE YEAR OF THE AMERICA'S CUP IS UPON US Scuttlebutt will be providing a monthly summary for each of the four teams through to the Louis Vuitton Cup (July 4-Sept 1) and the 34th Match (Sept 7-22). All the teams returned this week from holiday break... here's what they are up to in January: --------------------------- * Oracle Team USA (USA), Defender - The team returned from a holiday break to greet the arrival of wing 2. Constructed at Core Builders Composites in New Zealand, the wing was shipped to San Francisco, arrived Jan. 8, and will be assembled and tested over the coming weeks. Work continues on the first AC72 following its capsize in October. Composite work was completed and the platform reassembled prior to Christmas. Now, the shore team begins installing systems - hydraulics, winch systems, nets, etc. The goal is to sail the AC72 again in early February. All is happening concurrently with the build of the second boat and third wing which are expected in the spring. The team ultimately plans for two-boat testing and training this summer. This month, the sailing team resumes the AC45 training and testing program, as well as preparing to sail the AC72. Several members of the team also continue working with the two squads selected by Oracle Team USA to compete in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. * Artemis Racing (SWE), Challenger of Record - The team returns from the Christmas break recharged and ready to continue preparing for the 34th America's Cup. The Artemis team will continue to train on the AC72 on San Francisco Bay. On days that the AC72 doesn't sail, Iain Percy and the sailing team train in our fleet of Moths, A-Cats, F18s and AC45s out of our base in Alameda, CA. The teams' second wing and second boat are well under way, with the plan to sail with the second wing in February. Boat 2 will be complete in April; the team does not plan on training with both boats at the same time. This week helm Nathan Outteridge is competing in the 2013 Australian Moth Nationals, fine tuning his foiling skills. Team Founder Torbjorn Tornqvist begins competition again on the RC 44 tour with the first event of the season in Oman, January 30-Feb 3. * Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Challenger - The team takes delivery of its second AC72 next week. Boat 1 was decommissioned before Christmas, with some of the parts - winch drums and hydraulic fittings for example - to be installed in the second boat. The shore crew, most of the sailing team, and contractors will be working on fit-out through January and into February: electronics, hydraulics, the trampoline and all the hundreds of small fittings will be put on to the boat in preparation for the low-key launch. The sailing team is also planning to do some sailing during January. The team's AC45 has been commissioned over the break and there has been talk of some race practice with Luna Rossa. Construction of the team's second wing is well advanced although it will not be seen in public until later. Boat 2 will use the first wing for a few weeks to allow the team to test the platform's structural integrity and systems and not have any potential issues with a new wing intervene in the programme. * Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 (ITA), Challenger - The plan for January is to make the most of the 13 remaining days allowed by the Protocol to sail the AC72 prior to the January 31st deadline. This is the only boat the team plans to build. This coming week the team will be concentrating on match racing practice sessions with its two AC45 catamarans Luna Rossa Swordfish and Luna Rossa Piranha. At the same time an additional group of sailors will be training on the SL33 catamaran to practice foiling techniques. Starting from next week the crew will resume training on the Luna Rossa AC72 catamaran. The main goals for this first period will be a mix of crew training sessions around the course and speed tests. The training work on the AC72 will be alternated in the coming weeks with practice on the AC45 boats and on the SL33. --------------------------- Source: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=15054 SAILS BEYOND THE BUOYS The 2013 racing season is exploding with offshore events from the Caribbean and Eastern Seaboard to the Great Lakes and California. Don't start thinking about your sail inventory too late! Ullman Sails provides a range of sails and service to get you race-ready. Contact your local Ullman Sails loft to discuss the benefits of our Race Series, FiberPath technology and Red Line spinnakers. We also offer comprehensive service, including inventory evaluations, maintenance, sail-handling systems and rating optimization. Make sure your team is outfitted with the right sails to handle the demands of offshore racing. Invest in your performance. http://www.ullmansails.com EDITOR'S NOTE: Winter is seminar season, and the Ullman group is on the road with their "Unlocking the Racecourse" program that walks you through each stage of a typical race day and covers key strategies used by the pros to sail and win consistently. Here's a video excerpt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UeJIKN1AM0 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR The Sail Canada, Volunteer of the Year Award, was established in 1991 to recognize outstanding contributions by Sail Canada volunteers. The 2012 award recipient is Fiona Kidd - here are some of her recent contributions: ISAF Youth Championship Subcommittee Chair (2001-2012) ISAF Women's Forum Chair (2005-2012) ISAF Council Women's Representative (2005-2012) ISAF Events Committee Member (2001-2012) ISAF 2014 Youth Olympic Games Working Party Member (2011-2012) "In her 12 years as chair of the ISAF Youth Worlds championship sub-committee, Fiona has brought her passion and vision to the event, making it the 'jewel in ISAF's crown,'" said New Zealander Ralph Roberts (MBE), past ISAF Council member. "Under her stewardship, the event has grown in participation from less than 40 countries to more than 60, with an increasingly professional approach to the management of the event. Fiona's leadership has engaged not only the hundreds of sailors that have taken part, but also the thousands of volunteers that have contributed to this wonderful regatta." After over 20 years of volunteerism, Fiona notes how important it is to follow your passion. "As time is precious, (volunteering) must be fun and fulfilling," she explains. "As a volunteer, you will meet wonderful people and be part of a very special community. Volunteering time in this sport is so important because without volunteers sailing would not be the wonderful sport that it is today. It is the time and effort of parents, sailors, and club members that enable all of us to enjoy our sport in a variety of different ways year after year." -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/SC-010913 GROWING THE OLYMPIC PROGRAM (January 9, 2013) - US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider announced a partnership with Oakcliff Sailing of Oyster Bay, N.Y, naming Oakcliff an official training center of the team. Through the generous support of Oakcliff founder Hunt and Betsy Lawrence, Oakcliff will acquire 24 Olympic class boats - eight each of the Nacra 17, 49er and 49er FX skiffs - that the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider will have full access to for Team-level training and youth development throughout the year. "We are thrilled to have Oakcliff as a partner and grateful for the support of Hunt and Betsy Lawrence in the U.S. effort to create winning national teams at all levels of Olympic class sailing," said Josh Adams, Managing Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing. "Oakcliff's fleet-building effort in the Nacra 17, 49er and 49er FX is a tremendous asset for the U.S. Olympic Sailing Program, providing a training platform for US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider that is designed to help generate a performance edge in these classes." In addition to US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider training, the center will host US Sailing Development Team training camps, and focus on regional and national youth development in multihulls and skiffs through Oakcliff's sailing programs. "Oakcliff is excited to be working with US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider," said Dawn Riley, Executive Director at Oakcliff. "We welcome the opportunity to help train the best in the world and in conjunction with our Acorn and Sapling programs led by Jay Kehoe, identify and coach the next generation of Olympic champions." By owning and operating fleets of multihulls and skiffs, the center will focus on four primary goals: provide a training ground for US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider; power development of three Olympic classes in which the U.S. lacks fleet size; create an avenue of training and development for young sailors on the rise; and expand Oakcliff's sailing programs to feature Olympic class boats. -- http://tinyurl.com/USA-010913 "SHALL" AND "WILL" IN SAILING INSTRUCTIONS By Rob Overton, US Racing Rules Committee Chairman As even a casual glance at the Racing Rules of Sailing will show, the word "shall" appears often. That's not a common word, at least in the American idiom, but a lot of readers don't think much about it, assuming that "shall" is simply a synonym of "will", preferred for some arcane reason by the rules writers. One consequence of this interpretation is that when race committee chairmen write sailing instructions, they sometimes simply put "shall" everywhere they normally would have written "will". This usually doesn't cause any serious harm, but it's wrong, and I want to set the record straight. As used in the world of contracts and specifications, and in our rules, "shall" is compulsory and "will" is generally either promissory or factual, depending on the context. Here's an example of a hypothetical specification written by the US Government regarding work to be done by ABC Contractors: ------------- The project will begin 1 January 2015. Before that date a final schedule of meetings will be provided to ABC in conformance with paragraph 3.2.1.4.5 of the Contract. ABC shall attend those meetings or pay a fine as specified in paragraph 3.2.1.4.6 of the Contract. Additionally, ABC shall notify the Government in writing at least 10 days in advance if they will not be able to attend a meeting. ------------- The first "will" is a statement of fact. The second is a promise by the Government. In contrast, the "shalls" are demands made by the Government upon the contractor. The last clause shows one other use of "will", in conditional clauses - the non-attendance is neither mandatory nor factual, just conjectural, but in the future. Such constructions rarely if ever come up in sailing instructions, so we will ignore this usage. Note that the second "will" binds the Government whereas the "shalls" bind the contractor, ABC. Obviously, it's critical to know which party is issuing the specification when choosing whether to use "shall" or "will". How does this apply to sailing instructions? Well, sailing instructions are rules issued by race committees (see rule 90.2(a)), so it's appropriate to use "will" to describe anything that is factual or under the control of the race committee and "shall" for anything that's under the control of the competitor (but is being limited by the SIs). Here's an example... read on: http://tinyurl.com/RRB-010913 DISCOVER: HOT GEAR FOR A HOT BOAT In its first year of existence, the new J/70 has become the dominant fleet at Quantum Key West 2013. And why not? Fast, fun and easy to sail has always been a winning combination. And if you get a chance to follow any of the J/70 racing, you'll see plenty of Atlantis gear. Why? Because when you need rugged yet lightweight clothing that keeps you dry without overheating and looking good both afloat and ashore, you need styles like Resolute, Microburst and Shipyard from Atlantis. You can find them at your favorite Atlantis dealer or at http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com. Discover the best gear for J/70 sailing. Discover your Atlantis. AND NOW THERE ARE TWELVE (January 9, 2013; Day 61) - With no power on board since January 6 after a collision damaged his hydrogenerators, Bernard Stamm rounded Cape Horn this morning in eighth position. With Stamm's race already under appeal, a result of a jury decision that he received outside assistance during a repair stop in New Zealand, he officially has now withdrawn from the race. After rounding Cape Horn, Stamm met his friend Unai Basurko who provided diesel to the Cheminees Poujoulat skipper, making it possible for him to turn his batteries back on. Once the batteries were sufficiently charged, the Swiss skipper officially notified the Race Direction of his intent to retire. Among the leaders, Alex Thomson has built over 600 nm of leverage to the west of the top three that is now paying dividends. His 'Distance to the Lead' has been reduced by 100 nm in the past 24 hours, but what the rankings don't reveal is that Alex is now further north than Jean-Pierre, and that Alex has offwind conditions while the top three are close-hauled. Stay tuned. Tracking: http://tracking2012.vendeeglobe.org/en/ Top 5 of 20 - Rankings as of Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 20h00 (FR) 1. Francois Gabart (FRA), Macif: 5009.1 nm Distance to Finish 2. Armel Le Cleac'h (FRA), Banque Populaire: 89.0 nm Distance to Lead 3. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA), Virbac Paprec 3: 424.5 nm DTL 4. Alex Thomson (GBR), Hugo Boss: 529.1 nm DTL 5. Jean Le Cam (FRA), SynerCiel: 1657.0 nm DTL Full rankings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html FIFTEEN: That's the combined number of times that Mike Golding (GBR) and Dominique Wavre (SUI) have passed Cape Horn, which both did Wednesday in sixth and seventh position respectively. Golding counts six times while Wavre is on his ninth passing. Wavre first rounded Cape Horn in 1981 during the Whitbread round the world race and he went on to race the next three events. He rounded the Horn again in 2000 and 2004 during the Vendee Globe, and then in 2007 and 2010 during the Barcelona World Race. ROLL CALL: The 2008-9 edition of the Vendee Globe saw 19 of the original 30 starters withdraw from the race. As of January 9, the current edition of the race has seen 8 of the 20 starters withdraw. Here is the damage roll call from both races: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/vg BACKGROUND: Twenty skippers began the Vendee Globe, a solo, non-stop around the world race in the IMOCA Open 60 class. Starting in Les Sables d'Olonne, France on November 10, the west to east course passes the three major capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn before returning to Les Sables d'Olonne. Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) set the course record of 84 days in the 2008-9 edition. -- http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. Here are some of recent postings: * Quantum Sails Acquires Manufacturing Facility * VanTol Insurance Group expands Marine Division * Gill Announces Footwear for Sailors View updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news 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 may be 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 Andrew Burton: So I learn in Scuttlebutt 3749 that we have a new rule: RRS 55 Trash Disposal - "A competitor shall not intentionally put trash in the water." Really? Is this what our sport has come to? How is this rule remotely connected to sailing? As a rule of good citizenship, yes, fine. But this ridiculous rule has no place in the RRS. Don't get me wrong, I hate garbage going into the water, and I was one of the first in my area to bring multiple serving beverage containers and reusable cups on my boat (when Heineken started making mini kegs), but we don't need to address either problem in the Racing Rules of Sailing. I thought rule-makers were trying to reduce the number of rules for competitors. What's next; an admonition to parents of Opti sailors not to provide their offspring with sugary carbonated beverages? * From Chris Bulger: The promotion of the Storm Trysail Block Island Race Week (June 23-28) in Scuttlebutt 3750 took me on a remarkable trip down memory lane and gave me pause on how our sport has changed. In a tribute to the 25th anniversary of the biannual event, the race website (http://blockislandraceweek.com) has published the 1965 Sailing Instructions and Crew Lists. While my first BIRW wasn't until 1975, the sailing instructions, scratch sheets, crew names and photo of a completely undeveloped Great Salt Pond were all immediately familiar to me. The contrast to today is dramatic - everything is 1000% more commercial. The '65 SI's were devoid of advertising. The organization was all volunteer. The crew lists were filled with families - including wives. Boats got to the event via feeder races that were organized by various clubs who collaborated on the whole event. I wasn't there for the first one, but in the 70's no one was suggesting there was a problem with the quality of competition. No one was selling anything. Today, the selling is as visible as the sailing. Many of today's BIRW participants are there primarily to sell something. Many are avid sailors, but they make a living off the amateur sailors - selling sails, or boats, or their time (coaching/ sailing/ maintenance/ delivery), booze, clothe, etc. I have too much respect for capitalism to pretend that this is insignificant. -- Forum, read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=15055 * From Rick Bossiter: Beautiful concept to start distance races near land and within sight of the family and friends that support the racers. But as you mentioned (in Scuttlebutt 3749), an even more meaningful consideration is to put the start in front of those people that have only dreamed of sailing. The adventure of a distance race is such an easy story for the local media to bite on, and positioning the start in front of the media's audience is an easy way for everyone to benefit. Heck, it might even get a couple people to move from "dream" to "reality". IS YOUR EVENT LISTED BELOW? Posting your event information on the free, self-serve Scuttlebutt Event Calendar tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. But don't stop there. If your event is listed below, please send us your race reports too: * Jan 16 - Ft Lauderdale to Key West Race - Ft Lauderdale/Key West, FL, USA * Jan 18-20 - Arizona Birthday and Leukemia Cup Regatta - Phoenix, AZ, USA * Jan 18-20 - 470 & 49er North American Championship - Miami, FL, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof. SPONSORS THIS WEEK APS - Marion-Bermuda Race - Atlantis WeatherGear Team One Newport - J Boats - North Sails - Block Island Race Week Ribcraft - Ullman Sails - North U - Melges Performance Sailboats Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
