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SCUTTLEBUTT 3313 - Tuesday, April 5, 2011Scuttlebutt 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: Morris Yachts, Atlantis WeatherGear, and North U. BRING BACK THE RANDOM LEG By Stuart Streuli, Sailing World Forrest Gump’s catch phrase about life being a box of chocolates is more than a bit overplayed at this stage. But there really isn’t a better way to describe the appeal of random-leg racing, which has always been a staple of the International Rolex Regatta, hosted each year in late March out of the St. Thomas YC in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I was working on an intro comparing random-leg racing to the 1970s phenomenon of Key Parties, but while it sounded so witty while basking in the glow of a spectacular Caribbean sunset (and of a few rum punches), it didn’t quite have the same allure when I returned to the office and started to compile this piece. So I figured I’d leave that one on the bench and go with old reliable. In our unfettered desire to produce courses and classes that most consistently reward the “best” sailors, random-leg racing has taken a hit. Many sailors view a leg that isn’t dead upwind or dead downwind as something other than a pure test of skill. A few years ago, in the interest of streamlining the management of a late-season portion of a summer one-design series in Newport, I suggested we fix the start at the harbor mouth and run random leg races as opposed to the normal windward-leeward courses. I was quickly shot down. “If you want that,” they said, with a sneer, “go sail with the local PHRF fleet.” I think the sport should revisit random-leg races. They make the most sense for handicap racing, but even for one-design competition, random legs force everyone to view something with which they have become very familiar - racing a sailboat - in a new, usually invigorating, light. Occasionally, they also provide a lesson or two that just isn’t available when sailing the normal sausage-shaped course. It all starts with the mystery, just like the proverbial box of chocolates. Instead of worrying about whether the piece you chose is full of that toxic cherry liquor, or the mushy peanut paste, sailors must obsess over the true wind angle for each leg, the best sail combination for each point of sail, the fastest route to the next mark, or, in the case of handicap racing, whether their boat will be faster or slower than the key competition, and how to take advantage of that differential. -- Read on: http://www.sailingworld.com/blogs/racing/bring-back-the-random-leg DITTO: My guess is the click thru rate on the above link will have a lot to do with your current opinion on the idea. But I am with Stuart on this topic. We have done such a good job of evolving our race courses, sailing skills, boat preparation, etc. that I sense we have squeezed people right out of the sport. While I agree the windward-leeward course may be best for championship events, there are plenty of other races during the season that could stand for a bit of variety. -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor SELECTING A BOTTOM PAINT By John Bauby, WindCheck The bottom of a boat is possibly one of its most important and yet overlooked areas. Every sailor knows that a clean bottom will provide a more efficient, faster and responsive boat, yet so many are either ill-informed or unaware as to how to prepare and then maintain their bottoms for a season of sailing. This includes both your choice of paint and your seasonal servicing for the type of sailing you do and the harbor in which you keep your boat. In my 25 years of working in the diving industry, I have had the opportunity to work in a wide variety of ports along the East Coast. I have witnessed first-hand the wide variety of marine growth that inhabits the water, and their interaction with every bottom paint on the market. Being on the front line of the “war on growth” has given me valuable experience and insight to keeping growth at bay. Understanding the major factors that affect the performance of your boat, such as marine growth and the way it interacts with your antifouling paint, will help you select the antifouling paint that is best suited for your boat and type of sailing you do. Understanding Paint “My paint is brand new this season, why isn’t it working?” If I had a nickel for every time I have been asked that question I’d be writing this article from my villa in France, as nearly everyone has asked it at one point or another. This simple question comes with a very complex response that involves not only the paint but its relationship with the environment and the marine life that wants to colonize your boat’s bottom. There are several types of antifouling paints on the market, the three major categories of which are hard matrix, ablative or selfpolishing and finally a category of specialty products for whites, aluminum and so-called racing paints. Each of these paints has its own unique approach to keeping the growth at bay, as well as their benefits and downfalls. In my experience, there really is no one paint that will be ideal in every situation, so taking a moment to seriously consider what you need from your bottom prep and maintenance will pay off. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/WC-040411 CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME! Morris Yachts returns to Strictly Sail Pacific April 14-17. Come see M36 Yare and M36 Rigadoon in slips 93 and 93a. Team Morris is really looking forward to attending this show and catching up with our West Coast owners and friends we haven’t seen in the past couple of years. We move south on May 13-15 for a private event at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort in Newport Beach. The M29, M36, M42 and Morris 48 will all be on view. For both of these events, those ready for a test sail should call or email for an appointment. 207-244-5509 or sales1@morrisyachts.com FROM WHENCE THEY CAME Barcelona, Spain (April 4, 2011, Day 93) - Breaking the finish line this Monday morning at 10hrs 20mins 36 seconds (UTC), France’s Jean-Pierre Dick (45) and Loick Peyron (51) have won the second edition of the Barcelona World Race on Virbac-Paprec 3, completing the 25,200 miles round the world race in 93 days, 22 hours, 20 mins and 36 seconds at an average speed of 11.18 knots. For Jean-Pierre Dick, the victory repeats his 2007-08 triumph in the inaugural edition of the round the world race for crews of two, when he won with Irish co-skipper Damian Foxall (in 92 days, 09 hours, 49 minutes, 49 secs). Today’s win also adds an elusive round the world victory to Peyron’s two previous podium finishes, each ten years apart - second in 1989-90 in the inaugural Vendée Globe solo round the world race, and second in The Race in 2000, for fully crewed giant multihulls. The French duo highlighted their drive and pace when they set a new 24-hour speed record for IMOCA Open 60-footers of 506.33 miles on January 22nd (average speed 21.1kts) Though they made two technical stops for repairs, amounting to a time-out total of 63 hours in Brazil and Wellington, New Zealand, the Virbac-Paprec 3 pair stayed the course to fulfill their ranking as one of the pre-race favourites. Of the 14 IMOCA Open 60s which started off Barcelona on 31st December, four of which were otherwise considered potential winners or podium contenders, President, Foncia, Groupe Bel and Mirabuad all retired with mast or keel failures. Jean-Pierre Dick is pleased to see the growth of the event for its second edition. “The race is larger at all levels,” observed Jean-Pierre. “At a sporting level, this time we had 14 different boats (compared with nine starters, 5 finishers in 2007-08), it was a very international competition and that was something very attractive for me. The Spanish teams, which were very good, excelled. Among our friends and sponsors, particularly in France, this race is very popular and the media have really focused on this second edition which will become part of maritime history.”-- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org Standings (top 5 of 14 as of 23:01:04) 1. Virbac-Paprec 3, Jean Pierre Dick/Loick Peyron (FRA/FRA), 93:22:20:36 2. Mapfre, Iker Martinez/Xabi Fernandez (ESP/ESP), 88 nm DTF 3. Renault, Pachi Rivero/Antonio Piris (ESP/ESP), 560 nm DTF 4. Estrella Damm Sailing Team,Alex Pella/Pepe Rives (ESP/ESP),777 nm DTF 5. Neutrogena, Boris Herrmann/Ryan Breymaier (GER/USA), 1188 nm DTF BACKGROUND: The Barcelona World Race is the only double-handed race around the world. Fourteen teams competing on Open 60s started December 31st, with the 25,000 nautical mile course extending from Barcelona to Barcelona via three capes: Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, Cook Strait, putting Antarctica to starboard. ISAF SAILING WORLD CUP Palma de Mallorca, Spain (April 4, 2011) - The 42 Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE, third event in the ISAF Sailing World Cup, started on Monday amid sunny skies with a thousand sailors filling the bay of Palma in all ten Olympic events along with the 2.4mR Paralympic singlehander. After early arrivals trained in mild winds prior to the event, 18-26 knots greeted the sailors on day one, making the beach launching area look like desert storm as one was as likely to get sand blasted as want to rig their crafts. Carnage would soon cover the eight race areas for the 673 entrants. But despite the conditions, clearly there was evidence across the Bay that some people came ready. After two races in the ten fleet racing events, nine of the events are being led by straight firsts. It was not the best day for the North American contingent, with many teams currently below the fold. Best performances were by singlehander Paige Railey (USA) in fourth and keelboater Andrew Campbell/ Ian Coleman (USA) in sixth. In the match racing, teams led by Sally Barkow (USA) and Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) are undefeated midway through their opening round robin series. Racing concludes with the medal race on Saturday, April 9 in nine of the 10 Olympic Classes. The final matches for the Women’s Match Racing are scheduled on Saturday, April 9. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/TPSM-040411 Results: http://tinyurl.com/TPSM-2011-Results Canadian team report: http://tinyurl.com/CAN-Team-040411 US team report: http://tinyurl.com/USSTAG-040411 FUNKY DA-WOODY When the 64th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race begins April 15, off the Balboa Pier in Southern California, among the fleet will be Dennis St. Onge's Da-Woody, a miniature 12-foot floating replica of a wood-paneled 40s Ford station wagon. Normally based in San Diego, Da-Woody is what Dennis uses for his sailing photography, and it’s been the pace car of sailing since the mid-90s when it putt-putted onto the scene. "I noticed it sitting in a yard behind Sea World and the Sports Arena in San Diego," St. Onge said. "Sea World had built it in 1965 and used it in shows. It was in disrepair in a red color and didn't look very pretty. I thought it was a real car. I asked if they were going to sell it. [A Sea World worker] said, 'I'll have to check,' and he came back and said, 'Seventy-five dollars.'" Sold. It had no motor and needed a ton of TLC, "So I put it in my driveway wondering what to do with it, and a couple of neighbors came by and said, 'This is incredible!'" St. Onge said. Soon he started to sense that Da-Woody had possibilities. He replaced the airbrush headlights with real ones, bought a 30-horsepower motor and gave it a bright yellow paint job. "Then I took it out to Lake Havasu for the Jet Ski world finals," he said. "I didn't even know if it floated." He also had doubts about how the funky Da-Woody would be received by the recreational boating community, but he was pleasantly surprised. Even the sheriff's patrol boat was friendly. As for a practical purpose, Dennis hadn't figured that out yet. "I thought I'd water ski with it [at Havasu], but it barely made it up the canal against the current." Later, he got a bigger motor that got the speed up to "just over 25 mph. The [1992] America's Cup was coming up and that was going to be the next time I took it out. I was taken into the open arms of the America's Cup people. I wound up being on the front pages of newspapers around the world. I was in the ESPN coverage." Any doubts about how seaworthy it was were resolved. Returning into the bay after the last day of racing he was running close to a large trimaran when both were swamped by a following surge. The tri took on so much water that it stopped dead, while Da-Woody resurfaced and bobbed along, as it has since. Soon the legend spread and Da-Woody became part of the N2E adventure. Later, after New Zealand won the America's Cup at San Diego in 1995, Dennis took Da-Woody to Auckland for the next AC in 1999-2000. He was treated like a celebrity and granted a special AC "super yacht" clearance, as were the visiting 100-foot luxury boats. "So I had America's Cup super yacht clearance for my Woody---at 12 feet long! I thought, 'How cool is this?'" Dennis, 59, is usually seen perched through the sunroof, shooting pictures and video for his website (da-woody.com). -- Full story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11654#11654 OBSTACLE: Rumors that Da-Woody is getting turbo-charged to keep up with the AC45s at the America’s Cup World Series later this year in San Diego have not been confirmed. -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor DISCOVER: BETTER SAILING THROUGH BETTER SAILING GEAR Can good gear help you sail better? What if it fit you perfectly with no restriction? What if it kept you totally dry, so you could focus on the shifts? What if it were easier to put on and take off in the heat of battle? What if it were loaded with cool features that could only have been designed by sailors? If all that were true, you’d be wearing the new 2011 Aegis gear from Atlantis. Visit http://www.atlantisweathergear.com/aegis to see the gear in action and to find an Aegis dealer near you. Discover life on the water. Discover your Atlantis SAILING SHORTS * (April 4, 2011; Day 9; 18:13 UTC) - It has been a weekend of dramas in the VELUX 5 OCEANS as the fleet continue to race north through the South Atlantic in ocean sprint four to Charleston. Over the last 72 hours each of the four solo skippers have had to contend with an array of problems on their Eco 60 yachts, now starting to tire having sailed more than 22,000 miles through the world’s oceans in the last six months. Brad Van Liew (USA) continues to lead the fleet, with his Eco 60 Le Pingouin now 3,779 nm from the finish and 58nm in front of second place Derek Hatfield (CAN). -- http://www.velux5oceans.com/ * With over 25 crews from the US and Canada expected, the third annual Robie Pierce One-Design Regatta on May 20-22 will continue as the largest disabled sailing event in one class in the U.S. New this year will be the Robie Pierce Women’s Invitational on May 19. Believed to be the first all women disabled regatta in the world, the inaugural event is expected to draw 10-15 teams from the US and Canada. The event was created at the request of women who had previously sailed in the Robie to help grow participation by women in disabled sailing. Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11657 * St Barths, French W.I. (April 4, 2011) - The second edition of the Les Voiles de St. Barth has seen entries rise from 23 boats last year to 53 entrant this year representing 17 countries. Racing begins Tuesday for the five classes: Maxi, Racing, Racing/Cruising, Classic, and Multihull. There is no shortage of star gazing, with the Maxi class including the 115-foot Farr designed ketch, Sojana, Rambler 100 (US), the Swan 112 Highland Breeze (NED), the Dubois 97’ Genuine Risk and the 86-foot CNB sloop, Spiip. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/SB-040411 FREE CLASSIFIED ADS The Scuttlebutt Classified Ads provide a marketplace for private parties to buy and sell, or for businesses to post job openings. Here are recent ads: * Lightly used sails-Your size? * Super Yacht Crew Needed! * Wavelength 24 FS View/post ads here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/classified_ads 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 Lincoln White: Gary Jobson and US Sailing "knocked it out of the park" with this weekend’s Yacht Club Summit in Chicago. Two hundred clubs, 300+ people and a dream team of truly world class speakers. What a great event! US Sailing has really set the bar for future YC summits. * From Brad Dellenbaugh: (re, letter in Scuttlebutt 3312) At AC32 in 2007 in Valencia, the umpires would occasionally tune in to the radio commentary (of which Andy was part) on the VHF radio when the race they were following got a bit dull (with the boats a distance apart). I can remember on more than one occasion listening to Andy describe a really exciting race that was nip and tuck only to realize he was describing the race I was following! Andy does a great job and has the knack to make even the most boring sailboat race exciting. * From John Harwood-Bee: The latest debate over the rights to produce ‘Laser’ sailboats seems to have thrown up some interesting points. Whilst it may not be possible to register a patent on a yacht it is most certainly possible to register and protect the DESIGN of the vessel under the design and patents laws. It is also possible to protect specific items of the construction with patents. In addition, Intellectual Property Rights will have vested with the original designer of the Laser and only he would have the authority to licence those rights. There has been speculation that the original owner was declared insolvent and that a liquidator may have ‘sold off’ certain trademark usage around the world. In this case, dependent on the coverage of the original ‘Laser’ trademark, this SHOULD have been a licensing deal with renewal periods with the benefits accruing for the creditors of the original company. What appears to be happening here is that Bruce Kirby, acknowledged owner of the design rights, has, sensibly at his age, sold his interest to Global Sailing. For two years they have collected the fees from other builders. Now one of those builders has stopped paying and is seeking to dispute Global’s rights to the fees. This seems to be a classic case for litigation and definitely not the place for the ILCA to interfere in an attempt to bulldoze through a very suspect change to the rules. I would respectfully suggest that ILCA take a long look at the lawyer who informed them that ‘patents have expired’. They should check the long-term renewable contracts mentioned by Bruce Kirby before they spend any more money on legal fees. In the meantime, ILCA should ‘butt out’ until the matter is settled. * From Denis Toothe: I find it odd that there is no U.S. defense entry other than Oracle, which means absolutely no "Defender Series." The more this goes on, the more it appears to be exactly the same as the last "challenge." The only difference seems to be that SNG is not available to be vilified or sued, while Oracle goes down the exact same path laid out by Alinghi, other than Coutts blathering which make no sense or difference. * From Matthew Fortune Reid: Francis Joyon's comments (in Scuttlebutt 3312) about fuel, using renewable energy and the like seem so obvious and intuitive. I fear that man's current need of the material world is rushing us towards a precipice faster than we thought possible. The burgeoning needs of the newly arisen countries like India and China (and our own insatiable appetite for everything) have created an incalculable pressure on the planet and her environment. Can we, the human race, come to terms with all of this? The small minded quest for more stuff, more meat, more, more more of everything leaves no room for a shift in our paradigm. At some point, we will either kill ourselves off, or become the caretakers of the only place we have, trying to preserve and protect our tiny little ball in space. YOU CAN SPEND A LIFEFTIME LEARNING TO BE A BETTER SAILOR Accelerate The Process with a North U Coach. Rig tuning, spinnaker handling, mainsail shape, helming. We will answer all your questions. For Your Crew. After all you have put into your boat and equipment, get North U coaching for your crew. On Your Boat. Can you think of a better place? Within your budget. Let us design a program to match your needs and interests. Scheduling now for spring. Call or visit to Learn More. 800 347 2457. http://www.northu.com CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The Mr. Bean Guide to Fun in an Elevator: Make explosion noises when anyone presses a button. 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