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SCUTTLEBUTT 2593 - May 9, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. MULTIHULL CONTINGENT IN FULL BATTLE MODE Following the ISAF Annual Meeting last November, there was a contention that the multihull contingent was asleep at the wheel, and did not ably protect their position in the 2012 Olympic event selection process. Since then, however, they have been busy. Very, very busy. Shortly after the vote they distributed an e-petition to gain support, exceeding 6000 signatures within six months. Now, on the eve of ISAF revisiting the issue at their mid-year meeting this week, the multihull group has distributed a final appeal, and also shed some light on what might happen if the multihull event remains excluded from the 2012 games. Here is an excerpt: 1. We ask IOC remind ISAF of its 2002 Recommendations to sporting authorities on how to select Events. Our research indicates that ISAF was so used to operating as an old boys club, deciding issues by political deals, that it failed to appreciate its role as guardians of our sport, making decisions on objective strategic grounds, in this case as recommended by IOC. Table 5 on page 38 of our Report best shows how ISAF really operated, starting as a keelboat club as late as 1972, then haphazardly adding Events for every new sailing fashion until IOC said stop. Hopefully the spot-light of public exposure in this age of global communication will persuade enough Councillors to do the decent thing and include us at the May meeting. That is why we are sending copies to all 100+ IOC members. Representatives of our international class associations will also be there to lobby in person for our cause, as will Paul Pascoe, President of our newly formed International Multihull Council, which plans to affiliate with ISAF. 2. Should that fail, we ask IOC to extend the 11th Event another round, to give ISAF time to get its act together with a logical strategic plan to execute the IOC Recommendations, as suggested by past ISAF President, Paul Henderson. There are two lines of thought on this. The pragmatic approach led by the RYA is to correct the worst excess i.e. keelboats out - high-performance in. The logical start-afresh approach, represented by the French submission, is 5 x 2 i.e. five disciplines by two sexes (Windsurfing, Single-Handed + Double-Handed Dinghies, Multihull, Keelboat). -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0508a * A report compiled by the multihull group notes the events used since 1960, breaking down the type of boats that were included in each Olympics, and how the events were distributed amongst the five sailing disciplines: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0508a/report.pdf GUEST COMMENTARY: WOMENS OLYMPIC MATCH RACING by Peter Hinrichsen, Yngling Class Chief Measurer In response to your article about the choice of equipment for Women's match racing in Scuttlebutt 2590, I would like to say that both the Yngling and the WIMRA proposals have very constructive elements, and demonstrate that women's match racing at the Olympics will be an exciting event with wide public appeal. WIMRA and ISAF have the experience to run match racing regattas and the WIMRA proposal for the organization of such events is in my opinion very well thought out and practical. However, there are a number of points I would like to make. The idea of having a purpose designed boat is at first glance intriguing, but also has major drawbacks. It is rare that any design is ready to race off the drawing board, or that it is produced at the estimated cost. Going for a proven design with a known worldwide distribution of quality builders avoids many headaches, as the technical department of ISAF will I am sure confirm. The idea that this design will be kept secret, so that no team has an advantage, is an unrealistic dream. Clearly the boat will have to be tested, and then the paparazzi will have it in all the sailing magazines. Even in the 1930s Endeavour could not keep its quadrilateral jibs hidden! Alternatively the rich nations will launch clandestine efforts to gain information, let us not forget the lengths that nations will go to gain an advantage in Olympic competition. It also seems to me a waste of recourses to have a fleet of keelboats used only for one regatta every four years. The pressure to use them for other events, and hence give some sailors an advantage, will be irresistible. This use would be far from attractive for any sponsor. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0507a => Curmudgeon's Comment: This is a good read, and further into it Peter brings up a salient point regarding the three person crew for the Yngling as opposed to the ISAF recommendation of a four person crew. He refers to the quota of sailors permitted by the IOC, and how there could be 15 three person teams versus 12 four person teams, and that a three person team would be easier to fund for smaller nations. DISCOVER: A WORLD CLASS SHOPPING EXPERIENCE Atlantis WeatherGear is only available in the best stores. When you're shopping for Atlantis, we want it to be a great experience, so we're as selective about the retailers we do business with as they are about the brands they carry. So if you're looking for sailing gear that delivers the ultimate combination of style and performance, visit our website at http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com and click on the Retail Locator link to find a world class store near you. DISCOVER: Your Atlantis * From D. E. Davis: If like me, you think no one ever wins those "sign up and one person will win weekly" prizes online--guess again. Got an email from Bill Lynn at Atlantis saying that I'd won his Grand Prix softshell jacket. What a fantastic piece of gear. New to this softshell stuff, it's really lightweight, waterproof, windproof, and warm as anything twice as heavy; in addition it's a really nicely detailed and constructed jacket. Wish I could say I'll be wearing it on the water, but my kid took it and won't give it back. Hoo Yah to Atlantis on a great jacket and a no-kidding real kine contest. And no, they didn't put me up to this, it's just a really cool deal. PUMA OCEAN RACING CREW ANNOUNCED Boston, MA (May 8, 2008) -- Ken Read, skipper of PUMA Ocean Racing, officially announced his crew and management for the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009, as the team gathered for official training in Newport, Rhode Island and prepared for the christening of its new boat on May 12 in Boston Harbor. Among the crew, PUMA Ocean Racing represents six countries and has 21 past Volvo Ocean Race participations to its credit. The sailing team members are: Andrew Cape, Navigator; Rick Deppe, Media Specialist; Justin Ferris, Trimmer/Driver; Sidney Gavignet, Watch Captain; Jerry Kirby, Bowman; Jonathan McKee, Trimmer/Driver; Michael Mueller, Bowman/Trimmer; Chris Nicholson, Watch Captain; Rob Salthouse, Trimmer/Driver and Casey Smith, Bowman. On the shore-team key management includes: Kimo Worthington, General Manager, and Neil Cox, Shore Team Manager. The race will begin October 2008 in Alicante, Spain and will end in June 2009 in St. Petersburg. By joining the race, PUMA has entered a new premium category and is the first Sportslifestyle company to participate in a venture of this kind. PUMA Ocean Racing and the PUMA Sailing collection will be featured at PUMAOceanRacing.com starting next week with video profiles on PUMA sailors updated throughout the summer. -- Complete details on the crew: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0508 PROTEST FLAGS FLY AT FINN EUROS Scarlino, Italy (May 8, 2008) -- Following Day four at the Finn Europeans, North American favorite Finn sailors remain in the top five after seven races, with Canadian Chris Cook in third and American Zach Railey in fifth. However, neither sailor exited the day without some dirt on the hands. Protests between provisional scoreboard leader Ben Ainslie (GBR) and Cook saw both sailors disqualified. The protest concerned two incidents in the pre-start phase of race 7. Ainslie was disqualified when he established an overlap too close to allow Cook to respond. In a second incident the Canadian failed to keep clear of Ainslie who was to leeward. In a separate protest between Gasper Vincec (SLO) and Railey, the Slovenian was disqualified for an incident at the first mark, and now sits seventh overall. After 7 races, Guillaume Florent (FRA) leads with 20 points followed by Ainslie at 32 and Cook at 34. Race 8 will get underway tomorrow and the Medal Race is scheduled for Saturday (double points). -- Event site: http://www.eurofinn2008.it TRICKY CONDITIONS FOR SECOND TOUR EVENT (May 8, 2008) The first day of Match Race Germany in Langenargen on Lake Constance saw a picture perfect landscape with only one slight problem.the wind, or lack of it. It seemed that finding wind was the biggest challenge of the day. Eight of the top 10 ISAF Ranked sailors were at second event of the 2008 World Match Racing Tour, with the teams split into Group A and Group B for the first stage of the competition. Two races remain for all six teams of Group A, with only one race remaining for two of the teams in Group B. The scores thus far for Group B have Ian Williams, Peter Wibroe and Markus Wieser moving on to the Quarter Finals, with the rest of the field decided Friday when the first stage is finished and with a little luck the repechage completed. Group A Results Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team 3-0 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Alandia Sailing Team 2-1 Sebastien Col (FRA) K Challenge/Freanch Match Racing Team 2-1 Eric Monnin (SUI) Team Serch.ch 1-2 Jes Gram Hansen (DEN) Trifork Racing 1-2 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 0-3 Group B Results Peter Wibroe (DEN) Wibroe Sailing Team 4-1 Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar 4-0 Markus Wieser (GER) Team Sea Dubai 2-2 Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing 2-3 Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza 1-4 Damien Iehl (FRA) Team Sinbad 1-4 Full report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/da/78794 THE AMERICA'S CUP BILLABLE HOURS INDEX * (May 8, 2008) The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court today rejected the America's Cup defender's request to stay the proceedings pending its upcoming appeal. Last month, the defender unsuccessfully sought an interim stay, when it lodged an appeal against Justice Cahn's order declaring GGYC the Challenger of Record. A full panel of four justices of the Appellate court today again rejected this bid and confirmed the earlier court decision of Justice Andrias on April 15. GGYC statement: http://tinyurl.com/5lxbbo Court order: http://www.ggyc.com/20080508_AppellateOrder.pdf * The Swiss and American clubs have been exchanging "love notes" on the subject of the custom house registry documentation that the challenger is required to supply the defender. This information is to verify the veracity of the challenger's boat, but the Americans claim they cannot provide the documentation until the US Coast Guard issues it to them, which doesn't happen until the boat is done. The latest note from the Swiss dated May 6th effectively threatens litigation if the Americans don't provide it. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/05/no-curtains.html BROKERAGE SALE! Have you checked out JK3 Nautical Enterprises, Inc. and their latest brokerage boats? We have the largest selection of used J/Boats on the market. Give our team a call and make an appointment to see these high quality listings. We currently have listed J/65 #2, 2-J/120's, J/109, J/105, 46' Moody, 42' Hinckley SW, and Alerion Express, along with numerous other makes and models. Our team of Jeff Brown, John Bohne, and Roy Bream look forward to speaking with you and working with you. Give us a call at 619-224-6200, or take a look at our website at http://www.jk3yachts.com SAILING SHORTS * (May 8, 2008) Having already racked up two fine records - La Route de l'Or, between New York and San Francisco via Cape Horn, and the North Pacific Crossing, between San Francisco and Yokohama - the crew of the maxi-catamaran Gitana 13 have begun today a five leg tour of Asia: on the programme are over 2,500 miles between Yokohama (Japan), Dalian, Qingdao (China), Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong and Macao, with a few days sailing on zone in each city. In 2006, the English navigator, Ellen MacArthur, and her crew sailed this same course aboard their trimaran B&Q (23 metres) in a little over 7 days. -- http://www.gitana-team.com * The new Botin Carkeek-designed TP 52 Quantum Racing will be on the start line in Alicante when the six-race 2008 Audi Med-Cup Circuit begins May 12th. The Quantum Racing project was started by Quantum Sails Design Group nine months ago with the objective of showcasing a new generation of Quantum sails, using the new TP52 as a platform. Owned and campaigned by partners Fred Howe and Doug DeVos, the boat was built by Longitude Zero, uses a Hall Spars, and will be skippered by Terry Hutchinson (USA) with Morgan Larson (USA) as tactician, and Ian Moore (IRL) as navigator. -- Full details: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0508b 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 Ian Duff: (re, this week's poll question) Something smells fishy: "...After the first day of voting, about 40% of the respondents felt that the Swiss could go shopping at Harken and Hall Spars like last time, and 60% effectively said they were in deep chocolate. However, on day two of voting, the numbers swung drastically the other way..." If the voting had been consistently bad for one party, then drastically swung the other way, sounds like voting in Chicago, or Zimbabwe. Can you be sure the voters swinging things were not bots voting on behalf of SNG? => Curmudgeon's Comment: We heard a rumor that there was an email campaign to recruit voters to influence the results of the Scuttlebutt Poll this week. We have yet to see a copy of this email, so if anyone would like to anonymously forward it to me, they can send it to mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com * From Jude Ho: Just a reply to John Harwood-Bee's letter (in 2592), sometimes when you look too hard at the the tree you can't see the forest. AC yachts aren't manufactured, they are constructed, custom designed and fabricated. There is no AC cup yacht factory with a production line. The parts for yachts in the next AC DoG challenge won't be found on a dealer shelf. They will also have to be designed and constructed. Time for a history lesson: The original race America won was between vessels constructed in different countries. The race was more than just about sailing prowess; it was also about technological and boat-building superiority. I believe the intention of the Deed of Gift was for a race between nations, sailors of that nationality in yachts constructed in those nations. A lot has changed since then; we have a defender who won the cup using sailors from a different country, in a yacht built of parts constructed in a different, in a race sailed in a country other than that of the defending yacht club. How good is that! No wonder Alinghi and EB think they can get away with anything. Why bend rules when you can just not use them at all. * From Ryan Hamm Charleston, SC: It amazes me every time I hear someone complain when someone does something that gets any funds in sailing. No wonder sponsorship is so hard to find when you have people involved in our sport putting the sponsors and the people obtaining sponsors down. In no other sport have I heard the words more "No good deed goes unpunished". I hope Mr. Price and others who feel this way find a way to get sponsorship into our junior programs to help get people into our sport but please don't pooh pooh those that are successful in seeking funds in our fantastic sport. Colleges and universities are not allowed to give scholarships for sailing in the US. I think that is a huge problem that we should talk about later. Thanks to Corum for their contributions. And please know that most of us sailors appreciate your contribution to our sport. I sailed a great Melges 24 World Championship that you also supported and it helped make that a fantastic event. By the way I have not received any financial benefit for this "plug", but if anyone wants to sponsor my 2008 Wednesday night beer races in my J/24 "Squid", there are plenty of spots available. * From Phillip Lyon: Interesting how a junior sailor winning a college scholarship in the Corum Cup could make them in-eligible for intercollegiate sailing while we incessantly debate why field sports successfully compete for our youth. Maybe the children are smarter in their choices than adults. * From Roy Cundiff: (edited to the 250-word limit) While working at the Dencho Marine boat-building shop in Long Beach, around 1988, Mr. Choate said that "tomorrow" he wanted me to take his famous Soaring Pilot and Surfing Buddy from Hawaii, SOARING the next day. We were building a 65 foot Kumulae/Choy catamaran for Mike Miller, and Woody was coming to critique and see the progress! I thought that I knew most every famous soaring pilot, but I had never met or heard of Woody Brown. In the morning Woody and I drove to Hemet (CA) and rented a 2 place "glass slipper," Grob sailplane .... then aero-towed towards the local lift. As we approached close to the "S" ridge to catch the up-drafts, Woody grabbed the controls, pressed even deeper into the lower part of the slope .... real close, a wingspan away, and Bingo, there was the lift (just as I knew it would be). He proceeded to Carve nice "S" turns to safely work this lift, higher and higher, We flew for over two and a-half hours. Woody was around 76 at that time and he was still an expert sailplane driver. In 1998, the SSA (Soaring Society of America) honored the achievements of Woody and other soaring pilots who flew the updrafts (and recently-discovered thermals) from 1939 thru 1941. Woody had set a National and World record for a flight of nearly 300 miles beyond Palm Springs. Woody's skill, ability, and achievements cannot surpass his "Love of Life". CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say that women are too judgmental, where, of course, men are just grateful." - Robert De Niro Special thanks to Atlantis WeatherGear and JK3 Nautical Enterprises. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
