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SCUTTLEBUTT 1650 - August 19, 2004Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. OLYMPIC SAILING After a fifth day of racing at the Olympic Regatta in Athens, the competition schedule is relatively back to normal. Following oppressive breezes of too little yesterday and too much the day before, a light-to-moderate seabreeze prevailed today for seven classes (Europe, Finn, 470, 49er, Laser, Mistral and Yngling) that sailed, three of them on what had originally been scheduled as their reserve day. The classes can be divided into two groups--those that are still very early in their racing (49er and Mistral), so their rankings are by no means conclusive, and those that have covered more than half of their races (Europe, 470, Finn, Laser and Yngling). In these classes the athletes have already dropped a race, since they have sailed at least six, and are starting to feel the medal pressure. Looking best for the U.S. team is the 470 Men's team of Paul Foerster (Dallas, TX) and Kevin Burnham (Miami, FL), who maintained a second position overall today with race finishes of 3-7. The duo's lag behind the leaders from Great Britain, who finished 2-3 today, which stretched a bit over yesterday but still lead by only 6 points. With 27 teams in the fleet and three races left in an 11-race series, the mathematical chance of leapfrogging the leaders is excellent. 49er sailors Tim Wadlow (San Diego, CA) and Pete Spaulding (Miami, FL) turned in solid performances of eighth and fifth in the first two of three races today. Their third race was scored OCS when they jumped the starting line prematurely. The mistake added 20 points to their score, which they hope to discard once a throwout race is allowed. "We're using our throwouts wisely," Wadlow laughed. "We're gonna get our money's worth." Sailing a flawless first race today to win it was the Yngling team of Carol Cronin (Jamestown, RI), Liz Filter (Stevensville, MD) and Nancy Haberland (Annapolis, MD). "It was easier in light air today where we have a speed advantage upwind on the fleet and we're about even downwind," said Cronin. "The second race we finished 15th, and that was a good example of how a couple of small errors can compound. The thing about our fleet is that it's just as tough whether you're fighting for first or last. It's frustrating but really cool at the same time." Cronin's team currently sits in 12th overall with three races to go. Europe sailor Meg Gaillard (Jamestown, RI/ Pelham, NY) moved up two positions today to eighth overall after finishing third and 14th in today's races. She counts the 14th as her worst score and discards it as allowed by the scoring system. Laser sailor Mark Mendelblatt (St. Petersburg, FL) fell one position to fifth overall on the strength of 6-10 finish positions today. He is only nine points away from the bronze slot, occupied by Slovenia. - Jan Harley, full story: http://www.ussailing.org 470 Men - 27 boats (8 of 11 races with one discard) 1. GBR, Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield, 28 2. USA, Paul Foerster/Kevin Burnham, 34 3. JPN, Kazuto Seki/Kenjiro Todoroki, 57 470 Women - 20 boats (8 of 11 races with one discard) 1. GRE, Sofia Bekatorou/Aimilia Tsoulfa, 21 2 SLO, Vesna Dekleva/Klara Maucec, 42 3. DEN, Susanne Ward/Michaela Meehan, 45 8. CAN, Jennifer Provan/Nikola Girke, 66 11. USA, Katie McDowell/Isabelle Kinsolving, 71 Europe - 25 boats (6 of 11 races with one discard) 1. AUS, Sarah Blanck, 23 2. NOR, Siren Sundby, 28 3. DEN, Signe Livbjerg, 31 8. USA, Meg Galliard, 45 49er - 19 boats (4 of 16 races) 1. GER, Marcus Baur/Max Groy, 20 2. GBR, Chris Draper/Simon Hiscocks, 22 3. ESP, Iker Martinez/Xavier Fernandez, 26 13. USA, Tim Wadlow/Pete Spaulding, 40 Laser - 42 boats (6 of 11 races with one discard) 1. AUT, Andreas Geritzer, 15 2. BRA, Robert Scheidt, 19 3. SLO, Vasilij Zbogar, 29 5. USA, Mark Menderblatt, 38 24. CAN, Bernard Luttmer, 110 42. ISV, Timothy Pitts, 196 Mistral Women - 26 boats (4 of 11 races) 1. HKG, Lai Shan Lee, Hong Kong, 17 2. ITA, Alessandra Sensini, 17 3. FRA, Faustine Merret, 20 15. USA, Lanee Beashel, 56 25. MEX, Rosa Campos, 93 Mistral Men - 34 boats (3 of 11 races) 1. POL, Prezmyslaw Miarczynski, 8 2. GRE, Nikolaos Kamlamanakis, 9 3. BRA, Ricardo Santos, 12 12. MEX, David Mier Y Teran, 38 25. USA, Peter Wells, 65 Finn - 25 boats (8 of 11 races with 1 discard) 1. GBR, Ainslie, Ben, 21 2. ESP, Rafael Trujillo, 27 3. POL, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, 43 15. USA, Kevin Hall, 82 20. CAN, Richard Clarke, 113 Yngling -16 boats (8 of 11 races with 1 discard) 1. GBR, Shirley Roberston/Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb, 22 2. DEN, Dorte Jensen/ Christina Borregaard-Otzen/Helle Jespersen, 29 3. UKR, Ruslana Taran/Svitlana Matevusheva/ Ganna Kalinina, 35 12. USA, Carol Cronin/Liz Filter/Nancy Haberland, 62 15. BER, Paula Lewin/Peta Lewin/ Christine Patton, 77 16. CAN, Lisa Ross/Deirdre Crampton/Chantal Leger, 87 Complete scores: http://www.sailing.org/olympics2004 Updated Olympic photo gallery: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/olympics UPGRADE TO MATRYX Turbocharge your Ockam system. The amazing Matryx display offers more information and control than any other display: 1,2,3, or 4 lines of data per page (up to 18 user defined pages), system control (cals, averages, night light level, stopwatch and log switches, etc), plus graphical wind/current stripcharts (hit the shifts like never before), and much more. Trade-in credits for working condition 005 displays (clip-in card type) are available. Strong, light, cost effective aluminum mast brackets for Matryx displays are in stock. Contact Tom Davis (tom@ockam.com) or view at http://www.ockam.com or http://www.ockameurope.com STAR BOATS There are three builders, two of them, Folli and Lillia, are based on the idyllic Lake Como within a few miles of each other. Folli boats gained a reputation for consistency that has led to it being the default boat. Lillia has captured many new sailors, most notably Iain Percy and Xavier Rohart, which has led to far more competition between the builders than ever before. Strangely, Mader, the third builder in Germany, has very few boats competing at the highest level, and will have none in Athens. The boats all have a remarkably small difference in speed up-wind. But like all boats, the harder you hike the faster you go. Both helm and crew have to straight leg hike off the start line and also at critical times. The greatest revolution over the last three years is the level of intensity in hiking by both the helm and crew; this has been made even more important as the crew weight rule favors the heavier helm providing they hike like hell. The boat is fully powered up in as little as seven knots which means that light wind racing is just that there are serious rewards for getting the crew dropped earlier than the others. Over the last three years the Finn sailors have shown the way down wind, with wider and wider angles being sailed, the boat is now being powered down the waves like a big Finn. With this comes the inherent risk of breaking the mast as we all try and learn these skills. - Excerpts from a major story by Irish Star sailor Anthony Shanks on The Daily Sail website, http://tinyurl.com/4nt7p RUSSELL The most successful skipper in the history of the America's Cup, Russell Coutts, said in an interview today that he was ready to put together a new yachting event. "I can already announce that my project for a new competition with new types of boats will take shape," he told the Swiss weekly L'Illustre, without adding any details. "I think especially that a system to control costs should be set up to allow the syndicates that are less well-off to be really competitive," he told the magazine. Despite Bertarelli's popularity in Switzerland, 75 per cent of Swiss polled said they disapproved of the rule stopping Coutts moving to another syndicate. However, 68 percent said they thought Alinghi could win the 2007 America's Cup in Valencia, Spain. - Excerpts from a story on the Fox Sports website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/59hz7 TRIMMING THE KITE Too many times have I been racing on a boat where someone says "The clews aren't even- raise the pole." Well, yes, this is true - the clews should be even - if you are using the right sail in the right conditions at the optimum wind angle, which is not always the case. When I ask a lot of people how the break looks, more often than not they are not so sure what I am talking about; the usual response is "fine". The correct response is "even". What that person is not aware of is that I am asking him if the pole height is right. Here are my tips for getting the pole position right when trimming the spinnaker. Let's start out with a few truths and untruths. 1. The pole position largely affects sail shape - True. 2. The height of the pole is strictly determined by the height of the leeward clew - False. 3. The pole height controls the break of the leech, which helps induce the correct, designed sail shape when set right - True. Let's analyze some different pole height settings. With the pole too low, you'll be trying to pull that curve too straight. Instead of billowing away from the boat, the shoulders will curl over, causing the top of the spinnaker to break early, which causes the trimmer to tighten the sheet prematurely. The end result is an over-trimmed (and over-flattened) spinnaker, which is choking off flow of air around the main as well - all bad things. As you raise the outboard end of the pole, you see the break change - instead of the breaking at the top, it moves down and evens out along the luff, as the top of the sail opens up. The break becomes even, indicating a properly shaped sail - at least in the front. The easy way to remember this is "move the pole to the break." If the sail breaks high, raise the pole. If you have the pole too high, the opposite will happen. The shoulders will billow out too far- causing the bottom of the leech to break first- and the top to break late. This causes the trimmer to want to over-ease in order to get the top to break. The end result is an under-trimmed sail, with too much leech twist - allowing the air to escape over the leech instead of being directed to the foot, where you want it while sailing downwind. - Dave Campaniello, UK Sailmakers website, full story: http://uksailmakers.com/learningcenter/poleheight.html 2004 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PHRF CHAMPIONSHIPS Congratulations to our Ullman Sails customers who won 5 of the 6 classes at the PHRF Championships at Cabrillo Beach YC. Alec Oberschmidt won Class A on the R/P 50 "Staghound"*; Ray Godwin on the Schock 35 "Whiplash" placed 1st in Class B; Allan Rosenberg won class C on his Olson 30 "Intense"*; Aaron & Dixon Hall took Class D on the B25 "Blur"; and, John Thawley/Chuck Queen sailed the Mull 30 "XS" to victory in Class E (* partial inventory). For the Fastest Sails on the Planet, contact your nearest Ullman Sails loft or visit http://www.Ullmansails.com NEWS BRIEFS * The Snipe Nationals got underway Wednesday in Mentor, OH with two races held in 12-18 knots and 2-4 foot waves on Lake Erie. Local sailor Tod Sackett won the first race, continuing the roll that helped him win the qualifying rounds held earlier in the week. Current world champion Augie Diaz of Miami, FL conquered the shifty winds of the second race for the bullet. Ernest Rodriques/ Leandro Spina of Miami, FL is the early overall leader. Full results: http://www.snipe747.com/nationals * The Sailing World website has just released their 2004/05 College Sailing preseason prognostications, where they provide analysis on all the teams within the seven sections. The review notes that it could be a very exciting season with the incoming class showing more most talent than in recent years, plus a number of sailors are returning after long Olympic campaigns. Full report: http://www.sailingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=34293&typeID=400&catID=589 * Bruno Peyron, skipper of the G-Class catamaran Orange II has just made it known that he has stepped back up to Code 'Orange', for a possible start on a record attempt between the Ambrose Light off New York harbour westwards across the Atlantic to the Lizard. Code Orange means that the 120ft maxi-cat will set sail something on Friday or Saturday morning. The window of opportunity concerning the weather isn't perfect, as there is still a lack of agreement between the American and European weather forecasts for the half-way stretch, but we have to be ready just in case..." commented Peyron. The Daily Sail, full story: http://tinyurl.com/4dkc7 * Seems like it is hard to have a regional Optimist regatta without over three hundred boats showing up. When Sail Newport hosted the New England champs last week in Newport, RI, photographer Cory Silken was on hand to provide Scuttlebutt with this photo gallery of who some of the 2012 Olympians might be: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/usodane * Matt Johnston has been named sales manager of the Navtec, Inc custom yacht rigging and hydraulic systems in Holland. Johnston's new role will compliment his role as head of custom sales for the company's United Kingdom office. He was appointed to that role several months earlier. Johnston, who has been with Navtec since 2001, was previously in charge of the architectural sales group. His primary objective is to increase sales of Navtec's rod rigging and hydraulic systems within Northern Europe. Prior to joining Navtec, Johnston was the sales manager for Holt Sailboat Hardware. - www.navtec.net * The number of sailing sites on the web continues to grow to cover all segments of our sport. Here's the most recent one we've discovered: http://www.dinghydykes.net/ 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 not 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.) * From Alan R. Ouellette: Finally got to watch Bravo's Olympic sailing broadcast last night. There was more sailboat racing shown in the half hour of Laser coverage than we got to see in most of the America's Cup races. I decided that the America's Cup is actually 'sailboast' racing. * From Hank Evans: From what I have seen on TV and read, it certainly sounds like weather conditions at the Olympic sailing venue leave very much to be desired. Curmudgeon's Comment: Isn't it amazing most of the pre-regatta favorites have overcome the conditions and are solidly in medal contention? * From: Richard Clark: So let me get this right, the Sailing Teams of USA, GBR, et al, spent thousands of dollars on "Wind" experts and we now read that they all got it wrong and at the same time we hear the call for more sponsorship dollars for Junior and Olympic sailing programs, surely this is a case of mistaken priorities, get rid of the "Wind" experts and put the buck back where we get more bang, in the crews and boats, rather than trying to read wind shifts. Curmudgeon's Comment: As I recall, the Brits lead in three classes, were in second place in a fourth class, and two other classes have not even started racing yet. In fact, only one of the GBR sailors is in double digits in the standings. Not too shabby. THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Being 'over the hill' is much better than being under it! |
