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SCUTTLEBUTT 2279 – February 12, 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). WORLD SAILING LEAGUE (Sailing World’s Stuart Streuli provides the early details surrounding the new professional fleet-racing circuit in one-design 70-foot catamarans. Below are some excerpts.) Last Friday, in Lisbon, Portugal, (Russell) Coutts, (Paul) Cayard, and Portuguese sports promoter João Lagos announced the creation of the World Sailing League, a traveling circuit of fleet races sailed in one-design 70-foot catamarans with a $2 million prize going to the series champion. As they promised, this league would be more than just a vision. Lagos, a former Davis Cup tennis player for Portugal, and his company Lagos Sports will provide both expertise in event management and the necessary funding to build a fleet of 14 catamarans -12 teams are scheduled to compete. With the boats built, getting sponsors for the league, venues, and individual teams - Coutts and Cayard will each enter one - should be significantly easier, though there are obviously plenty of hurdles and crucial decisions left before the first start in 2009. The prototype, designed by French multihull gurus Mark van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot Prévost, will be launched later this year to allow enough time for testing and refinement. The fleet will be built in 2008 with the circuit kicking the following year. Stuart Streuli: The rumors of this joint venture have been floating around for over two years. Has this been a steady development process or full of stops and starts? Paul Cayard: It's probably been a little bit of stop and go to be very honest and that's really why were making the announcement, finally it's a real go. That's really because the concept that Russell and I have been working on has met with a commercial partner, which is Lagos Sports, who has the knowledge and experience in promoting sporting events as well as the resource to put behind the project. So it's really exciting for Russ and I to have the confidence to go public. A lot of people were giving us a hard time for being a little coy about the whole thing, but that's just who we are, we didn't want to say anything official or public until we really knew we had the ability to go forward with it. Complete interview: http://tinyurl.com/35fmm5 MIAMI-NASSAU OCEAN RACE CANCELLED Every year local and international Bahamian sailors look forward to the Miami to Nassau Race week. The participants battle on a route from South Florida to New Providence. However this year according to the Miami Yacht Club's website, "The race been cancelled this month for lack of entrants." Prominent sailing figure, and the Bahamas Sailing Association's Youth Sailing Director Jimmie Lowe said there seemed to be insufficient docking space at the South Florida Yacht Clubs due to the overwhelming tourist who sailed in for the Super Bowl. This year would have been the 74th anniversary of the event. The very first Miami- Nassau Race was held on February 27, 1934. – Full story: http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=123&a=11507 IT'S ALL ABOUT THE COOL The Pirates Lair is all about dry gear this season. Wicking tees from ten bucks with your hot regatta graphics; polos start at seventeen dollars. Find out how you may not have to spend a dime gearing up for your event. Sponsorships too. Contact us at 888-SAIL-BUM (724-5286) or http://www.pirateslair.com/sailing OFFICIALS APPROVE SAILING VENUE (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) Pan American Games officials will allow temporary installations at the sailing venue, securing the sport's place in the July 13-29 event. The sailing competition was in jeopardy because of a judicial dispute between a government body and the Rio de Janeiro Pan American Games Organizing Committee that had stalled construction at the venue.Members of the Pan American Sports Organization, or PASO, last week disapproved the proposal to build provisional installations. On Thursday (Feb 8), PASO president Mario Vazquez Rana said the organization reconsidered its decision and would make an exception. "PASO decided to exceptionally approve the (alternate) project," Vazquez Rana said in a statement. "This decision is fundamental to guarantee the sailing competition in the games and protect the interests and expectations of the sport's athletes.” Construction at the sailing venue stopped in December because of court orders won by a government body in charge of national patrimony. It claimed permanent changes at the national park chosen for the event were not allowed. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/3blurc CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar FIRST TIME RACER (Marina Del Rey, CA) Hideshige Seki stands apart from other participants in Del Rey Yacht Club's 19th biennial race to Puerto Vallarta---or perhaps any ocean race ever---as he prepares to join them on the starting line this month as part of his great adventure. He has never been in a sailboat race. He didn’t even know about this race until a few weeks ago. And he has no illusions about winning. "My boat is too heavy," he says, "especially downwind." But it's OK for sailing around the world. Seki will be one of the more experienced ocean sailors in the race. Last year, singlehanded, he sailed his Tayana 52, Polaire, across the Pacific Ocean from Tokyo to North America. It took him 40 memorable days until reaching Victoria, B.C. Then he harbor-hopped down the West Coast, making friends along the way, until arriving in Marina del Rey (Los Angeles) around the holidays. That's where Del Rey YC member Hiro Furaoku saw Seki sailing by, flying the Japanese flag---an uncommon local sighting---and said to fellow member Janet Michaelis, "I must go and see if this sailor needs anything." Furaoku arranged an end-tie for Seki near the club and Michaelis told him about the race (which starts this month). Why not? Seki thought, it fit right into his plan. He was heading in that general direction, anyway. "My plan is 10 years," he said---a decade he intends to spend sailing around the world. From Puerto Vallarta, he'll sail to the South Pacific and beyond. Way beyond. -- Race website, full story: http://www.pv07.com/releases/020307_mdr.php QUOTE / UNQUOTE “The America' s Cup is a microcosm of life: People meet, gather and dream of a better future. Then there is a birth, the beginning of an adventure, then the years of work, of happy and difficult moments, finally comes maturity and its questions, are we ready? Can we achieve that? Then it’s the big jump; the races, the fight...Suddenly it’s the end. And only one will have right to eternity, will remain forever in memory, will never be forgotten, because on the America’s Cup his name will appear..." -- Sébastien Col, helmsman, Areva Challenge "Everybody has in their life some big dreams; for a sailor the America’s Cup is ‘the dream’! Now that I have touched this dream I don't want to wake up too early - or at least not before our team is able to win. I know it is really hard but if we cannot believe in our dreams, life becomes very boring." -- Vasco Vascotto, helmsman, Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team “The America Cup is simply everything; it is business, technology, psychology, logistics, passion, a lot of passion, frustration, leadership, seamanship and finally respect, for the elements and your opponents." -- Team leader, Captain Salvatore Sarno, Team Shosholoza IT’S NOT THE OLD MARION BERMUDA RACE ANY MORE So why not? It’s not a purely celestial navigation race and hasn’t been since 1997. You’re not limited to Dacron sails; there’s no material limitation. You don’t have to be an ISAF Group 1 sailor. If you own a modern, lightweight racer cruiser, there’s a high likelihood you’ll be approved for the race as long as you meet ISAF Category 1 requirements and the MBR definition of a cruising sailboat. Weather and routing software permitted as long as the data is not a subscription service and is available to the public. You may race in an IRC class. Register today: http://www.marionbermuda.com BEST COLLEGE SAILING TEAM Answer the question: What are the best college sailing teams you have seen? Not college program - but the team, the collection of sailors during a given year. Of course, we could sit around and debate which college sailing team was the best ever. However, that could be hard, requiring extensive research, and take more time than we have. To keep it simple, the Scuttlebutt Forum is looking for your suggestions on what were the better teams of your day. Your day might be today, or it could be a long time ago. Who cares? If your team was great, don't wait for someone else to suggest it. No time to be humble... speak up. So grab a stale, draft beer (or if you are in college, grab two), and decide who deserves to be on this list. Post your suggestions here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/07/bestever SAILING SHORTS * Emily Dellenbaugh and Briana Provancha prevailed over the 31-boat fleet at this year’s 29er Midwinters East, hosted by last weekend by Sarasota Sailing Squadron. Dellenbaugh/ Provancha held off stiff competition from Judge Ryan and Hans Henken, who took an early lead in the points and were never far behind. The majority of the event was sailed in 5 to 10 knots of wind on the flat water of Sarasota Bay. Teams from four nations including Sweden and Bermuda attended the regatta. Results: 1. Dellenbuagh/ Provancha (USA), 12pts; 2. Ryan/ Henken (USA) 15pts; 3. Charlie Ekberg/ Johan Wersall (SWE), 32pts. Full results: http://www.29ernorthamerican.org/2007/MidEast/results.htm * The Weather Channel will be launching a brand new adrenaline pumping series, “Epic Conditions,” which will highlight the combinations of weather, geography, and the sports of surfing, snow skiing, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, and sailing in association with Warren Miller Productions. Beginning Sunday, March 4th at 9:00 pm ET/PT, five new episodes will air each Sunday through April 1st. A sneak peak of “Epic Conditions” is available at http://epic.weather.com * Two new speed records have confirmed. On October 20, 2006, Sjouke Brendenkamp (RSA) set the outright Women's KiteSail World Record, recording 37.24 knots on a custom Excellerator board with an 8.0 Naish Raven kite. The previous record was 35.20 kts by Aurelia Herpin (FRA) in Oct 2005. Also, Zara Davies (GBR) set a new Women's Nautical Mile World Record of 34.74 knots on October 31, 2006, using a Thommen 44 custom board with a 6.5m Gaastra Vapour sail. The previous record was 33.69 kts, set by Valerie Ghibaudo (FRA) in Oct 2005. All current and previous records occurred at Walvis Bay, Nambia. -- John Reed, Secretary to the WSSR Council * Gill North America has increased its sponsorship of the US Sailing’s Junior Olympic program. Under the new two-year agreement, Gill becomes Official Sponsor and Technical Apparel Sponsor of the JO program and will provide support to the nearly 50 JO events scheduled to take place in 2007 and 2008 combined. -- http://www.ussailing.org. * North Sails has partnered with Sailing Weather Services to provide free weather forecasts for the Sperry Top-Sider St Petersburg NOOD Regatta from February 16-18, 2007. To sign up for the detailed daily forecasts, visit North Sails' online weather center at: http://na.northsails.com/ew/ew_main.taf * A scroll of the February postings on the Valencia Sailing website provides images of the new boats from the China Team and the Victory Challenge (SWE). While the America’s Cup might be the big prize these teams are after, they are also top contenders for the “Hot Visuals” award. If you enjoy seeing big money invested into boat graphics, you’ll enjoy this: http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html * (La Romana, Dominican Republic; Feb. 11, 2007) Pepe Rodriguez and crew aboard Celtic V swept the inaugural Casa de Campo Regatta 2007 Presidente Cup. Riding a string of first-place finishes in five races, Celtic V won overall honors and a Corum watch. Celtic V had won the four buoy races on the first two days of racing and then added a final victory in Saturday’s race to Isla Catalina. Rodriguez plans to campaign his Frers 45 on the Caribbean circuit in the coming weeks. Event information at http://www.CasadeCampoRegatta.com - video highlights can be viewed at http://www.t2ptv.com DONATING DEFIBRILLATORS IN FEBRUARY In honor of American Heart Month, Ribcraft, the leading supplier of coach and safety boats, is planning to give away dozens of defibrillators to yacht clubs, first responders, and federal agencies who order a Ribcraft in February. For more information on this program, contact Ribcraft at 866.RIBS.USA or visit http://www.ribcraftusa.com 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 Peter Johnstone: About time something logical and spectacular has been formed for pro sailors. Congrats to Coutts and Cayard for having the imagination and brains to put the World Sailing League together. In cats...awesome! Get the lead out, and get moving! * From Bill Biewenga: The excitement of multihull racing and record setting has long been known to some of us in the sailing community. Even multihull cruising, when undertaken aboard boats like Gunboat catamarans, can be fast and exciting. I'm glad that talented and more "conservative" or traditional participants in the sport are seeing the light bulb go on. I'm sure there will be plenty of excitement to go around. * From Ray Redniss: Chris Dowling's suggestion in Butt 2278 about a requirement for a "drivers license" is reality in CT. I'm not suggesting that every driver of an "aqua-Camaro" is now an accomplished skipper, or that you learn everything you need to know. But it does raise an awareness and is a step in the right direction. Information can be found at: http://hartford.about.com/cs/sports/ht/htboatlicense.htm * From Steve Morrell, Editor, Southwinds Magazine: In reference to one letter writer's comments on a boater's drivers license. Let's not give law enforcement another excuse to stop you and check you out and give you a ticket for being imperfect. Sure, let's enforce poor behavior on the water that is dangerous to others and property, but the water is the last refuge of the wilderness where laws are at a minimum and every day, there are more and more rules. In Marathon, FL, recently, local law enforcement did a search of anchored boats in Boot Key Harbor - at night (that's right, at night) - and checked everyone out to make sure everything on board was perfect. Some got tickets for not being perfect, like all their equipment wasn't perfect. Suppose they started coming into your home at night and made sure your fire alarm was up to date and gave you a ticket for it not being so. Not having your boater's driver’s license would be another reason for a ticket. Keep the seas free. Educate. * From Glen Dickson: (Regarding Doran Cushing's letter in Issue 2277 on Comcast's donation to the National Sailing Hall of Fame and the company's relative contributions to the sport) It is worth noting that Comcast owns Versus, formerly OLN, which along with ESPN (and its sister networks) is one of the few U.S. television outlets to provide sailing coverage. Versus also has secured the U.S. rights to the full Louis Vuitton Cup series and the America's Cup match itself (a first, it was formerly on ESPN), with coverage starting in April. It may also be helpful to point out that there is a difference between a cable operator, like Comcast, and a cable programming network like ESPN (though large operators like Comcast own full or partial stakes in cable networks like Versus and The Golf Channel), which is also available through satellite operators like DirecTV or new television services from phone companies like Verizon. For years, cable operators have blamed their price increases largely on the increased subscriber fees demanded by cable networks for their programming, with ESPN often cited as the biggest offender. ESPN is owned by The Walt Disney Company, which also owns ABC and its 10 TV stations and provides free-over-the-air programming to ABC affiliates nationwide. But you can't watch "Monday Night Football" with your rabbit ears anymore--it's on ESPN. * From Steve Walkington, Hudson, Quebec: To those people that think all the answers come right out of the “magic box”. Wrong. I am a self described "magic box aficionado" (i.e. geek), some days I have carpal tunnel syndrome from too much typing and a pasty white complexion from being below, while my mates are tanned after enjoying a good day sailing. I can tell you the magic box usually tells me only what my skipper and crew already know. Personally I enjoy fiddling with the numbers, but I am not convinced that they make our boat go any faster, and judging by the number of times I hear "shut the damn thing off and get up here and hike", that feeling is shared by most of my crew. Before my skipper (whom I convinced to spend $25 000 on instruments) blows a gasket, I must explain that a magic box in the hands of an uber-geek coupled with an ace crew and numbers savvy helmsman can help make the difference between sailing at 99% efficiency and 100% - and for fleets where that is the margin of victory, they are essential. But for any person that believes the magic box is an unfair advantage and can buy a victory, I humbly suggest that the best way to buy your way to the head of the fleet is to buy every one else in the fleet a magic box, and you sail by the tell tales, compass, and seat of the pants. * From Russ Silvestri: Who won the Women’s Laser Radial North Americans? How many Yellow Flags did she get? Maybe someone is learning from their previous mistakes? Give some credit to Paige she is 19, totally dedicated to the sport, trying to achieve the highest honor. You only improve by pushing limits; she is learning the limits that the judges have created. Better now than in a few months or at the Olympics. Curmudgeon’s Comment: Russ seems ready for us to move on from the kinetics thread, and we are too. There were a lot of letters sent in on this subject - too many to publish. We started a thread in the Scuttlebutt Forum called “Comments on Rule 42 (kinetics)” where all the published and unpublished letters now can be read, and additional comments can be posted: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4269#4269 CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION As seen in a women's restroom at Dick's Last Resort, Dallas, TX: “A Woman's Rule of Thumb: If it has tires or testicles, you're going to have trouble with it.” Special thanks to The Pirate’s Lair, Marian Bermuda Race, and Ribcraft RIBs. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
