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SCUTTLEBUTT 2367 - June 18, 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).THEY THREW A PARTY AND A RACE BROKE OUT! There has been a lot of discussion lately in the sailing press about how to get more people involved in sailing in general and racing in particular. The Downtown Sailing Series held on Seattle's Elliott Bay is succeeding in doing just that. By placing the emphasis on fun, the event attracts new boats to racing and new people to sailing. The Downtown Sailing Series is organized by Elliott Bay Marina, and takes place Thursday evenings during the summer. There are only two classes in this race: racing and cruising. Handicaps are not used to correct elapsed times as they are in serious races, so everybody knows it's just for fun. We did the first start for racing boats at 7:00 p.m. -- Read on: http://sailingnorthwest.blogspot.com/2007/06/downtown-sailing-series-2007-season.html INTENSIFIED SQUABBLING The off-water stoush between Team New Zealand and Alinghi has intensified, with behind-closed-doors squabbling over the rules for their America's Cup showdown. With the regatta now only a week away, Fairfax Media can reveal that both teams, with a bevy of legal representatives in tow, have been in secret negotiations to sort out several key areas. At the heart of the dispute is what is known as the notice of race, which is a contract that specifies protocols and regulations for the regatta. Kiwi lawyer Jim Farmer, QC, and Team New Zealand's second-in-command, Kevin Shoebridge, are doing the wrangling on behalf of the challenger. Alinghi, owned by billionaire Ernest Bertarelli, is thought to be represented by several legal heavyweights. Details of the dispute are being kept secret. But one bone of contention surrounds the use of each team's back-up boat. When approached in Valencia, Shoebridge confirmed as much, saying: "We're getting into an area that is yet to be resolved, but yes, the notice of race, believe it or not, has still not been signed off even though we are only 10 (now eight) days away. -- Greg Ford, full story: http://www.stuff.co.nz/bayofplenty/4096546a6459.html WHO WILL IT BE? The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup by a 5-0 scoreline, Emirates Team New Zealand will face Alinghi in less than 10 days. But who will they face? Who will be steering the Swiss boat? Since the departure of Russell Coutts, the Swiss have used three helmsmen: Ed Baird, Peter Holmberg and Jochen Schuemann. The team says it will announce its racing helmsman just one day ahead of the first race. Many observers are betting it will be Ed Baird at the wheel of Alinghi come June 23rd. He’s been paired with skipper and tactician Brad Butterworth in the majority of training lately, and been at the wheel for informal races against Desafío Español and Luna Rossa. Peter Holmberg is thought to be second choice, with Schuemann unlikely to see any time at the wheel in this America’s Cup Match. Regardless of who he faces, there will be a generation gap between Barker and the Alinghi skipper. Dean Barker at just 34 years of age is already on his fourth America’s Cup. American Ed Baird is 49 and also on his fourth America’s Cup, while Peter Holmberg, from the US Virgin Islands is 46. This is his third America’s Cup. Jochen Schuemann is the oldest of the group at 53. A story on the America’s Cup website takes a long look at “hot-blooded” Peter Holmberg, ‘quietly effective” Ed Bair, and ETNZ helmsman Dean Barker: http://tinyurl.com/ypsnt8 BUTTERWORTH VS. HUTCHINSON It's finally here. Switzerland vs. New Zealand. A Kiwi calls the shots for the Swiss and a Yank does the same for the Kiwis. Brad Butterworth vs. Terry Hutchinson. They say this Cup is finally a "sailor's Cup." A liquid, fluid chess board pitting the brightest minds in the sport against each other. The winner? Kaenon Polarized! The only common link in this epic battle is the Kaenon Polarized SR-91 lens both insist upon. For men and women. Prescription-ready. View the entire collection online and locate an authorized dealer nearest you at http://www.kaenon.com. Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. BREITLING MEDCUP 2007 Bribon topped the 23 boat TP52 fleet which turned out for this first regatta of the season, and also lifted the Santa Monica Trophy for the best performance over the two coastal races. The Rolf Vrolijk design was the last of the new 2007-build TP52s to be commissioned. While Bribon’s skipper the King of Spain, could not sail at this regatta, he will return and is expected to do some steering at the next Breitling MedCup regatta, the Regatta Breitling in Portals next month. Peter de Ridder’s Valle Romano Mean Machine won the Corinthian Trophy, taking second place overall with the 2005 champion crew of Vasco Vascotto aboard their new Botin & Carkeek designed Mutua Madrilena finishing third overall. Final Standings: 1 Bribon (J Cusi, ESP, Judel-Vrolijk 2007) 35pts, 2 Valle Romano Mean Machine (P De Ridder, MON, Judel Vrolijk 2007) 43pts, 3 Mutua Madrilena (V Vascotto, ESP, Botin & Carkeek 2007) 4 Artemis (R Coutts, SWE) 54pts, 5 Patches (E Conneely, IRL, Reichel/ Pugh 2007) 58pts. -- http://2007.medcup.org/index.php?idioma=2 SCOREBOARD * After three days of intense sailing for the 211 boats competing at the Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta in Chicago, the overall winner has been declared. Rick Strilky of Chicago has captured the top spot in the Windy City with his Tarton 10 Wombat. Strilky received a trip to Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands to compete against the winners from each of the additional eight stops on the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta series. This weekend’s regatta held at the Chicago YC featured 17 boat classes, nine of which were won by local Illinois sailors. -- http://www.sailingworld.com * Eduardo Cordero continued his domination of Sunfish sailing by winning the 55-boat Sunfish North Americans in a runaway. Cordero, an eight-time world champion, finished first in six of the 11 races that were held on Mobile Bay over a three-day period. Malcolm Smith, Smith’s Parish, Bermuda, finished second with Tom Whitehurst, from Pensacola Beach, Florida taking third, Mobile’s Karl Kleinschrodt was fourth with Sebastion Mera from the Dominican Republic in fifth. The Sunfish NAs,hosted by the Fairhope Yacht Club, drew competitors from 17 states and four nations, including Brazil, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Bermuda. -- http://www.fairhopeyachtclub.com * Pegasus Racing (USA) sailed by Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin and Trent Barnabas dominated European 18ft Skiff Grand Prix at Lake Garda with a 20 point win over an Australian team sailing Yandoo sailed by John Winning, Andrew Hay and Geoffrey Bauchop. http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/classes/?s=42&c=13 * Geneva, Switzerland -- The competitors and the public will never forget the start of the 69th edition of the Bol d’Or Mirabaud. Indeed, a lovely south westerly flow started blowing minutes after the departure, propelling the 526 yachts under spinnaker towards what the locals call the big lake. Nicolas Grange’s one design catamaran, with Loïck Peyron at the helm, is the winner ahead of Alinghi and Axiom. The stunning Psaros 40 Banque Syz & co wins the monohull class after a superb fight with Joe Richards’s Full Pelt (GBR). -- http://www.boldormirabaud.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL PRIZE IN SPORTS The winners of the 32nd America's Cup Match will leave Valencia next month with a financial prize that is greater than any on offer in any sporting contest anywhere in the world. Victory for either the defender Alinghi from Switzerland or challenger Emirates Team New Zealand guarantees a booty worth billions since the winner gets to take home not just the grand Auld Mug but the rights to the entire event and all the kudos and cash that goes with staging it. There is a lot at stake. -- Kate Laven, Sunday Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2h8g7w DISCOVER A race that starts somewhere warm and ends somewhere cold (huh?) The Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race starts Sunday, July 8th – 360 miles of really cold water and some fog. There are 120 boats full of hardy souls who’ve signed on so far, and if you’re one of them, you’re going to need the Atlantis Grand Prix soft shell jacket. It will keep you dry and toasty, and when you get to Halifax, you’ll be able to wear it straight to “The Dome” for some post-race refreshments and tactical analysis. Discover Atlantis WeatherGear, official Halifax Race partner. www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com SAILING SHORTS * Flying Scot hull number 1, built 50 years ago, will compete during this year’s North American Championship - the 50th Anniversary of Flying Scot - June 24-27, at Fishing Bay Yacht Club in Deltaville, VA. Harry Carpenter, president of Flying Scot Inc will sail the boat which has never previously competed in a North American event. More than 100 boats are expected to vie for over 30 different trophies, making this one of the class’s largest national regattas. * Racing starts Monday for the Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex. Staged in odd-numbered years since 1965, this is the biennial event's 22nd running, with five days of racing scheduled for 183 entrants on three racing circles. Enhancing the mix of IRC, PHRF and One-Design sailing is the debut of the Rolex US-IRC National Championship where only one of 69 teams in 7 classes will win this first-ever title. Compliments of Rolex, daily video shows of each day’s racing, produced by T2Productions, will be shown and broadcast on-line each night by 9 p.m. on http://www.t2p.tv. -- Event website: http://www.blockislandraceweek.com * The US-IRC web site has been reformatted and updated. The new web site features news on IRC rule development, US-IRC events and championships, and the Gulf Stream Series. It is the source for information about getting started in IRC racing and getting a standard or endorsed IRC rating certificate. A US-IRC handbook may be downloaded from the site. The site is also the home of the US-IRC Constitution and of information generated by the US-IRC Owners Association, the US-IRC Owners Committee and the US-IRC technical Committee. -- http://www.us-irc.org/ * ISAF President Petersson and the Kieler Woche race committee were pleased with Sunday’s action on the water; after a rather slow start Saturday on all Olympic Classes’ courses, on Sunday most competitors sailed 3 races, the boardsailors on course Golf even 4 races. The fleet of 112 big boats in five groups to manage the 25 miles course in light wind conditions and rain on Saturday. After racing Sunday on a windward-leeward course, the offshore program for the ORC-Club boats comes to a halt until next Saturday with the Senatspreis Race. -- http://www.kieler-woche.de * On Sunday, visitor number 5 million strolled through the gates at Port America's Cup in Valencia. This includes all visitors to the AC Park in Valencia in 2004 along with any visitor to Port America's Cup since June 2005. The average number of visitors has been increasing steadily. During race days in 2004 and 2005, the average daily visitor count was around 17 000. This doubled in April during Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13 to 35 000. The record number of visitors in one day was recorded on May 1 of this year at just over 68 000 people. -- http://americascup.com * In the classic southwesterly sea breeze, 21 boats representing six nations (Antigua, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Switzerland and the United States)answered the gun today to begin the 3,600-nautical mile HSH Nordbank blue race. Their destination: a finish line near the River Elbe in Hamburg, Germany. In one week, the second start of the race will begin off Fort Adams. The three-boat class for the fleet’s largest yachts will consist of the 90-foot Rambler, skippered by Ken Read; the 80-foot Reichel/Pugh-designed BonBon; and the event’s largest entry, the Perini Navi 177-footer, Parsifal III. -- http://www.hsh-nordbank-blue-race.com * Rich Roberts has posted a First Team/Hoag Regatta photo gallery on-line: http://www.underthesunphotos.com/undersail/index.html * Odds makers at Pinnacle Sports favor Alinghi to successfully defend the America’s Cup over the challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand. ETNZ is priced at +165 while Alinghi is priced at -183. -- http://TheOnlinewire.com * It has been labeled a rocket ship that will roll Team New Zealand 5-0. But in reality little is known Alinghi's SUI 100. So New Zealand Herald yachting experts Julie Ash and Peter Lester took it upon themselves to do a little investigating (spying?). The two reporters looked at the differences between SUI 100 and SUI 91, and compared both boats to NZL 92. It’s an interesting read: http://tinyurl.com/28jg6v Curmudgeon Comments: See for yourself -- the CupInfo website just posted new composite images of the Defender and the Challenger. The side by side bow comparison of those for New Zealand v those for the Swiss are telling. The blunt bows on SUI-91 and SUI-100 make sense when trying to push volume forward. Careful still photo study has revealed some more interesting features. -- http://www.cupinfo.com/ MAN OVERBOARD! How fast do you surf downwindŠ14, 16kts? At 16kts, you travel 260 yards in just the first 30 seconds after a man-overboard! SeaMarshall automatic beacons and onboard receivers can mean the difference between successful recovery and tragedy. For detailed information on SeaMarshall safety gear, contact Chip Barber: mailto:admin@chbarber.com, http://www.chbarber.com/seamarshall.html 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 Larry Best. USVI: Regarding wind shadows and apparent wind. Paul Jacobs is right. It's the apparent wind that counts. A wind shadow is the result of the interface of the air and the boat. The water or for that matter the sea bed under it have nothing to do with it. As Russell Painton says, "take an extreme example". If an ice boat is sailing downwind with a VMG higher than the true wind it will arrive at the leeward mark before its wind shadow. If ACC boats are sailing downwind and their VMG equals the true wind, when they jibe they will sail into their own wind shadow. The faster boats go relative to the wind, the less the trailing boat's advantage. * From Andrew Mason (Regarding Russell Painton's comments on wind shadows downwind): It is he that is making the common error. The wind shadow, which in reality is turbulence caused by the stalled downwind sails, can be considered to be in the direction of the apparent wind. This is because as each small vortex rolls off the sails, the boat moves forward leaving it behind. A simple analogy is to imagine a kid's bubble blowing machine at the top of each boats mast, blowing out a constant stream of bubbles. Ask yourself what direction the bubbles will appear to move as the boat moves forward. For the extreme case of the boat under engine moving dead downwind at 6 knots in a 3 knot breeze, the bubbles will indeed stream out astern of the boat, as will the turbulence and wind shadow from the now backed sails. * From Alun James (Re. Scuttlebutt’s French Video of the Week) What a truly beautiful celebration of sail. In a day and age where there is so much competition between parties off the water about personalities, classes and regattas etc it takes a clip like this to remind us that there is one thing and one thing only that binds us all and that is the wind. Joie de vivre captures this clip perfectly - the Joy of Life, to be on the water, in the wind and going for it. To be fair it almost makes the finesse, subtleties and gamesmanship of the Americas Cup seem mundane - did I just say that? Live like there's no tomorrow. Curmudgeon Comment: Here again is the link to that video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/0611 * From Cory E. Friedman (re Nationality and the America's Cup Deed of Gift): Ms. Martin is wrong on key points. US courts issue an opinion of the court. Dissents are like second place in a match race. "[F]riendly competition between nations" is, indeed, in the Deed, as quoted by the Court of Appeals. (76 N.Y.2d at 260.) The Court wrote that "It is thus inappropriate and inconsistent with the competitive trust purpose to impose upon the trustee of a sporting trust such as this one the strict standard of behavior which governs the conduct of trustees who are obligated not to compete with the trust beneficiaries." (76 N.Y.2d at 271.) The Court pointed out that the defending club's rules govern and the rules of the Deed are the rules. A more likely result than that posited by Ms. Martin would be a decision by a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York regarding the meaning of "between nations," which would have been a no brainer for George Schuyler, the settler, which is what will count for a New York court. I would be delighted to see the next U.S. billionaire wishing to prove that his dock is bigger than anyone else's dock forced to hire flag waving Americans for the task. Anyone who thinks the Chinese cannot catch up has not been shopping lately or watching the Olympic classes. World sailing parity is the goal, which is exactly what George Schuyler's Deed fostered (despite questionable calls by a certain defender) until recently monkeyed with for purely commercial purposes. * From Bill Gladstone: The discussion of Ondine and the Jeopardy question correction remind me of another Ondine quiz question dated to the SORC when a new Ondine was not quite keeping pace: Question: Who are Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, and Ondine? Answer: Two movie stars and a dog. * From Brian Kellogg, Hood River, Oregon: I think it is great there will be Pepsi and 7-Up at the finish of the Transpac! Why does this sport have to be so involved in alcohol? * From Rick Hatch: Having done two Vic-Maui races when I was a whole lot younger but still well over 21, I could not agree more with the Curmudgeon’s comment about a Pepsi and 7-Up Hawaiian welcoming party. When the SC50 I was sailing on arrived in Lahaina harbour mid-day on Sunday July 18, 1982, as we stepped ashore our host's (a downtown Lahaina restaurant) bikini-clad young waitresses greeted us - with a plumeria lei and bottle of champagne for each of the eight crew members, plus a spread of food on a table 12 feet long, with a garbage can of cold beer on ice at one end and a huge tub of pre-mixed Mai Tais at the other end. Our group of about two dozen polished off every morsel of food and every drop of alcohol in sight in about 90 minutes; I guess there were soft drinks available as well but I don't remember seeing them (or a whole lot else). The remainder of the day ashore was somewhat of a blur, exacerbated by a protracted happy hour at the Lahaina Yacht Club Bar and Grill. A memorable welcome to the Hawaiian Islands, and what a party! * From Bill Pearson: As Mr. Huggler is justifiably proud of the Swiss contribution to sailing in the last few decades, it is a shame that he left out what is arguably the country's biggest contribution to the sport. Two Swiss nationals, JP Baudet and Luc Dubois, are the inventors of the 3DL Moulded sail technology. This one piece moulded sail technology, broke through a technology wall that was thousands of years old, and has changed the face of sail boat racing for all time. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere. Special thanks to Kaenon Polarized, Atlantis WeatherGear, and C.H. Barber. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
