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SCUTTLEBUTT 3296 - Friday, March 11, 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: North U and IYRS. IT'S GOOD BECAUSE IT'S HARD The 470 has been an Olympic class since the 1976 Games. The event was initially an open class, but since the 1988 Games there have been separate events for men and women. The current proposal for the 2016 Olympics is for the 470 to be used in a coed event. There are some that question why the 470 is used at all. It is nearly a 50 year old design, and with high performance skiffs providing exciting doublehanded options, why do the Olympics continue to support this class? Perhaps because the boat is hard to sail. Thirty-one year old Australian Nathan Wilmot is a five time 470 class World Champion, and he along with Malcolm Page dominated the 470 event at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Nathan has retired from the class, and is now more likely to be found at the elite keelboat events. He just returned home from Miami where he won the Melges 32 regatta as tactician with Morgan Reeser (470 silver medalist, 1992 Games) on mainsheet for John Kilroy and the crew of Samba Pa Ti. While he is enjoying the keelboat competition, he clearly respects the foundation he gained in the Olympic class. "470 sailors are sought after for the skills they bring," observed Nathan. "For example, knowing how to tune a boat and make it go fast. Also, the tactical style of 470 sailing is very similar to big boats. You see the 470 legends around the world. Guys like Dave Ullman (USA) in various different fleets. Jordi Califat (ESP) is a pretty sought after person. I'm often racing against Gabrio Zandona (ITA) in different parts of the world sailing Melges and Farr 40s. You definitely see a lot of ex 470 sailors being in the main core of the afterguard on a lot of keel boats making them go fast. In New Zealand you've got guys like Murray Jones, Peter Evans, Chris Dickson, and Mike Drummond all coming out of 470s." The value of the 470, according to Nathan, is in its complexity. "You need to understand how the rig works and how the sails set up and then adapt your sailing technique to get the most out of it - like when to be vanging and when not to be, when to drop the rig back or when to rake the centerboard. The fine-tune makes a difference all the way around the race course. The challenge is knowing the timing of that and being able to race at the same time - this is where that next step to be with the top guys is made. -- Complete interview: http://www.470.org/content.asp?id=2446 => Curmudgeon's Comment: While there are not many 470s in North America, it would seem that experience gained in the 505 and Snipe classes would be hugely valuable if preparing for this Olympic event. DAY 1 BACARDI MIAMI SAILING WEEK Miami, FL (March 10, 2011) - It was 'game on' for sailors in the Melges 24, Melges 20, Viper 640 and J/24 classes as they headed out to Biscayne Bay for their first day of competition at the 2011 Bacardi Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank. Unfortunately, action for the Star teams competing in the 84th edition of the Bacardi Cup was curtailed today after a severe thunderstorm threat was issued by the National Weather Service. While the course utilized by the Stars was further offshore, the other classes were competing on two circles closer to shore where the overall conditions delivered water that was surprisingly smoother than yesterday when there had been high chop due to a strong south-southeasterly wind. "We've got a front coming in that went through Orlando and we've got a feeling that this is all going to turn nasty real quick," said skipper Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) after the Stars were cancelled. "Obviously, a lot of sailors are disappointed and want to go out. Ultimately, we understand the decision from the race committee which is concerned for the safety of the fleet, especially if lightning and other things become a factor out there. The next couple days of Star sailing are going to be big moving days for a lot of people, so we're going to get out there, stay focused, and do our best." Sharing one course, the two Melges fleets were up first, with the Viper 640s and J/24s sharing racing on a second course. Breeze from the south around 15 knots greeted the fleets, along with a sharp drop in temperature as a cold front made its way across the bay. In the 35-boat Melges 24 class, the first win of the series went to Lorenzo Bressani (Milan, Italy). Alan Field (Los Angeles, Calif.) sailing with tactician Steve Hunt (San Diego) and crew Sarah Curran, Jeff Reynolds and Erik Shampain placed second, with Riccardo Simoneschi (Milan, Italy) taking third. -- Full story: http://www.miamisailingweek.com/news.html * Americans Andrew Campbell and Brad Nichol are campaigning the Olympic Star Class for Weymouth 2012. Campbell reports on his blog from the Bacardi Cup: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (March 9, 2011) - After a fast start to the series down here we've slowed down to a complete stop on Wednesday at the Bacardi Cup. We fought hard from a top mark rounding in the 30s in race 2 Tuesday and made gains into the 20 range, but gave away a few boats on the final beat to finish 26th in the race. Today was a bit breezier 12-15 knots out of the east but certainly manageable. Unfortunately we are new to the marks and references on this week's borrowed boat and let the mast get away from us a little in the warm up gybe before the start. The rig inverted and strained under the load. Instead of breaking the port spreader twisted in its bracket and put an end to our day of sailing before the race even started. Fortunately (very fortunately) we were able to sail back to the dock and the mast was durable enough to retain shape with no dents, kinks, bends or breaks. Read on: -- http://tinyurl.com/46jbe7f LAST CHANCE Enrollment is limited to 40 at the eleventh annual North U Performance Race Week to be held with Offshore Sailing School in Captiva Florida, April 3-9. Six days of on-the-water racing. A coach on each boat. Great fun and a great education. Just ask the 40 sailors who were lucky enough to attend last year! Visit http://tinyurl.com/RaceWeekXI or call 888-454-7015. JOINING THE CIRCUS On March 12, 2011, a sailing event will begin which is unlike any other in the world. The event will draw hundreds of sailors representing the US, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Australia and Argentina. Is it another "Olympic" training regatta? The launch of another "Grand Prix" pro sailing event? They only wish! This weekend the annual Lightning Southern Circuit will begin with 14 races scheduled at 3 venues (Savannah, Miami, St. Petersburg) over 9 days to test the mettle of both seasoned class veterans and an influx of new talent who have recently caught the Lightning bug and are launching their maiden Lightning programs. The Lightning Southern Circuit is a marathon, a sprint, a family vacation, a training ground for PanAm Games hopefuls, a serious competition and a serious party all rolled into one. This year will feature at least 4 PanAm country qualifiers, 6 NA Champions, 2 World Champions and a litany of fun loving, talented sailors. Also, the ILCA 2011 Boat Grant Committee will announce this year's recipients at the annual midwinter banquet on March 19 at St. Petersburg Yacht Club. They will join the 50+ other sailors who have received grants over the past 5 years. -- Details: http://tinyurl.com/4c4an6h PUMA OCEAN RACING INTRODUCES VOLVO CREW Boston, MA (March 10, 2011) - PUMA Ocean Racing Powered by Berg Propulsion announced today the complete roster of crew members for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012. Skipper Ken Read has amassed 10 of the most elite off-shore sailors from across the globe to compete in the "Mount Everest of sailing," a 39,000 nautical mile ocean race stopping in ten ports of call over the course of nine months. The team is currently training aboard George David's and Alex Jackson's 100' Maxi Rambler100, which most recently broke the Caribbean 600 course record. The new PUMA Volvo Open 70 racing boat comes out of the shed in early spring. Once the new boat is launched, the crew will bring the boat to Miami for on and offshore training. In July, Read and his crew will participate in the Transatlantic Race beginning in Newport, Rhode Island and finishing in Plymouth, England. The training program will finish when the boat is brought to Alicante, Spain in October for the race start. Cumulatively, the management and sailing team for PUMA Ocean Racing shares a level of success difficult to match with 22 Volvo Ocean Race entries and 20 America's Cup editions. Collectively, the core team holds seven 24-hour mono hull speed records and has won the Around the World Race seven times. -- Meet the PUMA crew: http://tinyurl.com/4judr96 GET A REPUTATION IYRS students have a reputation in the marine industry for being passionate and skilled at their craft - whether they are restoring a century-old wooden boat, installing and troubleshooting modern onboard systems, or fabricating composite structures for the rigors of the ocean. Find out more about IYRS full-time and continuing education programs-and get a reputation. http://www.iyrs.org A LONG TERM STRATEGY THAT HAS PAID OFF (March 10, 2011, Day 70) - Since they rounded Cape Horn last Thursday, Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron have have remained faithful to their strategy for tackling the Saint-Helena anticyclone despite the come-back of Mapfre. Today they have benefitted from this move east. In the 15:00 hour ranking, Virbac-Paprec 3 has a 347 mile lead on Mapfre, which is caught in the centre of this high pressure. The French duo are now making headway to the equator. Said Jean-Pierre: "We chose to sail east of the Saint-Helena anticyclone, avoiding getting too close to the centre of this high pressure area where there's no wind. We sailed round it at a distance of roughly 200 miles. Our calculation was a good one. It was a wager; we bet on a long term strategy favouring safety. In these conditions you must accept the "bungee effect", i.e. you give away miles to widen the gap later." Regarding Mapfre's position, the Virbac-Paprec skipper said, "The Spanish duo have got too close to the centre of the anticyclone. They are progressing slowly. They are fighters and they attacked. You can understand this. We won the Saint-Helena battle, but there're still many miles ahead of us and lots of tricks to play. They won't give up!" -- Event website: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com Race Tracker: http://tracking.barcelonaworldrace.org Standings (top 5 of 14 as of 20:01:03) 1. Virbac-Paprec 3, Jean Pierre Dick/Loick Peyron (FRA/FRA), 4773 nm DTF 2. Mapfre, Iker Martinez/Xabi Fernandez (ESP/ESP), 414.8 nm DTL 3. Renault, Pachi Rivero/Antonio Piris (ESP/ESP), 1225.2 nm DTL 4. Neutrogena, Boris Herrmann/Ryan Breymaier (GER/USA), 1558 nm DTL 5. Estrella Damm Sailing Team, Alex Pella/Pepe Rives (ESP/ESP), 1684.9 nm DTL Full Rankings: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/ranking/ BACKGROUND: This is the second edition of the non-stop Barcelona World Race, the only double-handed race around the world. Fourteen teams are competing on Open 60s which started December 31st and is expected to finish by late March. The 25,000 nautical mile course is from Barcelona to Barcelona via three capes: Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, Cook Strait, putting Antarctica to starboard. Race website: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include Open 60s, Etchells, RC44s, Wetas, Big Boats, and DNs. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0311/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK This is a big year for Olympic and Paralympic sailors. Right now, everyone has a chance to represent their country at the 2012 Games. But by the end of this year, most countries will have selected their representatives that will compete at the Games in Weymouth, England. For the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics, they produced this video from the 2010 events which highlights the energy and effort that exists within this level of sailing, and provides a look at many of the sailors that have made the extreme commitment to be selected to represent the United States next year. Prepare for goose bumps... click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/11/0311/ BONUS 1: Sailboat racing as a stadium sport came to San Diego Bay on March 2-6 for the inaugural Oracle RC44 Cup San Diego. This was the launch for the 2011 RC44 championship tour, with 11 high-performance teams competing within the confines of the bay venue. Here are five daily highlight videos: http://sailingscuttlebutt.blogspot.com/2011/03/stadium-sailing.html BONUS 2: It's not easy to get Russell Coutts to sit for an interview, but Chris Love of Sailgroove laid in wait and successfully landed the big game during the Oracle RC44 Cup in San Diego. Here is his three part interview: http://tinyurl.com/Sailgroove-RC SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com SCUTTLEBUTT STORE SUPPORTING TWO GREAT CAUSES Scuttlebutt has launched a new T-Shirt that promotes sailing with one of the Curmudgeon's Observations, but also proudly displays the pink ribbon symbol that's the international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Please join Scuttlebutt in supporting two great causes, with all the proceeds going to breast cancer research. All Scuttlebutt gear can be purchased at the Scuttlebutt Store: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/store SAILING SHORTS * (March 10) - Defending champion Steve Jarvin and his Gotta Love It 7 team Sam Newton and Scott Babbage dominated Race 5 of the Winning Appliances JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship sailed in light winds on Sydney Harbour today. Gotta Love It 7 defeated Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (TFL) by 2m18s and now trails TFL by just one point. Third place today went to Western Australia's SLAM, which finished a further 1m6s behind TFL. On overall points US champion Howie Hamlin and his CST Composites team are in third on 16 points, followed by SLAM, also on 16 points. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/4s5x8eh * (March 9, 2011) - After 5 races at the Flying Scot Midwinters hosted by the Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Andrew Egan maintains an 11 point lead in his effort to join his father, brother, and uncle in placing his name on the Mary Meno trophy as the winner of the 42 boat championship division. John Aras, Chris Morgan, Chris Wientjes, & Robbie Brown all posted a string of top 10 finishes, and are within 6 points of each other. 5 races have been completed over 2 days with racing called off for Thursday due to the passing line of thunderstorms and following northwesterly. Racing is expected to resume Friday with 2-3 races to be completed to finish the series. In the 21 boat challenger division, Ronald Kiss has put together a string of top 3 finishes to hold a 7 point lead over Chuck Howting. -- Event website: http://web.me.com/limerun/Site/champ_Results.html * The USA Snipe Sailboat Class has finalized the team that will represent the USA Snipe Class in the 2011 World Championship. The event will be held August 6 thru 13 in Rungsted, Denmark.The team is a mix of new faces, young adults and veteran Snipe sailors; Rick Arneson, San Diego, CA, Carol Cronin, Newport, RI, Augie Diaz, Miami FL, Doug Hart, San Diego, CA, Eric Heim, San Diego, CA, Brian Kamilar, Miami, FL, Ernesto Rodriguez, Miami, FL, Tyler Sinks, San Diego, CA, and Nick Voss, Miami, FL.The team was determined based on the top finishing sailors at the 2010 Nationals in Annapolis, the Silver Cup at Lake Carlyle, IL and the Carolyn Nute Memorial Regatta in San Diego. Ernesto Rodriguez qualified as the reigning Western Hemisphere and Orient Champion. -- Details at: http://www.snipeus.org 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: Andy Rice, sailjuiceblog.com (re, Scuttlebutt 3295): * If Larry Suter has "coached all the Olympic classes", where did he manage to glean his misinformation about the 49er? The 49er started out with four class builders - Vanguard, Bethwaite, Ovington and Mackay. After initially ordering boats from all four builders, the majority of 49er sailors started to home in on Ovington and Mackay as their most favoured suppliers. They voted with their wallets. And so today the class has two high quality, independent builders on opposite sides of the world - Ovington in the UK and Mackay in New Zealand - supplying beautifully built boats. How exactly does this fit the definition of a 'monopoly'? A good number of World and Olympic medals have been won by both manufacturers, surely less of a so-called monopoly than the Finn, where the Devoti has dominated major competition for the best part of 20 years. And then "49er hulls that still fall apart", Larry? I wasn't aware they'd even started falling apart. I sailed the class from 1997 to 2004 and never heard of boats falling apart. If I wanted to go club racing in a 49er again, I'd happily buy my original hull, No.248 from 1997, and go racing. And masts that break? Well, yes, they can break, but not all that often. I broke two masts in eight years of sailing, both times due to bouncing the rig on the sea floor. As in most classes, the times when 49er rigs break are usually due to operator error. * From Marc Jacobi: Greg Sieck, wrote, "...I would like to sail a moth. But I race Stars, because they're hard." I challenge Greg (and everyone else) to sail a Moth and not conclude it is "hard, technical and the sailors are tops." The boats are also a total BLAST to sail! * From Chris Bulger (re, Scuttlebutt 3294): Wow, pretty confusing piece. What does "easy to sail" mean in an Olympic context - please name a boat in which it would be easy to beat Dennis Conner or Russell Coutts at the Olympics. It is "easy" to run in circles - not easy to win the gold in the mile - that's what the Olympics are about. The Star is a great technical boat - very old technology - and very expensive even by sailing standards let alone Olympic Equipment. What you seem to be saying is that you want sailing to be the sport where "paying dearly" means spending the most money on equipment instead of focusing the challenge on the competitors skills and athleticism. As a reasonably well-off not-so-fit old guy I appreciate your support. But you are missing the point of the Olympics and certainly not working to open up sailing. If we want sailing to fit in at the Olympics, then it is time for boats that attract many very fit and talented athletes like on Moths and Kite Boards. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Defeat is worse than death because you have to live with defeat. SPONSORS THIS WEEK West Marine - Gowrie Group - Camet North Sails - North U - Quantum Sails - APS LaserPerformance- Ullman Sails - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - IYRS Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
