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SCUTTLEBUTT 3454 - Monday, October 24, 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: JK3 Nautical Enterprises and The Pirates Lair. DESIGN DIFFERENCES When the six Volvo Open 70s line up for the first In-Port Race of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race on October 29th, each team will be quick to analyze their relative performance. For a race with nine distance legs and ten In-Port Races, the teams that don't continue to improve will get left in the wake. Ken Read (USA), skipper of PUMA Ocean Racing, provides his observations of the fleet: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the best parts of participating in a development class is when the boats break out of the shed and you see all of the parts and pieces that others have thought of…and they in turn see what you have done. We went with as low a CG as possible with our entire program. Deck and cabin house design were done to get the weight low and to make sure we kept the all up boat weight at or below the minimum. A couple of the new boats went with "J-24" style decks with no cabin house for a lower windage look. It is all a wash probably, but we like where we ended up. Abu Dhabi also went with an open cockpit design to get their sail stack lower. We think that the new rules concerning less sails and the lack of being able to fill the very aft compartment in the boat with gear in heavy downwind conditions dissuaded us from going open cockpit. We felt we needed the stacking area downstairs, area that an open cockpit wouldn't give you. Camper's adjustable headstay system has been a major topic. While the rest of the fleet pinned their headstay at one length, Camper has a hydraulic ram to adjust the rake of the mast in different conditions. For sure the rest of the fleet read the rule in a way that you couldn't do this, but the rules makers had a different idea. The Camper boat is also different with the daggerboards behind the keel and mast. The rest of the fleet has gone in the other direction. Our daggerboards are actually further forward than even Ericsson 4 had last race - the winning Juan K design. All the Juan K-designed boats - us, Telefonica and Groupama - have negative dihedrals on the daggerboards, also a new look for the class (bottom of board angles toward each other). The hull shapes have all gone fuller forward. The three Juan K boats are noticeably fuller forward than even Ericsson 4. A very flat forward section underwater with a distinct forward rocker is clearly there to try and get the bow out of the water at pace. Abu Dhabi is even more extreme as their huge bow section is certainly designed for "bow up" sailing, although they seem to have less transom emersion than the Juan K boats. Camper on the other hand seems to be a bit of a development from our old PUMA boat with some new fullness forward, but not nearly where the other boats have gone. Look for each boat to have their condition, including Sanya who may "own" light air in this fleet. The die is cast. This is going to be a serious boat race with a ton of lead changes depending on the conditions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VIDEO: During the race, the multimedia team will be producing daily news updates, a weekly 3-minute news round-up and highlights from each of the distance legs and in-port races -- all available online at the VOR YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos PAN AMERICAN GAMES (October 23, 2011) - The final day of the sailing events at the Pan American Games regatta saw each of the nine classes hold the double points medal race for the top five in each class to decide the medalists. . The U.S. earned silver in the J/24, Lightning, Snipe and Sunfish classes. Bronze went to the Americans in the Laser Radial and women's Windsurfing classes. For Mexico, silver medals were won in the Laser Radial and women's windsurfing with a bronze in the men's windsurfing. Among the U.S. silver medalists was the Lightning team of skipper Jody Lutz and crew Jay Lutz and Derek Gauger."It was such an opportunity to represent the U.S," Jody Lutz said." It was something that us 'old guys' don't get a chance to do very often. The class that we sail, the Lightning, is not in the Olympics, so this is our Olympics. I'm disappointed that we weren't able to bring the gold home to everybody but I'm proud that we did it right and we acted properly and competed fairly. We did the best darn job that we could." North American Medal Winners J/24: John Mollicone, Geoffrey Becker, Daniel Rabin, Paul Abdullah, USA Laser Radial: Tania Elias Calles, MEX Lightning: Jody Lutz, Jay Lutz, Derek Gauge, USA RS:X Women (Windsurfer Women): Demita Vega, MEX Snipe: Augie Diaz, Kathleen Tocke, USA Sunfish: Paul Foerester, USA Bronze medals went to: Laser Radial: Paige Railey, USA RS:X Men (Windsurfer Men): David Mauricio Mier Y Teran RS:X Women (Windsurfer Women): Farrah Hall, USA Full report: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/News/2011/Pan_American_Games_Final.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ashley Love, a producer/filmer/editor for t2p.tv, files this report: "Medal race points are doubled, so a lot of pads and paper were out calculating scenarios and possible tie breakers. In the Full Rig fleet, Argentina didn't have to sail the race to win the gold, but he did. Crossing the line to a HUGE reception of Argentinean coach boats and fans. Flags waving with bottles of Champaign popping. "Argentina went into the Laser Radial medal round knowing the only way she could lose the gold was finishing 5th with USA finishing 1st. The battle for second was tight with USA and Mexico tied at 25 points, which showed in the prestart with some math racing. Mexico broke from circling first to return to the line for a brilliant start and covered USA all the way around the course. Argentina won the gold, Mexico the silver and USA the bronze. For Argentina, there was more jumping off of flipped over boats and flag waiving celebrations! "In the Sunfish class, Brazil was in 1st by a landslide with USA in 2nd by a landslide. The battle, hence, was for the bronze. Argentina and Peru match raced in the prestart to jocky for position at the start. Venezuela covered and even fouled Peru for most of the race, letting Argentina cross the line first and scoop up the bronze, USA the silver and Brazil the gold. "In the Snipe class, the battle was between Brazil and the USA for the gold. Uruguay and Chile battled for the bronze, so there were TWO match races going on. Puerto Rico started clean and ended up winning the race, Uruguay finished ahead of Chile to take Bronze. USA couldn't get out from under Brazil, so Brazil took the gold medal." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Canada team: http://tinyurl.com/CYA-Pan-Am-2011 USA team: http://tinyurl.com/USSTAG-Pan-Am-2011 Results: http://tinyurl.com/PAG-2011-results Event website: http://www.guadalajara2011.org.mx/ENG/01_inicio JK3 NEWS AND EVENTS JK3 will be joining Sabre and Back Cove Yachts at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show this weekend, October 27-31. On display from Back Cove will be the Back Cove 30 and 37, and from Sabre we will have the Sabre 42 and the new Sabre 48 Salon Express. Stop by the show and step aboard these fine yachts, and meet our newest team member, Chris Corlett. Chris is an accomplished sailor who will be running our new San Francisco office. For more information, contact Jeff Brown at jeff@jk3yachts.com. We look forward to seeing you in Fort Lauderdale, however if you can't make it, we've brought the Sabre 48 to you! Take a virtual tour: http://www.sabreyachts.com/virtual_tour/sabreline48_express/index.php INAUGURAL INDUCTION CLASS RECOGNIZED (October 23, 2011) - San Diegans Dennis Conner and Lowell North were among 15 sailors of the inaugural class of the National Sailing Hall of Fame inducted Sunday afternoon during ceremonies at the San Diego Yacht Club in San Diego, CA. North, 82, won a gold medal in the Star class in the 1968 Olympics and is a four-time world champion and five-time runner up in Stars. He also skippered the 1977 America’s Cup defense candidate Enterprise, won numerous ocean racing events and founded the international sail-making company that bears his name. Conner, 69, is a four-time winning skipper of the America’s Cup and his 1987 victory off Perth, Australia, led to the sailing of three America’s Cup defenses off Point Loma between 1988 and 1995. Connor won a total of 28 world championships in various one-design and offshore events, won a bronze medal in the 1976 Olympics and is a three-time national Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. “Lowell in my mind was the greatest sailor we ever had,” Conner said during his acceptance speech. The inaugural class for the National Sailing Hall of Fame, which will eventually be housed in a permanent facility in Annapolis, Md., includes nine living inductees and six posthumous inductees. -- Bill Center, Union-Tribune, read on: http://tinyurl.com/UT-102311 CHAMPIONSHIP OF CHAMPIONS Dallas, TX (October 21, 2011) - US SAILING's 2011 Championship of Champions, was won on Saturday by the Eagan brothers, skipper Andrew (Metairie, La.) and crew Marcus (Madisonville, La.). The Eagans took the lead after the first race on Friday and never looked. They won by an impressive 36 point margin over skipper Mike Gillum (Loomis, Calif.), who sailed this week with his wife Mardi and his daughter Alison Gillum (Loomis, Calif.). Defending Champion and 2010 Mercury National Champion, Chris Raab (Sunset Beach, Calif.) with crew Bill Draheim (Heath, Texas), a two-time Flying Scot National Champion, finished in third place. The 20 teams competing in the 2011 Championship of Champions, hosted by the Corinthian Sailing Club in Dallas, completed 20 races total on White Rock Lake in Flying Scots. All competitors have qualified for this event by winning a 2010 or 2011 one-design class National, North American, or World Championship. Eagan, who qualified for this year's Championship by winning the 2011 Flying Scot North American Championship, won eight out of the races. "My brother and I have been sailing together for a long time," said Andrew. "As the week went on, we started to figure out White Rock Lake. We are used to normal sea breezes and had to get used to the land coming into effect." The event has included a guest skipper in recent editions, with Tom Ehman joining the field in this edition. Ehman took a break from his work with the Golden Gate Yacht Club in organizing the defense of the 34th America's Cup to return the event that he won in 1976 as the Flying Scot class representative. "We pooched race 19 which put third place out of reach," remarked Ehman. "With it breezing up to 20 knots for the last race, and both my crew Kelson Elam and I pushing 60, we managed to finish fifth to cement 4th overall. Not as good as we had hoped but better than expected, and we had a blast on and off the water. There was not a single protest at this very well-run regatta, beautifully hosted by Corinthian Sailing Club." Full report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2011/CofC_2011_Final.htm OBSERVATIONS FROM THE GUYS CHANGING the 34th AMERICA'S CUP Stan Honey, Director of Technology for the 34th America's Cup (AC34) and John Craig, Principal Race Officer (PRO) for AC34 talked to members of the San Francisco Yacht Club last week, reviewing the World Series events in Cascais and Plymouth and explaining the technology they're using in their jobs - technology which is changing the way that races are being run and facilitating better than ever accuracy in umpiring, and for the viewer of the sport, making races easier and more interesting to watch across different platforms. Craig also talked about the logistics of course building under the new regime and gave an overview of the different boats used in race management, from jet skis to rad camera boats. Michelle Slade of SailBlast has compiled excerpts from their presentation...here are a few: * Is the AC45 just a one-dimensional crash and burn form of entertainment? SH: The question is, "How can we turn this into a sport with real intrigue and competition and unpredictability and the rivalries that you get in sport. The answer is, it's a huge challenge. We know we have to do that but we can't sort of coast this kind of thrills and chills although it's a good head start! The good thing about it is that Russell had the sense to involve early on folks who have a really strong background in the business of sport - Richard Worth and Craig Thompson. They're not sailors and that has pluses and minuses but they're some of the most knowledgeable businessmen in the field of sports. If we're going to make this work, one of the signs will be that the sailing athletes will be recognizable on the street - we'll turn them into personalities then sailing will have the same sort of attraction that other sports do in terms of the rivalries between teams and individuals, the unpredictability and all of that." * How do penalties do work? SH: Once a penalty has been assigned, whether it's a limit penalty or whether its S-P tack penalty, the computer assigns a penalty line which is two boat lengths behind your boat and that penalty line is moving at ¾ the theoretical speed of your boat and you have to slow down until that penalty line overtakes you. The reason that penalty line is moving at ¾ of your speed is to give you an incentive to pay it off quickly. The idea is to keep you in the race so if a penalty hurts you, you're still in the hunt, which keeps the race exciting and interesting. Plus, to have these boats do circles if it's windy is just too frightening! JC: It's taken the teams a long time to get used to the penalty system incurred by the new electronic boundaries. "They would, say, it's saying 80 meters then two seconds later I was done," - yeah, you were doing 30 knots! It's been a process and I'm happy to report there are very few limit penalties anymore. We really are able to keep the guys in the box. * How does this all scale up as far as the 72s go? JC: That's the million dollar - the multimillion dollar question (LOL) - the 72s - take 3 of the 45s and stack 'em beam to beam and that's a 72, then take 4 of the mainsails from the 45 and that's a 72 mainsail. There're a lot of people spending a lot of time in design rooms right now trying to figure it out. Full report: http://tinyurl.com/SailBlast-102311 TECH TECH TECH! Call or email The Pirates Lair today for your moisture wicking tees. Have us design your custom graphics for team, event or gift. We carry ProTech, ProFit, Gill and many others. You won't get a better deal. Call (888)724-5286 or email ken@pirateslair.com SAILING SHORTS * La Trinite-sur-Mer, France (October 23, 2011) - The first day of racing at the Student Yachting World Cup was cancelled due to excessive winds that reached 30 knots. Fifteen of the best sailing teams from universities representing 14 countries are racing in the 9.54 m Grand Surprise through October 28th. Among the 15 teams are Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and Maine Maritime Academy (Castine, Maine). Event website: http://www.sywoc.org/ * (October 23, 2011) - After 24 days in the lead, Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron with Campagne de France dropped back to second place in the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR) handing pole position to Ross and Campbell Field and BSL at 03:00 GMT on Saturday morning. While the Franco-British duo has been preoccupied with preserving their boat, including a mast climb in rough conditions by Merron, the New Zealand team have increased their lead to 25 nm with just over 1000 nm to the finish in Cape Town, SA. -- Race website: http://globaloceanrace.com * Port Washington, NY (October 23, 2011) - After a first day of winds 20-25kts, the 33rd Annual Manhasset Bay Fall Series wound down in diminishing winds today with an abandon race due to light and very shifty winds. The prestigious John B. Thomson Sr. Memorial Trophy was won by Joerg Esdorn/Duncan Hennes (American YC) for the best performance in a One-Design or IRC class. The Ted Clark Trophy was won for the 5th year in a row by John Esposito (City Island YC) for best performance in PHRF. The Huguenot Trophy, dedicated by Huguenot YC, was won for the first time by American Yacht Club. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12812 SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 John Lynch: I think Gary Jobson's comments (in Scuttlebutt 3450) on getting a coach might actually save money in my corner of the sport, PHRF. I know sailors who are willing to buy a new suit of sails if they aren't winning, where in fact he or she might improve their results dramatically just by taking a coach on board in some races. In the class I sail in West Florida PHRF, there is no rule about who may sail on a boat or, for that matter, steer her. It is not common but it is permissible for a sailor to pay a coach to sail as part of the crew. For many sailors that would be a good investment. I have never paid a coach but I have sailed with many great sailors, both on my boat and on others, and every time I do that I learn a bit more. Many of us believe that if we are not doing well then there must be something wrong with our equipment or maybe the other guy's handicap is wrong. It just isn't acceptable that we aren't sailing well enough, when that is actually often the case. It would be of great benefit if we could learn to differentiate between our failings and the shortcomings of the boat. Maybe the coach might even get onboard and suggest some tweaks to the tuning of the rig that would convince the skipper to forgo buying the latest and greatest in new sails. * From Kurt Hoehne, Seattle Laser Fleet: The coaching thing keeps coming up, and everyone seems to have a valid point. We've created a coaching program that's fun, inexpensive and doesn't widen the gap between fast and not-so-fast. Here's how it works: those who want coaching chip in about $20/session, and we hire a good coach (we've been lucky and had great coaching) to come out one night for up to about a dozen paying those fees. They get a couple hours of drills, regular individual attention and an ongoing program. On separate racing nights, the coach tries to help everybody who's out, and nobody pays. Yes, the folk paying for dedicated coaching are subsidizing those who come out for the race night only. But they're OK with this as it's helping the entire fleet. And it has helped the ENTIRE fleet. We've directed coaches Karas and Vranizan to pay particular attention to pulling the back of the fleet toward the front, and they've done just that. Everybody basically gets the same coaching with some individual attention and nobody feels completely out of the loop. It's one thing to do when you're trying to build a fleet. It was a success in the first year and we are pondering more frequent coaching nights next year. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION When you rearrange the letters of 'The Morse Code' it reads 'Here Come Dots'. SPONSORS THIS WEEK JK3 Nautical Enterprises - The Pirates Lair - North U - North Sails J Boats - Melges Performance Sailboats - Doyle Sails - Salt Harbor Studio Team One Newport - Ullman Sails - Premiere Racing - Gowrie Group - Samson Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
