|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2924 - Tuesday, September 8, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Today's sponsors are Morris Yachts, Camet, and LaserPerformance. REMEMBERING TOM BLACKALLER Tom Blackaller, one of yacht racing's most colorful and outspoken competitors, died a young man on September 7, 1989 at the age of 49 years. The Scuttlebutt Forum has hosted a tribute to Tom’s life on the 20th anniversary of his passing, with remarkable stories that characterize both his zest for life and rare sailing skills. This tribute would have been incomplete with a tale from Paul Cayard. Here is his story: “Tom Blackaller was my sailing father. He grabbed a hold of me when I was 19. I knew how to sail but he taught me how to race. I left his umbrella when I was 28 to work for Raul Gardini. Tom had a huge effect on my sailing career. I was so fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. “I began crewing in Stars in 1977 and met Tom around the docks that summer. In 1978, I needed to learn how to match race to compete in a youth event in Newport Beach called the Governor’s Cup. Already a Star World Champion, extremely adept speaker, extremely good looking, a natural litigator, Blackaller was brash and intimidating. But I had just enough nerve to ask him to teach me how to match race.” -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8207#8207 * Thanks for everyone that contributed to this tribute: Stan Reisch, Alan Howlett, Todd Cozzens, Bill Campbell, Bruce Munro, Brendan Dobroth, Howard Palmer, Jeff Madrigali, Scott Kaufman, Peter Isler, Terry J. Kohler, Marc Hollerbach, Tom McCall, David Johnson, Ron Bartkoski, Bugs Baer, Peter Grimm, Jr, Bill Lee, Terry Rapp, Mark Reynolds, John Jourdane, Andy Macdonald, Scotty Watterworth, Pelle Petterson, Scotty King, John Rousmaniere, Will Tuthill, Fred Roswold, Heather Mull, Gary Jobson, David E Cain, Howard Macken, Chris Caswell, Bruce McPherson, Annie Hauer, Larry Whipple, Ken Miller, K. Paisley, Skip Allan, and Dwight Belden. If you want to share a story, please post it here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8054 FASTEST YACHT ON THE PLANET (September 5, 2009) - l'Hydroptere, the French foiling trimaran became the fastest yacht on the planet yesterday, setting a new record for the 500 metre mark of 51.36 knots, thus beating the previous record set by kitesurfer Alex Caizergues who held the previous record of 50.57kts set in Namibia last year. Alain Thebault and his crew also set new records for the 1000 metres lifting this mark from 43.09kts to 48.72 kts. The records were established at Hyeres (and are subject to the ratification of the WSSRC). A westerly wind of 28 kts was blowing for the records. During the run Alain Thébault and his crew hit 55,5 kts (103 km/h) and a set a mean velocity of 51.36 kts. A parallel project, is in the course of manufacture. Hydroptere.ch, an experimental platform which will sail on the Lake Leman, will be launched in spring 2010 and will be used as demonstrator for the development of the maximum sized hydrofoiler, which will sail/fly around the world. Three records are targeted: the Atlantic, the Pacific, and round the world tour. -- Sail-World, http://tinyurl.com/lmejwr * Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0906/ SEE THE NEW MORRIS M29 AND MORRIS M52 IN NEWPORT! The fall boat show season is upon us. First stop Newport, RI on September 17-20. The M29 and M52 will make their Newport debuts so please come by and see these beautiful yachts. Morris Service Manager Chris Murray will be on hand to discuss your winter’s work, storage, and refits! James Allen Morris Brokerage rep will also be on hand. Next stop Greenwich, CT for the Delamar Hotel’s Yacht Showcase October 3 and 4. The M29, M36, and M42 will be showcased at this exclusive venue. For more information: please call 1-207-244-5509 or email sales1@morrisyachts.com LASER MASTERS WORLDS Halifax, Nova Scotia (September 5, 2009) - After five days of competition at the 2009 Nautel Laser Master Worlds Championships, where the fleet of the 300 athletes from 27 countries enjoyed nearly flawless racing conditions on St. Margaret’s Bay, the final day was disappointing as the lack of a steady wind proved to be too variable for racing. After ten races in each division, here are the winners: Standard rig, Apprentice (35 to 44 years), Adonis Bougiouris (GRE) Standard rig, Masters (45 to 54 years), Scott Ferguson (USA) Standard rig, Grand Master (55 to 64 years), Wolfgang Gerz (GER) Radial rig, Apprentice (35 to 44 years), Richard Bott (AUS) Radial rig, Master (45 to 54 years), Carlos Eduardo Wanderley (BRA) Radial rig, Grand Master (55 to 64 years), Peter Heywood (AUS) Radial rig, Great Grand Masters (65 years and up), Peter Seidenberg (USA) Daily reports: http://tinyurl.com/kp58cy Fun video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABiImtA8IXU MINOPRIO BACK ON TOP IN ST. MORITZ St. Moritz, Switzerland (September 6, 2009; Day 5) - Adam Minoprio (NZL, ETNZ Black Match) reminded everyone why he is the No 1 in the ISAF Match Racing World Ranking. At the St. Moritz Match Race, the sixth stop on the nine event World Match RacingTour, the kiwi skipper knocked out defending tour champion Ian Williams (GBR, Team Pindar) in the semi-finals, and then endured a day of fickle winds to outmatch Torvar Mirsky (AUS, Mirsky Racing Team) to win the event. Mirsky didn’t have to compete in the quarter finals thanks to his victory in the opening round robin series. He had the right to choose his opponent, where he defeated Philippe Presti (French Team/French Spirit) in the Semi-Final. Presti later also lost the “Petit” final to Ian Williams (GBR, Team Pindar). Minoprio’s victory takes back the lead of the Tour, leapfrogging Mathieu Richard to a 12 point lead over Torvar Mirsky who moves up to second place. Frenchman Mathieu Richard dropped to third, who failed to advance beyond the round robin series at the St. Moritz Match Race. The next event on the Tour is the Danish Open starting on September 10th. -- Tour website: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/ * Detroit, MI (September 6, 2009) - After winning the opening round robin series in the 2009 Detroit Cup International Match Race, Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) continued on to take the title over 11 other teams in this ISAF Grade 2 Open event hosted by Bayview YC. After defeating her opponents in the quarter-finals (Reuben Corbett, NZL) and the semi-finals (Keith Swinton, AUS), the stage was set for a tremendous finals with Phil Robertson (NZL) who was second in the opening round robin series, and had won the Chicago Match Cup (Aug. 21-23) and was third at the Knickerbocker Cup (Aug. 27-30). -- Results: http://www.byc.com/Detroitcup/2009_Detroit_Cup_Scoring.xls HAMLIN CONQUERS BAY AND SKIFF FLEET San Francisco, CA (September 4, 2009) - In some sailboat racing circles its traditional to dunk the winners, but at the eighth annual 18' Skiff International Regatta hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club the winners were the only ones who didn't get dunked. Howie Hamlin, 56, of Long Beach, Calif. and his crew of Paul Allen, 34, and Matt Noble, 23, won it the hard way Friday by coming from behind in the 10th and last race to finish one point ahead of Australia's John (Woody) Winning. But mostly they did it by keeping their Harken-sponsored skiff right-side-up as everyone---everyone---else around them was doing tumbling acts in the toughest conditions of the five-day event. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8210#8210 * A tradition of the 18' Skiff International Regatta is the Bridge to Bridge Race run from the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge. Normally it's only the Skiffs, kite boards windsurfers that compete, but Chris Welsh's Spencer 65 Ragtime joined in as the only keelboat. Here is Welsh’s account: “In the spirit of bring your best horse and go for it, we put Ragtime on the line too. Entered the skiff division. 5:30 PM start, crazy tides & currents, gust to 28+ knots of breeze. Kites on the left start line, boards, 18's and Ragtime on the right. South Tower churning just to weather of us. Lined up with the main only, chute ready to hoist and pop open. careening through the crowd trying to avoid downed boards and the prospect of kitelines wrapping on the rig. Gun and we pop the chute, 18's careening around us. “Instant speed when the chute fills - 16.35 knots and building hard. Plywood humming, more dodging of the downed road kill. Trying to give the 18's and their narrow operating range room to get around without disaster. Gusts come on, maybe 30 knots, and the boat lights up to 18 knots. Bow lifted, bow wave a pair of standing waterfalls jetting out. More swerves for road kill. Boards are down, kites down, and two 18's sprawled. We curve past Alcatraz towards the Bay Bridge where it meets Treasure Island. Rock on.” -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8209#8209 GOING BEYOND ITALIAN FASHION...GET FUNCTION AND QUALITY Camet Performance sailing shorts design and materials are much more sophisticated and take advantage of a proprietary technology that allows the material to literally assist in your own body's thermoregulation process! DWR Supplex fabric provides excellent skin protection with a UV rating of 40, blocking 97.5% of UV rays. Chosen by crews time after time for major racing programs and rated "best and most popular" by sailors. Learn more at: http://www.camet.com/?Click=1335 SAILING SHORTS * San Diego, CA (September 7, 2009; Day 1) - For the 49 teams competing at the Snipe World Championship, maintaining consistency proved to be the biggest challenge for the first day of the event. Three races were held in 8-12 knots, with enough shifts, chop, and kelp islands to challenge both medium range speed and large course tactics. Leading the scoreboard as the only team to maintain all top ten scores is Gustavo del Castillo Palop and Felipe Llinares Pascual (ESP). Three races are scheduled for Tuesday, with racing continuing each day through to Friday, September 11th. -- Event website: http://www.snipeworlds2009.com/ * Annapolis, MD (September 7, 2009) - The International Farr 30 One Design Class held its 2009 North American Championship on September 5-7, with 12 teams vying for the title. Bodo and Nick von der Wense and the crew of Turbo Duck jumped out to a quick start, winning the first three races of the eight race series, and never looked back, eventually building a ten point lead over runner-up Jim Allsopp’s Moxie. -- Results: http://tinyurl.com/meqlkx * Lake Garda, ITA; There was no wind, no races and therefore no surprises on the fifth and final day at the Tornado World Championship, resulting in Australians Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby taking the 2009 World crown. Overnight leaders Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby (AUS) added another World title to their several existing: Bundock is now seven times Tornado World Champion, three of them with crew Ashby. They are also three times F18 World Champions and Ashby is a six times A-Class World Champion. -- Read on: http://www.sailing.org/29443.php * Porto Cervo, Italy. (September 7, 2009; Day 1) - The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2009, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda from 6th to 12th September, got off to a flying start today as the 42 participating yachts stormed round a 35 mile course in 20 to 25 knots of north easterly wind. Patrizio Bertelli’s Luna Rossa (ITA), with double Olympic gold medalists Robert Scheidt and Torben Grael (both took golds in the 1996 and 2004 in the Star and Laser classes respectively) took first place in corrected time in the Mini Maxi Racing division. -- Full report: http://www.regattanews.com/pressrelease.asp?pid=100162&lang=1 * Noted yachting journalist Tim Jeffery has joined the America’s Cup challenging team BMW ORACLE Racing as Director, Communications. Jeffery has reported on the America's Cup, as well as five Olympics and many of the world's major sailing events as The Daily Telegraph's (London) longstanding sailing correspondent. His work has been appeared in many of the world's leading sailing journals, including Seahorse, Yachting World, Yachting Monthly, Boat International (UK), SAIL (USA) and Kazi (Japan). PHOTO GALLERIA * Aided by the fleet of 6 Meters in Newport, RI for their World Championship, there was spectacular racing this Labor Day Weekend at the 30th Annual Classic Yacht Regatta, hosted by the Museum of Yachting. Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0907a/ * The combination of summer winds on San Francisco Bay and the 18' Skiff International Regatta provides a dream for high performance sailors, spectators, and thankfully, photographers. Enjoy: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0907b/ * For the competitors that like the strong winds of San Francisco, but prefer not to do the trapeze and crash test dummy routine favored by the 18’ skiffs, the Melges 32 class was also on the Bay hosting their North Americans on September 5-8. -- Photos and report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0907/ * The Perini Navi Cup is a regatta exclusively for the sailing yachts of Perini Navi, held in the spectacular enclave of Porto Cervo in Sardinia. It is a spectacular occasion for those who admire the style of Perini yachts, world leader in the planning and construction of ultra large sailing yachts. For elite shooter Carlo Borlenghi, it is just another rough gig: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0907c/ EIGHT BELLS Grace Segraves Rogers, the matriarch of the marine business in Jacksonville, died Saturday at her longtime home off the Ortega River just a few weeks shy of her 96th birthday. She was known as "Amazing Grace" for her exploits of winning canoe races into her 90s, hopping in her 1965 Cadillac to drive alone to a boat show in Miami and climbing the Great Wall of China on her 80th birthday. A graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Oaklawn Cemetery, 4801 San Jose Blvd. Mrs. Rogers established Pier 17 Marina on the Ortega River in 1963 along with the Ship's Locker, a nautical store. She sold the marina in 1977 and moved the store to Lake Shore Boulevard, where it still operates. "Grace was quite a legend in the marine business here," said John T. Lowe, former executive director of the Jacksonville Marine Association, in which Mrs. Rogers held the longest continuous membership. "You could be looking for some rare or hard-to-find item for your boat, and Grace would have it somewhere in her store," he said. -- Florida Times-Union, read on: http://tinyurl.com/le37qw LASERPERFORMANCE’S FREE GEAR PROMOTION IS ON! From now through December 31st buy a boat from LaserPerformance and get a dolly or covers PLUS a Ronstan Race Watch or Gill Dry Bag and Floatable Sunglasses - for free! It’s that simple. It’s that great a deal. Some restrictions apply. Contact your local dealer or go to http://www.LaserPerformance.com for all the details. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Please submit your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Jonathan B. Luscomb: I just read Paul Cayard’s note regarding the Defender of the Cup (in Scuttlebutt 2923). I agree with him 100%. This thing is getting beyond ridiculous. What happened to sailboat racing? What happened to sportsmanship? What happened to the rules? What happened to the anticipation of a multi-challenger event? I get the "hide the boat from the challenger", "hide the keel from the challenger", etc, but I don't get "hide the rules" from the challenger until the start. This thing is a race of skill and a race of technology, but it has become a race to screw your competitor. Would someone please file a suit to give the Cup back to the New York Yacht Club so we can start over? It seems at this rate we could get that resolved before we ever see any fair sailing. If we can't do that, let Ernesto have the damn thing and we can start over without him. I'll bet that there might even be other syndicates around the world that would sail. We can call the event "the America's Cup" instead of the New York Court of Appeals Cup. * From Rich Roberts: In his letter last week rejecting the America's Cup defender's self-perceived right to tilt the competition in its favor without limits, Paul Cayard summed up in a few words the key ingredient the game lacks in that regard: conscience. This is the man who just last month, with skipper Howard Hamlin, surrendered a redress victory they had won after being disqualified for a starting violation in the SAP 505 World Championship. After re-reading the vaguely stated rule, they chose to forfeit their redress and abide by the apparent intent of the rule because it was, they decided, "the right thing to do." Oh, if only this spirit prevailed in the America’s Cup, where lawyers debate what the long-gone writers of the Deed of Gift intended, when it's essentially pretty simple: "friendly competition between foreign countries." That's all the DofG is about: do the right thing. Sure, major players have always feuded their way through the AC but never to the current extent of enriching lawyers and putting professional sailors out of work. Thankfully, on our local weekend waters almost everyone races with a sense of fair play, not life or death, willing to admit an error by doing penalty turns, making it unnecessary for rivals to file protests and force all to endure a lower level of the New York State Supreme Court experience: the jury hearing. Cayard has it right. Listen to your conscience. Do the right thing and sailing can be totally fun, from top to bottom. * From Peter Hürlimann, Switzerland: Dear Oracle, "America's Cup" does NOT mean, it belongs to America. So stop whining. PLEASE. * From Dave Irish: Regarding ISAF and the use of the word "World" (as reported in Scuttlebutt 2923), in addition to Regulation 18, and specifically 18.1, your readers should also look at Regulation 19, and particularly 19.3, 19.4(c), and 19.4.1 (c). => Curmudgeon’s Comment: The rules that Dave references in the ISAF Regulations essentially state that competitors participating in non-approved world championship events can have their ISAF eligibility suspended. Here is the link to the regulations (page 61): http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/2009ISAFRegsUpdatedMay-%5b7303%5d.pdf * From Guy Nowell, Editor, Sail-World.com/Asia: Regarding the 2009 Tjorn Runt race video in Scuttlebutt 2923, in Hong Kong the sailing instructions issued by the yacht clubs forbid boats to pass through certain small gaps. The penalty is disqualification. Maybe the organisers of the Tjorn Runt should consider something similar? * From Colin Denny: When reading your story about the NY legislation (in Scuttlebutt 2922) I considered that the lifejacket laws should be applied at all times. I am often surprised that more jurisdictions do not require lifejackets or personal flotation devices (PFDs) for occupants of small vessels. Here in Tasmania, where historically a large proportion of the population are recreational boat users, there are very strong laws covering wearing PFDs and equipment levels particularly in boats of less than six metres (approximately 20 feet). Recreational boat operators must be tested and licensed and jet ski operators require an additional endorsement. In Tasmania, where we all love our boating, it seems sensible and not at all intrusive. You can see Tasmania's requirements by following the prompts at: http://tinyurl.com/lnmlyf * From Chris Ericksen: In 'Butt 2923, Michael H. Koster suggests that, in light of the secret agreements between ISAF and Alinghi, "it may be time to start discussing an alternative Olympic sailing representative other than ISAF." I understand the sentiment but respectfully disagree: let ISAF keep the America's Cup, the Olympics, Grand Prix sailing and everything else that can't be done by mere mortals and let the rest of us run our sport for our benefit and not the benefit of the folks at the very top of the pyramid. * From Roger Marshall: How can ISAF enforce rules such as the non-compliant use of the word ‘World’ when they enter into secret agreements with America's Cup groups? Seems to me, that ISAF needs to be totally transparent and make every agreement open to inspection if they expect every day sailors to accept their edicts. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay. Special thanks to Morris Yachts, Camet, and LaserPerformance. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
