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SCUTTLEBUTT 3309 - Wednesday, March 30, 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: Point Loma Outfitting, North Sails, and LaserPerformance. FOOD FOR THOUGHT By Roger Vaughan When I started racing at age 9 (never mind when that was), my North American Yacht Racing Union (NAYRU) rule book was 14 pages thick. I recall that it did the job. The most recent Racing Rules of Sailing is 151 pages. I suppose that reflects both the complexity our sport has attained, and the litigious nature of our culture. In addition, there are several web sites that present animated rules situations with explanations best understood by those with law degrees. All sports have rules, but I submit that no sport is as rules-dependent as sailboat racing. Many of the tactics that sailors use on the water are based on turning the rules to their advantage. And when those tactics come to fruition with an encounter, it's often a judgment call seen in their favor by both crews. When is tacking too close too close? Was the overlap for buoy room established in time? Did you really have to alter course to avoid that crossing port tack boat? Sports played within reasonable confines (parks, stadiums, courts) have umpires and referees on hand to make the calls and take the heat. If it's big time, slow-motion television replays are consulted. Grand Prix sail boat racing now has on-the-water umpires settling disputes, a big improvement. I agree the rules don't need to be changed. For big time racing where spectators are involved, we need to do a better job of explaining what happened and why. We have the technology to do that (in the early days, the NFL put a lot of hard work into explaining football, and it paid off handsomely). For the rest of us racing sailboats for fun (and okay, trophies too), perhaps we need to simplify our own game by understanding the basic rules and sailing by them; doing our turns when we screw up; talking about situations we don't understand after races; and letting the spirit of the RRS take precedence over the letter of those laws. In our Friday night series in Oxford, Maryland, we don't allow protests. That might sound radical; an invitation to a demolition derby, but our fleet is mostly well-behaved. Competition is keen, and yet we often hear this hail across the water: "Sail on." Try it. You'll like it. CHAMPAGNE WISHES AND CAVIAR DREAMS Forty yachts, totaling almost three linear kilometers in length, were 'competing' this past week at the St Barths Bucket Regatta in the French West Indies. The St. Barth's Bucket Regatta is an invitational event, open to sailing yachts over 100' unless otherwise invited. The Sailing Instructions includes extended safety sections to ensure that the racing does not interfere with the fun. A pursuit start, a mandatory Safety Tactician on each boat, permissible boat thruster use, and a minimum of 40 meters amongst the yachts all help to keep collisions from spilling the cocktails. The sheer diversity of this fleet was breathtaking, from classic Herreshoff schooner Elena of London, to the ever-magnificent sight of Maltese Falcon with her three Dyna Rig sails unfurled, "J" yachts Ranger and Hanuman, racing machines Leopard and Sojanna, plus a slew of sleek Dubois beauties. Of the 40 yachts sailing this year, an impressive 15 were new to the fleet. A Scuttlebutt photo gallery with submissions from Pim Van Hemmen and Cory Silken open the door to the world of 'champagne wishes and caviar dreams' -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0329/ 2011 SLAM ETCHELLS MID-WINTER WEST SPONSORSHIP ANNOUNCED Point Loma Outfitting is pleased to announce they will be the presenting sponsor of the 2011 SLAM Etchells Mid-Winter West Regatta on April 8-10 in San Diego. With the Etchells World Championship to be held at the same venue in June, this event will provide an excellent opportunity to get used to the local conditions. The entry list continue to grow, and already includes several past world champions and Olympic medalists. To help the local fleet, Point Loma Outfitting and SLAM have partnered in support of the Mid-Winter West Regatta for the past several years as a way of "giving back" to the sport. http://www.PointLomaOutfitting.com POSTPONED IN PARADISE (March 29, 2011) - The largest inhabited island in the Whitsundays, Hamilton Island lies off the east coast of Australia, 16 kilometres from the Queensland mainland, and is the main entry point for the Great Barrier Reef. And with its azure waters, brilliant beaches, and fascinating flora and fauna, it's nice... really nice. A holiday destination used almost exclusively for tourism, this week Hamilton Island is also host to the 2011 SAP 505 World Championship. Or at least it's trying to. While two races were completed on Saturday, the high winds and waves for the past three days have been deemed too dangerous for competition. American skipper Mike Martin and his crew Geoff Ewenson could not take the sitting around any longer; Martin, apart from being the 2009 world champion, is also a lover of heavy weather sailing. So down the sands to their boat they went, and into the surf beating into Catseye Beach, while the rest of the 85 boat fleet and assorted others watched and waited. As the saying goes: "Warning - do not try this at home - it is dangerous". And how did it go? "I thought it was going to be a little frightening," remarked Ewenson. "And yes, it was a little frightening, but it was great." Fortunately, the media followed the duo on their escapade. Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXqZ4Gnkj50 The race schedule continues on Wednesday through Friday. Sixteen teams represent USA and Canada, with Americans Ted Conrads/Brian Haines and Mike Holt/Carl Smit in a tie for second. -- http://www.505sapworldchampionship2011.com OPENING THE DOOR To help revitalize the E-Scow class on Barnegat Bay in New Jersey, two years ago a group of class members initiated the E-Scow grant program with the Island Heights Sailing Foundation. The grant program was designed to provide more access to the E-Scow for young sailors (under the age of 25), and to participate competitively for a season. Progress has been made. Four different skippers have had the opportunity to put together a crew and campaign a boat. In the past two years, the Barnegat Bay Yachting Association has seen a tremendous growth in E-Scow sailing, and in the number of younger sailors who have caught on with the class. "Crewing on the scow has become a hot ticket, and the foundation boats open the class to sailors who, most likely, could not afford to compete," explained supporter Art Bailey. "In addition, the veteran E-Scow sailors have helped the newer sailors succeed." Now in its third year, two more grant winners - Andy Goetting and Randy Hartranft - have been elected to receive support. Details: http://e-scow.org/2011/03/2011-e-scow-grant-program-winner-profiles/ WARM WATER. HOT RACING. GUARANTEED. The travelling circus of Caribbean competition has moved this week from the International Rolex Regatta in St. Thomas, USVI over to Tortola, British Virgin Islands for the 40th Anniversary BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival (March 30-April 3, 2011). The start of the Sailing Festival's annual Bitter End Cup is Wednesday for this 21-mile upwind course from Tortola's Nanny Cay Resort northwest through the Sir Francis Drake Channel to the finishing line off of the Bitter End Yacht Club (BEYC), situated on nearby Virgin Gorda. Once there, sailors cam relax, socialize and sail the BEYC's dinghy and beach-cat fleet that afternoon. On Thursday, the Nanny Cay Cup sees the fleet ease their sheets and retrace their wake back to Nanny Cay. While the bigger boats are racing to the BEYC and back, match racers will be the staying in Nanny Cay for the inaugural Gill BVI International Match Race Championships, a Grade-3 match-racing event. This event will be sailed in IC 24s (modified J/24s) just off of Nanny Cay, with the winner receiving an automatic invitation to the Chicago Match Racing Center's Grade 2 event (August, 2011). Things then get serious for some 140 boats on Friday (April 1) when the guns for the 40th Anniversary BVI Spring Regatta begin sounding. On the SOL course, the more ambitious boats will showcase their gybe-on-a-dime skills; on the One Design course, IC24s will riffle through as many windward-leewards - plus a few surprises - as they can handle; and on the Norman course, the "more civilized" white-sail division will feature a variety of scenic courses that will take the fleet around nearby rocks, islands and marks. Event website: http://www.bvispringregatta.org FREE SHIPPING ON NORTH 3DL TOTES & DUFFELS North Sails carries 3DL duffels and totes that all boaters are sure to love! Crafted with high quality zippers, stitching and nylon handles, these bags are fully lined and have convenient interior & exterior pockets. North 3DL bags are available in two sizes and are made with our unmistakable, durable & fashionable 3DL sail material. Starting at $45, these bags are perfect for travel, a day on the boat or a weekend away! Through Sunday, April 3, we'll deduct surface shipping within North America on all 3DL bags when you mention '3DL S-butt Bags' in the comments box during checkout. http://www.northsailsgear.com ISAF SAILING WORLD CUP The European season gets into full swing this week in Palma de Mallorca, Spain for the Princess Sofia Trophy, the third stop on the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2010-2011 series. From April 4-9, over 600 teams from 59 countries will compete in 10 Olympic and one Paralympic sailing class (2.4mR). For the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG), the regatta is an important qualifying event for the first of two selection events that will be used to select the 2012 Olympic Sailing Team. "After a long winter of specialized training and competition, our top Olympic-class athletes are ready to go here in Palma," said USSTAG's High Performance Director/Head Coach Kenneth Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.), adding that the U.S. 2.4mR athletes will not compete in Palma and that competition in the Sonar and SKUD18 classes was cancelled. Racing starts Monday, April 4 and concludes with the medal race on Saturday, April 9 in nine of the 10 Olympic Classes. Women's Match Racing consist of an opening series, a knockout series, and a sail-off for boats not advancing to the knockout series, with the final matches scheduled on Saturday, April 9. Here is a list of the USSTAG athletes who will be competing: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Events/World_Cup/Princess.htm Event website: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/ JOURNEY TO PALMA Kyle Rogachenko, a member of the 2011 US Sailing Development Team (USSDT), shares the challenges of getting to the island venue of Palma de Mallorca, Spain: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (A week ago on Monday) I called the shippers to make sure everything had gone smoothly with my car and for directions how to pick it up in Barcelona. There seemed to be some confusion on the phone and they needed to call back later. I received a call back later in the day to find that my car was only in Hamburg, Germany and it had not been loaded onto the ship going to Barcelona. The only thing to do was change my flights and head directly to Hamburg if I wanted to make it to Palma in time for training. I moved my flight up to the Tuesday night red eye and arrived in Hamburg Wednesday morning. A thirty minute taxi ride brought me to the Port of Hamburg (a very large place). I found my way to the correct terminal and waited in line with all of the regular truckers picking up anything from fruit to tractor parts. By 1:30pm I was on the road in my American Yukon XL headed for Barcelona, Spain. I must mention that I don't speak any German and very few people spoke any English. With map and printed directions in hand, I made it straight through to Barcelona in 18 hours. In Barcelona, I found the warehouse with all of the US team gear and finally met up with my Laser! Fortunately, my Spanish is much better than my French and German so communicating my plans to the employees in the warehouse was relatively easy. All of my gear is now taken care of and it is on to the issue of towing the US Laser trailer onto the ferry to Palma. The Laser trailer was to arrive in Barcelona on the same day where USSTAG sailor Caleb Paine would trade for his Finn trailer. There was a delay moving the Laser trailer from storage in Weymouth, England so instead it was decided that I would take the Finn trailer on my 11:00pm scheduled ferry. I returned to the warehouse to find a brand new Finn coach boat trailer (with unassembled racks) and Zach Railey's Finn. At this point is was 7:30pm and time to get in line for the ferry. Thirty minutes, a couple wrenches, and a fork lift later, the trailer was assembled with a Finn riding on top. Back on Schedule! My ferry to Palma arrived early this morning, Friday. The Finn trailer was dropped off at the boat park and I headed to my hotel for some much needed rest. You may have noticed that at this point I have not slept since Monday night. So I ate plenty of food, drank a lot of water, and took a long (much needed) nap. I plan to get settled in at the boat park on Saturday and head out on the water for a short sail. Can't wait! -- http://www.kylerogachenko.com/?p=612 SAILING SHORTS * Since the demise of the Newport Spring show in the northeast two years ago, a new spring boat show is coming to Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut! SailQuest Mystic, a unique and family-oriented boat show, will be held May 13 - 15, 2011. The show will include sailboats, trawlers, downeast style power and select brokerage yachts from 20 to over 50 feet long, as well as several land exhibits. Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11607 * The World Sailing Speed Record Council has ratified a new 60 ft monohull 24 hour distance record. The new record, set by co-skippers Jean Pierre Dick/Loick Peyron (FRA/FRA) on the Open 60 Virbac-Paprec 3 while competing in the Barcelona World Race on January 21-22, is now 506.333 nm for an average speed of 21.1 kts. The previous record of 501.3 nm/20.9kts was set in 2007 by Alex Thompson/Andrew Cape (GBR/GBR) on the Open 60Hugo Boss. -- http://tinyurl.com/WSSRC-032911 * Sport+Markt, one of the leading sports research and consultancy companies, have concluded their research and evaluation of the 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit with a result that ascertains the world's leading regatta circuit returned 41,1 million euros in terms of media impact over the course of the year. The study was focused primarily in six countries: United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Germany and Portugal. -- Details: http://www.medcup.org/media/mailing/index.php?id=592 * (March 30, 2011; Day 4; 00:12 UTC) - The VELUX 5 OCEANS fleet have been relishing champagne sailing conditions - a stark contrast to the grey, cold and wet Southern Ocean environment of the previous two sprints. Now leading the 5700 nm fourth leg of the VELUX 5 OCEANS race from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Charleston, American Brad Van Liew has increased his margin over second place Derek Hatfield (CAN) to 25nm. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com/ * (March 29, 2011, Day 87; 21:01 UTC) - Barcelona World Race leader Virbac-Paprec 3 expects to have one last blast of strong winds and agitated seas to pass through before the challenges of Gibraltar, which they will arrive at Thursday night or Friday morning. Co-skippers Jean Pierre Dick/Loick Peyron (FRA/FRA) are 939 nm from the finish, with Iker Martinez/Xabi Fernandez (ESP/ESP) on MAPFRE 325.7 nm behind. -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en SUMMER IS COMING. ARE YOU READY? The iconic Sunfish is the ultimate summer boat (not so bad for Frostbiting either!) Light weight and car toppable, the Sunfish combines performance, stability and durability in a package for beginners and experts alike. Visit a dealer near you or http://www.laserperformance.com Put a smile on your face. Sail Sunfish. LAST CALL The April Fools edition of Scuttlebutt is coming Friday. This newsletter for April 1st is completely written by Scuttlebutt readers who are empowered to seek out all sectors of the sport... and have a little fun with it. The more unique, yet plausible, the better chance the story will be selected. The submission deadline is Wednesday, March 30th. Send stories to editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum encourages companies to post their personnel, product and service updates. Scuttlebutt editors randomly select Industry News updates each week to include in the Thursday edition of the Scuttlebutt newsletter. Here is the link to post Industry News updates: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news 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 Wade Aust: Great article on youth windsurfing (in Scuttlebutt 3307). People who have never mastered windsurfing do not understand the subtlety of board and rig handling and how easily it translates to dinghies, catamarans and keelboats. Great example: leaning the rig forward downwind to promote airflow up and over the rig is common in windsurfers, Stars (extreme example) and any other racing boat that uses stays. I can provide numerous other examples. Moreover, they are easier to transport and give kids an early taste of planing - great preparation for the new breed of boats. * From John Evans: (re, simplifying the rules in Scuttlebutt 3308) Russell Coutts obviously has obviously not looked at the RRS lately. Six pages of the RRS are more than enough for 90 percent of sailors to race honestly and safely. If Russell Coutts wants to find a bandwagon he might want to look at the 53 pages of Advice to Race Officers on Misconduct. If sailors obeyed the rules 10 - 23 of the RRS, those 53 pages would be unnecessary. * From Larry Zeitlin: "Simplifying the rules of sailing would hurt the sport" as stated in Scuttlebutt 3308...what utter nonsense. I fully agree with Russell Coutts that sailing rules can only be understood by professional diplomats. Soccer, the most popular sport in the world, has only 17 rules. Only half of them are procedural, controlling the action of the game. The rest simply describe the dimensions of the field of play, the nature of the ball and the player's equipment, and the number and duties of officials. Sailing officials should winnow down the rules to a precious few. Certainly no more than 20. Sailing is a simple sport. Maneuvering a boat from one place to another with the aid of the wind. Can it be more complicated than Soccer or Rugby? I think not. => Curmudgeon's Comment: If it was okay for boats to have the same level of contact as soccer players, then I agree we could do away with some of sailing's rules. As John Evans notes above, the most relevant rules in sailing are included in Part 2 - When Boats Meet. This section includes six pages for Rules 10 through 23 (13 rules). The only other biggee is Rule 42 (propulsion) in Part 4. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION You know when you're getting old when many of the people in People Magazine you've never heard of. 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