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SCUTTLEBUTT 3669 - Wednesday, September 5, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: APS, North Sails, and e Sailing Yachts. KEEPING THE BALL ROLLING, OLYMPICS OR NOT The Star is one of the most prolific keelboats in the world. Designed in 1911 by Francis Sweisguth, it remains an incredible boat to sail. At the 2012 Olympic Games, it was the most senior of boats, having made its debut in Los Angeles at the 1932 Games. But now the Olympic status of the class remains uncertain. The fickle winds of event selection favored a youth movement, and sought out equipment that would favor this ideal. Keelboats, deemed expensive and frumpy, were not selected for the 2016 Games. While some classes rely heavily on their Olympic status, the Star is not one of them. With over 8,000 boats built, event turnouts remain strong. The class is well organized, its members well respected, and its history unmatched. Not many classes can claim Lowell North, Dennis Conner, Mark Reynolds, Vince Brun, etc. among it honor roll. The class history is perhaps richest in South Florida, where it is now embracing its post Olympic era by launching a new classic - the Star Winter Series Presented by EFG International. Beginning in November, Starboat owners and crews will have five events to maximum racing time while minimizing hassle and expense. There are few places on the planet that offer up the quality sailing conditions as does South Florida in the winter, and with convenient storage for up to 20 days of sailing through March, the class is eager to keep the ball rolling, Olympics or not. Class info: http://www.starclass.org Event info: http://starwinter.com/ 2012 PARALYMPIC GAMES - SAILING EVENTS Weymouth, UK (September 4, 2012) - After a two-hour wait for wind on Portland Harbour, racing finally got underway on day four of the 2012 Paralympic Sailing Regatta. With two days remaining to complete the 11-race series, the leaders in the Single-Person Keelboat (2.4mR) and Three-Person Keelboat (Sonar) are distancing themselves from the field. In the Two-Person Keelboat event (SKUD18), while it is nearly decided which teams will medal, it will take three more races to determine the order. Single-Person Keelboat (2.4mR) - Top 5 of 16 (after 8 races) 1. Helena Lucas (GBR) - 13pts 2. Heiko Kroger (GER) - 24pts 3. Thierry Schmitter (NED) - 30pts 4. Paul Tingley (CAN) - 34pts 5. Damien Seguin (FRA) - 39pts Two-Person Keelboat (SKUD18) - Top 5 of 11 (after 8 races) 1. Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) - 11pts 2. Jen French and JP Creignou (USA) - 15pts 3. Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) - 15pts 4. John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit (CAN) - 24pts 5. Marco Gualandris and Marta Zanetti (ITA) - 40pts Three-Person Keelboat (Sonar) - Top 5 of 14 (after 7 races) 1. Udo Hessels, Marcel van de Veen & Mischa Rossen (NED) - 12pts 2. Jens Kroker, Siegmund Mainka & Robert Prem (GER) - 23pts 3. Paul Callahan, Tom Brown & Bradley Johnson (USA) - 27pts 4. Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris & Stephen Churm (AUS) - 29pts 5. Bruno Jourdren, Nicolas Vimont-Vicary & Eric Flageul (FRA) - 30pts Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/Para-2012-results Canada report: http://tinyurl.com/CST-090412 USA report: http://tinyurl.com/USA-090412 PERFECT GEAR FOR FALL SAILING It's almost time to start pulling out the Fall jackets again. Few things feel better during Fall sailing then putting on that nice lightweight top on a chilly day and immediately feeling comfortable and ready to go. The Aroshell by Zhik is one of those jackets. Windproof, waterproof, breathable, and adjustable the Aroshell is an excellent top layer to fight off the cool breeze to let you extend your valuable time on the water. It's minimalist style, 3-layer stretch fabric, and fully taped seams make the Aroshell not only a great looking but top performing jacket that you will be excited to pull out of the closet every Fall. Now available at APS: http://bit.ly/PSmQ8F Get it customized http://bit.ly/Crugear1 TUNING TO THE VENUE By Jeremy Wilmot I was fortunate to sail on windy San Francisco Bay with Team Bandit, from my hometown Sydney, Australia, at the 2012 Melges 24 North Americans (Aug. 24-26). We came away victorious, making it the first victory by an all Australian boat at an international Melges 24 event. Something that really helped us win this regatta was how the team designed our rig tune - driving, trimming and tactics - around the venue, Berkley Olympic Circle, on San Francisco bay. I am a believer in the saying, "a tactician never wins. when the boat wins, it's the boat speed and when a boat loses it's bad tactics." This is why tacticians are usually the grumpiest people in the boat park. It is also why I have such respect for people on the bow. They seem to share the same fate as a tactician. This simple feeling is why I approach tactics with a rig tool instead of a weather forecast; at least we might have good boat speed. Pretty much I take the tune guide as exactly what it is: A GUIDE. Then I tweak it around the venue and whether my tactics that day will need a high slow VMG groove or a fast low VMG groove. This is why many of my competitors see me doing a complete rig tune before each day sailing. I've kind of already decided in the morning what way I'm going to go around the course. For example, San Francisco is a venue that is windy and the corners pay. For me this means I have to set the boat up for flaps, hammer or throttle down mode. Call it what you want, I pretty much wanted to reach out to the corners. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/M24-090412 HOW TO: SPLICING HIGH-TECH LINE By Bob Pingel, Sailing magazine I am going to make the bold statement that there is no reason to use wire rope in our running rigging any longer. Single-braid, high-tech lines have displaced the need for 7x19 wire and Nicopresses. I am not quite at a point say we don't need wire standing rigging, steering cables and the like but their day is coming, too. Fiber materials are far lighter, stronger pound for pound, less expensive, more flexible, smoother running and corrosion proof. Fiber is easy to terminate too, and something you can do yourself. This all combines to give us a better "tool" to use on our boats. Using 7x19 wire in backstay adjusters, boom vang cascades, halyards and many other places used to be the norm. We also all remember dirty wire, meat hooks and bulky Nicopress fittings. These can all be replaced with 12-strand high-tech line made from Spectra, Dyneema and Vectran. Examples of this line are Samson Amsteel Blue (www.samsonrope.com) and New England Ropes Endura 12 (www.neropes.com). Even something as simple as lazy jacks can be better implemented in very small Spectra. The rope is very slippery so the sail slides down easily and so small that it has very little windage. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/SM-090412 BACK TO BASICS TEST We have all been there before, going up the beat and things are just not going well. You have missed some shifts and are staring to fall behind. The trick is how to get back into making gains and sailing smart. This scenario happened to us quite a few times at MWE and how we rebounded was the key to our success. When this happens, the best thing to do is to get back to the basics. Thistle National Champion Allan Terhune asks himself four simple questions to get him back on track. What do you think they are? (Answer below) NORTH SAILS-POWERED BOATS TAKE TOP 10 AT MELGES 24 NA'S Congratulations to Team 'Bandit' who won the 2012 Melges 24 NA's in San Francisco last week. Powered by a complete North Sails inventory, Team 'Bandit' consisted of an all Australian crew including North's Connecticut-based sales representative Jeremy Wilmot calling tactics. "Something that really helped us win this regatta was how the team designed our rig tune, driving, trimming and tactics around the venue, Berkeley Olympic Circle, on San Francisco Bay," explained Wilmot. The top 10 boats racing in the regatta were powered by North Sails (only the 3rd place boat had a partial inventory). Read full story: http://www.onedesign.com SEND US YOUR RACE REPORTS Posting your event information on the free, self-serve Scuttlebutt Event Calendar tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. But don't stop there... send us your race reports too. Here are some of the upcoming events listed on the calendar: Sept 6-9 - Beneteau First 36.7 North Americans - Cleveland, OH, USA Sept 6-9 - Viper 640 North Americans - Marblehead, MA, USA Sept 6-9 - Rolex Big Boat Series - San Francisco, CA, USA Sept 7-9 - E-Scow National Championship - Lakeview, NY, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * Don't miss the chance to bid on a once in a lifetime opportunity for an unforgettable and exhilarating experience of being part of Oracle Team USA on an AC45 in the San Francisco Bay - a thrilling ride with the best sailors on one of the fastest boats - at the 8th Annual Hearts, Clubs & Aces Golf Tournament, Dinner and Silent/Live Auction (Sept. 7) to benefit AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support Services (ACCESS), a charity dedicated to helping those affected by air disasters. Info at: http://www.accesshelp.org * Christopher Dragon and Kyrie emerged as the top winners in this weekend's 78th running of the Vineyard Race hosted by Stamford Yacht Club. Christopher Dragon, a J 122 sailed by Andrew Weiss of Larchmont Yacht Club and Storm Trysail Club, was the winner of the IRC handicap class for the 238-mile Vineyard Race. Kyrie, a Tartan 4100 sailed by John DiMatteo of Centerport Yacht Club, was the top corrected finisher in the PHRF handicap class on the Vineyard course. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/VR-090412 * Porto Cervo, Italy (September 4, 2012) - Torrential rain, hail, thunder and lightning, churning seas and 35 knots of wind forced the abandonment of racing on the second day of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. The 34 competing yachts, divided into Mini Maxi, Racing, Racing/Cruising, Supermaxi and Wally divisions, had a delay on the docks followed by an hour's wait out on the water for conditions to stabilize. The shifty breeze, however, swung from south-east to west and then developed into a full blown rainstorm forcing all boats back to Porto Cervo Marina at approximately 1 p.m. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/YCCS-090412 * Newport, RI (September 4, 2012) - Twenty-four Corinthian (amateur) teams from around the U.S. have settled into Narragansett Bay to ready for the first gun on Wednesday in the second ever U.S. Qualifying Series for the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup. Using the new J/70 one design sport boat and New York's fleet of Sonars, the top three teams will qualify to race NYYC Swan 42s against an elite international field in the 2013 Invitational Cup. -- Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/0904/ * Work on the new VO 65-foot one-design that will contest the next two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race is underway at Persico Spa, in Bergamo, Italy - one of the four boatyards responsible for the manufacture of the high-performance racing yacht that will take the start line in Alicante in 2014. Built out of a polystyrene block, the plug is now being shaped by a high-tech milling machine. The first boat is expected to be launched by June 2013. -- Report/photos: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-090412 TEST ANSWER When things aren't go well upwind, Thistle National Champion Allan Terhune asks himself four simple questions to get him back on track. 1. Where is there more pressure? 2. Which tack aims us closer to the mark? 3. Are we in a clean lane? 4. Is the boat going fast? While these seem too simplistic, this is the beauty of it and will get you back on track. Let's take a look at each one. Read on: http://www.onedesign.com/tabid/23032/default.aspx?news_id=3523 JOIN E SAILING YACHTS IN NEWPORT Tour the e33 squared edition daysailer on Dock M-10 at the Newport Boatshow next week. This next generation e33 is the culmination of five years of design and sail handling innovations and delivers superior performance, easy handling and comfort all wrapped up in one gorgeous boat. Limited test sails available: http://www.esailingyachts.com 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 Debi Schoenherr, NJ, IU, Great Lakes Sailor: Claire Titgemeyer was a consummate Volunteer! Always a smile on her face, loved all the sailors, and had many other 'sons' besides Mikie! She will be sorely missed; I am blessed to have known her for so many years. Hugs to the family! * From Toby Cooper: For the moment it's all over, but the flavor of the August 2012 AC World Series lingers on. In the words of KFOX DJ Big Rick Stewart, a non-sailing rock-and-roll motorcycle buff, "It was all they said it would be and more." It is possible that the Bay Area sailing landscape and our sailing lives will never be quite the same. And this is even before the big AC72s come to town. Here in my view, anyway, is why. For one thing, Larry Ellison and his team understand that a key part of successful sports marketing is to make heroes out of the athletes. So they made a deal with the Giants with mutual benefits. The Giants hosted an America's Cup Day in which the flamboyant Spithill waved to the crowd and threw the first pitch (a low-outside strike at that) and the die was cast. During the sailing week they played highlights on the Big Screen at games, screaming cats and overlaps at the finish line. As a result, tens of thousands of Giants fans now own a piece of the AC, with more to come I am sure. It didn't hurt that the understated Russell Coutts provided triple theater on the water. It's all about attitude. Crash the line or crash the boat. Make the play or die trying. Ask Buster Posey. Sports fans understand this stuff. I for one would like to thank the AC Event Authority for hiring a Sustainability Director and giving her a real set of teeth. As a result, no plastic water bottles, no "6,000 pink balloons", and no plastic logo bow stickers peeling off in the Bay. There was more than ample exposure for sponsors on all fronts, but without the plastic trash in the Bay, on its shores, and in the Berkeley hills. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14456#14456 EDITOR'S NOTE: Will Baillieu's commentary in Scuttlebutt 3668 brought out the fight from both corners. Rather than sling mud in the newsletter, we have posted the comments in the forum along with the positive report above from Toby. * From Dwight Gertz: It was fun to read the creation story of the Club 420 in Scuttlebutt 3666, but like all good stories, it has some complications that are worth mentioning. My memory is hazy but I think that the process went through three stages over several years. We first tried to strengthen the original (1967?) Lanaverre boats by rebuilding them with new side tanks and other enhancements, but that really didn't make them durable enough. The next step was the purchase in 1972 of a new fleet from the Israeli builder, Snapir. These boats were more durable, still fast enough to win national and international 420 championships, and incorporated some of the thinking that eventually became part of the next fleet, widely credited with being the first "club" 420's. The important part of the story is that the whole process was led by undergraduates and recent alumni of the club. In particular, Steve Taylor ('73) invested endless hours testing new ideas, talking with other schools (Navy had also purchased a fleet of strengthened boats), visiting potential builders, and raising the money for the project from alumni. I was the commodore of the club in 1972 and I remember Steve as a force of nature, pushing things ahead on all fronts. His success should be an inspiration for the undergraduate leaders of any college sailing team. * From Bruce Thompson: Looking at the list of the members of the U S Sailing Olympic Review committee shown in 'Butt 3667, I immediately see one glaring fault. There is only one woman, Cory Sertl. If you intend to develop youth sailors, the first person you want to win over is MOM! College football coaches recruit the parents. One of the greatest assets my Junior Fleet has is the group of mothers. As for youth development, the organizing authority for the 2009 U.S. Championship of Champions specifically recruited the national champions of the four largest youth classes, Club 420, Club Flying Junior, Opti and Laser Radial. The Opti champion, Christopher Williford, was only 14 at the time, and now he is on the Olympic Development team sailing 29ers. What a growth experience it must have been to sail Lightnings with a jib, spinnaker, and an adult crew to mentor him. Back to moms...I have seen lots of 'helicopter parents'. His mother was the opposite; a quiet, smiling presence on the periphery of the meetings who let her son fend for himself with her obvious approval. Everyone's happy if Mom is happy! Youth sailors will get nowhere without the support of their families and a program that does not recognize that fact is doomed to failure. * From Bob Colpitts: About how the Big Boat Series is opening up to multihulls (SBUTT 3668), I've been reading how multihulls are the wave of the future for over fifty years. It was nonsense then and is still nonsense now. For the average sailor who balances cruising with club racing, or enjoys casual daysailing, multihulls present many problems. Unless they are stripped out and high tech, multihulls perform very poorly close hauled or downwind, and are only marginally faster on a reach, and that's only in a good breeze. Once you load them for cruising things get even worse. They must stay light to be fast. Then there is the problem of berthage and storage ashore. Their wide beam and large foot print is a serious and expensive issue with the clubs and marinas that must deal with them. I've sailed and owned beach cats and thoroughly enjoyed them. But for most sailors, multihulls will always be a minor aspect of their sailing experience. Sailors who sail monohulls are legion; sailors who only sail multihulls will always be a small minority. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (1969-74) SPONSORS THIS WEEK Atlantis WeatherGear - Team One Newport Soft Deck - APS - North Sails - e-Sailing - Ullman Sails Ribcraft - Summit Yachts - Premiere Racing Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
