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SCUTTLEBUTT 3106 - Friday, June 4, 2010Scuttlebutt 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 KINDLE: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/kindle RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: Doyle Sails and Flexofold. TACKING TIPS: THE TURN AND THE ACCELERATION By Bill Gladstone, North U As mundane as they may seem, good tacks are essential to good racing. Make each tack a little better and you'll save a few boat lengths every race. Tacks can be divided into two parts: The Turn, and The Acceleration. Surprisingly, after The Turn you are ahead in VMG of where you would have been had you not tacked. All the losses due to tacking accrue during the critical second part - The Acceleration. Part I - The Turn We are always ready to tack. Unless we're on the layline, as we complete one tack the expected next maneuver is another tack. As soon as one tack is complete we prepare for the next one. At "Ready About" do nothing, or at least, as little as possible. If hiked and sitting out board then one crew may need to turn inboard, but is it slow to have the entire crew turn in and stop hiking at "Ready About." This slows the boat going into the tack and the penalty compounds throughout the tack. At "Ready About" you should hike harder as one crew member turns in and prepares for the jib release. At the helm, do NOT wind up (by which I mean, do not bear off onto a close reach) in preparation for tacking. Just keep sailing close hauled. Before tacking make sure you are not tacking into bad air, and look for a relatively smooth spot to turn in. At "Tacking" lean in to heel the boat into the tack. Now is the time to create weather helm to help the boat steer itself up into the wind with minimum rudder. You can also help by pulling the traveler up as the boat turns into the wind. Use a smooth turn. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/253f44n 500 MILLION EUROS AND ITALY? By Kimball Livingston, Yachting Journalist Say it ain't so, Joe. I mean, Larry. I mean, those rumors that are flying around that a city in Italy has promised 500 million Euros for the America's Cup, the rumors that claim said city is on the brink of taking over America's Cup 34. It's serious enough that a member of the Long Beach committee - they want a Cup in San Francisco and a Louis Vuitton event in Long Beach - has written to the president of US Sailing, urging him to "use your bully pulpit of editorial comment to encourage the organizers to host the 34th America's Cup on San Francisco Bay." That would be John Sangmeister, veteran of the 12 Meter days, writing to Gary Jobson (likewise a veteran of the 12 Meter days, come to think of it). As a matter of fact, Sangmeister rang my chimes too, which is how I came to be rattling the doors at BMW Oracle with a message on the order of: I know you can't tell me anything, but tell me something anyway. They didn't, exactly. The responses were a mix of the calming and the cryptic. Herewith their Director of Communications, Tim Jeffery, via email: "There are some interesting punts around at picking the venue: some so way off base you really wonder where these ideas come from; some public and known; some plausible but wrong. All of them are much farther advanced than the reality, as the options continue to increase." Best, Tim I would prefer to think that there is only one option, and that is to hold America's Cup 34 on San Francisco Bay, in the home waters of Golden Gate Yacht Club, inscribed on the Cup itself as the winner of the 33rd match. -- Read on: http://kimballlivingston.com/?p=3306 BEST SAILING YACHT 45M+: NAZENIN V At the prestigious World Superyacht Awards 2010, the beautiful 52m ketch Nazenin V built by RMK Marine was honored with a Judges Special Accommodation in the category for Best Sailing Yacht 45m+. Nazenin V is optimized to balance performance, seaworthiness, and comfortable handling on all points of sail. A generous sail plan, including an oversized mizzen mast, gives Nazenin V numerous options and configurations for sailing. Furling head and staysails ease the handling of a full complement of D4 sails from Doyle Sailmakers. The end result is a yacht that drives effortlessly and points incredibly well. To see for yourself if sails really do make the boat, visit http://www.doylesails.com/news . SCUTTLEBUTT TRIVIA What do the first four Sperry Topsider NOOD Regattas already held in 2010 have in common? (Answer below) BOSTON COLLEGE WINS 2010 ICSA/GILL NATIONALS Madison, Wisc. (June 3, 2010) - Light air again foiled the sailing plans of the 18 schools that had trained and competed all year to be able to challenge for the 2010 ICSA/Gill National Championship taking place on Lake Mendota from June 1-3. A first-time winner of the title - Boston College - held the lead position through the first two days of the championship. The title also earns BC another rarer entry in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association's history books, as the sixth school to win all three spring championships (ICSA Women's Nationals, ICSA/APS Team Race Nationals, and the ICSA/Gill National Championship) along with Navy, ODU, Tufts, St. Mary's and Harvard. "The conditions made it a tiny bit anticlimactic, but it feels good," said Greg Wilkinson, Boston College Head Coach, about the title win. "We arrived at the lake this morning and, as it has been for the last week, it was glass. We talked as a team and reminded each other that we would be sailing, we tried to convince ourselves that we would be sailing. I'm proud to be in that group of schools that have won all three championships." -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/344e6ts PHOTOS: Since 2005, Scuttlebutt has partnered with photographer Glennon Stratton to produce photo galleries from the College Spring Nationals. Posted are complete galleries from the Womens, Team Race, and Coed Nationals: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/cn/ SEMI FINALISTS DECIDED AT LA MADDALENA Sardinia, Italy (June 3, 2010; Day 13) - Five races confirmed four powerful semi-finalists today for the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena. They are the French/German boat All4One, Sweden's Artemis, Emirates Team New Zealand and SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team. One quarter-final was decided today, with fifth-placed SYNERGY defeated fourth-placed Mascalzone Latino two races to one. The only races sailed in the shifty northwest breeze were the last two of the round robin and those of the single quarter-final.__The remaining three boats went through to the semi-finals based on their performances in the round robin. All4One, in fourth place on Tuesday, won the round robin today, after defeating Sweden's Artemis, which had led on points throughout the week. All4One, a new team this season, finished the round with a 6-3 record, winning their last four races, handing defeats to top-seeds Artemis and Emirates Team New Zealand in the process. Match races over the next three days in Version 5 America's Cup boats off the Sardinian island of La Maddalena will determine the outcome of the two-week series. All racing concludes June 6th. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/3y8tmfa Current standings 1. All4One, FRA/GER, skipper Jochen SchÅmann (GER), 6-3, 6 pts 2. Artemis, SWE, skipper Paul Cayard (USA), 6-3, 6 pts 3. Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL, skipper Dean Barker (NZL), 6-3, 6 pts 4. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, ITA, skipper Gavin Brady (NZL), 6-3, 5 pts* 5. Synergy, RUS, skipper Karol Jablonski (POL), 5-4, 5 pts 6. Azzurra, ITA, skipper Francesco Bruni (ITA), 4-5, 4 pts 7. TeamOrigin, GBR, skipper Ben Ainslie (GBR), 4-5, 4 pts 8. Luna Rossa, ITA, skipper Ed Baird (USA), 3-6, 3 pts 9. BMW ORACLE Racing, USA, skipper James Spithill (AUS), 3-6, 3 pts 10. Aleph, FRA, skipper Bertrand Pace (FRA), 2-7, -2 pts* * Penalties deducted by Jury/Umpires LIVE TELEVISION: The final four days of the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena will be televised around the globe, live, beginning on June 3rd. In territories without live television, fans can pick up the programme on a live internet stream. The television production will have inputs from two on board cameras, two chase-boat cameras and a helicopter, as well as VirtualEye animation graphics, on board audio, and expert commentary. -- Details: http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/newsletter/?id=186 BACKGROUND: The Louis Vuitton Trophy series is designed to be a cost-effective format for match racing competition in Version 5 America's Cup Class boats. For the La Maddalena event, teams will take turns racing on four equalised America's Cup Class boats: two have been provided by BMW Oracle Racing (USA 87 and USA 98) and two by Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (ITA 90 and ITA 99). After La Maddalena, the 2010 series continues on to Dubai (Nov. 13-28). -- http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com TUNNICLIFFE LEADS DAY 2 SANTA MARIA CUP Annapolis, MD (June 3, 2010) - Hot and sticky conditions with the threat of thunderstorms were not enough to stifle racing today, and the 20th annual BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup international women's match-racing regatta continued with an additional six flights, completing the first half of the double round-robin phase and two of the remaining nine in the second half in breezes ranging from 5 to 12 knots before the breeze died in the face of an oncoming line of squalls. American Olympic gold medalist and 2009 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe and her team currently are at the top of the leaderboard with only one loss in the first half and wins in both of the second half contests for an impressive 10-1 record so far. "It was good today," Tunnicliffe said. "We waited long enough for the good breeze to come in. It was tricky with the storms to the south shifting the wind around." -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/37ajvku Current Standings: Anna Tunnicliffe, USA (6), 10-1 Claire Leroy, FRA (2), 9-2 Sally Barkow, USA (10), 9-2 Genny Tulloch, USA (11), 8-3 Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA (7), 6-5 Julie Bossard, FRA (8), 5-6 Juliana Senfft, BRA (19), 3-7 Sarah Bury, CAN (67), 2-9 Maegan Ruhlman, USA (48) 1-10 Raquelhora Aimone, BRA (66) 1-9 Event website: http://www.boatussantamariacup.org PERFORMANCE MATTERS Under sail or under power; daysailing, cruising or racing - performance matters. The single most important thing you can do to improve the performance of your boat is to change to a low-drag, high-thrust Flexofold propeller. The attention to design and manufacturing details is apparent at first look. Relentlessly refined for maximum efficiency under power and lowest drag under sail -Sail faster & further, motor at lower RPM with a Flexofold sailboat propeller. Click the link for more information: http://tinyurl.com/FlexoFold-scuttlebutt SAILING SHORTS * (June 3, 2010; Day 6) - "Sitting here in the nav area looking at the GPS and our plotter. The GPS says we are doing speed over the ground at 20 knots, fantastic! It has been a great nights sail with our largest A-2 spinnaker flying, only one problem we are heading towards Lisbon! In layman's terms, a yacht cannot sail directly into or 180 degrees directly away from the wind, we always need to sail at an angle to the wind hence heading for Lisbon and not the UK." -- Transatlantic record attempt captain's blog, read on: http://www.leopard3.com/transatlantic_record_attempt_cb_2010.html * (June 3, 2010) - Keith Stokes, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp., said Thursday that a committee has decided on what site to pitch to America's Cup officials. "Fort Adams State Park represents one of the finest locations to do that. It's the people's park, and the leave-behind at the end of the event will enhance marine trade and marine infrastructure that benefits sailing, marine training, marine trades or for people like me who don't sail and just want to go to the water and enjoy the view," Stokes said. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/27fx4n5 * In April, the U.S. brokerage sailboat market once again made gains against the same month a year earlier. Sales reported by yacht brokerage members of YachtWorld.com showed an increase in unit sales from 425 boats in April 2009 to 547 boats in April 2010. The latter nearly equals the best sales month in 2009, the normal seasonal high point of June (550 boats). Collective valuation of all sales increased as well, year over year, growing 34 percent from $27 million to $37 million. -- Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/0603/ * Chicago, IL (June 4, 2010) - The Chicago Match Race Center (CMRC) is having a unique 2-for-1 value in match race sailing, in both Tom 28s and Elliot 6m boats, with the ISAF Grade 3 Chicago Open A Regatta starting June 4th to June 5th, followed by the Chicago Open B Regatta starting June 6th to June 7th. The consecutive events are an innovation designed to maximize the opportunity for participating teams to do a lot of match race sailing in one trip to Chicago, as well as to earn double the Grade 3 points for the ISAF's World Ranking list for match race sailing. -- Full story: http://www.chicagomatchrace.com/PressRelease/article.asp?p=10036 * Gyeonggi, South Korea (June 3, 2010) - The world's most elite match racers converge on the developing region of Gyeonggi in South Korea on June 9, for Korea Match Cup, Stage 3 of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT). This is the first of the 2010 tour events to be staged outside of Europe and will provide a new developed Asian marine arena for the highly competitive teams. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/2fkevpd * Honolulu, HI (June 2, 2010) - The Coast Guard is urging mariners and residents to begin planning and preparing for the 2010 Hurricane Season, which started Tuesday. Tropical systems acquire a name when they reach tropical storm strength with sustained winds reaching 39 mph. They become hurricanes when winds reach 74 mph and become major hurricanes when winds increase to 111 mph. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/29khz9d EIGHT BELLS Reg White, the catamaran wizard, has died, aged 74. He had a massive heart attack soon after finishing a Thursday evening race aboard his year-old 18-ft Brightlingsea One-Design, White Spirit, and died with his sea-boots on. He was a universally loved character who gave of his talents freely to his opponents, but always seemed to have something in hand over them. His racing started in a BOD owned by his father, and after a few years in which he dominated the class in the late Fifties, he moved to the Hornet class and then quickly into catamarans at the emergence of racing in the two-hulled boats. A boatbuilder, who had served his apprenticeship in his home-town of Brightlingsea, England, he joined forces with Roy Bacon to establish Sailcraft as the leading developer of catamarans. When John Fisk suggested Sailcraft to Rod Macalpine-Downie, the emergent designer found it very much to his liking. The team produced a range of boats from the original Thai Mk IV to the 60-foot British Airways for Robin Knox-Johnston. -- Complete obituary: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9976;#9976 TRIVIA ANSWER After the first four NOOD Regattas of 2010, in all four events it was a J/Boats class that captured the overall honors. Deemed to provide the closest competition, it was the J/24 in St. Petersburg FL; the J/105 in San Diego, CA; the J/80 in Annapolis, MD; and the J/24 in Seattle, WA. -- http://www.sailingworld.com/nood-regattas The fifth NOOD regatta for the 2010 season is in Detroit this weekend, where free weather forecasts from Sailing Weather Service are available during the June 4-6 event. To sign up, log on to North's Weather Center: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/7240/Default.aspx PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include Bill Koch getting carried, Allie Blecher getting celebrated, womens match racing getting promoted, RC 44 getting splashed, 505s getting tipped, foilers getting peeled, monitors getting updated, and Pete Melvin walking the walk. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0604 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 The Barcelona World Race is a non-stop, round-the-world yacht race for crews of two that will begin December 31st. Teams compete in the IMOCA Open 60 monohull, the grand prix choice for shorthanded sailing. This well produced video provides a look at this boat during a training run by German Boris Hermann and American Ryan Breymaier, who will be teaming up for the BWR. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/10/0604/ 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 LETTERS AND FORUM Please email 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 James Sears Love the announcement of live coverage for final four days of Louis Vuitton, just wished they made it more obvious about what time this coverage starts! I scoured the website for 30 minutes - still can't find a time. I'm sure it's on there, and I'll feel kinda dumb when someone finally points it out to me, but all the other successful televised sports seem to hit their viewers over the head with this very important information. I guess NASCAR has dumbed me up a bit! SUPPORT YOUR SCUTTLEBUTT The Scuttlebutt e-newsletter was first launched in 1997, well before regatta organizers and the sailing media had embraced the Internet. The early focus was Southern California, but as interest in the publication grew both nationally and internationally, so did the content. But the roots of Scuttlebutt sailing news remain in North America, with content selected to emphasize the events and stories of most interest to sailors on this continent. Scuttlebutt's readership growth is largely due to satisfied "customers" spreading the word about the publication. Maintaining an active readership is vital for any media, as active readers are hopefully active shoppers for the advertisers that support the publication. And Scuttlebutt is supported by an elite group of companies, such that the limited supply of ad slots are now sold out until January 2011. Please help support Scuttlebutt by letting your sailing friends know about the publication. It is very easy to spread the word by clicking on this link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/wordofmouth CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Sometimes I pretend not to remember details about people because having a good memory apparently equates to creepiness. Special thanks to Doyle Sails and Flexofold. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
