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SCUTTLEBUTT 2734 - Monday, December 1, 2008Scuttlebutt 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. Today's sponsors are Atlantis WeatherGear, Kaenon Polarized, and Onne van der Wal Gallery. CAN TORBEN STILL LOSE THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE? (Nov. 30, 2008; Day 16) - Torben Grael and the Ericsson 4 crew took a firm grip on the 2007-08 Volvo Ocean Race with their second leg win. It follows a first place at the scoring gate and gives them maximum points for this leg – a stunning performance, the more so because it was completed (again) in a wide range of conditions. They closed it out by sailing on the beach all the way to the line, finding what little breeze existed on the final approach. However, as Telefonica Blue sailed home in second place, skipper Bouwe Bekking stepped off the boat with a defiant message for his rivals on Ericsson 4. "This race is not over yet," he repeated over and again. "The gap between us is closing all the time and we are only going to get better. We can definitely win this race." If they are to achieve that feat, which will mean toppling Torben Grael's winners of the first two legs, it will be a first in the 36-year history of the event. Of the nine previous editions of this race, none of the three teams that have claimed both the opening two legs has gone on to lose overall. -- Complete story: http://SButt113008a.notlong.com The length of Leg Two from Cape Town to Cochin, India is 4,450 nm. Current positions (as of Dec. 1, 1:00am GMT): 1. Ericsson 4 (SWE), Torben Grael/BRA, Finished Nov. 29, 22:52 GMT 2. Telefónica Blue (ESP), Bouwe Bekking/NED, Finished Nov. 30, 12:37 GMT 3. Ericsson 3 (SWE), Anders Lewander/SWE, 63 nm Distance to Finish 4. PUMA (USA), Ken Read/USA, 46 nm Distance to Leader 5. Green Dragon (IRL/CHN), Ian Walker/GBR, 47 nm DTL 6. Delta Lloyd (IRL), Roberto Bermudez/ESP, 49 nm DTL 7. Telefonica Black (ESP), Fernando Echavarri/ESP, 51 nm DTL 8. Team Russia (RUS), Andreas Hanakamp/AUT, 507 nm DTL Race tracking: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 * The race village of Cochin, India will enjoy the recognition as the first time in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race / Whitbread Round the World Race that an Asian stopover has been featured on the itinerary. Although India has been shaken by a terrible terrorist attack 1,000 kilometres to the north, in Mumbai, stopover officials here are determined that nothing detracts from the events scheduled over the next two weeks. Security has been stepped up for the 50,000 to 100,000 people that are expected to visit the race village each day. -- Full story: http://113008b.notlong.com THE SHIFT IS IN (Nov. 30, 2008; Day 21) - For the leaders of the Vendee Globe, after crossing the equator, the dive south to skirt the South Atlantic High is finally over, and after about a week of aiming at Antarctica on port, winds are finally backing around, gennakers are flying, and the bows are now starting to aim east toward the Cape of Good Hope. Since last Wednesday, when then leader Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) got stuck under a huge cloud, Sébastien Josse (BT) has held the lead, and is now being watched as he attempts to balance the eagerness to point east toward the African continent and the desire to dip further south for stronger winds. With the wind direction now WNW, these decisions are now a combination of gybe angles and weather forecasting. -- Event website: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ * Jérémie Beyou, the skipper of Delta Dore, informed the Race Directors on Nov. 26th of his decision to retire from the race, deciding it was impossible to carry out repairs without external help. It was three days earlier when Beyou, who was lying in ninth, was forced to head for Brazil with damage to two upper spreaders. When he arrived in Recife, he assessed a need for new titanium spreader roots, new carbon spreaders, new standing rigging on the starboard side, a new starboard runner, and a repair for partial carbon mast tube delamination. Solo, non-stop, around the world race in Open 60s. Standings as of 18:30 UTC (Top 5 plus of 30 entrants): 1. Sébastien Josse (FRA), BT, 19167.8 nm Distance to finish 2. Loïck Peyron (FRA), Gitana Eighty, 30 nm Distance to leader 3. Yann Eliès (FRA), Generali, 53.4 nm DTL 4. Armel Le Cléac´h (FRA), Brit Air, 59.9 nm DTL 5. Vincent Riou (FRA), PRB, 60.5 nm DTL 14. Samantha Davies (GBR), Roxy, 312 nm DTL 15. Dee Caffari (GBR), Aviva, 396.3 nm DTL 20. Rich Wilson (USA), Great American III, 759.1 nm DTL 24. Derek Hatfield (CAN), Algimouss Spirit of Canada, 1469.2 nm DTL Race tracking: http://tracking.vendeeglobe.org/en Complete standings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html DISCOVER: A GIFT SHE DOESN’T ALREADY HAVE You want to get her something nice to wear, but you’d be crazy to even attempt a dress. Here’s the answer: kit her out in the beautiful women’s Numbers softshell jacket or the women’s Microburst from Atlantis. Great for sailing or for wearing around town, and at prices that may not blow your holiday budget. You can find all of our sailing soft shells and other great holiday gift ideas in the Atlantis Holiday Gift Guide, and you can also find a list of the stores that carry them. -- http://www.atlantisweathergear.com/Gift_Guide Discover: Your Atlantis INVESTOR SEEKING PROSPECTIVE AMERICA’S CUP TEAM To win the America’s Cup under the terms of the 2007 Protocol required budgets around US$160,000,000. Now with the likely cost of an effective challenge, under the proposed new 2010 Protocol, more in the order of US$20,000,000, but with the same returns for sponsors and or investors, the package is potentially much more attractive to certain people with access to those with deep pockets in so called Sovereign Wealth funds. I have been tasked to seek out the best America’s Cup group for these investors to place their funds. If you are running, or planning to run, an America’s Cup team and you would like to discuss how this primary funding can be attracted then please contact me and I will send you the brief from the interested parties. Contact Julian Everitt at mailto:julianeveritt@everittdesign.co.uk * NOTE: For interested teams, the Deed of Gift requires they be represented by a Club that, among other things, hosts an annual regatta. Not sure if everyone was aware of this fact, but in case an interested team needs a partner, Scuttlebutt Sailing Club meets all the requirements, and has been officially sanctioned by US SAILING since 2001. Free memberships can be found here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc TAKING A BREAK BMW Oracle Racing have halted their training with BOR 90, the syndicate’s state-of-the-art trimaran, so as to initiate modifications to improve performance based on the team’s experiences with the trimaran on the Pacific Ocean off California since October. The boat will return to the water in late January for several additional months of testing in San Diego.Russell Coutts, CEO and Skipper of BMW Oracle Racing, also announced that the team had begun to explore opportunities to race the trimaran. “Our racing options for sailing a multihull are not limited to the America’s Cup. Indeed, a Deed of Gift race is only a default option forced on us if Alinghi declines to agree to a multi-challenger event after we win the appeal. It remains our hope that we will reach an agreement with the America’s Cup Defender that will enable a traditional, multi-challenger America’s Cup in monohulls. -- Complete report: http://113008c.notlong.com MURRAY LIVING A DOUBLE LIFE It may not seem that houses and boats have a lot in common, but for Australian Olympic sailor Iain Murray they have gone hand in hand since his youth. It was a background building boats that enabled Murray to buy cheap houses in Sydney's western suburbs as a teenager, do them up himself, and then sell them. "I used to come home at the age of 13 and would go straight to my father's factory and build boats," Murray says. "We had blades and tools and bits and pieces, so I was trained. I did my apprenticeship in a funny way, probably from the age of 10." Murray is best known to the public as the Olympic sailor who helped Alan Bond clinch the America's Cup victory for Australia at Rhode Island in 1983 and who won a record six consecutive 18ft skiff world titles. -- The Australian, read on: http://113008d.notlong.com KAENON POLARIZED: HERE’S THE DEAL Available until Tuesday midnight PST, take 25% off the popular Hard Kore and our sophisticated metals, Spindle and Variant Series, on our brand new www.kaenon.com . Enter this promotion code: BUTT25 at checkout to receive your 25% discount on these select styles. Also available at authorized dealers: Team One Newport, APS and Helly Hansen, for a limited time. The Economic Meltdown caught us and everyone else in its vortex. Unprecedented times are creating unprecedented opportunities - and they won’t last. When that unexpected shift comes through, the best know what to do. Enjoy! Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. http://www.kaenon.com => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Besides getting a sweet deal (see above), you get to now surf on Kaenon’s newly designed website, offering customers a truly unique online experience with interactive educational features and enhanced ecommerce capabilities. -- http://www.kaenon.com SAILING SHORTS * (Nov. 30, 2008) - The problems that the Vendee Globe fleet have had with the South Atlantic High have also plagued Frenchman Thomas Coville attempt to set a new solo round the world record aboard the 105-foot maxi-trimaran Sodeb’O. After 12 days, Coville now finds his pace over 300 miles behind Francis Joyon’s record, with Coville needing to pass the Petit Minou lighthouse at the entrance to Brest harbour in France by January 15, 2009 at 03 hours, 27 minutes and 20 seconds GMT to set a new record. -- http://www.sodebo-voile.com * Auckland, New Zealand - Dean Barker underlined his dominance en route to securing his fifth New Zealand match racing championship crown. The Team New Zealand America's Cup skipper made no race of the final, beating Briton Ben Ainslie 3-0 in the best-of-five contest. Barker had led the regatta from the outset and dropped his only races in the last two flights of round robin two, to Ainslie and Adam Minoprio. -- NZ Herald, read on: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10545812 * Tom Ashley has been granted the title of Singapore Airlines New Zealand Sailor of the Year. The reigning World Champion board-sailor cemented his place in yachting history when he won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics this year, sailing a near perfect regatta and final medal winning race. Peter Burling and Carl Evans once again took the Young Sailor of the Year title. The high school students, from Tauranga and Auckland, are ranked number five in the world in the men’s 470 class and are consistent top-ten performers at international level. They are also two-time winners of the Open 420 World Championships. -- Full report: http://www.yachtingnz.org.nz/NewsletterDetail.aspx?NewsletterID=182 * The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) will meet with the World Sailing Speed Record Council on Thursday to discuss the removal of the policy that prohibits kiteboarders from holding the outright speed record. Neither ISAF secretary general Jerome Pels nor the record council representative would say why kites were not considered eligible for the outright speed record, just that the policy was still active. -- NY Times, full story: http://113008e.notlong.com * Punta del Este, Uruguay (Nov. 30, 2008) - With one hour left before the final time limit of the 2008 Snipe Western Hemisphere & Orient Championships, it looked like the fleet would be stuck with eight races. Postponed on shore, magically around 4pm the wind began to fill and settle and the warning gun was off. Finally starting under a z-flag after two restarts, the race was of little consequence with 10 of the top 12 sailing their drop race. Bruno Bethlem & Dante Bianchi (BRA) were the overall winner with top North American Ernesto Rodriguez & Raúl Ríos (USA) finishing third. -- Final results: http://www.snipe-who.com/tabla_resultados.html * The first leg of the Portimão Global Ocean Race beginning in Portimão, Portugal is complete, with the four doublehanded Class 40 teams and the two solo Open 40 entrants now in port at Cape Town, South Africa. The next leg to Wellington, New Zealand will begin on December 13th. -- http://www.portimaorace.com * CORRECTION #1: Reynald Neron pointed out that in the Scuttlebutt 2733 lead story regarding Sir Keith Mills, the 1998 Clipper Challenge used 60-foot yachts, not the Dubois 68 as noted in the story. * CORRECTION #2: The notice last week of Scuttlebutt sponsors to support for your holiday shopping omitted David Dellenbaugh’s fine publication, Speed & Smarts. Nothing shows your favorite sailor that you care more than a newsletter on how to get them closer to the pickle dish. -- http://www.speedandsmarts.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar EIGHT BELLS Graham Newland, a legendary figure in Australian yachting, passed away last week. A skilled engineer, Graham won the Sydney-Hobart Race twice in 1958 and 1960 sailing "Siandra", an Arthur Robb-designed Lion-class sloop. While business interests eventually diverted Graham from full-time boat ownership, he remained one of the most active and respected members of the Australian sailing community. Through his relationship with Olin Stephens, he was for many years Sparkman and Stephens' representative in Australia, and oversaw the construction of many vessels built there to the firm's designs. He was a key member of the successful Australian Admiral's Cup teams of the 1960s, serving as watch captain or sailing master of Syd Fisher's Ragamuffin, Arthur Byrne's Salacia, and Gordon Ingate's Caprice of Huon, the latter of which was the top finishing boat in the 1967 series. When Ingate brought Gretel II to Newport to compete in the 1977 America's Cup, Graham was her tactician and relief helmsman. A kindly and soft spoken gentleman, no detail of a yacht's design and gear escaped his attention and, while rarely raising his voice, he was a demon on the race course. -- George Carmany THE GIFT OF A PHOTO Gift an Onne van der Wal photo this holiday and make someone happy for years to come! Available in many shapes and sizes, an Onne original is a wise investment for the sailor you love. Calendars, miniprints, and notecards are also perfect for friends, coworkers, crewmembers or even in-laws. Be a star and shop at http://www.vanderwal.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get 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 William Tuthill, Jamestown, RI: Regarding the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) decision not to allow speed runs set by kite boarders to qualify for the outright speed record, I must reluctantly agree. The runs might not represent real sailing- at least not in such shallow water. At what point is a vessel sailing? If I get into a padded ball and blow downwind in a hurricane until I hit 60 knots, am I sailing? Kites make it possible to load up a huge amount of power by edging against the wind. Releasing it all in a side / downwind trajectory over super shallow water is very cool, and big fun, but might not meet the true definition of sailing. The WSSRC decision will keep more players in the game and perhaps spur more innovation. -- Additional comments: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/11/kiteboarding-records.html * From Fred Gledhill, Medford, OR: Reading of Freddie Schenck's demise brought forth some of the saltwater in my system from 82 years on and in the medium...Freddie was the most gentle, affable, patient (?), caring and concerned skipper (and crew) to ever hold a tiller in his hand (or whatever was available). A true gentleman of a breed as scarce today as any listing of endangered species...every time I clear the dock he is remembered for his significant contribution to good sportsmanship, clever tactics, great laugh, serious manners and merciless competition..."camaraderie" was his middle name! You could scream your bloody head off at him; and, of course, he did not hear a word...being as deaf as a door nail!! Being in the same condition now I fully appreciate his ability to wave his hands, make grimaces and politely go about ignoring the shouts as he proceeded to the finish line!!! As Skip Allen said..."fair winds, Fred!" * From Skip Coggin, Finn US 41: (re, video in SBUTT 2733) Reminds me of my Finn sailing days on the Charles River out of the MIT sailing pavilion in the early 60's, when the Finn had just become an Olympic class. I flipped a Finn and it filled with water. I tried to reach down to catch up to the fleet as it reached down to the leward mark and began to sail back towards me. I found that I had absolutely no steering with a Finn half filled with water, and plowed into the lead Finn. Just before I hit him, the skipper (it appeared) flew off the side of his Finn and landed in the water. I immediately withdrew from the race and went to assist him, but he had already retrieved and righted his boat, and we both returned to the Pavilion. After I had apologized profusely, and explained that I had never tried to sail or steer a Finn filled with water before. I said to him, "as I was approaching, did you jump off your Finn?" He replied "if you've ever seen a Finn filled with water headed for your ba--s, you'd jump too!" I agreed that he probably did the smart thing. Although I flipped many Finns in races subsequently, I made sure I had most of the water out before trying to resume racing! * From John W. Bergan: I have now checked with the PBS affiliate and wanted to let you know....here in the SF Bay Area, KRCB channel 22 on local SF cable and the PBS station serving Santa Rosa CA is showing the Volvo Ocean Race show every Tuesday night at 7:30. They confirmed the schedule for me saying the only thing to move the show would be a fund drive. As it has been difficult determining if the Volvo would be on TV in the USA, I thought you would like to share with your readers the schedule I have found and encourage you to determine through Gary Jobson when and where the show will be airing in other markets. Anyway, the coverage is spectacular and well worth watching. Man those boats can go fast! * From Tillerman: In Scuttlebutt 2733, John Doerr wrote "Of interest to some will be the situation where both boats are leeward and on starboard. Now neither of them has any obligation to keep clear (but they must avoid contact). Can you construct that situation?" I was in a situation that sounds exactly like the one described by John (though we did not avoid contact) in the Newport Regatta in 2007. -- See blog post, “Both Leeward and Both Starboard”: http://propercourse.blogspot.com/2008/11/bothleeward-and-both-starboard.html CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” - Thomas Jefferson, 1802 Special thanks to Atlantis WeatherGear, Kaenon Polarized, and Onne van der Wal Gallery. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
