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SCUTTLEBUTT 1651 - August 20, 2004Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. OLYMPIC SAILING After winning the first sailing gold medal of the Summer Games, two Greek women (Sofia Bekatorou and Aimilia Tsoulfa) capsized their 470 and celebrated on the overturned hull to the delight of spectators and photographers. Not long after, a three-woman British (Yngling) crew (Shirley Robertson, Sarah Webb and Sara Ayton) won a gold and took a synchronized leap into the Saronic Gulf. (See photo gallery: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/olympics) Come Saturday, it could be the laid-back American crew of Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham doing the celebrating. They took the lead in the 470 class with one race left, putting them in position to sail for the first gold medals of their long Olympic careers. Foerster-Burnham have a two-point lead over the British duo of Nick Rogers-Joe Glanfield, with the gold and silver guaranteed to be decided between the two crews. Foerster and Burnham are former silver medalists, but neither has had a lead going into the last race. "I'm liking the change," said Burnham, who at 47 is the oldest member of the U.S. sailing team. "It's exactly what I've always wanted. It's why I keep on going. I've done every Olympic trials since 1980 with the hopes of winning the gold medal. I figure maybe I'll stop if I get a gold, but I don't know. I can't guarantee it." Foerster-Burnham will either try to get into a match race with the British or put boats between them and their rivals in the 27-boat fleet. To clinch the gold, the Americans can't finish worse than two boats behind the British. If they tie on points, the tiebreaker will go to the Americans because they've won one race during the series and the British haven't. Foerster, of Rockwall, Texas, is in his fourth Olympics. He won the 470 silver in 2000 and the Flying Dutchman silver in 1992. Burnham, a three-time Olympian from Miami Beach, won the silver in the 470 in 1992, crewing for Morgan Reeser. Burnham and Reeser finished second to Foerster and Bob Merrick in the 2000 trials. - Bernie Wilson, AP as posted on the SF Chronicle website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/7x7nj * By an impressive margin, the USA's 470 women's representatives Katie McDowell (Barrington, R.I.) and Isabelle Kinsolving (New York, N.Y.) won their second race of today after an eighth in race one to make huge gains on the scoreboard. They are in sixth overall, with one race to go on Saturday. The USA's Yngling team of Carol Cronin (Jamestown, R.I.), Liz Filter (Stevensville, Md.) and Nancy Haberland (Annapolis, Md.) have a shot at sixth after moving themselves up to eighth today from 12th yesterday. Thursday they finished seventh in the first race and won the second. "We climbed up big; I just wish we would have started that climb sooner," said Cronin. - www.ussailing.org/News/2004/Olyday6.htm 470 Men - 27 boats (10 of 11 races with one discard) 1. USA, Paul Foerster/Kevin Burnham, 53 2. GBR, Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield, 55 3. SWE, Johan Molund/Martin Andersson, 79 4. JPN, Kazuto Seki/Kenjiro Todoroki, 57 470 Women - 20 boats (10 of 11 races with one discard) 1. GRE, Sofia Bekatorou/Aimilia Tsoulfa, 24 2. ESP, Natalia Via-Dufresne/Sandra Azon, 58 3. SWE, Therese Torgersson/Vendela Zachrisson, Achrisson, 61 6. USA, Katie McDowell/Isabelle Kinsolving, 80 10. CAN, Jennifer Provan/Nikola Girke, 91 Europe - 25 boats (8 of 11 races with one discard) 1. NOR, Siren Sundby, 33 2. AUS, Sarah Blanck, 42 3. DEN, Signe Livbjerg, 44 11. USA, Meg Galliard, 69 49er - 19 boats (6 of 16 races with one discard) 1. NOR, Christoffer Sundby/Frode Bovim, 23 2. BRA, Andre Fonseca/Rodrigo Duarte, 25 3. UKR, Rodion Luka/George Leonchuk, 26 8. USA, Tim Wadlow/Pete Spaulding, 38 Laser - 42 boats (8 of 11 races with one discard) 1. BRA, Robert Scheidt, 39 2. AUT, Andreas Geritzer, 42 3. SLO, Vasilij Zbogar, 44 10. USA, Mark Menderblatt, 80 29. CAN, Bernard Luttmer, 174 41. ISV, Timothy Pitts, 267 Mistral Women - 26 boards (5 of 11 races with one discard) 1. FRA, Faustine Merret, 9 2. ITA, Alessandra Sensini, 11 3. HKG, Lai Shan Lee, Hong Kong, 17 18. USA, Lanee Beashel, 55 23. MEX, Rosa Campos, 86 Mistral Men - 34 boards (4 of 11 races) 1. BRA, Ricardo Santos, 13 2 ISR, Gal Fridman, 21 3. POL, Prezmyslaw Miarczynski, 23 15. MEX, David Mier Y Teran, 57 24. USA, Peter Wells, 81 Finn - 25 boats (10 of 11 races with 1 discard) 1. GBR, Ainslie, Ben, 24 2. ESP, Rafael Trujillo, 38 3. POL, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, 52 14. USA, Kevin Hall, 108 20. CAN, Richard Clarke, 132 Yngling -16 boats (8 of 11 races with 1 discard) 1. GBR, Shirley Roberston/Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb, 31 2. DEN, Dorte Jensen/ Christina Borregaard-Otzen/Helle Jespersen, 40 3. UKR, Ruslana Taran/Svitlana Matevusheva/ Ganna Kalinina, 45 8. USA, Carol Cronin/Liz Filter/Nancy Haberland, 70 16. BER, Paula Lewin/Peta Lewin/ Christine Patton, 104 15. CAN, Lisa Ross/Deirdre Crampton/Chantal Leger, 104 Complete scores: http://www.sailing.org/olympics2004 Updated Olympic photo gallery: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/olympics FAST ANSWERS Swept back or in line spreaders, standard or high modulus, or something in between. It all makes a difference in the methodology used to tune your carbon rig. Tuning is Bart's specialty. He has the experience to quickly come to the right solution for your boat. Visit us today: http://www.bartspars.com GUEST COMMENTARY Articles like Dave Campaniello's spinnaker tips and techniques help get crew members up to speed and working from the same page. It is a mistake to assume that everyone holds the same sail trim understandings, irregardless of calibre crew and skipper. It also serves as the arbiter of last resort to settle differences of opinion that get developed from individual experiences. Hower, I feel that Dave left an important safety point out of the "spinaker trim" matrix for trimming the spinnaker in high wind conditions: I have sailed with one design and Olympic sailors who don't get this right, so it is important to get it down before someone gets hurt. Rule#1 Never Blow the pole, never ease it forward and never raise the tip. Better is to leave the pole as is and let the trimmer adjust to the amount of power in the sail. Best (if anticipated) is to bring the pole aft to square the spinaker with the increased velocity of the wind and to better balance loads on the boat. Under no conditions do you ever blow the pole - *Ever*. Rule#2 Blow the sheet - Safety of the boat and crew is in the hands of the trimmer in high winds. Easing the sheet dumps wind off the leaches as Dave suggested. Better is to ease the sheets before the front of the wind gradient reaches the chute. Best (if anticipated) is to bring the pole aft and over-ease the sheet to square with the new apparent wind velocity. Then trim-in to the new wind pressure . Blowing the sheet is always a safety measure that rests in the hands of the trimmer. These Rules of Thumb will mitigate a knockdown, broach or other disaster in high wind conditions. I have successfully sailed in 30 kts with the spinnaker up using these two simple rules of thumb. The trick in heavy wind pressure conditions is for the helmsman to keep the boat under the kite while crew are using these two techniques. The helmsman needs to keep the trimmer advised at all times whether he is losing helm control. Easing the sheet brings the rudder back into control for the helmsman. As the boat accelerates in high wind conditions it becomes more stable. Planing hulls more stable than non-planing hull forms. This is because the velocity of the boat reduces the velocity of the apparent wind the spinnaker experiences. All is good until the point that the hull form efficiency is exceeded by the pressure of the wind (i.e. out-of-control). Yes, flogging the spinnaker generates repeat business for the sail lofts. And if you are flogging the chute to keep the boat under control it is time to bring the spinnaker down at that point. Better to bring it down than risk losing a crew member over the side in a broach or knock down when the chute should've been doused anyway. - Rex Riley LUNA ROSA The Italian Luna Rossa boats will compete in the Louis Vuitton Cup for the third consecutive time in 2007. The team was formally accepted as a Challenger for the 32nd America's Cup by the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), the Defender of the America's Cup. The Luna Rossa team is the fifth Challenger to be accepted for the 32nd America's Cup, and will compete for the right to race the Defender, Team Alinghi, in the America's Cup Match in 2007. Luna Rossa joins the BMW ORACLE Racing Team, the Italian squad +39, Team Shosholoza from South Africa, and Emirates Team New Zealand as officially accepted challengers for the 32nd America's Cup. Although the team didn't lodge its challenge until recently, Luna Rossa has been among the busiest of the America's Cup teams over the past eight months. "We have been training and testing on the waters off the Spanish coast for over three months," explained skipper Francesco de Angelis. "We were the first to set up a base in Valencia." After shutting down most of its operations for August, the team will resume sailing in Valencia at the beginning of September to prepare for Acts 2 and 3 in October. Luna Rossa will not compete in Act 1, the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act. For the 32nd America's Cup, the team will represent the Yacht Club Italiano (YCI), the oldest sailing club on the Mediterranean. - www.americascup.com/en/index.htm OLYMPIC STARS The Star is the class of the masters, generally contains more sailing experience than any other and starts its Olympic competition tomorrow. Out of the 17 crews competing, 19 sailors are already Olympians, with 35 Olympic participations between them. Six sailors have won nine medals. The Star was designed back in 1908 and is by far the oldest one-design still competing today. Any effort to talk about favourites is tough as most of the crews are up to the task of making it to the podium. Indeed, the quality is so high that two time Olympic Games gold medallist Mark Reynolds (USA) didn't even make it to the Games, making the selections of teams almost as interesting as the Games themselves. Leading the ISAF world rankings are Sweden's Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom, Star's current world and european champions. While they may be newcomers in the class, LOOF is no stranger to the Olympic Games as this is his fourth participation, placing third at Sydney and fifth at Atlanta and Barcelona in the Finn class. Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell from Great Britain are another pair making their first attempt in the Star. Percy was the Finn gold medallist at Sydney and together he and Mitchell have won the 2002 Word Championship and placed third in 2003 and 2004. They are ranked second in ISAF's World Rankings and are certainly in contention for a medal. Brazil pair Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira are also genuine medal prospects. Gold medallists at Atlanta in 1996 and bronze medallists at Sydney in 2000, Grael's experience alone (three other Olympic Games medals in two classes) means they are among the hottest contenders for a gold medal. The USA crew of Paul Cayard and Phil Trineter have no previous Olympic Games medals to boast of, but have shown their ability on the water by beating Reynolds in the national selection. Another very well known figure in the Star class is Bermuda's Peter Bromby, sailing with Lee White in Athens. They were fourth in Sydney, and sixth in both the 2004 and 2003 World Championships. This is Bromby's fourth Olympic Games and having just missed a place on the podium four years ago, he is bound to be giving his all. Australia's Colin Beashel is the only one in the field who can match Grael's five previous appearances in the Olympic Games. For the past three, he has teamed up with David Giles and together they won a bronze medal in Sydney. They certainly have the experience to get on the medal podium for a second time. Canada's Ross MacDonald has already competed in four Olympic Games and won a silver medal in Barcelona. In Sydney he placed fifth with Kai Bjorn, but now sails with Mike Wolf and is a chance of a place in the medals. - http://tinyurl.com/4s8d3 LIGHTSURF INTERNATIONAL 505 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Races five and six of the LightSurf International 505 World Championship were both started in just five knots of breeze. Carol Buchan of the United States with husband Carl crewing won race five - possibly the first female skipper ever to win a race in a 505 World Championships. However at conclusion of racing on Thursday, Morgan Larson/ Trevor Baylis (USA) had clinched the Worlds championship with a 15 point lead over Mike Martin/ Jeff Nelson (USA). Former world champion Howard Hamlin/ Peter Alarie (USA) are one point out of second place with Dan Thompson/ Andy Zinn (USA) in fourth place in the 102-boat fleet. The racing concludes on Friday. www.505worlds2004.org/ Great images from heavy air races: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/505worlds NEWS BRIEFS * After three light and shifty races in the US Snipe National Championship Ernest Rodriques and his crew Leandro Spina hold a 4 ¼ point lead over George Szabo with Doug Hart just four points further back in third place. Friday's races at the Mentor Harbor YC in Ohio will decide who the National Champion is and who qualifies to go to the 2005 Snipe World Championship. The forecast calls for winds from the Southwest at 7-8 knots. www.snipe747.com/nationals * If you miss the days of offwind bloopers and pinched IOR sterns, or have fantasies of good-looking foredeck crews, then the images in this Scuttlebutt photo gallery are for you (don't worry, we won't tell anyone you looked): http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/0819/ SPERRY TOP-SIDER HELPS AMERICA BRING HOME THE GOLD For 18 of America's best sailors, years of sacrifice, dedication and focus will be put to the test as they go for the gold in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. To give our men and women every edge, U.S. Sailing has provided the team with the very best: from the tip of its high-tech sails to the very soles of their shoes, Sperry Top-Sider Figawi. With anchor-like traction and active drainage system, the Figawi will keep Team USA's feet fixed firmly on the deck and eyes on the prize. Grab your piece of Olympic gold at http://www.sperrytopsider.com JUNIOR SAILING CHAMPIONS CROWNED US Sailing has crowned the nation's top junior champions in the single-, double-, and triplehanded events. The winners have been named to the 2004 U.S. Youth Sailing Team. - U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship for the Smythe Trophy Patrick Curran, with a total of 28 points, narrowly defeated Sean Kelley (San Francisco, Calif.) by only three points. The two competitors were head-to-head throughout the three-day regatta, which was hosted by New Bedford Yacht Club in South Dartmouth, Mass., and sponsored by Vanguard Sailboats. Michael Easton (Burlington, Mass.) took third with 47 points. - U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship for the Bemis Trophy Brian Kamilar and Simon Sanders, both from Miami, Fla. and representing Coral Reef Yacht Club, sailed a very strong championship, finishing with a total of 18 points after 10 races, with one discard. The two dominated the fleet throughout the three-day championship, also hosted by New Bedford Yacht Club in South Dartmouth, Mass., and sponsored by Vanguard Sailboats. The real fight was for second place between Josh Leighton (San Diego, Calif.) and Spencer Johnson (Woodacre, Calif.) and the team from Annapolis Yacht Club with Evan Aras and Alison Nagle (both from Annapolis, Md.). In the end, the San Diego Yacht Club team grabbed second place finishing with one point ahead and a total of 39 points. - The US Junior Triplehanded Championship for the Sears Cup was hosted by Malletts Bay Boat Club in Colchester, Vt., and sailed on Lightnings. The winning team - Fred Strammer (Noltomis, Fla.), Dalton Teba (Sarasota, Fla.), and Charlotte Sims (Venice, Fla.) had close finishes with the team from Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, made up of Andrew Costa (Burnaby, BC), Abe Torchinsky and Rob Dale (both from Vancouver, BC). It wasn't until the ninth and final race was completed that the national champion was determined. Third place finishers were Gary Largess, Peter Largess, and Katrina Salk (all from Jamestown, RI), representing Conanicut Yacht Club. www.ussailing.org/youth/racing/jc/smythe LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is not a chat room nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Taylor Grant: I think Gary is doing a great job and the pictures are even better. My wife is willing to watch because she is learning and Gary is entertaining. Doing coverage for 30 minutes, well really only twenty minutes, of little boats going slow, is not easy. You try to fill in all the time when not much is really happening. The pictures are great because I am seeing boat handling tricks of the trade that I never knew about. Gary and Bravo are to be congratulated and thanked. * From Clifford Bradford: I especially enjoyed Bravo's coverage yesterday by having Paul Cayard provide some "color" commentary. Sometimes I think Gary Jobson tends to be a little unfocused and Paul's terse but insightful commentary was good for me. Since it looks like he won't be sailing in the next AC maybe OLN could use him to replace or supplement Dawn Riley (who might be participating) for that event in 2007. Perhaps when their classes are finished, Gary could have Ben Ainslie by to explain how he manages to dominate other top class Finn sailors. * From Rick Tears: Under the heading of full and accurate reporting, Paul Foerster is actually from Rockwall, TX (suburb near Dallas) - not Dallas, TX. Admittedly this is a small point, but the people of Rockwall are quite proud of Paul's accomplishments, as are we who actually live in Dallas. * From Randy Tankoos: Bravo to Bravo! Thanks to the magic of TiVo we've been able to see Gary's broadcast every night. Sure, it may be dumbed down the Judo fans who share the 1/2 hour but it is really well done. The cameras on the Yngling, the national flags on the sails and the skipper's name on the hulls and sails make for a good show. I'm hoping for live TV from the Star class. There is a lot to be learned. THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION You know it's the 21st century when you get up in the morning and go on-line before getting your coffee. |
