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SCUTTLEBUTT 1916 - September 2, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.MORE STORMS PREDICTED As the hurricane season recently entered its third month, a London-based storm forecaster reports that a higher-than-usual number of hurricanes are expected to hit the United States this year. Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) increased its outlook for hurricane activity in the Atlantic this year by 30 percent from its outlook last month on the expectation of higher-than-normal sea temperatures and winds in the region. According to TSR, there is a very likely probability of an above-average number of tropical storms, which could intensify into hurricanes, resulting in landfall in the United States. TSR forecasts a total of 22 tropical storms this season, which would be the highest recorded, with seven tropical storms hitting the United States during the June 1-Nov. 30 season. It reports that it is likely that three tropical storms will become hurricanes. Its figures take into count the three tropical storms and Hurricane Dennis which have already hit the United States since the season started two months ago. According to TSR, insurers pay an average of $3.0 billion in claims as a result of hurricane damage. TSR bases its outlook on the higher-than-normal forecasts for trade wind speed between July and September along with the sea surface temperature for August and September for the Caribbean and Tropical North Atlantic region. - Insurance Journal, http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2005/08/15/58310.htm RELIEF REGATTA Newport, RI (Aug. 31, 2005) - Sail For Hope regatta organizers today announced that the annual charitable sailing event on Narragansett Bay on October 1 would raise funds for the millions of victims ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Sail for Hope is a continuation of the 2001 "Sail for Pride" regatta which gathered Rhode Island Sailors and raised $110,000 for September 11th relief charities. After the first "Sail for Pride," local skippers and crews have joined together in what is now a yearly fund-raising and sailing tradition. All sailboats, powerboats and individuals and organizations wishing to help the people of Gulf Coast States in the wake of the brutal hurricane are encouraged to participate. Sail Newport will organize the event and collect financial donations. Boaters may participate by racing, cruising or watching the event scheduled to start outside of Newport Harbor at 10 a.m. American Red Cross of R.I. Chief Executive Officer Daniel Samborn says, "This is the single worst natural disaster in U.S. history. More than $138 million dollars will be needed to help these fellow citizens just survive." Samborn reports that thousands of trained disaster relief workers and tons of supplies have already been mobilized to the stricken areas. Sail for Hope donations will pay for food, clothing, shelter and medicine for the victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The R.I. Red Cross Chapter will retain ten percent of the event's total financial gift in a local fund for future Ocean State relief services as the organizers have requested. Boats may register and individuals may donate through the Sail Newport website at http://www.sailnewport.org PIRATES NAMED Paul Cayard, Skipper of The Black Pearl, the US boat competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06, has officially announced his crew. The Pirates of the Caribbean team is highly experienced, represents seven countries and contains four past winners of this race. The Pirates of the Caribbean are: Paul Cayard (USA) -Skipper; Julian 'Jules' Salter (UK) - Navigator; Freddie Loof (SWE) - Watch Captain; Rodney Ardern (NZ) -Watch Captain; Dirk de Ridder (NED) -Trimmer-Driver; Nigel King (UK) -Trimmer-Driver; Craig Satterthwaite (NZ) -Trimmer-Driver; Justin Ferris/Bowman (NZ) -Trimmer-Driver; Curtis Blewett (CAN) -Bowman; Jerry Kirby (USA) - Bowman Justin 'Juggy' Clougher (AUS) - Bowman. "For this campaign, it was important to start with an experienced group," said Cayard. "We are the last team to hit the water so we don't have a lot of time to train. We will be counting on experience to help make up ground on all the other teams." Cumulatively, The Pirates of the Caribbean have enjoyed the kind of success that is rare in the Volvo Ocean Race. That success includes 12 campaigns between them and four wins. Furthermore, the team has participated in 20 editions of the America's Cup and won three, as well as three Louis Vuitton Cup wins. Some of the crew will be rotating: Rodney Ardern and Curtis Blewett will be racing three legs (Vigo to Cape Town, Cape Town to Melbourne and Melbourne to Rio) as they have a previous commitment with Alinghi in the America's Cup. Curtis Blewett will be replaced by Jerry Kirby. The replacement for Ardern has not been finalised yet. Also, Nick Moloney is coaching the team and will act as backup navigator. - Volvo Ocean Race site, complete report: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/pages/news/news184.htm AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING The new J/65 Hull #1 is currently being commissioned in San Diego, CA and is now available for viewing. The J/65 enters a luxury yacht market populated by vessels more distinguished by interior appointments and professional crew than sailing qualities. However, J/Boats introduces the fast new J/65 that will be more fun for its owners to sail. As with all J/Boats, the J/65 has been designed for exceptional sailing performance whether racing or cruising. Contact Jeff Brown for your look at the new J/Boats flagship today: call 619-709-0697 or email mailto:jboat@cts.com CHINA OPENS SAILING FACILITY Qingdao Yinhai Yachtsman Training Center, China's biggest one of its kind and also supporting project of 2008 Olympic sailing events, went into service here Tuesday as its first-phase project sloping path was put into use. About a hundred sailors from France, Austria, and New Zealand preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games had arrived in Qingdao several days earlier and begun to take intensive trainings in the center. The center will not only undertake to train professional yachtsmen for the 2008 Olympic Games, but also offer training to sailing fans, according to Xin Hualong, manager of the center. Qingdao, a major port city in Eastern China's Shandong Province, will host the sailing competition during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The training center, which costs 300 million yuan (36.2 million US dollars), is equipped with the most luxury facilities, including docks, berths, sailing training base, gas station at sea and lifesaving helicopters. It is able to offer training to 1,000 to 1,600 people each year. - People's Daily Online, complete report: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200508/30/eng20050830_205377.html WISDOM FROM BEFORE THE MAST "Every single bowman has different techniques. You can watch everybody and create your own. [But] the only way a bowman is going to look good is if the whole back-up is looking good. You're only part of a team. That's one thing John Kolius taught me -- there's only one ego on the boat, and that's the team ego. You don't have to be into a macho thing; we're out there to win together. Most important, we're there to have fun. You're not going to win if you're not having fun." -- Martha McKechnie, from a story posted on the Sailing World magazine website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/7aqng GULF COAST UPDATE The latest listing of damage to clubs along the Gulf coast is now posted on the Scuttlebutt website, with updates being made as they become available: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/05/gulf * From Rick Zern, Zern Rigging: The marine industry district at Dog River in Mobile, AL was severely damaged. Turner Marine, the main boat yard, Island Packet and Catalina Dealership, sustained major damage although the building appears to be intact since it is built on pilings. The Dog River Marine Complex, Hatteras dealership, etc. is in shambles with many building having been washed away. Murray Yacht Sales, the Beneteau and J-Boat dealership located at Sundowner Marina, is simply 'gone'; nothing left but a spot in the dirt. Several of the docks and boats are damaged. Everyone in this area feels the pain and shock of this tragic disaster to these western Gulf Yachting Assn. clubs and memberships. Due to the nature of the Gulf Yachting Associations existence and the camaraderie that it fosters, the memberships of many of these clubs are like family to us. Many of these people and families that we have yet to hear from were the kids that we sailed with and against 3 and 4 decades ago in the context of the GYA interclub competition. Some of these folks were very quick to come to the aid and assistance of our area last September when Hurricane Ivan devastated this area. Now it is our turn. I have learned that the Pensacola Yacht Club is formulating plans to serve as a refugee center for some of these affected GYA Club memberships. * From Norton Brooker Area D Director US Sailing and GYA past Commodore: I just got back to where I had e-mail. Your coverage has been excellent. My club, Mobile YC (Mobile, AL), probably lost 20 plus boats and the harbor is a wreck with a water front restaurant now strewn all over the place. The Wharf House probably took out every one of our boats along with assorted large power boats from the marina next door. Buccaneer YC just up the bay from Mobile has boats hundreds of yards from their normal slips and their clubhouse, which was on the ground, was extensively damaged. Singing River YC at Pascagoula, AL is there but heavily damaged. After that going west I am told all the clubs are either gone or damaged beyond repair. We in the GYA deeply appreciate the kind e-mails and it is indeed comforting to know that our sailing friends really do care. 18' SKIFF INTERNATIONAL REGATTA Out of the cold, gray mist and fog they came late Thursday afternoon, Howard Hamlin's blue-spinnakered Pegasus White 18-foot skiff on the right and Anthony Chavez kite board on the left, both flying at nearly 20 knots toward the finish line of the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge Race. Hamlin was farther downwind as they approached the Oakland Bay Bridge, but he had to jibe to make the finish line, while Chavez had set himself up for a straight shot under the span and crossed just in front. The five-mile race from the Golden Gate is a change of pace feature of the annual 18' Skiff International Regatta. Only six skiffs started the race, joined by 12 windsurfers and 21 kite boards. The wind was about 20 knots, but Chavez said, "I thought either the skiff on my right or the windsurfer on my left were going to beat me if the wind went light, but we had good wind all the way to the finish." Hamlin, sailing with Mike Martin and Trent Barnabas, was not terribly disappointed. It was the first time in four years he had beaten all the other skiffs between the bridges, and with a second place to John Winning in the day's first romp around the buoys he increased his lead to six points over the defending champion from Australia. Australia's Jack Young, sailing Pegasus Gold, nosedived out of contention with two DNF (did not finish) results when he flipped in the first race while running third and broke his headstay in the bridge race. Only the ninth and 10th races remain Friday, with Hamlin enjoying the luxury of a second discard to give. The regatta is one of the class's three international events, along with the European International Championship and the JJ Giltinan Trophy Championship, the class's premier event contested annually in Australia since 1938. Top Five Standings (8 of 10 races): 1. Pegasus White, Howard Hamlin/ Mike Martin/ Trent Barnabas, USA, 11 points. 2. Yandoo, John Winning/ Andrew Hay/' Geoff Beaushop, AUT, 17. 3. Pegasus Black, Shark Kahn/ Cameron MacDonald/ Paul Allen, USA, 24. 4. Pegasus Gold, Jack Young/ Euan McNicol/ Casey Smith, USA, 25. 5. Fisher & Paykel, Andrew Cuddihy/ Brent Dennis/ Gerard Smith, AUT, 39. Complete results: http://www.stfyc.com The photos getting posted on the Scuttlebutt website get more explosive each day: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/18-SF MELGES 17 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP The very first Melges 17 National Championship kicked off on White Lake in the heart of West Michigan. Twenty-one Melges 17's jetted up and down this beautiful lake for 3 days. The all-new Melges 17 has been in production for just 7 months, with now over fifty M17's having been delivered with many more on order. To have twenty-one M17's at the first National Championship was quite an accomplishment. Art Brereton from Torch Lake, Michigan is the first M17 National Champion. For a view of this hot, new Melges product, race to http://www.melges.com NEWS BRIEFS * The Louisiana Governor's office has requested NMMA's assistance in providing boats for search and rescue efforts. Outside of medical personnel, the biggest need right now is for watercraft. If your company is in a position to help, please contact NMMA. As you can imagine, communications in the area are difficult, so NMMA will put you in touch with Louisiana Fish & Wildlife if you can help. Contact Matthew Long at NMMA: http://www.nmma.org/corporate/contact/sendmail.asp?id=346&nmmaid=mlong * Timothy Brown has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the Canadian Yachting Association (CYA). Brown moves from his most recent position as Vice-President, Development and Communications at the Providence Continuing Care Centre in Kingston, Ontario. In that position he was accountable to the hospital CEO and the PCCC Foundation Board of Directors. Brown will assumed his new position on 3 October 2005. ISAF website, http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j67Fh5?Bw * Applications are now being accepted for the 2005 U.S. Offshore Championship for the Lloyd Phoenix Trophy. This year's Championship will be sailed October 27- 30, 2005 in Navy 44s and will be hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Applications for entry and online resume must be submitted prior to September 30, 2005. More information and entry materials are available at http://www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/usoffshore * Paralympic gold medalist Damien Seguin (FRA) got off to a flying start in the single-person keelboat (2.4 Meter) at the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship in Sønderborg, Denmark yesterday with bullets in all three opening races. In the three-person keelboat (Sonar) John Robertson/ Hannah Stodel/ Stephen Thomas (GBR) and Jostein Stordahl/ Aleksander Wang-Hansen/ Per Eugen Kristiansen (NOR) are tied at for first with six points each. Top North American entrants in the Sonar class are Canadians Ken Kelly/ Brian Mackie/ Don Terlson in eighth, and American Nick Scandone in seventh in the 2.4 Meter class. Event website: http://www.2005dswc.dk/default.asp?page=0 * The US Naval Academy Sailing Program is offering twelve (12) J/24s for sale. Built for the program in 1985, all boats are in good condition, and include sailing equipment and a cradle (no trailers). Boats are being sold as is, and must be removed by October 31, 2005. Purchase offers shall include the number of boats you wish to purchase and at what price, and must be in writing and received by September 20 at 1700 EST. Digital pictures and viewing appointments available. Contact Allan Terhune at 410-293 5603 (office), 410-293-5233 (fax) or mailto:terhune@usna.edu * Correction: The date for the 2005 Sunfish Women's North Americans is October 7-8, moved to Houston Yacht Club from Bay Waveland Yacht Club. Complete details soon at http://www.sunfishclass.org CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 neither 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. And please save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere.) * From Matthew L. Thomas, Cape Town: With the enormous damage that has occurred in the Gulf, we now have a great opportunity to support our fellow yachties. Over time, club houses and boats will be rebuilt, people will be honored and things will get back to normal. For those of us who are not personally affected by this tragedy, we can make a huge difference by urging our own yacht clubs to send letters of condolences and support. This is a great time to offer reciprocal rights to these clubs and send burgees as a sign of our support. Sure, this won't repair the terrible damage, but it will bring everyone closer and let these clubs know that they are in our thoughts and prayers. * From Brett Phillips: With all the disaster, who knows how long it will take (if ever) to rebuilding the Southern Yacht Club. As we all know, a great part of our clubs are their photographical history. Many of you have written letters regarding memories and experiences of the people and the Club itself. Besides opening your checkbooks, dust off your pictures and have them somewhere handy. It might be years before they need them, but restoring a history usually takes at least that long. * From Fred Roswold, Hong Kong: After a lengthy period of afterguard indecision and waffling during our approach to one windward mark, Mike Bombyk, our independent minded forward hand, announced quite clearly, for all to hear, "I don't know about the back of the boat, but the front is doing a jibe set." Decision made. * From Tom Whitmore, Sweden: While reading the ongoing foredeck vs. afterguard discussion I was reminded of an interesting event during the Maxi worlds in Sardinia a number of years ago; the "afterguard competition." It was held pool-side and involved teams from the afterguard of the various maxis. Each team was presented with an extremely tangled 14 mm kevlar afterguy and the task of taking it 15 meters, leading it through a guy block and back to the starting point. Meanwhile the foredeck crews stood on an adjacent roof periodically shouting "wave" and dumping 55-gallon drums of water on the struggling afterguards. I thoroughly recommend this event as a valuable team-building exercise and suggest that the FU lobby for making this a required activity at all major big boat regattas. * From Mike Whitehead, USVI: When I was on the bow on boats, many moons ago, I had a saying about the backend of the boat. Behind the mainsheet owner's enclosure, the cockpit and halyard area was called 'never never land.' This is because they never, never made a mistake. * From Ed Stygar: Great Editorial by Herb McCormick, it makes a lot of sense! It will be an empty cup without the two most successful Americas Cup skippers, Dennis Conners and Russell Coutts. It will also be empty without the Brits, participants in the first Americas Cup and the Aussies who were the first to win the Cup from the Americans. There seems to be a lot of other great sailors being left out like, Paul Cayard, John Kostecki, and more. If you were gunning for the highest accolade in a sport wouldn't want to beat the best to win it? Russell and Dennis are the Americas Cup, to leave them out is a crime. I can't say that I will or will not have interest when the Cup starts, but as an American my support will be for Team New Zealand! TNZ is homegrown, their country respects the event and is fanatical about sailing, and they need to get the Cup out of the tyrants hands. * From Donal McClement, Ireland: (regarding Herb McCormick article in 'Butt 1911) Herb needs to do a check on the money spent in the past, and by that I mean pre-World War Two and I think he will find that, in real terms, the spending is not too different. As well as this, how about the money paid to our top sportsmen and women? Tiger @ $ 100 million plus per annum, Baseball and Basketball at $15 million+ each, Soccer where an individual player is worth up to $40 million and is paid up to $10 million a year. Get a life Herb, and if you want to criticize, be objective and criticize all sports for the obscene amount of money being spent in all of them. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Some drink from the fountain of knowledge, while others only gargle. |
