|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2612 – June 6, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. STARTING SYSTEM FLAG RULE QUIZ Despite efforts to simplify the Racing Rules of Sailing, it still remains an intimidating book. Can more be done? Glenn McCarthy thinks so, or at least believes the rules pertaining to starting line penalties can be refined. Glenn’s work with US SAILING and the Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation have kept him close to the sport, and here he provides the ‘buttheads with a closed book rule quiz, with the questions pertaining to the use of the following starting flags: 1) The X-Flag "Individual Recall" Part A - Does it involve being over: just the starting line; over the starting line or the extensions of the starting line; or, the triangle of the starting line and the first mark? Part B - Does it apply: at the start gun; or, beginning 1 minute before the start? 2) The I-Flag "Round-an-end rule" Part A - Does it involve being over: just the starting line; over the starting line or the extensions of the starting line; or, the triangle of the starting line and the first mark? Part B - Does it apply: at the start gun; or, beginning 1 minute before the start? 3) The Z-Flag, "20% Penalty Rule" Part A - Does it involve being over: just the starting line; over the starting line or the extensions of the starting line; or, the triangle of the starting line and the first mark? Part B - Does it apply: at the start gun; or, beginning 1 minute before the start? 4) The Black Flag Rule, "Death rule" Part A - Does it involve being over: just the starting line; over the starting line or the extensions of the starting line; or, the triangle of the starting line and the first mark? Part B - Does it apply: at the start gun; or, beginning 1 minute before the start? Quiz answers: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0605 LEGAL AWARDS CEREMONY COMING (VERY) SOON The terms of the next America's Cup were again in the hands of a U.S. court on Thursday after lawyers for defender Alinghi and challenger BMW Oracle argued before a five-judge appeals panel at the New York State Supreme Court. At issue was whether BMW Oracle was a valid challenger of record and decision for the America's Cup to be held in March 2009. Once again, Scuttlebutt legal analyst Cory Friedman provides his commentary on the day: * (June 5, 2008) Barry Ostrager, Societe Nautique de Geneve’s (SNG) lead counsel from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, has been on a bit of a roll lately. That roll may have ended in the Appellate Division, First Department, of the Supreme Court of the State of New York this afternoon. Although occasionally dramatic, oral argument is almost always overrated and often deceptive. Appeals are decided on the briefs and, unless a lawyer does something incredibly dumb, oral argument seldom makes any difference. Judges hearing a long calendar may not even remember what lawyers say. A prima donna on the bench can ask difficult questions just to show off or battle with another member of the panel. Occasionally, judges will hammer a lawyer because they know they have to rule in the lawyer’s favor, despite their contrary personal feelings about the case. Sometimes, however, a panel will hammer a lawyer because it just does not like his or her position. The judge’s body language and tone is usually the tip off. That is what it looked like for Barry Ostrager’s time at the podium. He was hammered. It was not friendly. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/cf/#p26 COLLISIONS AND CATASTROPHES AT TP 52 MEDCUP Marseille, France (June 4, 2008) It is the format for the six events that comprise the 2008 Audi MedCup Circuit to include a schedule of windward/leeward courses of 4 to 18 miles with one coastal race with a distance between 30 to 50 miles. For the City of Marseille Trophy regatta, today was the coastal race, with the course including a mid-finish line where the positions are recorded as a single race score, and a final finish line which provide each boat with a second race score for the day. Despite the longer legs in the race, the story for the third day of the event was to avoid collisions and catastrophes, of which there were many. An initial weather leg ended badly for Matador (ARG), CxG Caixa Galicia (ESP) and Mutua Madrileña (CHI) which all sustained damage and had to retire following several incidents at the first weather mark. The next to incur significant disadvantage was the Terry Hutchinson-driven Quantum team, which was dealt with two blown kites on the long run, forcing them to sail most of the downwind leg with a small kite. While Platoon powered by Team Germany, steered by triple Olympic gold medallist and double America"s Cup Winner Jochen Schuemann (GER) emerged unscathed from a dramatic and exciting coastal race to take the best of the points available, winning both sections of the race, it was the continued charge of the Reichel/Pugh-designed sisterships, USA-17 and Artemis, that punched their way to the front of the fleet, both earning a second and a third to remain on top of the leaderboard. Inshore races on Friday and Saturday will conclude the event. -- Complete report: http://2008.medcup.org/news/?id=202 Provisional Results (top 10 of 14) 1. USA-17 (6, 5, 1, 1, 3, 3, 2 - 21) 2. Artemis, SWE (12, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 3 - 25) 3. Bribón, ESP (4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 - 31) 4. Platoon by Team Germany, GER (7, 9, 5, 3, 6, 1, 1 - 32) 5. Matador, ARG (2, 2, 7, 7, 12, 6, 6 - 42) 6. Quantum Racing, USA (3, 6, 12, 6, 1, 10, 7 - 45) 7. El Desafío, ESP (11, 10, 9, 8, 8, 5, 4 - 55) 8. Audi by Q8, ITA (8, 7, 8, 13, 9, 6, 8 - 59) 9. Mean Machine, MON (1, 14, 3, 9, 4, 15, 15 - 61) 10. CxG Caixa Galicia, ESP (9, 11, 6, 4, 2, 15, 15 - 62) Complete results: http://2008.medcup.org/results/venue.php?trophy=2 MELGES MANIA Melges Performance Sailboats are spreading worldwide and we see solid evidence of this with 100+ boats racing in the Melges 24 World Championship. One of the secrets to success is the venues that the Melges boats race in. The Melges 24 circuit goes worldwide featuring spectacular venues, and so does the Melges 32. Regatta participation is growing. The Melges 20 will feature the same type of sailing. Race to http://www.melges.com “YOU CAN’T PROTEST THE RACE COMMITTEE” by David Hagler US Sailing Judge, Crownsville, MD In Issue 2611, the article regarding the MedCup made the following statement: "For the second race, Artemis turned in another steady score of third, but it was starting line confusion for USA-17 that would result in a protest against the race committee." As a widely read newsletter for racing sailors, I wanted to correct the specific statement: "protest against the race committee". This is an incorrect statement and is uttered by racing sailors much more often than should be the case. A boat may only protest another or request redress. In the case of a sailor not protesting another boat, they are by default requesting redress. (Please see RRS 60.1). It is too common to hear competitors claim they are going to 'protest the race committee'. In short - it is not possible to protest the race committee. (However, it is possible to protest another boat if the R/C is on that boat, though the protest would be against the boat and not the R/C, but that is another issue altogether.) In an effort to raise awareness, I am requesting that in the future you make a more accurate statement when a competitor seeks redress from the race committee as is the case in OCS or other situations that involve the race committee. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Our bad. The daily MedCup report was distributed to us Wednesday prior to the facts of the case being known and the jury’s ruling. When we saw that USA-17 received a redress award, we called France and got the information, but in our effort to write an updated report we deservedly earned a red flag from Judge Hagler. Penalty acknowledged - turns spun. FINALE ON FRIDAY FOR MELGES 24 WOLRDS Porto Cervo, Italy (June 5, 2008) - What a difference a day makes, as the 114 competitors from 16 nations found out on the fifth day of the Volvo Melges 24 World Championship. With the fleet now split into Gold and Silver groups, the Race Committee was able to run races seven through nine on both courses. The skies were somewhat overcast but there was a great sailing wind from the north west that varied in strength from the low teens up to high 20s for brief periods. The weather challenges combined with the strength of this fleet made for a real “snakes and ladders” day as the overall results reveal. Only two boats came out of the day with three top ten scores – Nicola Celon, sailing ITA638 Marchingenio for Giorgio Marchi who scored 3, 8, 6, and Luca Bursic, sailing ITA730 Etabeta for Paolo Testolin, who scored 5, 4, 5. As a result they have moved into fifth and seventh place respectively. In the overall standings Lorenzo Bressani, helming Lorenzo Santini’s ITA757 Uka Uka Racing, has taken the lead. His day opened with a mediocre 14th, but he made up for this by following it with two wins and now counts 24 points and is holding an eight point lead with three races remaining on Friday. -- Event website: http://www.melges24worlds2008.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: June 6-8 - Beneteau 36.7 Great Lakes Championship - Vermilion, OH, USA June 6 - Regata de Amigos - Galveston to Veracruz, MEX - Seabrook, TX, USA June 7 - Delta Ditch Run - Richmond, CA, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar * The J/24 Class celebrates its 30th Anniversary year with the World Championship event in the Gulf of Arzachena, Cannigione, Sardinia, off the coast of Italy. Seventy-six teams from 16 countries will be competing from Monday, June 9th through Friday, June 13th, with two-time defending World Champion Maurico Santa Cruz (BRA) seeking his third title, a feat only accomplished by 6-time champ Ken Read (USA). Representing North America are Pete Ramsdale (BER), Trevor Boyce (BER), Pablo Carvajal (MEX), Jorge Xavier Murrieta (MEX), Mike Ingham (USA), Mark Hillman (USA), Sonny Gibson (USA), and Keith Whittemore (USA). -- http://www.j24arzachena.it/index.php?lang=en EIGHT BELLS Brian Kelly, 53, longtime Long Island sailor and sailmaker died Tuesday morning, June 3, 2008 after a courageous battle with cancer. Brian, who grew up on the Sound, has been involved in sailing his whole life. He spent many years with the Doyle Sails group, before opening his Port Washington, NY Quantum Sails loft 10 years ago. Brian was never happier than when he was sailing, and his love for the sport came across in almost every conversation he had. Brian had participated in all of the major sailing events on the East Coast and the Caribbean, and for those who were fortunate to have known Brian, saw him as a good man with a good heart. He will be truly missed. Services are this weekend, with visitation hours on Friday, June 6th on 2-4pm and 7-9pm at the Whitting Funeral Home, 300 Glen Cove Ave., Glen Head, NY, 11545. Brian’s funeral service will be 10am Saturday, June 7th at Christ Church, Oyster Bay, NY, with interment at St. Patrick's Cemetery, Old Brookville, NY. Contributions may be made to Cancer Care, 20 Cross Ways Park North, Woodbury, NY, 11797. TWENTY AND COUNTING What do you get by attending thousands of regattas and having countless support boats on the water? Twenty years of commitment to the sport. Just like last year, this summer finds a record number of junior sailors being coached from a RIBCRAFT RIB, thousands of marks will set from a RIBCRAFT RIB, and tens of thousands of races will be watched from a RIBCRAFT RIB. Providing the optimal platform for setting marks, coaching, or just watching races, RIBCRAFT is at the center of every great sailing community. http://www.ribcraftusa.com PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include TP 52 collisions in the Med, a rooftop Yngling, the 100-foot super maxi ICAP Leopard setting a new transatlantic mark for a monohull yacht with power-assisted winches, the new 69-foot Reichel/Pugh Bella Mente tuning up in Newport, RI, Boston College taking a celebratory splash after the Team Race Nationals win, launching the new Open 60’ “DCNS” for French Skipper Marc Thiercelin, a severely marked up boat with sponsor logos, and a slide show of really sweet images of Volvo Ocean Race entry Ericsson two boat testing in Lanzarote, Canary Islands. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/0606 LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Lee Morrison: It’s great to see US Sailing and Dave Perry put the Appeals Book on-line (Scuttlebutt 2610). Utilizing technology (in this case, the internet) to benefit members is a great way to provide value and encourage membership. How about taking it one step further? The UK-Halsey sailmakers “Sailing Rules Quiz” is a great on-line (http://www.ukhalsey.com/RulesQuiz/index.asp) tool allowing visualization of how the rules work. I, for one, would appreciate seeing at least some of the Appeals (as applicable for Part 2 interpretations) animated and would find it more enticing to study than reading text. * From Butch Ulmer: (re, story in #2610) New Rule 18 isn't the only rule change coming in 2009, and despite the good intentions of the rule writers, I think the pace of these changes is confusing a lot of sailors and may be doing more harm than good. UK-Halsey developed our animated rules quizzes to help people understand the rules and I often spend an hour or two at yacht clubs discussing the situations portrayed in these quizzes. In the course of an evening, I hear terms like "mast abeam", "overtaking boat" and "room & opportunity" all the time while the "two-length zone" is just now starting to become part of the average sailor's lexicon. In seven months time, the "two-length zone" is scheduled to join "mast abeam" in racing rule history. I think that the average sailor takes longer to get familiar with the rules than is commonly thought and in my opinion, that time frame is considerably longer than four years. Also, I think that a race conducted under rules that more contestants understand will be better than one conducted under improved rules that few contestants understand. I suggest that we extend the time between rule changes to six and perhaps even eight years and that doing so will bear fruit on the race course. * From Amy Smith Linton, Tampa, FL: (re, warning signals to alert marine life of an approaching fast sailboat) It seems like a good idea at first, though I wonder if it's not like trying to hold back the tide. What I mean is that there's just a certain amount of random stuff in the world. Like nature. A woman on the beach over here recently got jabbed in the face by a pelican as it dove into the water. A 3-foot leopard ray jumped into the path of a speeding boat and lambasted one of the passengers. A buddy of mine had the tip of his toe bit off by a kingfish. Random nature encounters. We could take simple precautions to ensure that it never happens again, but imagine the collateral cost. For instance, why not make a sort of nautical deer-whistler for our boats? We'd have to consider the trade-off of the number of collisions against the increased undersea racket. Sonar has been implicated in marine mammal strandings, so imagine what a fleet of boats armed with underwater warning devices might do. Ah my aching head! Would it compare with the rude drone of jet-skis, the hum of a sodium streetlight, or the rumble of a power-plant? And all to help prevent the one-in-a-million chance of a bad collision with a frolicking or basking sea-creature. Maybe we should work on a detection-and-avoidance technology to help steer around basking sea-life instead? What kooky pie-in-the-sky talk! Darned old wildlife should stay out of OUR way, even though we are traveling offshore at a good clip in fiberglass. Regardless the innovations and precautions, even that infinitesimal chance of colliding with a flying sea-lion makes me more interested in going sailing. Think what a story it would be... * From Craig Dymock: (re, story in #2611 about transatlantic record) Bah-Humbug! And a Merry Christmas to you Mr Scrooge! Is Elaine Bunting the ultimate killjoy? If a very wealthy individual wants to sail his extremely fast and beautiful boat across the Atlantic to break some ancient record, what does it matter that he needs to run his engine to power his winches? A boat that size would probably be running a generator 24/7 anyway. If a record is there to be broken, why not try and break it? It might not be the greenest or fastest record, but do we always have to pour cold water on anyone who has a go? Well done Mike Slade and his crew!! * From Richard Goldsmith: Elaine you fell for it. The engine is run to power the DVD player and recharge the Ipod’s. Then there’s staying connected to the satellite for the Blogs and keeping up the face book entry’s, Googling “Gulf Stream” and such when off watch. Oh and occasionally a winch. Congrats to Sherlock, Stanbridge, Thomas, Monson, Clouds and the boys. Elaine you should congratulate Mike Slade on coming up with a novel way of going carbon neutral ..ish saving CO2 on shipping and airfares for boat and crew. He took the “greener option”, less carbon emissions all round. (subject to the number of blown sails) very well done guys. I know Chris would be smiling up above. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION A lawyer is a person who writes a 10,000 word document and calls it a "brief." Special thanks to Melges Performance Sailboats and Ribcraft RIBs. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
