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SCUTTLEBUTT 3472 - Thursday, November 17, 2011Scuttlebutt 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 RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: Ullman Sails and Mount Gay Rum. ENERGY TEAM ON TOP Consistency was the key for the French Energy Team who won the third of three races on Wednesday afternoon to top the table at the end of the seeding races for the San Diego Match Racing Championships at the America’s Cup World Series. New skipper Yann Guichard posted three race finishes inside the top five to end the day one point clear of Emirates Team New Zealand. ORACLE Racing Spithill, plagued by penalties and starting trouble all day, recovered strongly in each race to hold on to third place. Those top three teams on today’s ranking are seeded through directly to the Semi Finals of the Match Racing Championship. The remaining six teams will be paired up to race in Thursday’s qualifying matches, competing in a knockout format to earn the fourth and final Semi Final berth. “It’s a perfect day for us,” said an elated Guichard after racing. “I’m really happy. The team has done a fantastic job. I’m getting more comfortable each day and I can really feel the boat well now. We had some good starts and were very fast today.” After the fleet races, the teams brought the show to the crowds perched on Broadway Pier for the AC 500 Speed Trials, which took place just yards from the pier. Emirates Team New Zealand, in the very first run, posted what would stand up as the quickest time down the 500-meter runway. The two ORACLE Racing entries, Spithill and Coutts were second and third respectively.-- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/7o77uun Results - San Diego Match Racing Championship (seeding fleet races) 1. Energy Team (FRA) 3, 5, 1: 24 pts 2. Emirates Team NZ (NZL) 2, 3, 5, 23 pts 3. Oracle Racing Spithill (USA) 5, 4, 2: 22 pts 4. Artemis Racing (SWE) 7, 1, 4: 21 pts 5. Team Korea (KOR) 4, 2, 8: 19 pts 6. Oracle Racing Coutts (USA) 1, 8, 6: 18 pts 7. Green Comm Racing (ESP) 8, 9, 3: 14 pts 8. Aleph (FRA) 9, 6, 7: 12 pts 9. China Team (CHN) 6, 7, 9: 12 pts * BROADCAST: The live streaming on the America’s Cup YouTube channel begins at 1:00 pm PST on Wednesday through Sunday. For the first time there will be the option of English or French commentating. There will also be a Comcast broadcast for the Dish Network, Direct TV, and AT&T Uverse. Details on YouTube, Comcast and the post-event highlight shows here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/ACWS-SD-Broadcast BABY STEPS TO BRAND AWARENESS By Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt The racing of AC45s had drawn a crowd to the Island Prime restaurant, located to the east on Harbor Island. Resting on stilts atop San Diego Bay, our perch was adjacent to the weather mark gate. I'm not sure what race it was, nor was anyone else. It didn't matter. The place was packed. Amid servings of seafood entrees, the patrons intermittently looked up to the activity outside. The bay had been cleared of boats, so the fleet of AC 45s, with their distinguishable livery, stood out. And they were coming our way. The fleet was on approach to the mark rounding, with the leaders taking the far gate option. To bear away from shore. To seek out more wind. Just out of range from the shouts of "deploy" as the gennaker unfurled. But the power of the big sail, snapping full, was apparent. Food was getting cold, but no one noticed. Further in the fleet, two teams chose the near gate mark. Perhaps they saw the puff. They turned and took off, now just a few boat lengths from my seat in the bar. Locked and loaded, hulls flying past plates. And then I saw it. Or maybe I heard it first. Either way, it was one of those moments. As the boats blazed by, everyone in the restaurant lifted their phones to take photos. Not so much cheering for a team. Not so much knowing about the race. Purely to prove they were there, that they saw the boats, that they liked what they saw. They were motivated by a connection. As the boats passed, they both rolled into a gybe. The puff was still on, and they accelerated swiftly. Windward hulls popped up to confirm the action. There were a few hoots in the crowd, more photos taken. The boats sailed on, and the diners returned to their meal. The level of engagement was not deep, but it was enough. Imagine if there was a racing program on each table. Or audio. Heighten the connection and who knows. Baby steps to brand awareness. PUT UP THE CODE WHAT?! Having trouble decoding spinnaker classifications? Not sure which kite you should add to your inventory? No need to worry. For over 40 years, Ullman Sails has been building the fastest, most efficient racing spinnakers. Our sail consultants will help you evaluate your current downwind inventory and pinpoint which sails will improve your performance around the buoys or offshore. Combine our personalized support with the best range of racing spinnakers on the market and you can rest assured that you made the right choice. Ullman Sails - Invest in your performance. Contact a local Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE While the wings are the same on each of the AC45s, the jibs and gennakers are developed separately by each team. And the big challenge is that the only access teams have for sail testing is at the America’s Cup World Series events. But for newer teams like Green Comm (ESP), that rolled a 8-9-3 in the 9 boat fleet races on Wednesday, they are playing catch up in a lot of areas. “We are learning how to sail the boat more than developing the sail package. Once we get the maneuvers nailed down, then we can look a bit closer at all the other elements,” explained Paul Hobson, Green Comm Head Coach & Sail Coordinator. ARTEMIS RACING SEEKS CLARIFICATION ON COLLABORATION San Diego, USA (16 November, 2011) - Challenger of Record Artemis Racing representing Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskapet (KSSS) has filed an application to the Jury requesting an interpretation of the Protocol governing the 34th America’s Cup with regards to the cooperation agreement between Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) and Luna Rossa Challenge 2013. Artemis Racing believes that it is in the best interest of all competing teams to understand if all of the elements of the agreement are permissible before any party makes a significant investment. KSSS/Artemis Racing welcome the involvement of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 in the 34th America’s Cup events and look forward to competing against the Italian team. PUMA HOLD NARROW LEAD (November 16, 2011; Day 12) - Unlike previous Volvo Ocean Races, the rounding of the island of Fernando de Noronha this time does not score any race points. However, it is still a mark of the course and the order of rounding will be a significant psychological boost for the front runners. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG with American Ken Read is making steady progress at 13 knots towards the Brazilian archipelago 129 nautical miles (nm) ahead, leading Telefónica by just 14 nm. Telefónica and CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS) have made negligible losses tonight, but Franck Cammas' fourth-placed Groupama 4 dropped nine miles on the leader over the course of the last three hours and has an average boat speed of just 10.6 knots. She is now 359 nm behind PUMA and the three boats in front of her are able to sail at least a knot faster, but remain undeterred. “It's really worthwhile staying focused on remaining in contention, as the group will come out stronger with increased stature through having to deal with a 300 mile lead and then a 300 mile deficit,” Cammas, Groupama skipper, said. “Of course we're not happy with this situation, but we aren't even halfway yet in this first leg! I've been going around the Saint Helena High for a fair old while now and I know that anything could still happen.” -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/7dz464c Standings as of Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 22.02.22 UTC 1. PUMA Ocean Racing by BERG, 3542.4 nm Distance to Finish 2. Team Telefonica, 14 nm Distance to Lead 3. CAMPER with Emirates Team NZ, 147.50 nm DTL 4. Groupama, 379.50 nm DTL 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - Retired from Leg 1 6. Team Sanya - Retired from Leg 1 Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles of the world's most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com ARMCHAIR SAILING By David Brayshaw In 2009 several hundred thousand “armchair sailors” worldwide competed in an online “virtual race” in parallel to the Volvo Ocean Race. Nearly as many competed in the virtual version of the Loup-de-Mer. This surprising level of interest prompted me to take a close look at this phenomenon, culminating in an article on the subject in Seahorse Magazine. While the games are not entirely realistic, I concluded that they were an excellent way for “real” sailors to practice their navigation skills, and modified my Advantage weather-routing program so it could be used directly in these games (which use wind data somewhat differently). As modified, the input and analysis necessary to compete in a virtual game is the same as real-world ocean routing. As a navigator, it is in some ways more satisfying, since the boat always ends up at a given time where you predict it will be based on the wind data, without the influence of breakdowns, storms and crew error. If you pick the right route, you will get there first. A new Volvo race is underway, and again there is a parallel virtual version, found at http://volvooceanracegame.com/. The platform is new, and the treatment of wind data more realistic. It is now halfway through the first leg, with plenty of racing ahead. I have posted a webpage describing the race and program options at http://www.goflow.com/advirtual.htm. This page also describes other virtual races now conducted regularly on the web, with various features and degrees of realism. If you haven't already tried this, I recommend the experience. * Brayshaw’s Seahorse Magazine article: http://www.goflow.com/seah2009.htm END IN SIGHT FOR TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE FLEET (November 16, 2011) - Erratic squalls, the collapse of the trade winds and generally lighter conditions are forecast for the first finishers in the IMOCA Open 60 Class of the 2011 Transat Jacques Vabre. Expected to finish in Costa Rica within the next 48 hours Jean-Pierre Dick is firmly on course to extend his record to three Transat Jacques Vabre victories in the IMOCA Open 60 class. But the western Caribbean is unlikely to deliver the Virbac-Paprec 3 duo a win without experiencing a sting in the tail, the current outlook suggesting a typical random cocktail of light and strong winds which will require vigilance until the finish gun sounds. On the late afternoon Wednesday rankings, just over 14 days after leaving Le Havre, Virbac-Paprec 3 was a consistent 143 miles ahead of Alex Thomson and Guillermo Altadill on Hugo Boss, the French duo with just 447 miles to the finish line, hence holding a cushion equivalent to more than 30% of the remaining distance. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/7z5273m * The Transat Jacques Vabre is a 4,730nm double-handed race from Le Havre, France to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica with 35 competitors entered for the 2011 edition. J/24 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DAY ONE Buenos Aires, Argentina (November 16, 2011) - After the first day of racing, Tim Healy and his team on 11th Hour Racing hold the lead in the 2011 J/24 World Championship, hosted by the Yacht Club Argentino. Healy, from Newport, Rhode Island, is the current J/24 World Champion and showed his top form with consistent 3rd and 5th place finishes in the 58-boat fleet. After an on-the-water postponement waiting for wind, the two scheduled races were completed in 8-12 knot breezes on the Rio de la Plata. Each race was started under a black flag after one general recall, with several boats earning a BFD in Race 2. As the wind built during the day, the sailors were challenged by the short chop on the race course, which also allowed for some fun surfing on the downwind legs. The conditions were much to the liking of the locals as the remainder of the top-five positions are held by Argentinean teams, led by Francisco van Avermaete in second place and Miguel Saubidet in third place overall. 10 races are scheduled and racing will continue through Saturday. Live on-the-water updates about the racing can be found on the regatta Facebook page here: http://tinyurl.com/7ty6zpa. -- Event website: www.j24worlds2011.org.ar. MULTIHULL QUALIFER FOR 2012 YOUTH WORLDS TEAM Portsmouth, R.I. (November 16, 2011) - With the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil only four years away, now is the time for youth sailors to consider a campaign in a high-performance multihull. Although the boat has not yet been selected, US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Program has already begun development of this discipline in the U.S. through its US Sailing Development Team (USSDT). The 2012 USSDT includes the 2012 Youth Worlds Team, and selection for the multihull representatives will take place at the 2012 Tradewinds Regatta, scheduled for January 13-15, 2012 in Key Largo, Fla. The regatta will utilize the F16 multihull for youth sailors. “Youth development in Olympic classes and potential classes is the foundation of the Olympic Sailing Committee’s mission to win medals at Olympic Games,” said US Sailing’s High Performance Director/Head Coach Kenneth Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.). “Bringing the multihull back into the 2016 Games opens up a lot of opportunities for youth sailors, and we want to make sure any sailor who is interested in a serious Olympic campaign gets the on our radar for coaching and training.” -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/869axvx SAILING SPOKEN HERE. THE CONVERSATION KEEPS IMPROVING! For sailors around the globe like you, Mount Gay Rum has launched Sailing Spoken Here. With tens of thousands world-wide members today, sailors have connected to discuss their challenges, share their most treasured sailing photos, debate their past regatta scenarios, and to find their favorite sailing bars to celebrate the completion of a day at sea. If you haven’t already jumped into the conversation, you’re missing out. Luckily, today’s a new day: www.sailingspokenhere.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Is your event listed on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar? This free, self-serve tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. Here are some of the recent postings: * Navtec Launch TFC Carbon Rigging * Lewmar Launch REVO Backwind Winch * Gowrie Group launches fundraising challenge for charity * Photos/videos of Wraceboats GP26 designed by Jim Donovan View updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news SAILING SHORTS * Last weekend at US Sailing’s 2011 One-Design Sailing Symposium, presented by Gowrie Group and hosted by the Bay Head Yacht Club, five awards were presented to recognize outstanding individual and organizational achievements in one-design sailing. These annual award categories are for Service, Leadership, Club, Regatta, and Creativity. These awards highlight role models of creative leadership in one-design sailing. Receiving John H. Gardiner, Jr. Trophy for Service award was Gene Ferguson of the Catalina 22 class. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/7y9sy6c * San Francisco, CA (November 16, 2011) - Last weekend, the St. Francis Yacht Club hosted their most successful Windsurfing Junior Olympics ever in the 4th year running the event. Many people sailed for the first time in their lives by hopping on a Techno 293 Windsurfer, and many parents showed up who shared their stories of how windsurfing was in the 1980's as their son or daughter participated in one of the three different areas of learning (dry land simulation, rigging up or going for it on the San Francisco Bay). -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/89flrvh * The Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mapfre organization, at the recent Barcelona International Boat Show, announced its inclusion in the ISAF Sailing World Cup - the new Olympic classes world sailing circuit to start in 2013. Only 2 European events have been selected and the Sofia is one of them, with its 43rd edition to be held in the bay of Palma the first week of April 2012. -- Full story: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia-mapfre.org/ GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Mal Emerson (re, Scuttlebutt 3471): Interesting observation Roger, but what part of the conventional cruising boat would the wing be compared to? It just may be that wings are a bit more viable in other applications than it seems at first glance. The “little” 45's seem quite at home moored unattended with the wing up. Just as it is a big deal to “strike” the wing, it is a similar job to lower the mast on most any cruising boat. Obviously the wing serves as both mast and sail. It certainly outperforms the sail in many ways just maybe not in the ability to take it down or off the boat. The extreme high performance wings of the “C's” and USA 17 will never find their way on any average sailor's boat but the concept certainly could. Innovations that seemed out of the reach of the ordinary sailor have found their way into the mainstream at a prodigious rate. Planing hulls, foils, windsurfing, kiteboarding, kite sails, fin keels, wing keels, canting keels, bulbs, catamaran cruising boats and on and on were advanced concepts in sailing that found their way into mainstream sailing to some extent or another. I'm sure there were those that discounted those concepts and more finding their way into the every day. The wing has already debuted in the Moth and the A class catamaran. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the wing's viability in other sailing applications just because the initial applications are not viable to the average sailor. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/6of44zp * From Bob Johnstone: Ding Schoonmaker and I sailed against one another as teenagers in Lightnings back in the 1950s between Watch Hill RI and Stonington CT. It's thus befitting that one of Ding's behind the scenes accomplishments had to do with promoting youth sailing. As head of the NAYRU Junior Sailing Committee in 1972, he persuaded the NAYRU Board to take a flyer on putting its name on the inaugural US Youth Sailing Championships in Wilmette IL (of all places) in 1973. So, I think we can say that without Ding's willingness to take a risk and persuasiveness, it wouldn't have happened. Congrats to him on the Beppe Croce award! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION We have enough gun control. What we need is idiot control. 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