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SCUTTLEBUTT 2315 – April 4, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). ACT 13 – DAY ONE (April 3, 2007) The final season of the 32nd America’s Cup opened with racing on a complicated spring day in Valencia. Louis Vuitton Act 13 is the ultimate preliminary regatta of the opening Acts, and represents a final opportunity for the challengers to move up or down on the Louis Vuitton Ranking table. For Alinghi, the Defender, this racing represents a last look at the challengers; following Act 13, won’t race again until the America’s Cup Match beginning on June 23rd. The changeable weather meant the leaderboard was shuffled on each leg of the race course, with a massive wind shift on the final run of the first race denying +39 Challenge a fairytale ending. Instead, BMW Oracle Racing charged out of nowhere, passing six boats on the final run, with the South African Shosholoza team close behind. +39 Challenge, after leading for most of the race, was forced to settle for a heartbreaking 10th place. The Italian team had been fortunate just to make the starting line on Tuesday afternoon, after sailing with a new mast for the first time after sunset on Monday. Due to the weather conditions, only 1 race was completed on this first day, with 2 races planned for Wednesday. -- Complete story: http://www.americascup.com/en/news/index.php?idContent=14582&idIndex=0 Standings After First Race 1. BMW Oracle Racing (USA 87) 2. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 3. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 4. Alinghi (SUI 91) 5. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 6. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 7. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 8. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 9. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 10. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 11. China Team (CHN 95) 12. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) QUOTE / UNQUOTE Said BMW Oracle Racing navigator, Peter Isler, following their win, “The conditions were very tricky. After the start, the afterguards really had to improvise their tactical decision-making as thunderstorms building over the land moved across the course and disturbed the sea-breeze. While we are obviously pleased to take the win, not too much can be read into today’s result. The positions at the mark roundings were dictated much more by windshifts than boatspeed. It is just another confirmation that Valencia is a very tricky place to sail.” SEEKING THE FAIRYTALE ENDING (April 3, 2007) The team bases are three storeys high and if you are big outfit such as the America's Cup holders, Alinghi, or a leading challenger like BMW Oracle, there will be 300 guests a day flying-in to watch the racing. But for a struggling team, such as Italy's +39, the real question is simply whether they are able race Tuesday, the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Act 13 America's Cup racing in Valencia. On Friday evening, +39's new mast was put in the boat for the first time. Monday afternoon, the spar was craned out again, meaning that British helmsman, Iain Percy, has had minimal opportunity to bed-in, test, and tune the mast. It is symptomatic of the problems that have plagued +39 for the past three years. They were the second team to lodge a challenge after the powerhouse BMW Oracle team owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison. The crew are said to be owed four months back pay. The one and only new boat and the new mast should have been available to Percy's crew a year ago. If it is disheartening for Percy and his fellow Britons, Ian Walker and Andrew 'Bart' Simpson, alongside him as tacticians, then Percy has done a pretty good job of hiding it in public. -- Tim Jeffery, Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2bmdy3 WITH GOOD SAILS, THEY ALL GOT BETTER Rusty Nelson took his J/80 to the San Diego NOOD. He’d never won anything “big” before. With his new UK-Halsey sails, he finished with four bullets and a fourth. J/80 Class President Steve Hammerman opened the Texas Circuit in style with his UK-Halsey inventory. “All we had to do was stay close to our competition; we knew that we could beat them head-to-head. We were simply higher and faster.” And John Storck, after placing second at Key West, won an extremely competitive St. Pete NOOD: six points separated the top six J/80s. UK-Halsey sails: the difference matters. http://www.ukhalsey.com MONDAY MORNING TACTICIAN (The following commentary is provided by Andrew Campbell, US Sailing Team member, from observations at a recent event where he was coaching.) An anonymous Naples Sabot sailor tested himself against the elements the entire 200 yards upwind and proceeded to not quite make the windward mark. The mark was a lobster pot, approximately a liter in volume, with a three-foot PVC stick with a 2-foot-squared flag attached. There is no question in anybody’s mind that our sailor not only walloped the mark, but proceeded to make it disappear. Keep in mind, that the intelligent design of the Naples Sabot gives starboard tack a distinct disadvantage as the boat’s single leeboard exits the water when the boat heels in the breeze. Nonetheless, our sailor hit the mark with his leeward bow, and the slightly sideways course of the boat sucked the mark under the hull. Of course, our sailor was a persevering fellow, and kept sailing until the mark bobbed up astern, astonishingly to weather and clear of the rudder. He continued two boat-lengths down the run, and as soon as reasonable, went into a 360-degree, one-turn penalty, and exonerated himself from the situation. Mixed feelings welled up inside me at that moment. First, of course I was laughing, because it really isn’t that often that a mark of the course disappears completely underwater. Second, I was proud of the kid for owning up to his mistake and taking immediate action to clear himself. Third, I was worried that he may not have actually completed the action of rounding that mark! After returning to the dock, I was forced to hit the books to try to find an answer defining the action of passing a mark. That answer proved elusive. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/ypzdp2 38 TROFEO SAR PRINCESA SOFIA Finally the wind blew on the third day at the 38 Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofía – Mapfre, with 14-18 knots making it possible on Tuesday to sail three races in many classes, bringing several changes to the overall results of this 926-boat event. However, it didn’t start out that way for this Grade 2 Olympic event. “Today's sail out to the racecourse felt like an early June day on Lake Sunapee with cool clear air and wind coming for every direction,” said Star sailor Brad Nichol (USA). “You always wonder what the day is going to bring when you sail alongside someone 100 ft away in the same direction on opposite tacks! We drifted around the starting area for 45 min before the wind came up abruptly.” For some classes, the day started very early and ended very late as event organizer attempted to get caught up with the race schedule, while enduring delays due to the shifty conditions. Commented Laser sailor Andrew Campbell (USA), “An 8-hour day on the water is tough, but when combined with the amount of waiting around in addition to the cool breeze, it makes for a lot of unhappy campers in the boatpark as the sun went down.” In general, North Americans excelled on Tuesday, scoring top ten finishes in all but the RS:X Men class. Starting on Wednesday, classes will be divided in groups Gold and Silver and in some cases Bronze, with the best sailors in the Gold group. -- Event website: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/dinghy/index.html Positions of the Top North Americans (over total entrants): Yngling - Sally Barkow/ Carrie Howe/ Debbie Capozzi (USA, 1/33) Laser Radial - Tanias Elias Calles Wolf (MEX, 2/91) Star - Hamish Pepper/ Brad Nichol (NZL/ USA, 3/41) Laser - Andrew Campbell (USA, 4/138) 470 Women - Erin Maxwell/ Isabelle Kinsolving (USA, 5/68) Tornado - Oskar Johansson/ Kevin Stittle (CAN, 6/58) RS:X Men - Alain Bolduc (MEX, 15/112) 49er - Tim Wadlow/ Chris Rast (USA, 17/80) RS:X Women - Nikola Girke (CAN, 22/67), 470 Men - Stuart McNay/ Graham Biehl (USA, 24/116) ROUSMANIERE ON KILLER STORMS AT SEA A recent re-read of Rob Mundle’s Fatal Storm got me thinking again about killer weather. My Australian friend approached his book about the 1998 Sydney-Hobart Race gale (in which six sailors died, 44 were rescued, and five boats were lost) the same way I did mine about the 1979 Fastnet Race storm, Fastnet Force 10. We each strove to be objective and fair about a great disaster, and we believed that if we told the story straight, our readers would come up with their own lessons learned, of which there were a great many. Among the things you learn from storms is that distress can stimulate bleak humor. Fatal Storm is the only sailing book I know that features a dialogue whose punch line is, “Mate, who gets to eat who first?” People who crack jokes as their heads are drawn into a lion’s mouth have considerable experience wrestling with lions. Aussies know two truths about going to sea. The first is that in places like the Bass Straits, England’s Western Approaches, and, for that matter, the Gulf Stream, discomfort and danger must be expected. The second truth is that we’re on our own out there. The great American sailor Carleton Mitchell likes to quote a Bahamian saying about the weather: “You eats what the cook serves.” Nobody is going to step in and order a more palatable meal for you – not the Coast Guard, not an EPIRB, not GPS. To put it another way, there is no business as usual at sea except that everything is a surprise. On December 27, 1998, and August 13, 1979, the sea served up two phenomenal meals. Fatal Storm confirms four lessons that I have learned from bad weather experiences like that Fastnet Race. One is that the sound of a storm usually is more frightening than its appearance. Another is that while bad weather always threatens to come between people – “a great wind isolates one from one’s own kind,” Joseph Conrad wrote in Typhoon – well-led crews unite rather than fracture. A third is that after disasters, blame-finding from remote places can be wrongheaded and cruel. Finally, there is the look of a storm: in each hard chance there appears at least one moment of astonishing beauty. -- John Rousmaniere, Ocean Navigator blog, full report: http://tinyurl.com/2x2e7r MARTHA'S CLOTHING TIP OF THE WEEK When wearing your foul weather gear jacket, always have your hood out. Why? Because if you go overboard, the bright neon yellow hood is often the only color that stands out in rough seas! You can learn lots more on the Team One Newport website. Not sure what you need? Visit the Home page and go to "Ask Martha". Be ready for the brisk Spring Racing season with Ronstan's new Offshore boot along with their Gloves, Clearstart Watches, and Dinghy neoprene boots. Also look at the new Patagonia Wool layering pieces! Yes, wool is making a comeback! More tips soon in Scuttlebutt. http://www.team1newport.com TELEVISION PLAN ACTV is the host broadcaster for the 32nd America’s Cup. As such, ACTV is responsible for producing and distributing television coverage of the Cup in the form of ‘live’ television, highlights, and daily news package productions that are distributed to over 100 countries around the world. ACTV will produce three TV feeds – one world feed, one Romeo and one Juliet (reflecting the two race areas). Each has a live director and producer to ensure the best coverage. The ‘world’ feed is a compilation of the other two, with the addition of full 2D and 3D graphics. The ‘Romeo’ and ‘Juliet’ feeds focus on the action on each race course. TV facts in numbers: * 33 - the maximum number of cameras in use at one time (helicopters, catamarans, RIBs and competing yachts) * 24 - total number of cameras on board competing yachts including 12 fully agile and 12 fixed cameras during the Round Robin phases of the Louis Vuitton Cup. * 6 - number of cameras on board each competing yacht in the Louis Vuitton Cup final and 32nd America’s Cup Match * Over 300 - Minimum number of hours of ‘live’ coverage distributed to rights-holders * 36 - minimum number of 26-minute highlight shows distributed to rights-holders * 134 - number of production people employed by ACTV on site in Valencia * Over 500 - number of people employed by rights-holders on site in Valencia Complete details: http://tinyurl.com/23csy6 Curmudgeon’s Comment: For US viewers, the television schedule for the Versus network is listed on the Scuttlebutt website (under Event Calendar - show listings). The plan for Canada is less clear, but scroll down to the Letters section below for the latest update. SAILING SHORTS * (Tampa Bay, FL) The second day of the Star Western Hemispheres saw the fleet complete the third race in the series, where big shifts and light winds played havoc for some of the strong Olympic contenders in the fleet. Freddy Loof and Anders Ekstrom came back during the race to claim second and maintain their overall lead, extending now to 9 points over New Zealander Rohan Lord and Miles Addy. Complete story with results at http://www.starclass.org/artman/publish/article_262.shtml * (Fort Worth, TX) Fort Worth Boat Club hosted 6 teams for the Sundance Cup, held on Eagle Mountain Lake March 28-31, 2007. This women's match racing event was sailed in J/22s, and saw all weather conditions from tornado-like thunderstorms and rain to light whispers and sunshine. After two round robins, semi-finals and a final pushed to five matches each, Liz Hjorth and her team (Karyn Jones, Marylyn Hoenemeyer and Shala Lawrence) took home the winner’s trophy. -- Complete detail: http://www.womensmatchracing.org/news_detail.asp?rk=25 * (April 2, 2007) Raul Rios of Puerto Rico leads the 185-boat/ 17 nation IODA South American Championship in Niteroi, Brasil after eight races. Benny Grez (CHI), who was 8th at last year’s Worlds, has moved into second place, and is presently the best South American. Lucas Swan of the host country lies third, just ahead of another PUR sailor José Nigaglioni. -- Robert Wilkes, IODA Secretary, event website: http://www.cncharitas.com.br/sulamericano.html * The 10th Annual Strictly Sail Pacific boat show will be held April 18-22, 2007, in Oakland, CA., and Scuttlebutt now has $5.00 discount tickets for all the ‘buttheads. Look for their banner ad on the Scuttlebutt website for info, or go straight to the show’s e-commerce site to buy your discount tickets: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/jump/strictlysail * The Notice of Race for the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship, 2007, for Single-Person, Two-Person and Three-Person Keelboats is now available. Rochester Yacht Club, Rochester, NY USA will host the regatta from September 7-15, with racing on Lake Ontario. All three Paralympic sailing disciplines will determine their 2007 World Champions and also, the countries that qualify for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Qingdao. http://www.2007ifdsworlds.com 1000 BOATS, 10 NATIONS, 1 DESIGN 77 boats on the starting line for Spi-Ouest, 90 boats on backorder; used by the French Navy for Academy training, by RYA (UK) for their keelboat program, by SSSR (Sweden) for match-racing, and by J World in 5 locations. It’s the J/80 … fast, rugged, easy-to-sail & ISAF recognized. http://www.jboats.com/j80 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 Peter Rusch, Media and Communications, 32nd America's Cup: (in response to Chris Carroll in ‘butt 2314 regarding ACUP media in Canada) America’s Cup Management (ACM) and Alcatel-Lucent, the Official New Media Provider for the 32nd America's Cup, are working hard to finalise a deal with TSN that will provide broadcast/online coverage of the 32nd America's Cup in Canada. At this stage, TSN/TSN.ca will look to provide the following coverage: => 6 x "wrap-up" Highlight Programmes (produced at the conclusion of each stage of the event) to be screened on TSN. There is the possibility of additional coverage on TSN2. => TSN.ca to webcast (live and on-demand) all races from the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final through to the conclusion of the 32AC Match (available in Canada only) Canadians can also follow the races of the 32nd America's Cup live and virtual (including audio commentary by AC Radio) by subscribing to "America's Cup Live Sailing" by Alcatel-Lucent. Daily video news clips of the racing will also be produced and posted on this website. This service can be found at http://www.americascupanywhere.com * From Troy Duval: With the brouhaha from the multihull community regarding their exclusion from the US Olympic proposal for suggested events at the 2012 games, it is interesting to note that the second place finisher at the Youth Multihull Champs last week had NEVER sailed anything but dinghies prior to the event. As for the US multihull reps that have been going to the Olympics lately, you have to go all the way back to 1992 (Randy Smyth) before you find one that actually came up through the multihull ranks. For the past fifteen years, all the top teams have been converted dinghy sailors. For the multihull sailors that are complaining about being left off the US 2012 event lists, maybe they should spend their energy figuring how to actually develop top multihull sailors. The way it’s going now, the US would be smarter developing top dinghy sailors, and then having them move over to the multihull, if that event still remains among the 2012 options. * From John Jourdane: With the passing away of Jake Wood, the West Coast lost one of the last Big Boat icons. Jake was not only a keen competitor, but a gentleman. He was a friend to every sailor on the water. We will miss him. * From Marc Jacobi: After Gary Clifford and Jonathan Livingston's incredible 1984 doublehanded transpac adventure, Gary gave me, some unknown 20 year old kid, the keys to (his Express 27) ‘Lighten Up’ with two provisos: 1) take out anyone who wants to see what the boat is like; and 2) have fun! For the next three months I did exactly as ordered, turning countless friends and sailors onto the charms of that awesome boat. It was a sad day when ‘Lighten Up’ went onto the trailer for the long journey back to San Francisco. We didn't stay in touch, but I will be forever grateful to Gary for entrusting me with his incredible little boat. His enthusiasm and trust were inspirations. Thanks for the memories, Gary. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION You know it’s the 21st century when you e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you. Special thanks to UK-Halsey Sailmakers, Team One Newport, and J Boats. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
