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SCUTTLEBUTT 2209 - October 25, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with America’s Cup coverage in Scuttlebutt brought to you by UBS (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). CARNAGE CONTINUES The Velux 5 Oceans race continues to experience extraordinary weather conditions and high drama. Following the departure from Bilbao, Spain on Sunday October 22, the fleet of 6 high performance Open 60 yachts has been blasted by enormous waves and violent winds of well over 50 knots. The race is certainly living up to its name as the Ultimate Solo Challenge, as 4 boats have been forced to turn back to land to make essential repairs following a torrential 24 hours of exceptional weather conditions. On Monday, Alex Thomson (GBR) was the first boat to stop racing and make it back to land, arriving in Gijon onboard his battered ‘HUGO BOSS’ to deal with headsail and furler problems. Joining Alex now are: * Unai Basurko (ESP) on ‘Pakea’ Monday sustained damaged to her headsail and mainsail and also has some unconfirmed issues with the stability of her mast. Basurko was heading back to Puerto Deportivo (Gexto), the start point of the Velux 5 Oceans, but may attempt to make port somewhere closer along the coast. * Sir Robin Knox-Johnston reported Tuesday morning that he has suffered damage to his yacht ‘Saga Insurance’ overnight whilst sailing in over 60 knots. Sir Robin is currently sailing towards La Coruna, Spain to carry out urgent repairs to his mast track and communications systems, which were a result of a knockdown. He is expected to arrive within 1 to 2 days to be met by his shore team. * Mike Golding (GBR) on ‘ECOVER’ has also been forced to make a pit stop in La Coruna, Spain, and is expected to arrive at the port sometime mid-afternoon Tuesday. Mike reported that he has suffered damage to three of the mainsail batten boxes, which retain the forward end of the mainsail battens and connect them to the mainsail track on the mast. David Adams, Race Director, comments, “The main problem is that you can’t slow these Formula 1 boats down and they simply crash on through - it is bone breaking action! We were expecting strong winds of 40 knots, but none of the weather models or advisors predicted 60 knots. I spoke to each of the teams and their weather advisors before they left Bilbao and none of the skippers had concerns about leaving on Sunday.” - Race website: http://www.velux5oceans.com CALORIE HURDLES (Scuttlebutt reader, nutritionist, and conditioning specialist Jennifer Langille runs the SailTrim.org website, and publishes a monthly newsletter on training our body for our sport. Here is an excerpt from an article in the October issue, ‘One Designer’s Defense Against the Holiday Gravy!’) Weigh-ins for Key West Race Week (KWRW) are a few months out, but for those participating in the Mumm Worlds, particularly Americans who celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving, there pose a few calorie hurdles. We need a game plan to protect our efforts when the bags of candy, favorite holiday deserts and hearty meals hit the menu. No matter where you are in the world, your culture or holiday calendar; we all have “something” that tickles our nose and triggers the senses to taste and savor. Can you discipline yourself to have just one bite, one helping or one piece? If mom’s pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream is too much to bare, do not deny yourself, the pie will haunt you into the wee hours of the night. Use the pie (or whatever it is that has captured your taste buds interest) and add a little extra activity that day (ex. play ball w/kids; take dog for hike; extra session at gym). You can have your pie and eat it too this season, however; consider having half your “usual” helping of sweet potatoes and cut back on the gravy. - http://www.sailtrim.org/images/October2006V2.pdf YOU HAD TO BE THERE.... (During the 2006 Soling Worlds in Annapolis, MD, a full gale blew through the fleet on Friday, October 20th. American Peter Galloway, who finished 5th overall in the event, provides his account of the storm.) “The wind was at 20-25 knots and building fast for the first lap of the race, and we now were getting ready to round the second windward mark, just behind Canadian Bill Abbott. It was far too windy to set chutes - probably 35 knots at that point - and on our first gybe we blew out the vang. Despite sailing the leeward leg with the boom skied (ever try to gybe without a vang?), we managed to remain in control. However, conditions continued to worsen for the third weather leg, and we were forced now to completely rag our sails to stay upright. Others were not as lucky at this point, with boats now sunk around us or with dropped sails and bailing like mad. “When we got within 100 yards of the final windward mark, then it got really windy! Maybe 45+ knots. We now had so much water onboard, and with all sails ragging, we essentially stopped forward progress against the huge sea, which prevented the drainage bailers from keeping up with the constant waves of incoming water. We realized it was now time to save ourselves.” - Read on for the full story: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/1024/ THANKS LOWELL JK3 Nautical Enterprises, Inc., the J Boat dealer in San Diego, would like to thank Lowell & Bea North for hosting a casual get together at their home for the local J/105 fleet. With over 20 J/105’s in San Diego, it is an ever-growing fleet that has as much fun off the water as on. The San Diego J/105’s enjoy sailing year-round with monthly local events, regional High Point Series, and great camaraderie. To hear what Lowell thinks of sailing his J/105, the Curmudgeon interviewed him during the 2006 North Americans. To watch the video, and to get specific details on the San Diego J/105 fleet, go to http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/06/1025 AINSLIE ON AINSLIE Brian Viner of Independent Online recently interviewed British Olympic champion Ben Ainslie on his America’s Cup experience thus far with Team New Zealand. Here are a couple excerpts) Ainslie is not yet 30 but is already a sporting veteran, … (which) begs the question: why, instead of carefully plotting further Olympic success at Beijing in 2008, has he signed three years of his life away in pursuit of glory for New Zealand, and not even as a first-team player? In Team New Zealand's energetic campaign to repeat its 1995 success in the America's Cup, Ainslie is helmsman on the reserve boat. He concedes that to outsiders it must look strange for such an accomplished sailor to have settled for a job on the reserve boat. "I was supposed to be on the race boat as a strategist," he explained, "but it had always been my goal to be a helmsman, whose main responsibility is to make the thing go as fast as possible. You're the guy on the wheel, you're the guy who ultimately decides what happens. So I had to give up my space on the race boat. We always go sailing with two boats, and we need a back-up in every position." There is, he added, a friendly rivalry between him and Dean Barker, the first-choice helmsman." "I've known him since I went sailing in New Zealand when I was 16 and he was a bit of a local hero. We're good friends. But at the same time, he knows that I'm the only person who can take his job away from him." As for the reason he has temporarily turned his back on smaller-scale vessels, the explanation is simple. "My childhood dream was to win an Olympic gold medal and the America's Cup," he said. "I've done one of those things, and now I'm trying to do the other." - Independent Online, full story: http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/article1865312.ece SAILING SHORTS * Alfa Romeo fulfilled her status as favourite for line honours in the Rolex Middle Sea Race when the sleek 100-foot SuperMaxi ghosted across the finish line in Malta at 1442 hours Tuesday afternoon. For second, Morning Glory, despite being 14 feet shorter and quite a bit smaller than the 100-foot Thuraya Maximus, Hasso Plattner's yacht had led its bigger rival for most of the course. However, in the dying miles before the finish Paul Cayard steered the larger Maxi past Morning Glory to take the runners-up spot, finishing at 16:36:02, just 15 minutes in front of Morning Glory. - Full report with results: http://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/newsdetails.asp?ID=134 * West Kirby Sailing Club has withdrawn as organizing club for the 2007 ISAF Team Racing World Championship. ISAF is currently looking for alternative venues for the 2007 World Championship. - http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6~Fh?,C2 * California International Sailing Association (CISA) is conducting their annual Youth Multihull Clinic on Nov 24-26, 2006. The purpose of the clinic is to broaden the talent of our nation's best junior sailors by teaching them in multihull sailboats. This clinic will help to prepare sailors for the US Youth Multihull Championship in Summer 2007. Clinic coaches include Pete Melvin, Bob Merrick, and Jonathan Farrar. Space is limited with applications due by November 1st, 2006. Additional information can be found at http://www.cisasailing.org * The United States-IRC Foundation, Inc. (US-IRC), has announced that Rolex Watch U.S.A., Inc., has become the sole commercial supporting Partner of the US-IRC rule, joining with three major senior yacht club Partners--New York Yacht Club, Storm Trysail Club and St. Francis Yacht Club--to promote and enhance big-boat inshore and offshore yacht racing throughout the country. The IRC is the only rating rule that has been granted "international" status by ISAF. It has been in existence since 1999 (adopted in the U.S. in 2004), with 7500 certificates issued worldwide and 625 IRC yachts active in the U.S. - Full story: http://www.us-irc.org/news_full.cfm?ID=16 * Sailing World has posted its latest college rankings, as determined by Sailing World's coaches' panel of Michael Callahan (Georgetown), Ken Legler (Tufts), and Mike Segerblom (USC): http://tinyurl.com/y4d2rh * (Miami, FL - Oct 24) The cold front arrived as expected, dropping temperatures and raising wind velocity for day two of the Snipe Western Hemisphere & Orient Championship. Three races were held in 15-20 knots of breeze on Biscayne Bay - perfect conditions for the top Snipe sailors in the world. Owning the day were Pan Am Gold medalists Bruno Bethlem/ Dante Bianchi (BRA) posting a 4-1-2, placing them solidly in the lead. Fellow Brazilians Henrique Wanderly/ Richard Zietemann are 7.5 points behind in second, with top North Americans Augie Diaz/ Mark Ivey (USA) in 7th and Ernesto Rodriguez/ Leandro Spina (USA) in 8th. - Full results: http://www.snipewho2006.org/reports/who_2006/who_2006.html * (October 24, 2006) With only a week and a half to go until applications for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart close, there are 44 yachts confirmed with at least another 30 expected before the 3 November deadline. The latest high profile application rumoured to be is for Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley’s 30m maxi Thuraya Maximus, which along with Mike Sanderson’s Volvo 70 ABN AMRO One, are both currently contesting the Rolex Middle Sea Race and both are booked on a ship to Sydney at the conclusion of this event in Malta. - Complete report: http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news.asp?key=2809 * The BoatU.S. Foundation is looking to honor those who have made a significant contribution towards advancing clean boating and educating boaters on minimizing their environmental impact with a new Environmental Leadership Award. Now is the time to submit your nomination to recognize a group, organization, company, marina or individual. The deadline for nominations is February 15, 2007 and the award includes $500 for the continued support of the winner's environmental efforts. Applications and information about the award can be found online at http://www.BoatUS.com/foundation/EnviroAward GUESS WHO IS COMING TO TOWN!!! Yes, it is that time of year and the Holidays will be here in nine weeks! So let's start those shopping lists. Team One Newport has some fantastic NEW sailing watches from Optimum. And these watches are made for sailing! Team One Newport also has a Henri-Lloyd Promotion!! Buy $250 of Henri-Lloyd gear and get a FREE storm duffel. That is a $69 value for free. Check out the New Henri-Lloyd Team 2 jackets for men and women. Talk to one of the Experts at 800-VIP-GEAR or come visit the web store at http://www.team1newport.com EIGHT BELLS It is with great regret to announce the news of the passing of Terry McCoy, who died last Sunday evening following a short illness. Terry was a supporter of junior sailing in the Bahamas and was a very close friend of the Bahamas Sailing Association. He will be dearly missed by his family and friends. A celebration of Terry’s life will be held on Thursday October 26 at 5:30 p.m. at the Royal Nassau Sailing Club. Donations may be sent to The Bahamas Junior Sailing Programme, c/o the Bahamas Sailing Association, PO Box N-752, Nassau, Bahamas. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or space (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, there are no word or frequency limits on comments sent to the Scuttlebutt Forums. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forums: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Rich Jepsen, CEO, OCSC Sailing: I had to respond to Ted Robinson's letter (in Issue 2208) concerning how sailing schools 'miscue' with new sailors by charging hundreds of dollars for a first step. I'm in the sailing school business and almost every single sailing school I know of, commercial and community, for profit or not, has a "dip your toe in" product or program. We definitely pay attention to other outdoor/ adventure sports and steal marketing/ entry point secrets from them all the time. Here are three from San Francisco bay area): The No charge, open to the public - "sail a dinghy day" at Cal Sailing Club, Richmond Yacht Club's no charge, open to the public "small boat day", and my school's $45 "Introduction to Sailing". I assure you, we in the sail training business do actually work very hard to make it easy and approachable.... Regardless, if you run a sailing school and you have a low risk, low cost way for people to try sailing, let's hear from you! * From Adrian Morgan: (from Jerry Kirby’s comments in Issue 2208) Just as youth is wasted on the young, so the Southern Ocean - by and large - seems to be wasted on those who sail there. Where are all the poets? The artists? The philosophers? The writers these days? Instead of inspiring prose we have clichéd old yacht jock speak of the "it was full on pedal to the metal, awesome sailing" type guff. I suggest that each yacht in the next Volvo be obliged to ship aboard a poet for the Southern Ocean leg (if there is one) to capture its truly awesome grandeur, haunt of the lonely albatross, the final frontier, where men are men and only the boldest boldly go... (sorry, there I go). * From Enrico Ferrari: (regarding letter in Issue 2205) Chip Johns of Vanguard Boats had a good point about time spent with boats being at least half maintenance. Owning and self-maintaining anything is not as popular as it used to be, let alone a boat. Public education is taking shop out of the schools across the country so handling a tool will be the rare exception for our citizens, not the norm for us who are AARP already. Have you ever tried to maintain a boat without the correct tool? The paradigm shift away from recognizing tools and accomplishment seems to be based in the litigious ‘not for me' attitude towards responsibility. Boating is just one of the fields affected by our 'minimal effort' culture. Support the school shops, repair yards, and YCs and take out who ever you can for an outing. My crew varies in size from 2-14 but there always seems to be a rookie who needs teaching. No worries; just do that and perhaps you will find a new sailor. Once they are hooked into a steady crew position you might be able to talk them into long boarding the keel on haul out time! They will really want to race with you then, as they will have more ownership in the boat and the program. * From David Doody: One thing that I have noticed in Western Long Island Sound, and indeed seemingly everywhere, is a distinct lack of kids "simply messing about in boats." It seems that sailing has become strictly a "sport" for kids today - they check in for a couple of hours of upwind and downwind sailing around the cans and then leave - off to some other organized sport or activity. I never (never say never) see kids jumping into their boats just to go mess around, or going out to explore an island, or go capsizing, or any of that good stuff. I know it is the old "shoulda been here yesterday" but I have very fond memories of a youth spent "messing about in boats" - unorganized and probably even pretty unsafe at times - but just messing around in rowboats, sailboats, powerboats, pieces of dock foam to cross a creek in winter (bad idea...), sailing a sunfish to camp out on an island (sleeping bag in a leaky garbage bag lashed to the mast) and all of that experience has made me a lifelong sailor and someone passionate about sailing. I think there is way too much emphasis on racing, and particularly in singlehanded boats, and not enough time spent on the seamanship and boat handling and boatkeeping and the just plain fun aspects of sailing. Perhaps we need a "push your kid off the dock today and don't plan on picking him up till tomorrow" campaign? Is there more to this than just the sport of sailing perhaps? * From Rick Ermshar, Honolulu: In 'Butt 2208 (Oct. 24), Pat Healy wrote "Are kids (or even adults) better seaman? Here's the test. Look at how they tie their shoelaces. (...)" I'm betting that most kids don't even know what shoelaces are. Velcro, they know. Laces? They come from Victoria's Secret, don't they? CURMUDGEON’S CONUNDRUM Can a guy named "Nick" have a nickname? Special thanks to JK3 Nautical Enterprises and Team One Newport. America’s Cup coverage in Scuttlebutt is brought to you by UBS. |
