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SCUTTLEBUTT 3169 - Thursday, September 2, 2010Scuttlebutt 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: Navtec and Ullman Sails. OLD HAND The oldest sailor in the Finn Gold Cup fleet is 75 year old Gus Miller (USA). He started his Finn career back in 1966 and has no intentions to give up just yet. Miller has seen the class evolve over more than four decades and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the boats and its sailors. What keeps him coming back? “For me it has opened doors for me all over the world. The boat is a special boat. It is highly evolved but it's like having a little Maserati. It's so sensitive and such a good sea boat. As a kid up until I was 38 I sailed a hundred different types of boats, including 5O5s and oceans racers but when I sailed a Finn it was the best boat I had ever gotten in to. “It's a very powerful demanding boat and you need a lot of initiative and attitude that you're going to do it yourself. There are a lot of coaches out there now but basically you are out there on your own. And everyone realizes the challenge is yourself, not the other guys. The challenge is the boat and that understanding is the only idea. I love my competitor because he makes me better. The guys here have enormous respect because the challenge of sailing the boat is so great. If one guy figures it out then the others guys are glad for him that he's been able to do it. “You see very talented new guys coming in and these guys are getting bigger and bigger. Nutrition has improved such that the Asians and others are getting bigger and stronger. And the Finn takes a big guy and a big smart guy and one of the characteristics of the Finn is that the Finn sailors have to be smart. If he's not smart, big, and strong then it's hopeless. You gotta have brains out there.” How long does he think he will continue the sail the Finn? "Well I am staying on a yacht with a young Estonian and he was talking about having the Finn Gold Cup in Tallinn Bay and long ago I said I'd continue to sail the Finn until it was sailed in Tallinn Bay. So who knows? For a couple of decades now I have told my body, “just get me through one more regatta and I'll quit.” Well in the practice this week I came in one day and my body said to me, “You lied. So as long as I can physically do it I will probably carry on." The full video interview with Gus Miller: http://tinyurl.com/2bcqote FINN WORLDS San Francisco, CA (September 1, 2010) - For the fleet of 87 boats competing this week at the 2010 Finn Gold Cup on San Francisco Bay, there are a few things they are adjusting to after three days of racing. There is the fog on the Golden Gate Bridge, there is the wind increasing to 20+ knots each day, and there is Brit Edward Wright kicking their butt. Wright has rolled an 18-3-1-1-1-3 through Wednesday to hold a 13 point lead over the field. With the absence of countryman Ben Ainslie, who has a habit of winning Finn Gold Medals (2) and Finn World Championships (5), Wright is clearly taking advantage of the opportunity to show his yachting federation that he has game too. In fifth is 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Zach Railey (USA) who describes the conditions: “This is definitely the first windy regatta of the season. We have had some windy days before but for the most part it's been a very light airs season so we have been working hard in the gym and I came out here for three weeks training in July to prepare for this and really working on my fitness and pumping. This is a very hard venue because you have long times on one tack to one side. The right has mostly paid, but a few times the left has paid, but you are spending 8-10 minutes on one tack, so it's just about you pushing the boat as much as you can. Everyone is going really fast out there so if you let off a little bit you fade away.” Racing continues with two races scheduled each day until Friday, September 3rd, where the medal race for the top 10 and the final race for the rest will be on Saturday, September 4th. Additional details at: Event website: http://www.finngoldcup.com/ Results: http://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=342 BIGGEST COMPOSITE CABLE MADE BY NAVTEC Navtec have manufactured the biggest biconic composite cable they have ever supplied to a sailing yacht. And it is only fitting that it is for the world’s biggest sailing catamaran, SY Hemisphere. The 145’ Van Peteghem Lauriot Prévost-desgined superyacht is being completed at Pendennis, UK and Navtec is supplying the standing rigging. Navtec experts from France and the UK met the US team in Guilford, CT to assemble over one hundred metres of the 70mm diameter plus Kevlar cable. The cap shrouds breaking load is 300 tons! Find out more about Navtec fibre rigging at http://www.navtec.net BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN The 76th running of the Vineyard Race historically takes place on Labor Day weekend. It is a classic American yachting event hosted by Stamford Yacht Club (Stamford, CT), taking the fleet on a 238-mile course stretching through Long Island Sound, past Block Island, and on to the light tower at the entrance to Buzzard's Bay before returning to the finish in Stamford Harbor. Interest in the 2010 race was high, with 85 entries confirmed, way up from 50 entries two years ago. And then comes Hurricane Earl. The Race Committee has been studying the weather projections and following the storm path on Wednesday, and by late in the day the decision was made to postpone the Friday noon start until 10:00 on Saturday. The expected wind velocities and sea state in the eastern end of the courses over Friday night and into the early hours of Saturday morning was not expected to be too pretty, but by 0800 Saturday morning, the storm is likely to be over Nova Scotia and the seas will have subsided. And so goes the best laid plans of mice and men. Details: http://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=336 BRINGING IT TO THE PEOPLE Annapolis Race Week has been held on the Chesapeake Bay over Labor Day weekend for more than four decades. Organized by the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association, the popular three-day regatta has become a local tradition - albeit solely within the sailing community. “People around Annapolis that didn’t own a sailboat or weren’t competing had no idea when Annapolis Race Week was held or what it was all about,” said Bobby Frey, former CBYRA president and on-water regatta chairman. CBYRA officials believe the 44th annual Annapolis Race Week will greatly increase awareness among average Annapolitans that a major sailing event is being held in their midst. Headquarters for Annapolis Race Week have been moved to City Dock and that increased visibility should benefit both the city and the regatta. “For the first time in its history, Annapolis Race Week is really going to be part of Annapolis,” Frey said. “If you go to the race weeks in Key West and Charleston, the city is a big part of the charm. I think this move has the potential to be a really positive thing for both the city of Annapolis and CBYRA.” Annapolis Race Week has always been a top-notch operation on the water and this year will be no different with upwards of 160 boats expected to compete in 18 classes. Top-notch race management is the norm with Chip Thayer and the Annapolis Yacht Club committee running Fleet 1 (Farr 40, Beneteau 36.7, J/35, PHRF A0, A1 and A2), Mark Murphy and Eastport Yacht Club directing Fleet 2 (Farr 30, Sport Boat, J/105, J/80), Bill Adams and Naval Academy Sailing Squadron overseeing Fleet 3 (J/25, Cal 25, Catalina 27, Multihulls, PHRF B, C/D and N). -- The Capital, read on: http://tinyurl.com/2fc3nhe CONNECTING: Unlike the exclusivity of a private yacht club, tourism guides describe City Dock as in “the heart of historic downtown Annapolis. Throughout the year, at nearly any time of day, locals and visitors are drawn to the water and scenes of City Dock. Whether it's an after-dinner stroll or lunchtime on a sunny bench, the dock is the center of the town's activities.” Additional details: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/tour_citydock.html WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR St. Moritz, Switzerland (September 1, 2010) - The opening day of racing at the St. Moritz Match Race - the sixth of the nine event World Match Racing Tour - dawned bright but cold, with the surface of the lake covered in a thin layer of picturesque mist. However, the tranquil setting belied the intensity of racing that was to come most notably between the British and French teams. The Brits went on to dominate the first part of the day’s racing, with both Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN and past Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar winning all their races, including Ainslie’s match against current World Match Racing Tour leader Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team. “It’s the start we wanted, even though we’re a bit rusty having missed the last two events. The conditions were very tricky with 20-25 and even 30, degree windshifts and it was important to connect the gusts, especially downwind.” So what would happen when Ainslie and Williams went head-to-head? After close sparring in the pre-start, Williams held Ainslie out to the wrong side of the committee boat, winning the start by a length and a half. At the windward mark Williams misjudged his tack and collided with Ainslie, but maintained a tenuous lead. At the beginning of the final leg he had extended this to three-lengths, but still had a penalty turn to take before finishing – it was impossible to predict the result, until a gust allowed Williams to extend his lead 150m from the finish line. The last race, between Mathieu Richard and Ian Williams, was also the closest. With 15 seconds to go the French skipper looked much too early, yet he found enough wriggle room to make a perfect start, much to the surprise of the spectator crowds. He led throughout the race by the tightest of margins - at the finish just one metre separated the two boats. Results after Day 1 of the St. Moritz Match Race: Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing:4-1 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar: 4-1 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team: 4-1 Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAM ORIGIN: 3-2 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team: 3-2 Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team: 3-2 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team: 2-3 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team: 2-3 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra: 2-3 Eric Monnin (SUI) Swiss Match Racing Team: 2-3 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team: 1-4 Jerome Clerc (SUI) CER: 0-5 Tour website: http://www.wmrt.com BACKGROUND: The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) is the leading professional sailing series, featuring 9 events across the globe, sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with "Special Event" status. Prize money is awarded for each event, with event points culminating in the crowning of the "ISAF Match Racing World Champion". DAVIDSEN WINS J/80 DANISH NATIONALS In a competitive, multinational fleet, Ullman Sails’ Jesper Davidsen and team of Jacob Jacobsen, Morten Davidsen and Michael Lauersen won the Danish J/80 Nationals in Copenhagen, August 14-15. Of the five races sailed, the team won four and dropped a second place to round out their final score. The team competed with full Ullman inventory, including a FiberPath jib and a standard Ullman Dacron mainsail, which the team used last season too. “We had very good upwind speed and won every duel we had. We always could choose between speed and point,” Jesper said. Invest in your performance - http://www.ullmansails.com LASER WORLDS Hayling Island, England (September 1, 2010) - On the strength of two impressive race wins in slightly stronger breezes today off Hayling Island Australia’s double world champion Tom Slingsby stepped four points clear at the top of the Laser World Championships leader-board after six of the eight scheduled Qualifying Races have been sailed. Said American Kyle Rogachenko on the conditions, “The shifty 8-12 knot winds made the racing extremely close. While it was easy to pass boats, it was even easier to lose. The highlight of the day was during the second race when I led around much on the race course with a nice lead on the rest of the fleet. Later in the race, the same shifts that led me to the front ...took it away as I managed to hang on to a 4th place finish.” Commenting on his success, Tom Slingsby (AUS) noted, “There was a lot of current and everyone was really intimidated to get up on the start line but I had good transits and so I was able to start a boat length or two ahead of the boats around me. So I had really good starts, good speed upwind, but I was really fast downwind which is maybe a little out of the ordinary for me. I am usually an upwind specialist but today I was really quick. I am not too sure why. Yesterday I got a yellow flag and that maybe did me some good, I was trying to stay very still and today was a day about being very smooth and rocking really would not have helped you very much.” Chasing hard in third overall Skandia Team GBR’s Paul Goodison was forced to press his ‘recovery mode’ into action again today. Deep in the pack in the second race the Olympic and World Champion pulled back to seventh, keeping his world title defence firmly on target with all six of his scores Top 10 finishes, and only four points from Slingsby. The qualifying series concludes September 2nd, with the final series from September 3-5. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/2b8974d SAILING SHORTS * Ridgeway, ONT (September 1, 2010) - Americans Ernesto Rodriguez and Mary Hall made a statement after the second day of racing at the Snipe Western Hemisphere & Orient Championships in Canada. With a 2-1-1, their finishes have vaulted them to the top of the leaderboard with a 13-point lead over their fellow Miami sailors Augie Diaz and Kathleen Tocke. Conditions for the day began at 7 knots and increased to 12 with Lake Erie kicking up the chop and swell. The forecast tomorrow (Thursday) is more of the same with a possible weather change on Friday. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10464#10464 * The RC 44 class announced that a record number of 13 entries are forecasted for the 2010 RC 44 World Championship in Lanzarote, Canary Islands (October 11-16), including new teams Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) and Peninsula Petroleum (ESP). Following the Worlds, the fleet will ship to Miami for the Oracle RC 44 Miami Cup to be held December 7-12. The fleet is also rumored to participate in Key West Race Week (Jan. 17-21, 2011) and in a California event in February/March 2011. -- Class report: http://www.rc44.com/en/regattas/news/index.php?idContent=2515 * The World Sailing Speed Record Council has ratified new Around Great Britain and Ireland. Outright and Singlehanded World Records. On August 19-24, 2010, skipper Sidney Gavignet (FRA) and the 105 ft Trimaran Oman Air Majan completed the 1773 nm route in a time of 4 days, 15 hours, 9 minutes, and 27 seconds at an average speed of 15.95 knots. The previous Outright holder was Steve Fossett (USA) and PlayStation in Oct 2004 (4d 16h 9m 36s) and the Singlehanded holder was Thomas Coville (FRA) and Sodebo in August 2006 (6d 6h 40m 31s). -- http://tinyurl.com/2blp6yk * US SAILING has partnered with HTH Worldwide and the Allen Financial Group to offer eligible US SAILING members a health care program designed specifically for sailors. US SAILING’s Member Health Insurance Program provides a competitively priced, comprehensive health care plan for the following members: Certified Instructors, US Sailing Team Members, College Sailors, Professional Sailors, and International Cruising Sailors. Details: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/Health_Insurance_Plan.htm * The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) has written to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) regarding possible compensation for its members. The GCCF was established after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill to determine compensation for businesses impacted by the spill. In a letter to GCCF administrator Kenneth Feinberg, NMMA chief counsel for public affairs Cindy Squires wrote that the oil spill impacted three out of five recreational marine businesses, and that four out of five companies expect some effect on business through the remainder of the year. -- IBI Magazine, read on: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20100801083122ibinews.html * The Edey & Duff boatyard in Massachusetts, founded in 1968 by Mait Edey and Peter Duff, has ceased operations. The company was unable to continue after the unexpected death last December of longtime general manager Dave Davignon, Boatinglocal.com reports. The yard specialized in classic designs during its 40-year run, turning out such sailing classics as the Sakonnet 23, the Doughdish, the Stone Horse 23, the Stuart Knockabout and the Fatty Knees dinghy, as well as the Hunt-designed Conch 27 center console. -- Soundings, full story: http://www.tradeonlytoday.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. These are some of the events listed on the calendar for this weekend: Sept 3-5 - Bronte Rocks Regatta - Oakville, Ontario, Canada Sept 3-5 - Stamford Vineyard Race - Stamford, CT, USA Sept 3-6 - Farr 30 North American Championship - Annapolis, MD, USA Sept 5 - 19th Annual Day on the Bay Regatta - Santa Cruz, CA, USA Sept 5-11 - Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup - Porto Cervo, Italy View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Tracy Usher (re, story AMATEUR INTERGALACTICS in Scuttlebutt 3168) My aging memory is a bit hazy on this, but I believe that the San Francisco Yacht Club is the oldest yacht club on the West Coast? Of course, the St Francis Yacht Club was born from the split between the two, but that was in 1927, so technically it’s a mere 83 years old. And, yes, we all know that in order to avoid confusion over which direction the stars are aligned on the burgee a significant number of people are members of both clubs. However (to help add fuel to the fire), while the St Francis Yacht Club may not be the oldest, it does have the finest racing program to be found anywhere - thanks partly to the epic conditions we experience nearly everyday but also to the dedicated membership that makes sure we take advantage of it! We wish Russ and his team the best of luck! * From Bill Artuzzi: Imagine, if you will, an Olympic Games every third or fifth year. Try that on for the World Cup, as well. Say, let's have the World Series in November instead of October. Or, how about the Kentucky Derby in August rather than May? If they skipped the Tour de France next year, how popular would it be the following year? One of the enduring problems of the America’s Cup is just that - a constantly moving target. Eventually, marketing and spectator interest just gets worn out. We don't care if it's perfect, but we would like to see a couple more AC’s before mid-century. Just have a sailboat race, please. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas. Special thanks to Navtec and Ullman Sails. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
