|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2397 - July 26, 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 the support of its sponsors. BRAD BUTTERWORTH: ON THE DEFENSE (July 25, 2007) Since the release of the Protocol of the 33rd America’s Cup on July 5, 2007, there has been strong concern in how the Alinghi team has structured the next event. Scuttlebutt contacted Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth for his comments, and he provided the following: “I agree, the last America’s Cup series was fantastic; what a regatta and how close was the racing, but I cannot believe what has happened since. The champagne is still wet on the decks and Larry Ellison has launched a corporate raid on the America’s Cup. After the Alinghi team won the America’ s Cup in 2003, we gave ourselves almost a year to organize a venue, a schedule, pre-regattas as well as a complete re-writing of the class rules. Now we get it in the neck for not producing everything 2 days after we won the Cup while most of us still had a headache. “Larry and his fellow travelers are condemning us for not writing rules that we haven’t even thought about let alone written. It is incredibly insulting if anyone would think that after 4 years of hard work to produce such a good regatta, we would deliberately turn around and wreck it. The race officials and umpires last time did a great job and we have every intention of keeping the same people. BMW Oracle Racing was a bad partner as our Challenger of Record for the 32nd America’s Cup. To protect their budget advantage, they stopped us from trying to reduce costs to compete in the event to encourage wider participation. This time it is obvious that it is Larry’s goal to make it more expensive for everyone.” -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0725 ALINGHI, BERTARELLI STATE THEIR CASE (July 25, 2007) Alinghi president Ernesto Bertarelli had some strong words today for Larry Ellison and BMW Oracle Racing as he announced that Valencia, Spain, would host the 33rd America's Cup contest in 2009. Bertarelli also revealed a few specific details about the competition for the next Cup. But aside from that the main purpose of the press conference seemed to be lauding the performance of Valencia, and Alinghi, in 2007—mainly by the numerous Spanish politicos in attendance—and launching a few return salvos at Ellison and his legal challenge of the protocol for the 33rd Cup. While Bertarelli again stated that he has no desire to negotiate with Ellison, and emphasized his support for Desafío Español as the challenger of record, he outlined a few tweaks to the format unveiled two days after the end of the 32nd America's Cup. * The new rule for the regatta will be released by Oct. 31, two months earlier than the Dec. 31 deadline set at the initial announcement of the protocol. * Teams will be able to build two hulls for the next Cup. However, no team will be able to sail more than one boat at any given time, eliminating extra crew and two-boat testing. * Prior to their defense in the America's Cup Match, Alinghi will be able to participate in the Challenger trials through the semifinals, or until they are eliminated, whichever comes first. * ACM will run two regattas in 2008 in Version 5 America's Cup Class boats. The first will be Valencia in July; the second will be somewhere else in Europe in the fall. * The 33rd America's Cup, and the challenger selection series, will take place from May through July in 2009. * Team New Zealand has become the fourth team to challenge Alinghi for the Cup, following Desafío Español (ESP), Team Shosholoza (RSA), and Team Origin (GBR). Bertarelli did not reply to a question at the press conference as to whether the defender would accept a challenge from Ellison under the current Protocol in the event that the NY courts do not uphold Ellison’s lawsuit. -- Sailing World, full story: http://tinyurl.com/yrb5ht QUOTE / UNQUOTE “It is time for Larry Ellison to pick up the phone and meet with us and stop sending out lawyers. Maybe that’s the way things happen at the Golden Gate Yacht Club when you come fifth, or maybe that’s just the privilege of the guy that owns the Club. Either way, Larry doesn’t have to enter if he doesn’ t like the game.” -- Brad Butterworth, Alinghi Skipper 25,000 SQ FT EXPANSION UNDERWAY AT MORRIS YACHTS! Ground was broken recently at Morris Yachts’ Trenton, Maine production facility. The project includes a new dedicated M-Series Production Hall, and will provide 25,000 square feet of state-of-the-art work space. To accommodate the growing production staff, a new office space will also be included in the expansion. The existing facility’s utilities will be upgraded to include energy efficient lighting, an upgraded waste treatment system, and in-floor heating. This is all to improve efficiencies, and work environment; increase capacity, and meet demands of larger custom projects. The project is scheduled to be completed this fall. For more information: http://www.morrisyachts.com/news TRANSPAC…GULP… DAY 17 (July 25, 2007) Going south late in the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii has paid off dramatically in battles between classic boats of the old and modern eras. Over a period of 24 hours Steve Calhoun's Psyche won a battle of Cal 40s, and a bold move by John Kilroy Jr.'s Samba Pa Ti apparently put Morning Light's rival Transpac 52 deep in arrears with only a day's sailing to go Wednesday. Meantime, Hawaii-based On the Edge of Destiny, sailed by five young men comprising the youngest crew ever to sail Transpac---average age 19.8---finished in the light of a bright three-quarter moon floating low on the horizon just after 1 a.m. Wednesday to claim a third-place podium finish in Division 5. But it was Monday's brash call apparently by Samba Pa Ti navigator Nick White that caught everyone---especially the young Morning Light team and its shore supporters---by surprise. In Tuesday morning's roll call position reports, Samba Pa Ti was so far south that knowledgeable observers thought its posted location at Latitude 19-21 east of Hilo on the big island was in error. Nope, just a desperate but well-calculated end run to shake off Morning Light by sailing farther to gain leverage in stronger winds south of the usual path to Diamond Head. By Wednesday morning Samba Pa Ti, sailing two knots faster at 11.6, had gone from 31 nautical miles behind Morning Light to 19 miles ahead. -- For the complete Wednesday report: http://tinyurl.com/2em8pj -- Look for the ETAs from the yachts as they near Hawaii, the actual Finish Reports, and then the Daily Standings at http://www.transpacificyc.org XV PAN AMERICAN GAMES Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (July 25, 2007) – With race time moved up an hour earlier Wednesday, the sailors were able to at least get one race in before the winds died down on day four of racing at the XV Pan American Games. With two days of sailing remaining on the schedule before Saturday’s medal races, the North American contingent is on the presently on the podium in all 9 classes, and leading in 5 of them. On the day’s conditions, American Lightning skipper David Starck commented, “We sailed out in a southerly that was pretty strong. Had that held all day, we would have been able to do more racing. But, by the time we all got in position, the northerly came in. The southerly came in and died, the northerly came in and died, and then we got the southwesterly and that’s how we raced our one race today.” Start time on Thursday will be at 12 pm local, an hour earlier than previously listed, in hopes of completing three races before daylight runs out to make up for cancelled races. -- Complete report: http://usocpressbox.org Results - Top Three plus Top North American Laser Radial (12 boats) – 2 race today/5 total 1. Mexico [9]-6-1-2-2: 11 (Tania Elias Calles Wolf) T2. Argentina 3-4-[7]-1-4: 12 (Cecilia Carranza Saroli) T2. Canada 2-2-3-[5]-5: 12 (Lisa Ross) Laser (12 boats) – 2 races today/5 total 1. USA 1-[5]-2-1-3: 7 (Andrew Campbell) 2. Argentina 7-1-1-[11]-1: 10 (Julio Alsogaray) 3. Brazil 3-[4]-3-3-2: 11 (Robert Scheidt) RS:X Men (9 boats) -- 2 races today/6 total T1. Mexico 1-1-1-4-[6]-2: 9 (David Mier Y Teran) T1. Brazil [3]-2-3-1-2-1: 9 (Ricardo Winicki) 3. Argentina 2-3-2-[5]-3-3: 18 (Mariano Reutemann) RS:X Women (7 boats) – 2 races today/3 total 1. Canada 1-1-1-[3]-1: 4 (Dominique Vallee) 2. Brazil [4]-3-2-1-2: 8 (Patricia Castro) 3. Argentina 2-2-[4]-4-4: 12 (Florencia Gutierrez) Lightning (7 boats) – 1 race today/4 total T1. Chile 1-1-8(OCS)-1: 11 (Alberto Gonzalez, Diego Gonzalez, Cristian Herman) T1. USA 3-4-1-3: 11 (David Starck, Bill Faude, Jody Starck) T1. Brazil 2-3-4-2: 11 (Claudio Biekarck, Gunnar Ficker, Silva Marcelo) Sunfish (11 boats) – 2 races today/5 total T1. Peru 1-[6]-1-5-1: 8 (Alexander Zimmermann) T1. Venezuela [3]-1-2-2-3: 8 (Eduardo Cordero) 3. USA 2-5-3-[8]-4: 14 (Paul Foerster) J24 (7 boats) – 1 race today/4 total 1. Argentina 1-2-4-2: 9 (Joaquin Argerich, Gustavo Gonzalez, Sebastian Brusa, Alejo Rigoni) 2. Brazil 8 (DNC)-1-1-1: 11 (Carlos Jordao, Mauricio Oliveria, Daniel Santiago, Alexandre Silva) 3. Canada 3-4-3-4: 14 (Mark Goodyear, Rossi Milev, Erwyn Naidoo, Mike Wolfs) Hobie Cat 16 (8 boats) -- 1 races today/5 total 1. Brazil 1-1-2-[4]-2: 6 (Bernardo Arndt, Bruno Oliveira) 2. USA [6]-4-1-1-3: 9 (Bob Merrick, Eliza Cleveland) 3. Venezuela 4-3-3-[6]-1: 11 (Gonzalo Cendra, Yamil Saba) Snipe (11 boats) – 1 race today/4 total 1. Uruguay 2-2-2-2: 8 (Pablo Defazio, Eduardo Medici) 2. USA 5-4-1-3: 13 (Augie Diaz, Tracy Smith) 3. Brazil 1-3-6-4: 14 (Pedro Amaral, Alexandre Paradeda) -- Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/yqtj3c WORLD TOUR - TROIA PORTUGAL MATCH CUP Troia, Portugal (July 25, 2007) - At the end of the first day’s racing in the Troia Portugal Match Cup, only three of the twelve skippers have unbeaten records. Gavin Brady (NZL) of the BMW Oracle Racing Team won all three of his matches in the round robin, as did Peter Gilmour (AUS) of the Pizza-La Sailing Team. Five skippers, Sebastien Col (FRA), Mathieu Richard (FRA), Bjorn Hansen (SWE), Ian Williams (GBR) and Philippe Presti (FRA), won two of their three matches and Paolo Cian (ITA) and Staffan Lindberg (FIN) each had one win while Sally Barkow (USA), Eugeny Neugodnikov (RUS) and Alvaro Marinho (POR) suffered three defeats apiece. -- Complete report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/default.asp?m=da&id=58307 * (July 25, 2007) Claire Leroy (FRA) and Ian Williams (GBR) both continue to reign at the top of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings. With the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship fast approaching, Leroy will be working hard to keep her from and claim that elusive title. Williams will also face some more challenges in the coming months as match racers return to the Graded circuit following the conclusion of the 32nd America's Cup. -- Full announcement: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1vFnipq?&format=popup KIDS ON KEELBOATS Larchmont, NY - You are out on a boat in the middle of the ocean with 11 other people, and you find you have only eight life jackets. What do you do? You are 300 miles offshore, and a medical crisis occurs on your boat. What do you do? Rick Dominique of the United States Merchant Marine Academy posed these questions to the young sailors who attended the 11th annual Junior Safety at Sea Day at Larchmont Yacht Club last Friday. About 200 juniors attended the event, which was run by Larchmont's Storm Trysail Club and scheduled to coincide with Race Week. It featured a morning of four 30-minute safety seminars, lunch, an afternoon of hands-on application in the (25 donated) boats on Long Island Sound and, finally, a pizza dinner. The seminar series served as a prerequisite for those juniors who wish to participate in any of the Junior Sailing Association's big boating events. -- The Journal News, full story: http://tinyurl.com/27r4f3 * This junior event is one of four that are sponsored by the Storm Trysail Club, with the final seminar scheduled for July 27th at Annapolis Yacht Club in Annapolis, MD. -- http://www.stormtrysail.org/Pages/safety-at-sea/Safety-at-Sea7.html DO YOU "ONE DESIGN?" WE DO! Tornado (2007 World Champion!), Melges 24 (2007 World Champion!), Sabots, Martin 242, Yngling, 470, J/105, Beneteau 40.7, Etchells, Acat, 505, Cal 20, Coronado 15, Fireball, J/24, CFJ, 420, Europe Dinghy, Farr 40, Harbor 20, International 14, J/22, Holder 20, Flying Scot, Lido 14, Lehman 12, Lightning, Optimist, Snipe, Thistle, Cal 25, Soling, Sonar, Santana 20, Santana 30/30, Capri 14.2, Melges 32, Ultimate 20, Flying Junior, J/80, Hobie 21, San Juan 24, Nacra, Prindle, J/120, Antrim 27, Olson 30, Mumm 30, J/109. For a quote on Ullman’s world class one-design sails, contact your local loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com SAILING SHORTS * The legendary Alan Gurney-designed 73-footer Windward Passage is on the hard, with yacht designer Alan Andrews working to pimp this famous ride. Originally built in 1968, Andrews has been asked to design a new keel for Windward Passage. Photos are on the Scuttlebutt website showing rig pulling day, where she was than hauled out of the water to have her keel sliced off before relocating to the Westerly Marine yard in Santa Ana, CA. Also shown are images of the new keel profile. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/wp * North Sails has partnered with Sailing Weather Services for provide free weather forecasts for the Sperry Top-Sider Marblehead NOOD Regatta from July 28-28, 2007. To subscribe to this service, log on to North Sails' online weather center: http://na.northsails.com/ew/ew_main.taf * (July 25, 2007) - Thursday marks the first day of racing in the 2007 U.S. Singlehanded Championship hosted by Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May in Cape May, NJ which will run from July 25-28, 2007. This year’s fleet of twenty-four Lasers includes Ben Richardson, returning for the fourth time, and Sarah Lihan, the only female competing at this year’s championship. The winner of the George D. O’Day Trophy will earn spot on starting line of U.S. Olympic Team Trials (Newport, R.I.) this October. -- http://www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/ussc * A lack of wind on Monday and Tuesday kept the racers onshore for the US Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) National Championships at Minnetonka Yacht Club in Deephaven, MN. The 304 entrants will try to get the event started on Wednesday. -- http://www.2007optinationals.com/ * The 24th International Lightning World Championships are underway this week in Athens, Greece, with American Bill Mauk winning the Masters Championship and also as the early leader of the Open event. Unfortunately, as of publishing deadline the event site was not available. -- Event website: http://www.lightning2007.gr * Sardinia, Italy (July 25, 2007) - Cloudless skies and 20+ knots were in order for the first day of the International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) World Championship, hosted by Y.C. Cagliari. With 256 entrants, all starts were perfectly clean with the only apparent OCS proving to be a late starter from a previous division. Reigning world champion Julian Autenrieth (GER) opened the defense of his title in splendid style with two wins on day 1, with Lara Vadlau (AUT) as the early leader of the girls division. – Results: http://www.optiworld.org/07worldsresday1.html * Correction: In a letter in Issue 2396, it was incorrectly stated that Colin Smith had won the 2007 Laser Midwinters West. Luke Ramsey won the event. EIGHT BELLS The Cook Islands' most famous son, Sir Tom Davis, died July 23, 2007 aged 90, on Rarotonga, after a brief illness. Sir Tom Davis, but he was a keen yachtsman, and known to many yachtsmen around the world, and at the ripe old age of 81, sailed aboard "Nokia"i n the disastrous 1998 Sydney-Hobart under the Flag of the Cook Islands and representing the Rarotonga Sailing Club. He used his skills as a Doctor to treat several "Nokia" crew members who sustained injuries during the race. He was a founding Member of the Rarotonga Sailing Club and was named Sportsman Achiever of the Year in Yachting in 1998. Sir Tom, known as Papa Tom, will have a full state funeral on Friday July 27. -- http://www.ck/tuatua.htm VIDEO OF THE WEEK The 32nd America’s Cup did what few thought possible… provide gripping moments from start to finish. While not everyone is a fan of this segment of the sport, it is quite possible that many of the fence sitters fell off their perch and landed amid the excitement taking place in Valencia. This was a mission here at Scuttlebutt, that is, to get our viewers to buy in. We felt the spectating and stories would be great, and they were. As high as we got during the event, perhaps it explains the hangover we now feel. While the details of the 33rd event are worked out, this week’s video is a wonderful highlight reel from what just was, set to the popping sounds of the Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Can’t Stop.” As the closing line of the song says, “This life is more than just a read through.” Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/0723 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 * Jan Parducci: With the sporting news so dominated by premier events sailed by premier sailors, it was so refreshing to read the story (in Issue 2396) about Hilary Lister and the challenges she is taking on as a quadriplegic. The best of us can hardly control a good cocktail with a straw, and she is controlling a twenty-foot boat with 2 straws and her breath. I can only imagine how good it must feel to go from the restrictions she deals with on land, to the freedom and control she enjoys while sailing. Outstanding! * From Wayne Nichols: Atlantic crossing records, Pacific crossing crawls, sewers and smoke sailing in Rio at the Pan Ams, drifters at the Opti US Nationals, volumes of Valencia news, triumphant stories and those of near disaster… all in one issue of Scuttlebutt. I am exhausted! * Jenny Phillips: The story of the Laser getting decimated in Charleston (Issue 2396) is a good reminder that without sails, a dinghy can be invisible to larger boats. I can totally see how the person had their sail wrapped around the mast, and the tour boat completely missed them. No excuse here, just a good mention to anticipate potential problems, even those that seem most remote. * From Eric Sorensen: The Cup is getting contentious in spades. How is the announcement of signing Coutts for Ellison's team going to make the legal wrangling any smoother. Holy Gavel Batman! I am sure, whatever the look of next contest, that the boys on the water will be making big $$$ and be wearing big grins as they jam around the buoys in style. * From Howard Epps: Who does Alinghi think they are kidding? They have a fundamentally flawed protocol that makes the past shenanigans of the NYYC look like a lesson in fair and open competition. They have signed up a sham yacht club and three other challenges over which they have some financial leverage. Their press release was the most flagrantly dishonest work I have ever seen. Pathetic. As much as it pains me to say it, Larry is fighting the good fight here. All the teams who are rolling over for Alinghi should be ashamed of themselves. * From Jim Fulton: Dan Meyers (Scuttlebutt 2395) asked, "Can we imagine if the Cup was still stuck with 12 meters?" Sure, I can imagine--remember, actually--Dennis Connor in Stars & Stripes in Perth in 1987. That match was wet and wild and as exciting in its own way as the recent match in Valencia. A significant reason for the excitement, in addition to the venue and the conditions, was the fact that the 12-meter rule was mature and the boats were pretty closely matched. It has taken five generations of the Americas Cup Class to produce boats that are, again, closely matched. I enjoy watching technology evolve (and watching other people spend money) as much as the next person, but a new class and a new design competition are not likely to produce exciting competition on the water until the design is mature. Then, I guess, it will be time to start all over again. Maybe they could bring back the 12s. * From Mark Weinheimer: The Powers That Be at BMW Oracle should be careful of falling into the Michael Faye Trap. He mistakenly thought that when he specified what boat he was bringing to the negotiated Challenge with SDYC, they would be bound to race the same sort of boat. Nothing in the Deed of Gift requires the Defender to respond with the same boat – only that they use one that fits the Deed’s specifications for waterline length, etc. The huge mismatch in 1988 was blamed on SDYC’s “unsportsmanlike” choice of a cat. In reality, it was caused by Faye’s misinterpretation of the Deed. Might a 60’ hydrofoil boat beat a 90’ cat? You can be sure that if the court upholds the validity of the BMW Oracle Challenge, the engineers and designers at Alinghi will be exploring all avenues. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will. Special thanks to Morris Yachts and Ullman Sails. |
