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SCUTTLEBUTT 3266 - Thursday, January 27, 2011
Scuttlebutt 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.
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Today's sponsors: Ullman Sails and Hall Spars & Rigging.
THE SUBLIME PLEASURES OF FROSTBITING
By Tim Zimmermann, Sailing World
When most people envision a perfect sailing scenario, they think of warm
breezes and T-shirt weather. I like that, too, of course (you gotta go to
Cabarete, if this is your ideal). And, sure, most of the sailing world
right now is coming down off their warm Key West high, feeling all smug and
superior. But increasingly, I am finding that the most fun I have sailing
and racing my Laser is when the skies are gray, the air temps are cold, and
there's the possibility of snow.
Yep, there's an excellent Laser frostbiting fleet here in Washington, D.C.,
courtesy of the Potomac River Sailing Association. They race just south of
Reagan National Airport, on the river or in a shifty, flat-water cove
that's ideal for cold-weather sailing. I started racing with them a few
years ago as a way to get outside on winter Sundays and make Laser-sailing
a year-round thing. There are usually 15-20 Lasers racing, the competition
is good and friendly, and the fleet is really well-organized. It's
everything you want, except, in theory, the cold weather. But now I find
myself seduced by the sublime pleasure of winter sailing, too.
Of course, racing in cold weather in a small boat that goes upside down
easily requires a slightly different approach. The fleet has a rule of
thumb that if the wind speed exceeds the air temps, you think twice about
sailing. Come to think of it, that rule would be REALLY wise to follow for
anyone who sails in warm climes. And cold weather does sometimes prevent
racing, as it did this past weekend, when ice sheets floated across the
race course. The one guy who did go out still managed to have fun, and came
up with some useful frostbiting rules of thumb: 1) Don't sail into an ice
field on an ebb tide - its ugly; 2) Set the sail at the dock to something
you can live with - frozen control lines don't move; 3) If you notice the
RC boat has been hauled out, you might oughta head back to the dock. --
Read on: http://tinyurl.com/SailingWorld-012611
ISAF SAILING WORLDCUP - ROLEX MIAMI OCR
Miami, FL (January 26, 2011) - Things started out slowly this morning at US
SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR when all but one class was postponed ashore due
to light wind that followed morning showers, but the entire fleet of 716
Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls from 53 nations were back in action on
Biscayne Bay by afternoon, with sunshine and fresh breezes to improve their
day. This is the second stop on the International Sailing Federation (ISAF)
Sailing World Cup circuit and is considered a major stepping stone on a
sailor's path to securing a berth at the Olympic and Paralympic Sailing
Regattas scheduled for Weymouth, England in 2012.
"Before the start, you could see the dark clouds approaching," said US
Sailing Team AlphaGraphics 470 coach Mark Ivey (San Francisco, Calif.), and
the teams were scrambling to adjust their rig settings for high wind, but
as the race went on, the squall line passed, more toward the Star course
(farther out), and it lightened into a leftover westerly breeze."
The low score for the day among the North American contingent nearly went
to 49er team of Erik Stork/ Trevor Moore (USA), who rolled a 3-2-3 but were
OCS in the final race to rest in 6th overall. "While we are frustrated with
the OCS, we know we sailed very well today. We found our boatspeed today,
both upwind and downwind. While there was no significant weather on
Biscayne Bay once we were racing, there were some very significant pressure
differences throughout the day. In the first race alone we saw everything
from 7 knots up to 22 knots."
For fleet racing in the Olympic classes, the regatta consists of a five-day
opening series (Monday-Friday) and a double-point medal race (Saturday) for
the top 10 positions. For match racing (Elliot 6m), the top six teams are
now completing a seeding round while the next six teams are competing for
the final two slots in a Repechage Round Robin. The Paralympic classes will
conclude Friday.
Full report: http://tinyurl.com/RMOCR-012611
Results: http://rmocr.ussailing.org/2011/Results.htm
Video: http://rmocr.ussailing.org/2011/video.htm
Live race updates: http://rmocr.ussailing.org/live_4823.htm
=> Curmudgeon's Comment: If you hadn't yet seen it, I wanted to make note
of the live race updates that are occurring during the Rolex Miami OCR. The
event has seven race courses in Biscayne Bay to accommodate the 13 Olympic
and Paralympic classes, with text updates and photos covering the whole
shebang. Additionally, the update tool allows for the viewer - you and me -
to ask live questions. Almost like being there.
NANUQ FINISHES 2ND IN QUICK RIDE TO KEY WEST
Congratulations to Ullman Sails customer Glenn Doncaster and his crew on
Sabre 426 "Nanuq" who took second place in the PHRF A Division of the 2011
Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race, January 12-14. After the quick 160-mile
ride down the coast of Florida, the Deltaville-based team finished their
race in just under 20 hours. "Nanuq" competed with several new Ullman Sails
onboard, including a new Red Line S3 heavy reacher and a GPL IT Carbon #2
Race Genoa. The crew was happy to report that the sails performed
beautifully in the heavy reaching conditions. Invest in your performance.
http://www.ullmansails.com
MOVING DAY ON BISCAYNE BAY
By Carol Cronin, 2004 Olympian
The Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta (RMOCR) is underway, and all the
serious Olympic hopefuls from around the world are on site.
Biscayne Bay is a simply spectacular sailing venue that offers reliable
breeze, protected waters, and the support of countless volunteers at
various yacht clubs and sailing centers who each host one or two classes.
Every January, all the serious Olympic hopefuls come to town for a week or
a month or even longer, partly because Miami is the winter venue of
choice-but mostly because it is home to the first ISAF World Cup event of
2011. You can watch the racing live all week on all seven circles.
Wednesday is what former USSailing High Performance Director Gary Bodie
would call "moving day." After two days of racing, the third will solidify
the standings in most classes. It's a chance for the cream to rise to the
top, the halfway point of this five day regatta. Only the top ten teams
(and the top four in Women's Match Racing) will earn the privilege to sail
in Saturday's finals.
And if this is moving day, 2011 is the "moving year" of this quadrennium.
Many countries, including the US, will conclude most of their Trials for
the 2012 Olympic Games in early December. This first event of 2011 is a
chance for sailors to build confidence in their training plan and also to
evaluate what they still need to work on, in order to peak at the even more
important events later in the year. -- Boats.com, read on:
http://www.boats.com/blog/2011/01/rolex-miami-ocr-moving-day/
FOR THE RECORD
(January 26, 2011; Day 5) - No surprises for the crew of the 131-foot
trimaran Maxi Banque Populaire V in their attempt at the Jules Verne
Trophy, which confirms the predictions of meteorologists.
"We had a great run till yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon when the NW wind
dropped, and we trickled along waiting for the wind to shift to the typical
NE winds of this latitude," noted crew Brian Thompson (GBR). "We are now in
light tradewinds of around 12- 15 knots, but the wind feels much less
powerful in this tropical air. The forecasts are not for much more wind
than this though, and at this point Groupama 3 was going fast in strong
tradewinds.
"But we are not perturbed by them catching up as if it was a real race in
the same weather conditions - in the big picture we are within our target
to the equator, in fact remarkably similar to the timings of the routing
simulations we had at the start. Looks like we will get there in a similar
time to Groupama 3.
"It was a great run till the wind dropped, a point to point 2,100 miles in
3 days, all VMG running with several gybes in there as well. Incredible
going! My best run before that was 697 on Maiden 2, the ex Club Med, which
for several years was the record, that was a great trip and a story in
itself with a great mixed team including Adrienne Cahalan and Sam Davies,
in fact there were more girls than boys on board."
Current position as of January 26, 2011 (23:00 UTC):
Ahead/behind record: +212.7 nm
Speed over past 24 hours: 24.4 knots
Distance over past 24 hours: 586.2 nm
Tracking: http://tinyurl.com/BP-JVT11-Tracking
Team website: http://www.voile.banquepopulaire.fr/
Brian Thompson's blog: http://www.brianthompsonsailing.blogspot.com/
BACKGROUND: The 131-foot trimaran Banque Populaire V is seeking to win the
Jules Verne Trophy, a fully crewed round the world record attempt under
sail. Skipper Pascal Bidegorry and his 13 crew began their attempt Jan.
22nd and must cross the finish line off Ushant, France before March 11,
2011 at 19:55:37 (Paris time) to break the record (48:7:44:52) set by
Franck Cammas and crew in 2010 on the 103-foot trimaran Groupama 3.
FONCIA BREAKS MAST
(January 26, 2011: Day 27) - IMOCA Open 60 Foncia, lying in second place in
the Barcelona World Race, has reported that the top of their mast has
broken at close to 0300hrs UTC today. Co-skippers Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA)
and Francois Gabart (FRA) had been sailing under mainsail with one reef and
Solent in 30 knots of SW'ly wind at the time of the incident.
The top of the mast is reported to have broken off between the Solent
forestay and the staysail forestay. The broken section of the mast is saved
on the deck, leaving around 24 metres of mast remaining. There is no other
damage noted, and the duo is now sailing at approx. 10 knots on NE course
towards Cape Town just over 600nm away.
Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA), Foncia: "I don't have an explanation. I'm not used
to hurting my boat and we never once pushed her too hard. We weren't
irresponsible. We were on a broad reach with 2 to 4 metre waves, but the
boat is designed for these sailing conditions and should be able to
withstand them. We had no warning signs either and the mast was adjusted
for the conditions as usual." Foncia is the second boat to abandon the
race, with Jean Le Cam (FRA) and Spanish co-skipper Bruno Garcia on
President breaking their mast on January 10th.
Only race leader Virbac-Paprec 3 is left surfing the low pressure system
today as the chasing peloton drop off the back of it into the transition
flux behind. But any expectation that Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron are
running away seem set to be scotched as a big high pressure is set to move
into their path, a roadblock which they will need to negotiate, expecting
the centre to be over them on Saturday.
Race Tracker: http://tracking.barcelonaworldrace.org
Standings (top 5 of 14 as of 20.01.07)
1. Virbac-Paprec 3, Jean Pierre Dick/Loick Peyron (FRA/FRA), 18,205nm DTF
2. Mapfre, Iker Martinez/Xabi Fernandez (ESP/ESP), 628.9nm DTL
3. Estrella Damm Sailing Team, Alex Pella/Pepe Ribes (ESP/ESP), 745.6nm DTL
4. Groupe Bel, Kito De Pavant/Sebastien Audigane (FRA/FRA), 782.7nm DTL
5. Renault, Pachi Rivero/Antonio Piris (ESP/ESP), 868.4nm DTL
Full rankings: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/ranking/
BACKGROUND: This is the second edition of the non-stop Barcelona World
Race, the only double-handed race around the world. Fourteen teams are
competing on Open 60s which started December 31st and is expected to finish
by late March. The 25,000 nautical mile course is from Barcelona to
Barcelona via three capes: Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, Cook Strait,
putting Antarctica to starboard. Race website:
http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org
MORE THAN READY
Now is the perfect time to schedule pre-season service from Hall Spars.
Hall's service team is trained to evaluate your mast and rigging for safety
and performance. Have an older carbon mast? We'll use thermal imaging or
ultrasound to check for problems and fix them on the spot. Performance not
up to par? Our pros can install super-low-windage SCR rigging or replace
old running rigging with lightweight, high-tech line. Not sure what you
need? Hall's thorough inspection will give you answers. Contact Hall now
and we'll have you more than ready for the season ahead.
http://www.hallspars.com
SAILING SHORTS
* West Marine will announce the winner of its second annual Green Product
of the Year contest, and present a selection of innovative new products for
2011, at the Miami International Boat Show on Thursday, February 17. The
contest is to encourage the development of green boating products. This
year's products include... read on:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11166
* Registration is now open for the Safety at Sea Seminar, sanctioned by US
Sailing and moderated by John Rousmaniere. Dates are March 19-20, 2011 at
MIT/Kresge Auditorium. Rates for Day One: $130 ($5 discount for US Sailing
members) Registration and info: http://www.marionbermuda.com/sas/. A panel
of extremely knowledgeable experts will be speaking. Day 2 will involve
hands-on sessions on Weather/Gulf Stream, Medical Emergencies, CPR/First
Aid certification, and IN POOL survival training (qualifying for 1/2 day of
ISAF Survival Training). For more information visit
http://rmocr.ussailing.org/
* The Transpac Race Preparation Seminar addresses every point in the 2011
Transpac Notice of Race, and is scheduled for February 5th at Los Angeles
Yacht Club. The Race Prep Seminar will discuss ratings, sail selection,
routing strategy, communications, provisioning, the entry process,
inspections, race orientation for first-timers, etc. This seminar is ideal
for first timers or for anyone looking to step-up their game. -- Details:
http://tinyurl.com/TPA-012611
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:
Jan 28-Feb 1 - Port Louis Grenada Sailing Festival - Grenada, W.I.
Jan 31-Feb 3 - Warren Jones International Youth Regatta - Perth, WA, AUS
Feb 3-6 - Charlotte Harbor Regatta - Charlotte Harbor, FL, USA
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
recent postings:
* Innovative new products for 2011
* Close Reach Sailing Club to Launch at Strictly Sail Chicago 2011
* Annapolis Inflatables receives dealer appointments
View and/or post Industry News updates here:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news
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 Karl Urtz:
I have published a website about the history of the AC from 1983 to 2010.
This homepage contains the key yachts from my numerous computer drawings
with some short comments. Here is the link:
http://www.americas-cup-history.at/
* From Tom Falco, CoconutGroveGrapevine editor:
I was asked to respond to the post in Scuttlebutt 3257 ('Packing Tip -
Caution And Common Sense') about the Miami thefts at the US Sailing Center.
My report involves how my friend Erica Burkwest-Korpela found Olympian
Pascal Rambeau's (FRA) stolen sailing equipment and was able to return it
to him within a 10 hour period. Here is my report:
http://tinyurl.com/CGG-012611
=> Curmudgeon's Comment: Good to hear about happy endings, but it would be
best if they weren't needed. When I was in Miami last Friday, US 470
Olympian Graham Biehl told me that one of his foreign competitors had come
to him for suggestions on how to replace all their sailing gear...because
their car had just been stolen.
* From Travis B. Weisleder, Layline owner: (re, Key West Race Week)
I personally think Key West is getting a bad rap for various things, but
most people still don't really and truly understand the real budgets of
doing it; it's less than they think. For instance, my housing for KW this
year cost me $2,450 for 8 days and 4 bed rooms in Truman Annex (two
condos). That's cheap.
I think where the issue really comes for most people who have small keel
boats is that there is no real YC in KW. Think about it. You grab your
boat, hitch on your car and go. You pull into the YC and there is a crane
to hoist your boat and dockage at the YC to keep it for free. So for the
small boat guy that expense for KW "seems" expensive. It costs ~$1,000 just
to do that. If you pull that out you can do a M24 campaign for under $2,800
not including getting there. That's $466 per day...not too bad.
All owners and crews need want to make their money count, so they are
watching numbers on the new online registration systems and waiting and
waiting and waiting to see who else joins the party. So my comment to all
owners thinking of doing any event is REGISTER! It doesn't cost you a dime
to register, only when the fee is due and then that is the point of
reckoning.
Numbers breed numbers....so if you think you can make it, fill out the
registration form to let others know too. Show your support because there
are more people on the fence out there doing the same thing and if they see
a critical mass forming then they will also jump in and the snowball begins
to form.
* From PaulK: (re, Key West Race Week)
Much discussion on Scuttlebutt about how Key West numbers are decreasing,
and efforts to get an event sponsor to help boost attendance. I am struck
by the stark drop-off of IRC fleets, (four boats??? Seven??) while OD and
PHRF numbers seem much more robust.
Are IRC owners finding out that they can't afford a new boat each time the
rule gets adjusted to penalize their "rule-beaters", and are dropping out
because they can't buy First Place? If their numbers were ADDED to the PHRF
fleets, instead of reducing the number of competitors, wouldn't it help to
create a critical mass of focused racers that would build interest and
attendance in the event? -- Forum,
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11164
* From Ted Mahoney, National T-Ten Class Fleet Captain:
The T-Ten Class, like many other classes, is struggling with declining
membership and regatta participation. We still get 30+ boats at most NAC
events (not bad for only 378 boats built back in the 80's), but local
participation is declining. The level of competition is better than ever as
owners rebuild 25 year old boats and increase their sailing skill, but we
see fewer boats on the starting line than ten years ago.
As you know, we are a 33' one design boat with density in the Midwest class
- mostly on Lakes Michigan, St. Clair and Erie. Our class is trying to do
our part by increasing the quality of our newsletter 'Tenspeed' (linked on
the front page of the website) and we recently updated our website
(www.tten.com) with more color, content, photos and videos. We also try to
cover non racing articles like rebuilding, rigging, training etc. to
attract every owner and crew.
This year we are bringing back our T-Ten Midwinter Championship which is
going to be held during Charleston Race Week. Seven boats are signed up to
trail in from the Midwest!
It might be a good idea for Scuttlebutt to create a directory of One Design
Classes along with links to their respective websites and newsletters. This
would give participating One Design Classes additional exposure and
possibly bring more people into the sport.
=> Curmudgeon's Comment: Good idea on the OD class directory, but I would
prefer that the national sailing authorities do the heavy lifting.
Therefore, I have added links to these organizations in the Sailing
Suppliers & Resources page on the Scuttlebutt website. I did take a look at
the US SAILING website, and while they do have a page dedicated to OD class
information, it is in dire need of details. If you are a U.S. OD class, you
need to take a look to see if your info is complete. Here are the links:
Scuttlebutt resource page: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers/
US SAILING class page: http://tinyurl.com/USSAILING-OD-Info
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
If you are coasting, you're going downhill.
SPONSORS THIS WEEK
APS - New England Ropes - West Marine - North U
Southern Spars - Melges Performance Sailboats - North Sails
Interlux - Ullman Sails - Hall Spars & Rigging - Quantum Sails
Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
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