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SCUTTLEBUTT 2681 - Monday, September 15, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. NORTH AMERICAN MEDAL HAUL AT PARALYMPIC GAMES Qingdao, China (September 13, 2008) - Nick Scandone (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass.) clinched the gold medal in the SKUD-18 fleet Friday with two races left to go in the Paralympic regatta. By Saturday, three more medals were won by North Americans, making it the top continent for the event, with both the United States and Canada coming home with a Gold and a Bronze medal. The Closing Ceremonies for the Paralympic Games is on Wednesday, September 17th. US report: http://tinyurl.com/SButt0914a Canadian report: http://sailing.ca/feature/2008/09/podium.html Event site: http://www.sailing.org/Paralympic-Games.php Final Results One-person keelboat (2.4mR - 16 boats) 1. CAN, Paul Tingley, 1-1-5-2-(9)-(9)-2-4-5-1, 21 2. FRA, Damien Seguin, 4-4-3-4-6-(OCS/17)-(11)-1-1-2, 25 3. USA, John Ruf, 2-6-1-9-1-7-(10)-3, 29 Two-Person Keelboat (SKUD18 - 11 boats) 1. USA,Nick Scandone/Maureen McKinnon Tucker,2-1-1-1-(3)-2-1-1-2-(DNS/12),11 2. AUS, Daniel Fitzbibbon/Rachael Cox, (4)-2-2-2-2-4-(9)-3-1-2, 18 3. CAN John Scott McRoberts/Stacie Louttit, 3-3-3-3-1-3-2-(8)-(4)-3, 21 Three-Person Keelboat (Sonar - 14 boats) 1. GER, Jens Kroker/Prem/Mainka, 5-6-3-1-4-(11)-5-2-(9)-4-5, 35 2. FRA, Bruno Jourdren/Larhant/Vimont-Vicary, 4-1-1-2-7-1-(10)-5-8-7-(15),36 3. AUS, Colin Harrison/Boaden/ Martin, 8-4-2-3-3-3-1-(10)-(OCS/15)-5-7, 36 8. USA, Rick Doerr/Tim Angle/Bill Donohue, 1-9-10-6-(11)-10-2-3-4-(11)-2, 47 11. CAN,Ken Kelly/Don Terlson/Marc Shaw,10-11-(14)-10-9-4-(14)-8-11-10-13,86 Complete Results: http://www.sailing.org/24859.php THE FEEL GOOD STORY OF 2008 When Americans Nick Scandone and crew Maureen McKinnon-Tucker secured the Paralympic Games gold medal in the SKUD-18 fleet, it not only marked a triumphant moment for two sailors, but became a sterling example of how seemingly insurmountable challenges can be conquered. For Maureen, she has been dealing with her two-year-old son that had been diagnosed with cancer at the start of the year. But for Nick, his race began the moment he was diagnosed with diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Leading up to the Games, it became increasingly more difficult to train and compete. There were days filled with doubt, but he met each obstacle with the same strength and determination he had as a young, able-bodied sailor. "This is something I've strived for since I was 20 years old, when I was trying to go for gold in the 470 class. Now, to reach that goal," he said, "it's hard to describe in words." Mary-Kate Scandone has supported her husband every step of his Olympic and Paralympic journey, through the accomplishments and the adversity and through the enthusiasm and exhaustion. This is a bittersweet moment for the couple. "It's everything we've been fighting for," said Mary-Kate. "Sailing and his [Paralympic] goal has kept him alive." In an emotional moment, Mary-Kate thanked the designer of Nick's boat "because he gave me four more years with my husband," she said. -- US SAILING, http://tinyurl.com/SButt0914b WILL THE FLY ON THE WALL PLEASE STEP FORWARD There has been so much "he said/she said" that has transpired between the American BMW Oracle Racing (BOR) team and the Alinghi team ever since the Swiss defended the America's Cup in July 2007, and it has sadly taken the event down the corridors of courtrooms, left its workforce in dry dock, and frustrated its many unfailing fans. Unless the fly on the wall steps forward, we are forced to navigate through each team's side of the story, with only a few documents to discern facts - most notably the Protocol intended for the next event, which started all this fuss. While Scuttlebutt would prefer to steer clear of each team's rhetoric, we will provide here a recent point-counterpoint for the most avid Cup followers. This exchange began with a recent interview with Swiss team leader Ernesto Bertarelli who made a compelling case for why they are being so wronged. The BOR team followed this interview with a statement to address the claims made by Bertarelli that in their view needed correction. Both items can be read on the Valencia Sailing website: Bertarelli: http://tinyurl.com/SButt0914c BOR: http://tinyurl.com/SButt0914d => Curmudgeon's Comment: Just to keep this straight, Ernesto commented on the situation, then BOR sent out a clarification refuting the claims of the Swiss, and then on Sunday the Alinghi team sent out a statement addressing BOR's claims. Just like "Law & Order." Here is the Alinghi statement, and if anyone would want to cross examine the parties, they can post here as well: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6387 WHICH IS THE BEST RACING WATCH? Myboatsgear.com recently looked at two watches. One from Optimum Time - a simple functional watch - this will do the job of counting down to a starting sequence. The second the Suunto X 10, much more expensive but with its internal GPS, will give you SOG and COG plus the ability to download the data from your sailing trip to your PC charting software. There are many others watches, some cool looking, and some functional. Tell us which is your favorite race watch? Optimum Time (http://myboatsgear.com/mbg/product.asp?prodID=1438 Suunto X 10 (http://myboatsgear.com/mbg/product.asp?prodID=1432 => Curmudgeon's Comment: It was over two years ago that we asked for watch preferences, and when we put the suggestions to a vote - wondering what was the best watch was for the weekend sailboat racer, regardless of cost - the Timex Ironman was the choice. How do we feel today? Here is the link for the previous thread and survey, and to post your own opinion: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6385 QUOTE / UNQUOTE Franck Cammas commenting on the BMW ORACLE Racing 90-foot trimaran, "It is the first ever boat of this size designed and built for in-port racing and match racing only. She is very impressive, and the size of the mast is just amazing. We haven't gone full on yet. We need to build up our confidence and then we will be able to sail more aggressively. The boat is designed for light winds. She reaches the (103-foot) Groupama's top speeds easily, however much quicker than G3. Now it would be different with 25 knots of wind, and Groupama 3 would be quicker. But this boat is exceptional under 15 kts. We are still very careful. It's extreme, we must not take risks. There is a lot of pressure when bearing away, we could feel the pressure amongst the crewmembers when we did it for the first time." -- Full comments: http://tinyurl.com/SButt0914e Cammas has been working with the American team as a consultant. While competing for the Jules Verne Trophy to set a new non-stop around the world record, Cammas and his crew were rescued February 17, 2008 off New Zealand when Groupama 3 capsized following the breakage of her port float. -- http://www.cammas-groupama.com/en/index.jsp LAST RACE CLINCHER AT STAR NORTH AMERICANS Harbor Springs, MI (September 13, 2008) - For the 30 boats competing in the Star North Americans, two teams had emerged to vie for the title on the final day. Rick Merriman and Phil Trinter had won all but one race, and with a drop race, their 14th place was off the books. However, trailing by only four points was John MacCausland and Kevin Murphy, and with only a fourth as their worst score, they were in a strong position to attack for the title. With an east wind at 12 to 13 knots, PRO John Koopman called for 4 leg W/L that MacCausland/Murphy won, thus cutting the lead of Merriman/Trinter to one point as they finished 4th. With a 1400 cutoff time looming and with the conditions deteriorating ,it appeared that the next race would be the last. The start of the race was the defining moment as Merriman/Trinter were OCS and did not return. When they were notified at the weather mark they chose to head for the hoist. Knowing that Merriman/Trinter would have to now count their 14th place, and that they would only have to count a 4th, MacCausland/Murphy also chose to drop out the next time around and head for the barn with the championship. -- Complete reports from each day: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6378 HEALY CONQUERS DRIFTING FINALE TO WIN J/24 NA'S Lake Minnetonka, MN (September 12, 2008) Tim Healy had won the J/24 North Americans before, and was poised to do it again. All that stood in between him and the prize was the one race - the final race - scheduled for Friday. He was guaranteed second, and only a bullet by John Mollicone's team could change his happy ending. There had been good breeze all regatta, not quite windy enough for jib conditions, but plenty of upper genoa range. The event venue, Lake Minnetonka, had been playing fair too, with both sides of the course working, and lots of shifts for the astute tactician to work his or her way to the front of the fleet. For just one race on Friday, he liked his team's chances. The only problem was that for the final day of the event, the wind was zero with puffs to 6 knots. Not exactly the kind of conditions where it was easy to control the only boat you had to beat. Healy's team could have focused only on Mollicone, match raced him at the start, and forced him into one of the numerous bays along the 140 miles of lake shoreline. However, that's not his style, and instead allowed Mollicone to start near the pin while Healy would set up more toward the center of the line and protect the favored right side. Of course, when the wind glassed off around Healy, all bets were off and the scramble began. As had occurred all regatta, both teams found themselves in the top ten at the first windward mark, but when Bob Harden's team on Mr. Happy worked out into a distant lead over both of them, ultimately winning with a leg lead, Healy knew that the threat was over, and went on to enjoy the most pleasant 18th place finish he ever recorded during his ten year career in the class. Sailing with Healy was Dave Crocker, Gordon Bortges, Nick Judson, and Nick von der Wense.-- Results: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6389 IT WAS RIGGED: 2008 MAXI YACHT ROLEX CUP Forty of the world's largest, fastest, and most technologically advanced racing yachts competed in the 2008 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup off Costa Smeralda. Once again, the regatta turned out to be another impressive feat for Southern, as all four division winners were rigged by Southern Spars and 50% of the fleet was powered by a Southern Spars mast. Our congratulations to all competitors, particularly the division winners: Numbers, Rosebud/Team DYT, Moneypenny (Mini Maxi); Ranger, Hetairos, Velsheda (Cruising); Magic Carpet II (Wally); Rambler, and Alfa Romeo (Racing). For more on Southern Spars: http://www.southernspars.com ROLEX RACING * San Francisco, CA (September 14, 2008) - The 44th annual Rolex Big Boat Series hosted on San Francisco Bay four IRC divisions with 39 entrants and six one design classes with 71 entrants. The largest class was the 31-boat J/105 fleet that was won by Phil Perkins of San Francisco, CA. Division winner in IRC were John, Jr. Kilroy's TP 52 Samba Pa Ti, Brad Copper's Tripp 43 TNT, Dave Kirby's J/122 TKO, and Mike Garl's Beneteau 40.7 White Dove. Event site: http://www.regattanews.com/event.asp?id=200 Results: https://app1.regatta-manager.com/stfrancisyc/RBBS08/results Audio: http://tinyurl.com/Pro-Sight-Sailing-BBS08 Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/bbs/ * Porto Cervo, Sardinia (September 14, 2008) - After a week which saw almost every imaginable weather condition, from light breezes to gusts of over 40 knots and from blazing sunshine to thunder storms and pouring rain, the 100 competing owners and crews enjoyed near perfect conditions on the last day of the Rolex swan Cup 2008. Winners of the event are Enrico Scerni's Kora 4 (ITA), Club Swan 42 division; Roel Pieper's Favonius (BVI), Maxi division; John Bainbridge's Zen (GBR), Classic division; and Earlybird (GER), owned by Christian Nagel and Hendrik Brandis in the Swan 45 division, also used as the class world championship. Event site: http://www.regattanews.com/event.asp?id=199 Results: http://www.yccsresults.com/swan08/results1.htm Audio: http://tinyurl.com/Pro-Sight-Sailing-SwanCup Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/0912b SAILING SHORTS * (September 14, 2008) Anna Tunnicliffe had an outstanding last day and is the new US Women's Match Racing Champion. She knocked out Katy Lovell in the quarterfinals and then beat Liz Baylis in the semi-finals 2-1. Tunnicliffe won both matches of the finals against Genevieve Tulloch. The racers saw a wide variety of wind, wave, and current conditions over four days of racing on Lake Ontario in Rochester, New York. 148 races were sailed in all under the management of Wayne Bretsch, with the event hosted by Rochester Yacht Club. -- Complete report: http://tinyurl.com/SButt0914f * Annapolis, MD (September 13, 2008) - Thirty boats at the Etchells North American Championships endured a light air three race day to begin the championship on Thursday, and then followed that with a three race snorter on Friday. Come Saturday, nary a drop of breeze was left, but with six races in the books, the event was official and ended with Jud Smith as the winning skipper along with Mark Johnson/ Nik Burfoot, with Hank Lammens in second and Allan Terhune, Jr. finishing third. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6381 * US SAILING is permitted to nominate one "Under 21" team to compete in the ISAF Team Racing World Championship (scheduled for 1/31/09 through 2/8/09 in Perth, Australia). Interested teams should contact the US SAILING Team Racing Committee as soon as possible for an application. The Committee is looking for teams, whose members will not turn 21 before December 31, 2009 (i.e. born 1989 or later). All team members must also be passport carrying U.S. citizens. Interested teams should have one team member e-mail mailto:u21trworlds@gmail.com by 9/19/08. * Alicante, Spain (Sept. 13, 2008) - The two crews of the Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson Racing Team arrived yesterday in Alicante, Spain, host port for the start of the Volvo Ocean Race. The International and Nordic crews are part of a two-boat effort from Ericsson for the 10th Volvo race. The journey from the team's training base in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, took about four days. Team Russia and Delta Lloyd are the remaining two of the eight competing teams still due to arrive in Alicante. -- http://tinyurl.com/SButt0914g EIGHT BELLS Olin J. Stephens, who celebrated his 100th birthday on April 13, 2008, passed away this weekend. Yacht designer Stephens was Member Number 1 in the NYYC's seniority list, having joined the club in 1930, or 78 years ago. In Olin Stephens's autobiography, "All This and Sailing, Too," he remarked, "I was lucky: I had a goal. As far back as I can remember I wanted to design fast boats." His imprint on yacht design includes having designed the winners of a total of eight of the nine America's Cup matches between 1937 and 1980, with his portfolio of successful designs making him the most influential designer of the 20th century. For a complete profile of Olin J. Stephens, written by John Rousmaniere: http://nyyc.org/home/article_193/ * Please submit your comments here: http://tinyurl.com/Scuttleblog0914a RATCHETING UP YOUR GAME Under the tutelage of Bill Shore, Olympic multi-medal and America's Cup winning coach, Farr 40 and other one design offshore classes are ratcheting up their game achieving better racing results. Your team can take its racing to the next level with help from Shore Coaching. http://www.shorecoaching.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar PLAN TO WATCH THIS MOVIE In anticipation of the general release for the MORNING LIGHT movie, which documents the training and participation of a young group of sailors in the 2007 Transpac race, there are two prime time broadcasts providing insight into the tryout process used to select the crew. The 60 minute show is scheduled on ESPN2 HD for Wednesday, October 8th (8pm Eastern, 7pm Central, 6pm Mountain, 5pm Pacific, 3pm Hawaii Time) and Thursday, October 9th (7pm Hawaii, 9pm Pacific, 10pm Mountain, 11pm Central, 12pm Eastern). The American release of the movie is on October 17th and includes 55 theatres. If it does well at the box office, Disney Studios will broaden the release to the next round of theaters. Here is the list of theatres: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0912c => Curmudgeon's Comment: There hasn't been a sailing movie of this magnitude since WIND in 1992, and there are countless stories of how that movie motivated people to investigate the sport. The Morning Light movie needs our support, as strong early ticket sales will keep it in the theatres longer, and will expand its distribution to more cities. Details on the movie are here: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/morninglight LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, 'The Curmudgeon'. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get 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 Scott Mason: (re, letter in Issue 2680) Wow! Ian, I feel for you and will say a prayer for both a cure and you getting this ugly disease into remission. To all of the sailing community out there, this is a selfless act of kindness and giving on Ian's part. We all have a friend or family member that has been afflicted with cancer, and Ian's continuing effort to help others while facing personal adversity and a life-threatening disease is commendable. Let's all show Ian how much we care for our sailing comrades by supporting the cause. Get behind your local Leukemia Cup or go to http://www.active.com/donate/leukemiacupgsf/IanCharles and make your donation there. Small or large, we can all do our part to peck away at cancer. Ian, I don't know you but hope to meet you someday. Keep up the fight. As Jimmy V said, "don't give up, don't ever give up". You have a large sailing community on your team. * From Elizabeth Kratzig: Nick and Maureen -- Sailors of the Year - Together and individually they have overcome more challenges than any other sailor in the World. And who has ever finished an Olympic Games winning 5 of the 10 races and dropping a 3rd place? Unbelievable! Nick & Maureen are my new heroes. I will think of them whenever I meet a new challenge. * From Douglass Sisk: Let's put aside, if we can, just for a moment, the legal wrangling and courtroom antics that currently afflict the "friendly competition between foreign countries". Let us temporarily suspend the age old "multi-hulls ain't real yachts" discussion. Let us look wonderingly at the present marvel of engineering and design that is the BMW Oracle trimaran. Sure, it's a long way from a classic sailing yacht, and sure, it has more in common with fighters and Formula 1 race cars than a Hinckley 40, but in this "we should sail the America's Cup in 12-meters" monohull sailor's eyes it is one beautiful sailing craft. See the photos here (http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/0824/) and elsewhere and try to put aside your prejudices. Should it compete in the Cup? Different discussion. Is it a proper yacht (whatever that means these days)? Different discussion. Personally, I'd give my left (whatever) for a ride! => Curmudgeon's Comment: If you disagree with Douglass' letter, than odds are you will agree with this Charleston, SC yachting scribe, who sees the boat as "a sewn-together freak of a 90-foot, all-carbon trimaran made possible by a billionaire's limitless resources and his equally limitless lust for the sailing immortality that is to be gained by winning the America's Cup. It's not a sailboat; it's a nautical Frankenstein monster." -- Complete story: http://tinyurl.com/SButt0914h CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." - Steve Jobs, co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc. Special thanks to Myboatsgear.com, Southern Spars, and Shore Coaching. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
