|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2765 - Thursday, January 22, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Today's sponsors are Hall Spars & Rigging and Ullman Sails. ASPIRING OLYMPIC CONTENDERS REVEALED (Jan. 21, 2009) - With six days of competition due to begin next Monday, organizers for US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR are making final preparations for hosting 436 sailors from 41 countries on Biscayne Bay. This is a record turnout for a year that directly follows one in which the Olympic and Paralympic Games were held. Some 323 boats have registered, which is 100-plus more than 2005 (217 boats, 25 countries) and more than double 2001’s numbers (155 boats, 14 countries). This event provides the first look at the North American sailors with serious Olympic aspirations. All ten 2012 Olympic classes will be competing: Laser Radial, Laser, Finn, Men’s RS:X, Women’s RS:X, 49er, Men’s 470, Women’s 470, and Star, with the SB3 Laser replacing the Elliott 6m only at this regatta (for the new women’s match racing discipline). The three Paralympic classes are: 2.4mR, SKUD-18 and Sonar. US SAILING’s 2009 Rolex Miami OCR is also the only ranking regatta for American athletes who aspire to make the 2009 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. Based solely on the results at this regatta, US SAILING will recognize the top three boats in each Olympic and Paralympic class. The event is not only celebrating its 20th anniversary but it is also the second stop of seven in the International Sailing Federation’s (ISAF) inaugural Sailing World Cup, in which cumulative points will determine World Cup champions in each of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic classes. The series started with Sail Melbourne (Australia) last December and rounds out with the Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia (Palma, Spain) and Semaine Olympique Francaise (Hyères, France) in April; Delta Lloyd Regatta (Medemblik, The Netherlands) in May; Kieler Woche (Kiel, Germany) in June; and Skandia Sail for Gold (Weymouth, Great Britain) in September. Competitor list: http://linkbee.com/AYB5 Event website: http://rmocr.ussailing.org/RMOCR_Home.htm => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Following the recent thread regarding coaching at events, US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR has 79 registered coaches that go along with the current entry list of 323 boats (and who knows how many coach boats). As a ratio, that is about 1 coach for every 4 entered boats. TACKLING TRICKY CONDITIONS AT ACURA KEY WEST 2009 Key West, FL (Jan. 21, 2009) - With unseasonably cold temperatures, and northeasterly winds gusting between 12 and 18 knots with shifts of 20 to 40 degrees, Day 3 of Acura Key West 2009, presented by Nautica, brought some tricky conditions that challenged tacticians on all three courses. While many of the series leaders stayed on top of the situation and further increased their advantage, there was a notable shakeup in the standings in the professional-laden Farr 40 class. Mascalzone Latino, the Italian entry owned by Vincenzo Onorato, had one of those days every sailor dreads. After winning three of the initial four races, Mascalzone Latino suffered a ninth and a 10th on Wednesday and dropped to third in the overall standings.Barking Mad, owned by Jim Richardson of Newport, R.I., clearly handled the conditions well and posted a first and a second on Wednesday to produce a 16-point swing on Mascalzone Latino - going from six points behind to 10 points ahead. There was a change atop the leader board in IRC 2 as well with the newly-launched King 40 Soozal replacing the Mills 43 Cool Breeze. This is the first regatta for owner Dan Woolery aboard his new boat, but the crew is clearly figuring her out quickly as Soozal has finished first or second in four of six races. Soozal’s performance earned Mount Gay Rum Boat of the Day honors as winner of the day’s most competitive class. Woolery, from Port Richmond, CA., steered the Mark Mills design to a first and a second on Wednesday. With four-time defending champion Masquerade not competing this year, the J/105 class is suddenly wide-open and has seen a new leader every day. Max Power, skippered by Gerrit Schulze of Cape May, N.J., won both races on Wednesday to take over first place via tiebreaker. Eclipse, the opening day leader owned by Damian Emery of Mount Sinai, N.Y., also has 14 points, but fewer first place finishes. John Storck’s Rumor has won five of six races in J/80 class while Robert Armstrong’s J/100 Good Girl has done the same in PHRF 2. -- Results and reports: http://www.premiere-racing.com/09_KW_Results/kw09_results_reports.htm * The event newspaper, Race Week News, which includes all the results along with race stories and competitor profiles, is available online in digital form: http://www.premiere-racing.com/09_KW_Results/kw09_race_week_news.htm YES, WE CAN Elect quality products from Hall Spars & Rigging's online store and usher in an unprecedented era of performance. Our ticket combines new products - the "Ultra" series of rope from Gottifredi Maffioli, the "Orbit" blocks from Ronstan, Velocitek's "SpeedPuck" to name a few - with favorites like the original Hall QuikVang, or our QuikTrip and QuikConnect spinnaker pole fittings. Inaugurate the sailing season with a fully optimized spar or rigging package from Hall Spars & Rigging. It's just the change you need. http://www.hallspars.com MARK MILNES: THE KEY WEST LOCAL by Stuart Streuli, Sailing World While hundreds of boats and thousands of sailors trek south to Key West, Mark Milnes and his crew on the J/24 Blah Blah Blah just wake up and walk out the door of their houses. This year, as in past years, he's the only local entry in his hometown's biggest regatta. * Tell us a little bit about yourself. MILNES: I'm a building contractor, originally from Staten Island. That's where I learned to sail with my Uncle Pete, Peter Milnes, got me into sailing there, Thistles and Lightnings. I actually came to Key West in 1966 in the Navy and moved back here full-time in 1983. * How long have you owned a J/24? MILNES: Since the mid-'80s. I used to go up to Miami and do the Midwinters when there were up there at Coral Reef YC. Pete Milnes and his family used to bring a new J/World boat down every year. I would drive up, meet them in Miami, we would race that boat, and then I would bring it down here and they'd go back to Newport. We did that for quite a number of years, then I bought an old boat. This is actually my second J/24. * You've been in Key West 25 years. How would you describe how the island has changed over that time? MILNES: Well it's changed a lot. Key West is at the end of the road. It's been described at the largest outdoor insane asylum. There are a lot of interesting characters here, that's for sure. * Everyone loves to come to Key West to get away. But it must be a different feeling when the regatta's in your backyard. MILNES: The only reason we really do it is because it's in our own backyard. Normally we don't race PHRF, it's a lot more fun to race one design. But since it's here and it's such a big event and a fun event-the social scene here at the tent every night and great sailors from all over the world come here-it's fun for us to do this. And we live here so it doesn't cost us anything basically, other than entry. -- Complete story: http://linkbee.com/AB0T TIP TOEING THROUGH THE MINEFIELD (Jan. 21, 2009; Day 4) - This fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race has become taxing for the strategists as they tip toe through the minefield of the Spratly Islands, an unexplored and very much unloved region by the race crews. An area of over 250 square miles between Vietnam and the Philippines, there have been no systematic surveys done here for many years. For Spratlys, read coral reefs, shoals, atolls, rocks and sand banks. Noted PUMA skipper Ken Read. “Approaching the North Lucoma Shoals, the water depth goes from 1,000 metres to three metres,” he reported. “We had three charts of these shoals. One said we ‘could’ go through the middle, one said ‘maybe’ and one said ‘no way’. We chose the ‘no way’.” Determining which way to go around these land obstacles has been a significant variable, increasing fleet separation and scrambling positions as black rain clouds and big shifts unevenly distribute their love and hate. Until the fleet arrives at the South Rock Light waypoint on Thursday evening, all eyes will be on the Ericsson boats that have fallen back due to their eastern course, but the latest sked had them getting miles back as they had attained reaching wind angles compared to the fleet’s upwind slant. While wind speeds remain in the teens, the anticipated heavy weather is still in the forecast, due to meet the fleet by Friday. Leg Four from Singapore to Qingdao, China is 2,500 nm, with the finish estimated on January 30th. Current positions (as of Jan. 22, 1:00am GMT): 1. PUMA (USA), Ken Read/USA, 1551 nm Distance to Finish 2. Telefonica Black (ESP), Fernando Echavarri/ESP, 7 nm Distance to Leader 3. Telefónica Blue (ESP), Bouwe Bekking/NED, 8 nm DTL 4. Green Dragon (IRL/CHN), Ian Walker/GBR, 29 nm DTL 5. Delta Lloyd (IRL), Roberto Bermudez/ESP, 33 nm DTL 6. Ericsson 3 (SWE), Magnus Olsson/SWE, 38 nm DTL 7. Ericsson 4 (SWE), Torben Grael/BRA, 57 nm DTL 8. Team Russia (RUS), Andreas Hanakamp/AUT, Did Not Start Race website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 Race tracking: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com DESJOYEAUX CLOSE TO DISASTER (Jan. 21, 2009; Day 73) - There may be some minor encouragement for Roland Jourdain whose speed has risen to 8.4 knots Wednesday evening, as the skipper of Veolia Environnement will become the second competitor to return to the North Atlantic by tonight or early Thursday morning. Michel Desjoyeaux remains tight lipped about the problems he may have had to overcome, possibly before the Doldrums, saying in a French press report that he has been ‘……close to disaster, I have had problems which could have put an end to my race. I had a lucky escape.’ His lead continues to grow as he continues northward on an upwind starboard angle. Marc Guillemot, positioned just 75 miles off the coast of Brazil (at the latitude of Rio) has Samantha Davies, further out to sea, trying to make good the miles she has lost this week that dropped her to fifth, though still preferring her position to Marc Guillemot’s. Solo, non-stop, around the world race in Open 60s. Standings as of 18:30 UTC (30 entrants; 12 now competing): 1. Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA), Foncia, 2914.2 nm Distance to finish 2. Roland Jourdain (FRA), Veolia Environnement, 391.5 nm Distance to leader 3. Armel Le Cléac´h (FRA), Brit Air, 1022.3 nm DTL 3. Vincent Riou (FRA), PRB, Dismasted - Redress Given 4. Marc Guillemot (FRA), Safran, 1858.2 nm DTL 5. Samantha Davies (GBR), Roxy, 1939.0 nm DTL Event website: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en Complete standings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html Race tracking: http://tracking.vendeeglobe.org/en AMERICANS SEEK FOURTH TEAM RACE TITLE Held in odd numbered years, the 2009 ISAF Team Racing World Championship in Perth, Australia will be welcoming 14 teams from Asia, Europe, Oceania and North America to put their boat handling and communication skills to the ultimate test. Racing in Pacer dinghies begins on the 2 February and continues through until 8 February. The first stage is a round robin tournament, followed by the semi-finals and the final. The New York Yacht Club team (previously known as the Silver Panda team), comprised of Clay Bischoff, Lisa Keith, Colin Merrick, Amanda Callahan, Pete Levesque and Liz Hall, will be aiming for their second straight World Championship Trophy and an unprecedented fourth consecutive title for the USA. The team also won the 2007 and 2008 editions of the Hinman Trophy and Wilson Trophy, the prestigious team racing championships of the USA and Great Britain respectively. -- http://www.sailing.org/teamworlds.php AUSTRALIAN TEAM TAKES 3RD AT FD WORLDS WITH ULLMAN SAILS Australians Norman Rydge and Richard Scarr claimed third place overall at the 2008 International Flying Dutchman World Championships early this month in Napier, New Zealand. Sailing with 100% Ullman Sails inventory, the team capped off a successful year of racing, including a 3rd place finish in the FD Europeans in Croatia in June. The Worlds event hosted a 44-boat fleet, sailing nine races total with Hungary’s Szabolcs Majthenyi and Andras Domokos clinching the title. Ullman Sails is focused on the success of each and every customer. Make an investment in your performance. Contact a local loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com SAILING SHORTS * The final two finishers have completed Leg 2 of the Portimão Global Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Wellington, New Zealand. Single-handed Open 40 sailor Michel Kleinjans, arrived at 21:28:55GMT 20/01 (10:28:55 local 21/01), with the double-handed Class 40 team of Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson arriving at 01:30:35 GMT 21/01 (14:30:35 local). The next leg to Ilhabela, Brazil begins February 15th with the fourth leg to Charleston, South Carolina beginning April 5th. -- http://www.portimaorace.com * As part of the Providence Boat Show, the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association will present a roundtable discussion Jan. 29 on the future of marine industry jobs in Rhode Island and what the industry means to the state’s economy. The state has recognized the marine industry as one targeted for growth and critical to the state’s economy, along with construction, health care, information technology and tourism. More than 2,000 businesses - nearly 10 percent of all private employers in Rhode Island - are involved in the boating industry. -- Soundings Trade Only, full story: http://linkbee.com/AYL8 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: Jan 22-25 - St.Maarten Classic Yacht Regatta - Philipsburg, N.A., St. Maarten Jan 23-27 - Skandia Geelong Race Week - Geelong, Victoria, Australia Jan 26-Feb 3 - IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship - Auckland, NZL View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 Jonny Lawson: It was interesting to see the conundrum outlined in the Racing Rules Answer in Scuttlebutt 2764. This actually occurred a couple of years ago in Southwestern Yacht Club's Midwinters and created quite a controversy. It was a blustery day and the PRO had the option of two different courses. He chose the In-The-Bay course for the two race day for safety purposes. Everyone in Class 3, except for one boat, went to the proper course and sailed a complete race. We won this race by a nice margin. Then, a boat showed up and protested the race committee for not displaying the proper flags at the yacht club. The second race was run and this boat won the second race. They were given redress and ended up with a total of 2.5 points (1.5 for Redress). This bumped them up to first place over a really close fleet and the won the regatta. The local racing community as a whole was quite PO'ed over this one..... * From Chip Nilsen: (re, Coaching during regattas) The group that has done the best to maintain “One Design Sailing” is US SAILING during their panicle event, the US Youth Championship. Coaching ends at the dock and begins at the dock during the event. Below is from 2008 NOR: 16.8. No contact or support of any kind to the competitors will be permitted, from the time the competitors leave the dock until they return to the dock at the end of the on-the-water activity (clinic or racing), except as may be requested by the Race Committee, the National Chairman, the Regatta Chairman or directed by the Junior National Coach. This restriction applies to parents, family members, spectators or any individual acting as a private coach who has not met the conditions outlined in 15.3. 16.9. RRS 60.3 will be modified to permit the protest committee to protest a boat when, from its own observations or a report received from any source, it believes that a boat may have broken 15.7 or is affiliated with a private coach that breaks 15.3. RRS 64.1 will be modified to allow penalties for breaking this provision to range from a reprimand to a dismissal from the regatta. The protest committee for a hearing under this provision shall call the Youth Championship Committee (YCC) Chairperson or his or her designee and the Junior National Coach as witnesses. -- Link: http://linkbee.com/AYO4 The coaches must also meet all required safety mandates in the NOR. I am a strong supporter of coaching but also fairness and this addresses both. * From Scott Boye, Friday Harbor: (re, Coaching during regattas) There’s no need to invent new rules for coaches, just look at the procedural rules High School Sailing adopted many years ago. To create a level playing field, the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA) has specified that there will be a designated coaching area. Because of the type of racing high school sailors participate in, that designated area is usually at the rotation dock. Sometimes the coaching area is designated to include a location on the water where coach boats can congregate. ISSA requires equal access for all coaches and in an effort to keep the contest limited to just the sailors, if there is a protest, sailors are not allowed to consult with coaches from the time of the incident until the protest hearing. That limits the protest to the abilities of the sailor rather than the ‘hired gun’. For more information: http://www.highschoolsailingusa.org/PRs/09Jan01proceduralRules.pdf * From Jay Sacco, Austin, TX: The discussion of ships striking sea life versus containers needs to take into account the fact that sea life is mobile and can get out of the way of approaching yachts. Containers aren't. I've always wondered why sailboats don't hit sea life more often. Perhaps most cruising and moderately fast race boats don't hit sea life on a regular basis because they move slow enough that sea life becomes aware of their approach and have time to move out of the way. Fast race boats like the Volvos and multihull record seekers seem to hit sea life more often. I suspect this is because they're so fast, sea life doesn't have time to move out of the way. No matter what speed a yacht sails, if they're headed for a container, they're going to hit it. If there are enough containers in the water, it's only a matter of time before you hit one, whereas if you're not too fast, you're unlikely to hit sea life. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” - Barack Obama Special thanks to from Hall Spars & Rigging and Ullman Sails. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
