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SCUTTLEBUTT 2434 - September 18, 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. MOVING ON – MOVING FORWARD Bouwe Bekking, skipper of the movistar Volvo Ocean Race campaign in 2005-06, experienced a spate of well-documented breakages and unscheduled stoppages with the Spanish entry, but none so great as when he had to make the call to abandon ship on the leg seven Atlantic Ocean crossing due to a keel-related structural failure. Now for the 2008-09 race, Bekking has moved on, and will spearhead a two-boat campaign backed by the region of Alicante, teaming up again with long-time sparring partner and Spanish syndicate head Pedro Campos. Bekking says he toyed with an “office job” but not for long. “We talked honestly about who we would we put in place as skipper if it wasn ’t me,” Bekking said. “We decided I was best suited as skipper for this particular campaign and I still think I’m pretty handy on a boat. If I would have been with a different campaign I might have had a different role.” Armed with an exclusive deal with Farr Yacht Design, the Spanish campaign is well advanced. Construction is under way on the first boat which is due to be launched in the spring of 2008 and nearly all the pieces of the crew selection jigsaw are in place. -- Complete article: http://tinyurl.com/2jeo4v * The historic Russian port city of St Petersburg has been officially announced as the race finish for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. This will be the first time in the race’s 34-year history that the fleet will visit a Russian port and follows the confirmation in late May that Russia will have its own entry in the race backed by St Petersburg businessman Oleg Zherebtsov. -- Full announcement: http://tinyurl.com/35xfkj COLLEGE JUST GOT HARDER At the College Nationals last spring in Annapolis, a new set of rules were approved that would provide some structure that intercollegiate sailing had been lacking. Because sailing competition occurs throughout the school year, and does not have a defined season like most college sports, the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association found the need to better define itself. According to ICSA President Mitch Brindley, the guidelines will provide school administrators with a template similar to other sports, something that should help teams work within their school system. Known as Appendix 3 - Competition and Practice Seasons, the rules spell out the length of the season, the number of events a team can compete in, and the amount of practice time permitted. Even though Brindley did not feel the restrictions would prove to limit any teams from the schedule they currently maintained, it will require a higher level of accountability, and this oversight will fall on the people responsible for the sailing team. And while the rules do not specifically spell out how infractions are addressed, these new limits are the ‘first bite of the apple,’ and given the nature of sport, this will likely be addressesed sooner than later. -- For the updated ICSA Procedural Rules: http://www.collegesailing.org/archive/2005-2008-ICSA-PR-Rules-8-07a.pdf FINAL EURO TUNE-UP BEFORE TRIALS Top European 49er sailors were in attendance last week at the Seiko 49er European Championships in Marsala, Italy, and they were joined by the United States team of Tim Wadlow and Chris Rast, who were getting in one more international event before making the final push for their Olympic Trials (on October 6-14). The event was won by 2004 Gold medallists Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez (ESP), with Tim Wadlow commenting on their fifth place performance, “We were up and down, but we certainly enjoyed the lighter breezes better. We sailed really well in the qualifying races, on the lighter days, but struggled a little on the first day of gold racing when it was windy, where boat handling errors crept in which cost us a lot of points. “Overall we weren’t taking it super seriously as our trials are in three weeks and this is really just a tune up for us, we are pretty relaxed and not looking at the score sheet too hard. Following Marsala, we go home for a few days off, then fly to San Diego for a week of training, and 3-4 days off before starting the Trials. We have put in a lot of time in San Diego, having done I think 5 training camps, so maybe we’ve had 40 days on water. Having those days logged I feel confident for the next few weeks.” As for how the Trials will shake out, Wadlow said, “I think the trials will be primarily a three boat race, but then there will be some dark horses. Certainly Morgan Larson & Pete Spalding and Dalton Bergen & Zack Maxam will be right there, as it has been very close between us all in the last year and a half.” US 49er sailors will get a tease on September 20-23 as the US Nationals will be held on the same racecourse that the Trials will be raced on 13 days later. -- European results: http://www.circolovelicomarsala.com/49er/classifiche/Classifica%2049er.pdf WATCH OUT: MATRIX IS COMING There’s a new string sail on the market – UK-Halsey Sailmakers’ MatriX. It’s all grand prix, the fastest sails in the UK-Halsey line. No one out there has anything newer, better, smoother, or lighter. We’ve dedicated our newest production facility to making them, so you won’t have to wait long to put yours on the starting line. Nearly 60 UK-Halsey sailmaker-run lofts and service centers worldwide are waiting to hear from you. Get a quote: 800-253-2002, http://www.ukhalsey.com CARBONIZING THE 49ER During the Seiko 49er European Championships last week, sailors are getting the chance to test the new carbon rig and put it through its paces in Marsala. The current 49er rig, now 11 years old and built with the technology of the day, has often been an issue for sailors with respect to variances in bend characteristics and longevity. Technology has moved on since then and now offers solutions to these issues. Two manufacturers (CST and Southern Spars) have been short-listed by the 49er Technical Committee. Along with the consideration of the carbon rig comes a new mainsail design incorporating a flat head profile. The class would like to make a decision on how to proceed this month. -- Class forum: http://tinyurl.com/3copr3 OLD BOATYARD GETS NEW LOOK If you sail the New England coast, you've probably cruised on Buzzards Bay, and if so, you've more than likely dropped the hook or grabbed a mooring in Padanaram. The harbor off this village in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, is well known to sailors, and about 600 or so boats fill the water every season. Padanaram's also home to South Wharf, a yacht yard and marina in operation since 1832, which the renowned Concordia Company leased for 75 years. Well, nothing lasts forever, and things got a bit interesting around town last year when word got out that the property was up for sale. As one local put it, "This is Padanaram. We don't like change." The scuttlebutt was that the boatyard and marina would close, expensive condos would go up, and whatever dock space was salvaged would be private. But then Dave Nolan showed up. Owner, along with his wife, Jane, of Cape Yachts, Nolan saw not just a business opportunity, but a chance to preserve a piece of ever-decreasing waterfront property, which these days is becoming exclusively residential at an alarming rate. -- Cruising World, full story: http://www.cruisingworld.com/news/old-boatyard-gets-new-look--54418.html IMAGES FROM THE SPORT * An elite field of shooters provided Scuttlebutt with images from last weekend’s Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco. Thanks to Daniel Forster, Sharon Green, Abner Kingman, Jan Pehrson, Peter Lyons, and Chuck Lantz, viewers get a great sense of the amphitheater for sailing that this Northern California sailing site provides: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/bbs * An event first created in 1982 by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, a gathering of the worlds' most beautiful vintage yachts came this year to Porto Cervo. Intended for sailing yachts built of wood or metal and launched before 1950 with a minimum LOA of approximately 16metres, plus also certain Classic and Spirit of Tradition yachts participate. Photographer Carlo Borlenghi shares his images from the event last week: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0916 * Video coverage of the Rolex Big Boat Series, the IFDS Disabled World Championships, and the IOD World Championships from last week are all available at http://www.t2p.tv SENDING THE GUEST FORWARD Annapolis, MD -- North Sails-Chesapeake professional Matt Beck is used to trimming and calling tactics when he goes racing with customers. So Beck was taken aback when he showed up at the dock on Friday and found out he would be doing foredeck for skipper Pete McChesney in last weekend’s J/22 East Coast Championship. That's because Scott Snyder, who worked the bow for Beck when the J/22 World Championships were held off Annapolis in 2004, has been trying to escape that role while racing regularly with McChesney in recent seasons. "Matt made a guest appearance and we stuck him up on the bow. It worked out okay. Matt did a good job up there," said McChesney, who credited strong crew work for his impressive victory in the East Coast Championship. Consistency paid off once again for McChesney, who counted all first and second place finishes in totaling a low score of eight points. Longtime rival Todd Hiller won three of six starts, but was forced to count a sixth place taken in Race 1 in finishing second overall with 14 points. "We sailed at maximum weight, which was definitely helpful since it was windy on Friday and Saturday," McChesney said. "We had two bad starts that we were able to overcome. I was real pleased with our boat speed." -- Capitol Online, full story: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/09_13-29/SAL DISCOVER A technical vest and jacket combo perfect for Fall sailing. The Atlantis Grand Prix Vest and Microburst Jacket are what the high-profile race programs and one-design classes are wearing this Fall. From IRC to Sonars to Swan 42s, Newport to the Med, race teams around the world are layering the Atlantis Grand Prix Vest with the Microburst Jacket. Both waterproof, breathable and windproof, they're feature-packed, embroider beautifully and look great whether you're on deck or in the bar. Discover the new wave in performance sailing gear. Discover Atlantis. http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com SAILING SHORTS * Toronto, ONT (September 17, 2007) On the first day of the International C Class Championship, hosted by Royal Canadian Yacht Club, the four boat field got a taste of what might be the theme of the series: foils are better. After three races in 8-10 knots, Canadian Fred Eaton's foil-aided cat Alpha won each race by an average of nearly four minutes. The only other entrant close in speed was Steve Clark’s Cogito, which finished second in the first two races but had to retire in the third race after hitting a floating log. Racing continues through September 23rd. -- http://www.rcyc.ca/Portals/0/C%20Class%20Catamaran%20Race%203.pdf * The start for the 16th Mini Transat has been under postponement since strong winds forced the delay of its scheduled start on September 16th. Race organizers have decided now to start the race on Tuesday, September 18th at 12:30pm. Winds are expected to remain strong at the start but will quickly moderate and lead to a light wind zone on Wednesday. Eighty-four solo Mini 6.5’s will be at the start for the 4,240-mile ocean race from France to Brazil. American Clay Burkhalter is the sole North American entrant. -- http://www.teamacadia.org * Newport Beach, CA -- The Newport Beach Sea Scout Ship, the “Renegades,” has started a new fundraising program selling used sails donated from the community and a major sailing loft to help in the purchase or even donation of a much needed new program yacht. They also are accepting donated sails. Information at http://www.sssrenegades.com * (September 14, 2007) British ocean racing yachtsman Mike Golding was awarded the Royal Humane Society's Silver Medal for bravery in recognition of his outstanding rescue of fellow British sailor, Alex Thomson, from his stricken Open 60 yacht during the 2005/6 Velux 5 Oceans solo round the world race. The Royal Humane Society was founded in 1774 and over the last five years has only presented four silver medals. Nominations are received from the public and the charity reviews these acts of bravery. Golding was presented with the award at the Southampton International Boat Show. -- http://www.mikegolding.com * ISAF is now accepting bids to host the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships from 2011 onwards. Next year the Youth Worlds heads to Denmark, followed by Brazil in 2009, whilst Turkey will host the 40th edition of the ISAF Youth Worlds in 2010. In advance of the 2007 ISAF Annual Conference in November, ISAF is accepting bids to host the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships from 2011 onwards. -- Full details: http://www.sailing.org/20202.php * Correction: In Issue 2433, it was stated that the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race would start this coming Sunday. The race, in fact, started last Sunday, September 16th. Also, if you went looking for the Rolex Big Boat Series results, and only found listed six of the seven races, they had a hiccup on their end that they solved, and now the complete series results are available (however, they are making us download them onto our hardrive to view… nice!) -- https://app1.regatta-manager.com/stfrancisyc/RolexBigBoatSeries2007/results HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR FREE GEAR YET? Get free gear now with the purchase and delivery of a Vanguard boat by December 31st and receive your choice of a Seitech dolly, Storm covers, or a Magic Marine gear package with your new boat. Make your purchase by Halloween and get a blade bag. For complete details: http://www.teamvanguard.com 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 * From Doug Wilson: (regarding story in Issue 2433) I hate to spoil a good ‘innocent little guys oppressed by big government’ story but let’s look at the facts. I am both a racing sailor and a US research oceanographer who regularly collects data (such as temperature, wind, waves, currents) in foreign jurisdictions. National sovereignty over collection of this type of information is well established under international law and the Law of the Sea Convention; one cannot just walk into another country’s Exclusive Economic Zone and collect marine data without prior permission and data sharing agreements. I have been threatened in the past with confiscation of 200’ research vessels for accidental violations, so arguably the British got off lightly. All that said, in the interest of fairness, the Chinese should have been collecting and providing this type of information to all teams during the last two preparatory regattas. I imagine that a proposal to do so would have been supported financially by many of the Olympic Committees from larger countries, as well as private ocean data collection and modeling interests. Perhaps GBR, as host of the next event, will take this to heart and make such information available prior to the 2012 event, as opposed, perhaps, to using their ability to make intensive studies prior to the event and gain a ‘home field advantage’. * From Chris Ericksen: I had a good chuckle reading Steve Adkins' report that "the race committee’s decision NOT to provide crash boats" was the reason that the Etchells New England's failed to be completed ('Butt 2433). "What were they thinking?" he asked. Well, as one who does race committee a lot--a lot--I can tell you how I'd answer that question: "I'm thinking you need to give up your next weekend to sit for hours in an open boat in twenty-five knots just in case we need you. And I need you to come around before the regatta to tell me what I should be thinking rather than criticizing what I did afterwards." Maybe I have Mister Adkins wrong. Maybe he donates several weekends a year to the running of races at his home club, as I do. Maybe he has spent hours on the phone trying to line up line spotters, flag handlers and chase-boat drivers, as I have. If he has, I would have hoped he'd have had more sympathy for a bunch of volunteers who gave up the chance for a cozy weekend ashore so that he could sail, and then got dealt a bad hand by the weather (and maybe by a chase-boat that had to cancel at the last minute). * From Andrew Bartholomew (US expat): Regarding the letter in Issue 2433 about AC popularity from Tej Trevor Parekh. Isn’t nationalism a bit 20th century? Who wants to encourage all that nationality testosterone in these days of WMDs and misdirected political leadership? Let’s accept globalisation and encourage its positive side. The reality is that a German car company sponsored a North American challenge, etc. and the best sailors are in great demand, bringing the competition to the highest level. Let the money and people flow; highlight the people, the teams and the many challenges of racing. Then TV coverage and the US public will follow, or not. * From Peter Isler: (regarding Gary Jobson’s article in Issue 2432) Just for the record, I am proud to have sailed solely with US teams in my five Americas Cup campaigns. Yep, I definitely include my most recent adventure with BMW Oracle Racing Team in that list. (And, no, I never referred to our team as "another Kiwi" team on VERSUS). Where was the US flag? Well, for the record, it was flying on its pole at the base along with the flags of all the nationalities on our team. I wore it on the sleeve of my team gear (as did Larry Ellison and Eric Doyle) in the racing, and when we raced and if you happened to look up on our mainsail - there was an enormous "USA-98" flying up there every minute we were underway. At a recent regatta, my good friend Gary Jobson mentioned his upcoming article in Sailing World and his "no American flag" thesis. Everyone is entitled to their opinion (as we 'Buttheads see every day), but I told Gary that I thought he was off target. Our team (the only US challenger!) was started by an American - it represented an American yacht club - and that's as American as you can get in the America's Cup. Sorry for you flag lovers - but that's the way the Cup rules worked this time. Sure we had a multinational team (as did all the top teams in Valencia), but had BMW Oracle gone deeper into the series - and won, I think America's Cup fever would have swept across the US... and the spectator fleet would have been awash in Old Glory's. Everybody loves a winner. In fact, had we won - I'll bet nobody here would be talking about flags now! Curmudgeon’s Commentary: For the record, we like the idea of National teams, but it does not seem to be on the ‘to-do’ list for the 33rd event Protocol (though we like how the British are embracing it). While this thread is dead in the newsletter, if you have more on this subject, please take it to the Forum where it will be spidered, tracked, ranked, and googled for future use by historians for years to come: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5305 * From Jay Sacco, Austin, TX: It may interest the Scuttlebutt readers to know that the Hobie 33 "Crash Boat" seen in http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/0910/ is doing just fine. She's still sailing and is owned by a friend of mine who worked with Hobie Alter during those early years. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION By all means, marry. If you get a good spouse, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. - Socrates Special thanks to UK Halsey, Atlantis WeatherGear, and Vanguard Sailboats. |
