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SCUTTLEBUTT 3607 - Thursday, June 7, 2012Scuttlebutt 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. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: Atlantis WeatherGear and Ullman Sails. RETRACING ROOTS - SEOUL 1988 OLYMPICS Until the country was awarded the Games in 1981, recreational sailing really hadn't taken root in South Korea and the Korea Yachting Association existed in name only. The competition took place in Busan, South Korea's second city after the capital and host Seoul, and the countries major port. Large numbers flocked to Korea as 360 sailors in 214 teams from 60 nations flew their flag on the water from September 20-27 1988. With little data and questions posed on the tide in the area, there were a few surprises that sprung up including Great Britain's gold in the Star class that was won by Mike McIntyre and Bryn Vaile. The pair split from the fleet looking for turning tide to win the last race. It was their second win of the series and handed them a surprise gold medal. Spain's Jose Luis Doreste made a seamless transition from the 470 in which he'd won gold in 1984 to earn a second gold in the Finn ahead of US Virgin Island Peter Holmberg and Kiwi John Cutler. France had won one medal since 1932 - Serge Maury's Finn gold in 1972 - until Thierry Peponnet burst onto the scene and having won the bronze in the 470 class in Los Angeles, together with crew Luc Pilot, Peponnet got the gold in Busan. Brazil celebrated for not only did Torben Grael gain the bronze in the Star, but brother Lars got the same medal in the Tornado class. Canada's Larry Lemieux is the only sailor, and one of 11 athletes, that have been awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal which is awarded to athletes who demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship at the Olympic Games. And Lemiuex put his own medal aspirations to one side on September 24 1988 when 10-15 knots turned into winds in excess of 35 knots. In a comfortable position and on his way to silver medal in the Finn the Canadian passed Singapore's 470 entry Shaw Her Siew and Joseph Chan who had capsized. Siew was clinging to the hull whilst Chan was 20 metres from the boat. Without hesitation Lemieux turned his boat and dragged Chan aboard who was too badly hurt to climb aboard. He then in turn rescued Siew, held his boat against the wind and waited for the Korean Navy boat to arrive. He then resumed, finished 21st in a 32 boat fleet sacrificing his own medal hopes. Nonetheless his heroics were rewarded and at the award ceremony, International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Saramanch said, "By your sportsmanship, self-sacrifice, and courage you embody all that is right with the Olympic ideal." -- Read on: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/london2012/news/26396.php EDITOR'S NOTE: While not to diminish the achievement of Mike McIntyre and Bryn Vaile in the Star, the gold medal was practically in the grip of Americans Mark Reynolds and Hal Haenel until a control line failed in the final race and their mast broke. The Americans settled for silver. NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN Weymouth and Portland, U.K. (June 6, 2012; Day 3) - The weather forecast for the second half of Skandia Sail for Gold has been a hot topic of conversation for a while, and today it started to happen. The wind pick-up this morning, and by the afternoon it was a challenging twenty knots and change for most race courses. "Weymouth has been demanding this week," said Charlie Buckingham (USA), who is 11th in the Laser. "In addition to the cold, windy, and rainy conditions, competitors have to endure a long sail out to the racecourse and a long, savage tow upwind (if you're lucky enough to have a coach) back to shore. All of this together has made for an exhausting three days and the forecast shows no signs of slowing down for the next two (days)." American Anna Tunnicliffe's world #1 match race team, which recently won the U.S. Olympic trials, has been struggling so far this week. "It's been a little bit of this, and a little bit of that," shred middle crew Molly Vandemoer. "In match racing you have only one boat to beat, and if you make a mistake they are going to capitalize on it." The team split their two qualifying races today, but it was enough to narrowly advance to the quarterfinal round. Thursday's weather should make for a stellar day, with forecasts for big wind in the afternoon moving fleet starts ahead a few hours. Event website: http://www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk Video highlights: http://youtu.be/awFnKRRkMC4 Photos: http://www.tmvphotography.co.uk/f64659137 Canadian team: http://tinyurl.com/CST-060612 USA team: http://tinyurl.com/USST-060612 BACKGROUND: Skandia Sail for Gold is held on the same venue as will be the sailing events for the 2012 Summer Olympics, which begin July 28th. This is the sixth of seven 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas, which are open to the sailing events chosen for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. -- http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/home.php DISCOVER: THE LIGHTEST SAILING GEAR ON THE PLANET In 2007, Atlantis introduced the waterproof/breathable Microburst sailing jacket. That single jacket spawned what has become our best-selling collection of super-lightweight sailing apparel, including vests, spray tops and pants, all designed by sailors for sailors to deliver minimum weight and maximum packability, and all in line with the Atlantis mission of delivering the lightest-weight full-on waterproof gear there is on the market today. For 2012, we've added a women's vest, as well as a whole bouquet of cool new colors, so even if you already have one, you're going to want to add to your collection. http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com/Newfor2012 DIFFERENT STROKES If sailing is anything, it's diverse. Something for everything, and nearly futile to argue what is best. Just like people, we embrace different things. So when Scuttlebutt 3606 posted comments from Harrison Hine, who noted his preference for "a tactical boat like the Star compared to the hot rods like the 49er", we knew we were opening the door. So to balance the scale, here is a reply by Zander Kirkland, who will be representing Bermuda at the 2012 Olympic Games... in the 49er skiff: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Respectfully, I believe Mr. Harrison Hine's remarks about 49er sailing were off the mark in Scuttlebutt 3606. His belief that 49er sailing is all about going fast and not worrying about shifts is categorically not true. Has he ever witnessed 49er sailing in Weymouth in a stiff SW'ester on the Noethe Course (3 days of Olympic Racing there) or closer to home in Miami, tucked up under Key Biscayne in a 15kt Easterly? These are both examples of shifty venues, where it is essential to stay in phase to get ahead. We sail short legs, often in flat water, where the speed advantage maybe 2 -3 boat lengths over a beat. Yes, you want speed to be able to hold your lane, but if you are going the wrong way, you have no chance. 49ers can tack quite fast in flat water and the momentary loss in speed is far outweighed by playing the shift. This is coming from a sailor who has only been sailing 49ers full-time for 2 years versus 17 years of racing in slow, traditional boats (Optimists, Lasers, 420s, college sailing, FJs, Etchells and IODs), where you allude "REAL sailing" lives. I would counter that skiff sailing is every much as tactical as traditional sailing, but made more difficult by the high speeds which make quick decision making essential. The thing with skiff sailing is the boat handling is a huge barrier to entry before you are racing with the top teams, but once you have the boat handling handled, 49er racing mentality is just like going out for a college race: Good start, hold your lane, get on favored tack, manage the fleet and keep your head out of the boat for the next shift. If you can get in the top pack, yes you may extend on the pack, but where have you not heard about the "rich getting richer" in our sport as a race develops? Also the thing that struck me about the transition from college sailing to 49er racing was how much you could catch up or lose on a given leg because of the amount of leverage you were able to get with the fast 49er - it is easy/common to have a delta with other boats of over 100 yards (or more) on a downwind or upwind (leg of 3/4 mile). So yes, Mr Hines, amazing comebacks happen all the time in our class! COLLEGE SPRING NATIONALS Austin, Texas (June 6, 2012) - The culmination of the college spring season is the ICSA / Gill Dinghy National Championship, which pits the top 18 teams that advanced from the semi-finals that were held in Annapolis, MD on May 12-13. Competing in Club Flying Juniors, today both A and B divisions completed six races in the first day of the three day competition. Light winds prevailed on Lake Travis, where the Georgetown Hoyas jumped to an early lead, paced by A division leader Chris Barnard ('13) and Hilary Kenyon ('13), with the B division team of Evan Aras ('12) and Katherine Canty ('12) in second. Georgetown, after finishing fourth in the 2011 Dinghy Nationals, was the top ranked school coming in the 2012 championship. Results: http://2012nationals.collegesailing.org/coed-results/ YACHT DESTROYED ON THE ROCKS By Elaine Bunting, Yachting World Retired couple Krzysztof and Agniezka Zadarnowski, cruising in their Tartan 37 from Bermuda to the Azores, had sailed the last miles of the transatlantic passage, handed their sails and were motoring the last few hundred metres into port when an escalating sequence of events led to the destruction of their yacht. The pair, originally from Poland, had lived in the U.S. for 27 years and left their home in California in 2008, sailing to the Panama Canal and the Caribbean before leaving Bermuda in May to reach Europe in the 37ft Sulima. They arrived in Horta, in the Azores, where I was reporting last week on the ARC Europe Rally, just as the fiercest part of a cold front was blowing through. Gusts to 47 knots were punching through the anchorage, raising spray and a short chop even in the lee of the main harbour wall. As Sulima motored in after the crew had handed sails, a sheet apparently blew off the deck. It wrapped round the propeller and stopped the engine. What happened next, as she ended up on the lee breakwater, was watched powerlessly by scores of other sailors in the marina and harbour, packed at this time of the summer. These shocking photos document one of the saddest sailing incidents I've ever witnessed: http://tinyurl.com/YW-060612 'DISTANT THUNDER' RUMBLES TARTAN 10 FLEET IN DETROIT Congratulations to Rob Finicle and his team on "Distant Thunder" who dominated their class last weekend, scoring first overall in the Tartan 10 fleet at the 2012 Bayview One Design Regatta in Detroit! Fully powered by Ullman Sails, the "Distant Thunder" team won four of the nine races, always finishing in the top five of the 12-boat fleet. The Cleveland-based team showed speed and consistency throughout the weekend in 15-28 knots of breeze on Lake St. Clair. Ullman Sails has been dedicated to building high-quality, performance one design sails for over 40 years. Invest in your performance. http://www.ullmansails.com EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PERFECT Lisbon, Portugal (June 6, 2012) - With two short offshore legs and three inshore races remaining in the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, starting with Saturday's Oeiras In-Port Race in Lisbon, just 21 points split four teams all vying for overall victory - and any slip-up in the five remaining scoring opportunities is now likely to be costly. Legs 8 and 9 are both significantly shorter than the other offshore stages in the 39,000 nm round the world race. Lisbon to Lorient (France) is less than 2,000 miles while the sprint to Galway (Ireland) is under 500 miles -- and as the leg lengths decrease, the intensity ramps up in what promises to be the most thrilling finale to a Volvo Ocean Race in its 39-year history. The fleet will start Leg 8 on Sunday, which will take them to the Azores and then back to Lorient. "It will generally be upwind to get to the Azores and then downwind after that," said Tom Addis, navigator on third-placed PUMA. "It's a windward-leeward with not too much reaching. With these shorter legs ...everything has to be perfect. On the longer legs you can have a bad one and make it back up again but these shorter legs you have to be on the right side of everything." - Race website: http://www.volvooceanrace.com Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos 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: * Jun 8-10 - Chicago Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta - Chicago, IL, USA * Jun 8-12 - Mills Trophy Race - Toledo, OH, USA * Jun 9-10 - Live on the Edge Multihull Regatta - Eugene, OR, USA * Jun 9-15 - J/80 World Championship - Dartmouth, England * Jun 15-17 - Great Lakes International Challenge Cup - Rochester, NY, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * Newport, RI (June 6, 2012) - Entries are closed, and America's oldest regatta, the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) 158th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex, officially has been declared the biggest ever, with 133 boats entered in weekend racing, scheduled for June 10 and 11, and 104 boats signed up for an optional and separately scored 19-mile Around the (Conanicut) Island Race on Friday, June 9. Since 1845, the tradition of the Annual Regatta, first hosted at the New York Yacht Club's original clubhouse in Hoboken, N.J., has been interrupted only by war. -- Full report: http://nyyc.org/archives_public/article_1198/ * Sailors from over a dozen states and Canadian provinces competed in the two 2012 Robie Pierce Regattas for sailors with disabilities at Larchmont, NY, co-hosted by Larchmont and American Yacht Clubs, May 31-June 3. LYC's Commodore, Carl Olsson, sailing with Susan King and AB (able bodied sailor) Com Crocker, dominated the open event, winning six races and placing second in the remaining two heats. Winning a tie-breaker to take the women's event was the crew of Julia Dorsett (Boca Raton, FL) and Audrey Kobayashi (Kingston, Ont.) with Jenny Davey (Montreal, Que.) as the able bodied (AB) crew. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13950 * UPDATE: As a follow-up to the story in Scuttlebutt 3606 about the Delta Ditch Run race, which finishes in Stockton, it was reported on June 6th that the California city is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing if officials are unable to broker a deal with the city's creditors. Stockton, which has the second-highest foreclosure rate in the nation, would become the nation's largest city ever to file for bankruptcy. City Council members late Tuesday granted the city manager authority to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in three weeks if a deal isn't made. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/MN-060612 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: * Schaefer Low Friction Rings * Ockam GPS Interface 041D3 * Sunsail Delivers New Fleet of Sailboats to San Francisco Bay View 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 Mike Moore: In response to the letter and photos submitted by Johnny Heineken in Scuttlebutt 3606, I realize that we all have our bias in what we like in sailing. I've always been a sit down sailor, and while I've largely "retired", my most recent sailing was in Finns and Stars. Needless to say I was very sorry to see the Star eliminated (again) and would hate to see the Finn removed as well. By the same token, I understand everyone else's commitment to seeing their favorite classes either remain, or become, Olympic Classes. As far as being photogenic though, I really don't see the Kites being any more so than a Star. Even when comparing the photos Johnny submitted to the photo of the relatively light air Laser start also shown, I still don't see the Kiting pictures being any more compelling. Sure, the freestyle pictures are dramatic. There is something very cool about seeing a kiteboarder jumping a car on a barge. But really? Is that an example of what we'll be seeing in the Olympics? I would think no more so than the pictures of Olympic windsurfing show the action and drama of freestyle windsurfing in big surf. -- Forum, read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13948#13948 * From Steve Gregory: Following the race and weather reports from the Scandia Sail for Gold regatta, I can't help but think how futile it is to entice the media at the Olympics to extend their coverage to the sailing events. There must be a slew of events, in which sailing is among, which are all fighting for a slice of space. But when it is miserable on the water, compared to the cozy confines of an arena, which event do you think the intrepid reporters will seek out? 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