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SCUTTLEBUTT 2083 - April 28, 2006
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary,
opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
OUTSIDE THE BOX
Quietly spoken with a placid demeanor, Matt Jones, a San Rafael resident
for 30 years, is well known in sailing circles all over the country for
his expertise as a premier race manager and starter. Jones is behind a
new event slated for the bay June 15-18, the San Francisco Speed Sailing
Event, first of its kind to be held in the country. The focus of this
new event is to go fast and break records. "The real inspiration came
from watching the Discovery Channel and seeing how everyone was so
caught up in speed and then noticing how, in sailing today, that there's
a greater emphasis on sailing speed records," Jones said. "I thought
that would transfer here to the Bay Area where we have such a great
sailing environment and sailing community where there are so many people
and sailing water craft that do go fast."
Jones' idea was to set up a measured and timed straight-line sailing
course that people could use either informally or formally to try and
set a new bay sailing speed record. Their attempts will be logged and
maintained. "People from our community have gone off to set speed
records all around the world," said Jones, "But sailing speed records
have never been tracked before on the San Francisco Bay. John Kostecki
set the record for the most miles sailed in one day in the last Volvo
Ocean Race. This record has since been broken, but is an example of a
Marin County resident who has set a world speed record."
Jones has a two-fold approach. He will orchestrate a sailing event where
everyone sails over a period of days and attempts to go as fast as they
can. Jones expects Catamarans large and small, Olympic and international
skiffs, windsurfers, kiteboarders and other types of sailboats to give
it a try. San Rafael resident Bob Stevens has sailed windsurfers on the
bay for 17 years, and is learning to sail kites."Lots of windsurfers
will show up for this," Stevens said. "I think the kiters will show up
also. There will definitely be a turnout. The trick is going to be
finding a spot where the wind is strong and the water is flat. You want
as little as possible chop." -- Jan Pehrson, Marin Independent Journal,
full story: http://www.marinij.com/sports/ci_3757505
Curmudgeon’s Comment: I’ve known Matt Jones for many years, but other
than the author of the above story, I honestly can’t think of anyone who
would characterize Matt as “quietly spoken with a placid demeanor.’ But
that’s part of Matt’s ‘charm’ and we wish him the best of luck with this
project.
EMPIRE BUILDING
(The Daily Sail subscription spoke to Offshore Challenges Group boss
Mark Turner about his company, Ellen MacArthur and plans for the future.
Here’s a brief excerpt.)
When it comes to movers and shakers in our sport, few people move and
shake to quite the same degree, particularly in the offshore world, as
Mark Turner. From his early days running the marketing for Spinlock in
tandem with a two boat campaign for the 1997 Mini Transat with a very
young Ellen MacArthur, Turner has constantly grown Offshore Challenges.
Fuelled by Ellen's incredible success on the water and in the media, the
last year has seen the company he set up with the girl wonder blossom
into OC Group of which the 'sailing team' is now just a part. OC Group
now comprises four principle businesses:
- Offshore Challenges Sailing Team - at present manages the programs of
Ellen and Nick Moloney
- OC Events - organizes the Transat (to be held next in 2008) and the
Barcelona World Race next year
- OC Vision - run by Dan Griffey this effectively specializes in IT and
marketing, such as websites, mobile phone technology, graphics, etc.
Clients include ABN Amro.
- OC Technology - run by Charles Darbyshire this is involved with on
board communications such as sat com, camera and microphone systems,
webcams, antennae, etc. Clients include the Oryx Quest, Volvo Ocean
Race.
"We had enough projects going on and we wanted to try and do as much of
this ourselves just because of the quality of we can output," says
Turner. "You are getting close to what you really want, when you want,
for a price that is acceptable which is always hard through
sub-contractors.” -- http://www.thedailysail.com
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
If you have never seen or heard of the foiling Moths, you will get a
kick out of this video. With their hydroplaning foils that completely
lift the hull from the water, this class is so ahead of its time.
Matched with music, this video shows how easily the hull lifts from the
water, and then flows through boat handling maneuvers. Really cool!
Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for
next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for the video:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/#media
AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE
The AC 32 Challenger Commission Blog published the status of all new ACC
V5 yachts that have been built, or are under construction, since the end
of AC 31 (‘to the best of their knowledge’):
RSA 83 (Shosholoza) - launched mid 2005.
NZL 84 (Emirates Team New Zealand) - launched late 2005.
ITA 85 (+39) - under construction.
ITA 86 (Luna Rossa) - launched early 2006.
USA 87 (BMW Oracle Racing) - launched early 2006.
USA 88 (Desafio Espanol) - under construction.
GER 89 (UITG) - christened this week, being fitted out in Kiel.
ITA 90 (Mascalzone Latino) - christened two weeks ago, being fitted
out in Valencia.
SUI 91 (Alinghi) - being fitted out in Valencia.
Story: http://www.challengercommission.com
DISTANCE RACE SAIL SELECTION JUST GOT EASIER
Ockam’s new Sail Plan application is the latest innovative to the
OckamSoft 4 software suite. View sail crossovers, current, and next-leg
true and apparent wind, targets and wind statistics - wind speed and
direction changes. Sail parameters include lead position, condition,
weight, sail use timer, sail location, to-do list and many others. Your
sail plan can be uploaded and downloaded using a spreadsheet and you can
edit the crossovers graphically. At Ockam, we’re always working to
accurately improve and facilitate a sailor’s decision making process.
Check out a sample of Sail Plan at http://www.ockam/os4.com or contact
mailto:lat@ockam.com
THE BREEZE REMAINS ELUSIVE
It was not a good day at the Semaine Olympique Française regatta. Hopes
for any racing looked pretty grim in the morning, but after a long
postponement, the race committees sent all the classes out but the
Ynglings and Tornados in an attempt to get some races in today. The Gold
groups in the RS:X Men, 49ers, Laser radial and Lasers; the RS:X women,
the 49er silver group and the 2.4 were the only classes to race. The 470
Men Gold, were racing when the wind dropped to 1 knot forcing the Race
committee to abandon - also canceling racing for the 470 women, the Men
Silver group and the Finns. The Ynglings and the Tornados never left the
shore.
In the Laser Gold class, Canadian Michael scored a 5-1 to move up to
third place behind Tom Slingsby (AUS) and Mate Arapov (CRO). Paige
Railey (USA) took sole possession of the lead in the Laser Radial class
and now enjoys a four point edge over Sophie DeTurckheim (FRA). At the
same time, Anna Tunnicliffe moved into sole possession of third place,
with a single point lead over both China’s Lijia Xu and Jo Aleh (NZL).
-- Complete standings: http://sof.ffvoile.net/
- Additional photos from outstanding photographer Gilles Martin-Raget
have been added to the Scuttlebutt gallery for the Hyeres event:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/hyeres
STADIUM RACING
Spectators in Charleston at the upcoming Inter-Collegiate Sailing
Association (ICSA) National Championships will find themselves with a
rare vantage point from which to view the racing – the deck of the USS
Yorktown. The legendary World War II aircraft carrier is berthed at the
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum (Mount Pleasant, S.C.), and is
adjacent to Patriots Point Marina, the home-base of the College of
Charleston Sailing Team.
Three championship titles, starting with the ICSA National Women's
Dinghy Championship (May 24-26), followed by the ICSA/Layline National
Team Race Championship (May 28-30) and, finally, the ICSA/Gill National
Coed Dinghy Championship (May 31-June 2), will be fought for on the
Cooper River as the College of Charleston welcomes teams from 25 schools
to the cultural capital of the south.
For the fans that can’t make the journey to Charleston, the ICSA
championships will again be filmed for broadcast on ESPNU, the network
devoted entirely to college sports. Emmy-award winning sailing
journalist Gary Jobson will document the action from the coed dinghy
event for a one-hour program – the 2006 ICSA/Gill National Championship
– set to air June 10, 11, 19, 22 and 29. (Local airtimes:
http://www.jobsonsailing.com) -- Jan Harley, Media Pro Int'l,
http://www.collegesailing.org
WHEN NEW MEETS OLD
The New England area enjoyed a very traditional launch in April of a
newly built catboat, just the type of boat you figured to find in these
parts. The boat's name is Kathleen, and she has been being built by Bill
Sauerbrey, a master builder trained at IYRS and Mystic, for the last
year and a half. Her owner is Tim Fallon, an engineer in Boston who is
currently captain of the World Champion Team Racers - Team WHishbone, as
well as regularly winner of both men's and overall championships of the
New England Beetle Cat Boat Association. Here Tim provides some details
into his 'new' boat:
Kathleen is a 28-foot 1917 design from C.C. Hanley, builder/designer of
some very famous and very fast catboats such as Harbinger, Almira,
Mucilage and Iris. He was a builder in Monument Beach at the head of
Buzzards Bay and later in Quincy, Mass. This design was drawn at the
tail end of his career; most of his boats were built pre-1900. Actually,
this boat was more or less designed pre-1900 since Hanley was a
'rule-of-thumb' designer and never drew any plans for his boats, but
rather carved a half model. It was said that he used the same basic half
model for all of his catboats.
A catboat of this kind has not been built in 80+ years so it'll be a big
event for catboaters and traditional boaters to see her actually
sailing. I'll be living aboard (hence the reason for such a large
catboat) and cruising her around the cape and islands this summer.” -
Photos and additional details:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/kathleen
SAILING SHORTS
* New World Record -- Pending ratification from the World Sailing Speed
Records Council, Geronimo, the Capgemini and Schneider Electric maxi
trimaran established a world record for the passage from San Francisco
to Yokohama, Japan. The 110-foot multihull crossed the finish line at
13:21:23 UTC Thursday with a passage time of 14 days, 22 hours 40
minutes & 41 seconds. In an email, Steve Fossett, holder of the record
since 1996, sent congratulations to Geronimo skipper, Olivier de
Kersauson. -- http://www.superyachting.com
* The blog of the BMW Oracle Racing Team states, “Have been asked
overnight about the various media reports that say we, too, now have a
jumperless rig. Sorry, but we don't normally confirm or deny such
reports when it involves possible technical developments.”
Interestingly, the captions on picture below that quote reads, “Office
with a view: Clear blue sky should help generate a nice afternoon
seabreeze.” Nice . . . but do you suppose it’s just a coincidence that
off to one side of that image is a jumperless AC rig? Cute Tom - cute!
-- http://bmworacleracing.twoday.net/
* ABN Amro Two’s skipper Sebastien Josse wears a happy face again now
that the team is back at full strength. After weeks of frustration
watching all the action of the Volvo Ocean Race from the sidelines, Gerd
Jan Poortman, the Dutch bowman, will make his comeback from injury in
Baltimore this Saturday. He will be joined in the crucial in port race
in Chesapeake Bay by Australian watch captain Nick Bice, who missed the
last leg due to a broken hand sustained during leg 4. The return of two
key players is a huge boost for the team. -- http://www.abnamro.com/team
* Saturday, April 29, will be a milestone in the history of the
America's Cup and Valencia. ESP-88, the brand new boat of the Spanish
America's Cup challenger Desafio Espanol 2007, will leave the King
Marine boatyard in Alginet and head to the team's base in Port America's
Cup. During the two hours that lasts the trip and escorted by police
cars, the hull of ESP-88 will cross some of Valencia's main avenues
giving Valencians and tourists the chance to get a glimpse of a brand
new America's Cup yacht, even if she's wrapped in plastic. --
http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/
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country, check out the line of Mount Gay Rum gear that Lands’ End
Business Outfitters offers. Don’t forget if you’re looking for that
special gift for a sailor, Mount Gay Rum gear is what you need. Look for
information on the Mount Gay Rum Brand at http://www.mountgay.com
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
(Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may
be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter
per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others
disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for
elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at
the Scuttlebutt website:
http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi)
* From Mark Jardine, UK: Bill Center’s editorial in Scuttlebutt 2082
sounds is just an old sailor turned bar prop having a rant. Starting
with ‘the good old days’ speech that we’ve all heard before and then
bemoaning the current state of affairs, referring to how ‘it wasn’t like
this in my day’… I find myself yawning re-reading the piece.
The US certainly has a problem – declining participation and elitism are
not healthy for the sport but please don’t tar the rest of the world
with the same brush. Numbers are up in many other places in the world
and spectator attendance during the America’s Cup road shows has been
extraordinary. This Volvo Ocean Race has, in my opinion, been
transitional. New boats and formats cost and always cause controversy.
As long as the main sponsors stick with the event for another run it
should become massive. The behind the scenes operations for sponsor
fulfilment and corporate entertainment for both the AC and Volvo are
huge and event success should not just be counted in ESPN or NBC
broadcast seconds.
* From Peter Huston: Bill Center’s comments about the health of the
sport are, well, off center. Certainly things have changed, some things
go away, so things build anew. Center laments the absence of DC with
Larry Ellison being the lone US entrant in the Cup as if to imply that
is only because of Larry’s wealth that BMW Oracle is in the Cup and DC
is not. I remember a time not that long ago when Ted Turner complained,
as a recreational sailor, about a young guy from San Diego who had
turned the Cup into a full time occupation – and this was when Turner
was the current defending skipper
Looking at the way the Cup is structured now, one wonders why Bill can
only look in the center of the rear view mirror. While he’s glancing in
that direction, he might want to read the chapters I’ve just finished in
“You Are First”, the story about Olin and Rod Stephens, which talks
about the “Ranger” crew being made up largely of sailors from one town
in Norway. Internationalism in the Cup is nothing new – it’s just a bit
different now than it was in the recent past.
Center might benefit from also reading “The World is Flat”. If ever
there was as example of the health of the sport, it is the
multi-culturalism of all the America’s Cup and Volvo teams. Instead of
complaining about bringing the world together through sailing, maybe
Bill could get centered on the new reality of the planet.
* From Richard Clark: To me it is real simple, the interest is not there
because Sailing was the World against America, the sailors, Ted Turner
to Dennis Connor, loud, bad and beautiful, the rest of the World wanted
to bring them down and did. America has all but disappeared from the
America's Cup. With the Volvo the spectre of crew for hire I believe has
killed it dead, as has the format and the yachts themselves. The
Whitbread was Elegant and Simple, also, as with the America's Cup it was
somewhat Nationalistic, or at least seen to be so. Outward Bound,
Steinlager, Fisher & Paykel and before them the great Europeans boats.
The great 65' Swan Sayula and Mauric's Pen Duick VI, Skippers like
Claire Francis, in fact go Google it, it's all there. For me I look
forward to the Velux 5 Oceans, shorter time in port, can't rebuild or
redesign, the race takes place at sea, not round buoys or mid ocean
"gates?" National Clubs, from NYYC to RYS, come back all is forgiven. A
skipper with his mates backed by National Corporate dollars. Air New
Zealand rather than Emirates. An overall length, no design limits. I
know I am dreaming, someone pinch me and I will stop.
* From Matthew Sheahan - Yachting World magazine, UK: So, with 457
entries the Lexus Newport to Ensenada Race is, 'the world's largest
international yacht race.' Is it? 'In the yachting world, no other
international race attracts more entries', boasts the opening line of
the race web site.
This will no doubt be of interest to the organizers of the JP Morgan
Asset Management Round the Island Race which, according to its web site,
'attracts an annual entry of 1700 boats', which it modestly claims is
only, 'One of the world’s largest.' Last year the Barcolana regatta saw
1750 boats on the start line. So how does the Newport to Ensenada Race
claim stack up?
Curmudgeon’s Comment: The claim made by the organizers of the Newport to
Ensenada Race claim is based on the fact that their international event
starts in the USA and ends in Mexico.
* From Ken Legler (Regarding Ty Reed's complaint about qualifying for
college women's nationals): I can sympathize with not qualifying, our
Tufts team didn't make it last year. I cannot however, agreee with any
of his assertions. Our fifth place finish at 26-race New Englands was
pretty good, not mediocre. We were up against Yale with Molly Carapiet,
the only North American skipper (male or female) to beat Paige Railey in
a Radial since 2004. Combined with Emily Hill, Yale won 2004 nationals
while Harvard, with current skipper Sloan Devlon won 2005 nationals.
Boston College had very comfortable 420 boatspeed at home, especially
with world class skipper Leigh Kempton. Just to get fifth we had to hold
off MIT who had recently finished 2nd in the 15-Presidents Trophy and
solid teams from Brown and Connecticut.
Historically nationals has been absolutely dominated by NEISA mostly and
MAISA (Mid-Atlantic). In the 39 nationals so far NE teams have won 23
times, MA team 14 and PC team only twice. In the past 24 years for which
I could find records, NE teams have 15 firsts and 16 seconds. NE swept
the top three four times, the top four twice and the top five once in
1989. As far as NEISA and MAISA coaches exploiting the system, I hardly
think encouraging participation in these two growing conferences is
exploitation. I think the changes made to find the right teams for
nationals is pretty close, thanks to all the hard work these coaches do
at meetings while understanding the economic constraints of the smaller
teams.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
“There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few
who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric
fence and find out for themselves.” -- Will Rodgers
Special thanks to Ockam Instruments and Mount Gay Rum.
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