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SCUTTLEBUTT 2398 - July 27, 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. WSL UNVEILS SPEED MACHINE DESIGN (July 26, 2007) The World Sailing League (WSL) unveiled today the innovative design for their futuristic 70 ft catamarans that will be raced in the new global Grand Prix series. The spectacular speed-machines represent the next evolution of sailing and will be the fastest one-design boats ever built. With towering masts of over 98 ft and foiled hulls sitting at almost 40 ft wide, these catamarans represent the forefront of design technology. The boats will be crewed by nine professional sailors and one select guest and will be capable of speeds up to 40 knots, With the design now finalised, fourteen catamarans will be built in Portugal, with the first due for completion in June 2008. The remaining boats will be built over the following 18 months, in time for promotional regattas around the world in 2009 and the first full year of the World Sailing League in 2010. The name of this new class will be announced at the unveiling of the first boat in July next year. -- Complete details: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0726 REWIND THE TAPE When it comes to the events that have transpired since Alinghi won the 32nd America’s Cup, you are excused if you feel a little lost. For those who feel you can’t watch this television show because you have missed too many episodes of the new season, fear not as your opportunity to get caught up is now. Below are the waypoints so far on this ride, with a link that provides stories on each item: 1) New Class for the 33rd America's Cup - The start of the row as Alinghi reveals the new Protocol as agreed with a Spanish yacht club that is barely any older. 2) Golden Gate Yacht Club question validity - The yacht club representing BMW Oracle Racing's challenge dispute the validity and offer their own, alternative challenge. 3) The Big Snub - Golden Gate Yacht Club Challenge ignored yet a challenge from the South African Team Shosholoza is accepted. 4) The Cup Heads for Court - Golden Gate Yacht Club starts legal proceedings to establish whether Spanish Challenge is valid. 5) British Challenge Accepted - More bad news for Ellison as the British team confirms its support for the new Protocol. 6) Coutts to Head BMW Oracle - Ellison and Coutts bring an end to the speculation and fly into Valencia just hours before the big announcement to confirm that the four times America's Cup winner is to lead Ellison's team. But this is only part of the issue as the pair express their deep concern for the future of the event. 7) 33rd America's Cup Plans revealed - The venue is Valencia, the sailing schedule outlined, Emirates Team New Zealand is onboard, and Ellison shouldn ’t expect any holiday greetings from the Bertarelli family. -- Read on: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070626011051ywamericascup07.html BRAD BUTTERWORTH: PARTE DOS In Scuttlebutt 2397, Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth loosened his collar a bit, and told us how he felt about the shenanigans that have transpired since his successful defense at the 32nd America’s Cup. Let’s just say that he is not fond of what Larry Ellison is doing, and feels that he should either get out on the water to improve on his fifth place finish, go to Garrards and buy himself a replica, or just don’t enter the next event. In the second part of this two part interview, Brad sheds a bit more light on some of the Protocol items for the 33rd America’s Cup that are getting the most attention, specifically the boat design process, the challenger series, and the control now bestowed on the event administrator, ACM. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0725/#p2 * If you are curious why Emirates Team New Zealand has already posted their challenge despite these highly turbulent and political times, Skipper Dean Barker explains the decision, and how it was a calculated risk they were willing to take: http://www.sail-world.com/nz/index.cfm?nid=36028&rid=6 MYBOATSGEAR Our aim is to provide you information on the best & latest boating products. July holds two of the biggest boating gear shows, ICAST (sportfishing industry's premier trade event) & MAATS (Marine Aftermarket Accessories Trade Show). These shows allow manufactures to show off their newest products. Over the next weeks we will look at the newest and coolest. Our latest newsletter shows the 17 winners of best in show at ICAST. MyBoatsGear.com is a one-stop, boating gear resource for boaters. With gear organized into 20 easily accessible categories, MyBoatsGear.com stores product information for access anytime, anywhere. http://www.MyBoatsGear.com LIGHTS, CAMERAS, ACTION Cameras ready … places everyone … cue sun … cue boat … action! And so Hollywood came to Hawaii, or so it seemed Thursday as Roy E. Disney's Morning Light project reached its climax when the Transpac 52 of the same name sailed by its crew of sailors ages 18 to 23 finished the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii. The year-long documentary from crew selection through the race is scheduled to hit the big screen next spring, but who will believe the ending was for real? Sunrise was at 6:03 a.m. and Morning Light finished at 6:09 a.m. against a flaming orange backdrop of the eastern sky on a nautical set that even Tinsel Town wouldn't believe. It hardly seemed to matter that another TP52, John Kilroy Jr.'s Samba Pa Ti, had finished in the dark more than four hours earlier to leapfrog Brack Duker's Santa Cruz 70 Holua, the Division 2 frontrunner, for first place in the division, leaving Morning Light in third. At Friday night's awards dinner, the Morning Light team will share the podium with two strong teams of professionals, including world-class navigators Mark Rudiger on Holua and Nick White, who made the gutsy call that brought Samba Pa Ti a roundabout win. Holua finished less than an hour behind Morning Light, which owed it about 3 1/2 hours in handicap time. -- For the complete Thursday report: http://tinyurl.com/2morsv -- Sharon Green photo of Morning Light’s finish: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0726 XV PAN AMERICAN GAMES Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (July 26, 2007) – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (July 26, 2007) – Sailors welcomed strong winds, allowing most classes to complete three races Thursday at the XV Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Friday is the final day on the water prior to Saturday’s medal race at Gloria Marina, with six disciplines having now finished eight races – RS:X Men, RS:X Women, Hobie Cat 16, Laser, Laser Radial, and Sunfish – and will face only the two scheduled races on Friday. The Snipe, J24 and Lightning boats will attempt to complete three races Friday to make up for cancellations earlier in the week. Regarding his position leading the Laser fleet, American Andrew Campbell’s commented, “I tend to do a lot better in the lighter air, so it was nice to hang on today. I still don’t have a really deep throw-out, so that’s helpful.” Regarding the sailing conditions, Campbell noted, “Today was a great day; it was really fun – fun racing, fun sailing. It was a little chilly, but there were no complaints at all about the conditions today.” Following the races on Friday, the top five boats in each class will advance to Saturday’s finals. Races begin at 12 p.m. local on Friday. * From American Lightning crew Bill Faude: “This morning we went out onto the racecourse before the racing to check out the conditions. One of the things we regularly do is to sail by a permanent sea buoy of some kind to check the current. After we did our check, I wanted to touch the buoy for good luck. I smacked it a good one as we went by. Later I looked down and saw a red splotch on the side of the boat. I thought someone was bleeding but in reality it was a handprint. The red sea buoy 3/4th of a mile off shore. The red sea buoy smack dab in the middle of the dirtiest harbor you'd ever never dream of swimming in. The red sea buoy, one of thousands in a gigantic country where very little appears to get periodic maintenance...had just been painted. Incredible!” -- http://www.lightninginrio.blogspot.com Results - Top Three plus Top North American Laser Radial (12 boats) – 3 races today/8 total 1. Mexico [9]-6-1-2-2-3-3-2: 19 (Tania Elias Calles Wolf) 2. USA 4-1-[9]-3-6-1-5-1: 21 (Paige Railey) 3. Argentina 3-4-[7]-1-4-5-2-3: 22 (Cecilia Carranza Saroli) Laser (12 boats) – 3 races today/8 total 1. USA 1-[5]-2-1-3-1-2-4: 14 (Andrew Campbell) 2. Brazil 3-[4]-3-3-2-[5]-1-1: 17 (Robert Scheidt) 3. Argentina 7-1-1-[11]-1-4-3-2: 19 (Julio Alsogaray) RS:X Men (9 boats) -- 2 races today/8 total 1. Brazil [3]-2-3-1-2-1-2-1: 12 (Ricardo Winicki) 2. Mexico 1-1-1-4-[6]-2-3-4: 16 (David Mier Y Teran) 3. Argentina 2-3-2-[5]-3-3-1-3: 17 (Mariano Reutemann) RS:X Women (7 boats) – 3 races today/8 total 1. Canada 1-1-1-[3]-1-2-1-3: 10 (Dominique Vallee) 2. Brazil [4]-3-2-1-2-1-2-2: 13 (Patricia Castro) 3. Argentina 2-2-[4]-4-4-3-4-4: 23 (Florencia Gutierrez) Lightning (7 boats) – 3 races today/7 total 1. Chile 1-1-8(OCS)-1-4-3-2: 12 (Alberto Gonzalez, Diego Gonzalez, Cristian Herman) 2. Brazil 2-3-4-2-[5]-1-1: 13 (Claudio Biekarck, Gunnar Ficker, Silva Marcelo) 3. USA 3-[4]-1-3-3-2-3: 15 (David Starck, Bill Faude, Jody Starck) Sunfish (11 boats) – 3 races today/8 total 1. Venezuela [3]-1-2-2-3-2-1-1: 12 (Eduardo Cordero) 2. Peru 1-6-1-5-1-[10]-6-3: 23 (Alexander Zimmermann) 3. USA 2-5-3-[8]-4-7-2-2: 25 (Paul Foerster) J24 (7 boats) – 3 races today/7 total 1. Brazil 8(DNC)-1-1-1-2-4-1: 10 (Carlos Jordao, Mauricio Oliveria, Daniel Santiago, Alexandre Silva) 2. Argentina 1-2-4-2-1-1-[6]: 11 (Joaquin Argerich, Gustavo Gonzalez, Sebastian Brusa, Alejo Rigoni) 3. Uruguay 4-3-8(OCS)-3-4-2-2: 18 (Santiago Silveria, Sebastian Rana, Alejandro Foglia Mafio, Nicolas Shaban) 4. Canada 3-(4)-3-4-3-3-4: 20 (Mark Goodyear, Rossi Milev, Erwyn Naidoo, Mike Wolfs) Hobie Cat 16 (8 boats) -- 3 races today/8 total 1. Brazil 1-1-2-[4]-2-1-3-1: 11 (Bernardo Arndt, Bruno Oliveira) 2. Guatemala 3-2-[6]-2-6-2-2-3: 20 (Juan Ignacio Maegli, Cristina Guirola) 3. Venezuela 4-3-3-[6]-1-3-4-5: 23 (Gonzalo Cendra, Yamil Saba) 5. USA 6-4-1-1-3-[7]-6-6: 27 (Bob Merrick, Eliza Cleveland) Snipe (11 boats) – 3 races today/7 total 1. Brazil 1-3-[6]-4-2-1-1: 12 (Pedro Amaral, Alexandre Paradeda) 2. Uruguay 2-2-2-2-[6]-2-4: 14 (Pablo Defazio, Eduardo Medici) 3. Mexico 3-[10]-3-1-1-4-4-3: 18 (Jorge Xavier Murrieta, Andres Akle Carranza) -- Complete results: http://www.rio2007.org.br/data/pages/8CA3C78713B9BC7F0113BA4693F13C69.htm WORLD TOUR - TROIA PORTUGAL MATCH CUP Troia, Portugal (July 26, 2007) - In four flights of racing this afternoon, six of the quarter finalists were decided, but it took another five flights, well into the evening, before the other two were able to claim their places. Throughout the day the northerly wind persisted in direction, although it varied in strength. Gavin Brady (USA), Sebastien Col (FRA), and Mathieu Richard (FRA) were the first to claim their places from Group A; Brady the only one with a perfect 5-0 score. From Group B, Peter Gilmour (AUS), Ian Williams (GBR), and Philippe Presti (FRA) were the claimants, with Gilmour the only one with a perfect score. Paolo Cian (ITA) and Alvaro Marinho (POR) had to survive five flights of the repechage to beat out four others to claim the final two slots in the quarter finals. -- Complete report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/default.asp?m=da&id=58150 Quarter Finals schedule for Friday Gavin Brady vs Alvero Marinho Ian Williams vs Mathieu Richard Sebastien Col vs Philippe Presti Peter Gilmour vs Paolo Cian ACURA KEY WEST 2008 - SUMMER PREP, WINTER REWARD Mark your calendar and get ready! Join racing sailors around the world and make your plans now for the annual winter reunion in Key West (January 21-25). One-design, PHRF and IRC racing, top-tier international competition, professional race management, and ideal conditions that are not to be missed! Details: http://www.Premiere-Racing.com LOOSENING THE GRIP The 470 class, which presently is used for the mens and womens two person dinghy in the Olympics, recently decided at their class Annual General Assembly to approve a couple of proposals that would seem to have a dramatic affect on future class racing. Before these changes can be initiated, they must be submitted to the ISAF for its approval. They are: => Enforcement of RRS 42, wind speed limit in Class Rule C1.1: wherein the class has reduced from 10 to 8 knots the wind speed limit from which pumping, rocking, and ooching may be allowed. => Coloured hulls (Class Rules D1.1.c): the deletion of the provision which states that the outside of the hulls shall be only white, thus answering to the possible demand of sponsors to personalize the hulls with their brand colours. CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: July 27-29 - 64th Hyannis Yacht Club Regatta - Hyannis, MA, USA July 27-Aug 5 - I-LYA Bay Week - Put-In-Bay (Lake Erie), OH, USA July 28 - Chix Only Team Race - Cambridge, MA, USA July 28-Aug 3 - US Snipe National Championship - Dillon, CO, USA July 28-29 - Youngstown Level Regatta - Youngstown, NY, USA July 29-Aug 5 - LYRA Annual Regatta - Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 30-Aug 4 - Star North American Championship - Vancouver, BC, Canada View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * Excellent sailing conditions and very close competition characterized the two-day Mariner Nationals held July 21-22 at the Brant Beach Yacht Club in New Jersey. The first day racing had Coward in the lead after four races. The second day yielded freshening breezes in a fleet divided based on first day scores. At the end of the day a tie score between Paul Coward/ Ginny Fine and Eric Joesten/ Newt Watis was broken by the three first place performance by Coward in the Championships fleet. The President's fleet was won by Dave Oldham and David Oldham. -- Complete Results: http://bbyc.net/MarinerNationals/index.htm# * (July 26, 2007) – Following the first day of racing in the 2007 U.S. Singlehanded Championship hosted by Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May in Cape May, NJ, Kyle Rogachenko is currently leading Ben Richardson and Charlie Buckingham, who are now in second and third respectively. Racing continues through Saturday, with the winner earning a spot on starting line of U.S. Olympic Team Trials (Newport, R.I.) this October. -- http://www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/ussc * Athens, Greece (July 26, 2007) - After six races at the 24th International Lightning World Championship, the American contingent has four of the top five places, with Allan Terhune Jr of Annapolis, MD holding a slim lead over Jeff Linton of Tampa, FL in second. -- Results: http://www.lightning2007.gr/en/results.htm * Watsonville, CA (July 26, 2007) --West Marine, Inc. (Nasdaq:WMAR) today released unaudited operating results for the second quarter of 2007. Net income for the thirteen weeks ended June 30, 2007 increased by 42% to $20.1 million, or $0.92 per share, compared to net income of $14.2 million, or $0.66 per share, for the same period last year. -- Complete report: http://tinyurl.com/2ehdf9 . * The 1st US National Kiteboard Racing Championship is on this week at Crissy Field in San Francisco, CA, hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club. 54 kiters are course racing on the bay, with local riders joined by travelers from Florida, Germany, Hawaii, Tahiti, and Texas. Racing continues through Friday. -- http://tinyurl.com/2hkhht * Marblehead, MA (July 26, 2007) - Etchells, Rhodes 19, IOD, Town Class, and Viper 640 were the five fleets to make waves today on the first day of racing at the Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design (N.O.O.D.) Regatta in Marblehead. These five boat classes opened the four-day sailing competition with nine more fleets set to race throughout the rest of the event. -- Day one results: http://tinyurl.com/yuvaff PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include the 50th anniversary of the OK Dinghy class, a Tornado with its bow broken off, a dismasting sequence of the 6 meter Nada, an Express 27 on a wild broach, British quadriplegic Hilary Lister, a surprise visit from a helicopter during Transpac, and much more. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0727 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 John Cladianos: (regarding story in ‘butt 2396 about a tour boat running over a Laser) Here's hoping "the 102-foot-long, 32-foot-wide, 97-ton, Spirit of Charleston"'s skipper is in front of a panel having his/ her license reviewed today. * From Ron Petty: It is so funny when I look at photos such as the ones in ‘butt 2397 of Windward Passage, because I remember that boat being so ‘state of the art’ in her day, but now looks unbelievably dated. I mean, it is to the point where you wonder what the designers were thinking. Trading the keel out on that girl is going to be like a complete makeover for an aging Hollywood starlet. Keep us posted. * From Caitlin Peterson: I went to Scuttleblog (on the Scuttlebutt website) and saw the posting about the Optimist Nationals, and was LOL because I was feeling the same way about the seemingly slow crawl of news. Maybe that’s how it works in the ‘land of a thousand lakes,’ but what about the rest of us? * From Paul Zankel: Take a poll of your readers and find out how many are actually reading the America's Cup news, and how many have grown apathetic. I'm skipping the top quarter of the Scuttlebutt e-mail, and scrolling to the sailing news that I care about. Not only do the Alinghi shenanigans seem unfair, but the Cup isn't like the kind of racing I do. I don't know anyone involved (as compared to the US Olympic pipeline where I do know people) and the AC teams don't really represent the countries they claim to be from. I think you should relegate the America's Cup nonsense to the BOTTOM of Scuttlebutt. * From Don Becker: (regarding Alinghi sailing in the challenger trials) This is HUGE, and certainly among Alinghi’s biggest advantages now. * From Alex Watters: With all the A/C chatter going around regarding what, where, when etc. etc. one major point seems to be relegated to the back seat. To me this is the single most important and lopsided issue of all. The right for the defender to race in the challenger series whenever they choose to do so. What’s that all about? Go yachting, make some changes, come back when you feel like it, or until you’re satisfied that the deck is sufficiently stacked in your favour. Come on. It's just not the way this game should be played. So much for any suspense in the first race of the finals, we'll all know the outcome because the defender has played (at will) with the challengers right up to the end. Get with it boys and eliminate this ludicrous rule. Curmudgeon’s Comment: Alinghi’s contention is that they need to sail in the challenger trials due to the new rule banning two-boat testing. Without that measure against the other teams, they would be at a disadvantage. They contend that they will be sailing in the trials up to and including the semi-finals, which I suspect they would need to qualify for just like everyone else. * From T. Webster: While sailing does not have much of a history of being a great spectating sport, the 32nd America’s Cup was the equivalent of: - Seven one run games in the World Series; - Seven overtime games in the NBA; - Five overtimes in the NFL championships; - Seven shootouts in the Stanley Cup finals; - Five tiebreaks at Wimbledon; and - A seven-hole playoff at the Masters golf at Augusta Why would anyone want to change an event that finally was worth watching worldwide by sportsmen everywhere from every sport. The a/cup has been nothing but boring for years except maybe two events. They finally get the format correct to get world acclaim and someone wants to dumb themselves to death and change it. The challengers should stay together and act as one in their refusal to be a part of rigged competition. The Swiss have nothing if its them and the Spanish alone, so stay tough and if everyone misses a competition for one year to better the sport, the world will support you. * From Derek Bouwer, Commodore, ABYC, South Africa: (edited to the 250-word limit) I have always loved sailing because, 1) It's the only sport that competitors police themselves where honesty and sportsmanship count; 2) Where your judgment on the water determines your position at the finish line; and 3) Where after a close fought tussle, all is discussed off the water over a cold beer with your greatest rival on the water. This hold true for boats coming 1st and 2nd right down the fleet to further down in the fleet. I really enjoyed watching the LV Cup and the AC Cup, but unfortunately this was all spoilt by the handling of the press conference afterwards, where there was no sailing camaraderie, no recognition for their competitor, and then the backbiting afterwards by the victors. Now they're openly violating the Deed of Gift and in so doing the very spirit of sailing. I sincerely hope that the USA win their lawsuit, failing which, the Challengers should boycott the next Cup. A hollow victory, but Team Alinghi can go play by themselves on the Swiss Lakes. I plead to all involved in the AC saga to stop bringing the sport I love into disrepute but rather bring sportsmanship and the camaraderie of yachtsmen back into sailing To Louis Vuitton, please come to Algoa Bay Yacht Club and sponsor our sailing. We'll not require half as much as the AC but will give you more sailing than you can handle and you'll be doing a lot more good for a lot more people. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip. Special thanks to MyBoatsGear.com and Premiere Racing. |
