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SCUTTLEBUTT 3187 - Wednesday, September 29, 2010Scuttlebutt 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: Hall Spars & Rigging, JK3, and Key West Race Week NOMINEES ANNOUNCED The nominees have been announced for the 2010 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, which considers the achievements of sailors made during the qualifying period of September 1, 2009 and August 31, 2010. The winners are selected by the ISAF Member National Authorities, the national governing bodies for sailing around the world, who will now vote for the one male and one female sailor who they believe most deserves the Award. The winners will be announced on November 9, 2010 in Athens, Greece. The 2010 nominees are: Female Kristin Boese (GER): Nine Time Kitesurf World Champion Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam (THA): Youth Olympic Games gold medallist Blanca Manchón (ESP): RS:X World Champion & Double World Cup Winner Lisa Westerhof & Lobke Berkhout (NED): 470 World Champions Male Antoine Albeau (FRA): Professional Windsurfing Assn & Formula World Champion Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS): 470 World Champions & World Cup winners Lorenzo Bressani (ITA): Melges 24 and 32 Champion Franck Cammas (FRA): Record breaking offshore racer Tom Slingsby (AUS): Laser & Etchells World Champion Ed Wright (GBR): Finn World Champion and double World Cup Winner Read the achievements of the shortlisted sailors here: http://www.sailing.org/worldsailor/nominees.php Here are the winners from the past three years: 2009 Male Winner - Torben Grael (BRA) 2009 Female Winner - Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) 2008 Male Winner - Ben Ainslie (GBR) 2008 Female Winner - Alessandra Sensini (ITA) 2007 Male Winner - Ed Baird (USA) 2007 Female Winner - Claire Leroy (FRA) Complete list: http://www.sailing.org/worldsailor/previous-winners.php S.F. PROMISES MONEY, LAND FOR AMERICA'S CUP (September 28, 2010) - San Francisco officials have promised to raise at least $270 million from businesses and other sponsors if the city is picked to host the next America's Cup sailing race, according to a draft agreement obtained by The Chronicle. The city has also made a number of additional promises, like helping event participants to secure drivers licenses, trying to obtain federal legislation to allow foreign-flagged vessels for the event to stop in more than one U.S. port, and promoting the premier regatta with publicly controlled advertising space, such as at San Francisco International Airport, according to a term sheet that outlines parameters of a host-city deal. The agreement is expected to be presented to the Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday) for consideration as San Francisco vies with two European cities to host the 34th America's Cup. The event includes weeks of races, years of buildup and could inject an estimated $1.9 billion into the national economy - the vast majority in the Bay Area. Local software billionaire Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle Racing team, sponsored by San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club, captured the cup in February off the coast of Valencia, Spain, and now gets to decide the location, timing and type of boats for the next regatta. Ellison's team, which is creating an "event authority" management arm to handle the commercial side, is expected to make a decision on the host city by the end of the year. The next cup is to be held in 2013. Ellison is fond of sailing in San Francisco Bay, but city documents indicate that it is "impracticable" for San Francisco to try to match hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies that European host cities have purportedly offered. Instead, Mayor Gavin Newsom's administration is proposing the free use of Port of San Francisco property stretching south of the Bay Bridge from Pier 28 to Pier 50 and a rent-free lease of 66 to 75 years and future development rights for Piers 30-32, an adjacent parking lot and Pier 50 in the South Beach and Mission Bay areas. In exchange, the America's Cup event authority would pay an estimated $150 million to shore up the piers, dredge the area around them, and install new breakwaters and utility lines. The cost of repairing the piers exceeds their market value, and they are in "such state of grave disrepair that there is no other viable plan to pay for the needed repairs," according to an executive summary of the city's proposal. Over time, the event authority could recoup its costs from the value of the improved property. -- SF Chronicle, read on: http://tinyurl.com/SF-Chronicle-092810 HALL AROUND THE WORLD Hall Spars & Rigging is available "virtually" anywhere in the world - our website highlights innovative projects and customer successes around the globe. Like the incredible Oyster 125 and Comet 100 to be launched with Hall Seamless. Or the impressive wins by DSK (Swan 90) and Silveren Swaen (Swan 53) at the Swan Cup. Or Soozal (King 40) and Wasabi (Kernan 44), winning in IRC at the Big Boat Series. Or Y3K's (Wally 100) win at the Rolex Maxi Regatta. Around the world, Hall gets you online with superior spar and rigging products and services. http://www.hallspars.com GETTING THE MOST OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL SAILING As a four-time U.S. Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, Olympic silver and bronze medalist, three-time World Champion and double-figure National and European titlist, JJ Fetter Isler has had plenty of personal highlights. And for the 2009-2010 season, she added ‘High School Coach’ to her list of achievements. Despite her leadership role, she remains a student of the sport, and shares here the lessons that she learned: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Last year, I had a fun and challenging opportunity to coach the Francis Parker High School sailing team in San Diego. I was so impressed with high school sailing - what an amazing opportunity to get college-style short-course racing and 3-on-3 team racing experience while in high school. Here’s my advice for sailors who want to get the most out of their high school sailing: 1) Try to always be the first one on your team to: get to practice, change into your sailing clothes, rig and get on the water. Prepare for practice the way you prepare for a regatta so pack a spray top even on warm days and make sure you have a bailer and a sailing watch. 2) Never stand around while other sailors are rigging and de-rigging - help out your teammates to get everyone on and off the water faster. 3) Listen carefully when your coach explains the drills on land - and ask questions. It’s much easier for your coach to clarify her plans on land than to have to explain it again on the water. 4) Always sail your best from the minute you leave the dock. Use every moment on the water to improve your boat-handling - make every tack out to the race area your best roll tack. Trim your sails perfectly as you are reaching out to the race area - and look around (up in the lulls, down in the puffs). If the race area is upwind, anticipate the puffs and hike hard, always keeping your boat flat. 5) Keep an eye on the coach boat so you are close by when the coach signals that she is ready to start the first drill. 6) Practice as if it’s the last race of the Nationals. Let’s say you are doing rolling starts - still look up the course to see which side is favored, keep checking the line to see which end is favored, and try different approaches. If you are over early, clear yourself as soon as possible. If you foul someone or hit a mark, do a penalty turn. MORE: Here is the link for tips 7 through 17, and to see the video of JJ’s acceptance speech during her induction as part of the 2010 class into the San Diego Hall of Champions: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/0928/ LAST CHANCE SALOON The world’s leading sailors will be fighting for precious points at The Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda, with next week’s match race representing the last chance saloon for skippers to move up the leaderboard ahead of the the ISAF World Match Racing Tour’s season ending finale - The Monsoon Cup in December. Racing for the Argo Group Gold Cup starts October 5 and concludes October 11 at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The Argo Group Gold Cup is the eighth event of the WMRT season and invites to the final Tour event, the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, are only guaranteed to the top six teams in the year’s points table. With both the Tour Championship and the ISAF Match Racing Championship that rides with it still hanging in the balance the battle for points in Bermuda this year is sure to be even more fierce than usual. Top 8 of 34 1. Mathieu Richard / French Team, 105 2. Adam Minoprio / ETNZ/BlackMatch, 88 3. Torvar Mirsky / Mirsky Racing Team, 76 4. Ian Williams / Team GAC Pindar, 72 5. Ben Ainslie / TEAMORIGIN, 63 6. Francesco Bruni / Azzurra, 53 7. Peter Gilmour / YANMAR Racing, 51 8. Jesper Radich / Radich Racing Team, 40 SCOREBOARD: Teams carry their best five scores. All teams listed except Ainslie and Radich have completed at least five events. Details: http://www.wmrt.com/results/scoreboard.html Full story: http://tinyurl.com/WMRT-092810 WHEN IT DOESN’T WORK OUT On the first day of the Melges 32 Worlds last week, the San Francisco Bay thermal was in town, and the race committee gave the fleet of overpowered, high charging sprit boats three gut hiking races in 20+ knot winds. That night, there were pleas for clemency, as another three race day could separate the men from the boys sooner than the boys wanted to be separated. Nice try, guys. With light winds forecasted for later in the regatta, and the sheep in the paddock on day two, dinner plans would have to wait. But while the racers were getting thrashed on the course, on-water and online spectators were reveling. And for this contest, the proverbial 50 yard line seats were at the weather mark. While getting to the weather mark was hard enough, getting around it proved to be some kind of rodeo. “Son, get on your spurs and chaps - it’s round-up time.” Turning at the off-set mark and getting the 1300 sq ft kite to the masthead didn’t always work out as planned. Among the incidents of failure, videographer Vince Casalaina caught one of the uglier moments, and it resulted in an interesting decision by the protest committee. It was day two of the Worlds, at the first weather mark of race three on that day. Joe Woods’ Red team rounded the offset mark, and in the process of raising their kite, was fully out of control within 10 seconds. As they rounded up, another 10 seconds passed before Michael Dominguez’s Bronco team literally speared Red with their pole, taking aim at their aft weather quarter. Luckily, Bronco’s pole retracted on contact. Otherwise both Bronco’s pole and Red’s hull would have been a lot worse off. And what about the protest? Red was found at fault based on Rule 16.1 which says, “When a right-of-way boat changes course, she shall give the other boat room to keep clear.” Said Anthony Kotoun, Bronco’s tactician, “At that wind speed, you’re hauling the mail which affects your reaction time. So when somebody flips over in front of you, it depends on how far away they are as to whether you can get around them. A similar situation happened to me in Key West on another boat, where the boat ahead flipped over and we ran them over and shredded our kite on their spreader. There is a certain amount of trust you have that the guy in front of you will have a good set. And sometimes, it doesn’t happen.” Here’s the must-see video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCM2bizpQOs BEST MONTH IN TWO YEARS JK3 Nautical Enterprises has just had their best brokerage sales month in two years, and the boat show season is just starting up. Look for JK3 at the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD (Oct. 7-11), where special guest Halsey Herreshoff will be presenting JK3’s brokerage listing Herreshoff 58-foot AARLUUK. From her beautiful bow with varnished sprit to the classic stern overhang with wineglass transom, ARRLUUK is a modern classic ketch that is a standout wherever she travels. For details contact Jeff Brown (619-709-0697) or see AARLUUK among all the brokerage listings at http://www.jk3yachts.com/ SAILING SHORTS * Keith Stokes is dreaming of catamarans racing in Newport (RI) as part of pre-regatta events leading up to the next America's Cup. Stokes, executive director of the state Economic Development Corporation, spoke at the corporation's monthly meeting Monday evening about Rhode Island's efforts to bring some of the America's Cup excitement home again to Newport. BMW Oracle Racing, the team that won the Cup last winter, is asking Rhode Island for detailed plans about how Newport would host 2012 pre-regatta races, Stokes told the board. -- Read on: http://newsblog.projo.com/2010/09/newport-wooing-americas-cup-pr.html * At the industry breakfast that marked the opening of International Boatbuilders Exhibition and Conference today, NMMA (National Marine Manufacturers Assn.) President Thom Dammrich said the "worst for boating" is now behind the US industry. Dammrich also forecasted a better year in 2011. NMMA data shows that buyers have increasingly moved to the pre-owned market over the last four years. In 2005, 29 per cent of all boat buyers purchased new boats and 71 per cent bought pre-owned. By 2009, new boat buyers had fallen to 18 per cent while the number of pre-owned buyers rose by 11 per cent. -- IBI Magazine, full story: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20100828173515ibinews.html * The Landing School is the recipient of the 2009-2010 School of Distinction Award presented by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, the school announced. The Arundel, Maine-based school will be honored later this month at the accrediting commission's professional development conference in Philadelphia. The School of Distinction Award "is intended to recognize ACCSC-accredited institutions that have demonstrated a commitment to the expectations and rigors of accreditation, as well as a commitment to delivering quality educational programs," the commission's executive director Michale McComis said in a statement. -- Soundings, read on: http://tinyurl.com/Soundings-091310 INDUSTRY NEWS The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services, with recent postings included in the Thursday edition of the Scuttlebutt newsletter. Here is the link to view and/or post Industry News updates: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/INDUSTRY_NEWS_C15/ KEY WEST RACE WEEK 2011 - GETTING CLOSER! Make your plans for winter’s first and best in beautiful Key West. Join IRC, One Design, PHRF, and Multihull sailors from across the country and around the world. Just a few days until October 1 and the opportunity for early entry savings. Race dates are January 17-21. http://www.Premiere-Racing.com 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 are 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 Brian Hancock: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3186) I have to say just one thing: John Bertrand, the Aussie John for this letter anyway, is a class act. With all this America’s Cup back and forth I could only wish that he was running the show. Here is a guy who is modest beyond measure and talented beyond means. * From Andrew Troup (from Forum): The choice of (America’s Cup) boat to maximise TV revenues was a classic 'no brainer' The formula is entirely in keeping with the entertainment age: "leave the thinking to us; all you have to do is watch" ... And watch, it has to be said, in the slack-jawed, sensation-seeking, intellectually dormant mode our advertisers have come -- not just to expect, but to require. It's no accident that Ellison revealed that he was delegating the choice of boat to the 15yo demographic: it's an open secret that Nirvana for marketers is a world peopled by adolescent mindsets with adult income streams. It's fine for adolescents to have high impulsivity, short concentration spans, to wobble between self-involvement and judgemental idealism, and to approach every purchase thinking at about the maturity level of 'If I want triple chocolate icecream for breakfast there's no-one anymore who can stop me'.... But the tragedy of recent decades (starting perhaps in the rock 'n roll era) is that marketers have gradually succeeded in prolonging these once temporary phases of slightly guilty defiance. Today these behaviours and mindsets are increasingly worn as perpetual badges of honour. Marketers have successfully co-opted mainstream media, and exploited chinks and foibles of human nature, to largely achieve their aim of parleying the classic excesses and glorious vices of adolescence into life-long life-styles, for the benefit of exactly no-one but their clients..... and this is another infinitesimal step in that direction. -- http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10575#10575 * From Bill Tyler: I have to say I agree completely with the remarks by Ken Guyer in 'butt 3186. I had high hopes for a return to "normalcy" under the auspices of Ellison and Coutts - a return to what we knew as the America's Cup. Unfortunately they seem to want to bastardize the event - granted in a less onerous way than Bertarelli and SNG - and create something in their own image. And where will THAT take place?? * From Sue Reilly: It is funny reading Ken Guyer’s comments: “They liked not having to actually compete on the water last time. It was enjoyable to design a monster machine, go out on the water and just go sailing on a fast boat and then claim to have won a Cup that was deeded for a design and sailing competition among nations.” Wasn't Dennis Conner the first one to bring a multihull to the Cup? * From Ray Tostado: (re, Chris Boome letter in Scuttlebutt 3186) Alcatraz is a "floating island", anchored first, with Spanish chain and steel, then later by the USACOE with cable. It appeared one year during the Spanish occupation after a severe hurricane force storm. Conjectures argue it was once a headland mass which disappeared during that same storm. The claim is that it floated by the currents into SF Bay and was slightly grounded and remained until anchored. (pumice?) The archives state that as the storm passed and calm returned, the Spanish garrison in the bay awoke to find this monster land mass drifting in the Bay. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Yacht designer Gary Mull stoked the fires of this “cover-up” in a 1990 column he wrote titled ‘Tactics Around Alcatraz’. Enjoy the ride: http://www.faller-mitchell.com/alcatraz.htm Than in 2005, when responding to a reader’s query on the subject, NorCal pub Latitude 38 continued the spin: “Because Alcatraz is every bit as important a landmark as the Golden Gate Bridge and Disneyland, the fact that it's a floating island has become a significant Homeland Security issue. The plans for the anchoring system have long been removed from the Internet, and Howard Hughes' involvement with the re-anchoring of the island after the attack on Pearl Harbor was deleted from the movie The Aviator. We'd say more, but we've already received a couple of cryptic emails with government URLs that simply read, ‘Shut up or Gitmo!’ We've got nothing more to say, because while we hope to return to Cuba some day, we want it to be on our boat at Baracoa, not in a cell at Guantanamo. So just keep telling yourself, ‘I'm sane, everyone else is nuts.’ It works for us.” -- http://www.latitude38.com/letters/200503.htm CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION I once said cynically of a politician, "He'll double-cross that bridge when he comes to it". Special thanks to Hall Spars & Rigging, JK3, and Key West Race Week. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
