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SCUTTLEBUTT 3125 - Thursday, July 1, 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: Lewmar Marine and Ullman Sails. SUNSCREEN FOR SAILING What is the best sunscreen for sailing? Scuttlebutt asked this question over a year ago, seeking the advice from some of the people who are regularly on the water. From America's Cup winner Russell Coutts to Olympic Gold Medalist Anna Tunnicliffe, plus scores of elite sailors such as Kenny Read, Terry Hutchinson, and Greg Fisher, Scuttlebutt received countless tips on types of sunscreen and their application. With the Northern Hemisphere summer officially in season, it is time to revisit this valuable information along with a recent report published this week in the Los Angeles Times below: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you get significantly better sun protection from lotion with a SPF rating over 30? Something strange is happening in the sunscreen aisle. Shelves that had been stocked with bottles claiming an SPF, or a sun protection factor, of 30 now trumpet SPFs of 55, 70, even "110+." This not-so-subtle escalation often comes with corollary pricing. Higher SPFs frequently cost more, but are they worth it? Many dermatologists don't think so. "Once you get to SPF 50, it's really getting silly," said Boston dermatologist, James Spencer. "SPF refers to multiples of how much longer it takes the skin to burn," but it isn't a linear progression. An SPF of 30 doesn't offer twice as much protection as an SPF of 15, for example. An SPF 15 blocks 94% of UVB rays, SPF 30 blocks 97%, and SPF 45 blocks 98%. Spencer recommends sunscreens with an SPF of 30, as does the American Academy of Dermatology, "because we know you're not going to put enough on." In fact, the academy found that most sunscreen users put on only half as much sunscreen as they should to get the product's claimed SPF protection. Making matters worse is the fact that sunscreen doesn't last all day and needs to be reapplied every few hours. The Food and Drug Administration began requiring SPF ratings on sunscreens sold in the U.S. in 1978. But SPF ratings only measure one type of sun protection. Sunlight consists of about 95% UVA, the ultraviolet light that contributes to skin cancer and wrinkles, and 5% UVB, which is responsible for sunburn. SPF only applies to UVB. It does not indicate UVA protection. While many sunscreens claim to be broad spectrum - protecting the skin from both UVB and UVA - there's no way of knowing how much UVA protection is included in a sunscreen. Yet. This October, the Food and Drug Administration "intends to publish rules to address sunscreen formulation, labeling and testing requirements for both ultraviolet B and ultraviolet A protection," according to FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have any tips on sunscreen? Here is the original Scuttlebutt Forum thread from March 2009, where all the advice is posted and new information can be added: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7198 WE'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY In the last week of August a visitor to Newport, RI may look south across the harbor and see the wing sails of seven C Class catamarans on the lawn in front of Harbor Court, New York Yacht Club's Newport Station. This will be quite a sight, particularly since the New York Yacht Club had banned multihulls after Nathaniel G Herreshoff's Amaryllis completely outclassed their racing fleet during the Second Centennial Regatta of 1874. The wings on the lawn should go a long way to proving that 1874 was a long time ago and that the attitudes have changed. The International C Class Catamaran Championship (IC^4) will be hosted at New York Yacht Club in Newport, RI from August 22-28, 2010. Fred Eaton of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) won the trophy from Steve Clark during the last event held by RCYC in September 2007. In the event this summer, Eaton will be defending for RCYC and Clark, who will be representing New York Yacht Club, will be among the challengers. An update on the British and Canadian entries was presented earlier this week, with this final report of the series about the American effort: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The United States will be represented by Steve Clark's venerable "Cogito", which has been the standard of excellence for over 10 years. Cogito was swept by Alpha in the 2008 series, but Steve and Duncan MacLane think this was more their fault than the boats. She remains a potent weapon, fully capable of winning the regatta. Steve is also building a new boat to his own design which he hopes will be an improvement on Cogito. The new boat has been taking form in his work shop for the last year and has a number of features which, while not new in and of themselves, have been blended together in an attempt to significantly improve the high speed sea keeping and handling of the catamaran. The wing is a further iteration of the proven Cogito wing, with attention to improving twist control, cleaning up the aero surfaces, and reducing weight. Duncan MacLane, Lars Guck, Oliver Moore and Steve Clark are the sailing team. Bill Slinko leads the support team. David Hubbard is the senior emeritus wing nut who provides performance analysis, perspective and moral superiority. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- C Class catamarans are certainly among the most efficient sailing machines and achieve remarkable speeds in very moderate winds. The International C Class Catamaran Championship begins with a nine race series of fleet racing to determine the seeding for the match racing. The top two seeds have a best-of-9 match race series for the trophy. The third and fourth seeds as well as the fifth and sixth seeds also square off in match racing series. The course is a 6 mile windward-leeward, with one mile legs and three races each day. The course area will be weather dependent, but either north of the Newport Bridge within Narragansett Bay or off Beavertail. The racing promises to be spectacular. Complete report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/0521 NAVTEC HYDRAULICS; THE HEART AND MUSCLE OF WINNERS In the highly competitive Newport Bermuda Race, the leading boats in the Gibbs Lighthouse division chose Navtec race hydraulics. Noonmark V1, Snow Lion, Ran, Bella Mente, Titan XV and Beau Jeste all benefited from controlling sail trim using Navtec's legendary cylinders; the heart and muscle of any Navtec hydraulic system. Ran combined Navtec's M series cylinders with its lightweight rotary pump to achieve a super slick operating system. The M series hydraulics were developed as part of Navtec's America's Cup program. Navtec has equipped all America's Cup winners since 1992. Visit: http://www.navtec.net or become a fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lewmar.marine HIGH POSSIBILITY FOR DRAMA By Tim Zimmermann, Sailing World Forget all the America's Cup chatter. Pay not much mind to the Volvo Ocean Race. The single most exciting sailing event on the visible horizon is the Route De Rhum. Why? For the first time it will be open to G-class multihulls. The G stands for Giant (we are talking 100-plus feet), and since the Route De Rhum is a singlehanded race that takes sailors across 3,500 miles of storm-wracked Atlantic in November, the possibility for drama, superhuman seamanship, and abject carnage is ridiculously high. The Route De Rhum is hard enough without trying to keep a powered-up G Class multihull under control and upright. It has a storied history, and requires sailors to cross the Bay Of Biscay in early November before reaching the gentler (though still squally) climes of the trade wind belt. The first race in 1978 told you all you needed to know about what sort of competition it was: it was won by a mere 98 seconds and was traumatized by the disappearance of French multihull hero Alain Colas. Subsequent editions have featured capsizes, sinkings, and at-sea rescues. So what will happen when you pair one of the world's hardest singlehanded offshore races with the largest, most-advanced multihulls on the planet? Who knows. That's what's so exciting. And no matter what transpires I can guarantee that it will be fascinating. I've been waiting for the G-class mutltihulls to be allowed into established offshore races ever since they first appeared to compete in Bruno Peyron's The Race. I'm amazed that it took so long for race organizers and sponsors to make the move, as year after year they lapped the planet and lowered the Jules Verne non-stop record to a stunning 48 days (just a little more than twice the time it took to win the first Route De Rhum). But at least I am finally getting my wish. -- Read on: http://www.sailingworld.com/blogs/racing/the-route-du-rhum-goes-big-in-2010 DEAR BOAT DOCTOR, I am setting up spinnaker sheets and guys on my Ericson 34 for the first time and I am trying to come up with the most versatile configuration. I am not sure if it makes a difference, but I have chosen to dip jibe. I think I have a choice to splice the sheet and guy to one shackle, or to use a separate shackle for each. What would you recommend for me? -- Tom Guerts, Green Bay, Wisconsin Dear Tom, You have lots of options here, but some are better than others. I spoke with Peter Grimm of Super Sailmakers in Fort Lauderdale (www.sail-depot.com, 800-541-7601) and he had a pretty good plan. Peter suggested splicing the sheet to a large bail snap shackle, and including a sheet donut so that the shackle does not get stuck in the pole jaw. He then suggests splicing the guy to a standard snap shackle and attaching it to the bail of the sheet shackle. The theory here is that you can remove the lazy guy on light air days; getting that extra weight off the clew will be helpful. Secondly, the sheets and guys will be a little easier to deploy and stow. You have a higher "spaghetti factor" if they are spliced together. Bob Pingel is the Boat Doctor at Sailing Magazine. A complete index of 'Dear Boat Doctor' posts can be found here: http://www.sailingmagazine.net/how-to/boat-doctor-index ALTERNATIVES: Do you have another idea for this situation? Send an email to the Scuttlebutt editor at editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com SAILING SHORTS * Hingham, MA (June 30, 2010) - The 40 teams competing at the U.S. Junior Women's Doublehanded Championship battled strong current, hot and humid weather, and light to moderate winds during the three day event. Taking the lead after the second day, the team of Kate Rackelly (Carlsbad, Calif./ Mission Bay YC) and Colleen Hackett (El Cajon, Calif./ Mission Bay YC) prevailed on the final day to secure the title. Runners-up was Erin Mullins (E. Greenwich, R.I./ Greenwich Bay SA) and Erica Lush (Jamestown, R.I./ Conanicut YC), with the hard charging team of Holly Tullo (Staten Island, N.Y./ Lauderdale YC) and Haley Fox (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./ BLAST/LYC) in third. -- Event website: http://championships.ussailing.org/Youth/USJrWomensDoublehanded.htm * Kingston, ONT (June 30, 2010) - The third day of the Optimist North American Championship was dedicated to team racing, which had 15 international teams compete in the Nations Cup and 16 continental teams compete in the North American Team Racing Championship. Ecuador beat New Zealand in the finals of the Nations Cup Team, while the North American Team Racing Championship concludes on Thursday. Racing concludes on July 3. -- Event website: http://optinam2010.org/ * Porto Cervo, Italy (June 30, 2010) - Following the second day of the 2010 ISAF Offshore Team World Championship, the Italian team comprised of the Farr 40 Joe Fly owned by Giovanni Maspero and the Melges 32 B Lin Sailing owned by Luca Lalli now lead the eight team field. Representing the USA, three-time Farr 40 World Champion (2009, 2004, 1998) Jim Richardson with his Barking Mad and current Melges 32 World Champion Pieter Taselaar with his Bliksem have moved up from sixth to fourth place. Racing concludes Saturday. -- Results: http://www.yccsresults.com/sardinia2010/sard_y.htm * Cesenatico, Italy (June 30, 2010) - After three days and four races at the A-Cat World Championship, Australian Steven Brewin has posted only top three scores to lead the 100 boat field. A fourth place today by Randy Smyth (USA) moves him into 13th position to lead the North American contingent. Racing concludes Friday. -- Complete results: http://www.congregavelisti.it/anno%202010/Risultati%20Worlds%202010.pdf * The BMW Oracle Racing team celebrated their win of the 33rd America's Cup at the White House with President Obama on Tuesday afternoon. Led by team owner Larry Ellison (USA) and representing San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club, BMW Oracle Racing won the America's Cup in February - the first time an American team has won the Cup in 18 years. On Wednesday, the BMW Oracle Racing team rang the NASDAQ Stock Market Opening Bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City's Times Square. -- http://tinyurl.com/2fsk79r * The countdown has begun for July's most anticipated sailing regatta, New York Yacht Club's (NYYC) Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex. Scheduled for July 17-24, the split format biennial regatta offers One-Design, Classic, 12 Metre and PHRF racing in the beginning of the week (Saturday, July 17-Monday, July 19), while the second half of the week (Wednesday, July 21- Saturday, July 24) is devoted to IRC racing and doubles as the Rolex US-IRC National Championship. The entry deadline is Friday, July 9. -- Read on: http://nyyc.org/archives_public/article_774/ * After a one-year hiatus, the Boston Fall Boat Show will return to the Seaport World Trade Center this year with a three-day show running Oct. 1-3, organizers announced. The show is owned and operated by Boat Shows Inc., a subsidiary of the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association. -- Soundings, read on: http://tinyurl.com/2eqoymj J/24 "IL RICCIO" MASTERS FLEET AT KIEL WEEK Congratulations to the British J/24 team "Inmarsat Il Riccio," who decisively won their class at Kieler Woche last week, finishing the event with a 31-point margin! Fully powered by Ullman Sails, the team consistently placed in the top five over the course of nine races, ultimately dropping a 6th place as their worse score. The team includes Chris McLaughlin, Ian Southworth of Ullman Sails UK (helm), Andy McLelland, Michael Kyte and Julia Scott. The "Il Riccio" (Italian for Hedgehog) team is currently building up to the J/24 World Championship in Malmo, Sweden this August. Invest in your performance. http://www.ullmansails.com 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: June 28-July 2 - Flying Scot North Americans- Bay St. Louis, MS, USA July 1-22 - Vic-Maui International Yacht Race - Vancouver, BC, Canada July 2-4 - U.S. International Fireball Nationals - Jamestown, PA, USA July 3-4 - Lake Huron International Regatta - Port Huron, MI, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, 'The Curmudgeon'). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Urban Miyares, co-founder, Challenged America, San Diego: The passing of Kitty James is truly sad (from Scuttlebutt 3124). More than a writer, she always was most cordial and a strong supporter of Challenged America and sailors with disabilities. I can remember her offering assistance to help our program with suggestions of supporters and sponsors, especially when we first did the Transpac in 2003, and she continued to assist to not only publish our press releases in Dockside, but call when she didn't hear from us...just to find out what's happening. Whether we were in Ensenada after a race or in Newport Beach or San Francisco to attend a trade show or an event, Kitty always came up to say hi and make us feel most welcome in the boating community. A most gracious and warm lady. Thank you Kitty, and we all will be sailing to the same place one day. * From Scott Kaufman (re, Carina's Bermuda Race victory in Scuttlebutt 3124) In the early 80's I redesigned Carina for Richard Nye. The changes included: - The aluminum hull was cut from station 0 to station 10 with over 75% of the underbody removed. - The rudder stock and rudder were moved aft several feet, the old skeg/ rudder were replaced with a free standing rudder. - A new keel, new tanks, new engine installation including shaft, strut and propeller were designed and built. - The rig was replaced. I think the section was reduced by some five inches. New chainplates, deck hardware and winches were installed. The boat was completely redesigned. The improvement in performance was immediate and she went on to win the 1982 Bermuda Race. To record the designer of Carina as McCurdy and Rhodes is inaccurate. At least half the boat is my design! * From David Doody: (re, Newport to Bermuda Race) Hearty congratulations to Carina and her crew-they did a great job with a great bunch and earned a well deserved victory. My question is why does CCA insist on scoring the Bermuda Race in ORR? A rule that few if any know anything about, I mean, have you ever seen an "ORR boat" or even an "ORR optimized" boat? All the discussions about the St. David's Lighthouse Trophy seem to be around this unknown and little used rule. When scored under IRC (that virtually everyone races under both nationally and internationally) the results are quite different in the fleet - although Carina still wins I think no matter what rule you score under! (Full disclosure: I am a proud member of the crew of the 'other' older, beautiful, black and fast McCurdy & Rhodes design - Gracie - under IRC we were 1st in class and 2nd overall, but under ORR we were 1st in class and 6th overall). Why shouldn't one of the greatest ocean races in the world be scored under one rule - the rule that most of the world races under? Anyone? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "If the rich could hire other people to die for them, the poor could make a wonderful living." - Yiddish Proverb Special thanks to Lewmar Marine and Ullman Sails. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
