|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2698 - Wednesday, October 8, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, featuresand dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. STEALTHPLAY: HIDE AND SEEK TO GAIN The docks in the Volvo Ocean Race villages are always secretive as shore crews look to hide their creations, but now, with the launch of a StealthPlay initiative, the cloak and dagger feel will spread to the open ocean. Under the device, crews will have one opportunity on each of the longer legs to activate the play and have their location hidden from position reports and the public for 12 hours. It is designed to add an intriguing tactical dimension to the race, whereby a team might opt to make a tactical break from the fleet without the rest of competitors knowing what they are doing and where they are on the race track. Otherwise, position reporting times will be every three hours throughout the duration of each offshore leg of the race, with reports circulated among the fleet as well as being published on the event website. Commented Green Dragon's Damian Foxall, "It can be used as a bluff or to hide what you are doing. It could be useful when you are close to a finish. I think offshore the players will be fairly clear as to what everyone is doing, maybe with a couple of opportunities where there are several options to follow, but when you have several good options it could be a good time to turn off the beacon." When a boat in play passes a scoring gate - there are seven gates around the course - her rounding time and points scored will be made public. Her position will also be made public when the team is within 50 nautical miles of the finish. Race Headquarters in the UK will continue to monitor each boat's progress every 15 minutes for safety reasons, but this information is never made public. -- Complete report: http://tinyurl.com/4c4aat VOR: FIRST LEG ANALYSIS The first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race starts on October 11th, taking the fleet from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa, with many "make or break" moments along the route. The distance is 6,500 nm, it is estimated to take 23 days, with an estimated arrival in Cape Town on November 3rd. The first test for the crews on Leg 1 will be the Straits of Gibraltar. This stretch of water is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, and the Straits will provide plenty of challenges for the eight boat fleet. The winds funnel through the Straits between the high land either side, as a result the local effects can mean shifty conditions. There is great the potential for the first leg to be won or lost right here. After the west coast of Spain and Portugal which can produce a range of weather at this time of year, the crew will need to negotiate the various weather systems on the way. On this route the boat will pass in range of the Canary Islands, where lighters winds will be encountered, especially at night. The crew will be hoping to pass through the archipelago during daylight hours and hook into the Trade Winds. The next major hurdle ahead is the Doldrums. -- Green Dragon Ocean Racing team website, read on: http://tinyurl.com/4g3k9h "CHEMISTRY DOESN'T JUST HAPPEN - YOU MAKE IT" Walt Disney Pictures could have selected Jesse Fielding for a starring role in their soon-to-be-released documentary Morning Light on his looks alone, but this affable Wickford, RI native also brought a strong work ethic and abundant ambition to the project. Morning Light, which premieres October 17, is the story of 15 young sailors who raced a TP 52 in the 2,225-mile Transpac Race in 2007. "I grew up sailing prams on Narragansett Bay," says Jesse. "In my first summer of sailing, I got a scholarship to go to Wickford Yacht Club. I've played competitive athletics my whole life, and I knew right away that I wanted to be racing with the older kids. I followed the dinghy path - Optis, 420s and Lasers - when I was younger. The Laser is the class that put me around a lot of adult sailors. That changed how I looked at sailing, and I took to that environment." Jesse had an outstanding mentor during those years. "My high school sailing coach, Scott Ferguson, is a great Laser sailor and a mast designer who has designed rigs all over the world," he says. "Reading the magazines and seeing the big boat technology made me want to be a part of that, so whenever I got an opportunity to sail on a bigger boat I took it. When I was 17 and 18, it tended to be a different boat every weekend. The main thing that got me into big boat sailing was that I needed a summer job other than teaching sailing. I'd done that for two years, and saw that there's another life across the bay in Newport. The only way I knew how to get to that world was to just show up at Atlantic Yacht Services and work ten hours a day. I'd known about New England Boatworks in Portsmouth because all the big, cool race boats are there. I showed up there one day, and started opening and cleaning the seacocks on a boat with one of the partners in the company." -- WindCheck, read on: http://tinyurl.com/4b7et4 * The Morning Light film opens nationwide on October 17th, with special engagements this week in Hollywood, CA; Vancouver, BC; Annapolis, MD; Baltimore, MD; Reno, NV; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; San Diego, CA; Newport Beach, CA; Honolulu, HI; and Santa Cruz, CA. Full details at http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/Morning_Light_Movie_Announcements_C16/ DISCOVER: WATERPROOF DOESN'T HAVE TO BE BULLETPROOF Still think sailing gear has to be heavy and bulky to keep you dry? Not any more! The Microburst line from Atlantis is the lightest waterproof/breathable sailing gear on the planet. The Microburst jacket weighs in at a whopping 11 oz., and with its waterproof zippers and taped seams, it'll keep Mother Nature at bay in almost any weather, while underarm vents keep you cool in the heat of battle. If you're in Annapolis for the boat show, stop by the Fawcett's booth or visit our website to find a dealer near you. http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com DISCOVER: Your Atlantis WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR Ben Ainslie (GBR) took his Olympic Gold Medal skills to the King Edward VII Gold Cup presented by Argo Group. The British skipper of Team Origin was a perfect three for three in Group One matches on the event's first day. Ainslie defeated reigning champion Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team/French Spirit, in a hot battle in the second flight of the day. In other Group One racing Mattias Rahm (SWE), Stena Bulk Sailing Team, also stands 3-0. Winless Brian Angel (USA) and Damien Lehl (2-1) were involved in a head-on collision at the start of their third flight match. As the winds picked up during the afternoon, there was more damage. Two booms were broken and Ian Willliams' opponent in his third race had a breakdown before the start. That race will be sailed first thing on Wednesday. Williams (GBR) Team Pindar, the leader on the World Match Racing Tour, is the only skipper in the group with a chance to go 3-0 in the first three flights. With all the mayhem in Group Two, Williams is 2-0, Adam Minoprio (NZL), Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing, is 2-0, Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing and Bjorn Hansen (SWE) of Alandia Sailing is also 2-0. Of the 24 teams sailing the International One Design (IOD) class boats, the top two from each of the three groups move on to the Quarter finals and the third and fourth place finishers in each group sail off in a "repecharge" round robin on Thursday afternoon for their second chance to win one of the last two Quarter final slots. Results are on both www.bermudagoldcup.com/ and www.worldmatchracingtour.com/ "90% OF SUCCESS IS SHOWING UP!" By Harry Legum, Annapolis Sailing Fitness Many times in the gym I hear a reason or two as why "I just can't make it for the workout". After twenty years of being a trainer, I have heard them all. I had one mother who used her kids. Little Tommy is sick, class project, field trip, runny nose etc. I had sympathy until I started keeping track and found that she was recycling old excuses. Either train or don't. Training should be as high of a priority as eating, using the restroom and sleeping. Unfortunately we won't put it in the calendar, use how we feel as a gauge and generally fall into a trap of inconsistency. The athletes who have the greatest results, losing 5 lbs to a total body transformation, keep exercise as a priority rain or shine. Most times, if we would simply "show up", we tend to feel much better. As my Grandmother used to say; 90% of success is showing up! It does take time to get into the routine. I read that it takes three weeks to create a habit and a year before it's yours. Being an avid athlete should be your goal.be patient yet stay excited, be consistent and realize that the pain is temporary. The results that you will see will far out way the inconvenience involved. -- http://na.northsails.com/SailingFitness.htm FOR SELLING, IT SURE BEATS A 10-BY-10 BOOTH About seven years ago, Jock West, a marine marketing consultant based in Portsmouth, R.I., hatched an idea to put a new twist on traditional boat show booths. He reasoned that if buyers could see products installed and working on a boat, the real-life presentation would serve as a much better showcase than a static display on a showroom floor. West, 64, went looking for the right boat, and he found it in Showtime, a 63-foot Trumpy that has gone through a major refit. It may have taken seven years for West to turn his vision into reality, but it's finally happening, as Showtime cruises to major boat shows this season to bring products, appliances, paint, electronics and other items from more than 30 sponsors before the boating public. "It's like being in a classic old boat, but with state-of-the-art everything," West says, noting that the inception of the idea to use a boat to highlight products occurred when he "got sick of trying to figure out how to showcase paint in a 10-by-10 booth. "No matter how much money you spend to make a cool experience for customers, when push comes to shove, you're still showing them a can of paint," he says, until you properly apply paint to a boat to show how great it looks. -- Soundings Trade Only, read on: http://tinyurl.com/3r7fxh * It is boat show season, and this week Jock will be at the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis. If you are coming to the show on Friday, Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck will be at the Bitter End Yacht Club's booth at 5pm. Join Craig at the BEYC booth 53 in Tent D on Friday to hear more about Bitter End's 2008 Pro Am Regatta (and Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championship) for November, and the January 2009 Medicine for Mariners seminar. Or of course, you can also just come by the BEYC booth for the snacks and adult beverages, and to offer the "Curmudgeon" your gripes, opinions, complements, or observations. To make an appointment in advance, email at mailto:craig@sailingscuttlebutt.com WHAT DO 1, 2, AND 3 HAVE IN COMMON? Doyle. Doyle sails dominated the new J/122 class at the American Yacht Club Fall Series, finishing 1-2-3. Barry Gold's J/122 "Sundari" with a new Doyle main and VMG spinnaker squeaked out a win over Doyle powered "Christopher Dragon" and "Patriot". The Doyle dominance continued in the Beneteau 36.7 class with "Crossbow", "Resolute" and "Whirlwind" taking all the silver. Already done with your sailing season? Don't forget to bring your sails to your local Doyle loft for service. Routine repairs and maintenance will improve performance and extend the life of your sails. 800-94-DOYLE, http://www.doylesails.com SAILING SHORTS * The BMW Oracle trimaran docked out at around noon on Tuesday from their temporary base in San Diego for their first test sail there. Photos are posted on the Valencia Sailing website: http://xrl.us/os52m * The Canadian Laser/ Radial National Qualifier Regatta was held last weekend at St. Margaret Bay Sailing Club in Nova Scotia, where it was Bernard Luttmer (RCYC) that won in the Laser with 20 points, Abe Torchinsky (RVYC) was second with 27 points and Dave Wright from RCYC was third with 33 points. In the Radial, Jen Spalding (RVYC) continued her winning ways and took 1st place overall with 17 points. Second went to Danielle Dube (RNSYS) with 20 points and Keamia Rasa from (RVYC) was 3rd with 27 points. -- Full report: http://www.sailing.ca/feature/2008/10/nqr-followup.html * The 505 World Championship will be held October 11-17 in Palermo, Italy, with 16 US entrants and one Canadian on the competitor's list. A total of 124 boats from 12 countries are signed up, and many are competing this week in Palermo for the European Championship. -- http://www.505worlds2008.com/web/index.php * Trieste, Italy (October 7, 2008) - Following many practice days with perfect sailing conditions, the RC 44's involved in the Friuli Venezia Giulia RC 44 Cup spent most of the afternoon waiting for the breeze. Race Officer Peter Reggio held the fleet out appropriately, and managed to initiate a first starting session at 3:45 PM, and with one flight of match racing completed, Ceeref, Organika, Team Aqua and, BMW ORACLE Racing (with Larry Ellison steering and Russell Coutts calling tactics) each earned a precious point in a fluky three knot breeze. -- Complete report: http://www.rc44.com/en/regattas/news/index.php?idContent=1525 * On Columbus Day weekend (October 11 -12, 2008) high performance dinghy sailors from all over the East Coast will be gathering at American Yacht Club in Rye, NY. The Heineken High Performance Dinghy Open is the only gathering of its kind in the region, hosting classes including the 505, Flying Dutchman, RSK6, and the Viper. Additionally, a fleet of over 20 A-Class Catamarans and a fleet of Foiling Moths are expected. A PY Handicap division will also be available. -- http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6479 LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, 'The Curmudgeon'. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get 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 Derek Bouwer: I was reading the Interview with Ernesto Bertarelli where he states that both he and Larry Ellison have a passion for Sailing. This being the case, how could they have brought the Americas Cup into such a predicament? Surely this passion for sailing should have been bigger than their personal ambitions for and in the sport? Once again I firmly believe that the Sailing community should take the prestigious cup back to sailing, Apply the Deed of Gift as it stands, invite tenders to host the next AC, and then invite these two protagonist to compete, if they so desire or even wish to? Surely the sport is always greater than the sum of its parts! (Ernesto's interview can be found here on Valencia Sailing: http://tinyurl.com/4nf57f) Editor's Note: Yes -- we're publishing a bit early tonight, but we know our readers would not want us to be late for the reception at the world premiere of Disney's Morning Light. More on this later. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION To keep a healthy level of insanity don use any punctuation marks in your email this week Special thanks to Atlantis WeatherGear and Doyle Sails. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
