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SCUTTLEBUTT 2466 – November 1, 2007Scuttlebutt 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. AC90 RULE IS BORN (October 31, 2007) Today AC Management, as scheduled, published the AC90 Rule marking an exciting milestone in the path to the 33rd America’s Cup. This rule has been crafted over the past six weeks through a design consultation process with all entered challengers, the Defender, and headed by Tom Schnackenberg as the class rule and competition regulations consultant for ACM. Designers from all six entered teams have met regularly since the design process began on 15 September. Tom Schnackenberg comments on the sessions: “The process has been an invigorating one with the challengers helping enormously in making improvements to the rule. It is amazing how inventive people are in this environment, bouncing ideas off each other, these past six weeks have been a very enjoyable experience.” The AC90 Rule, in brief, will be 90ft overall maximum length, 6.5m in draft whilst racing and will have a displacement of 23tons. This last parameter was defined by the challengers on their request. Tom adds some insight: “In writing the AC90 Rule we have used the experience gained in forming Version 5 of the America’s Cup Class rule. We have tried to keep it simple because of the short timeframe, while also taking care not to ignore the lessons of the last 18 years of the ACC. The rule is a box rule rather than a rating rule and differs greatly to Version 5 in that the yacht will be big, fast and much more demanding.” -- Read on: http://33rd.americascup.com/en/index.php?idContent=25&idPage=1 * Here is a link to the AC90 Rule, which is formatted as a 47-page PDF file: http://www.americascup.com/multimedia/docs/2007/10/071031-ac90_rule_final.pdf * Prior to the AC90 Rule being disclosed, ACM had repeatedly stated that the rule would NOT be published, and it would only disclosed to teams whose entries had been accepted. Now that the rule has been published, we go back to a statement made by Golden Gate YC/ BMW Oracle Racing on October 25, 2007, when they said that they would agree to comprehensive new compromises to get the America’s Cup back on track for Valencia in 2009 if the defender would disclose its rule for the boats’ design. -- Link to statement: http://www.ggyc.com/071025-GGYC_Press_Release.doc SAILING UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT IN ESTORIL Representatives from sailing nations around the world will meet in Estoril, Portugal from the November 1-11 for the 2007 ISAF Annual Conference. Each year the Conference brings together the ISAF Committees and Commissions, as well as other leading figures from the sailing world, in ISAF’s principal key decision-making process. There are well over 200 submissions to be debated this year, with the hot topic set to be the selection of the ten events for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. The main discussions in Estoril will focus on the 221 Submissions. A Submission is a proposal to either change an existing policy or introduce a new policy in the sport. The Submissions are debated by the relevant ISAF Committee/s, but ultimately it is the ISAF Council who has the final say in the ISAF decision-making process. Throughout the week the different Commissions, Sub-Committees and Committees meet, passing their recommendations up the hierarchical tree, which concludes with the ISAF Council meeting on November 8-10. Whilst the Conference encompasses the full range of ISAF’s activities, it is the Submissions which provide the central focus and each year the debate tends to centre in on one or two hot topics. This year the selection of the events for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition is set to be a pivotal discussion as the sport has to reduce from eleven to ten Olympic medal events, with over 40 different submissions on just this one topic. Other issues sure to provoke plenty of debate will be the ISAF Sailing World Championships, with a submission from the Executive Committee to change this from a quadrennial to a biennial event, the future of the ISAF World Cup, gender representation across all ISAF Committees and the ISAF Council, and a whole raft of submissions on the Racing Rules of Sailing. -- Excerpts from event report: http://www.sailing.org/21134.php?PHPSESSID=88c602e71e5153e28fc9e324bde56bcd * A reminder that ISAF will be determining the 10 events for the 2012 Olympics, however, they will not be determining the class of boat that will be used for each event. GRAND SLAM OF TEAM RACING By winning the 2007 US Team Racing National Championship for the George R. Hinman Trophy, the NYYC Silver Panda accomplished something no other team has ever done before. Here is their report: “What an incredible event! Held October 19-21, the 2007 Hinman was one to remember with 132 team racers on 22 teams from the US, Canada, Bermuda, and the Virgin Islands were treated to some of the best team racing the US has ever seen. There are so many interesting stories associated with this year's Hinman that we could go on and on talking about it. Instead, we'll try to give you a quick recap and highlight some of the best parts of the event. “The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay, NY hosted the regatta and went out of their way for the competitors by clearing out their mooring field. This allowed the racing to take place closer to shore, which sped up the rotations. For anybody who has not been to SCYC before, the clubhouse sits atop a steep hill and overlooks the water, and this past weekend, the racecourse. This stadium style seating made it easy to scout other teams and learn the racecourse from above while watching the puffs roll down the course.” -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/1031 HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE RACING RULES? If you want to feel more confident when racing near other boats, you should get Learn The Racing Rules! This two-part DVD, written and narrated by Dave Dellenbaugh, uses live sailing and computerized animation to explain all the important right-of-way rules. Part 1 covers the essential rules and limitations that apply whenever boats meet. Part 2 explains the complex rules about marks and obstructions. Each is an hour long and includes text of all rules discussed. Produced by SEA-TV, it makes a great gift! To learn more or place an order: http://www.SpeedandSmarts.com READ CHARGES TO THE TOP Virgin Gorda, BVI -- Although the Volvo Round the World Race is currently Ken Read’s primary focus, on Tuesday he convincingly demonstrated that his small boat racing skills were still very much in place. Racing IC 24s -- a modified J/24 with a luxuriously large cockpit -- the former six-time World Champion jumped into a six point lead over Peter Holmberg after the first eight fleet races of the Bitter End Yacht Club’s Pro- Am Regatta. The five invited ‘Junior’ skippers and the five ‘Masters’ mixed it up together for these races in 10-14 knots of wind, with the BEYC guests ‘pulling all of the strings’ in their bright, Musto-provided crew shirts. Keith Musto is in third place overall, and is also at the head of the leaderboard in the Masters Division, with a 12 point advantage over Rod Johnstone. After a Lay Day on Wednesday for a trip to Anegada, the racing will continue on Thursday and Friday. -- Event website: http://www.beyc.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181 Overall Standings 1. Ken Read, 13pts 2. Peter Holmberg, 19 pts 3. Keith Musto, 26 pts 4. Ed Baird, 40 pts 5. Ben Ainslie, 42 pts 6. Rod Johnstone, 48 pts 7. Dawn Riley, 49 pts 8. Butch Ulmer, 52 pts 9. Bruce Kirby, 72 pts 10. Lowell North, 72 pts VIDEO OF THE WEEK The 2008 St Maarten Heineken Regatta is scheduled for March 6-9, and event organizers have made it a practice to produce highly entertaining promotional videos. Combine powerful music, intense narration, and dramatic footage of big winds, warm weather, and epic parties … do they really think this will this work? This video is as much a tease to attend the event, as it is a celebration for the sport itself. Racing during the day, and reveling deep into the night… sounds pretty good. Spare 3:41 minutes for some fun. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/1029/ THE MOST SUCCESSFUL OFFSHORE RACER OF HIS ERA An innocent dock-stander observing the arrival of boats after a long-distance race could be excused for thinking the sailors onboard had just endured an awful experience. Why else would so many of them, with sea bags packed and BlackBerries reinstalled on their belts, jump ship the minute dock lines are secured in a rush for air or land transportation to get back to their non-sailing lives? The answer, of course, is that they’re in a hurry to get away because those lives are so busy and so full of really important things to do, but it does make you wonder whether they went sailboat racing because they like sailing or to cross another activity programmed for their busy lives off their to-do lists. I wish Carleton Mitchell were here to weigh in on this. Well, he’s not here - Carleton Mitchell died on July 16, 2007, at the age of 96 - but fortunately he weighed in long ago with words that expressed an appreciation of sailboat racing not just for the competition and the challenge but for blessing fortunate participants with one more opportunity to embrace the joys of sailing. His words carried weight, and still do, because Mitchell was the most successful offshore racer of his era and remains, nearly half a century after he last sailed in a Bermuda Race, a legend of that bluewater classic. -- by Bill Schanen, Sailing Magazine, read on: http://www.sailingmagazine.net/fullby1107.html WHO DO YOU HOLD IN THE HIGHEST REGARD? Following the passing of Burke Sawyer in September, and with the spreading of his ashes and celebration of life on Friday, Nov 2nd, we received this letter from Fin Bevin. Burke had many fans, and he touched many lives during his sailing career. It got us to wondering who else was held in similar esteem. Who do you hold in the highest regard? Please reply to this Forum thread with the link below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- * From Fin Bevin: I have and will always hold Burke Sawyer in the highest regard. I first sailed with Burke on the 50' Kialoa (before there were numbers following the name). It was Midwinters at LAYC in 1961 (in which we won Class B), and the following weekend sailing around Catalina in the first race of the Whitney Series. I was just 15, several years younger that Burke, but he and the rest of the men treated me like a man. My next significant contact with Burke was in 1968. Skip Allan was putting together a crew for the Congressional Cup. For an odd assortment of reasons, Skip decided to sail the series for LAYC. Among the LAYC sailors he picked for the crew were George Griffith, Carl Klokke, and me. Also in the group were George Yule, Dave Crockett, and Burke. This was one of my personal sailing break-through events. I learned more in the days involved with the elimination series and the actual event than you can imagine.... most of that ... thanks to Burke. He was a fine helmsman and good skipper, but he was a GREAT bow-guy. "Trip - - Go". It was not an 9-0 sweep, but we did win that year. -- Read on, and post your comments here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5427 J/120 “PREMIER” BESTS 257 OFF TEXAS COAST Congratulations to Alex Ascencios and his crew on the J/120 “Premier,” finishing 1st in ORC Club Spinnaker and 1st Overall in the 21st Annual Harvest Moon Regatta, October 25-27. “Premier” flew a Carbon FiberPath Genoa and a full inventory of Ullman Sails on the 150-mile offshore race from Galveston to Port Aransas, Texas against a fleet of 257 entries. Contestants included the official Tall Ship of Texas “Elissa,” celebrating her 130th birthday. To optimize your boat speed and reliability racing offshore or around the buoys, contact Ullman Sails and visit http://www.ullmansails.com *Curmudgeon’s Comment: We chatted with James Malm, who sailed with Alex, and had this to report on the event, “We had a great crew and ended up finishing in just under 22 hours, with the strong current leaving Port Aransas Bay making for the slowest going in the last half mile. Great race, fun party...everyone stays...they don't post the scores, so the awards ceremony is filled with excitement & rum. The Harvest Moon is a must!” -- Event website: http://www.harvestmoonregatta.com SAILING SHORTS * The Preliminary Notice of Race for the 16th Biennial Bermuda Ocean Race (BOR) from Annapolis, Maryland to St. George’s Bermuda is posted on the event website. Scheduled to start Friday, June 13, 2008, the Official Notice of Race will be posted when changes to the 2008-2009 ISAF Offshore Special Regulations are finalized. The event is open to any single or multi-hulled sailing yacht, thirty feet length overall or greater, with a separate demonstration class for the Mini 6.5s. Classes will be established by ratings, with spinnaker, non-spinnaker, multi-hulled, double-handed, and one-design classes planned. -- http://www.bermudaoceanrace.com * Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009 entry Ericsson Racing Team announced that they have signed British navigator Jules Salter, who was the navigator to the the runner up, Pirates of the Caribbean, in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006. With Salter on board, the leading positions onboard Ericsson's international crew are in place. The skipper Torben Grael from Brazil was appointed last week, and the two watch captains Stu Bannatyne and Brad Jackson, both from New Zeeland, have been onboard since the start of the campaign. -- Complete release: http://ericssonracingteam.com/news_20071030.html CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: Nov 1-4 – J/105 North American Championship - Annapolis, MD, USA Nov 1-4 - Strictly Sail St. Petersburg - St. Petersburg, FL, USA Nov 2-9 - Long Beach to Cabo San Lucas Yacht Race - Long Beach, CA, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 Stevan Johnson: (revised to the 250-word limit) Regarding Loki's rudder problems, I have to agree with Andy Stagg (in Issue 2464) and others that emergency rudders are very problematic and of limited usefulness. The problem with designing emergency rudders is that: 1. You are unlikely to be able to test them in the conditions you'll need them 2. You are unlikely to practice installation in realistic conditions 3. You cannot determine effectiveness in any case without removing the original rudder. I once sailed 400 miles with the remnants of the original rudder while trying to rig an effective replacement. Nothing we had on board, including the spare rudder, drogues, or hatchboard/ spinnaker pole combo worked too well. I've also had to rig an emergency tiller once when wheel steering went out. The tiller lasted five waves, but we were eventually able to sufficiently fix. Both incidents occurred on the way to Hawaii on separate 2-3 year-old light 50'ers, and both were due to under-design of the original system. Wrong aluminum spec on the rudder shaft in the first case and under-spec'd turning blocks in the other case. We currently have a system we believe might work on my lightish 39'er, (Cookson 12m). However, we haven’t tested it, and I suspect it will be at best an aid in getting to shore - somewhere, probably down wind. It is certainly not a guarantee of clawing off a lee shore in breeze and waves. The pre-race inspectors, however, love it. * From Damon Roberts: Brooksfield, a Whitbread 60 designed by Bouvet Petit for the 92/93 Whitbread Round the World Race, carried onboard a simple emergency rudder, that could easily be fitted by the crew. It consisted of a set of pintles, a cassette type stock, a blade that could be slid through the stock, and a tiller (that also doubled as an emergency tiller for the main rudder). Carbospars built and engineered the rudder to initial drawings from Olivier Petite. The rudder was used in anger three times: first in the Bay of Biscay shortly after the start, secondly on the second leg from South Africa to Australia (for several days), and finally it was taken by rib to the rudderless Heineken in the Western Approaches. This rudder was engineered to take loads generated by boat speeds of up to 18 knots - not full race loads but a reasonable pace to get you home. In the following race, all the 60’s carried one. * From Jenn Dougherty: Pretty funny hearing all these critical comments about CNEV, the Spanish club Alinghi chose to be the Challenger of Record for the next cup. Folks, have you ever been to Spain? Remember back to all those critical comments about Valencia during the last cup? It can be okay on the surface, but there is a reason some folks called in the Tijuana of the Med, and it wasn’t all to do with the fact they pumped their pollution straight into the ocean. On second thought, maybe that is symbolic for how the Officials there follow the rules. Kind of like the old saying, “don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.” Spain is the friggin’ wild west, and they aren’t going to let some laws and regulations get in the way of their bigger goals. * From Linda Phillips: In response to Doran Cushing's enthusiastic plug in Issue 2465 for the Bitter End Yacht Club - Right On! I agree, the Bitter End experience is priceless but it does not have to be pricey. In fact, for some, the cost of the trip may be tax deductible. The resort has generously donated a week's vacation package for two to support the BVI Women's Sailing Team who will be competing in the Rolex International Keelboat Championship in November. For more information, please contact me at mailto:linda@doylecaribbean.com CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATIONS If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives. You will be afraid to cough. Special thanks to Speed and Smarts and Ullman Sails. |
