|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2892 - Thursday, July 23, 2009Scuttlebutt 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.Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Today's sponsors are Mount Gay Rum Apparel and New England Ropes THE SECRET AGREEMENT For Wednesday's issue of Scuttlebutt (2891), Cory E. Friedman wrote a comprehensive summary of the Tuesday' America's Cup 'ay in court'between Societe Nautique De Geneve (SNG) and Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) before Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich in the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court (http://tinyurl.com/kkybod). The following excerpt from the coverage on The Daily Sail's subscription website touched on some other interesting nuances of this ongoing saga: About the secret agreement between Alinghi and ISAF, at the end of the session the judge ordered that that be handed over so she could read it. According to (BMW Oracle Racing spokesman Tom) Ehman: "She said she would review it and I am confident that if there is anything in there that affects the conduct of the match, she will hand it over to us, which is the other thing we want as it is only fair it be disclosed to both sides." Another highlight of the session for Ehman was when Justice Kornreich addressed (SNG attorney) Barry Osteger with "I don't see anything in the Deed that says that they can't even build a second boat." So this is perhaps the first real confirmation that BMW Oracle Racing does indeed have a new multihull in build at their facility in Anacortes. What didn't get spoken about in court today (July 21st) for some reason was the venue. The deadline for announcing this is rapidly approaching - August 8, but the date of August 6 for this came up in court (although it was possibly an error). As we have previously written, Alinghi/SNG have interpreted the various rulings from the various courts this process has been through, as allowing them to pick a venue for the 33rd America's Cup in either the Northern or Southern hemisphere, whereas BMW Oracle believe their choices are Valencia or Deed compliant (i.e. southern hemisphere if the match is to be held in February 2010). According to Ehman this fairly significant issue was not addressed today. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/DailySail-7-22-09 GREEN CIRCUMNAVIGATION Eschewing earth, wind and fire, an intrepid sailor plans to circumnavigate the world in a 60 foot solar-powered boat. Backed by the Peoples Projects Foundation, Anthony Howarth is building the Solar Circumnavigator to raise awareness about environmental issues and give the world a "solar power wake-up call." According to Howarth, the boat will have "no internal combustion engines, no sails, no wind generators and no fuels of any kind onboard," a restriction that includes cooking fuel. Howarth expects to begin building the boat later this year, with the voyage taking place in 2010 or 2011. Should the Circumnavigator get in the water before Planet Solar, he even has a chance at being the first to accomplish a round-the-world journey powered only by the sun. Howarth told Wired.com the Circumnavigator would feature cells with 30 percent efficiency that self-orient towards the sun - allowing for output 50% greater than a fixed solar array. The cells will power a DC motor driving six fixed-speed propellers that will be activated in pairs as needed. More power? More propellers. According to Howarth, the multi-propeller setup is more efficient than variable-speed propulsion. When the boat arrives at a port of call, Howarth plans to use an existing solar dinghy to reach shore and one of two existing solar runabouts to travel on land. - wired.com, full story: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/07/solar-boat/ HISTORY LESSON (Marinette, WI) - The two sailing ships docked in Marinette, Wisconsin this week may not be searching for the New World, but the replicas of Christopher Columbus' Nina and Pinta offer visitors a chance to explore the history of these sailing vessels. The two floating museums arrived in Marinette on Tuesday afternoon and will remain docked at Nestegg Marine, 300 Wells St., through early Monday. The ships are open to the public for self-guided tours starting today. It's the first year both ships are sailing together in the Great Lakes, said senior captain Morgan Sanger. The replica of the Nina was hand-built in the early 1990s using methods and materials that would be historically accurate, a venture funded by the Columbus Foundation. The replica of the Pinta - a slightly larger ship - set sail from Brazil in 2005. This group does not include a replica of the Santa Maria - Columbus' flagship on his first voyage to the Americas - although there's a reproduction of this vessel in Columbus, Ohio."It offers people an idea of what life was like 500 years ago and gives them a glimpse into the past," Sanger said. A five-member crew plus a captain keep both ships operational and maintain them on the waters. -- Green Bay Press-Gazette, http://tinyurl.com/lxd3kx WHAT YOU NEED BESIDES A MOUNT GAY RUM HAT Mount Gay Rum apparel - this is what you also want to be wearing on the water this season. The Pirate's Lair offers the best available technical gear and accessories all with the legendary Mount Gay Rum logo. If you're sailing in the Chicago to Mackinac Race, find the Mount Gay Rum regatta gear at the Island House, Mackinac and also available at many locally sponsored regattas. View the entire Mount Gay Rum line from Pirate's Lair and place your order at http://www.pirateslair.com/store/index.html - visit the new Mount Gay Rum website at http://www.mountgay.com TALE OF TRANSPAC'S TAIL END CHARLIE By Lynn Fitzpatrick, World Regattas Honolulu, HI (July 18, 2009) - When private investigator, Larry Malmberg, walked through the lobby of a Waikiki Beach hotel, he didn't blend in with the crowd of tourists assembling in small groups. Unlike them, Malmberg wasn't dressed as if he was about to go to brunch or on a tour of Oahu. Wearing the same sweat stained shirt, shorts and hat that he worn for much of the last 18 days, PI Malmberg wasn't looking for a person or trying to unravel a mystery. Malmberg was looking for the key to a deluxe room, a long shower, a large stable bed and a cup of fresh island coffee to change his aura. Malmberg had sailed into the harbor earlier that morning on his Catalina 38, Hassle. His was the final Transpac 09 boat to arrive in Hawaii. Everything about Malmberg suggested that he was not going to set foot on his boat again anytime soon. "Can I get you a cup of coffee?" I asked. "Coffee. That would be great," said Malmberg as he plopped down in hotel lobby chair complete with all the back support and cushioning that was missing from the cockpit seats of his Catalina 38. "It was Captain Ron's law," said Malmberg. He mimicked the lines as if he had said them a thousand times throughout the voyage that had approached 18 days in duration, "If anything can go wrong, it will happen out here; away from land." -- Read on: http://www.worldregattas.com/ViewInfo.php?ContentID=301 AUDI MEDCUP * Sardinia, Italy (July 22, 2009) - Winners of the season"s opening regatta in Alicante in May, Matador (ARG) proved the most consistent TP52 performers of the second day of racing off Cagliari in the south of Sardinia. With a first and a second place in gentle sea-breeze conditions which struggled to reach double figures, the Argentine team which has Italian Francesco Bruni as tactician read the difficult first windward-legs well. If, quietly yesterday, there were whispered concerns that Emirates Team New Zealand might be on the brink of running away with the season when they posted a perfect three bullets opening day, the Kiwis were back to earth with a bump today when they rescued a fifth and a fourth, their regatta lead trimmed to a single point by a buoyant Matador crew who changed gear well in the more unstable breeze. -- Day Two complete standings: http://2009.medcup.org/results2/venue.php?trophy=3&class=tp52 QUOTE / UNQUOTE Terry Hutchinson (USA), skipper-helm of seventh place Quantum Racing (USA): "The biggest mistake we could make at the moment would be to over-react. What we have to focus on for sure is making good starts, figuring where the first shift is coming from and concentrate on our good boat handling. But for sure, we are now experiencing what some of our competitors went through last season when we had a speed edge. Now we kind of have to re-calibrate and try to figure out where we go from here." -- http://2009.medcup.org SAILING SHORTS * Remsenburg, NY (July 22, 2009) - A moderate southwesterly breeze made for excellent sailing for the 48 competitors on Moriches Bay today on day one of the U.S Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship (USJWSC), sponsored by LaserPerformance and hosted by the Westhampton Yacht Squadron. Four races were completed on Wednesday, and it was an outstanding day of racing in Laser Radials for the 49 competitors. Callie Naughton (Marblehead, Mass.) of Pleon Yacht Club is the current leader. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/mqvc9l * Riva del Garda, Italy (July 22, 2009; Day 3) - The Australian teams of Steven Thomas and Blair Tuke and Hayley Outteridge and Iain Jensen are leading the 29er World qualifiers into the fleet splits for gold, silver, bronze and emerald flights. Outteridge/Jensen scored a 1-2-1 for the day to move them ahead of US sailors Judge Ryan and Matt Noble who scored 3-5-3 and are now in 3rd overall. Thomas and Tuke sailed a discard in their second race of the day posting 1-17-2 results. The Ora filled early in today's racing and began at 18 knots increasing to 20 knots. - Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7891#7891 * (July 22, 2009) - The winds were light again today at the Hobie 16 North Americans. Only one race was completed on the third day of racing but it proved to be the undoing of the leaders Jason Hess and Hugo Guzman from Guatemala who were disqualified in the race. The Guatemalans already have an OCS in a previous race and the series only has one throw-out. This moves the Puerto Rican team of Enrique Figueroa and Victor Apo more comfortably in the lead. The US team of Geoff Becker and Kristina Hankins are however still within striking distance of the leaders with two days to go. - Complete coverage: http://www.hca-na.org/ * Volvo Penta - which produces leisure marine and commercial engines - reported a 32 per cent decrease in sales in the second quarter of 2009 to SEK 2,258m. An operating loss of SEK 165m, compared to an operating income of SEK 458m, was attributed to a decline in sales volumes, credit losses, under absorption of costs in production and costs pertaining to layoffs. "Global demand for marine engines continued to weaken during the second quarter. In North America, demand for marine engines is at a historically low level and the industry has been hit hard by bankruptcies and financing problems," says the company. IBI News, http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20090621144605ibinews.html * Taking advantage of pre-entry program for the 2010 Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Oahu, Hawaii - which does not even start until July 5, 2010 - thirty boats have already signed up. The race organizers are putting the finishing touches on the 2010 Notice of Race which they expect to post shortly, at which point the pre-entry program ends. - http://pacificcup.org/enter NEW ENGLAND ROPES POLY-TEC FIRST ON BOTH COASTS Congratulations to Samba Pa Ti, the Transpac 52, which just completed a stellar performance, in class and overall, in the most recent Transpac race. On the other side of the continent, Sarah, an X41 was winning its class in the Marblehead to Halifax race. Both boats put on a fresh set of Poly-Tec covers from their shore crews. Poly-Tec is the latest in abrasion resistant covers from New England Ropes, the leader in performance line solutions in North America. Contact your local rigger for a fresh set of Poly-Tec. -- http://www.neropes.com POWER WENCHES The SailJuice Blog was "blown away" by the potential use of power wenches in the 33rd America"s Cup in maxi-multihulls. Here's just a brief excerpt from Andy Rice's interesting story entitled "Power Wenches and Movable Ballast drag Cup to new low". The skippers of the two teams appear to be deeply divided on this issue. In an interview with the news wire AP, Alinghi's Brad Butterworth is quoted as saying: "This is the most interesting design Cup that's ever been, I think, because there's just no parameters. You can do what you want." Well, that's one way of putting it, Brad. His old mate Russell Coutts, skipper of BMW Oracle Racing, takes a more prurient view: "An engine [is that a euphemism for a power wench? Ed.] in an America's Cup boat? If that's permitted, it will change the game forever, I think, the wrong way. I don't think I'm alone on that one. - Full commentary: http://tinyurl.com/m3eatb STORIES FROM THE 1979 FASTNET The Rolex Fastnet Race 2009 on August 9th will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the saddest chapter in the 608 mile race's illustrious history, one that began in fine weather, and then suddenly became a terrifying ordeal which led to 24 boats being abandoned, five that sunk, and 15 sailors that died. To honor this anniversary, Scuttlebutt is asking all participants of the race to share stories. The following is from Dennis Durgan: Sailing aboard Italian Admirals Cup racing yacht "YENA" owned by Sergio Doni, I will never forget when the wind started to increase and the waves started to build! I made the decision to sail to the SW of Fastnet Rock so that we would be able to have an easier approach when it came time to round the mark which was one of the scariest mark roundings that I have ever done in my life. The wind was blowing in excess of 60 knots and there was white foam blowing in the air against the loom of the light. The waves were like a big washing machine! Once we got around, and started on our course back home, the wind started to really build and the waves were breaking for what seemed like half way down the face. We were running with a double reefed mainsail and #4 jib as we felt it was better than going with shorter sail as we were able to keep up a little more speed so as to sail up and down the steep waves that were getting blown off by the wind. It was like skiing down a steep slope in that if you don't keep up a little speed, you can't make the turns necessary to survive. When daylight arrived, the ocean was white with the biggest waves that I have ever seen! We saw several larger yachts under storm jib only or bare poles looking like they were having a tough time steering. We broached a few times with all of us on deck pulling ourselves back aboard with our life harnesses. The breaking waves would sometimes engulf the boat and fill the cockpit with water which really made the boat much heavier and harder to sail. I think having larger cockpit drains and open transoms in today's boats are a much safer idea! -- http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7805#7805 => Curmudgeon's Comment: I encourage others to share their stories as well. They can be sent to mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com or posted directly into the forum thread link above. 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: July 23-26 - Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta - Marblehead, MA, USA July 23-26 - Techno 293 Jr. Windsurfing U.S. Nationals - Hood River, OR, USA July 24-26 - Cal 25 Class Championship - Long Beach, CA, USA July 25 - Bayview Mackinac Island Race - Port Huron, MI, USA July 25-26 - Youngstown Level Regatta - Youngstown, NY, USA July 29-Aug 2 - Santana 20 Class Championships - San Diego, CA, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Please submit 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 Wilder Lewis, Sutton, Quebec: As a regular reader I have to comment on the unbalanced coverage that you have provided on the AC silliness. Friedman may be a good lawyer but he knows nothing about fairness in journalism and I would wish for a more worldly interpretation of the legal debates that swirl around this unfortunate debacle. A casual read of European press demonstrates that, while still parochial, it certainly has an aura of fairness. And the endless whining of the BMW Oracle team is starting to make my teeth ache. * From Ray Tostado, San Pedro, CA: (Regarding, multihull America's Cup analysis in Scuttlebutt 2885) A very simple observation drawn from the multiple times of watching "Water World" at 2 am: Trimarans use the leeward outboard hull, (amas) as a buoyant righting arm; the windward hull as a ballast righting arm. BUT the horror of the windward hull is that it continuously, (on some designs) leaves the water contact and returns with a traumatic slap. This must be very annoying to any crew. A catamaran on the other hand has no leeward righting arm, and the windward hull acts in some sense as a ballast. I have no study of the prismatic of the wetted surface for either hull design, just that tris seems faster. OK, that the mast on a cat is amidships to the hulls does make the leeward hull a righting arm. I guess going fast means putting up with the slapping sound on a tri. After seeing photos of BMW Oracle under way it leaves one speechless as to the evolution from America to today's designs. BMW's girth must represent some fantastic righting arm. I wonder what the numbers are. CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Did you hear about the American tourist in Italy who thought a Caesarean Section was a neighborhood in Rome? Special thanks to Mount Gay Rum Apparel and New England Ropes. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
