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SCUTTLEBUTT 2899 - Monday, August 3, 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 Kaenon Polarized, JK3 Nautical Enterprises, and LaserPerformance. A QUIET (SO FAR) REVOLUTION by Kimball Livingston Can I get an Amen to the proposition that windsurfing looks dismal in the USA? Down numbers. US Sailing Team Olympians finishing 60-something at world championships. Scant visibility accorded a discipline that outside the USA is second only to Lasers in Olympic sailing. And if you're not a windsurfer, why even care? Unless perhaps you care about dropout rates in junior sailing. In that case, my friend, pull up a chair. Adversity breeds opportunity, and opportunity was on the water - and in the air - last week on San Francisco Bay, where a 16-year-old from Florida, Austin Emser, won the Techno 293 North Americans. Don't be lulled into indifference by a modest turnout for that regatta (18). Ditto the Techno class at the Windsurfing Nationals completed earlier at the Gorge. It matters that Technos are the worldwide standard for beginning juniors. There is a quiet revolution under way. Soon after the Qingdao Olympiad the "opportunity" thing started gnawing at me, and I had an idea that was absolutely brilliant. So I approached key people at my yacht club to tell them we ought to crank up a junior windsurfing program and grow us some champions to fill an obvious void. The response? They were already all over it. Thus the St. Francis Yacht Club hosted the 2009 Techno 293 North Americans, and I'm not so brilliant after all. But, somebody made something happen. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0802b/ LASER RADIAL WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Karatsu, JPN (Aug 2, 2009; Day 6) - Sari Multala from Finland wins the 2009 Women s Laser Radial World Championship, besting 87 entrants from 30 countries. After beginning the 12 race series with a 15-10, Sari attained only top seven scores afterwards, winning five of the next 9 races before earning the privilege of sitting out the final race. The wind conditions for the six day event began light, with each day gaining more strength to close out with 15-18 knots for the finale. A good battle for second took place between Sophie de Turckheim of France and Anna Tunnicliffe from USA. It came down to the last race. Sophie bounced back from the disappointment of a BFD in race 10 to sail well today and gain a second and fifth to clinch second place overall. Anna had sailed a very consistent regatta with only one placing outside the top ten until her 15th place in race 11. Other top scores from North America included Mexican Tania Elias Calles Wolf (14th) and Americans Sarah Lihan (16th) and Paige Railey (21st). -- Final results: http://events.laserinternational.org/en/events/results/100z33 Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0802/ KAENON POLARIZED – PRESCRIPTION SUNGLASSES How does that sound? Kaenon Polarized prescription sunglasses, featuring patented SR-91 lenses. If you’re champion navigator Peter Isler, it feels like Viagra for your eyes! Pedro’s performance depends on his Kaenon Rx lenses, and frankly, can’t go sailing without them. He needs distance correction, but also has to read charts and small details up close, so he requires Kaenon’s Freestyle Progressive prescription lenses. An individually customized multifocal made to his exact personal measurements. Kaenon Polarized prescription sunglasses - the medical device for your eyes. Ask your eye doctor for a prescription. Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. http://www.kaenon.com WOMEN'S MATCH RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Lysekil, SWE (Aug 1, 2009; Day 5) - Nicky Souter of Australia is the 2009 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Champion, defeating home hope Marie Björling in the final in Lysekil, Sweden today. The last day of the 2009 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship was full of surprises. The big sensation of the day was Australian Nicky Souter’s impressive dominance, beating 2008 and 2007 World Champion Claire Leroy in the semi finals (3-1) and taking three straight victories against Marie Bjorling of Sweden in the final. Swedish Anna Kjellberg beat Leroy in the battle for third in two straight victories. Following the opening round robin series for the twelve invited teams, the top six advanced to the quarterfinal stage where an additional round robin series was to determine the final four that would advance to the semi finals. However, when strong winds cancelled racing on Friday, the top four from the opening series were elected to advance to the semi finals. -- Full story: http://www.sailing.org/news/29104.php 3 DAYS - 15 HOURS - 25 MINUTES - 48 SECONDS (August 2, 2009) - Less than a year after the launch of the 131-foot maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V, Pascal Bidégorry and his men made history by setting a new reference time on the crossing of the North Atlantic. As the largest ocean trimaran in the world, BP V covered the 2,921 mile route between New York and Cape Lizard in 3 days, 15 hours, 25 minutes, and 48 seconds at an average speed of 32.94 knots, thus improving the time by 12 hours, 32 minutes, and 06 seconds set by Franck Cammas on Groupama 3 in 2007. Additionally, Bidégorry’s team set a new 24-hour distance mark by covering a distance of 908 miles at an average speed of 37.8 knots. Both accomplishments are subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. Also competing for the North Atlantic record was Frank Cammas and crew aboard the 103-foot Groupama 3, which set off 2 hours 35 minutes ahead of Banque Pop, and completed the route in 3 days, 18 hours, 12 minutes, and 56 seconds. Both teams will by vying for the Jules Verne Trophy this fall, awarded to the fastest crewed round the world circumnavigation via the three capes. Sally Collison photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0802A/ STAR WORLDS Varberg, Sweden (August 2, 2009; Day 1) - Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (POL) started off the 2009 Star World Championship the same way they began the 2008 Star World Championship. They finished with a bullet after getting off to a great pin end start, rounding the first weather mark in the lead, loosely covering the fleet and maintaining a lead of nearly a minute. When Kusznierewicz was asked about the similarity between this year’s start to the World Championship and last year’s he said, “We’ll see about tomorrow.” Kusznierewicz/Zycki stunned everyone in 2008 when they won the second race of the World Championship series also. -- Read on: http://www.worldregattas.com/ViewInfo.php?ContentID=310 Results: http://www.giveandgo.se/vss/racing_results.asp SAN DIEGO J/FEST 2009: IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CREW! Southern California’s J/Fest is at the San Diego Yacht Club September 25-27. J/Fest is Southern California’s largest and most attended regatta… exclusively for J/Boats. Don't miss out on the biggest J/Boat event of the year! This year J/Fest will be focused on celebrating and thanking your crew and those who contribute to the camaraderie and success you have during the sailing season. There will be exciting one design racing, great prizes, and fun parties. Register for J/Fest today at http://www.sdyc.org/raceinfo/races09/jfest Questions? Contact J/Concierge Amanda Denton at JK3: mailto:amanda@jk3yachts.com SAILING SHORTS * For the second year in a row, the Naval Academy's Reichel-Pugh 66-footer Zaraffa was first to finish the 70-mile course from Maryland's current capital to its original one in the 36th annual St. Mary's College of Maryland Governor's Cup yacht race. Following a rainstorm, skies cleared just in time to see the fleet of 135 off on the race down the Chesapeake and up the Potomac and St. Mary's rivers. -- The Capital, read on: http://tinyurl.com/lgcq4u * Spanish police in Palma de Mallorca beat up and detained three Russian yachtsmen participating in the Copa del Rey international sailing regatta, according to a Friday report from Executive Director of the Russian Sailing Federation Oskar Konyukhov. He said crewmembers of the RUS7 yacht Denis Rozhkov, Nikita Khrekov, and Roman Konstantinov were beaten up late on Tuesday when they were returning to the hotel. -- Read on: http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14194556&PageNum=0 * (Harbor Springs, MI) - The GL70s had two days of great racing on Little Traverse Bay at their annual Northern Michigan Regatta. The six boat fleet saw a wide range of conditions with winds from over 20 knots to under 5 knots for the three races, with Lance Smotherman’s Santa Cruz 70 Details edging out the win. - Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0801/ * The Royal Ocean Racing Club's IRC Web site is seeking contributions from boat builders/agents, designers and race organisers for the two sections entitled ‘New IRC Boats' and ‘IRC Racing'. These new features are to help promote the great designs and regattas that IRC is encouraging around the world. -- Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7919 * The shortlist for the European Yacht of the Year 2009/10 has been finalized, with nominated boats to be tested in Ijmuiden in September and Barcelona in November. This is the 7th edition of the award and the winners will be announced at the Dusseldorf Boatshow in January 2010. -- Yachting World, full story: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20090627113943ywnews.html * Detroit, MI (August 2, 2009) - Four consecutive second place finishes over nine races propelled Kyle Rogachenko (Collegeville, PA) to his second career U.S. Singlehanded Championship. The Detroit Yacht Club (DYC) on Belle Isle, assisted by the Crescent Sail Yacht Club (CSYC) of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. welcomed 20 of the country’s top qualifying Laser sailors to this US SAILING National Championship series event, sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. and LaserPerformance. In second was 2009 U.S. Youth Sailing Champion, Zeke Horowitz (Sarasota, FL). -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/q5zo9r * Armchair experts around the world now have the chance to test their skills against the 2,500 sailors racing on 300 yachts in the 2009 Rolex Fastnet Race, starting on August 9th. The Royal Ocean Racing Club has launched The Virtual Fastnet Race which will mirror the 608-mile race known to all as a true test of offshore sailing skill. The course runs from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, around the Fastnet Rock off the South West coast of Ireland and back to Plymouth. -- Full details: http://fastnet.rorc.org/pdf/news/news-2009/sail-the-virtual-fastnet-race.pdf CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar INTERNATIONAL YACHT CLUB CHALLENGE AT THE BVI In the centuries old tradition, the Commodore of the Royal British Virgin Islands Yacht Club is inviting other yacht clubs from around the world to send teams to compete in the inaugural International Yacht Club Challenge. The IYCC will be part of the 2010 BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival, March 29 - April 4. To sweeten the pot, Sunsail Yacht Charters is providing up to a 10% discount for all those booking for the IYCC, a free charter to the winning team and a perpetual trophy. Although this is the inaugural year for the IYCC, it will be the 39th for the BVI Spring Regatta and as in the past eleven years, the 2010 edition will be hosted and presented by the Nanny Cay Marina and Resort. -- Read on: http://www.bvispringregatta.org/news.php?news_id=104 FIVE HUNDRED That's how many brand new boats LaserPerformance will supply to events across the globe this year. If you sailed in a championship regatta, chances are good that it was on a LaserPerformance boat. LaserPerformance is committed to growing our sport and getting more people out on the water. Find out more at Laserperformance.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/LaserPerformance-Sailboats/92222353425 TUSSLE OVER PLAN FOR MID-EAST AMERICA'S CUP The America's Cup is to be staged next February in the Middle East for the first time in its 158-year history if the holder, the Swiss team Alinghi and the Societe Nautique de Geneve have their way. A deal has been done in the Swiss canton capital with little-known Arab Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah but it is sure to be opposed by the challenger, the San Francisco-based BMW-Oracle. Ras al-Khaimah, at the southern end of the Persian Gulf, has a total population of about 300,000 people, over 80 per cent. of whom live in its one city, is ruled by Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi, and has a land area of about 650 square miles. Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli is convinced that an earlier ruling by the New York Supreme Court overturned the provisions of the late 19th century deed, drawn up by the New York Yacht Club and setting down the rules of the event, including a stipulation that the event could only be staged in the northern hemisphere from May to October and in the winter months had to be staged in the southern hemisphere. In that earlier ruling, Judge Herman Cahn had said that the best of three races starting on 8 February could be staged in Valencia “or any other location”. Alinghi interprets this liberally; Oracle, headed by software billionaire Larry Ellison, interprets this as meaning any other location under the terms of the deed or that mutual consent is a pre-requisite of any variation. -- The Independent, read on: http://tinyurl.com/mgpnfg * Murray Jones, strategist of the Alinghi team in the 32nd America's Cup and coordinator of the Alinghi 5 catamaran testing, provides an update on their early trialing: http://tinyurl.com/ma68eh * As if BMW Oracle Racing CEO Russell Coutts didn’t have enough credibility in the sport, now his home country of New Zealand has honored him. Coutts will now officially be known as Sir Russell Coutts. Sir Russell was one of 88 New Zealanders recognised by Helen Clark's Government with the country's highest honours after it abolished titles. -- NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10587961 * Recent video from both teams: Alinghi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl6S4SxuxcY BMW Oracle Racing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjteT6QTOlY THE AMERICA'S CUP HAS BEEN MUGGED By Angus Phillips, Washington Post Team New Zealand won the America's Cup from Dennis Conner in San Diego in 1995. After a victory tour, the Kiwis put the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in modern sport, on display at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland. In March 1997, a protester of Maori heritage slipped into the trophy room with a sledgehammer hidden on his person and bashed the silver ewer to a pretzeled hulk when no one was looking. The yachting world was aghast. The mug was swiftly resurrected by craftsmen in England, where it had been built in 1848. It was reinstated at the RNZYS and put back on display (in a guarded, bulletproof case) until 2003, when a boyish Swiss billionaire named Ernesto Bertarelli won and took it off to Europe. My question is, where is that sledgehammer-wielding man when we need him? This time he'd have to bring more powerful weaponry. This calls for a bomb. A big one. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/nbeuxv 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 Ray Tostado: On the subject of stored power and the America’s Cup, as a 45 year Teamster Union member I am obviously very much opposed to powered devices on Race Boats. Teamsters vigorously fought automatic transmissions and air brakes too. High dollar owners will soon feel the benefits of a one-time installation and low maintenance as opposed to the incessant costs of daily wages and on shore financial maintenance for, "grinders". A totally anti-union perspective. On the other hand, I can design a power system with one 75 watt solar panel and 2 D-8 batteries, electric hydraulic power train, and give you a good 12 hours of daylight winch trim. All at the whim of a button touch. Even in a traditional 12 meter tacking duel. According to Prof. Einstein, and his casual equation hobby. If E=MC2, then a 135 pound grinder is more effective than a 265 pound grinder when considering crew weight and subsistence. One just has to train them to do their fingernails and hair while on shore. And keep their trim finger on the ready button. * From Howard Spruit, Santa Cruz, CA: I have been a Multihull enthusiast since my first ride on a "P Cat" in the early 60s. So I have been very interested and exited to see the America's Cup game choosing to use and develop multihulls for their event. I am, however, VERY upset that they have chosen to use motors on the boats for any reason. I believe that crew should do all the work and that a motor to trim sails of move ballast OR DO ANYTHING is wrong. The existence of a motor should not be allowed. Sailing competition should be an intellectual and physical test. * From Frank Lawson, Port Ludlow, WA: The profile of Stuart Walker (Scuttlebutt 2896) reminded me of the time I was crewing for Sam Merrick on a Soling in the 1972 Olympic campaign and trials. We arrived with Soling in tow for the CORK regatta at the end of the summer, and the latest issue of One Design Yachtsman was being distributed to competitors, so we went at once to Stuart's column for our fellow SSA clubmate's words of wisdom. The essence was...only the helmsman/skipper can steer the boat, so when difficulties arise on board, Skip must divorce himself from said problems and focus on steering the boat to best advantage. Approaching the leeward mark in one of the light air CORK races, we were a few boats astern of Stuart, whose boat seemed immobile as we approached the mark. We rounded outside of Stuart's boat and noticed Stuart, in Lake Ontario, pipe still firmly clenched between his teeth, unwrapping the spinnaker sheet from around the boat's rudder as his two crew stood in the cockpit, hands on the gunwale, staring down into the lake and observing the proceedings going on below. But, without Stuart's guidance and input of unbounded energy and enthusiasm through the 60's and 70's, the Severn Sailing Association probably would not be the exemplary club that it is today. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Can’t feed’em, don’t breed ‘em. Special thanks to Kaenon Polarized, JK3 Nautical Enterprises, and LaserPerformance. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
