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SCUTTLEBUTT 3133 - Wednesday, July 14, 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: North Sails and Summit Yachts. WIN-WIN FOR "OLD" RACE BOATS Courtesy of Seahorse, widely regarded as the pre-eminent performance sailing publication in the world, American correspondent Dobbs Davis sheds some light on the boat donation tactic. Originally published in the July 2010 issue of Seahorse: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, you've got your 65-foot high-tech carbon offshore racing yacht that you've had modest success with over the last four years, but it's getting just a little long in the tooth as the new designs are starting to leap-frog you around the track. You're told their latest rig and appendage innovations just don't work on your boat, as the retro-fit would be costly and add too much weight in the structure to be competitive at the top level of the game. So, you've started talking with a couple of designers, soliciting ideas about a new design, but then the thought occurs: what to do with your (now) old boat? Of course you'll list it with one of the reputable brokers you know, but it could take years to move even though it was built and maintained impeccably, has an impressive race record, and can still be reasonably competitive in the right hands (not to mention all those sails...). While your plans to do a new boat may not be contingent on the sale of the old one, you'd like to see it move into new hands without letting it go at such a ridiculous price to undermine the value of others out there in the market. One option available to US owners faced with this predicament is donation. Yes, on the surface this doesn't sound any different than the pejorative chuckle "he gave it away," but in fact there is an excellent system that if the circumstances are right creates a win-win situation for all parties involved. The intricacies of the US tax code are well-known and keep an entire industry flourishing here, but there is a provision which recognizes the charitable donation of an asset of substantial value to a non-profit foundation as eligible for a tax deduction. The rules are strict, and not everyone can benefit by such a move, but basically if the organization or foundation has the proper tax code status as a charity, and can keep and use this asset for a period of at least three years, then it passes muster with the IRS. This last provision is a key element to weed out donations made to organizations who then set up dodgy deals, like taking on ownership on paper then leasing it back to the original owner on a handshake whilst the original owner realizes the tax break. "These donations are not for everyone," cautions Bill Jenkins of Thoroughbred Yacht Sales. "The parties involved have to clear on the rules, and it's important they don't get abused." Jenkins has brokered numerous donation deals, but works only with organizations which meet the criteria. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/0630/ SEAHORSE DISCOUNT: For the past 4 decades, SEAHORSE has provided readers worldwide a monthly window to the world of performance sailing, giving unparalleled insight to the technical details of the America's Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, offshore mutlihulls, Audi MedCup, and a variety of other forms of one-design, box rule, and handicap inshore and offshore sailing enjoyed around the world. Scuttlebutt readers have an opportunity to enjoy a 35-45% discount on new subscriptions to SEAHORSE. Go to http://www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/ and use the promotion code DOBBS281153 to access your special discount rate. SHARING EXPERIENCE The Great Lakes is getting geared up for their distance races, with the Port Huron to Mackinac Race (204nm and 254nm course lengths) to commence on July 17th. Here local legend Wally Cross shares knowledge gained from having done the race 41 times: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The good news is you have already completed the hard part by entering your boat and organizing your crew. In the days leading up to the race start thinking about the following: * Weather for the race (sites I use) 1. Sailflow.com 2. Windfinder.com 3. Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting System 4. Eastern Great Lakes Recent Marine Data There are many more sites, but I like the four above and look at them every day starting the Monday prior to the race. Hopefully you have an internet cell phone that can get Sailflow and Windfinder during the race. It is also interesting to look at the buoys, but be careful on the time the information is released. Some boats have the luxury of using a computer with Deckman or Expedition. This is nice because you can download your boats VPP's and then download weather GRIBB files and compute a route. The route takes in consideration your boat's speed relative to the changing weather. All the information above are only clues and the more they overlap the more reliable they become. I look for patterns and then relate the weather predicted to observations. Look outside the boat and ask yourself if you recognize thermal clouds (white puffy cumulus clouds) or frontal clouds (long string like darker clouds) or the high cirrus clouds( long feather clouds). Thermal clouds can and will change weather predictions while frontal clouds usually relate to the predicted future wind. The high cirrus clouds let you know the wind direction very high up... (20,000 feet). Always think about the direction of the gradient wind and how the thermal will change the direction and speed of the wind. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/3y6qj56 MORE WEATHER: North Sails and Southern Spars have partnered with Sailing Weather Service to provide TWO free weather forecasts for the 2010 Pure Michigan Bayview Mac Race. The first forecast will be sent out on the afternoon of July 14 and the second on the afternoon of July 16, the day before the race begins. These two forecasts will include: weather synopsis, forecast discussion and a wind table. To sign up, visit North's online weather center: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/7240/Default.aspx THINK GREEN, BUY BLUE @ NORTH SAILS As part of North's 10+ year commitment to recycling/repurposing sails, we are once again going to make it worth your while to THINK GREEN and BUY BLUE. If you buy a new North sail between July 5th and September 3rd, 2010 (in North America only) and recycle your old sail, you'll automatically receive 25% off the purchase price of your new North sail. We'll also send you a pre-paid UPS return label with your new sail so you can return your old sail to our recycling center. A free tote bag made from recycled sail cloth by Sea Bags, Inc. will also be sent to you! For complete details, click here: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/14647/Default.aspx LASER RADIAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Largs, Scotland (July 13, 2010) - More than five hours of frustrating drifting on the Clyde off Largs today proved to be in vain for the sailors awaiting racing at the Laser Radial World Championships. The mirror like waters were only occasionally ruffled by light airs from conflicting directions, and only - as the race officers' version of Murphy's Law would have it - as the appropriate signals were made, was there anything close to a breeze. With racing to conclude on Wednesday, forecasts conflict as to how much or how little breeze there will be and the opinions seem to be towards either extreme. Even if there are three races for the Women's gold fleet there can only be one discarded result and Bouwmeester has not finished outside the top ten so far, whilst Multala has a weighty 49th from Race 4 as her throwout. In the Men's fleet it is champion Marcin Rudawski (POL), also the defending 2009 who enters the last day at Largs with a six points lead and only a seventh place as his discard, whilst fellow Pole Wojciech Zemke lies second and the USA's impressive 16 year old Mitchell Kiss lies third. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/395yl8j Current standings (Top 10 of 114; 6 races, 1 throw-out) 1. FIN, Sari Multala, 15 points 2. NED, Marit Bouwmeester, 22 3. USA, Paige Railey, 27 4. FRA, Sarah Steyaert, 35 5. BLR, Tatiana Drozdovskaya, 36 6. CRO, Tina Mihelic, 40 7. USA, Anna Tunnicliffe, 47 8. BEL, Evi Van Acker, 47 9. LTU, Gintare Scheidt, 49 10. FRA, Mathilde de Kerangat, 55 Full results: hhttp://tinyurl.com/Radial-Worlds-2010-results DELTA LLOYD 470 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP The Hague, The Netherlands (July 13, 2010) - After a first day lost initially to too little wind and then too much, it was with considerable relief that three races for the Men and two for the Women could be held today at the Delta Lloyd 470 World Championship. But with breeze that ranged from 4-8 knots and shut down altogether at the start of the third race for the men, and the north-flowing tide building to 2-3 knots over the course of the afternoon, conditions were highly challenging. Class act of the day was certainly Beijing Gold medallist Malcolm Page (AUS) and his new (since 2009) helm Matt Belcher, who scored a perfect 1-1-1 to take the lead in the Men's class. In the Women's 470, American 2008 World Champions Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar matched the Australian men with a perfect scoreline. "Today was one of those days that both of us will remember for a long time," said Maxwell. "Both races were trapezoid outer loops sailed with current going upwind, making the upwinds short and the downwinds very long. The current definitely helped us. Where we grew up, there's a lot of current between Long Island and the mainland coast." Regarding the cancelled racing on Monday, Maxwell noted that the day could have been a lot worse. "With looming dark clouds on the horizon, the race committee sent us into shore at about 4:30 p.m. (after being postponed all day). They made this decision about ten minutes too late. We knew we were racing a bad thunderstorm. Coach Skip Whyte and Jonathan Farrar got us to the boat ramp just in time. We had rolled our mainsail on the way in, and sprinted up the launching ramp dragging our 470. We were able to drop our jib just five seconds before a squall with 40+ knots hit us. Some other teams were not as lucky as we were. Boats capsized in and outside the harbor, washed up on the beach, and ruined equipment and broke masts. We felt like the day had been a stunning success." Event website: http://www.470worlds2010.com Maxwell/Farrar website: http://www.470teamusa.com/wordpresstesting/ NOT VERY WORLDLY This week the bay of Portoroz, Slovenia on the Adriatic Coast will be centre stage for the Extreme 40 teams lining up for the inaugural Extreme 40 World Championship (July 13-18). The 40-foot lightweight and super-fast catamarans have been the platform for the professional Extreme Sailing Series circuit in Europe and Asia, where events typically host less than ten boats. While some exceedingly exciting video has been generated from Extreme 40 events, it comes as a shock that this class would qualify for the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) to approve it to hold a World Championship. The ISAF Regulations (Reg. 18) describe what it takes to host a World Championship, with stipulations to insure that a class is 'worldly'. The Extreme 40 is not worldly. Regarding the event, Jerome Pels, Secretary General for ISAF comments, "The Extreme 40 has been granted this World Championship for this year by the (ISAF) Executive Committee, outside of being a class. The way this works out with the numbers is a very big concern, therefore the situation will be reviewed after the Event." Two time Olympic medalist Mitch Booth (NED), who has been involved in the development of the Extreme 40 reports, "We are now at 19 boats in existence but to be fair, it was only six weeks ago that The Ocean Racing Club decided to have this World Championship, to actually commit and do the event which is a bold move at such short notice. It would have been great if we had more boats here but under the circumstances, six is probably a realistic low number, but a realistic number for the first event at such short notice. I see this as our chance to demonstrate that we can conduct a real good event and call it a World Championship." With the genie now out of the bottle, it will be notable to see what ISAF does following the inaugural Extreme 40 World Championship, which has attracted six boats from five European countries. -- Scuttleblog: http://sailingscuttlebutt.blogspot.com/2010/07/not-very-worldly.html SEA TRIALS IN LATE AUGUST Summit 40, number 1, the first example of the new 40 ft. IRC racer/cruisers by Summit Yachts, is entering the final assembly stage. The US built, Mark Mills designed boat will be starting sea trials in late August, and will have its public debut at the Newport International Boat Show, in September. Summit 40-001, which has been built for an experienced East Coast yachtsman, will then be shown at the Annapolis Boat Show in October. For more information on this fabulous new model, go to http://www.summit-yachts.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE "(America's Cup defender) BMW ORACLE is off doing some filming this week to decide whether the next America's Cup will be in a multihull and they are using two Extreme 40s as their tool to decide what the next Cup will be." -- Tornado Olympic Medalist and World Champion Mitch Booth, concerning the prospect for the next America's Cup to be in multihulls. A KINDLER, GENTLER APPROACH When over 300 young sailors descend on Deltaville, Virginia for the 2010 United States Optimist Nationals on July 17-24, there will be a group of sailors that will not be competing for trophies, but rather for life lessons and friendships formed. They will be registered in the GreenFleet, a concept launched by Tom Coleman for beginning racers who aren't quite ready to join the competitive crowd on the 'big' course. Here Tom explains: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * About the GreenFleet: "GreenFleet is where beginner racing sailors 'learn their manners'. We slow things down. It's our job to answer ALL their questions and quell their anxieties as well as to fuel their desire to learn. My philosophy is that I am teaching life-skills and that sailing is the medium, not really the object. I am known for making GreenFleet 'FUN', but I am a stickler for proper technique as well as stressing sportsmanship and the rules. It's not uncommon to hear parents rave that their child learned more at a 2-4 day GreenFleet event than they did all summer in sail camp." * About choosing between the GreenFleet and the competitive fleet: "You will want to discuss this with your sailor and probably the sailor's instructor or sailing director. (Note: Beware that even if your racer has a year or so under their belt, they may have the best experience, learn more and still be very challenged in GreenFleet. It's a shame more kids don't stay in GreenFleet longer. Usually it's the parents and home-program coaches pushing them a little too hard, but mostly because they are not aware of what I offer at these events). Placing an unwilling, untrained sailor on the competitive course may be detrimental to their love of the sport. I've seen it happen time and again." * About coaching the sailors while racing: "One of the biggest differences between the Competitive Fleet and GreenFleet is that the bottom half of the fleet can be actively coached. You'll see me and other select coaches zipping in and among the competitors urging them to sit properly and pull their sails in, to 'get their heads out of the boat' and watch for wind shifts. It's amazing what can be taught under these conditions. We expect every sailor to learn new skills and get better during the regatta. and they always do." -- Complete interview: http://optinationals2010.org/2010/06/30/green-fleet-qa/ PHOTOS: Over 200 Optimist sailors from around the world came to Kingston, Canada in late June for the IODA North American Championship. Photos by Dave Hein: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0713/ SAILING SHORTS * Medemblik, The Netherlands (July 13, 2010) - After racing was cancelled on Monday due to bad weather and a high risk of thunderstorms, two races were completed today on the fifth day of the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship for the 79 teams in the Sonar, 2.4mR, and SKUD 18 events. With racing to conclude on July 14th, leading the North Americans Scott Whitman and Julia Dorsett (USA) are second in the SKUD 18, just three points off the lead. -- Event website: http://ifdsworlds2010.com/index.php * (July 13, 2010) - Spirit of Australia has won the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race after finishing fourth in Race 13. Simply finishing this penultimate stage of the 14-race series gave them the single point they needed to secure the title. The event, which began in September 13, 2009, will finish on July 17 when all ten yachts will race up the Humber for the homecoming and prize-giving ceremony in Hull Marina. -- Race website: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com * U.S. Congress is considering legislation that would assess a manufacturer fee on every motor vehicle sold, including trailers, the National Marine Manufacturers Association reports. The fee would be assessed quarterly on manufacturers and would go to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to fund its vehicle safety operations. The NMMA recommends that members call or send a note to their elected representatives in Congress, urging that the fee be eliminated for trailers. -- Soundings, http://tinyurl.com/36jcrhe 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 * Comment on Scuttleblog: (re, Bermuda story in Scuttlebutt 3132) I imagine this information was not pertaining to the Bermuda Race at all, but the 2003 Bermuda 1-2 race, in which Everest Horizontal lost her keel bulb on the return leg and her crew was rescued by a passing cruise ship. The boat was later recovered, dismasted, and towed back to Bermuda by her owner, Tim Kent, who had completed the Around Alone earlier in the year. One of the other boats in his class in the ound the world race was Wild Eyes, formerly BTC Velocity, sailed by Alan Paris of Bermuda. I'll bet this is the story that the Sunderland's heard about the "Bermuda Race". A pity to not get your story straight, though they are correct that it can and will happen even in the North Atlantic in the summer. That said, tempting fate in the Southern Ocean in the winter is just careless, and there is no excuse. -- http://tinyurl.com/Scuttleblog-7-13-10 * From Marc Jacobi, 4-time Laser Trials competitor: While I understand the changes made to the US' Olympic selection criteria, and acknowledge that the changes align US procedure with most other countries', there is one sad truth: by not having any part of the selection process at home, our Olympic sailors now have absolutely no incentive to compete in the United States. This means more costs for the aspiring athlete (especially ones just below qualifying for the US Team), a further widening of the gulf between our Olympians and us mere mortals, and a lack of sharing of knowledge/inspiration with the sailors back home. Kinda sad. No doubt the new system saves US Sailing and the USOC a lot of money (Trials events are expensive, especially in classes with provided boats)--wonder if the savings will go toward better funding of more athletes? Somehow, I doubt it... CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION You might be a sailing bum if your car's hood ornament is the top off of a sailing trophy. Special thanks to North Sails and Summit Yachts. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
