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SCUTTLEBUTT 2114 - June 13, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.VALENCIA IS HEATING UP The Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12 is fast approaching and each team is scrambling to be ready to improve its standing in the final competition of 2006. Act 12 has been scheduled to coincide with the schedule of the America's Cup Match next year, giving the teams an opportunity to compete in what are hoped will be similar weather conditions to the grand finale of the 32nd America's Cup. The weather has certainly changed dramatically from what we experienced during Louis Vuitton Acts 10 & 11, just a few weeks ago. With higher afternoon temperatures, the sea breeze regime is becoming more established and the teams training out of the Port America's Cup are enjoying 10 to 16 knot Southeasterlies each afternoon. Over the weekend, the 12 America’s Cup teams were required to inform the Race Committee which boats they intend to sail in Louis Vuitton Act 12, beginning on 22 June. There’s just one change from Act 11, and that’s with Desafío Español, who have indicated they intend to race ESP 88 for the very first time. The Spanish will join Shosholoza, Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa Challenge and BMW Oracle Racing in racing a boat built for this 32nd America’s Cup. The other two new boats that have been sailing since the end of Louis Vuitton Act 11, Alinghi’s SUI 91 and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team’s ITA 90 were not on the list of declared boats. Neither was United Internet Team Germany’s GER 89, which was put in the water in Kiel for the first time last week. Of course that doesn’t mean we might not see any of the three racing in 10 days time. Teams have until 14:00 on Wednesday 21 June – 24 hours ahead of the first race – to make a final decision on hull selection. Just ahead of Louis Vuitton Act 10, BMW Oracle Racing switched to its new boat, USA 87, which it raced to victory in Act 10. Numbers and statistics -- A new feature has just opened on the America’s Cup website. The 'Racing Statistics' section features all the information you could ever want to know about your favorite team. Ever wondered how your team matches up against the Defender in the pre-start? Or how often Areva Challenge has beaten +39 Challenge when the wind is less than 13 knots? It's all right here. The section is a great tool to explore interesting information about the 12 teams of the 32nd America's Cup and can turn up all sorts of interesting facts. http://www.americascup.com IDEAS THAT ARE WORKING Last week was the first weeknight event of one of the most interesting sailing programs in the country. 12 yacht clubs, 36 boats and 100 people raced on Tuesday evening at 6 different venues in the first of four weeknight Summer Solstice Series team race regattas. The program has grown from 4 to 12 clubs in the last year and is proving to be a model for getting people out on the water for some seriously fun racing, within today's time and social constraints. Participating yacht clubs include: American, Centerport, Indian Harbor, Larchmont, Manhasset Bay, New York, Noroton, Northport, Pequot, Seawanhaka Corinthian, Stamford and Storm Trysail. The Summer Solstice Series was started in 2005 as a way to demonstrate how racing sail boats can be a fun, competitive learning experience for sailors who are short of time but not short of a love for the sport. The series was a tremendous success and brought over 100 new-to-team racing sailors "back" out on the water in a competitive but supportive environment. The original four clubs has grown to 12, with several more asking to join in. The key to the "SSS" is the same fleet-building approach that works for any class, but with the added help of creating the critical mass that is often missed in early start-ups. - Chris Woods, complete story: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2651#2651 HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? We all need some sun exposure; it’s our primary source of vitamin D, which helps us absorb calcium for stronger, healthier bones. But it doesn’t take much time in the sun for most people to get the vitamin D they need, and unprotected exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays can cause skin damage, eye damage, immune system suppression, and potentially skin cancer. The new UV self-adhesive sun-meter from Sailing Pro Shop and SHS tells us when we’re getting overexposed. Get three free meters with the purchase of a Dryshirt, DryGuard, or PermawiK while supply lasts. 800-354-7245, 562-594-8749 (international), http://www.sailingproshop.com/sunmeter.htm ONE MORE TIME? Having won this race eight years ago, sailed a leg in the last edition and seemingly led his Pirates of the Caribbean crew to second place this time round, Paul Cayard remains undecided on whether he will sail a fourth Volvo Ocean Race campaign in three years time. Cayard, who will be 50 when the next race begins, is rumored to be considering another race, possibly applying his motivational skills to a team management role, but says he is not looking ahead to 2009-2010 at this stage. He said, “I’m not thinking four years down the road. “I’ve enjoyed the race, I always enjoy these races. But it’s been a hard race physically. I’ve had another good run at it and I’ll just have to evaluate the situation if it arises in the future.” His remarks differ to those he issued in England last September at the boat’s christening when he insisted he would not consider another race. After finishing third in the Rotterdam In Port race yesterday, he said, “What can I say? I have had a fun time with this race. “I’ve already been three times round the planet; I’ll be 50 then (the next race). I have had a good run, I don’t really need to tempt fate. But I’m not set on anything.” Should he choose to sail again, Cayard admits he is uncertain whether he favors the Volvo Open 70. “I do and do not. They are fantastically fun to sail, but they are also right on the edge in terms of seaworthiness.” -- Volvo Ocean Race website, http://tinyurl.com/el4nx BIG FLEET - GREAT CONDITIONS Pleasant, medium West wind and beautiful sunshine – ideal circumstances for sailing. This is how the Open Nissan Cup 470 European Championships started in Balatonfüred, Hungary Monday. Thirty-four nations are represented by 112 male and 52 female pairs. In the Women’s Division Stefanie Rothweiler/ Vivien Kussatz (GER) showed their mastery with a 1-2. The top North American women’s teams are: 15. Amanda Clark/ Sarah Margenthaler (USA) and 17. Jennifer Provan/ Carol Luttmer (CAN). Italy’s Enrico Fonda/ Marco Guerra scored 2-3 to lead the Men’s Division. The USA’s Mikee Anderson/ David Hughes are the top North Americans in 42nd place. Stuart McNay/ Graham Biehl (USA) won the first race in their flight but an OCS in the second race presently has them ranked 60th. -- http://www.470euro.com/ MY NAME IS RIO! Newly designed from the top down, I was built to protect you from the elements! With fabric that gives you better breathability and water resistance without sacrificing design and comfort. I come in two colors to match your moods, plus I have cargo pockets to carry your important things like money and your cell phone. Come see more of me at http://www.camet.com SAILING SHORTS * At 00h43 GMT Monday the 110-foot CapGemini and Schneider Electric trimaran Geronimo crossed the finish line setting a new West to East Pacific record from Yokohama, Japan to San Francisco, USA. Having set out from Japan on 29 May 2006, Olivier de Kersauson and his crew of eight took 13 days 22 hours 38 minutes and 28 secs to conquer the 4482 miles of the voyage. They therefore bested the former record held by Bruno Peyron 82-ft Explorer by 18 hours and 44 minutes. -- http://www.superyachting.com * Authorities said this afternoon that it is unlikely that Philip Merrill, the newspaper publisher and diplomat whose 41-foot sailboat was found drifting alone Saturday in strong winds, would be found alive and that they were scaling back their search to a recovery operation. The Coast Guard suspended its search this afternoon. Maryland Natural Resources Police, which had six small boats out during the rescue operation, said they would continue the search for a body. "We've gone beyond the survivability tables," said Chief Petty Officer Steve Carleton, a Coast Guard spokesman in Portsmouth, Va. -- Washington Post, http://tinyurl.com/jvfef * On Monday June 12th, the organization of the 29th Zwitserleven Round Texel Race received 418 pre-entries. As of Wednesday June 14th, sailors from all over the world will drop in and the annual catamaran spectacle will start on the Dutch Wadden Island Texel. While the sailors are out challenging the elements to round Texel as soon as possible, people onshore can follow the exciting competition on the Texel beach. The pictures will be broadcasted live on a big screen. Those who have to stay at home can watch the live reports on the event’s website www.roundtexel.com thanks to I-net. -- http://www.roundtexel.com * The family of the late Jim Mertz of Rye, New York have donated Jim's sextant as a trophy for the Storm Trysail Club entry in the Newport-Bermuda Race that in the opinion of the flag officers of Storm Trysail Club has the best performance. Jim holds the record for the most Bermuda Races, including 30 Newport to Bermuda and nine Marion to Bermuda. Jim passed away a few months ago, but his yacht Allegra will be raced to Bermuda later this week by Jim's partner David Schwartz-Leeper and crew. Jim's ashes will be spread in the Gulf Stream. * The European Union has given the go-ahead for Valencia to install 1,000 CCTV cameras to ensure security for special events, such as the visit of the Pope. However, the lateness of the European decision in effect means that the cameras will finally be ready for the Americas Cup races. Valencia is the first city in Europe to undertake these measures. -- AC 32 Challenger Commission Blog, http://www.challengercommission.com/ * The Swedish Victory Challenge has begun construction of a new boat of the 32nd America’s Cup at their shipyard in Göteborg. The Boatbuilding Manager is Killian Bushe, who was Boatbuilding Manager for the two Dutch ABN Amro boats. SWE 63, SWE 73 and the new boat have all been designed by Mani Frers and his team. Even if the America’s Cup’s nationality rules have been relaxed, the boats that are used in the challengers’ series, the Louis Vuitton Cup, and in the America’s Cup final must have been built in the home country of the challenging yacht club. -- http://www.victorychallenge.com * North Sails has partnered with Sailing Weather Services to provide one free weather forecast for the Newport to Bermuda Race, which will be sent out on Thursday, June 15, the day before the race starts. North Sails will also be providing free forecasts daily for the Lands' End Chicago NOOD Regatta, from June 16-18. To sign up, visit North Sails' online weather center: http://na.northsails.com/ew/ew_main.taf * The Volvo Extreme 40’s put on a show today for the crowds in Rotterdam. Both the warm weather and the fresh breeze gave the teams a chance to shine as the leader board mixed up and the Randy Smyth-skippered Tommy Hilfiger moved to the top. By the time the third race came through every catamaran team knew that, if they won the start then they had a good chance of winning the race. This was due to a reaching course being set for them because of space restraints in the river and the direction of the wind. -- http://www.VolvoExtreme40.org * Orange II back to red code -- The window of opportunity that Bruno Peyron has been studying for a few days with the intention of setting sail from New York on June 14 has closed up again. The skipper of the maxi Orange II therefore decided yesterday evening to go back to Red Code. The eyes of the shore-based weather team are now fixed on a possible start on June 19 or 20. GET SOME EXERCISE Sail a Laser Radial. Get a great work out, make some new friends, and join one of the largest one-design classes in North America. Radial sailing is faster and more competitive than ever. Get into a Radial! Learn more at laser.org and find your local dealer at http://www.teamvanguard.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thought at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Richard Shulman (edited to our 250-word limit): The first two days of racing for the Onion Patch Trophy were just completed here in Newport. The OP series combines races of the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta, the Bermuda Race and the RBYC Anniversary Regatta in Bermuda. Turns out this IRC series is being scored using something called CAS (Corrected Average Speed) which takes the course length divided by each yachts corrected time - the boat with the fastest CAS is the winner. Each race had different classes sailing different courses. Worst was one race with a big wind shift. The big boats sailed an eight leg "WL" with four of the legs reaches until the windward mark was moved. The smaller boats sailed six legs with only two reaching before changing to the new windward mark. It's not hard to figure out that with a higher percentage of reaching (50% versus 33%) the corrected speeds are biased in favor of the big boats. Because the NYYC portion of the Onion Patch is a series, the CAS from each individual race will be averaged to determine places in this first part of the regatta. How can a high profile IRC series like the Onion Patch use such a patently biased and unworkable system of handicapping? We can argue about which rating system is the most fair but this past weekend showed me that this sort of off the water manipulation of corrected times was a waste of an otherwise perfect racing day. * From Doug Schickler: In response to Garry Hoyt (one of my all time favorites!): Trying to get different boats by adjusting the rule will likely just cause the fleet to cluster at the new limit. You have (had) the right general idea, but I am not sure such massive change to the format is needed or wanted. Instead, I prefer the idea to change the racecourse. Getting to the top mark first makes these boats upwind machines, but why is the top mark so important? I think the main issue is the amount of time in a race it takes to establish domination over the opponent. Once you get ahead you control more of the variables on the racecourse. That is starts are so important and why the fine art of starting in match races should be left as it is. How about a biased racecourse instead? Put the start line just 1/8 - 1/4 mile from the top mark! Then have an 8 mile downwind. This would all but guarantee a 1 boatlength lead for one boat going into the first run. The rest of the race can be as it is now. A few dozen VPP runs should show the right place to dial in the first beat length, and where the design type will tip given a windspeed. * From Peter Wormwood: As a long time sailor (and sometimes designer) of multihulls, I can say that the America 's Cup probably will always belongs to monohulls. As Bob Merrick accurately pointed out, modern multihulls are very tactical, but the tactics are different than monohull sailors are used to. To make the shift, the sailors would have to learn a new way to play the game. Since they're having fun with the game they have, why change it. That having been said, I can also tell you that, having sailed some of the finest multihulls afloat, I've noticed two different attitudes about multihulls - there are those who dislike them and have negative comments about them, and there are those who love them. The latter group is entirely composed of those who have actually sailed on one! I would say to critics of multihulls that, to avoid looking very foolish in print, you may want to sail on a modern performance multihull before commenting - you may discover that you have a whole different set of comments once you have the experience to know what you are ta lking about... * From Donald Brewster: Bill Munster's estimate of MOB recovery time for "an 86ft canting keel-full on racer" raises serious ethical questions: should an owner expose crew to imminent loss of life to further their ego in competing under such conditions without having a realistic mode/chance for recovering an MOB alive? Perhaps crew should be equipped for longer in-water exposure and with better self-locating/homing gear, especially since all the requisite solutions are already commercially available. Since we are harnessing new designs, materials and technologies to sail harder, faster and under more extreme conditions, shouldn't we protect our sport as well as our sailors with the same attention to personal safety. * From Max Rosenberg: I too have wondered how difficult it would be to swim in sailing gear. After finishing a Wet Wed race hear last night in Santa Barbara, I got to redefine what Wet is on a Wet Wed Race. I tripped over a dock stair walking down the dock and fell head over heels into the water. It was amazing how difficult it was to swim with standard sailing garb. Lightweight waterproof jacket, shorts and sailing shoes and it was difficult to get back on the dock. The jacket trapped water in it and the shoes made it impossible to kick. By the time I made it back on the dock, maybe 15 seconds, my jacket had 1-2 gallons of water in it. I can't imagine what it would be like in foulies, boots and 25 knots of wind chop. * From Bruce Thompson (re Rules Compliance): I would suggest that to get better compliance with the rules, we ought to re-consider the decision to delete the rule requiring hailing. It would be quite an education for today's sailors to read the rules circa 1969!. For example, the individual recall flag hadn't yet been introduced; and each yacht was solely responsible for starting properly (which is where this thread began). Good communication among the racers leads to good rule compliance. It's that simple. * Gary Wood: The Quarter Tonners also fostered a lot of boat ownership amongst young sailors in the NW in the mid-70’s. There were 20 or more Bruce Kirby designed San Juan 24’s, a bunch of custom boats like the Cory Johnson designed and built Foul Weather Bluff, Boogie Man and Wildcat Boogie, the Bob Perry Union Jack and a fast little yellow boat from the then unknown Laurie Davidson. I shouldn’t forget the Doug Peterson designed Pusillanimous and its notorious crew. We had a great time racing (and partying) in our own classes at Seattle Yacht Club and Corinthian Yacht Club events, and at Bellingham Yacht Club’s memorable PITCH. It was the most fun I have ever had as an owner and sailor. I could find and restore my old boat (Wildcat Boogie), but unfortunately I can never be 29 again! * From Adrian Morgan: At about the time Paul and his gang of pirates were slatting about off the Butt of Lewis last week, a little 25ft cruising boat and crew of two (plus dog) were enjoying sublime sailing in the same neck of the woods (Hebrides). While the pirates were fretting about sail trim and boat speed, the crew of Sally II were coasting along at about 2 knots, barefoot, basking in the sun without a care in the world. We had about 10 hours of daylight to play with (what's this about going through the Pentland Firth at night?) , no waypoints to worry about, no competition snapping at our tail, a well stocked wine locker and a smorgasbord of possible anchorages to choose from. Ah, the difference between racing and cruising. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATIONS If you're trying to make your mark in the world, watch out for the guys with erasers. Special thanks to Sailing Pro Shop, Camet International, and Vanguard. |
