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SCUTTLEBUTT 2930 - Wednesday, September 16, 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 Summit Yachts and Harken BREAKING NEWS Cory E. Friedman, Scuttlebutt's Legal Commentator, has a copy of the Agreement between ISAF and SNG. Cory's letter to Justice Kornreich lays out the status of the matter - and that letter is now exclusively posted on the Scuttlebutt Forum. To read it, just follow this link to the Forum and open the Kornreich.pdf attachment: http://tinyurl.com/qfgw7f A MAGNIFICENT SHOW ABOUT TO BEGIN Newport, R.I., USA (Sept. 15, 2009) - Seemingly overnight, the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court facility has transformed into an international village teeming with hundreds of people, including sailors from 14 nations who have arrived to compete in the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup. "It's obvious that a lot of work has gone into this," said Craig Healy, a Soling world champion who will skipper the St. Francis Yacht Club's team. "It's very well organized." With a Wednesday (Sept. 16) through Saturday (Sept. 19) racing schedule, most of the 19 teams - all of which represent yacht clubs and have adhered to strict guidelines for crew composition -- checked in this past weekend, attended a Swan 42 Performance Symposium, and began practicing on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound on the course once used for America's Cup races when the New York Yacht Club last hosted that contest here in 1983. By Monday, a 7900 sq. ft. tent and another at least half its size had been erected on the lower half of the yacht club's sprawling lawn, famous for its gloriously steep sweep down to the Newport harbor front. In the smaller of the tents, where post-racing hospitality had already started, sponsor Sperry Top-Sider, known for inventing the world's first boat shoe, was busy outfitting every sailor with a new pair of its "Ventus" model shoes and happily servicing a steady stream of visitors who were checking out the merchandise at Sperry's "Beach Cottage." "Every rig has been tuned exactly the same," said Paul Zabetakis, president of the Swan 42 class and chair of the impressive Technical Committee that has been formed to oversee every aspect of boat detail, "and with the sails absolutely matched, these boats will be more level than they ever have been since the fleet's formation." Event Chair John Mendez added that the sailors also have access to PredictWind, which enables every sailor to have equal wind and marine forecast information. "I don't know how much more equal we can get," said Mendez. Since the NYYC owns the suits of sails and plans to use them again in two years for the second running of this event, it took the liberty of emblazing them with the event's logo and clear identification of each team so spectators can root for their favorite entries. And spectators don't even have to be in Newport to follow the action. At 11 a.m. on each racing day, they can log on to Kattack for "Live Race Tracking" (http://tinyurl.com/oyue8a), which according to Kattack representative Mark Fortin is not only entertainment for those who can't be on the race course watching but also a performance report for the sailors, who will be able to view the day's happenings on a big screen under the hospitality tent. - Nightly reports, blogs, daily video and results will be available at: http://www.nyyc.org/eventnews A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN It was announced in Scuttlebutt 2920 that after an eight month national search the Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) had appointed Paddy Boyd as its new Executive Director effective September 15, 2009. As Paddy was a longtime friend of Scuttlebutt, frequently providing his perspective from Ireland, we checked in with him about his new position: * SBUTT: Explain the position you are taking on with the CYA? PADDY BOYD: "The Executive Director is the senior paid staff position with the Association." * SBUTT: What is the role of the ED in the CYA? PADDY BOYD: "Day to day operations will be my direct responsibility; however, the ED is also expected to play a key role on the strategic side of the organization, working with the Board to implement the longer term plan." * SBUTT: What are some of the short term and long term tasks that you have identified? PADDY BOYD: "As in any organization, financial stability is of paramount importance. The structure of the CYA will be examined with a view to developing the most efficient and appropriate governance model. We will commence a Strategic Planning process with all the stakeholders and incorporate the revision of the Long Term Athlete Development Framework." * SBUTT: How large a staff is at CYA? PADDY BOYD: "There are currently ten staff at CYA." * SBUTT: What is the structure in Canada regarding membership to the CYA? PADDY BOYD: "Canadians are members of the CYA and their Provincial Sailing Association through their clubs, who pass on their membership dues to CYA and the relevant PSA." * SBUTT: Well, it will be good to have you now on this side of the Atlantic. PADDY BOYD: "Yes, we had a going away party Saturday night, travelled all day Sunday and most of Monday. But I am really looking forward to this exciting role working with the Board to serve sailors, clubs, Provincial Sailing Associations and all the stakeholders in Canadian sailing." Additional information: http://tinyurl.com/n7ua54 MEET THE DESIGNER The Newport International Boat Show is the official introduction of the new Summit 35 Racer/Cruiser. Mark Mills, designer of both the highly successful Summit 40 and the Summit 35, will be at the show on Thursday and Friday. Plan to come and meet Mark, and check out the 35 as well as the remarkable Summit 40. The 35 will hit the water in just a couple of weeks, and it promises to be as fast as it is beautiful. Check us out at: http://www.summit-yachts.com BREEZE ON Gusts of up to 35 knots hammered Weymouth and Portland today for Tuesday's second day of world class race action at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, but despite the testing conditions British hopes continued their solid start to their regatta occupying three top spots at the home leg of the ISAF Sailing World Cup finale. Finn sailor Giles Scott leads the table for Skandia Team GBR having posted a 1,2 in his two races of the day, escalating him to first from yesterday's eighth place, with fellow Brits Andrew Simpson and Iain Percy continuing to occupy the top rung in the Star class after another race win today. Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Ally Martin also retain their 100% record in the new Elliot 6m match racing class after beating Mary Rook's fellow British crew in the one match that today's difficult conditions allowed. The biggest climber of the day was the 2008 Finn Class Olympic Silver medalist Zach Railey (USA) who put a disappointing 9th and 26th from Monday behind him to post a 2, 1 in Tuesday's windy races. In race four he really found his form, leading round the top mark in the extreme conditions and holding on for the win. As a result, he climbed 11 places into sixth place overall. Following are the North American teams who after two days of racing are in the top ten in the respective classes: * Finn: Zack Railey (USA) 6th of 37 * RSX Mens: Ben Barger (USA) 8th of 43 * 2.4mR: Paul Tingley (CAN) 5th of 14 and Mark Le Blanc (USA) 7th of 14 * 49er: Erik Storck/ Trevor Moore 4th of 43 * Sonar: Doerr/ Freund/ McKinnon-Tucker (USA), 1st of 9 * SKUD 18: Scott Whitman/ Julia Dorsett (USA), 1st of 6 John McRoberts/ Brenda Hopkin (CAN) 3rd of 6 Complete results: http://www.sailracer.co.uk/events/18401/results.htm QUOTE / UNQUOTE Survival was the name of the game for many sailors today as the wind broke the 30 knot barrier in Weymouth. With conditions at the edge of sailable for many boats, the race committee kept the fleets to two courses, each manned with plenty of safety boats. On the second run it was survival conditions, no pole running. Half way down the run a massive puff came down the course causing chaos and taking one rig out. We adjusted our course and caught the puff perfectly, planning down the run, rig pointed skyward. - Excerpts from the blog of Brad Nichol who is sailing in the Star fleet with Andrew Campbell. Full report: http://nicholsailing.blogspot.com/2009/09/windy-test.html AUDI MEDCUP CIRCUIT The weather, or more specifically the imminent threat of lightning, took its toll today off Cartagena where the first races for the TP52 Series at the Caja Mediterraneo Region of Murcia Trophy had to be postponed. A long delay ashore was followed by more waiting on the water but in the end there was no racing today. "First, there was no wind so we were postponed ashore," Paul Cayard explained. "Then, we went out at about 1400. A few squalls passed over the area pulling the wind all over the place. Then, it rained hard and it still is. Let's hope tomorrow is better. Hard to be much worse, really." The schedule stands with the Coastal Race still planned for Thursday, but the forecast is not much more promising. - Full story: http://2009.medcup.org/news/index.php?id=1361 HARKEN ULTIMATE SAILING CALENDARS The 2010 Harken Ultimate Sailing calendars are here! This year's action-packed sailing photos include ONO's crew under the all-seeing eye of CXG's towering spinnaker, a silhouetted Moth flying towards the light, and the jagged landscape of the 40th Barcolana's starting line. FREE with $100 purchase. http://www.harkensport.com SAILING SHORTS * Malletts Bay Boat Club, Colchester, Vermont - The wind was up today for the 60-boat Lightning World Championship. In the best breeze of the week, three races were sailed, in chilly conditions. Conditions are tricky - the results show most top competitors have picked the wrong side and paid the price at least once or twice. After six races with one discard, the leaders are: 1. David Starck, 23 points; 2. Matt Fisher, 26; 3. Allan Terhune, Jr., 28; 4. Tito Gonzales, 37; 5. Jody Lutz, 39. - http://tinyurl.com/mylyfj * Westport, CT (September 15, 2009) - Long Island Sound's seabreeze exhaled as if had emphysema, one lung and was toting around a respirator. The water was flat during the first two races of the 47-boat Star North American Championship being hosted by Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport, CT. At times, the current was flowing in the same direction as the wind's mighty gasps, which registered two to four knots. Standings: 1. George Szabo, Rick Peters - 2,4 - 6pts; 2. Peter McChesney, Shane Zwingelberg - 12, 1 - 13; 3. Brian Cramer, Matt Johnston - 7, 10 - 17; - Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/nywvcc * After a long, icy summer spent traversing the Northwest Passage, the crew of the Around the Americas vessel Ocean Watch, will kick off a series of U.S. port visits with a special presentation about the expedition at the New England Aquarium in Boston on Monday, September 21 at 7 p.m. This event will provide the public an opportunity to meet the crew of Ocean Watch, as they lead a photographic presentation of the Arctic leg of this challenging 13-month expedition circumnavigating North and South America. The project, conceived by Sailors for the Sea, is designed to document the impacts of climate change. Complete schedule: http://tinyurl.com/nxy27s * Strictly Sail Miami is making a temporary move to Sea Isle Marina for 2010. The show will be co-locating with the in-water powerboat portion of the Miami International Boat Show. Strictly Sail Miami will have a dedicated sailboat pier and a designated area for sail-related booth exhibitors. The show's producer, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), and trade association Sail America feel the traditional location, Miamarina at Bayside, was not fitting for the projected scope of the 2010 show and the move will address exhibitor space needs and ensure Strictly Sail Miami is viable in the years ahead. - http://www.strictlysailmiami.com/ 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 Dick Enersen It should not go unsaid in this forum that the late Bob Allan (Scuttlebutt 2928) not only contributed to our sport in many, many ways, but also, along with Mrs. Allan, produced two of the finest sailors of my generation, Robert M. III (Skip) and Scott. They also produced a very nice lawyer, (not a misprint) in daughter Marylee. Skip's exploits and observations have been well reported in Scuttlebutt over the years. Scott, a couple of years younger, has been less prominent on the water lately, but was a hell of a good sailor, and sailmaker, in his day. Each of the brothers, for example, won the Congressional Cup, seriatim, in '66 and '67. It has been my pleasure to know the whole famdamily since the early 60s. Bob Allan had a great deal of which to be proud. * From Rich Roberts The passing of Bob Allan this week led me to search for a bit of background info. I was floored by the depth and quality of anecdotes and other information he had provided me over the years on various sailing subjects. First of all, this quote when discussing his organizational efforts and fund-raising role in kick-starting from nothing the highly successful sailing programs at UC Irvine and Orange Coast College: "It's one of the few [activities] in which humans do nothing destructive. A boat leaves no mark in the water, uses only free air and sun and moves without noise. But most important it allows people who are crippled, injured--even blind--to sail and compete." Allan, a Stanford graduate, was later honored for service to the Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Association. Allan also was among the group that launched the Newport to Ensenada Race (now "the World's Largest International Yacht Race") in 1947. The Newport Ocean Sailing Association (NOSA) had been running some offshore races and met to discuss the idea. Board member George Michaud suggested a race to Ensenada, then just a sleepy little Mexican fishing village on the Baja California peninsula. Allan, who was at the meeting, said later, "The first couple of years weren't meant to be a race as much as it was a diplomatic deal to get us sailors into Mexico for cruising." - Read on: http://tinyurl.com/rc3cts * From Tripp Alyn, SEISA Grad. Secy. 1986-95 (edited to our 250-word limit) With the passing of Bob Allan (Scuttlebutt 2928) we've witnessed the passing of an era. Bob was clearly the "father of west coast collegiate sailing" and now joins Jack Wood and Leonard Fowle (east coast collegiate sailing), and G. Shelby Friedrichs, Sr. (southern collegiate sailing), who all passed on before Bob, in that "Afterguard in the Sky." Bob's dedication to college sailing was tireless and many a battle was fought by this tenacious leader. Over 20 years ago Bob told the story of how the "east coast college sailing establishment" was reluctant to allow west coast schools to sail in the college nationals. When Bob countered with a plan to hold a separate college nationals on the west coast circumstances abruptly changed which resulted in the first truly national championship. Additionally, Bob enlisted the help of such men as Donald Douglas (Douglas Aircraft), Cornelius Shields and Humphrey Bogart to support college sailing. Bob had a serious concern that college sailing was too focused only on the dinghy events which favored smaller, lighter crews. Thus, Bob became an ardent supporter of the singlehanded, sloop and match racing champion- ships which would allow bigger sailors to fairly compete. With the low-point skippers in A & B divisions at college dinghy nationals competing for the Robert Allan, Sr. and Jr. trophies the legacy of Bob will remain forever in the minds of college sailors. Thanks, Bob, for your dedication to college sailing and for promoting great competition across the country. => Curmudgeon's Comment: Tim Martin has provided us with a great story about Bob Allan which we've posted on our forum: http://tinyurl.com/qzuyfl CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If you've ever written your resume on a bar napkin, you might be a sailing bum. Special thanks to Summit Yachts and Harken. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
