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SCUTTLEBUTT 3245 - Wednesday, December 22, 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. WHAT IS YOUR CHRISTMAS WISH? With only three days to go before Christmas, it is high time that Scuttlebutt readers tell the Curmudgeon what they want for Christmas. While we make no promises that the Curmudgeon can fulfill your wish, we will at least publish the best wishes (read: creative, novel, ridiculous, etc.) in the Friday edition of Scuttlebutt. For Christmas I would like...................... Email your Christmas wish to the Curmudgeon at editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com OLYMPIC SAILING: ADDED VALUE By Rory Ramsden, RS:X Class COO At the recent World Yacht Racing Forum in Estoril, Portugal, Pierre Ducrey, Head of Sports Operations at the IOC, said "The key word is "added value". That's what sailing needs to provide to the Olympic Games." This then is the challenge. He went on to say "All the disciplines (sports) are being reviewed every four years. You need to constantly reinvent yourselves, and create a product that is appealing to the media, the sport and the sponsors. There is always a threat and it is your responsibility to carry on growing." So here's a question... Which of the current Olympic classes have done the most to... reinvent themselves and create a product that is appealing to the media? Well, I can tell you what the RS:X (windsurfing) Class has done in this regard: A) It has the highest ranked website of all the Olympic classes finishing the summer season at 275k on Alexa.com. The ISAF Sailing World Cup event that ranked higher was Kieler Woche. No other Olympic class came close B) The driver behind this success is the RS:X media project. This revolves round an integrated online dashboard that uses tools that many of you may be familiar with. Tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flikr. But as always when you have a toolbox, it's not the number of tools that matters but the strategy that you use that produces results. C) At the 2010 RS:X World Windsurfing Championships in Kerteminde, Denmark, the RS:X Class became the first Olympic class to stream LIVE video with course commentary from the race course to the shore and to the web. D) As for re-invention, Neil Pryde has been working closely with the class to develop the RS:X Evolution. The overriding criteria for this project is that developments should transform the performance of the RS:X without making it more expensive. - We are currently testing a lightweight hull which comes out of exactly the same mould as the existing board. The big and only difference is that it is 2.5kgs lighter. - The technical specifications for the foils are being examined with a view to making them lighter and more dynamic - The existing sails are being optimized so that they incorporate the latest thinking and developments These are subject to an ongoing testing program in which the maximum number of sailors possible will be given the chance to evaluate the developments and give their feedback. E) Working closely with Neil Pryde, the grey film on the top third of the sails has been replaced with colour. Yellow for the men and red for the women. At the 2011 ISAF World Championships in Perth Australia, the whole fleet will be using these newly colourful sails. They were a big hit with the media at the 2010 ISAF Youth Worlds in Istanbul where Neil Pryde supplied only these sails. F) We have been using large national flags on sails at our major championships for 3 years - since the 2008 RS:X World windsurfing Championships in Auckland in New Zealand which took place in January - in fact, the Olympic windsurfing class has been carrying national flags for much longer than that. The bottom line that is that, to a large degree, the RS:X Class has anticipated the 'Evolution Not Revolution' mantra of the ISAF Olympic Commission in many ways and is working hard to 'reinvent' itself and 'create a product that is attractive to the media, the public and sponsors'. -- http://tinyurl.com/RSX-122110 A NEW CHAPTER IN THE WORLD OF LARRY While the vision BMW Oracle Racing has for the 34th America's Cup might have turned off a segment of committed sailors, the team is more focused on engaging the non-sailing audience in hopes of growing the commercial base for the event. However, based on this story by columnist Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News, the Cup defender might be losing some traction there too: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- So I guess we can all be glad that Larry Ellison missed out on his bid to buy the Golden State Warriors. Why do I say this? Because if Ellison had been successful, the team might be leaving Oakland for a new arena in ... I don't know, Hilton Head Island or West Palm Beach. Or perhaps you have not been following the strange and ruthless America's Cup dance in San Francisco. It has been quite the entertaining example of how gazillionaires such as Ellison love to do business. Hint: Never take it for granted that they care as much about local pride and local people as they do about crafting a fabulous real estate deal. Ellison, the grand pooh-bah of Oracle software and hardware, is also a wicked sailor of cool big-time yachts. Last winter, he went to the waters off Spain and won his sport's biggest prize, the America's Cup. Under the rules, Ellison and his sponsoring Golden Gate Yacht Club now get to select where the next America's Cup races will be held in 2013. The obvious choice is the San Francisco Bay, right? Ellison's company is located in Redwood Shores. His yacht club is within spitting distance of Alcatraz. And last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved what looks like a pretty sweet plan. Basically, that plan would hand Ellison's group a free extended lease to prime waterfront property and piers. The Ellison group, in exchange, would develop the property into suitable America's Cup facilities and condominiums or retail buildings that would survive long past the event itself. A group of civic boosters also was promising to raise more than $200 million in private money to help subsidize the races. Fair enough, one would think. But not in the World of Larry. Last week, his Golden Gate Yacht Club representatives flew to Newport, R.I., to discuss an alternate deal that would be more financially favorable. With a decision expected before Jan. 1, club spokesman Tom Ehman said Monday that Ellison's group was "seriously" considering turning its back on San Francisco and taking the races east. "That would be pretty disappointing," said Tad Sheldon, a race officer at a Bay Area yacht club. Contrary to popular belief, most sailboat owners are not rich people who wear ascots. They are folks of varied means who simply choose to spend their free time and dollars hoisting jibs instead of paying golf green fees or buying 49ers season tickets. And the local spinnaker tribe was pretty jacked up about the prospect of seeing the world's fastest sailboats dueling on the bay. What a sight that would be. Thousands of spectators would line the shores to watch the action for free. Catamarans with their 150-foot masts would slide at up to 40 mph beneath the bridges as commuters looked down from their cars. Local kids might be encouraged to take up the sport. "It's up to Larry Ellison what he wants to do with his money," Sheldon said. "But if he was truly interested in improving the sailing scene in San Francisco Bay, the deal would have been done already." -- Read more: http://tinyurl.com/MSS-122110 J/111 NORTH SAILS CLASS SAIL DEVELOPMENT NOW ONLINE The J/111 is the newest addition to North's Class Sail Development program. With over 50 boats sold in the first year and 8 of the first ten going to North Sails clients, our teams of skilled sail designers and consultants have jumped into an accelerated research and sail testing program to ensure that our clients get the fastest proven sails right from the start of the 2011 sailing season. For more information, including detailed sail descriptions & pricing, class rules and a complete North Sails tuning guide, visit the J/111 section on our Web site: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/22102/Default.aspx. Happy holidays to all! WAY BEYOND KICKING TIRES By Stuart Streuli, Sailing World As Monday's meeting of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation broke up, I sidled up to Tom Ehman of BMW Oracle Racing and put it as straight as I could. "Are you just kicking tires?" He looked me straight in the eye and shook his head. "No, we're way beyond that," said Ehman. "I went all the way to Michigan [his native state], came back here. We brought a bunch of people in here, spent a lot of money. Larry [Ellison] has a house here. We're looking for the best possible facilities that will happen reliably on July of 2012 and in a way that's not expensive." Among the BMW Oracle Racing officials that visited Rhode Island last week were COO Stephen Barclay, Craig Thompson, CEO of the America's Cup Event Authority, the organization tasked with running the event, and Iain Murray, the Australian Cup skipper from 1987 who will serve as regatta director for the contest. But does this mean they are serious in their intentions; and not simply looking for leverage to get San Francisco to sweeten the deal. Who knows? -- Read on: http://www.sailingworld.com/blogs/way-beyond-kicking-tires UPDATED LIST OF PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES AND METHODS Following its approval by the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) Executive Committee on September 18, the 2011 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods is now available. This List will take effect on 1 January 2011. The Prohibited List is published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and is the International Standard identifying Substances and Methods prohibited in sport. The International Sailing Federation follows the WADA World Anti-Doping Code and adopts and implements its rules under the ISAF Anti-Doping Code, contained in ISAF Regulation 21 The Prohibited List (List) was first published in 1963 under the leadership of the International Olympic Committee. Since 2004, as mandated by the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), the WADA is responsible for the preparation and publication of the List. The List is a cornerstone of the Code and a key component of harmonization. It is an International Standard identifying Substances and Methods prohibited in-competition, out-of-competition, and in particular sports. Substances and methods are classified by categories (e.g., steroids, stimulants, gene doping). Noteworthy changes compared to the 2010 List include: Non-Approved Substances A new section - "Non-Approved Substances" - has been added. This "open" section addresses the abuse of pharmacological substances for the purpose of performance enhancement which are not included in other sections of the List and which are not approved by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use (i.e. drugs under pre-clinical or clinical development or discontinued). Platelet-Derived Preparations Platelet-derived preparations (commonly referred as PRP or blood spinning), prohibited in 2010 when administered by intra-muscular route, have been removed from the List for 2011 after consideration of the lack of current evidence concerning the use of these methods for purposes of performance enhancement. Current studies on platelet-derived preparations do not demonstrate a potential for performance enhancement beyond a potential therapeutic effect. Full report: http://www.sailing.org/35101.php OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC RECOGNITION US SAILING has chosen nine US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) members as the sport's 2010 SportsWoman, SportsMan and Team of the Year, in both Olympic and Paralympic classes, for outstanding on-the-water performance, achievement and sportsmanship. US SAILING's Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) has named Laser Radial sailor Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) and Finn sailor Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) SportsWoman and SportsMan of the Year, respectively, and Elliott 6m/Women's Match Racing team of Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Molly Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) as the Team of the Year. In the Paralympic classes, the OSC has selected 2.4 mR sailor John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis.) the SportsMan of the Year and the Sonar team of Rick Doer (Clifton, N.J.), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Me.) as the Team of the Year. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/USSTAG-122110 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: Dec 26-30 - Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta - Miami, FL, USA Dec 26 - Jan 1 - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - Sydney, Australia Dec 28-30 - Orlando Youth Match Race - Winter Park/Orlando, FL, USA Jan 1-9 - 29er Class World Championship - Mar del Plata, Argentina View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * According to Evan Smith, the President of the Newport Convention & Visitors Bureau, there is a Rally to Host the 2013 America's Cup on Wednesday, December 22 at the Marriott in Newport, RI, 10am. All RI businesses and citizens are encouraged to show the America's Cup Committee a unified and passionate interest in Newport's hosting the event. * (December 21, 2010; Day 6) - The fleet of five solo Eco60s in the VELUX 5 OCEANS have yet to lock into the strong winds that are typical for the second leg from Cape Town to Wellington, NZL. The southerly route of Zbigniew Gutkowski (POL) has resulted in a lead change past American Brad Van Liew who now trails by 34 nm. With 6217 nm to the finish, Gutkowski hopes to soon improve on his 4kt VMG to the finish. -- Event website: http://www.velux5oceans.com * Having received communication that the Polish yacht Fruit has no valid, up-to-date IMOCA measurement certificate, and having now missed by four days the 17th December deadline by which all IMOCA Open 60's entered were required to be in Barcelona, the organisers of the Barcelona World Race have decided that they have no other option but to communicate to the Fruit team that they will not be allowed to compete in the race set to start on December 31st. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/BWR-122110 J/111 NORTH SAILS CLASS SAIL DEVELOPMENT NOW ONLINE The J/111 is the newest addition to North's Class Sail Development program. With over 50 boats sold in the first year and 8 of the first ten going to North Sails clients, our teams of skilled sail designers and consultants have jumped into an accelerated research and sail testing program to ensure that our clients get the fastest proven sails right from the start of the 2011 sailing season. For more information, including detailed sail descriptions & pricing, class rules and a complete North Sails tuning guide, visit the J/111 section on our Web site: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/22102/Default.aspx. Happy holidays to all! GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Pete Thomas: Back in July, it would have made so much more sense if BMW Oracle Racing had instead reduced the U.S. bidding venues to SF and Newport as opposed to saying that SF was the only U.S. venue they were considering. The U.S does not do national bids, and the country is so big that these two options would not have taken away from each other. But by eliminating Newport, and then bringing them back in, it makes the team look greedy. SF was ALWAYS going to be an expensive option, yet the team focused on it. By the team now using the high cost of SF as a reason to now reopen the bidding, particularly when the event is looking to be smaller than forecasted because of their decision to use large wing powered multihulls, it just does not sit well. Whoever gets to host this event better be doing it with their eyes wide open. When SF retooled their bid, it was because they had their eyes open. While the Newport and Rhode Island politicians are waxing nostalgic on the history of the event, and seeking to get their cash strapped state back into this horse race, let's hope they are doing it with their eyes wide open too. * From Bruce Kirby: Concerning the Canadian challenge in Fremantle for the 1987 America's Cup, this was not a combined project of Secret Cove Yacht Club (in British Columbia) and the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, as indicated in the Valencia Sailing interview that was included in Butt # 3243. Both these clubs had built potential challengers, but both syndicates had found themselves in financial turmoil and as so often happened when the late Paul Phelan was around, he picked up the pieces and decreed that the east and west coast boats would go head to head to see which would carry on to Fremantle. The face off was at Santa Cruz south of San Francisco, where conditions were thought to be similar to those off the Aussie west coast. The Secret Cove boat defeated the RNSYS vessel by a wide margin and the decision was quickly made. From there on the only connection to the RNSYS was three or four of their best sailors who were snitched by the Secret Cove group. The situation for the Canadians should be very different if they decide to give it a go in AC 34. Their likely inner core of Fred Eaton and Steve Killing are sitting on top of the latest wing sail technology and they've proved they know how to put it all together by dominating the ultra sophisticated C-Class catamaran scene for the past four years. Canada's problem in the past has been lack of up-front financing - the big bucks needed for research, design and testing. They seem to have that covered this time and the result should be lack of frustration for the designers and sailors, and quite possibly a string of Canadian victories. The maple leaf forever! * From Giancarlo Basile: I'm almost 80 now and I started sailing when I was 10. I always thought it wasn't right that offshore racing was excluded from the Olympics. No wonder I was very happy when at last I read for the first time on Scuttlebutt 3243 that someone, Bruno Trouble, is proposing a detailed plan to include an offshore race in the Olympics. I do hope that this perfect plan will be seriously considered, and I look forward to watching in TV or internet the first offshore race in the Olympics. Thank you, Bruno! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow him or her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space." - Dave Barry SPONSORS THIS WEEK APS - Henri Lloyd Interlux - Southern Spars North Sails - Ullman Sails Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
