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SCUTTLEBUTT 2662 - Monday, August 18, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. OLYMPIC GAMES – AWARDING MEDALS Qingdao, China (August 17, 2008; Day Nine) – While the Olympic event had been able to remain on schedule for the first four days, challenging weather conditions began effecting the race schedule last Wednesday (Day Five), and then all racing was abandoned on Thursday. Friday was supposed to be a catch-up day, however, light and unstable winds allowed most fleets to get in only one race (49ers got skunked but 470 Women got in two). By the end of Friday, the Yngling and Finn fleets had completed eight open races, with the top ten positions scheduled to advance to their final medal race on Saturday, August 16th. However, light winds forced the cancellation of their racing and pushed it to Sunday. With the 49er fleet getting in three races on Saturday, that event also would have their medal race on Sunday after completing an opening series of twelve races. This is the first Olympics to use the medal race format, which was intended to create drama for the final race of each event, helping the sport in the eyes of the media. By doubling the position points, and making the medal race score non-discardable, the theory was that the podium positions would be up for grabs through to the end. However, this concept failed to keep Nathan Wilmot/Malcolm Page (AUS) from building a 22 point lead, and with both 470 Men and Women now having completed their full schedule of 10 races on Saturday, the Aussies are assured the gold medal prior to their medal race on Monday. For those cheering for the American medal contenders on Sunday, watching the Barkow-led Yngling team was agony. To see their mediocre start, and then celebrate their climb back near the top, only to anguish over their fatal mistakes at the weather mark. Rough to watch, but great drama. The Finn race wasn’t much easier, as Zach Railey was last off the start line, with the real threat of Ben Ainslie (GBR) holding Railey back to secure his gold, and possibly push Railey out of the medal hunt. As for the 49er, their race was sheer bedlam as the final positions were decided by who could stay upright. The American rally for a medal in this event ended with a failed jibsheet block and a DNF. Here is NBC commentator Gary Jobson’s report on Sunday’s medal races for the Yngling, Finn, and 49er: http://tinyurl.com/jobson0817 Click here for a brief report from Friday, August 15th. Click here for a brief report from Saturday, August 16th. > ISAF reports: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/Olympicshome.php > US reports: http://olympics.ussailing.org/Olympics.htm > Canadian reports: http://www.sailing.ca/home.asp > NBC sailing microsite: http://www.nbcolympics.com/sailing Final Results ** Finn (26 entrants) 1. GBR, Ben Ainslie, (10)-1-4-1-1-10-2-1/2, 23 2. USA, Zach Railey, 2-5-2-2-7-8-7-(19)-6/12, 45 3. FRA, Guillaume Florent, 5-8-20-3-4-6-4-(21)-4/8, 58 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. SWE, Daniel Birgmark, 14-(17)-1-6-12-3-3-5-7/14, 58 5. CAN, Christopher Cook, 8-3-7-10-(23)-5-1-35-8/16, 67 Yngling (15 entrants) 1. GBR, Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson, 2-3-4-(7)-4-2-2-5-1/2, 24 2. NED, Mandy Mulder/Annemieke Bes/Merel Witteveen,9-1-2-(13)-1-5-4-1-4/8,31 3. GRE, Bekatorou/Papadopoulou/Kravarioti, 10-12-9-3-2-(16/OCS)-3-3-3/6, 48 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. GER,Ulrike Schuemann/Ute Hoepfner/Julia Bleck,8-7-7-11-11-3-5-(13)-2/4,56 5. FRA, Anne Le Helley/ Lepesant/ Gerecht, (15)-1-14-5-10-10-2-5/10, 56 7.USA,Sally Barkow/Carolyn Howe/Deborah Capozzi,(14)-2-8-5-6-11-1-10-9/18,61 13. CAN, Jennifer Provan/Henderson/Abbott, 5-4-10-(15)-9-12-11-15, 66 Final Results – Protest Pending 49er (19 entrants) 1. DEN, Jonas Warrer/Martin Kirketerp Ibsen, 2-4-(10)-4-2-3-4-2-9-2-7-8-7/14, 61 2. ESP, Lizarduy/Gaztañaga, 1-10-17-2-(OCS/20)-5-7-10-3-4-1-2-1/2, 64 3. GER, Jan-Peter Peckolt/Hannes Peckolt, (15)-6-11-6-3-2-2-12-4-5-4-7-2/4, 66 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. ITA, Pietro Sibello/Gianfranco Sibello, 3-9-1-1-6-9-3-8-12-(17)-3-3-4/8, 66 5.AUS, Nathan Outteridge/Ben Austin,(DSQ/20)-1-7-3-1-1-6-4-6-12-2-18-6/12,73 6. USA, Tim Wadlow/Christopher Rast, 5-14-15-(16)-5-10-1-1-1-3-8-4-DNF/22,89 14. CAN, Gordon Cook/Ben Remocker, 13-12-13-10-7-6-16-16-10-(18)-15-16, 134 => Curmudgeon’s Comment: When the Danish 49er team broke their mast before the start, they switched to an alternate boat for the race, but as it was not approved, they are being protested by the race committee. Other rumors include the race being protested due to an alleged infraction of the sailing instructions for when a race can start. As of Monday, 8:15 am Qingdao time (which is now the day after the race), no protest decisions have been posted. -- http://www.sailing.org/olympics/racing/decisions.php ** Final results include a medal race for entrants in the top ten. Medal race position and points are shown (position/points). Current Results 470 Men (29 entrants) 1. AUS, Nathan Wilmot/Malcolm Page, 4-7-3-3-3-4-5-(16)-3-10, 42 2. NED, Sven Coster/Kalle Coster, 11-(15)-12-2-8-15-2-8-4-2, 64 3. FRA, Nicolas Charbonnier/Olivier Bausset, 6-3-8-1-6-18-3-14-7-(20), 66 4. GBR, Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield, 19-5-1-4-9-6-20-(OCS/30)-2-3, 69 5. ESP, Onan Barreiros/Aaron Sarmiento, 8-2-6-9-13-13-13-4-11-(18), 79 ----------------------------------------------------------- 13. USA, Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl, 26-12-(OCS/30)-17-15-1-4-1-6-23, 105 29. CAN, Locas/Bone, 25-25-(OCS/30)-20-23-22-(OCS/30)-18-26-16, 205 470 Women (19 entrants) 1. AUS, Elise Rechichi/Tessa Parkinson, 2-2-4-1-(9)-4-2-5-3-2, 25 2. NED, Marcelien De Koning/Lobke Berkhout, 3-1-9-5-2-2-10-7-4-(16), 43 3. BRA, Fernanda Oliveira/Isabel Swan, 11-(16)-5-10-7-6-6-2-7-4, 58 4. ISR, Nike Kornecki/Vered Buskila, 8-13-1-2-8-(19)-3-1-11-15, 62 5. AUT, Sylvia Vogl/Carolina Flatscher, 9-(DSQ/20)-13-7-1-7-1-13-6-11, 68 ----------------------------------------------------------- 12. USA, Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler, 12-12-10-14-4-(17)-7-6-17-7, 89 RS:X Men (35 entrants) 1. NZL, Tom Ashley, 4-(7)-7-1-5-5-3, 25 2. FRA, Julien Bontemps, (13)-1-5-4-10-8-2, 30 3. ISR, Shahar Zubari, 1-3-1-3-17-6-(19), 31 4. GBR, Nick Dempsey, 11-9-3-2-1-7-(17), 33 5. HKG, King Yin Chan, 5-4-2-5-3-(33)-21, 40 16. MEX, David Mier y Teran, 16-5-17-6-12-(29)-33, 79 23. CAN, Zachary Plavsic, 23-25-22-21-(30)-12-26, 129 26. USA, Ben Barger, 21-22-24-26-26-(32)-25, 144 RS:X Women (27 entrants) 1. CHN, Jian Yin, 1-1-1-3-3-(13)-7, 16 2. ITA, Alessandra Sensini, 6-2-9-1-(DSQ/28)-3-2, 23 3. AUS, Jessica Crisp, 2-4-3-8-1-8-(9), 26 4. ESP, Marina Alabau, 3-5-5-2-5-(11)-8, 28 5. NZL, Barbara Kendall, (12)-7-12-4-2-4-3, 32 17. CAN, Nikola Girke, 11-14-13-14-12-(15)-13, 77 22. MEX, Demita Vega, 23-21-(25)-25-17-21-20, 127 26. USA, Nancy Rios, 25-24-22-26-24-27-(DNF/28), 148 Laser (43 entrants) 1. GBR, Paul Goodison, (15)-2-15-1-9-7, 34 2. SLO, Vasilij Zbogar, (24)-4-14-6-2-11, 37 3. ARG, Julio Alsogaray, 1-12-10-(28)-14-1, 38 4. FRA, Jean Baptiste Bernaz, (19)-1-12-9-6-10, 38 5. SWE, Rasmus Myrgren, 7-(16)-8-2-8-13, 38 11. CAN, Michael Leigh, 13-23-(26)-5-4-3, 48 16. USA, Andrew Campbell, 14-18-1-26-32-(BFD/44), 91 29. ISV, Thomas Barrows, III, 20-28-20-24-26-(31), 118 Laser Radial (28 entrants) 1. LTU, Gintare Volungeviciute, 3-(13)-8-1-1-4, 17 2. USA, Anna Tunnicliffe, 4-5-(6)-5-6-3, 23 3. NZL, Jo Aleh, (22)-4-2-2-2-14, 24 4. CHN, Lijia Xu, (24)-3-10-6-5-2, 26 5. FRA, Sarah Steyaert, 11-1-21-3-(BFD/29)-1, 37 12. CAN, Lisa Ross, 16-(23)-13-11-7-9, 56 24. MEX, Tania Elias Calles Wolf, 27-25-(DNF/29)-13-15-16, 96 Star (16 entrants) 1. POL, Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Dominik Zycki, 5-6-8-2, 21 2. FRA, Xavier Rohart/Pascal Rambeau, 12-1-5-4, 22 3. SWE, Fredrik Loof/Anders Ekstrom, 1-4-15-3, 23 4. GER, Marc Pickel/Ingo Borkowski, 2-14-1-8, 25 5. USA, John Dane/Austin Sperry, 8-2-4-12, 26 Tornado (15 entrants) 1. ESP, Fernando Echavarri/Anton Paz Blanco, 1-6-1-4, 12 2. AUS, Darren Bundock/Glenn Ashby, 5-4-3-1, 13 3. GRE, Iordanis Paschalidis/Konstantinos Trigonis, 2-5-12-7, 26 4. ARG, Santiago Lange/Carlos Espínola, 13-1-1-12, 27 5. NED, Mitch Booth/Pim Nieuwenhuis, 3-13-8-3, 27 6. CAN, Oskar Johansson/Kevin Stittle, 8-3-9-9, 29 13. USA, John Lovell/Charles Ogletree, 14-12-7-11, 44 Complete results: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/resultscentre.php PROFESSIONAL WIND FORECASTS: FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS! Want a competitive edge in your next regatta? Get a forecast from PredictWind.com - the worldwide specialists in high resolution weather modeling. For the first time ever, you can access a forecast using a model that calculates the wind at an incredible 1km resolution for your local area. High resolution equals better accuracy. The web based forecasts are easy to use, and available in maps, graphs and even a text format that is accessible on your mobile phone. It is the system that champion sailors rely upon, and until January 2009 the forecasts are free of charge: http://www.PredictWind.com OLYMPIC GAMES - DEALING WITH THE DETAILS * RACE SCHEDULE: Monday will be catch-up day, with a full schedule in hopes of completing ten races prior to each event’s medal race. Here is the plan: Course A: 1400 – 470 Men and Women (medal race) Course B: 1100 - RS:X men and women (3 races each) Course C: 1100 - Laser and Laser Radial (4 races each) Course E: 1100 - Star and Tornada (3 races each) Monday is the final day of open racing for the Laser and Laser Radial, with the top ten competitors from each class advancing to the medal race on Tuesday. In the medal race, finishing position points are doubled, and the score cannot be discarded. If the RS:X Men and Women complete three races on Monday, they will rest on Tuesday before their medal race on Wednesday. The Star and Tornado are currently scheduled to have their medal race on Thursday, which would conclude the Olympic sailing events. * WEATHER FORECAST - Qingdao Olympic Venue: For Monday, August 18, both weather models show the same forecast - NW 20 knots in the morning, decreasing to 15 knots by start time, and 8 knots by late afternoon. An archive of the maps/graphs from each day are at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/olyweather - to get the animated hour by hour forecast map images, sign up for free worldwide forecasts at www.predictwind.com * RACE WATCHING: For television and online viewers, the event has advanced to the medal races, and it is only these races that will compete on Course A, which is the featured course for coverage. The 470 Men and Women will have their medal race on Monday. Racing is scheduled to be completed on Thursday, August 21st. > U.S. viewing schedule: http://tinyurl.com/NBCsked > Canadian viewing schedule: http://www.sailing.ca/feature/2008/07/bold.html BEHIND THE SCENES WITH GARY JOBSON Gary Jobson gets to go to work at noon. It might sound like a slacker’s dream, but it’s not. It’s the Olympics, and Jobson doesn’t get home from work until 7:30 a.m. Jobson has been associated with the Olympics since 1972 as a campaigner, an Olympic Sailing Committee member, commentator, and now blogger. He is based out of NBC’s online office on Stamford, CT for the Olympics and is living on China time to keep up with the sailing events. He does research from noon to five, eats dinner and takes a nap, and gets ready for the day’s racing at 9:30 p.m. This is his first time covering the Olympics on the internet and is happy with the benefits of the web. “We’ve never had a live Olympics before. It’s always been ten-minute prepackaged segments on TV, so in ways this is better.” Jobson admits TV would be preferable and said at first he was not sure about the blogging concept. “I went into this with a lot of concerns about how it was going to go. Now I’m feeling better because I’ve gotten a lot of feedback.” For example, during a postponement a few days ago, Jobson posted his email address online offering to answer questions. He says, “Within five minutes I got 200 emails. So I know people are watching and America is intrigued by our team.” -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/derby0817 POSITIONED FOR THE PODIUM Here are the countries that currently have entrants in the top three: Australia - 4 France - 4 Great Britain - 3 Netherlands - 3 New Zealand - 2 Greece - 2 Spain - 2 United States - 2 Argentina - 1 Brazil - 1 China - 1 Denmark - 1 Germany -1 Israel - 1 Italy - 1 Lithuania - 1 Poland - 1 Slovenia- 1 Sweden - 1 With all events now in action, there are 19 countries that have either already secured their medal or are currently in the top three of the standings. In 2004, 20 countries received at least one sailing medal. Here are some links from the 2004 Olympic Games: > Medal Count: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/04/medals > Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/olympics OLYMPIC GAMES – NEWS AND NOTES * The American Tornado duo of John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, Texas) is the only team that is using the specialty gennaker, which can be used both upwind and downwind in light winds. Regarding the sail, Ogletree wasn’t sure if they had properly prepared for using this new sail at the Olympics. “In hindsight we didn’t spend enough time racing with it. We tried to be secretive so we kept it out of regattas and maybe should’ve tried it, because you see situations and angles in racing you don’t see in two-boat testing.” -- http://tinyurl.com/badidea0817 * For Americans Sally Barkow/Carolyn Howe/Deborah Capozzi in their Yngling medal race, not only did they hit the weather mark after the first beat, and had to double tack to avoid hitting it after the second beat, the on-the-water jury penalized them for excessive pumping, which required a two-turn penalty. The only silver lining for the Americans was when they moved up from eighth to seventh overall, a result of the Australians Krystal Weir/Karyn Gojnich/Angela Farrell getting protested by the race committee and disqualified from the race for failing to weigh in. In the Yngling Class, the team members have to record their body weight to prove that they are under the maximum weight limit. After having weighed in ready for the cancelled medal race on Saturday, the team didn't realise they had to weigh in again for the rescheduled medal race on Sunday -- http://www.sailing.org/olympics/racing/officialcommunications.php * With Ben Ainslie’s win in the Finn event, he becomes Britain’s most decorated Olympic sailor. The five-time Finn World Champion surpassed countryman Rodney Pattison’s record of two golds and one silver, a feat Ainslie had previously matched thanks to his Laser silver (Atlanta 1996), Laser gold (Sydney 2000) and Finn gold (Athens 2004). Ainslie has now matched Germany’s Jochen Schumann’s three golds, one silver Olympic sailing haul, leaving only Dane Paul Elvstrøm, winner of four consecutive golds between 1948 and 1960, with more Olympic sailing gold. Brazilian legend Torben Grael has won five Olympic sailing medals – two gold, one silver, and two bronze. -- http://www.rya.org.uk/beijing2008 * Rob Waddel, America’s Cup Team New Zealand grinder and 2000 Olympic Gold medallist in rowing, just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the men's double sculls with Nathan Cohen. -- http://tinyurl.com/nomedal * Prior to Sunday’s races on the Star class, American crew Austin Sperry noted that their boat program was geared for the lower wind range, and that they might be giving something away in stronger winds. Their 12th place finish in the 19-20 knots looks to have demonstrated this weakness, but at least they held on to their rig, as both the Australian and Croatian boats broke their masts. SUPPORT THE US ENTRY FOR THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE! Show skipper Ken Read and his team support by wearing the official team gear for the PUMA Volvo Ocean Race team! It's easy to get the gear at Team One Newport. You can sport a cozy soft shell or fleece pullover and get the whole family team t-shirts in the Men's and Women's versions. The Official Volvo Ocean Race gear includes the durable backpack and duffle made of waterproof material. Visit http://www.team1newport.com and look for the Puma Gear indicator on the left side or call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327). SURVIVAL CONDITIONS FOR 18' SKIFFS IN SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco, CA (August 16, 2008) - Sometimes you battle the competition, sometimes the elements, a distinction Australia's Seve Jarvin found between winning the JJ Giltinan Regatta for the world championship in Sydney earlier this year and the seventh annual 18' Skiff International Regatta hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club this week. "The Worlds were a lot more tactical," Jarvin said after defeating defending champion Howie Hamlin's team by three points, 12 to 15. "This was more survival." Hamlin did have a degree of revenge as he led by the unprecedented 18 Skiff win in Friday's 11th annual Ronstan Bridge to Bridge race, where six 18s finished among the top 16 in the 5 1/2-nautical mile downwind classic, which has been dominated by kite boards in recent years. Besides the 18s, there were 25 kite boards and eight windsurfers. Despite strong following winds, a record was unlikely because of an opposing ebb tide. – Daily reports and results: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6234 * Erik Simonson/h2oshots.com provides Scuttlebutt with three pages of event images: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/0817 SAILING WITH DISABILITIES * With the Olympic racing scheduled to conclude this week on Thursday, the next event to look toward will be the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 6-17, 2008 in Beijing, China. Once again, the sailing events will be held in Qingdao, with racing on September 8-13. Three events compete in the Paralympic Games: the singlehanded 2.4 Metre, the doublehanded SKUD 18, and the triplehanded Sonar. -- Event website: http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/sports/sailing/index.shtml * Sailors representing the USA and Canada in the 2008 Paralympic Games will take to the waters of Narragansett Bay to enhance their preparedness by competing in the 2008 C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta at Sail Newport, Rhode Island’s Public Sailing Center, from August 17-21. Not only will the sailors with disabilities be competing, but also blind sailors who are joining the event for the first time and who will be racing for the 2008 Blind Sailing National Championship title. -- Event website: http://www.ussailing.net/Clagett * Canada’s international regatta for sailors with disabilities, the Mobility Cup 2008, will be hosted this year by AQVA (l’Association québécoise de voile adaptée) and Pointe Claire Yacht Club on August 25-29. Similar to AQVA/PCYC’s annual Martin 16 regatta the Coupe du Quebec, Mobility Cup features a two-fleet format, with sailors divided into either Silver or Gold according to ability. Registration is strong so far, and 20-25 boats are expected on the start line for each fleet, for a possible total of 50 competitors from across North America, Europe and even New Zealand. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/6do434 QUOTE / UNQUOTE "It's annoying for sailing as a sport, it does not look good when you can't race because there is no wind. It's not the sport's fault, it's not the sailors' fault, it's the fact that we have been put in this venue where we do not get any wind." -- Gold medalist Ben Ainslie, quoted on Saturday prior to the strong winds for his medal race on Sunday, http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/feedarticle/7729615 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * Newport, RI (August 17, 2008) - Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, in Oyster Bay, NY, won the 2008 New York Yacht Club's Invitational Regatta for the Commodore George R. Hinman Masters Trophy -- better known as the Hinman Masters. The three-day team-racing event was sailed at the NYYC's Harbour Court in Newport, August 15-17. -- Complete report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6261 * Sailing World's panel of college coaches --Michael Callahan (Georgetown), Ken Legler (Tufts), and Mike Segerblom (USC) – provide a district by district analysis of the talent field for the 2008-2009 ICSA season. Additionally, they provide their preseason rankings, which finds Boston College leading the coed division and College of Charleston on top of the women’s field. -- http://tinyurl.com/sw0817 TURBO-CHARGE YOUR LASER WITH THE NEW XD TRIM PACKAGE! LaserPerformance, in partnership with top World’s sailors, have assembled the Laser XD. XD takes the boat to a new level with premium rigging, hardware, and a new ultra-stiff carbon tiller and extension. The XD upgrade is available on all new Lasers. Visit http://www.laserperformance.com or your local dealer to learn more. EIGHT BELLS August 15, 2008 - US SAILING's Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers are saddened to hear of the passing of Faye Bennet of Beach Haven, NJ. Being the first to accomplish anything worthwhile takes great effort. For Faye Bennet, there were many firsts: - first female judge in the U.S., - first women to compete in the U.S. Men’s Championship, - first woman to chair the U.S. Junior Championships Committee, - first woman to join US SAILING’s Board of Directors, - first woman to be elected president of her regional sailing association (North Jersey YRA) Faye was a past chair of the Women’s Sailing Committee, as well as U.S. Women’s and Junior Championships Committees. She was also a Vice President of the U.S. Sailing Foundation, a member of US SAILING's President’s Club and served on numerous other US SAILING committees and councils. Faye, with help from husband Jake, committed her time, talent, and resources the sport of sailing from the time she herself was a junior sailor at the Ocean City Yacht Club (NJ) in the 1940s. She was founder of the first junior program at the Spray Beach Yacht Club (NJ) in 1950. -- Read on: http://www.ussailing.org/News/2008/fayebennet.asp LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get 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 Richard Spencer: I am very disappointed at the information about protests at the Olympics on the ISAF website. We know who is protesting whom, and the rule in question, but we get none of the details that would be either on the protest form, or given in evidence. The decision gives very little additional information. For example: Protest 61: "Decision: MEX protest is invalid; Short decision: MEX protest is invalid". (..and it was invalid because...??). If information about protests is going to be made public (and it definitely should be!), then the decision should be written up like the result of an appeal, so that we can get some insight into what information was presented, what facts were found, and how the protest committee reached their decision. It is also disappointing that with on the water juries, and (presumably) the best officials in the world on the race committee, the question of whether or not the Danish 49er team could compete in a borrowed boat was not resolved by the time the medal race finished. Isn't there something in the sailing instructions on substituting equipment that the officials could refer to, to settle this one way or the other? Sailing seems to keep missing chances to grow its audience for events like the Olympics, even among sailors who understand the sport. ISAF needs to do better than this. > Olympic protests: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/racing/decisions.php * From Kay Kilpatrick: I had a big smile on my face this morning after reading Scuttlebutt #2661. In this issue I read about the Sails-For-Sustenance organization for Haiti fisherman and Zach Railey giving Ben Ainslie a run for his money in the Finn class. What do they have in common? These sailors are all founding members of the 2004 University of Miami Sailing Canes collegiate sailing team. This is a tenacious and determined group of young sailors that never take no for an answer and make a difference in the world. Go Canes! * From Marc Jacobi: (re, story in Issue 2661) OK, I'm going to say it: it's been nearly a decade since I last had the "pleasure" of competing against the current Norwegian Olympic Finn representative (in Lasers), and it seems he hasn't changed much. Having been on the receiving end of this sailor's vitriol, I have no doubt poor Chris Cook gave a restrained account in his testimony of the Norwegian sailor's behavior. It has been reported during these Games that the Norwegian wadded up his sail into a ball during measurement when the measurement sticker wouldn't stay on, then later asked for -- and GOT(!) -- a replacement sail. What an embarrassment to our sport and his country at our most exalted regatta. If the facts are indeed as they appear, I think the Norwegian deserves sanction by the Jury for what seems to be a clear Rule 69 violation. Time outs usually do a tantrum-throwing brat some good, and this one is long overdue for some time in the naughty corner. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school. -- Albert Einstein Special thanks to PredictWind.com, Team One Newport, and LaserPerformance. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
