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SCUTTLEBUTT 3021 - Wednesday, February 3, 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.Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/facebook Today’s sponsors: Morris Yachts, JK3 Nautical Enterprises, and Quantum Sails. HAITI NEEDS YOUR SAILS AND DONATIONS As one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, Haiti was struck with a massive earthquake on January 12th, reducing much of its capital to rubble. A preliminary assessment from Haiti's government last week put the body count at 150,000 people. The devastation created serious obstacles to those attempting to deliver promised foreign aid. Lynn Fitzpatrick reports on one effort that seeks to gather used sails to help provide shelter for the homeless: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Haiti needs your used sails, especially large main sails. Even people who survived the quake and were healthy are now becoming sick from exposure to the elements. Tents, Rice, Cooking Oil, Beans, Pasta, Feminine Hygiene Products, Water Purfiers, Water Makers, Medical Supplies and more money to purchase these disaster relief supplies are the top items needed to help Haitian earthquake victims. Haul your used sails out of lazarettes, lockers, attics, garages and closets and make a tax-deductible donation to Haiti-life.org, a non-profit, 501c3, organization. Haiti-Life.org A special IRS tax relief provision was enacted on January 22nd enabling taxpayers to itemize deductions on their 2009. Only cash contributions made to these charities after Jan. 11, 2010, and before March 1, 2010, are eligible. This includes contributions made by text message, check, credit card or debit card. Please deliver your sails to: Shake a Leg Miami at 2620 South Bayshore Drive Miami, FL 33133-5424 (305) 858-5550 between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm. Identify them for shipment to Haiti by writing "HAITI" on them. The Sea Flower,a privately chartered cargo ship, will set off from the Miami River with used sails from North Sails Fort Lauderdale loft, Second Wind Sails and Coconut Grove Sails and Canvas. Said Carla Shieffer of Coconut Grove Sails and Canvas, "I have been thinking about getting rid of some sails for a while. That's a good use. I'm happy to do that." For some of Mike Toppa's clients at the North Sails loft in Fort Lauderdale, news was enough to make the decision to donate rather than hold onto them for another season. Full details: http://www.worldregattas.com/ViewInfo.php?ContentID=425 ONUS ON THE MEASURER Valencia, Spain (February 2, 2010) - The ISAF appointed international jury denied BMW Oracle’s request for redress regarding measurement of the competing yachts. The ISAF International Jury for the America’s Cup issued an interim decision late Tuesday night rejecting the challenger, BMW Oracle’s latest complaint regarding the position and volume of the water ballast onboard the racing yachts during measurement. Competitors will be able to use water ballast in the coming 33rd America’s Cup commencing in Valencia on Monday, provided that the amount used to benefit performance is also in position when the boat is measured. “It puts the onus on the measurer to guarantee that the amount and location of ballast aboard for measurement is solely to enhance performance, not circumvent the waterline requirements of the Deed of Gift,” said Golden Gate Yacht Club spokesman Tom Ehman. The Deed of Gift sets an absolute limit of 90ft on the load waterline (LWL) for single-masted vessels. The American challenger contends that the defender Alinghi team may be placing their ballast in such a way for their boat to measure under the 90ft limit, but then shifting it during the race to effectively lengthen their boat. As for the five other requests submitted by GGYC on Monday, decisions from the International Jury are expected by Wednesday morning. Alinghi statement: http://tinyurl.com/yaafwrz GGYC statement: http://tinyurl.com/ycuxweo * EVENT WEBSITE: The website for the 33rd America’s Cup has been launched. Look here for details on how to view the event: http://33rd.americascup.com/en/ * COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Scuttlebutt legal analyst Cory E. Friedman, who is the only independent party to have faithfully followed all the courtroom drama, will be going to Valencia, Spain to observe the Match close-up and provide timely updates for 'buttheads around the world. Rather than support this project with advertising dollars, Scuttlebutt has reached out to its readers eager for this coverage. Details on how to contribute here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/store BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE-TIME FOR MIAMI! Because Strictly Sail moved its venue and we couldn't get the M52 under the bridge, Morris Yachts is having its own show in Coconut Grove at Shake-A-Leg Sailing Center Feb 11-14. The M29, M36, M42 and the new M52 will be on view. This venue is terrific for all sorts of reasons: great cause, great location, and quicker access to some sailing in Biscayne Bay for those ready for a demo. We have reserved parking Saturday and Sunday due to the Arts Festival. So please call for directions and to let us know you are coming: 207-244-5509 or mailto:sales1@morrisyachts.com BAD COMPANY Goodness gracious: What has become of civility in sport? Across the globe, some of mankind's most genteel athletic pastimes - from lawn bowling and cricket to yacht racing - have been torn asunder by tales of lying, litigation, drunken brawling, match-fixing and various forms of cheating. When one of the greatest stars of tennis, Serena Williams, unleashed an obscene tirade against a lineswoman at last year's U.S. Open, there was much discussion of the decline of manners in sport. But recent events have made Ms. Williams look like the royal dinner guest who accidentally ate her crème caramel with a pickle fork. For those that see yachting on the short end of world media interest, the Wall Street Journal puts the build up for the 33rd America’s Cup on the same table as… - A sumo wrestling champion beating up a man after a drinking binge - Claims that golf pro Phil Mickelson is using illegal golf clubs - Pakistan's acting cricket captain accused of ball-tampering - England's national soccer team captain having an affair outside his marriage - New Zealand team rigged a lawn bowling match at the Asia-Pacific Champs Got to be careful of the company you keep. -- http://tinyurl.com/yb42ket FOR THE RECORD (February 2, 2010; 18:00 UTC) - Groupama 3 has already made up the deficit she accumulated during the first day in relation to the reference time. In less than twenty hours, the 120 miles differential off Portugal had already been devoured as Franck Cammas and his crew were making headway to the West of Madeira at an average speed in excess of thirty knots... This Tuesday afternoon, Groupama 3 was negotiating a course to the West of the low pressure settled over the archipelago of Madeira, in order to benefit from a steady NE'ly wind, which is set to back round to the N in the late afternoon as it eases. With these great downwind conditions and a relatively manageable sea, Franck Cammas and his nine crew have been able to rack up 560 miles in the past 24 hours and since leaving Ushant on Sunday at 13h 55' 53'' (UTC), the giant trimaran already has 1,060 miles in her wake... An average of 22 knots of boat speed then, which has enabled the crew to quickly make up her deficit on rounding Cape Finisterre. Furthermore, they are now dramatically picking up the pace, which should enable them to rake in a lead over Orange 2's reference time during the coming days. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/ydhwjn8 Current position as of February 2, 2010 (22:00:00 UTC): Ahead/behind record: +92.6 nm Speed (avg) over past 24 hours: 26.6 knots Distance over past 24 hours: 638.5 nm Data: http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne/positions.asp?lg=en Map: http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne/index.asp?lg=en * Groupama 3 must cross finish line off Ushant, France before March 23rd (06:14:57 UTC) to establish a new time for the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions. Current record holder is Bruno Peyron and crew, who in 2005 sailed Orange 2 to a time of 50 days, 16 hours, and 20 minutes at an average of 17.89 knots. LOUIS VUITTON SERIES RETURNS TO AUCKLAND Just over a year ago the inaugural regatta was sailed in Auckland, the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. Ten of the best sailing teams in the world, including the current Challenger and Defender of the America’s Cup, competed over two weeks in a match race regatta in two pairs of supplied boats. The boats used were ACC yachts from the 2007 America’s Cup and all teams rotated through the four boats. The formula was renewed at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice regatta in November last year, a regatta whose provisional media return resulted in a value of over nine million Euros gathered from over 1200 articles, 354 hours of TV on 400 channels in 163 countries. The next regatta will be the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland from March 9-21, 2010. The WSTA member teams entered for the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta are from seven countries. Unlike last year, the host Emirates Team New Zealand, skippered by Dean Barker, will not get an automatic pass to the regatta finals, but will have to earn the right to be there by passing through the round robin and semi final stages with a winning record. The seven other teams hoping to also make it to the finals and ultimately prevail are: Aleph - France, skipper Bertrand Pacé All4One - France/Germany, skipper Jochen Schumann Artemis - Sweden, skipper Paul Cayard Azzurra - Italy, skipper Francesco Bruni Mascalzone Latino Audi - Italy, skipper to be announced Synergy - Russia, skipper Karol Jablonski TEAMORIGIN - Great Britain, skipper Ben Ainslie World Sailing Teams Association (WSTA) was founded in 2009 by a group of professional yacht racing teams to develop a regular series of high-level competitive racing events. Following the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta the WSTA’s member teams will race in La Maddalena, Sardinia (May 22 - June 6), then in Dubai, UAE (November 13-27) before Hong Kong in early 2011 (January 9-24). -- Complete report: http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/newsletter/?id=71 JK3 NAUTICAL ENTERPRISES, INC Thank you for visiting us and the San Diego Sunroad Boat Show… it was a huge success! Didn’t find what you were looking for at the show? JK3 boasts a wide variety of high quality brokerage listings. From classic cruising yachts with elegant lines to carbon racing machines, plus timeless down east lobster style power boats, JK3 has the perfect boat for your lifestyle and budget. If you are searching for the perfect boat for the summer JK3 has one lined up, just in time for Opening Day. To see a full list of boats for sale, visit http://www.jk3yachts.com or call our office in San Diego (619-224-6200) or Newport Beach (949-675-8053). * A new boat show was launched in San Diego on January 28-31, 2010, located at Harbor Island and titled the San Diego Sunroad Boat Show. With the temperatures in the teens at other parts of the country, Scuttlebutt's Craig Leweck went on a field trip in his own town to check out the new show. Check out these videos from Jeff Brown of JK3 and Amanda Denton with J-Concierge: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog BRAIN FREEZE Popular blogger Tillerman can sum up a situation in an informative and entertaining manner that crosses all class of boats. Here’s a recent report following a cold day of Laser sailing in Newport, RI: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Even though I am really enjoying the frostbiting this year I am beginning to think that the cold is affecting my brain. I keep making the same stupid mistakes. Here are just four of them... 1) Try and start in the most crowded part of the start line. Yes, I know that the boat end is favored right now but so do 25 other guys and they are all trying to start in the same spot as I am. The one race that I had the sense to find a quieter place a bit further down the line I had one of my best finishes. 2) Sail in another boat's bad air. Sure the course is crowded but why don't I check before I tack that I'm not going to be putting myself three boatlengths astern of some other boat on the same tack, forcing me to gasp for air for a minute or two while I slip slowly backwards relative to the other boat all the time wondering if two tacks to clear my air would lose me even more distance? I lost count of the number of times I did this on Sunday. 3) Approach the windward mark on the port tack layline in a large fleet on a small course. I did this even though I should have known that I would find it impossible to find somewhere to tack and round the mark cleanly. I only did it in one race on Sunday but why do I find it so hard to remember this? 4) If there are a bunch of other boats behind me on the short final beat, make sure I go the other side of the course from them. Duh. What was I thinking? I rounded the leeward mark in 4th place (woo hoo!) and forgot to look which way the pack behind me went, so I didn't cover them. I ended up with one of those persistent lifts out on the right side of the course, sailing a great circle course and never quite laying the finish line while six boats who went left sailed the inside of the lift and passed me before the finish. Ugh. I only have one excuse. Brain freeze. Complete post: http://propercourse.blogspot.com/2010/02/brain-freeze.html DIGGING DEEP FOR MEXORC By Kimball Livingston MEXORC has always been a moving target, and for 2010 it’s being redesigned yet again. This is your one-month-to-go-checkup, because there’s been a concern and maybe we can clear that up. But first -- The essential West-Coast-of-Mexico-biennial is now a featured component of the inaugural Regata Copa México, intended to celebrate the country’s bicentennial and then build from there. Some pretty smart people are promising the best-ever Mexican Ocean Racing Circuit, and I’m ready to believe them. When MEXORC is on target, my world is a better place. Nextel has stepped up to sponsor, so late February sees the opening of the Edición Nextel Bicentenario. All year long México is honoring both the 200th anniversary of the birth of its independence movement - think 11 hard years from birth to independence - and the 100th anniversary of its revolution. The big dates come up in the fall, but now is the season for sailing in Bahia de Banderas, the Bay of Flags, so that’s just what we’re going to do. What MEXORC veterans will notice is a new location, some extra hoopla, and the connection to races for J/24s, Optis and kites. Oh, and some major beach volleyball. “Major” meaning they expect thousands of people. Also on the 27th of February, Mexico’s two Olympic Laser sailors, Tania Elias Calles and Pablo Rabago Dorbecker, will set sail from Los Cabos to cross the Sea of Cortez for Bahia de Banderas - from the Baja peninsula to the mainland - on their Lasers. With escort, yes. They’ll enter the Guinness records if they succeed. Probably this is a 48-hour deal, so check your watch on the 27th and then check it again from time to time as the big hand goes round and round and round and think of Tania and Pablo, still hiking. -- Read on: http://kimballlivingston.com/?p=1273 SAILING SHORTS * This past weekend 76 Interclub Dinghy sailors braved sub-freezing temperatures and a near blizzard at the IC Midwinter Championship hosted by Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, MD. The Midwinters feature a college-style A & B division format where 19 teams came from all over the east coast. Team Vineyard Vines out of Larchmont YC with John and Molly Baxter sailing A division and Danny Pletsch with Megan Magill in B division won the event by a decisive 33 points. The second place team with 57 points was Paul-Jon Patin/ Kendall Mockridge in A joined with Mike Ingham/ Victor De Leon sailing B division. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9030#9030 * DSM Composite Resins has announced a 9-12 per cent price increase on its entire range of resins and gelcoat products. The rise is effective February 15, 2010, or at the earliest time possible depending on existing individual contracts. The increase affects customers in China, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. DSM Composite Resins is part of DSM Resins - a group within the Performance Materials cluster of DSM - and is a leading producer of structural resins in Europe. -- IBI Magazine, full story: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20100102142645ibinews.html * Newport Harbor Corp. will suspend the Newport (R.I.) Spring Boat Show this year to focus on the launch of a superyacht show in summer 2011. "We really couldn't focus our energies on both. It's really not a bad time to suspend it. Things are looking a little bit better in the boating industry, but to give it a year off didn't seem like a bad idea at this time," show manager Nancy Piffard told Soundings Trade Only. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/y9oljgn QUANTUM WINS IN ALL CORNERS OF THE WORLD! Punta del Este, Uruguay - Quantum Sails dominates the Rolex Sailing Week. The Quantum equipped “Negra” used their blazing speed to win the ultra competitive Soto 40 OD Class (for the 2nd time in four weeks). Find your speed at http://www.quantumsails.com 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 * From John Rumsey: (re, SAIL’s list in Scuttlebutt 3020) Don't forget Carl Eichenlaub from your list. Carl's boats were the reason so many sailors in the Snipe, Star and Lightning classes won so many Championships in the 50s, 60s, and 70s and why in the IOR revolution of light Peterson ocean racers his boats built in his San Diego shop won so many championships around the world. Also Carl was one of the reasons our Olympic teams did so well through the 70s, 80s, and 90s. One of the great characters and a good friend. * From the Forum (Bur Z): My Buddy Melges story takes us to Captiva Island, FL and Steve Colgate's Offshore Sailing School, circa March, 1977. The boats being sailed were Solings and if I recall, there were about 5 boats in the intro to racing program. Buddy was the guest expert for the training portion of the week. He would rotate between boats and offer advice. He never touched a line or steered. The one thing that could be counted on was that whichever boat Buddy was on, would be the one that would win the race. To this day, I am amazed at his powers of observation. Happy Birthday, Buddy! -- http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9021#9021 CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Whenever I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. "Yes that's G as in... (10 second lapse) ummm... Goonies" Special thanks to Morris Yachts, JK3 Nautical Enterprises, and Quantum Sails. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
