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SCUTTLEBUTT 3438 - Friday, September 30, 2011Scuttlebutt 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: US SAILING and Beneteau. THE BIGGEST QUESTION OF ALL By Rod Davis, Seahorse The show versus the competition. There is a new breed of regatta that I call the 'show', because they have stepped into that murky bog that separates competition from theatre. The Extreme 40 and America's Cup World Series are the leaders in 'show' regattas, and if you believe everything you read in the media you could be forgiven for thinking that this is the way of all sailboat racing. Thankfully the vast majority of regattas are all about the competition. To distinguish between the two, just answer this one simple question: who is the regatta run for? If your answer is the sailors, you have a regatta, if your answer is the sponsors, TV and the general public, then you have a show. It all sounds so wonderful. Get some sponsors to pay for regattas around the world and for our sailing, then we can pay all our expenses and pay ourselves too. It will be like getting money for jam. The sponsors want to maximise their exposure, so we seduce the media and the public! Nice concept, but never forget this is a business deal... your sponsor will want his pound of flesh and more. You have now entered the entertainment business. You might not think of it that way but your new boss certainly does. You will perform on their terms, not yours. In the new world order of show regattas, sponsors' ROI, TV airtime and engaging the public are the prime targets. Fact: the yachting fraternity is simply too small to justify the big money it takes to run events like the America's Cup World Series, or to participate in them. Just too small a base. Thus the need, and recent obsession, with taking yachting to the masses. Many have tried, and few have been successful. The leaders are the Extreme 40 series, the Volvo Round the World Race and, new to the scene but with BIG ideas, the AC World Series. The game plan is pretty basic: give the sponsors a viable return on their investment. The bigger the sponsorship the bigger the payback will have to be. And how do you do that? Make it spectator friendly and exploit the magic of television. And that, my friends, is a tough nut to crack. It's all about getting on TV. Sailboat racing is not a mainstream sport, so getting a prime time slot is not easy. More like almost impossible. You need WOW factor. But if you can get airtime, get on the evening news around the world, then it is fantastic exposure and free! Capsizes, great big collision - all good. Drama at sea - yep. Race results by themselves - nope, won't make it to the airwaves. Another emerging medium is live telecasts via the internet. Far cheaper than TV but reaching people who actively seek out the event. Making one hand wash the other is part of the new world of professional sailing. If you thought professional was just about being paid to sail... sorry; in today's world it has become all encompassing. The Coutts vision is a wholly professional take on our sport. Not just paying a few sailors, but a hundred people on the payroll to run all aspects of the event. Then buy enough powerboats to fill a marina to serve as marks, TV camera platforms, press boats, tents, cranes, the list is endless. We are talking big money here, which comes from people or companies who want serious entertainment to justify their investment. When a sport or a section of a sport, any sport, dives across the line that distinguishes amateur, with foundations built on volunteering, and professionalism, then you are in for some interesting times. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12691 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PROMO: This column was in the October issue of Seahorse magazine, which covers the cutting edge of the sport like none other. Seahorse is extending a subscription discount to Scuttlebutt readers. Plug in the promo code SBUSA722172 when purchasing your subscription here: http://tinyurl.com/6db3tjg FAIR SAILING AT RISK FOR OLYMPICS British Olympic sailors have pleaded with London 2012 organizers to forsake spectator viewing positions for decent sailing courses at the Games venue in Weymouth and Portland. Team GB sailing manager Stephen Park said spectators would much rather be celebrating a Great Britain victory than be able to see a fourth-placed finish from close up. The issue has arisen because the final courses being considered are close to the cliffs off Nothe Point in Weymouth which creates turbulent conditions if a northerly wind is blowing. Park said the organizers were trying to strike a balance of satisfying the spectators while not impacting on the racing or affecting the results. "We won't know how successful they are until after the Games," Park said. "But I think sporting performance will come first. Some days the spectators may not get quite as good a view, but they would want that and then celebrate medals, rather than finish fourth." The first athlete selected for the 560-strong Team GB, three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie, who had to bulk up an extra stone to fight off a fierce challenge from Giles Scott for the solo Finn berth, said he was prepared for any conditions. "If there is prevailing sou-westerly winds it won't be too bad a course, but if they are northerly or nor-westerly then I hope there is a sensible decision. I hope they run a fair race course," Ainslie said. "Off Weymouth and Portland the winds are offshore more and a medal race course near the spectator hill means the winds are blowing directly over the hill. This produces turbulent and confused winds which is no good for sailing at all." -- Washington Post, read on: http://tinyurl.com/WP-092911 COMMENT: It is one thing to run an entire event on a short course that may be affected by random wind shifts. Run enough races and the law of averages will benefit the best sailors. However, the Olympics are different. The format for the Olympics is for the top ten in each event to advance to one final short course double-point Medal Race. Would you like to commit 4+ years of your life and have your chance of medaling in the Olympics decided on a course location that benefits land-based spectating but offers random wind conditions? I say no thanks. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt SCUTTLEBUTT TRIVIA What do Icebreaker Boats, C-Tech masts, and Quantum Sails Potsdam all have in common? Answer below. HELP SHAPE HISTORY Submit your nominations for US SAILING's 2011 Rolex Yachtsman & Yachtswoman of the Year Awards. Who do you think are the best American sailors of 2011? These prestigious awards recognize one male sailor and one female sailor for their outstanding achievements within the calendar year and are viewed as the nation's top sailing honors. Sailing greats Dennis Conner, Betsy Alison, Ken Read and J.J. Fetter have held this honor. US SAILING members can submit nominations for these awards starting TODAY. Make your nominations at http://about.ussailing.org/Awards/Rolex.htm PERFORMANCE, POLLUTION AND PIRACY The double-handed, Class40 fleet in the Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR) are now out of the Mediterranean Sea and are working their way down the Moroccan coast toward Cape Town. "We've been spending all our time either sailing or sleeping," explained Campbell Field, who along with his dad Ross are in second position. "We are hand steering almost 100 per cent of the time, although the pilots are very good and have been very well set up, after reviewing data they are slightly slower than driving, so for the most part, one of us is driving, the other sleeping or making coffee," he reports. "The Med is an interesting place of contrasts; stunning sunsets, teeming with dolphins, but - at the same time - littered with monstrous feats of engineering freighting our daily essentials all over the world," recalls the 41 year-old Kiwi. "Initially, they can be admired for their sheer size, then you sit back and observe the mountains and mountains of unnecessary rubbish that is moved from one place to the other," he notes. "Easy to say, I guess, from our little 12 metre space where we can't just whip up the road and buy a steak from Argentina or cheese from Italy or a car from Korea. The Med isn't only littered with ships, but with masses of plastic that we see daily out here with bottles floating about." Now sufficiently offshore with their bows aimed south-west toward the Canary Islands, Fields is relieved to be clear of the coast. "We had a few interesting encounters off the Moroccan coast," continued Campbell Field. "A lone fisherman in his 30-odd foot traditional wooden fishing boat, 30 nautical miles from the coast.maybe just trying to feed his family?" he wonders. "Then a much larger and ominous looking fishing boat that could have just been curious and wanted a closer look." In a briefing shortly before the start of Leg 1, GOR teams were advised of the piracy threat off the western coast of Africa in the corridor bordering the Spanish Sahara and south of the Canary Islands. While the risk is far less than in the Gulf of Aden or off Somalia, in the Arabian Sea and across the Indian Ocean, and methods are more opportunistic involving theft rather than hijack and ransom, there is sufficient concert with recorded incidents off Guinea, Togo and in the Bight of Benin. "It did give us a couple of anxious moments as he seemed to be determined to get close to us," concludes Campbell. -- Full report: http://globaloceanrace.com/?page=news&news_id=523&lang=en BACKGROUND: Six double-handed Class40's are competing in the Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR), which started in Palma, Mallorca on September 25th with an expected finish in Mallorca by May 2012. There are five legs to the 30,000 nm course with stops in Cape Town, South Africa; Wellington, New Zealand; Punta del Este, Uruguay and Charleston, USA. -- http://globaloceanrace.com SAILING SHORTS * Glen Haven, NS (September 29, 2011) - All fleets have completed seven races after two days of racing at the Trihedral Canadian Yachting Association National Sailing Championships in St. Margarets Bay. Day two leaders are Isabelle Bertold (Laser Radial, female), Hugh Macrae (Laser Radial, male), and Chris Dold (Laser). Racing concludes October 1st. -- Event details: http://tinyurl.com/CYA-092811 * Chicago, IL (September 29, 2011) - The twelve teams at the ISAF Grade 1 Chicago Match Cup completed their qualifying round robin series, with the top six teams advancing to the quarter finals while the remaining six teams sailed the Repechage round to determine the two teams to also advance. The top three teams at 8-3 are Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA), Phil Robertson (NZL), and Keith Swinton (AUS). Racing is being held in the Chicago Match Race Center's eight equally-matched TOM 28 class boats, with the finals scheduled for Saturday. -- Event website: http://chicagocup.org/ * Annapolis, MD (September 29, 2011) - The ISAF Grade 1 Santa Maria Cup International Women's Match Racing Championship completed today the double round robin seeding series for the eight teams competing in J/22s. Posting a 12-2 record, American Anna Tunnicliffe with crew Debbie Capozzi, Molly Vandemoer, and Liz Bower were the top seeded team. The first race of the quarter finals were also completed, which Tunnicliffe's team won against their opponent Martina Silva (ARG). Finals are scheduled for Saturday. -- Event website: http://www.santamariacup.org * Nice, France (September 29, 2011) - Austrian skipper, Roman Hagara, managed to fight off the challenges of his 10 competitors to keep Red Bull Extreme Sailing at the top of the leaderboard on the second day of Act 7, Nice - but only by 1.5 points! On Friday Act 7 of the Extreme Sailing Series opens to the public as the racing moves closer to shore in 'stadium' mode and the WEBcam feed goes live online -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/ESS-092911 * Rovinj, Croatia (September 29, 2011) - Sailed under the backdrop of Rovinj's old town with the beautiful grand St. Euphemia Church towering above the start line, the fourteen teams competing for the Adris RC44 Cup enjoyed four great fleet races in the Croatian NW thermal wind today. There was no standout performance on the fleet race opener. Three boats took race wins with ORACLE Racing, (Stuart Hebb /Russell Coutts) winning the first and third race, Artemis Racing, (Torbjorn Tornqvist/Morgan Larson) taking the second and Team Aqua (Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton) the fourth and final race of the day.Oracle Racing currently leads the series. -- Full report: http://rc44.com/news/view/could_it_be_closer * Volvo Ocean Race skipper Mike Sanderson was rushed to a hospital Wednesday evening in Alicante, Spain for an emergency appendicitis operation and now looks set to miss the qualifying leg in just over a week. Normally, patients who have had operations of this kind need around two weeks to recover. However, his participation in the race proper is not in doubt. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-092911 * In Sailing World's College Rankings as of September 29th, the College of Charleston hits the top of the coed rankings with an overwhelming number of first-place votes. Meanwhile, Yale, Connecticut College and Boston College make up a close top three in the women's rankings. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/SW-092911 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include being a dog, being a number, being a girl, being a scow, being a skiff, being a Dubai racer, being polite, being timeless, and being old school. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0930/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK The International 14 World Championships 2011 were held on September 3-18 at the 2012 Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth, UK. It took awhile for the racing to get rolling as the aftermath of 'Hurricane Irene' kept the 70-boat fleet ashore for five days. But when it did, it took all seven races for the championship to be determined. The final race loomed large with Archie Massey/Dan Wilsdon requiring a win and Roger Gilbert/Ben Mcgrane requiring a seventh or better. The fleet started under black flag, with the two contenders shot out the line, neck and neck, never more than ten yards apart for the three lap race. Gilbert/Mcgrane took the lead on the final beat, when Massey/Wilsdon undercooked the starboard layline, but crossed the finish line to no sound signal. They were black-flagged at the start - handing Massey/Wilsdon the race win and an unprecedented third World title. Here is a highlight video from the event: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/11/0930/ BONUS: The RC44 YouTube channel has daily highlight videos from their RC44 Championship Tour event this week in Rovinj, Croatia: http://www.youtube.com/user/RC44ClassAssociation BONUS: The Extreme Sailing Series YouTube channel has daily highlight videos of the Extreme 40 racing from Act 7 this week in Nice, France: http://www.youtube.com/extremesailingseries BONUS: The September 30 episode of the "World on Water" global weekly sailing news report features Act 6 of the Extreme Sailing Series in Trapani, Italy, Audi MedCup Soto 40 Barcelona, Spain, Melges 32 Worlds Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 2011 Farr 30 Worlds San Francisco, USA and in the "Fresh to Frightening" action segment we feature the recent Grade 2 Invitational Chicago Match Race Centre series off Navy Pier where, in heavy winds, there was action aplenty, spinnaker roundups and collisions etc. See it all on www.boatson.tv approx 1200BST, 0700 EDT Friday September 30. SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com TRIVIA ANSWER Besides Icebreaker Boats, C-Tech masts, and Quantum Sails Potsdam all having Kiwi blood behind them, these suppliers are all deemed to be the leaders in the OK Dinghy class. The OK Dinghy is an international class sailing dinghy, designed by Knud Olsen (DEN) in 1956 as a preparation class for the Olympic Finn. The rig is identical to a Finn comprising a single sail set on a rotating, un-stayed, bending mast. The 2011 International OK Dinghy World Championship in Largs, Scotland was won for a fourth time by Nick Craig (GBR). -- Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12588 BENETEAU LAUNCHES NEW MODELS AND FALL SHOW SAVINGS This fall Beneteau will introduce two new models, the Oceanis 45 and 41, which will both be built at Beneteau's factory in Marion, SC. They offer more space and comfort while preserving the great sailing characteristics of the original Oceanis range. Designed by naval architects Finot-Conq and Associates, the boats have a sleek low profile cabin with long coachroof windows. Major highlights of these new Oceanis include a luminous interior plus an ingenious full width, electrically operated transom enclosure that provides easy access to the sea. In addition to the release of these exciting new models, Beneteau is also celebrating its continued leadership of the North American sailboat market with Fall Show Savings. See your dealer or visit Beneteau at one of the major boat shows and explore all of the details of why more Americans are buying Beneteaus than any other cruising sailboat. Click here to learn more about these new models and fall boat show savings. -- http://beneteauusa.com/oceanis 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 Kathy Weishampel: I bought a Dyer Dinghy and I learned to sail on my own. I used Royce's book as my bible (as mentioned in Scuttlebutt 3437). I think I memorized most of the book! No one even mentions it today and I think it is a great book. Many people involved in sailing don't know the lingo which makes helping them really difficult because we no longer speak the same language. * From David Redfern Aaaah, Royces's Sailing Illustrated...one of the favourite books in my collection. I have often loaned it out to people who say they want to go sailing. Who else described 'prop walk' in a better way? * From Geoffrey Emanuel, Southlake, TX: Continuing the youth sailing thread that began in Scuttlebutt 3433, we live in a society that has adopted one overarching axiom: "Winning is Everything." In education, winning is defined by maximizing grade point averages and sports supremacy, not preparing a student for all of the complex and diverse challenges of adult life. In business, the primary goal is maximizing profit anyway you can, not building the highest quality product or delivering superior service. I think junior sailing programs have been dumbed down to teaching kids how to finish first. No one should be surprised that seamanship, navigation, and other important sailing skills get shorted. I too wish junior sailing programs would return to teaching a more balanced, broader curriculum. But I don't believe this will happen until society decides that its overall approach to living could use a makeover. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION There is only one perfect child in the world and every mother has it. SPONSORS THIS WEEK JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Summit Yachts - Gowrie Group - North Sails Melges Performance Sailboats - Morris Yachts - Doyle Sails LaserPerformance - Team One Newport - Ullman Sails Premiere Racing - US SAILING - Beneteau Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
