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SCUTTLEBUTT 2141 - July 20, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.REALITY TV The casting agency for the television show, Trading Spouses (http://www.fox.com/tradingspouses), is looking for a family to cast for their upcoming season that is involved in yachting and sailing either as a profession or personal pastime. The basic requirements for participation on the show are that 1) Spouses must be married, 2) Spouses must have kids over six years, 3) Spouses must have full custody of their kids, and 4) All family members must be citizens of the United States. The family that makes it on the show wins $50,000. If interested, contact Brooke Krinsky, Casting Associate, at 323-802-0584 or mailto:brookek@rocketsciencelabs.com WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR Cascais, Portugal (July 19, 2006) Stage 1 of the 2006-‘07 World Match Racing Tour season, the Portugal Match Cup, today kicked off in the Bay of Cascais with winds blowing from the north around 12 knots, providing very shifty conditions where no lead was safe. The 12 teams have been split into two groups of six. Chris Dickson (NZL), BMW Oracle Racing, and Thierry Peponnet (FRA), Areva Challenge, both went 3-0 in Group A to lead. In Group B, Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN), Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia, Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Victory Challenge, and Staffan Lindberg (FIN), Alandia Sailing Team, are tied at 2-1. The groups each sail a five-flight round robin. The 12 teams are competing for a $100,000 prize purse, with $30,000 earmarked for the champion. Racing off the Cascais city front, the event is being held in SM40s, the Pelle Petterson-designed match-racer for the World Tour.The top three advance to the quarterfinals and the bottom three to a repechage round, from which the top two advance to the quarters. Full report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com Portugal Match Cup Provisional Round Robin Standings Group A (After 3/5 Flights) 1. Chris Dickson (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing, 3-0 T. Thierry Peponnet (FRA) Areva Challenge, 1-2 3. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 1-2 T. Lotte Meldgaard (DEN) HSH Nordbank, 1-2 T. Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team 6. Chris Law (GBR) The Outlaws, 0-3 Group B (After 3/5 Flights) 1. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) Mascalzone Latino –Capitalia Team, 2-1 T. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge, 2-1 T. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, 2-1 4. Przemek Tarnacki (POL) Tarnacki Racing/Sopot MR Center, 1-2 T. Álvaro Marinho (POR) Quebramar Match Racing Team, 1-2 T. Ian Williams (GBR) Williams Sail Racing, 1-2 TRIVIA QUESTION The World Match Racing Tour was created in 2000 to unite the world’s best match-race regattas under one banner, and it is now the world’s leading professional sailing series. For the first four years of the World Match Racing Tour (formerly known as the Swedish Match Tour), there was a different season champion each year. However, for the past three years, Australian Peter Gilmour has held the title. Who were the first four tour champions? (Answer below) RIGGED TO WIN Powerlite PBO standing rigging proves itself on the race course. West Marine Rigging congratulates these fine teams on their recent success in 2006: Jim Yabsley’s Melges 32 “Yabsolutely” won line honors at the Delta Ditch Run; Tapio Saavalainen’s Grand Soilel 37 “Kalevala II” was 2nd overall in the Onion Patch Series; Dan Gourash’s C&C 115 “Blue Dog” was 1st in class at the Chicago NOOD; and Peter Van Der Schaaf’s Stern 32 “Jager” won the Harlingen-Terschelling Race. Take advantage of this competitive edge and contact West Marine Rigging for your next rigging package. Contact them at 888-447-RIGG or http://www.westmarine.com/rigging YOUTH WORLDS (Wednesday, July 19, 2006) There is all to play for coming into the last day (on Thursday) of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships, as the extremely variable weather caused many a place change. Discards are proving to be the major focus today as some classes have completed nine races giving them two discards to play with, while others are just on the cusp with only eight races completed, meaning they get just one discard. The weather model for today showed that there would be wind from the SW in the morning and would decrease dramatically during the afternoon but no one could have predicted the strength of the initial breeze, coming up to 20 knots at times inside the breakwater of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy but never really getting going outside, a mere ten knots at most. With this in mind, the race officials decided to send all bar the RS:Xs out early to fit the racing in. The Laser were given poll position in the breeze, while the Hobie Cat 16s and 420s battled it out in considerably lighter conditions. The first gold medals of the event could have been handed out today, to British Hobie Cat 16 sailors, Tom Phipps and Richard Glover. For Tom Phipps this is particularly amazing as it is his second gold medal, placing him firmly in the history books. Joining him is Lukasz Grodzicki the polish RS:X windsurfer who receives the second gold medal of the day to add to the one he gained last year at the Youth Championships in Korea. Preliminary Results (Top team plus two North American teams) 420 Boys: 1. Sebastian Peri Brusa/ Santiago Masseroni (ARG), 16. Michael Menninger/ Nicholas Martin (USA), 32. Erick Brockmann/ Mikel Noriega (MEX); 420 Girls: 1. Belinda Kerl/ Chelsea Hall (AUS), 6. Emily Dellenbaugh/ Briana Provancha (USA); Laser Boys: 1. Luke Ramsay (CAN), 4. Royce Weber (USA); Laser Girls: 1. Tina Mihelic (CRO), 6. Hayley McLean (CAN), 24. Stephanie Roble (USA); Board Boys: 1. Lukasz Grodzicki (POL), 11. David Hayes (CAN), 21. James Sobeck (USA); Board Girls: 1. Laura Linares (ITA), 15. Nancy Rios (USA); Hobie 16: 1. Tom Phipps/ Richard Glover (GBR) 13. Evan Miller/ Kyler Hast (USA). Volvo Trophy for the top-scoring national team. 1. Italy (215 pts), 2. England (209), 3. Australia (194), 4. Israel (176), 5. France (151), 14. United States (79), 17. Canada (70) -- Complete results: http://www.youthworlds.org -- Daily podcasts: http://tinyurl.com/nzxq2 WORD OF THE DAY From Dictionary.com, their word of the day for Tuesday July 18, 2006 was… scuttlebutt \SKUHT-l-buht\, noun: 1. A drinking fountain on a ship. 2. A cask on a ship that contains the day's supply of drinking water. 3. Gossip; rumor. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scuttlebutt comes from scuttle, "a small opening" + butt, "a large cask" -- that is, a small hole cut into a cask or barrel to allow individual cups of water to be drawn out. The modern equivalent is the office water cooler, also a source of refreshment and gossip. (or from a daily sailing publication) -http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2006/07/1 8.html AROUND AGAIN Now that the Volvo Ocean Race is done, the world’s oceans are open for the next global contest. The Velux 5 Oceans race (previously called the Around Alone Race) will kick off from Bilbao, Spain on October 22nd, with ten world class skippers currently confirmed to compete single-handed, around the world's oceans in thoroughbred racing yachts. The Velux 5 Oceans is set to take in Fremantle, Australia, and Norfolk, Virginia (USA) during its three legs, before returning to Bilbao for the race finish, covering 30,000 miles in all over six months. The race has attracted an internationally diverse range of Open 60 and Open 50 skippers, spanning Europe, Asia, Australasia, North America and South America. The race will witness the leading professionals in the world of solo sailing, such as Mike Golding, Alex Thomson and Bernard Stamm, battling against Corinthian amateurs with a steely determination to circumnavigating the globe and beat the best. - Full report: http://www.velux5oceans.com/da/38865 Curmudgeon’s Comment: Scuttlebutt will undoubtedly follow this race given the top name skippers entered, and by virtue of the boats that they sail, which are among the fastest and most exciting classes of racing yachts available. However, with only ten entries listed, and with nine of them in the Open 60 class, time will tell how closely we will follow the race (Americans Tim Troy and Doug Hofman are among the entries in the Open 60 class). FREE KEY WEST / MIAMI RW DVD Jobson Sailing, which produced shows for OLN TV from the 2006 Key West and Miami Race Week events, has compiled all the shows onto a single DVD, and has given Scuttlebutt a stack of them to distribute. If you were at either of these events and would like a FREE copy of the DVD, we will send them out to the first fifty people that reply at this link: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/2006/dvd CORONET RESTORATION UPDATE The International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) announced that the 1885 schooner yacht Coronet would soon be conveyed to Coronet Restoration Partners (CRP) to complete her restoration. IYRS acquired Coronet in 1995 with plans to restore this unique yacht, the last grand sailing yacht of her time, size, and degree of originality. In September 2005, IYRS placed the restoration on hold to focus on school growth. San Francisco-based Jeffery Rutherford of Rutherford Boat Works working with Robert McNeil, an accomplished sailor and classic boat restorer, are the lead principals of Coronet Restoration Partners. The group will undertake the completion of the restoration of the 133-foot Coronet and emphasizes that this work will include a close relationship with IYRS. The project is to resume on the school's campus. - Complete report: http://www.iyrs.org/coronet.htm Photos of Coronet when she was moved to IYRS in May 2004: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/coronet/ SAILING SHORTS * (July 19, 2006) The mid-week Around-the-Island Race was cancelled today at the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex when no wind materialized for the 48-boat fleet. The Around-the-Island Race traditionally splits Race Week's first half from its second, which is devoted to one-design racing and begins Thursday. The fleet will be 105 strong as North American Championships for the Beneteau First 36.7, Farr 395 and Farr 40 classes are sailed as well as the first-ever National Championship for the new Melges 32. Also sailing will be classes for J/105s, J/109s and Swan 45s. - http://nyyc.org/index.cfm?menu=12&openitem=12# * This year's Route Halifax Saint-Pierre Race saw racers enjoying almost 40 hours of downwind sailing in 22 to 30 knots of breeze along the East Coast of Nova Scotia and across the Cabot Straits, finishing in time to join the Bastille Day festivities of "France in North America." The hospitality of this French Archipelago provided racers with parties that were as much fun as the 357 nautical mile race. Website and results are at http://www.route-hsp.com/ * (Wednesday, July 19, 2006) The Australian team of Thomas Spithill, Nina Curtis, and Andrew Hudson representing Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club remain undefeated with nine wins after the second day at the 40th annual Governor’s Cup, hosted by Balboa Yacht Club. Sailed off of Newport Beach, CA, there are now three teams lined up next with six wins, but the Australian team from Royal Perth Yacht Club with Robert Gibbs, Kinley Fowler, and Jonathan Clough is alone in second by virtue of boat on boat wins over the other two clubs: Balboa Yacht Club and Sandspit Yacht Club/ NZ Team Racing. - Full results: http://tinyurl.com/kh8g8 * Several of the North American Star Class "Districts" (of which there are 8 in North America) held their Blue Star events this month. The Blue Star is the District Championship and qualifies the winners to attend the Star Class World Championship to be held September 27 to October 7 in San Francisco, on the Berkeley Circle, hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club. The results of the several Blue Star events are as follows: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/0718 TRIVIA ANSWER Australian Peter Gilmour has been the season champion for the World Match Racing Tour for the past three years (2004-2006), but prior to his reign, the following skippers held the title: 2003 - Jesper Radich, Denmark 2002 - Peter Holmberg, US Virgin Islands 2001 - Magnus Holmberg, Sweden 2000 - Bertrand Pace, France ULLMAN SAILS POWER J/80 WORLD CHAMPION Congratulations to Glenn Darden and his J/80 team aboard “L’Glide” crowned 2006 World Champion. “L’Glide” flew Ullman Sails powerful main and jib during the windy 10-race regatta. The Corpus Christi Yacht Club, Texas, USA event, 8-15 July, saw an international fleet of 33 boats that was stacked with previous champions and a deeply talented leader board. Again, and again world champions choose Ullman Sails for peak performance... and we deliver! For the “Fastest Sails on the Planet,” contact your nearest Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com Curmudgeon’s Comment: Look for photos of Glenn Darden’s team (Bow #27) in the J/80 Worlds photo gallery on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0716/ LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thought at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Dave Gendell, Editor, SpinSheet Magazine: (Further clarification on the sad death of the original Schooner AMERICA) In October 1921, Charles Francis Adams presented the restored America to the Naval Academy on behalf of the Eastern YC. She was accepted by the Academy's superintendent for a nominal purchase price of one dollar. Sadly, there was no preservation fund or program and she was left to rot in her slip on the Severn River. In late 1940 she was hauled, some say at the direct request of FDR, in Eastport, at the Annapolis Yacht Yard (the Trumpys would not arrive on the scene until 1947). A proper restoration effort began but was rudely interrupted by the events of December 7, 1941. On March 29, 1942, a makeshift shed over her hull collapsed under the weight of snow from a freak spring storm. She was damaged beyond repair. Throughout the war years, souvenir hunters picked over her remains. AMERICA was finally broken up and her remains hauled away over the winter of 1945-46. Bits of her are scattered throughout the yachting world and a hunk sits on my desk as I type this note. But those holding such pieces, present company included, should bear in mind the words of an old time Annapolis salt: "If you put all the supposed bits of AMERICA together you could build three schooners..." * From Doug Petter: (From Issue 2140, where the Transpac limits stated "Otherwise, boats may submit rating data as many as 10 times on various setups and told each time only whether they are over or under the limit.") From ORR or Americap I don't care which. This is the way to run a race? Are we racing each other or the rating system? This makes a game of cat and mouse out of US Sailing with their constituents the mouse. If the VPP is "constantly changing" every competitor would want to wait 'til the last day before the race, get all 10 trials done, and then select from a few dozen sails and keel configurations, to meet the most advantaged rating. What a great stride in rating systems. Rant over. * From William Plourde: (regarding the A-Cup post in Scuttleblog) I disagree with the comments about focusing only on the top contenders. There will be plenty of time for that in Spring 2007. One of the things that keeps younger sailors wishing to move up in the sport is seeing many different countries and sailors. I refer specifically to the South African Team. In addition, with greater coverage of all the contenders (even at the bottom of the fleet) the sponsors will be willing to keep funding sailing events and boats. * From Mike Piper: (regarding the A-Cup post in Scuttleblog) I would agree that Tucker did an outstanding job. Psyched to hear he's on boar for the AC. I enjoy watching him on t2p.tv, but this was even better on a 50" plasma. What would really put it over the top, would be to have some Hi-Def cameras on board, or at least on the chase boats. People go ga-ga over Hi-Def sports. I disagree with the comments about only showing the best boats. Avoid showing lopsided races, sure, but the closest, most dramatic races could be at the bottom or top of the ladder. Plus, we won't get a chance to see some of these teams again for several years, so let's see them while we can. * From George Biddle, CA: As one in the profession, I feel compelled to correct any wrong impressions regarding the term "BN," which for the last ten years at least has referred to “Boat Nannies.” However, some of us feel much more comfortable with the latest, more PC version to be heard around the docks: We are now BMW's (Boat Maintenance Workers), and proud of it. Thanks for all the great daily news. You make my breakfast more fun! * From John Lazier, Canada: How about "non-Caucasian floating domestic?" This suggestion enroute to the Nassau airport in a cab with a "BN" after he suggested it was "politically incorrect" to make such remarks in front of the "colored"s. And he was/is a member if the "IBNA"! (International Boat Niggers Association). Lets get real and have fun, enjoy the sport and sail fast * From Big Jim: Did you know that the ABN AMRO II boat is in Chicago for the start of the Chicago Race to Mackinac will be actually heading up the lake with the boats in the race (http://team.abnamro.com/web/show/id=102954/contentid=4237), and though it will not be part of the race, it can still be tracked at http://www.FIStracking.com under its own separate section. * From David Gill: Bravo Count Enrico Ferrari, your words are truly beautiful music (from Issue 2140). The tragedy is that the decline has already begun and rather than pull out all the stops to reverse it, the masses seem content to go down with the ship. Coffee anyone? * From Peter Harken: Count Enrico Ferrari really hit the nail on the head with his "Take responsibility" comments and let the kids have fun (in Issue 2140). "Self responsibility" will not be an option in our US of A much longer as we become more and more litigious because the money from it is so great no matter the future consequences to our society. I can already hear the justification, spare me please! Let the kids have fun in their Optimists as Enrico said and tip over, so? Let them build tree houses with their own hammer, rusty nails and old lumber instead of those soft, overly safe, never get bruised plastic play houses and plastic so-called gym things that litter the kids playgrounds these days. Yes, they might fall off a ladder or out of the tree…so? We of that era probably all have broken or sprained limbs during our childhood adventures - me several times to say the least. Mother looked at us as if we were stupid; we were and she never thought of running to a lawyer and blaming the tree or the owner of the tree. She let us know it was our doing. All those experiences of self non-parent supervised adventures taught us self responsibility and how to get on in life without "winging" life's mishaps onto someone else. Yes, we learned that the coffee was too hot, it burned, it hurt, so? Thank you Enrico! Brought back great childhood memories, self induced painful ones also. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Giving praise does wonders for the other person's sense of hearing. Special thanks to West Marine and Ullman Sails. |
