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SCUTTLEBUTT 2721 - Monday, November 10, 2008Scuttlebutt 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. Today's sponsors are Team One Newport, U-K Halsey Sailmakers, and Ribcraft RIBs. THIRTY SAILORS BEGIN “MOUNT EVEREST OF SAILING” (Nov. 9, 2008) - The sixth edition of the Vendée Globe got underway with hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the sea walls and clambering onto precarious vantage points to give the 30 skippers the famous Les Sables d’Olonne send-off. At the start it looked like Mike Golding on Ecover 3 was set for the best start, but was OCS, while Alex Thomson showed great pace off the line in Hugo Boss. It was defending champion Vincent Riou on PRB who got his nose in front first, with Paprec-Virbac (Jean-Pierre Dick) and Sebastien Josse on BT climbing to join him on the charge out to sea, Josse taking the lead after around an hour of racing. Dee Caffari got a confidence-boosting flying top-five start on Aviva, carrying full mainsail – as did Riou and Thomson, while the rest of the fleet opted for a reef. -- Race website: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en * The forecasters promise little time for the 30 skippers to find their feet, but those who can maximise the gains through the first night have the best chance of making an early break as they cross the 300 miles or so from the Les Sables d’Olonne to Cape Finisterre before they slide south in lighter winds paralleling the coast of Portugal. Conditions in the Bay of Biscay will see the SW'ly wind, moderate at the start, gradually strengthen to 25 or 30 knots during the night, then 30 to 35 knots with gusts reaching 40-45 knots. The NW'ly swell mixed with a SW'ly wind will combine to create rough to heavy seas with waves reaching 5 to 6 metres (16 to 18 feet). * At around 20:00 Sunday (French time), Bernard Stamm had a collision with a fisherman boat while he was working inside the boat. The bowsprit of Cheminees Poujoulat is broken and after assessment by the skipper cannot be repaired at sea. 72 miles after the start skipper turned around to head back to Les Sables d’Olonne. He should arrive at around 2 or 3 o’clock early Monday morning. * Dominique Wavre and his team have identified the electrical problem on Temenos, which led the skipper to return to Les Sables d'Olonne. It was the computer unit in the system, which had stopped working. A new part is on the way from Lorient. The sailor is expected to set sail again on the next tide at around eleven Sunday night (French time). * The International Jury will be meeting to make a judgment concerning the fact that four crewmen were still aboard Bahrain Team Pindar in the four minutes leading up to the start. * British yachtswoman Dee Caffari, who sailed into the record books in May 2006 by becoming the first woman to sail solo, non-stop around the world against the prevailing winds and currents, hopes to complete the Vendee Globe, thus becoming the first woman to sail solo and non-stop both ways around the world. * The Vendée Globe Virtual Race is incurring problems due to the large number of connections to the server, which race administrators hope to resolve soon. MAKING CHANGES TO THE SPORT Madrid, Spain (Nov. 9, 2008) - The ISAF Annual Conference is now in its fourth day. Here are a couple of the issues discussed over the weekend: * A new Advertising Code: Providing clearer text and increased space for class advertising. Alberto Predieri (ITA), the President of the International 470 Class Association, an ISAF Committee member and part of the Working Party, explained the thinking behind class advertising: “The most valuable space in on the sails and the sailors should take value from that space. What we wanted to avoid was to dilute the value of this space by forcing the sailors to carry a class sponsor on the sails that may end with a big conflict with their own sponsors. So we went down to the bow, where it is commonly agreed to have an event sponsor, to make that space available to the class sponsor.” * ISAF Youth World Championship: Future hosts, equipment used, adding an additional event, and the relevance of the event for Olympic development. Looking at the relationship between the Youth Worlds and the Olympic Games, particularly in the context of events and equipment, Phil Jones, the CEO of Yachting Australia and an observer at the meeting, posed the question, “Are we leading or are we following?” The Sub-Committees response to this was to state the championship must find the right balance. Firstly all agreed that the Olympic pathway is a key element of the Youth Worlds, but Sub-Committee chairman Fiona Kidd also stressed the championship must remain on the cutting edge, “Our challenge for the future is to target our events and make sure they are what our competitors want to be sailing in their future.” Complete report: http://www.sailing.org/news/26083.php VOLVO FEVER, PUMA RACING and ACURA KEY WEST RACE WEEK… The Volvo Ocean Race just finished an exciting first leg. Congratulations to all the team and especially PUMA RACING. Be a part of the action and wear the official gear by Puma. Team One Newport has the best selection of the t-shirts, fleece tops, jackets, duffels and backpacks! These make great holiday gifts. It’s also time to prep for the Acura Key West Race Week and Team One Newport has the best crew uniforms! Call them at 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) or visit http://www.team1newport.com REPAIR AND PREPARE Their job list might not be huge, but PUMA Ocean Racing’s general manager Kimo Worthington is keeping his staff busy until the Volvo Ocean Race fleet departs for the 4,450nm second leg from Cape Town to Cochin, India on November 15th. The American and his shore manager, Neil Cox, have hired five locals to their team in an effort to get il mostro “as close to 100% as possible” ahead of the restart. Their motivation is obvious. “If we and the other boats do not get our repairs done here, the chances are we won’t catch up,” Worthington says. “History shows this is a critical stop. You either get it fixed or you don’t, especially as the first leg traditionally brings a lot of damage because guys are racing for the first time.” His sense of urgency is enhanced by the change of race course and schedule. Traditionally he would be preparing a boat for a charge east to Australia. This time the fleet will be reaching their way north to Cochin in India. Traditionally, the fleet would have in the region of 30 to 33 days here to repair and prepare. This time they have 12. -- Read on: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/november/PUMA-CT-REPAIRS Overall Leaderboard (Provisional) 1. Ericsson 4, 14 points 2. PUMA, 13 points 3. Green Dragon, 11 points 4. Telefónica Blue, 10 points 5. Telefónica Black, 7 points 6. Ericsson 3, 5 points* 7. Delta Lloyd, 4 points 8. Team Russia, 4 points *Scoring penalty: http://tinyurl.com/illegal-keel DETERMINING THE TEAM For the Americans, the new Olympic quad gets launched with the naming of the 2009 US Sailing Team Alphagraphics. Membership has its privileges, and while there are typically several events used for team qualification, the only one used to determine the top three teams in each event for 2009 will be the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta in January. For the new women’s match racing event, the qualifiers are more complicated as there are only four entrants permitted from the U.S. to compete in the Miami OCR. To determine who can compete in Miami will be decided in a mid-December qualifier hosted by St. Petersburg YC in St. Petersburg, FL. Anyone interested in competing should contact Kenneth Andreasen at Olympics@ussailing.org before November 11th. JOYON BREAKS DISCOVERY ROUTE RECORD Francis Joyon sailed the maxi trimaran IDEC across the finishing line off San Salvador at 02:06 UTC on Friday to break the solo Discovery Route record by 15 hours and 15 minutes, subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. It is another record in an incredible year for Joyon, who smashed the singlehanded round the world record in January. Francis Joyon (FRA) had left Cadiz, Spain at 05:30:57 seconds UTC on Tuesday 28 October, before crossing the finishing line in San Salvador, the Bahamas to complete the 3,885nm Discovery Route, named after the historical track taken by Christopher Columbus, at an average speed of 16.4 knots. With a running time of 9 days, 20 hours and 35 minutes, he betters the current record, set by Thomas Coville (FRA) onboard the 60-foot trimaran Sodebo in 2005 at 10 days, 11 hours, 50 minutes and 46 seconds, by 15 hours and 15 minutes. Joyon and IDEC got off to a flying start on their record attempt, passing through the Canary Islands little over 24 hours after starting the record attempt in Cadiz. However from that point on the route proved much more complex, with the French skipper having to take a very northerly course. In the end, he actually covered a distance of 4,304 nautical miles, at an average speed of 17.7 knots. -- Full story: http://www.sailing.org/news/26076.php CHECK OUT THE BEST THIRTY BUCKS IN RACING There’s only one new book on the new rules (2009-2012) - and it’s terrific. What makes this book especially good is its organization by tactical situations, not by separate rules. So, it takes boat-to-boat encounters and explains what you can/can’t (should/shouldn’t) do in tactical situations. We’ve got “2009-2012: The Rules In Practice” by Bryan Willis in stock, ready to ship at $29.95 +S/H. And Butch Ulmer’s rules blog gets you direct answers to any situations you’re still unclear about. Willis and Ulmer have great credentials. Log on, order your book, check out the animated quizzes and blog with Butch. http://www.ukhalsey.com => Curmudgeon’s Comment: A reminder that the racing rules get revised every four years - timed after the Olympics. The latest update will go into effect in January… have you read up on the new 3 boat length circle at marks? A LESSON IN UMPIRING by Jos Spijkerman, ISAF International Umpire As told to me by an experienced umpire, about what he learned in younger days.... Once upon a time there was a friendly umpire at a nice event. He was enjoying the sailing and had a great time flying his flags. Because he was in such a good mood, he showed the green and white flag with extra zest and enthusiasm. But if needed, he blew his whistle also extra loud for a blue or yellow penalty if he thought it was an "extra" deserving penalty. In Flight five, Match two, the two opponents were not very even. Yellow had clearly been doing this a lot longer than Blue and in the second downwind leg had almost an 80% lead. Our happy umpire was a good hundred meters away from the windward mark, when he saw the boom of the Blue trailing boat, hit the orange Mark. ~Let’s give them a break~ he thought, ~they are so far behind, I will pretend I didn't see it, and not penalize them~ Five seconds later the halyard of the spinnaker on the Yellow boat broke with a loud snap and the spinnaker dropped in the water. The boat all but stopped. The crew immediately went to work to clear up the mess. Blue sailed on and halved the distance. Yellow - still a good 40 meters away from the finish - struggled to get the wet spinnaker out from under the bow. Blue found a little extra wind and came closer and closer. Yellow still moved agonizingly slow. Our happy Umpire started to worry a bit and he motored closer. -- Read on: http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/2008/11/lesson-in-umpiring.html MORE CONFLICTS ON THE CALENDAR For every sailing area where races are organized, there is bound to be time spent coordinating the race calendar, and for areas with multiple clubs, there are bound to be conflicts too. With every effort needed right now to maximize event participation, it is curious why overlapping events are planned. When these events require significant sponsor support by both the event and the competitors, the question shifts from curious to concern. The situation now with the Volvo Ocean Race, the Vendee Globe, and the Portimão Global Ocean Race occurring concurrently will repeat again in Oct/Nov 2010: * VELUX 5 OCEANS - solo around the world Open 60 w/stops * Barcelona World Race - doublehanded around the world Open 60 w/o stops * Route Du Rhum - solo multi-class from France to Caribbean w/o stops How do they all survive? The Open 60 has emerged as the preeminent ocean racing class, and with each of these events relying on the class, why then divide the fleet? Additionally, the IMOCA (the Open 60 class association) had previously included both the V5O and the BWR in its World Championship Circuit, but now the V5O is no longer part of the class schedule. Tim Kelly, VELUX 5 OCEANS Communications Director, provides an explanation for the conflicts: -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6646 QUOTE / UNQUOTE The BMW Oracle Racing team (USA) continues to train daily with the BOR 90 trimaran in San Diego, CA that may possibly be used in a Deed of Gift America’s Cup match against the defending Alinghi team (SUI). Here are some recent quotes: * Russell Coutts, team CEO: "When I jump on a horse I've got no control over the horse. Some people know what to do, but I don't, and the horse pretty much knows that. That's what I felt when I first jumped on this thing. It's like another stratosphere in terms of the experience I've had and the sailing I've done. When I step on this thing, it's just way different." * Dennis Conner, past Cup winner: "It's quite the machine, isn't it? The whole sailing world will benefit by having this out on the race course in a lot of different ways. I applaud Larry Ellison for building this boat. I'd like to see it race and I'd like to see Larry win because Alinghi is trying to shanghai the event." * John Kostecki , BOR team member: "There's still a lot more sailing to go before we're comfortable with it. Every single day we leave the dock, I definitely feel like a test pilot, so to speak." International Herald Tribune, complete story: http://tinyurl.com/5r9m2z SETTING RECORDS… No matter where you looked, be it Annapolis, Barnegat Bay, Southern California, or Long Island Sound, a record number of RIBCRAFT RIBs have carried coaches, set marks, and hovered around the races this summer. Contact RIBCRAFT today to learn more about why their Professional Grade RIBs are everywhere. http://www.ribcraftusa.com SAILING SHORTS * (Nov. 9, 2008) - The ISAF Nations Cup is a global competition to find the world's top match racing nations in both open and women's events and to develop match racing infrastructure around the world. The Nations Cup encompasses a series of eight Regional Finals from September-December 2008, from which the top team will qualify for the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final, taking place in Porto Alegre, Brazil from 23-28 March 2009. The 2008 North American/Caribbean Regional Final were hosted by the Carolina Yacht Club and the College of Charleston on November 6-9, 2008, with Americans Dave Perry and Anna Tunnicliffe emerging as the winners. -- Daily reports: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6652 * (Nov. 9, 2008) - As the boats in the 2008 Long Beach to Cabo San Lucas International Yacht Race neared the halfway point, Doug Baker’s favored Magnitude 80 retired from the race early Sunday morning for, at this writing, unspecified reasons. Meanwhile, the three Santa Cruz 70s in the race --- Peter Tong’s OEX, Ed McDowell’s Grand Illusion and Brack Duker’s Holua --- all were on pace to break the race record of 3 days 3 hours 46 minutes 24 seconds set in 1985. Kevin Flanigan’s Fox 44, Ocelot, also retired Sunday morning. -- Daily reports: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6642 * The World Sailing Speed Record Council announced the ratification of 2 new world records set by Alain Thébault and a crew of 10 aboard Hydroptère on October 29, 2008 at Port St Louis. France. A new D Class World Record was set when the team averaged 46.15 knots along a 501.3 meters distance. Additionally, this same team set a new Outright Nautical Mile World Record by averaging 43.09 knots along a distance of 1853.5 meters. The previous records of 44.81 knots and 41.69 knots respective were set in 2007 by the same team. -- http://www.sailspeedrecords.com * Valencia, Spain (Nov. 9, 2008) - America’s Cup class racing returned to the site of the 32nd America’s Cup, with four teams joining 87 boats for the Trofeo Desafío Español. On board Desafío Español, Laureano Wizner was at the helm, while on Alinghi, TeamOrigin and Luna Rossa it was Murray Jones, Ben Ainslie and Peter Holmberg steering, respectively. Six races were held for the ACC fleet, and after the Alinghi team survived a first race where they ripped three spinnakers through the gybes, they went on to win the next five races to win the event, followed by Luna Rossa, TeamOrigin, and Desafío Español. -- Daily reports: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6657 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar THE ED BAIRD SHOW Virgin Gorda, BVI (Nov. 7, 2008) - The 2008 Vineyard Vines Pro-Am Regatta will undoubtedly be remembered as the “Ed Baird show.” The 2007 ISAF Rolex Yachtsman of the Year asserted his mastery on the opening day by winning the first five races and was never seriously threatened after that. Baird cruised to an 11-point win over the “tag team” of Paul Cayard and Morgan Larson, with Larson jumping in after Cayard left to sail in the CNEV regatta in the Mediterranean. Dave Ullman topped the Masters Division of the 15-race BVI regatta which was sailed in IC24s at Bitter End YC, with guests of the resort crewing for the eight invited pro skippers. Ullman finished third overall, just three points ahead of the UK’s Keith Musto. In the Junior/ Master team competition, Baird and Musto paired to outdistance Cayard/ Larson and partner Rod Johnsone by 23 points. -- Daily reports and photos: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6626 CURMUDGEON’S CONUNDRUM I went to San Francisco; I found someone's heart. Now what? (Maybe it was Tony Bennett’s heart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAwpocZYUJI) Special thanks to Team One Newport, U-K Halsey Sailmakers, and Ribcraft RIBs. 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