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SCUTTLEBUTT 3072 - Friday, April 16, 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: Samson Rope and Summit Yachts. ED ADAMS - BORN AGAIN DINGHY SAILOR Since his tenure amid one design classes earned him the U.S. Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award in 1987 and 1991, the pull of professional sailing had taken Ed Adams away from his roots. Here is his story of how he returned: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- My journey to the Lightning Class began in January of 2009, in the crowded boarding lounge at Key West airport, after Race Week. The fellow in the adjacent seat looked vaguely familiar, until he introduced himself as Bill Faude. Bill gave me the 10-minute sales pitch, as we waited to board our flights, and he was effective. The Lightning class really offered all that I missed in sailing. In the past I had owned many boats, including Lasers, Snipes, Stars and J/24s, and I really missed participating in the regatta circuit. Not that I was absent from sailing....but all of my past 20 years had been in as a sailing coach, with very little time on the tiller. I told Bill I had logged 700 hours that year driving a powerboat. He told me to buy a Lightning. The idea percolated as the economic recession deepened all summer. I found myself with a lot less work, a lot more free weekends, and an even greater desire to get back to steering my own boat again. I considered a number of classes...the Star, the Melges 24, and the Etchells, to name a few. But when it came to most fun for your buck, none came close to the Lightning. As I poked around the various class websites, a few things were obvious about the Lightning Class: 1) It was perhaps the best organized class in the U.S. 2) The Class invested more effort in building fleets and bring in new sailors. 3) It had great depth of competition. 4) In my region (the Northeast), it had the most extensive regatta schedule. 5) The rules were strictly written, and so used boats should be competitive. I saw Bill Faude again that fall, motoring up to him as he was sailing in from winning a regatta. I offered to buy his boat from him on the spot (no luck!), and so called Greg Fisher, who suggested I buy Tim Healy's boat. Tim rolled the boat into my garage before the first snowstorm of December. I stood back and marveled at how much boat I had gotten for my money. The quality of the trailer, covers, and molding work from Tom Allen was exceptional. Tom really doesn't charge enough... I knew from experience that the best way to learn how to sail in a new class was to enlist experienced crew. I was VERY lucky to convince both Neal Fowler and PJ Schaffer to join me for the 2010 Southern Circuit. Most Lightning sailors have raced against Neal and PJ, but few know how much they have accomplished outside of the class. I knew them from collegiate and International racing....both were long-time US SAILING Team members. Together, we were the "Olympic Almosts Club." -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9605#9605 SHANA BAGLEY - CLIPPER ROUND THE WORLD YACHT RACE Forty year old Shana Bagley will leave on Monday (April 19) from San Francisco as a crew-member aboard California, the only US entry in the current edition of the 2009-10 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. The race is nearing the end of its ten-month route that takes the fleet of ten identical racing yachts across all the world's major oceans and visit ports on six continents during the 35,000-mile race around the planet. Bagley, a deputy attorney general from Walnut Creek in Northern California, sailed Leg 1 of the race and loved it so much that she immediately signed up for two more legs. Her only regret is that she didn't sign up for the entire event. Sailing journalist Michelle Slade caught up with Shana this week to learn more about racing around the world in an event where the crew pays their way: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * Where did you start the race? SHANA BAGLEY: I did the initial boat delivery, a kind of a feeder race before the race start. Clipper owns all ten of the race boats and keeps them in Gossport, England. The race start was in Hull, on the northeastern coast of England, so we had to take the boats there before the race started. I got on the boat last August, the race started September 13, and I stayed on until the end of Leg 1 in Rio de Janeiro (BRA). We raced to La Rochelle (FRA), which took about three days, a fairly fast race, good weather, the Bay of Biscay was cooperative, and we had a few days in La Rochelle to get the boat ready for the big race across the Atlantic to Rio. The finish for me was the end of October, after 32 days, the longest I had ever been at sea. I've been off the boat since then. I can't wait to leave on Leg 6 (from San Francisco to Jamaica), I am so excited. * How did you choose the legs of this event that you wanted to do? SHANA BAGLEY: I originally signed up for just one leg because it was all I could afford. It's about five thousand pounds per leg on average, depending on the length. I wanted to check off a few boxes so I made a chart of all the legs, how long they took, whether it was a warm leg or cold leg, if there was something significant - ocean crossing, equatorial crossing - and made my evaluation from there. I chose Leg 1 and immediately after signing up I realized one leg wouldn't be enough so I signed up for Leg 7, which is the very end - Jamaica to New York to Nova Scotia, Ireland, Netherlands and back to England. Then, shortly after that I added Leg 6, which starts here in San Francisco in a few days and goes to Panama and then to Jamaica. I wanted to add Leg 2 so that it would be balanced but my employer wouldn't give me the time off. For some people one leg isn't enough; I really wanted to do the entire thing but I didn't have the time or money, and at the time I was married. It just wasn't possible. But now, I really wished I had done the whole thing. I could have skipped crossing the north Pacific but again, if you're going to do a circumnavigation, that's all part of the package. Complete interview: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/0415/ SAMSON MLX: A FIRST IN THE INDUSTRY Want a performance line without breaking the bank? Designed for the club racer and the performance-oriented cruiser, MLX is a double braid that has a first-of-its-kind core made with a blend of InnegraTM-S, a high modulus polypropylene, and Dyneema, a high modulus polyethylene. InnegraTM-S allows MLX to bridge the gap between the performance characteristics and price tags of traditional and high-performance synthetic fibers. MLX is a lightweight core-dependent double braid that has excellent strength and low stretch. The core matches the cover so you can taper sheets and halyards. For more information, visit http://SamsonRope.com MADSTREAK - 2007 MINI TRANSAT The 'Morning Light' film had made headlines since the call for applications was made in the spring of 2006, and the plan was hatched to document a team of young sailors in their quest to compete in the Los Angeles to Hawaii 2007 Transpac Race. But the release of the movie in the fall of 2008 was greeted with only a polite clap. For the sailing enthusiast, it proved to be sufficiently entertaining while documenting the adventure, but fell short of providing any riveting intrigue or drama, and simply had far too large a cast of people to connect with. During this same time, another race was being professionally documented, and this movie has succeeded in checking off all the required boxes. The 2007 Mini Transat drew 89 singlehanders to the start line in France to race their 6.5 meter boats on the 4200-mile route to Brazil. One of them was American Clay Burkhalter, and it is his story of building his boat and competing in the race that is the basis for the movie, 'Madstreak'. The movie quickly sets the tone, establishing the drama of the adventure, and creating the vital interest needed for me to stay seated. Clay is a supreme story teller, and his commentary is laced with interviews from better known individuals that include Jonathan McKee, who had done the race in 2003, and uncle Rod Johnstone (of J/Boats fame), who had helped to design and prepare Clay's boat Acadia. A narrative by professional sailor Paul Cayard continues through the film to provide additional credibility to Clay's challenges. If you had seen the movie Cast Away, actor Tom Hanks spent much of the movie indefinitely marooned on a desert island, with only volleyball 'Wilson' as his company. What Hanks shared with Wilson, Clay shares with his onboard cameras. I found myself gaining an intimate relationship with Clay, and experiencing with him the huge squalls and other dangerous mid ocean encounters. Quite clearly I found myself cheering for him. Where Morning Light struggled to gain interest among non-sailing audience, I believe Madstreak would succeed. It allowed me to bond with the characters, and it focused on their adventure without getting lost in the technology of the sport. This is not a sailing film just for sailors; I could easily imagine this being shown on cable television. Very watchable indeed! - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor, http://tinyurl.com/Scuttlebutt-review-MADSTREAK SATURDAY SCREENING: Assuming the technology is there, a complimentary showing of MADSTREAK will be on Saturday at Strictly Sail Pacific as part of the seminar series. Hosted by Scuttlebutt's Craig Leweck at 1:00pm, he will be joined by Stan Honey (11:45am) and Genny Tulloch (2:15pm) to provide the racing enthusiast with a block of entertainment and education. Details on the seminars and discount tickets here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9604 NEW YORK TO BARCELONA TRANSOCEANIC RECORD New York, NY (April 15, 2010; Day 8) - The two IMOCA Open 60's pass into their second week of the New York to Barcelona Transoceanic Record Sailing Challenge battling with the toughest conditions of the passage so far. The weather forecasts confirm that not only is deliverance from the 35-40 knot gusts and big seas due by Friday early afternoon, but then strategic decisions need to be taken over the following 24 hours which could have a lasting effect on positions up the Mediterranean. Perennial leader Estrella Damm has a lead of just over 30 miles, and they still have no options but to press on flat out. Both teams well know that the miles up the Mediterranean are likely to be in light to moderate, variable headwinds and that in those conditions, the tables could be turned and W Hotels is acknowledged by most as having the potential speed edge. On W Hotels the team has had their hands slightly full as they were undertaking a repair to the compression bar and the part of the blade control mechanism of the windward rudder after it was damaged by a wave. The W Hotels team believes they could repair the problem, but would need to throttle back for up to six hours to make the repairs. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/yyv2rtk Positions report (as of 20:30 UTC): Estrella Damm - 2545.2 nm from NY; 1121.4 nm to Barcelona W-Hotels - not available SAILING SHORTS * Nassau, Bahamas (April 15, 2010) - After the first day of the Star Class Western Hemisphere Championship was postponed due to high winds, racing got underway today on Montague Bay for the 29 entrants. Taking the early lead are Canadians Richard Clarke and Tyler Bjorn, whose 2-1 put them ahead of Americans George Szabo/ Mark Strube in second and Mark Mendelblatt/ John von Schwarz in third. Racing is scheduled through Friday with Saturday held as a reserve day. Results: http://star2010.nassauyachtclub.org/results/star_2010.htm * West Marine announced a call for entries for its second annual "Green Product of the Year" contest. As part of West Marine's mission to reduce its impact on the environment, it will continues to search for innovative, green products, and award a grand prize of $10,000 to a designated official winner (void where prohibited by law) at the 2011 Miami International Boat Show. -- Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9597 * After the success of the 2009 Mentor Scheme, Henri Lloyd have launched the 2010 scheme which offers a fantastic opportunity for two lucky winners to experience a day in the life of Ben Ainslie CBE and TEAMORIGIN, plus 500 Pounds each to go towards their sailing costs and 350 Pounds worth of Henri Lloyd products. -- Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9611 WHITE HEAT IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS Summit 40 "White Heat" had a spectacular win in Racing Class C at the BVI Spring Regatta last week. Despite being the smallest boat in its class, it won by 6 points with two bullets on the last day. According to Mike Williamson, owner of the Mark Mills designed IRC rocket, "White Heat's performance both upwind and down was awesome, and enabled her to hold her own even on island racing courses." Check out the New Summit 40 and Summit 35 at http://www.summit-yachts.com EIGHT BELLS Joseph E. "Mike" Tapert, sailing icon in the Detroit area, passed away at the age of 88 on April 13, 2010. Mike first emerged as a leader by being elected Commodore of Bayview Yacht Club, Detroit, MI at the age of 39. He was well-known for his sailing ability, management skills and sound judgment. In 1972, he was Navigator aboard the 1972 Canada's Cup winner DYNAMITE and continued as either Race Chairman or Committee member of several successive Canada's Cup Series until age 80. He sailed in 46 Bayview Mackinac Races, with 8 victories. He served on the International Race Committee for the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series 1977, 1980 and 1983 in Newport, RI and as Umpire for the 1992 and 1995 International Selection Series for the America's Cup (Louis Vuitton Cup) in San Diego. Mike was a U.S. Sailing Regional Administrative Judge for Area E for many years as well as Judge at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1996 in Savannah, GA. He was also Judge at many events worldwide for many years, including the Congressional Cup, Key West Race Week, Block Island Race Week, Soling Worlds, The Kenwood Cup and the Admiral's Cup. Mike was never afraid to enter into a discussion and express his opinion. He will be sorely missed on the Detroit waterfront as he was the "go to" guy. - E. Llwyd Ecclestone, Scuttlebutt Forum: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9643 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include 'Honey I shrunk the boat', indecision in Scandinavia, sidewalk sketch artist, surfing to China, transport turn on, suffering in the Bahamas, fashionable footwear, smart collegians, and a frightening sight in San Francisco. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0416/ 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 Ever wondered what Olympic sailors do to stay in shape when they're off the water? Guests of the Laser Training Center in Cabarete, Dominican Republic got to find out the hard way. Join Chris Love of Sailgroove who follows along as 2008 Olympic Laser Radial gold medalist Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) gives a gathering of sailors a wakeup call to life in the 'fit lane'. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/10/0416/ BONUS 1: In case you did not attend Charleston Race Week, the organizers wanted you to see what you missed. Here is 4:51 minute 'I told you so' video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iCMBFfwD2k BONUS 2: If you have ever wondered what a Melges 24 might look like with the kite up and the wind gusting to 30 knots, wonder no more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69VsJMvNmGs BONUS 3: If you have ever wondered what it might be like to be onboard a J/109 when the wind speed hits 55 knots and seas reach 6 meters, wonder no more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13bo7-pUQ5w 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 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 Andy Burton: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3071) I caught your note about the plans in Illinois for a wind farm in Lake Michigan. We have similar plans here in RI for south of Block Island. As sailors we're as "green" as anyone and have an incentive to remain so. However, sailors should beware of wind farms; the disturbance to the breeze downwind of wind farm installations is considerable. There have been a couple of studies detailing the havoc they create. For any sailor who has sailed in a competitor's foul air, it's not too hard to imagine how far that zone extends; it's literally miles. * From Alex Arnold: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3071) The first time the Chicago area threat level goes to orange they will close off the area around the wind farm and never open up thereafter. * From Tom Priest (re, letter in Scuttlebutt 3071) Fine and dandy response Steve...if only the person who died in the foolish quest wasn't a MINOR! The problem, as I see it, is that the person/people (ie:parent) who urged and/or permitted the minor to participate in this fatal adventure is still ashore and DOESN'T suffer the same result. Call it 'incomplete Darwinism' if you like...Perfect Darwinism removes the ENTIRE gene pool..."don't just trim a branch, cut down the whole darn tree!" So...in MY perfect (imaginary) world...the adult (parent) who signs off on this foolish quest effectively puts his own 'skin' in the game and magically disappears as well if the kid doesn't make it back... I would then bet the urge to be the 'youngest whatever' would diminish QUICKLY because the parents overbearing desire to live vicariously through their kid's exploits would be greatly tamed (and even if the parents weren't overbearing...they would likely exercise a little more restraint before turning the kid loose...). If I'm not mistaken, I think the term is called "PARENTING"! Free-will, risking life & limb, promoting the 'human spirit of adventure' are all truly great concepts...for those old enough to understand the consequences. As a minor, they haven't been alive long enough to understand the gravity of true failure. This is NOT a video game, you do not get to press "control/alt/delete", there are no 'do-overs'. This is the ultimate "Do not pass GO, Do not collect $200" maneuver.....Sorry my friend....YOU ARE DEAD. -- Forum, http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9642#9642 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Atom Bomb: An invention to end all inventions. Special thanks to Samson Rope and Summit Yachts. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
