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SCUTTLEBUTT 3261 - Thursday, January 20, 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: The Pirate's Lair and Ullman Sails. LIGHT AIR TESTS LEADERS DAY 3 KEY WEST 2011 Key West, FL (January 19, 2011) - Light winds allowed for only one race on Wednesday, but it proved crucial, as there were changes atop the standings in some classes while others found the top boats consolidate their leads. Fitting the former category is Barking Mad, which increased its advantage in the Farr 30 class by winning Wednesday's race. Tonnerre de Breskens 3, The Netherlands entry skippered by Peter Vroon, took a commanding lead in IRC 2 class by winning Wednesday's race. The Ker 46 now has bullets in four of five starts and leads second place White Gold (James Bishop, Palm Beach, Fla.) by 10 points. Steve Howe and the Warpath team transformed a one-point lead in Melges 32 into a seven-point advantage by taking second in Wednesday's start, helped by the boat that was in second after Tuesday's action - Leenabarca (Alex Jackson, Riverside, Conn.) - finished ninth in Race 5. "We're sailing fairly consistently and that's the key in a long regatta like this," said Howe, from Portland, OR. "We've been good at fighting our way back to the front whenever we have a bad start or a bad leg." Three other classes - Melges 24, J/105 and IRC 1, saw a change atop the leader board. Anema & Core, the Judel Vrolijk 52 owned by Ennio Staffini of Annapolis, has really found its groove and reeled off three straight first place finishes to seize the lead in IRC 1. Italian Tommaso Chieffi is calling tactics aboard Anema & Core while fellow professionals Richard Bouzaid (Doyle New Zealand) and James Daggs are trimming the main and jib, respectively. -- Full story: http://www.Premiere-Racing.com/keywest11/pages/KW11_releases.htm Daily T2P videos: http://www.t2p.tv/guide/kw11.php Sailing World: http://tinyurl.com/Sailing-World-KW SAIL: http://sailmagazine.com/best_around_the_buoys/ * CLOSE-UP: Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck has been at Key West Race Week for the past three days to soak in the scene. After riding with photographer Sharon Green for two days, Craig took the media seat on the RC44 Mascalzone Latino on Wednesday. "The boat is designed to race. And if you like going over 7 knots upwind in 8 knots of wind, this is the boat for you." Here are some videos that he took: http://tinyurl.com/RC44-KWRW2011 * Racing fans can follow live the J/105 fleet competing at Key West 2011 using the live Kattack tracking system. The 14 boats are the only group utilizing the software at the annual event, which also serves as the J/105 Midwinter Championship. Racing is streaming live during the five-day regatta, and racing fans can also view recaps of each race as well as reports. Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/4hoo55h DAY TWO AC45 TESTING IN 25 KNOTS Auckland, New Zealand (January 19, 2011) - Day two of testing in New Zealand and the team was confident enough to put the AC45 catamaran through its paces in 25 knots of wind, with spectacular results._ With squirrely strong puffs gusting over 22 knots blowing through the Viaduct, the toughest part of the day was always going to be lifting the wing and getting it safely into the platform to launch the boat. In the ideal world, the AC 45 test team would have had a few more days of wing maneuvers under their belt before doing it at the top-end of the wind range. "I wouldn't have pulled out an ACC V5 rig (the monohull class used in the Cup from 1992 through 2007) in today's conditions," said Martin 'Toon' McElwee, a rig designer at Southern Spars. But already, everyone was ready to test the limits. It was decided to "GO FOR IT" at midday even with the breeze still blowing at 18-20 knots in the hoisting area. The hoisting was successful and although a few issues, it provided valuable lessons and it appears that handling these wings in this wind speed is quite viable. There were a few eye-popping moments where the wing wanted to take flight on its own, but the team did a great job in keeping it under control in extremely challenging conditions. "Dropping it into the boat and the boat into the water was achieved but hanging onto the boat is a challenge. The moment the rig is in - it wants to go," said Matt Mason. -- Read on: http://www.americascup.com/blog/testing-day-two-25-knots_48 PLAN YOUR REGATTA WITH THE PIRATES LAIR! For graphics, t-shirts, embroidery, bow decals, burgees and sponsorships. Call us at 888-724-5286. Check out our online store at http://www.pirateslair.com AC45 TICKS ALL BOXES By Richard Gladwell, Sail-World Sail-World was very privileged to get a look at the new AC45 sailing on the Waitemata Harbour and Hauraki Gulf, in conditions that were testing - a 20kts SW breeze, gusting to 26kts. It was very hard, or impossible to find fault with the AC45, which turned in a remarkable performance by any standard and particularly for a multihull. She exhibited excellent speed up and downwind - hitting 13-16kts upwind and 27-30kts downwind. The sailing angles were very good - comparable with a keelboat, maybe not up at the angles of an AC Version 5 - noted for their closewindedness. Handling was an absolute dream - even some quite radical maneuvers such as several 'S' bend bearaways at speed from an on the wind course, there was no tendency to bury a bow, and she stayed almost level throughout. Tacking was unbelievable - far quicker than a monohull - even an AC class yacht - and more akin to a very well sailed foiling moth - which does not put her hull in the water during a tack. The AC45 put both hulls in the water for maybe a second as she went through the eye of the wind, and then she was back flying a hull again on the new tack. Gybing was slightly less radical, but still well above the standard of a monohull - giving the impression that match racing will be very possible in these boats - if the AC72 scales up from the AC45. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/4fyctv4 * Richard Gladwell is a self-admitted former critic of match racing in multihulls, which makes his story all the more compelling. VIRBAC-PAPREC EMERGES FROM GHOST MODE (January 19, 2011: Day 20) - After 36 hours in stealth mode, Virbac-Paprec 3 is visible again and has gained 100 miles on the leader since she left Recife. "It's a fine maneuver, but it will probably be more interesting in the long term," explains Loick Peyron. Virbac-Paprec 3 is now 169 miles from leader Estrella Damm. For the moment, Foncia and Virbac-Paprec 3 have wind and are covering more miles, while the leaders are stuck in the Saint Helena anticyclone. Loick believes there will be a new start at the next course marker, which is Gough Island. What has been your strategy in the last 36 hours? Loick Peyron: "Strategy? It's been to sail fast on this yacht in a peculiar wind and to try and go round the Saint Helena anticyclone, and it's not over yet. It's not very amusing to set a course that doesn't make headway in the right direction. To avoid people witnessing this cruel moment, we decided to go into stealth mode and not to share our misery (laughs)." Have you reaped the rewards you hoped for? Loick Peyron: "The party's not over yet! The slightly difficult passage is ahead of us. Heading west to sail round the anticyclone puts us to a fair disadvantage in terms of distance sailed, but we do have the wind. In the end, we have gained 100 miles since Recife. It's been a good maneuver." In the longer term, how do you see things? Loick Peyron: "That's where things could turn out to be interesting. The weather conditions will bring an increasing amount of wind. If everything goes as planned, we are all going to meet up around Gough Island for a new start of the Barcelona World Race. That would be fun, wouldn't it?" -- Event website: http://tinyurl.com/4qw5b5d Race Tracker: http://tracking.barcelonaworldrace.org Standings (top 5 of 14 as of 20.01.07) 1. Estrella Damm Sailing Team, Alex Pella & Pepe Ribes, 20,623 nm DTF 2. Groupe Bel, Kito De Pavant & Sebastien Audigane, 20,658 nm DTF 3. Mirabaud, Dominique Wavre & Michele Paret, 20,676 nm DTF 4. Foncia, Michel Desjoyeaux & Francois Gabart, 20,720 nm DTF 5. Neutrogena, Boris Herrmann & Ryan Breymaier, 20,722 nm DTF Full rankings: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/ranking/ BACKGROUND: This is the second edition of the non-stop Barcelona World Race, the only double-handed race around the world. Fourteen teams are competing on Open 60s which started December 31st and is expected to finish by late March. The 25,000 nautical mile course is from Barcelona to Barcelona via three capes: Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, Cook Strait, putting Antarctica to starboard. Race website: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org WHAT AN ABBOTT YNGLING AND A GUILD GUITAR HAVE IN COMMON By Carol Cronin, Yachting Correspondent Turns out, matching equipment to one's expectations is a really bad idea. When we won the 2004 Yngling Olympic Trials, the first person I wanted to thank (after my teammates and husband) was Bill Abbott. Bill had built our boat, but that was only part of why I was so grateful. What I really wanted to thank him for was his attitude. Flashback to November, 2000: The Yngling is announced as the new Olympic women's keelboat. Teams scramble into threesomes and good boats are scarce. Because winning the Trials is a long shot and I don't yet have any teammates, I figure I'll buy a boat appropriate to my expectations. In other words, something that's been around the block a few times, rather than a new Olympic-ready speedster. "That's a really bad idea," Bill told me when I called to ask about a used boat I'd seen advertised. "You want to compete with the big girls, you've gotta have top notch equipment." Now Bill's a two-time Olympian, so I figured I should listen. He's also the consummate soft-sell; after an hour on the phone with him I rushed to mail out a deposit check for a new boat. (FYI, the molds hadn't even been built yet.) A few years later, I made a seemingly unrelated purchase: a really nice Guild guitar to replace the mediocre Yamaha that I'd had since my tenth birthday. A ridiculous splurge? Perhaps; I will never play at a caliber to match my new six-string. But having such a nice instrument does inspire me to play more, and it definitely helps me play better. My equipment is leading the way, just like it did in the Yngling. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/4c476vw VOLVO OCEAN RACE UNVEILS YOUTH PROGRAM Alicante, Spain (January 19, 2011) - The Volvo Ocean Race is proud to announce its new youth sailing initiative, the Volvo Ocean Race Academy. This Academy marks the continuation of the Volvo Ocean Race's commitment to youth sailing worldwide. The project contains three activities to involve the children of each of the host ports. Firstly, the race will take over 14,000 children worldwide out on the water to "Try Sailing". For the experienced young sailors of these countries, there will be the Academy Team Racing Series. Finally, there will be an educational programme to allow the host port schools to become involved in the race and sailing as a sport. The Try Sailing experience will take children from the local schools and communities out sailing in each host port, in supplied 5.6m Ludics training dinghies. They will be shown some basic sailing skills and learn about the Volvo Ocean Race. The race is also working on individual sailing projects with the local sailing associations and clubs to help leave a legacy in each of the ports, which will facilitate even more young people trying out sailing. The competitive pinnacle of the project will be the Academy Team Racing Series, which will be held in Optimists dinghies in each of the Host Ports. The two-day regatta will be run in the Race Village harbours, and the race organisation is working with the Optimist Class to organise these regattas. "The Volvo Ocean Race has always been committed to helping improve youth sailing and encourage young people to get out on the water. With the Try Sailing initiative we hope to get local kids energised about sailing and our race," explained Knut Frostad, CEO Volvo Ocean Race. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/4mkdnom UNLOCK THE RACECOURSE Sharks, minnows, bogeys, gnomes?! What's really going on inside the mind of sailing's top competitors? You'd be surprised! Ullman Sails invites you to a new seminar that gives you an inside look at how the pros tackle the racecourse. With insight from our decorated panel of experts, "Unlocking the Racecourse" will walk you through each stage of a typical race day from pre-start strategy to choosing your leeward gate. Whether you sail one design or PHRF, grab your crew and check out this seminar in Seattle, Honolulu, San Diego or Newport Beach later this month. Get more info at: http://www.ullmansailsseminars.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Is your event listed on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar? This free, self-serve tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. These are some of the events listed on the calendar for this weekend: Jan 20-23- St.Maarten Classic Yacht Regatta - Philipsburg, St.Maarten, NA Jan 21 - Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race - Bridgetown, Barbados Jan 22 - Good Old Boat Regatta - St. Petersburg, FL, USA Jan 23-29 - US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR - Coconut Grove, FL, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. Here are some of recent postings: * Edson Introduces New Microbial Cleaning Products * Reichel/Pugh Success in the 2010 Rolex Sydney-Hobart * Education for those long winter months: Seven Seas University * Schaefer Marine hires U.S. West Coast Rep * Retail Sail Tools Website Launched View and/or post Industry News updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news SAILING SHORTS * Skiffs have finally made their way to the East Coast and are slowly becoming the training boats of choice for young adults. Skiff Head has launched the first-ever training group on the East Coast in greater New York. Max Fraser will be lead coach with regular practices starting in the April. -- For information: http://www.skiffhead.com *Rolex Miami OCR returns to Biscayne Bay, Miami, FL, January 22-29, 2011, in its 22nd edition of running. The regatta is the North American highlight on the winter circuit for the world's top Olympic and Paralympic class competitors. The US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR was founded as the Miami Olympic Class Regatta in 1990 and promoted elite-level sailing during the winter months amongst Canadian and U.S. Olympic Hopefuls. -- Event website: http://rmocr.ussailing.org/ * The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) invites bids from parties interested in hosting future editions of the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championships. The ISAF Women's Match Racing Worlds has been held every year since 1999 with the most recent event in 2010 being hosted by the New York Yacht Club in the USA. For 2011 the champion will be decided at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships, the principal qualification event for the 2012 London Olympic Games where women's match racing will make its Olympic debut. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/4nq2qmp 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 Andrew Hurst, Seahorse Magazine (re, Scuttlebutt 3260): I enjoyed reading about Michael Lovett's sail with Russell Coutts. It does all look the same, doesn't it... I had a similar pleasure, also on an RC44 a few years ago with Russell doing tactics and my good friend and fellow Star boat enthusiast Patrick de Barros on the helm. Nothing unusual said or done, but somehow every time there was a cross we were moving a little bit further from the back to the front of the fleet, going on to a comfortable race win. That's the thing about being as good as Russell, it is all exactly the same, just the tiniest bit better. Every single time. I did have the same experience much further back, that time it was Dennis Conner. Same deal, quiet brilliance. Dennis likes to say how he puts his trousers on 'one-leg-at-a-time, just like the next guy'. But you only have to be brilliant at one thing in life... and for Dennis it isn't putting on trousers. Great days both. Keep up the good work. * From Mark Lammens (re, Scuttlebutt 3260): Re: "Congratulations to XXXXX (2nd Men) and YYYYY (3rd Women), the top NA competitors and new 470 Class North American Champions". Shame on the 470, the winner of the regatta is the winner on top, the NA competitor is something else. Many years ago, the Laser Europeans was won by a Canadian guy, an America guy was second, and a British guy was third. The trophy went to the guy who finished third. Laser does not do that any more. They give the title and the award to the sailors that have the lowest score at the end of the regatta. Everyone that raced had their entry accepted, cashed the cheque, boat passed measurement, they satisfied everything but being "North American" - we want you to race but you will not get the trophy. Give the NA trophy to Mathew Belcher/Malcolm Paige (AUS) and Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron (FRA). CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If two wrongs don't make a right, try three. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Camet - Samson Ropes - North U - North Sails - New England Boatworks Doyle Sails - Team One Newport - US SAILING - The Pirates Lair Ullman Sails - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Marion Bermuda Race Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
