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SCUTTLEBUTT 2138 - July 17, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.CHEERLEADING The sport can only grow and prosper with cheerleaders. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that those who cheer will be cheerleading for your team all the time - and the use of “team” here can mean alot of things. Like the way a club views their place in the world. Change comes hard to any aspect of life - and particularly hard around yacht clubs, which are for the most part places where successful people gather. A group like this is usually used to getting their own way on an individual basis, so often times people butt heads over the way change ought to be initiated, if at all. Some people simply like to maintain the status quo. So they cheer for that team. They keep their head in the bilge and figure it will all be just fine because it always has been, or at least they think it always has been. Others like to look outside the boat and see what is developing to weather - so they cheer for a jib change early before the storm hits. No matter which team you are cheering for, we are all playing the same game. Clubs and classes that will prosper in the 21st century will be clubs and classes that let cheerleaders from all teams sing their fight song. Cheerleading for change is rarely popular - and often the results aren’t evident immediately. But change is critical, because the world around us changes daily. When we don’t change with the world, we get left behind. Maybe we need a “No Club or Class Left Behind Act.” - http://peterhuston.wordpress.com/2006/07/14/cheerleading BAROMETERS NOT ALLOWED From 'Lectronic Latitude: Joseph Altmann of Suzy Q is in a quandary in the Caribbean: "I recently learned that barometers are not allowed as either checked or carry on luggage on passenger flights. I had my barometer repaired and was bringing it back to the boat in the Canary Islands. When I was boarding my flight at the Newark, New Jersey airport, the barometer was confiscated by the TSA. It took me several weeks and a big hassle to get it back. "I have since been trying to find a way to return the barometer to my boat and since we are now in the Caribbean, it cannot be shipped by ground transportation. It appears the TSA thinks there is mercury in the barometer (like a thermometer) although this is not true. Does anyone know how I can get my barometer back to the boat? Since various countries in the Caribbean have different customs regulations and due to the delicate nature of the barometer, I would prefer to carry it with me if possible." Any ideas? They can be emailed to mailto:richard@latitude38.com WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR Porto Azzurro, Elba Island, Italy (July 16, 2006) Peter Gilmour (Perth, Western Australia) today won the fifth annual Locman Cup – Elba Island. He and crewmembers Rod Dawson, Christian Scherrer, Kazuhiko Sofuku and Yasuhiro Yaji added the event title to their previously won World Match Racing Tour championship and ISAF World Championship of Match Race Sailing. They earned nearly $120,000 in prize money between the event and the World Tour, including a new BMW X3, and gold medals from ISAF. On Elba Island, Gilmour said he’d been struggling all week with a sore back, which left him out of sorts yesterday when he was nearly upended in the semifinal round. But a night of rest and trademark superb boathandling from his longtime crew helped right his ship. The PST crew defeated upstart Ian Williams (GBR), Williams Sail Racing, 2-1 in the final. It was Gilmour’s 11th career victory on the World Tour, and he said it didn’t come easily. “Beating Ian was as tough as beating Russell (Coutts) or Ed (Baird),” Gilmour said, referring to his seasoned rivals. “He’s an outstanding sailor. He’s going to beat us one day.” – Complete report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com Locman Cup - Elba Island Final Standings 1. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST 2. Ian Williams (GBR) Williams Sail Racing 3. Cameron Dunn (NZL) Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia 4. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team 5. Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Shosholoza 6. Thierry Peponnet (FRA) Areva Challenge 7. Pierre Mas (FRA) China Team 8. Giovanni Segnini (ITA) Locman Sailing Team 2006 Match Racing World Championship Final Standings 1. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 113 points 2. Ian Williams (GBR) Williams Sail Racing, 63 points 3. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, 61 points 4. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 45 points 5. Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand, 45 points 6. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 32 points 7. Gavin Brady (NZL) Beau Geste Sailing Team, 32 points 8. Thierry Peponnet (FRA) Areva Challenge, 32 points REGATTA UNIFORMS AND MORE… Racing in a regatta this summer, maybe competing in a golf tournament, or attending a family reunion? Have some team spirit with some comfortable, functional, and awesome looking uniforms! Whether you need polo shirts and shorts to jackets and foul weather gear, Team One Newport has a large selection of the best quality gear from Henri-Lloyd, Musto, Patagonia, Gill, Slam, Ronstan, Magic Marine, Camet, Sailing Angles, Columbia, and more. They have their own embroidery machines to ensure the highest quality. Call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) for a free catalog or visit http://www.team1newport.com YOUTH WORLDS (Sunday, July 16) Of the seven gold medallists from last year championship only one returns to compete in the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in Weymouth, England, providing an opportunity for a host of new contenders amongst the 281 competitors from 63 nations to garner the premier accolade in youth sailing. Day three of racing proved a disappointment for many, as fickle winds forced many races to be postponed and in the late afternoon, finally abandoned for the day. Only the RS:X’s (boys and girls boardsailors) enjoyed a different fate inside Weymouth Bay, with the experienced race team managing to fit in two races, between the fluky conditions. The 420’s, Laser’s and Hobie 16’s started the day with high hopes, setting off in a light but constant south westerly wind, however as morning became afternoon the likely hood of starting dropped, as the wind outside the breakwater failed to fill in. A cheer was heard from the patient sailors when the races were postponed indefinitely and ribs were provided to deliver much needed transport to land. Monday will be a lay day, with racing continuing through July 20th. Preliminary Results (Top team plus two North American teams) 420 Boys: 1. Sebastian Peri Brusa/ Santiago Masseroni (ARG), 13. Michael Menninger/ Nicholas Martin (USA), 30. Erick Brockmann/ Mikel Noriega (MEX); 420 Girls: 1. Belinda Kerl/ Chelsea Hall (AUS), 5. Emily Dellenbaugh/ Briana Provancha (USA); Laser Boys: 1. Emil Cedergard (SWE), 2. Luke Ramsay (CAN), 4. Royce Weber (USA); Laser Girls: 1. Tina Mihelic (CRO), 8. Hayley McLean (CAN), 22. Stephanie Roble (USA); Board Boys: 1. Lukasz Grodzicki (POL), 13. David Hayes (CAN), 20. 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. Australia, 2. Italy, 3. Israel, 4. England, 5. Poland, 14. United States, 17. Canada -- Complete results: http://www.youthworlds.org -- Daily podcasts: http://www.youthworlds.org/news/uploaded/Podcast_now_available.doc SCUTTLEBUTT EVENT CALENDAR Since 2003, the Scuttlebutt website has provided arguably the best event calendar for the sport of sailing. Scuttlebutt has aligned with RegattaDates.com to manage the database, but it is the Scuttlebutt community that makes the calendar succeed. Easily one of the most popular features on the Scuttlebutt website, the ‘buttheads use the calendar to check on the sailing events, with event organizers using the self-service tools to promote their events. Key West Race Week even uses the calendar exclusively to maintain their crew list. Thanks to West Marine’s support, the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar has become an important tool for the sport: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar/ SAILING SHORTS * Jonas Hoegh Christensen of Denmark won the 50th Finn Gold Cup held July 8-16, 2006 in Split, Croatia, besting a fleet of 99 sailors from over 30 countries.Christensen won by only 3 points margin over Emilios Papathanasiou of Greece, with Edward Wright of England nine points further back. Top North American finishers were Christopher Cook in ninth from Canada and American Zach Railey in 29th. - http://www.jklabud.hr/2006/index.php?regata=finn&lang=eng * Current Snipe World Champion Augie Diaz with crew Mark Ivey won the 57-boat US Snipe Nationals in Erie, PA last week, with Jim Bowers and Mryna Chan MacRae coming in second and Ernesto Rodriguez and Leandro Spina in third. The consolation Wells Series was won by Dustin Kays and Clayon Dixon. - http://www.erieyachtclub.org/2006snipe/results.htm * Texas is famous for having the biggest and best of many things. Now they can add J/80 talent to the list. After 10 races and four days of racing at Corpus Christi, Glen Darden was crowned the 2006 world champion, out gunning fellow Texans John Kolius, Scott Young and Rick Schaffer and the rest of the international fleet. While not a record sized fleet at 33 boats, the leaderboard was deep, with notable class champions Kerry Klingler (US), Ruairidh Scott (UK) and Jay Lutz (US) finishing up 5th, 7th and 9th respectively. - http://www.2006j80worlds.com/ Great photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0716/ * Newport, RI (July 16, 2006) The sunshine returned with a vengeance for the second day of the New York YC Race Week but the wind struggled to gain even a fraction of the speed it showed on opening day Saturday. The 66 boats entered in the four-day handicap-racing segment of Race Week waited for an afternoon breeze, then made a hot and slow go of it in 2-6 knots of breeze that slowly increased to a shifty 5-10 knots. The second half of Race Week is this coming weekend (July 22-23), with an Around-the-Island Race on Wednesday to split the two sessions. - http://nyyc.org/index.cfm?menu=12&openitem=12 * The bulk of the West Marine Pacific Cup, San Francisco-Kaneohe Bay fleet have now finished, and the unofficial results find The Contessa being the first to arrive on Saturday afternoon, earning the Swede 55 first place in the double handed division. In Division A, the Lessley family's California Girl takes first place honors, Division B saw TutuBene arrive first and awarded first place, ET took first place in Division C, Synge put in another late charge to best Recidivist in Division D, and Lightning took both fleet and Division E honors. Final scoring will be available by July 19th. - http://www.pacificcup.org/ “MAN OVERBOARD!” The best just became more affordable. SeaMarshall announces a new, permanently mounted, direction-finding receiver, the SarFinder 1003. At about half the price of similar man-overboard homing receivers, the SarFinder is the perfect match for your SeaMarshall water-activated man-overboard beacons (works with other brands, too!). For information: Chip Barber, mailto:admin@chabrber.com, http://www.chbarber.com/seamarshall.html 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 Bill Menninger: I have been able to spend the last few days at the Youth Worlds, and have come to realize that coaching during the event is really tough as the coaches see very little of the race. * Troy Sears, Next Level Sailing: (re, From Issue 2137, on why the US Navy took the picture of American and the USS Ronald Reagan) I thought I would share with you why the US Navy is happy to send along the picture. The flag you see in the picture was made by hand by our crew to honor those who serve us in the Navy. The flag is 35 feet high and over 60 feet long. Two years ago we started a tradition of leading navy ships into San Diego Bay so that the sailors knew they were returning to a grateful city. Photo: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/america.jpg * From Mark Eustis: Just so there’s no confusion…the original America was a near-gone hull that sat under a shed on the grounds of the US Naval Academy when it was destroyed by a collapsed roof following a snowstorm in the Spring of 1942. That qualifies it literally as “destroyed during WW2” but not in the manner one might suppose from the reference. There is an emerging theory that America was lost in battle while landing commandos under the cover of darkness on the shores of occupied Norway, and that the Navy and OSS conspired to cover up the loss with a trumped up story about the roof. However, that can’t be substantiated so I’ll go with the snowstorm. The latter’s more glamorous, but the former is a more typical end for an old Cup yacht. * From Jerry Anderson: (edited to our 250 word limit) It is unfortunate that I read all this negativity by some people aimed at Bayview Yacht Club and the Port Huron to Mackinaw race. I am an “Old Goat” and member in good standing at Bayview and will be racing in my 26th race. This will also be my tenth Chicago Mac Race. I do not hold any grudges or have any complaints. We get our fair share of Chicago “Big” boats that race Bayview’s race regularly and appreciate their participation. I believe that most or all of the detractors probably have never raced in the Bayview Mack or ever care to do so. Many Bayview Mac participants including a good contingent of Bayview Yacht Club boats participate in the Chicago Mac Race, even in the “off” year when Bayview’s race is after theirs, requiring a 600 mile delivery from Detroit around the Straits of Mackinaw and back down to Chicago. Not all of the racer’s have time worry about the politics, especially the owners who are too busy getting their boats ready for these great races. By the way, I mentioned this in Scuttlebutt four years ago, the longest fresh water race is the bi-annual Trans-Superior race which starts in Whitefish Bay at the mouth of the Saint Mary’s river north of Sault Sainte Marie Ontario and finishes 350 miles later in Duluth Minnesota. Check it out on a chart and try it some time, I have and it scenery is beautiful and Lake Superior intimidating. * From Whitney Rugg: In reference to Vic Beelik's story from Lake Tahoe, it sounds like he encounted a water-spout, rather than a Micro-burst...micro bursts do not typically last for 10 minutes, and by his description, it sounds like the ones we encounter during the summer in FL and offshore near the Gulf Stream. He is lucky that there was no damage! * From Eric A Sorensen: I loved the forum discussion you had in this issue. One of the credible parts of his writing was the use of BN, which is really a great term and appreciated by a few, but not able to use it in general discourse due to racial overtones. Thanks for putting it in there. I am not much a surfing kind of guy so it was something I would have missed. I need it put in front of me, and 'butt does that with style and reliability. * From Michael O'Connor: I've been a fan of your site since its inception, and as the sailing Web universe expands, I realize your job is getting tougher, not easier. So here comes a serious criticism, but without malice against 'butt editorship. In yesterday's offering (#2137), in the lead item, "Letters Vs. Forums" section, a writer kindly recalls his relationships with two renowned personages in the sport. Unfortunately, the writer, in referencing his formative years in the nautical world, used the term "BN" to describe his job aboard a yacht. I need not remind any human, sailor or otherwise, that such vile, racist terminology, even where reduced to capital-letter argot, has no place---anywhere, anytime. * From David Paul: (Re: 'Lost Heroes') Please tell me that 'BN' is not being used anymore in your publication, regardless of the source. I sail w/ members of a racially diverse crew, I live in the 21st century, and I think the term is racist. A lot of us agree. What am i missing here? Why perpetuate the racist moniker? One good reason? Curmudgeon’s Comments: We try not to edit the entries in the Forums, but when we carry them over to the Newsletter, we will consider more closely how to handle it in the future. * From Peter Harken: Regards the "Pope's" Henderson return to racing article for YC's, he's right on all counts. The ILYA, (Inland Yacht Racing Association) is the closest thing to what Paul advocates and the racing and training is number one at the member clubs in the Midwest, food and beverage very secondary and many times non-existent in the smaller lake clubs, but the racing from Optimist to the mighty A-Scows is very strong. The ILYA clubs in general only promote Scow and Optimist racing to keep each class relatively big with some individual club exceptions, but few. It has been proven over and over again that allowing a proliferation of different classes with sanctioned races in a club will eventually diminish the number of boats in each class until that class interest is lost entirely. This is a sure way to the food and beverage club replacing the racing club! Pewaukee Yacht Club gets over 100 scows in 5 different classes racing every weekend with heavy Optimist training and racing during the weekdays and individual scow class and some Laser racing during the weekday evening racing. There is strong constant interclub regattas throughout the sailing season due to the overall good communication between the ILYA member clubs. You can have a different sailboat other than a scow in the ILYA clubs, but in general there won't be any ILYA sanctioned races for them which is the main reason for such strong racing at all the member clubs, i.e. strong fleets year after year! And yes, PYC does have a bar, but no food. The bar is essential for post race excuses and telling lies. And also yes, all races, regattas and YC parties are run by member volunteers. And last, the "Pope" should return or he'll drive his Toronto neighbors nuts! * From Paul Henderson: Left-Wing… I forgot that the USA has only two major political parties and through Canadian eyes are both at worst middle to right-wing. Bill Clinton is in Toronto on a regular basis and through my eyes is middle of the road if not a little to the right. Very bright man. George Bush maybe further right-wing but neither could be considered left-wing in Canadian terms. Canada has four major political parties. (We always have to have more of everything due to our inherent paranoia.) The two major political parties are Liberals (Democrats) and Conservatives (Republicans) and the NDP (New Democratic Party) who are left-wing by my definition and very anti-USA. (NDP = Never Debate Positively) The fourth are the Bloc Quebecois who are the separatist from Quebec. I trust that explains the politics of Canada with regards to left, right, centre or neuter. Curmudgeon’s Comment: Politics and Scuttlebutt are a bad mix, but we felt Paul deserved the chance to explain his comments in Issue 2135. If you disagree, you can vent in the Forums thread on this subject, as we won’t print any letters in the newsletter in response to this letter from Paul: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2735#2735 CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION It is as bad as you think, and they are out to get you. Special thanks to Team One Newport and C.H. Barber III. |
