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SCUTTLEBUTT 2419 - August 27, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday with the support of its sponsors. IS THE ACM SIMPLY MISUNDERSTOOD? Here are a few excerpts from an interview on BYM News with America's Cup Management's (ACM) Chief Operating Officer, Michel Hodara, where he attempts to clarify the perception problem surrounding the 33rd Cup protocol.) * On the Golden Gate YC lawsuit: “Although the GGYC filed suit in the Supreme Court for the State of New York, on July 20, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) was not served with the papers until August 17. The response to those papers was scheduled to be answered by mid-September and SNG was working on responding by then. However, just 5 days later, GGYC went into court and asked for the time scale to be accelerated. They want it accelerated for the original suit and they also want to know from SNG the racing rules and the location for the multihull challenge they claim for. All that happened in court, on August 22, was that the court set a date for hearing to determine whether there is reason to accelerate things. SNG has to reply by September 5 and the hearing will be on September 10. This was not a victory for GGYC, as the impression has been given. Nothing was decided, the court has not taken any position whatsoever, it has just set a date for a hearing and nobody knows what will happen on the date. The court may agree to the request to accelerate, or it may not.” * On being able to turn down challengers: “Would you think it wise to have, say, four Italian teams? It is impossible for almost any country to provide sponsorship for so many teams, so if you allow a lot of entries from one country you are likely to end up with no really good entry. That’s one potential problem, the other is simple logistics. We have 12 bases now and the most we could accommodate would be 2 new bases, so we have to be able to refuse entries. Even if we could accommodate more, there would still have to be a limit on numbers because of sailing schedules and the practicality of race operations, not to mention planning.” * On abolishing the Challengers Commission: “We have replaced it with a Competitors Commission. Anyone who is honest will tell you that, last time, there were a lot of problems within the Challengers Commission; they often didn’t find it easy to agree among themselves and, when they had thrashed something out, they would then come to us. It did not make the dialogue very constructive. This time, we felt we could shorten the process by having everyone sitting round the same table at the same time; defender, challengers, ACM together. We have already had one successful meeting with the competitors for the next Cup.” -- Complete interview: http://www.bymnews.com/august/interview.php SECOND SPANISH SYNDICATE Last week King Juan Carlos stated that he considered it very important that a second Spanish challenger for the Americas Cup take part in the races. He made this statement after Pedro Perello, director of the Transpac 52 ‘Siemens’ project, presented his project for the Ayre syndicate to the monarch a few days earlier. Commenting to the press, Mr Perello stated that Ayre was completely different from The Spanish Challenge, and added that he had made an arrangement with Paul Cayard to undertake the selection of the crew for the new craft, whilst the designer is expected to be Juan Kouyoumdjian, one of the members of the BMW Oracle Racing design team, and the designer of ABN AMRO for the last Volvo Ocean Race. It also would appear that the Ayre syndicate would take over the former base of Luna Rossa in Valencia Port. The first information would appear to reveal that a major German telecommunications company may take a 60% stake in Ayre, and a special Social Council will be set up under the Presidency of Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma. The full details of the new syndicate will be revealed in a press conference at the Valencia Modern Art Museum - IVAM - in the autumn. -- The Valencia Life Network, mailto:publisher@valencialife.net SAILTEAM AFFILIATE PROGRAM FOR MARINE WEBSITE OWNERS This week Compete-At announced an affiliate program for their SailTeam product line that pays as much as $200 for each successful referral. Anyone with a website, blog, myspace page etc. can start earning income for themselves, team, or club by adding a banner to their website. When one of your visitors clicks the banner and then signs up for a SailTeam license, Compete-At pays a commission for every successful referral. Anyone can join and registration just takes a minute. For complete details and a video overview of the SailTeam product visit http://www.compete-at.com/corporate/affiliate.htm AGE AND TREACHERY Portimao, Algarve, Portugal (August 25, 2007) -- In like a lion, out like a lamb, racing for the Breitling MedCup TP52 circuit’s Portugal Trophy on the beautiful Algarve coast may have opened Tuesday with an invigorating blast of over 25 knots, but with insufficient wind Friday and Saturday, it expired with barely a whimper as the current Breitling MedCup 2006 champions, Peter de Ridder and his crew, emerged with their first overall regatta win this season. Proving to this cutting edge fleet that “old” boats can still compete, Monaco based De Ridder and his crew – which includes six members of the Team New Zealand America’s Cup team – collect the Portugal Trophy, the Corinthian Trophy for the regatta’s top owner-helm, and the Santa Ana Trophy for winning the 25.18 miles coastal race. -- Photos, event report, and complete results: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0826 Final results – top five of 19 1. Valle Romano Mean Machine (P de Ridder, MON-Judel Vrolijk 2006) 17pts 2. Artemis (T Tornqvist, SWE-Judel Vrolijk 2007) 32pts 3. Patches (E Conneely, IRL-Reichel Pugh 2007) 42pts 4. CxG Corporacion Caixa Galicia (V Tirado, ESP-Botin & Carkeek 2007) 44pts 5. Windquest (D de Vos, USA-Botin Carkeek 2006) 49pts * MedCup, the organizers of the TP52 circuit, has announced the dates of the six events in 2008 that will make up the fourth season of the Circuit. -- http://2007.medcup.org/news/?langPost=EN&id=3060 THREE’S A CROWD A triumvirate of designers has contributed to the successful launch of the Storm Trysail Transpac 65 (STP65), developing three different boats for the "Box Rule" by which the STP65 Class will be governed. Farr Yacht Design drew the first STP65 Rosebud for owner Roger Sturgeon of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with California's Westerly Marine completing the building of the boat in early June 2007. Reichel/Pugh and Judel/Vrolijk have begun respective designs for Jim Swartz of Park City, Utah, and Udo Schutz of Selters, Germany, who, like Sturgeon, are well known names in the ocean racing world. Also like Sturgeon, both owners plan to keep the boat names that have headlined their previous campaigns. Swartz's Moneypenny, currently being built by McConaghy's Boat Yard in Australia, will be ready next March, while Schutz's Container will begin construction at Premier Yachts in Dubai, UAE in August, 2007. "The goal is for the three boats to be on the starting line for the 2008 Newport to Bermuda Race," said Swartz, explaining that the event fits the multi-faceted racing profile of the STP65. "It's designed to be a Super TP52," Swartz said, "and is capable of true offshore racing. We want to do a combination of offshore, coastal and buoy racing." -- Complete report: http://www.stp-65.org/2007-STP-65-PR-8-22-07-txt.html CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar FEELING SO SCARED - SO ALIVE San Francisco, CA (August 25, 2007) -- Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin and Paul Allen of Team Pegasus clinched their overall win in the Ronstan 18’ Skiff International Regatta, but the competition was not going to let them come away without a tussle… literally. Second and third place boats - Yandoo and Delonghi - both made contact with Pegasus on the final day of the 5-day series. First it was Pegasus, wildy chasing Yandoo down the course, claiming overlap at the leeward mark, and heading for the inside. The two boats locked wings and wrestled for a moment before Pegasus came out with windward advantage. Both boats claim they were in the right. “Protest?” said Paul Allen laughing, “I don’t even think the rules allow for that.” Later it was Pegasus on starboard, headed for the windward mark and Delonghi on port, ducking, but trying to minimize the loss. They cut it a little too close and their bowsprit make contact, shattering on impact. “Mike Martin said, “We were driving along, minding our own business, and we heard this bang. It knocked us right off the wing. We didn’t know what hit us.” “Extremely unlucky,” said Grant Rollerson of Delonghi. “Not something to do with being too close?” joked Howard Hamlin, “Or is that the Australian version of luck?” At the end of the day the local boats were laid up and the visiting boats were packed into a container on its way to Australia for the start of the season there. Summarizing his experience Steve Mclean, said, “I’ve never felt so scared, or so alive as when I’m sailing an 18 footer.” -- Abner Kingman, for results and photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0825 JK3 NEWS: LIDO YACHT EXPO IN SEPTEMBER What better place to explore the energy and excitement of the fall boating season then at the Lido Yacht Expo! The show is September 6th -9th at the Lido Marina Village, Newport Beach, CA. Stop by and say hi to our JK3 Yacht Sales and Service team and check out the Hunt Harrier 25 and CrossCurrent 33. For more information on these boats or similar lines, visit our website or give our office a call at 619.224.6200. Hope to see you all there! -- http://www.jk3yachts.com SAILING SHORTS * (August 24, 2007) Veteran sailmaker and world class sailor Larry Leonard (Annapolis, MD) has joined North Sails and will work within the Performance Resource Group for the world's largest sailmaker. Leonard, who co-founded Leonard Sails with his father after graduating from college in 1976, and later founded Quantum Sail Design Group, brings more than 30 years of experience to the North Sails team. Leonard's role within North Sails' Performance Resource Group will include working on special projects, providing ongoing customer service and support and consulting with both the design and technology departments. -- Complete details: http://tinyurl.com/yvsu3p * Montreal, Quebec -- The Canadian Optimist Association held their 2007 National Championship this past week (Aug 18-21), where 108 sailors entered the annual championship. The stakes were high as the event is the Canadian Yachting Association sanctioned qualifier for 2008 North American, European and World Championships. A variety of wind conditions allowed for 10 races to be completed over four days, with Sarah-Michelle Douglas, 13, from Lake Ontario Optimist Team (LOOT) winning on a tiebreaker over Malcolm Lamphere, 11, from Lake Geneva Yacht Club. Jacob Chaplin-Saunders from the Canadian Optimist Atlantic Sailing Team (COAST) was just one point back in third. Complete results: http://www.opti2007.ca * Geoff Becker, Bill Ward, and Dan Rabin narrowly beat out the team of Allan Terhune, Katie Terhune, and Sarah Paisley to win the 2007 Lightning North American Championships on August 20-24. Eighty entrants competed in the event, which was hosted by Severn Sailing Association and Eastport Yacht Club in Annapolis, Maryland. -- Complete results: http://www.lightningclass.org/Results/results07/NorthAmericans/NAs.htm * (Copenhagen, Denmark) The Rolex Farr 40 Pre-Worlds provided plenty of warm-up action on the race course in preparation for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship which starts on Wednesday, August 29 and continues through Saturday, September 1st with thirty-six teams from twelve countries competing. Finishing the two days of Pre-Worlds competition at the top of the leaderboard was a familiar sight, two-time Rolex Farr 40 World Champion Jim Richardson's navy blue-hulled Barking Mad (USA) with finishes of 1-8-11-4-13 for a total of 37 points overall. Second place was Matt Allen's Ichi Ban (AUS) and third was Wolfgang Stolz's Opus One (GER). -- Story and results: http://www.regattanews.com/pressrelease.asp?pid=1705&lang=1 * Frankfort, Michigan (August 26, 2007) -- Twenty-five entries in attendance for the 2007 Melges 17 National Champion were reminded how consistency pays big dividends as they watched Iggy Labanauskas (of Lake Geneva, WI) and his crew of Andy Burdick remained in the top four throughout the seven race series to win the championship at Crystal Lake, Michigan. Light to moderate winds on Saturday gave way to a one race drifter on Sunday before racing was abandoned for the series. -- Complete report and results: http://www.melges17.com/displayArticle.aspx?ID=152&i=0 * The Women's International Match Racing Association (WIMRA) is offering a series of introductory clinics world wide. There are still spaces available at the second clinic in the series, which will be held this week (8/31-9/2) at the Knickerbocker YC in Port Washington, New York and will be taught by Dave Perry and Liz Baylis. Additional information at the WIMRA website: http://www.wimra.org/clinics.asp * Chicago, IL (August 26, 2007) -- No lead was safe today for the final day of racing in the light-air Windy City Match Race, where four teams competed in Farr 40s. Retaining their early lead for the victory was Jim Mitchell’s Team EWM, helmed by New Zealand’s Simon Minoprio, a match racing veteran at age 24, and including New Zealanders and BMW-Oracle sailors Joe Spooner, Hayden Goodrick, Ed Smyth and Bryce Ruthenberg. This was the inaugural running of this charity regatta, which benefited the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF) and Chicago Yacht Club Foundation. – Complete report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0826 SAIL1DESIGN TO OFFER PRIVATE COACHING & REGATTA SUPPORT In addition to classified ads for one-design boats, sailing industry jobs and sailing gear, Sail1Design now offers private coaching, clinics, and on-site regatta support to help youth or adult one-design sailors get to the next level. Visit our site to learn more! http://www.sail1design.com/getresults.html LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Gregory Scott (edited to the 250-word limit) A number of years ago, around the time that Mount Gay endorsed the Mount Gay 30 as a box rule boat, I had the idea that there should also be similarly endorsed campaign designed to get more people racing around PHRF courses on the various 30 footers like Mega's, Pearson Flyer's, J/30's, Olsen 30’s, San Juan 30's, and Kirby 30's. My thinking was to provide a resource to demonstrate how people could race the boats as they were or better yet, update them with new rudders and better-shaped keels. Sadly I had no takers, but the efforts paid off locally. Over the past five years, the fleet champion has come out of these boats each year. The Flyer has won three times and the Abbot and San Juan once each. I still believe if a sponsor like Mount Gay got onto this idea they would be big winners. Just think about how many Mount Gay hats are worn by PHRF sailors compared to box rule 30's - Mumm 30's and Farr 40's. While I love to see new boats - the entry cost for a J/105, J/80, J/90, or some wanked out new sport boat like a Melges or Viper etc., is becoming a tough pill. It would be pretty easy to look at PHRF ratings and figure out how to even out the small differences. We raced even up against the Kirby 30 and Abbot's and found it to be quite fun. Look at the Youngstown model. Divide the boats into speed bands and have at it. * From Ed Cesare: (edited to the 250-word limit) Commenting on the letters by Chris Boome and Paul Tara in the last two issues, sailing and racing with your kids is absolutely the way to move the sport forward. Last weekend my son Nick (age 13) and I managed a win in our club's Ideal-18 summer championship regatta on an unusually windy day, especially for August in Long Island Sound. The day started somewhat inauspiciously when dad put the boat into a classic round down and jibe broach during our warm-ups! Dad in the water, Nick perched at the partners, and the keel in the air. After the initial shock wore off (it is not easy to turn over an Ideal-18), we both had a really good howl and Nick learned that even when it seems like the end of the world - it probably isn't. We also enjoy frostbiting together at Larchmont, but if Nick gets a better offer for a Sunday afternoon (movie with friends, video game tournament, etc.), we don't go out. Nick himself sails a Pixel in our junior program and is on a steep learning curve with the tiller. However, I am certain that the best time we have, and what will hopefully keep Nick in the sport for a lifetime, is when we are together upside down in an Ideal or IC, or anchored in the evening aboard a boat with a grill off the pushpit. We've invested a lot in our sailing together (with help and patience from Mom), it has already come back in spades. * From Sandra Welsh: (In response to Peter Isler's comments about not fixing the America's Cup in Issue 2416) Times have changed, Peter, and the America's Cup needs to change with it. In all other sports, the winner of this year's championship does not get to call all the shots and stack the deck on the next year’s (or four years ) event. There were new countries represented in the last America's Cup, and for there to be many more, the Cup should make it easy for them. I was involved with the First Women's Team: Newport to Bermuda, and ashore with The Whitbread, America 3, and America True, with Dawn Riley as skipper. You too were involved in America 3, and know firsthand that it is not easy to be new and different, financially and/or otherwise. Let the games begin ...fairly. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The Pepsi soda slogan, "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into Chinese becomes, "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave." Special thanks to Compete-At, JK3 Yacht Sales and Service, and Sail1Design. |
