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SCUTTLEBUTT 3377 - Wednesday, July 6, 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: Melges Performance Sailboats, North Sails, and Navtec. GET THE COCKTAIL RIGHT AND IT TASTES GOOD By David Barrow, marine marketing specialist I have read with interest the report last week by Brad Van Liew (Scuttlebutt 3374) on the challenges of securing sponsorship for his singlehanded sailing projects, and the ensuing comments both in support and opposed to the merging of sailor and sponsor for competition in high profile events. Sponsorship and sailing in the past have been difficult bed fellows but are much better managed these days. Years ago it seemed that sailors expected sponsorship with no return, but oh how that has changed over the years. EF Language (led by Paul Cayard - no PR slouch himself) and Intrum Justitia used the Round the World race to great effect and finished their respective races with a significant global marketing presence. But there have also been many other Whitbread and Volvo campaigns that have been expensive exercises with little result and doubtless a few sponsors with a bad taste in their mouth Volvo is now picking routes for their Volvo Ocean Race to echo where they want their market presence improved. At the first ever Volvo Press conference, at a London Boat Show, we were quietly reminded that Volvo, as a brand was delighted to support the Around the World Race and also put funds into youth sailing. However, we were also reminded that it should not be forgotten that their first priority is to sell cars. Whenever we deal with sponsors we would be unwise to forget their reason for funding anything; it is not philanthropic. I believe the most brilliant marketing result was created by Ellen MacArthur and Mark Turner with Kingfisher/B&Q. A cocktail of sponsor, sailor, and PR machine that went extremely well for all concerned. At the start of the relationship Kingfisher recognised MacArthur's talents but also saw that there was a growing possibility that, if she did well, there was a good marketing opportunity in France where they had commercial ambitions. France was besotted with solo sailors, and after her growing success MacArthur was feted by the French nation and became a much loved public personality. Her final campaign of breaking the around the world solo record in a trimaran liveried with the British home improvement retailer B&Q on one side and their new acquisition of a French do-it-yourself chain logo on the other was a spectacular marketing success with, I believe, record breaking and award winning PR and commercial results. Sponsorship is not given, it is earned, and Brad Van Liew has fought long and hard to earn his growing reputation. If there was an American corporation looking to make inroads into Northern Europe and particularly France, where solo sailors get prime time television slots, and daily results are announced at the beginning of the news programs, then he might be a good bet with the right backer, a good sailing program, and a good PR machine. Oh, and if he does not already speak it, learning French would be an advantage. Get the cocktail right and it tastes good, and vice versa. -- http://www.barrowint.co.uk MERGING INTERESTS It was reported last week (Scuttlebutt 3373) that professional surfer Laird Hamilton (USA) had been hired as the fitness and nutrition coach to help skipper Ken Read and his PUMA team prepare for the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race. While Hamilton - a noted fitness guru- is unquestionably qualified for the task, the partnership was clearly created in the PUMA corporate offices to connect the shoe and apparel company with the beach and water sports crowd. Chris Museler with the New York Times reports on the merger: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The yacht designer Juan Kouyoumdjian is understandably excited about his latest creation, Mar Mostro, a 70-foot carbon fiber racing sailboat he hopes will win the Volvo Ocean Race for a third consecutive time in the fall. But last week, he mostly wanted to talk about the sleek black-and-red 13-foot stand-up paddleboard he designed with the big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton. The Mar Mostro left Sunday for England in the Transatlantic Race 2011, part of its preparation for the late October start of the around-the-world race. And last week, Kouyoumdjian and Hamilton unveiled two prototypes of their stand-up paddleboard, or SUP, in Narragansett Bay. The unlikely collaborators were matched by marketing executives at Puma Ocean Racing as part of their water sports product-development program. The charge was to create a performance board that Hamilton can use to promote the sport at various Volvo stopovers. "We quickly bonded, but he is several levels crazier than me," Kouyoumdjian, who is from Argentina, said. The prototype boards have reverse angle bows like an America's Cup catamaran and wide, flat tails like Kouyoumdjian's ocean racers. The typical SUP, meanwhile, resembles the standard 12-foot longboard surfboard, with a rounded nose and tapered tail, though usually twice as thick, with one fin and a thin foam pad covering two-thirds of the deck. SUPs used for surfing have a slightly pointy nose to help with turning on a wave; race boards may have a wider tail and more fins. "SUP boards are so dynamic, you rely tremendously on input from someone like Laird," Kouyoumdjian said. "We are using the latest technology in yacht design, but there is nothing better than human creativity." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/NYT-070511 MELGES IN NEWPORT The Audi Melges 20 and Melges 32 class will be hitting Newport this summer several times. First in late July is the Melges 32 North American Championship where some of the top teams in North America will battle for the title. Late August the Audi Melges 20 class invades Newport for their National Championship. Check out www.melges32.com and www.melges20.com STEPPING STONE TOWARD GREATNESS Tessa Parkinson and Elise Rechichi (AUS) sailed the 420 at the 2004 ISAF Youth Worlds in Gdynia, Poland. The girls won gold and just four years later they were on the Olympic podium receiving their Women's 470 gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Parkinson, who is training with Belinda Stowell for her second Women's 470 Olympic campaign, said, "That was my first Australian team regatta and it was great to come away with a gold medal. It is hard when you're 17 to be thrown into senior atmosphere so going to the Youth Worlds is a nice stepping stone and a lead in to that high level competition." The ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship was first held in Sweden in 1971, with the 2011 edition in Zadar, Croatia on July 7-16 to be the 41st championship. There are 58 countries represented, with 349 sailors sailing in 247 boats among the eight events. Full story: http://www.sailing.org/36210.php Youth Worlds site: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com SLOWING DOWN GETTING OUT OF TOWN (July 5, 2011) - From such a promising start on the Fourth of July, there are 19 crews in the 2,225 nm Transpac Race to Hawaii who would gladly trade off the way the fifth began. It's no surprise in the inner coastal waters of Southern California if the wind shuts off in the night. But if you're trying to get to the big breeze in the outer coastal waters, it's a pain. At morning report, the best distance-made-good number came from Alex Farrell's 1D35, Alpha Puppy, at 68 miles and a scintillating average speed of 4.0 knots. Sometimes it is good to be the little guy, and this is a boat with serious talents aboard, including Sean Doyle. You should remember him from Two Guys on the Edge, also from putting together a youngest-Transpac-crew ever to out-do Disney's Morning Light squad. This is his fourth Transpac. On the trackers, it looked as if the fleet hit a wall in the middle of the night, but we know it wasn't that. The lines got reeeeal squiggly and we began to receive reports on the order of 3.2 knots of breeze at 205 degrees. Two boats, early on, tried a southerly track. That would be PK Edwards with the Catalina 42, Wind Dancer, and Philip Sauer with the Swan 44, Second Chance. It wasn't working. They have more recently been exploring the neighborhood of San Nicholas Island. Your reporter looked over developments with Matt Gregory of Weather Underground, and his observation went like this, "There's a problem going south because the wind is coming from the southwest, the more so because there is less wind down there. Farther out, there is a line of healthy north wind, but it's receding from the coast, pulling farther away from the fleet, and these guys could be struggling for a while. If anything, it looks like the Friday starters could see something that will pass for 'normal' on the Pacific Ocean." As Tuesday racing developed, it appeared that Alpha Puppy was continuing to do well, working north of west and making more distance off the beach than most, along with the SC37, Celerity, and the J/130, BeBe. There's an echo here, and you're not imagining things. It's Celerity crewman telling us what we reported yesterday/Monday. There's wind out there, "if we can just get to it." We note that Crash, Jeff Braugh's Aerodyne 43, is not sending transponder reports through Yellowbrick tracking. More on that, when we know the story. -- Kimball Livingston/Transpac Race website: http://www.transpacrace.com Tracking/standings: http://live.adventuretracking.com/transpac2011 COMMENT: The second and final start will be on Friday for the remaining 34 boats currently praying for better conditions: http://www.transpacrace.com/race-documents/division-assignments TRANSATLANTIC RACE 2011 (July 5, 2011) - The Maxi Yachts that started on July 3 from Newport, R.I. to The Lizard in southeast England have been making fantastic progress in the Transatlantic Race 2011. Little in the way of tactics have come into play thus far, as all six yachts in IRC Class One have been taking the direct route, coaxing every knot of speed out of their powerful machines. "Great sailing, so far, aboard Rambler 100," said navigator Peter Isler (San Diego, Calif.), confirming by satellite link that the Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed 100' canting keel maxi is fully in the groove. "By our calculations we did a 464-mile 24-hour run from the start. That's a 19.3 knot average! Great sailing for sure. We've had basically the same sail combination up since turning the corner at Nantucket Shoals." Leading the 24 boat fleet is IRC Class Four where Carina (McCurdy & Rhodes 48') skippered by Rives Potts, Jr. (Essex, Conn.), has been the star of the show. In the last 24 hours, however, their competition has most definitely caught up some miles. Carina chose a southerly route, while the Army Sailing Association's British Soldier (Joubert-Nivett 40'), among others, stayed to the north. British Soldier has advanced 30 miles on Carina, but the American team is still over 170 miles ahead. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/Transat-070511 BLUE IS GREEN! SAVE 20% ON A NEW NORTH SAIL Recycle your old sail and SAVE. From July 1st-September 3, 2011, you could save 20% on a new North sail after you register on our Web site to return your old sail. We will also send you a pre-paid UPS shipping label to return your old sail to the North Recycling Center. Once your old sail is received, we will send you a free recycled sail cloth tote bag from Sea Bags, Inc. If you're looking to elevate your sailing, now is the time to buy a new North sail and save 20%! Blue is Green: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/14313/Default.aspx RUF RECAPTURES FORM Weymouth, UK (July 5, 2011) - Beijing 2008 bronze medallist John Ruf (USA) recaptured the form that saw him claim Paralympic Games silverware three years ago as he turned up the heat on 2.4mR leader Thierry Schmitter on day three of the IFDS Disabled Sailing Combined World Championships at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. Ruf, who unlike much of the fleet didn't compete at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta at the same WPNSA venue last month, made light work of fickle winds and torrential rain in Portland Harbour today to score two seconds and move into second spot overall, three points behind reigning World champion Schmitter. Schmitter, who enjoyed two perfect race wins on Monday, was grateful of the discard coming into force after race five as he picked up his worst score of the regatta so far - a 16th - in the opening race of the day, before hitting back with victory in race six of the overall series. But it was the American who left the RYA-run event drenched but happiest as he continued his steady march up the leaderboard. "Today was the first day I got off the line the way I wanted to," explained Ruf. "As the regatta has gone on it has got better and today was by far the best of all of them. I haven't had a chance to be in a regatta since Hyeres (in April) so it's taken a little while to get the cobwebs out." -- Full story: http://www.ifdsworlds2011.com/eventsites/content.asp?id=5263&eventid=69387 * In addition to Ruf's strong performance in the 2.4mR, the American contingent continue to fair well in the other two races. After six races, Jennifer French/ Jean-Paul Creignou has passed Scott Whitman/ Julia Dorsett who are now third and fourth respectively in the Skud, and Rick Doerr/ Brad Kendell/ Hugh Freund are fourth in the Sonar but just five points off the lead. Racing continues to July 8th. Results: http://tinyurl.com/Results-070411 TUNNICLIFFE IN SWEDISH FINALS (July 5, 2011) - A host of the world's top female match racers have been doing battle on the waters of Sweden's Marstrand Fjord at Stena Match Cup Sweden, the fifth stage of the World Match Racing Tour. The women's class racing began on July 4th using the Elliot 6m yachts, the same boat that will be sailed at the London 2012 Olympics. After the qualifying round was completed today, the Semi Finals saw American Olympic gold medallist Anna Tunnicliffe overcome Great Britain's world number one female match racer Lucy Macgregor 3-0. Tunnicliffe will now face world number two Claire Leroy from France in the Final on Wednesday, after Leroy defeated last year's women's division winner Ekaterina Skudina from Russia in the other Semi Final match. Following the women's Final, fourteen open teams - including all nine World Match Racing Tour Card Holders - will compete in the DS 37 Match Racer boat on July 7-10. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/MCS-070511 SAILING SHORTS * The Gill National College Sailing Championship airs on ESPNU on Wednesday, July 6 at 7:00pm ET. Host Gary Jobson takes an in-depth look at the top 18 college sailing teams vying for the Collegiate Championship that was held in Cascade Locks, Oregon on May 23-June 1. A special feature is exclusive onboard footage along with interviews of the sailors. This production is produced in High Definition, and is sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider, Rolex and Gill. * Portofino, Italy (July 5, 2011) - Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) today unveiled its Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team's Volvo Open 70 for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011/12. The yacht - which was developed by the USA's Farr Yacht Design and built by Italy's Persico S.p.A, in Bergamo - will be skippered by double-Olympic medallist Ian Walker of Great Britain. Walker will lead an Atlantic Ocean sailing programme before heading to the race start in Spain this October. -- Full story/photos: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-070511 * The Chester Race Week committee is striving to make this keel boat regatta not only the largest in Canada but one of the best yachting events on the eastern seaboard. Hosted by the Chester Yacht Club on August 10th to 13th on Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Principal Race Officer Andreas Josenhans will be directing the racing on three courses for the 12 classes of yachts ranging from the famous Bluenose fleet of 23 ft. day sailor sloops all the way up to 65 ft. ocean yachts which will be competing over the four day event. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12121 TOP VOLVO SYNDICATES CHOOSE NAVTEC RACE HYDRAULICS Powered by fully-optimised Navtec Titanium M Cylinders and lightweight Rotary Pumps, top Volvo syndicates will benefit from Navtec's proven experience in supplying hydraulics to Round the World programmes and a global support network. Find out how Navtec can give your campaign the winning edge at http://www.navtec.net EIGHT BELLS Kenneth (Kenny) J. Miller, 57, passed away last Thursday (June 30) in a local hospital near his Connecticut home. Kenny was one of the last true, on your hand and knees sailmaker. He grew up in the Chicago area where he learned to sail. During his career he worked at Murphy/Nye in Chicago (IL), UK Sails in Seabrook (TX), Melges Sails in Zenda (WI) and North Sails in Milford (CT). He was hard worker, a sweet soul and good father to his three children: Chandler (28), Travis (26) and Emily (15). While he was in Texas, we were all that age where his children, along with mine and associate Terry Flynn's, were all born at the same time and we all spent a lot of good times with each other, our spouses and our kids. That was a very special time for all of us. For all of us who worked with Kenny, we will miss him dearly and only hope he is in better place today, as we have lost a really good sailmaker and close friend. - Farley Fontenot, Executive Vice President, Quantum Sail Design Group POST YOUR INDUSTRY UPDATES HERE The Marine Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum was created so companies could get guaranteed exposure by posting their own personnel, product and service updates online. In addition to website traffic, Scuttlebutt editors randomly select updates each week to include in the Thursday edition of the Scuttlebutt newsletter. Here is the link to post Industry News updates: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news 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 Paul P. Nardone, Jr.: Olivia Constants death brings back to me memories of why I used to carry a knife while sailing my beach cat. Our boats would always capsize as we would often push the boats to their limits whether racing or showboating and seeing how high or long you could fly a hull. We would carry a knife in case we got trapped under a sail after a pitch pole and the crew flying around the mast from the windward side to the leeward side after burying a hull into the sea. As the crew flew around the mast he would actually pull the boat and sail down on top of himself and wearing a life jacket you can't swim out from beneath the sail, so your only option would be to cut the sail to pop up through it. Be safe, have a emergency plan, and use it! * From Patricio Middleton Algarrobo, Chile: (re, Olivia Constants) I read about this tragedy and feel that I need to share my experience. About six years ago a very good friend sailing a 29er almost died because he was trapped under the boat. The hook of his harness was trapped with a sheet. Lucky for him his life jacket was very old a he was able to destroy it. Considering that I have children sailing the 420 and 29er, we looked for a system that at least would be hook safe. We found out that Julian Bethwaite had designed a trapeze system without the hook. You can find it in the following pages: Bethwaite Design, Australia (www.bethwaite.com) Performance Sailcraft 2000 Inc, North America (www.ps2000.ca) Ovington Boats, UK (www.ovingtonboats.co.uk; Takao Otani, Japan Asia (otani@cityfujisawa.ne.jp) Corsin Camenisch, Switzerland (corsin.camenisch@guma.ch) Joe Chan, China (joenmaria@i-cable.com) Brian Lion-Cachet, South Africa (blion@iafrica.com) Martin Billoch in South America (mabilloch@hotmail.com) We have been using it for six years now with a very good experience. I hope that our experience will help others. COMMENT: While trapeze hooks have contributed to previous accidents, it has not been determined if it was the cause of the recent death of fourteen year old Olivia Constants. -- Forum thread: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12126 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If some people didn't tell you, you'd never know they'd been away on vacation. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - Morris Yachts - West Marine Melges Performance Sailboats - North Sails - Lewmar Ullman Sails - Point Loma Outfitting - Team One Newport - Doyle Sails Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
