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SCUTTLEBUTT 2313 – April 2, 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 support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). PETER ISLER: THE TIME IS NOW (March 31, 2007) It's the weekend before racing starts here in Valencia, and although there has been much more "inter-team" competition over the past year than any previous Cup, practice races aren't like the real thing. For the challengers, ACT 13 (April 3-7) will be the next step closer... sort of like an official practice regatta. Although some minor seeding points are at stake, the Louis Vuitton Cup is when you have to show up with your "A game". For the Defender, Alinghi, this ACT will be the last chance to check in with the Challengers before they head off on their own for two months. Reality has clearly set in around the America's Cup harbor. Every challenger realizes that things are going to be happening very, very fast now. With the most compressed Challenger trials in recent America's Cup history, most teams are just weeks away from elimination. Consider this: * In just five weeks, at the conclusion of LV Cup Round Robin Two (May 7), seven of the eleven challengers' will be gone from the 32nd America's Cup. * This isn't Auckland anymore, where teams could learn from the racing and make improvements between rounds. There is virtually no more free time. There is only one "free" week (with no racing) between now and May 7. Then, the final four only get one week to prepare for the Semi's (which begin on May 14). The two Louis Vuitton finalists will then have only one week to recover from the previous month of racing before commencing their best of nine series (on June 1). If you have been planning on tuning into the Cup action, you better get your TV and Internet connection ready because it's all going to be over before you know it. This week kicks off what could well be the most exciting spectacle in this America's Cup cycle. Twelve teams fleet racing with their hopes and dreams close to the surface as they get a feel of where their new boat and gear stacks up against the competition. That first line-up off the starting line in Race One will be very interesting…. but the starboard tack layline at the first weather mark is going to be the real spectacle! Here at the BMW Oracle Racing team base, we are as eager as every other team to see how our hard work over the course of the campaign has paid off. The time for major development and testing is done... its racing time! -- Peter Isler, Navigator, BMW Oracle Racing * Sunday was unveiling day at Port America’s Cup, the morning when all 12 teams had to drop the protective skirts that had been guarding the underbodies of their race boats. Although there were no visible breakthrough design innovations on the scale of the winged keel that Australia II rode to victory in 1983, many observers were astonished by the range of solutions to the same basic design question posed by the America’s Cup Class Rule. By 16:00, over 40 000 people had passed through the doors of Port America’s Cup. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/3aw3vl -- Photos from the unveiling: http://tinyurl.com/2lslvt KEN READ AND PUMA JOIN VOR (On Friday it was announced that the third entry for the Volvo Ocean Race was confirmed, and it would involve skipper Ken Read and the sole sponsor, Puma. Below is an audio interview Ken did with Scuttlebutt, and a print interview Ken did with Sailing World.) * Ken Read chatted with Scuttlebutt on Friday regarding the announcement, where he discusses how the relationship got started with Puma, what is the current status of their program, who are some of the team members, and exactly what boats the team has acquired for training (and one of them is a VOR 70). The conversation also drifts to Ken's career and the people that have helped him earn this opportunity, and the conversations Ken had with his daughter while determining whether to take on this challenge. This is 10:53 minutes of very insightful information on this very new and exciting effort that will be based in the US. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/0330 * Last May, North Sails vice president Ken Read joined the crew of the Volvo Ocean Race entry Ericsson for the final four legs of the 2005-2006 VOR. Read, who had plenty of round-the-buoys experience as a helmsman for Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes syndicate in the 2000, and 2003 Louis Vuitton series, had never raced in the grueling round-the-world VOR, but enjoyed the challenge. With his help, Ericsson placed second in the transatlantic leg. The hook was set. For the next Volvo, which starts in the fall of 2008, Read will be heading a Volvo Team sponsored by the fourth-largest sportswear apparel company in the World, Puma. Puma's been around for 59 years, but was pulled from the brink of bankruptcy in the United States by CEO Jochen Zeitz, who took the company over in 1993 at the age of 30. Since then, Puma has used a marketing strategy dubbed "sports lifestyle" to regain its spot in the marketplace. -- http://tinyurl.com/38yfds FROM LIFTING SKIRTS TO TOWERING MASTS Built to withstand at least 50 tonnes of compression, weighing just 750kg, and standing 34m high, the latest AC spars, will undoubtedly represent a new wave of thinking on rig aerodynamics, stiffness and weight optimisation. Southern Spars, which has built the spars for four leading teams in this Cup and has two rig designers residing in Valencia, would like to wish all teams good racing for ACT 13. Southern Spars has a long history of producing rigs for winning teams and luxurious cruising yachts. For more information on leading spar technology, visit http://www.southernspars.com YOUTH STEPPING UP (Annapolis, MD) The National Sailing Hall of Fame announced that Team Tsunami has become a Founding Member with a contribution of $10,000. Team Tsunami has been developed to give middle and high school youth the opportunity to learn how to enjoy and handle a keel boat while racing and practicing as a team Once they learned of the creation of the National Sailing Hall of Fame, the young people of Team Tsunami decided to raise funds to become a Founding Members. In cooperation with their parents the kids agreed to raise 20% of the Founding Membership. “They raised 38% by doing a letter campaign to family and friends, speaking at community gatherings, and doing a coin drive in their neighborhoods. The response from all the contributors reinforced the importance of providing sailing opportunities to our youth on a local level,” Team Tsunami coach Pete Carrico said. The National Sailing Hall of Fame is planning both virtual inter-ative and real inter-ative exhibits that will engage young people in sailing and provide an educational tool as well. In addition the National Sailing Hall of Fame is working on the development of a sailing simulator for the site. Youth regattas are also part the programmatic planning as well as the display of historic boats. – http://www.nshof.org * See the Scuttlebutt story about Team Tsunami: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/tsunami 38 TROFEO SAR PRINCESA SOFIA The first race of the 38 Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia was held April 1, and will continue through 6 April. This is the first of many major European events that the elite Olympic contenders will be using to train in this spring and summer. The event has record figures, with around 1000 boats, 1,600 competitors and up to 52 nations entered, a considerable increase with respect to last year (852 boats, 1,350 competitors and 38 nations, even more significant if we consider that there was a class less in that edition). Light winds prevailed, with most classes sailing only a single race, and the Finn, 470 Men and Women, and Neil Pryde RS:X Men and Women yet without a race. Top North American finishers were: Laser - Bernard Luttmer (CAN, 1st), Laser Radial - Lisa Ross (CAN, 3rd), 49er - Dalton Bergan/ Zack Maxam (USA, 10th), Tornado - Johnny Lovell/ Charlie Ogletree (USA, 13th), and Yngling - Sally Barkow/ Carrie Howe/ Debbie Capozzi (USA, 14th). – Event website: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/dinghy/index.html OLYMPIC RESOLUTION Due to overlapping schedules at the spring training regattas for the Star class and the Yngling class, the events have decided to run both classes together. They will start together, share on-shore facilities, organizing committees, and social functions. This decision was endorsed by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), as given the respective preponderance of male and female sailors amongst these two classes, it was felt that they could benefit from the exposure of the opposite sex. It is not known how the Star sailors will react to the females, but trainers will be on-site to observe and provide support and advice where needed. The Yngling team coaches suspect the concurrent event schedule should help improve the styling and appearance of their team members, which will be vital for future marketing and sponsorship opportunities. Curmudgeon’s Comment: This was our token April Fools story, but for those seeking more spoofs, we suggest you go to our sister publication: http://www.scuttlebutteurope.com/content/view/151/5 SAILING SHORTS * (March 31, 2007) Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, onboard his Open 60 Saga Insurance, today crossed the finish line of Leg 2 in the Velux 5 Oceans at 19:43 local time (23:43 UTC). After 75 days, 18 hours and 43 minutes at sea and 16,049 miles of racing, the experienced British yachtsman arrived in Norfolk (Virginia, USA). There remains only a fast paced Atlantic sprint left to the finish of the Velux 5 Oceans in Bilbao, which starts from Norfolk on April 15. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com * The new double-handed Barcelona World Race that starts on 11th November 2007 announced the sixth team to officially enter the race. The latest entry will be skippered by Spanish sailor Guillermo Altadill who will race alongside British sailor Brian Thompson in the 25,000-mile race. They will be racing the new Farr Design IMOCA Open 60 currently under construction in Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK under the expert guidance of Neil Graham, Technical Director of the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team. The boat is due to be completed by the end of May. -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com/en/?s=5958 * t2p.tv has edited together a 6:01 minute musical montage from their shooting at the International Rolex Regatta, recently held in the US Virgin Islands. -- http://www.t2p.tv/guide/freeviewers/irr07mvb.php * San Francisco, CA - For Summer Sailstice 2007, the global holiday celebrating sailing, American Sailing Association and Sunsail are offering a spectacular all-inclusive week, June 15th- June 22nd at Sunsail’s Club Calonna resort in Antigua. This, the third annual American Sailing Week on the Sailstice will offer a chance to win two free trips for anyone registering by April 22nd. The all-inclusive week will have a pair of sailors enjoying off-the-beach dinghy sailing plus keelboats at Sunsail's Antigua sailing resort along with sailors from all over country participating in ASA's American Sailing Week. Register at http://www.summersailstice.com * Newport Harbor Yacht Club hosted eight teams for the 2007 Pacific Life Yacht Club Challenge on March 28-31. The match race event included five teams from California, plus teams from Michigan, New York, and Louisiana. In the semis, Balboa YC beat Long Beach YC, while Newport Harbor YC lost out to San Diego YC. In the finals, SDYC beat BYC 2-0 for the win. -- Complete story: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0401 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar EIGHT BELLS The sailor known worldwide simply as “Shorty” reached the farthest horizon when deForest W. Trimingham died of leukemia on March 30 at his home in Paget, Bermuda, at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, a daughter, Barrie Trimingham, and three grandchildren, Stephen Van Dyck, Peter Van Dyck and Thomas Van Dyck. A memorial service will be held in Bermuda on April 10. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club junior sailing program. Shorty Trimingham – he was just 5’7” – was a superior racing sailor. Probably the most important of his many successes occurred in 1954 at Weymouth, England, when he became the first non-Englishman to win the Prince of Wales Cup, the top prize of what was then the world’s leading dinghy class, the International 14. He represented Bermuda in the Olympics and other small-boat regattas. In ocean racing boats that included one of German Frers’ earliest designs, Wizard of Paget, he competed in several Admiral’s Cup series and races for the Onion Patch Trophy, which Shorty co-founded in 1964 as the Admiral’s Cup of the Western Atlantic. -- Read on for John Rousmaniere’s complete piece, which is now posted on the Forum, where comments are encouraged: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/07/shorty FOR ‘BUTTHEADS ONLY…FROM UNCLE SAM & ONNE From now through April 15th the Onne van der Wal Photography Gallery can help you spend your tax return! Buy one of Onne’s spectacular nautical prints and get one HALF OFF! Limited Edition & mini prints only. Shop now for dad & keep one for yourself! Mention ’Butthead. http://www.vanderwal.com 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 Bruce Parsons, Portugal Cove, Newfoundland: Shortly after WIND came out, I took a friend of mine who is involved in theatre to see it. He knew nothing whatsoever about sailing but couldn’t stop raving about the spectacular cinematography. Every so often he would say something like - "Do you have any idea how long they had to wait for that light, and that it only lasted 90 seconds to get that shot." He was amazed. Gave me a whole different view on it, but of course we see that sort of light most days we go out, and that's half the reason we go. He also said that he finally understood the original Ulysses, i.e. how he could have spent twenty years wandering the Mediterranean, following a changing wind. But what I want to know is, how do you keep the mast from coming down when you have a masthead spinnaker up and the backstay gives? * From Brian Raney: Why do none of the proposals for Olympic events/disciplines do the obvious and combine male and female crews? Example: Men's Singlehanded Dinghy Women's Singlehanded Dinghy Men's Windsurfing Women's Windsurfing Mixed Doublehanded Dinghy Mixed Catamaran Mixed Skiff Mixed Keelboat The equipment could be chosen to match. This should reduce the number of athletes relative to today's events, which could be made up by increasing the number of boats in each discipline. Or we could add team racing as a new discipline. Of course, the best answer is for the Olympics to trim the marginal disciplines in other sports (combo T+F events, swimming/diving, etc) or limit the other sports to a single MNA rep in each discipline (how many Americans do we need running the 100M sprint?). Curmudgeon’s Comment: While the US proposal does not include a mixed option, Henderson’s list did. * From William Palmer: (regarding how the Transpac race has removed their rating cap) Hasso Plattner, and he has plenty of euro's to do it, should go charter "Wild Oats" and come to California to spit Pyewacket out from the back of their wake on the way to Diamond Head! * From Ray Tostado, San Pedro, CA: The perfect world would be when PHRF YCs and other associations claiming to be fair minded rating bodies would only have to stage an event where classes were predetermined within their own auspices. This already exists as how one-designs are allowed a separate class when the entrants meet the minimum. It would be like a whole bunch of one-design classes arriving with set intra-class adjustments on whatever their mission statement professed. A class body would enter with all of the ratings set and only ask for a class start. Let’s say I gathered up a bunch of owners who rated within a 90 to 102 factor. We would hold our own rating discussions and arrive on the starting line fully in control of our destiny. PHRF would not determine our adjustments. The point being that those who race are better suited to adjust ratings than those who gather in closed sessions with no oversight. It would be proven out that the majority of racers want a level playing field and are willing to negotiate amongst themselves what is parity. This is most obviously an immediate need, when boats rating 33 are allowed to attain an 74 rating at the starting line, because of YC club sponsorship membership.This bracket rating system prevails in many competitive sports. Drag racing is most obvious. Owners are fed up with biased and irrational ratings. Let’s set up national brackets. If you exceed, or are uncompetitive, within your bracket you move up, or down. * From Chris Carroll: What does one have to do to watch the cup on television or Internet in Canada? I emailed OLN the other day to see if they were broadcasting as they did in the last Cup. This is the reply I got: "Unfortunately, OLN will not be broadcasting coverage of this year's America's Cup or surrounding events. Regards, Your OLN team." Not my idea of a team! OLN is affiliated with Versus in the U.S. In fact Versus bought OLN, Versus is broadcasting the Cup, maybe we have to settle for re-runs of Mantracker again. Once again Canada is shunned. Our last hope for anything was sail.tv. Now I read that it will be blocked out in Canada. Why? Someone please help. As an avid sailor and a new Canadian, this is very frustrating. There is some great sailing up here, and contrary to popular belief, no it is not all on ice! It has thawed here and sailing is back on the minds, although the ski hills still have lots of snow so maybe we will have to just go skiing. You talk about development and greater exposure of our sport. This is the wrong way to go. I mean, seriously, I have 100 channels of TV. Surely there is room for a couple hours of sailing a day. I have to tell you I am sick of watching poker on every sports channel. Out. Curmudgeon’s Comment: Just to clarify, nobody bought OLN in the US… they just changed their name to Versus. As for why OLN in Canada, which is not owned by the same group as Versus in the US, is not showing the ACUP coverage, it likely has to do with the fees they must pay, and the interest they perceive among their audience. Sail.tv, which will be providing ‘Video-on-demand’ and scheduled ACUP programming, told us they are blocked in Canada by America’s Cup Management (ACM), but they believe it is due to another source that will be carrying the coverage. Perhaps this source is the Versus website, which will be providing ACUP content, including streaming video. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION On a bumper sticker: “You! Out Of The Gene Pool - Now!” Special thanks to Southern Spars and Onne van der Wal Photography Gallery. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
