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SCUTTLEBUTT 3767 - Friday, February 1, 2013Scuttlebutt 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: Ribcraft and Storm Trysail Block Island Race Week. NOT YOUR ORDINARY REGATTA When nearly a third of the boats at Quantum Key West (Jan 21-25) were competing in one class, and when that class was a one-design boat that had yet to celebrate its first birthday, that class - the J/70 - quickly became the talk of the town. Working with the fleet was George Szabo of Quantum Sails who shares his experience: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Last Week I had the opportunity to provide coaching for the J/70 class at Quantum Key West Race Week, and the entire experience was a bit out of the ordinary. To start, walking through the boat yard before the event I didn't feel that pervasive nervousness that you would expect to find. Instead, it was an atmosphere of teams with new toys figuring out how to put them together. There was the comparison of rigging ideas, looking to see what the guy next to you was doing, lots of spinnaker bags and other covers being installed. When I asked people how much they had practiced, the most often heard response was "three days - it is pretty cold up north right now." The other common response was "I just received the boat, and I'm still taking off the plastic wrap from the factory." My favorite rigging question before the event came from one new boat owner who walked up to another boat owner, and said "I've rigged my entire boat, and I have this one piece left over. What is it for?" I took a lot of photos of the different rigging ideas and have posted them on the Quantum Sails one design site for others to see. I ran a clinic on the day before the regatta and noted a collective energy on the water. Teams were learning how to tack, jibe and douse efficiently. As that got sorted out, we began to work on boatspeed, tuning, and helping sailors get their rigs, travelers and jib leads in the right position. From there, tuning was the next thing up to improve, and the race was on to find the good rake number. Being a J boat, and the history of J boats having lee helm, the question was how long you could make your forestay and still go fast. The tuning guide was written, but the numbers were certain to change before the week was out. Got to love new fleet evolution. Upwind wasn't the only education that teams were receiving. It was the same downwind. On the second day of racing, the fleet was planing off the wind. In race one, four guys on the rail was the fastest. By race three, a faster technique developed, that had three guys on the rail and one guy in the middle. By the next day with stronger wind, it was back to four guys on the rail being fastest. It was pure entertainment to watch that progression. Being in a coach boat was invaluable. I could see the daily changes in the way the fleet was sailing and take photos of the changes while on the water. In the evening, I was able to share these photos with customers and offer suggestions for the following day, plus I was able to e-mail a daily debrief of the general trends and how they had changed from the previous day. It was time well spent and worth every moment. ----------- MORE: Next week Scuttlebutt will publish comments from some of the trophy winners. KEY WEST'S MOST HONORED WINNER One of the most anticipated moments at Key West Race Week occurs during the final trophy presentation on Friday when it is announced which team was selected as the Boat of the Week. The 2013 winner of the Quantum Boat of the Week Trophy was Brian Porter's Melges 24 team of Andy Burdick, Sam Rogers, and Matt Woodworth on Full Throttle. Noticing that Sam is now a three-time winner of the trophy, Scuttlebutt got curious what it takes to become an event's most honored winner. Was it cool crew gear or hosting killer parties? Neither as Sam reports: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- What I tell my three and half year old daughter is that winning Boat of the Week comes down to my impeccable spinnaker trim downwind and amazing hiking ability upwind. Of course, with my wife and anyone else with an objective point of view, it is clear that sailing with solid programs with a shot to win in competitive classes is the main factor to winning KW Boat of the Week. Winning a class is the first step, and being involved in wins with Star - Melges 32, Samba - Melges 32, and now Full Throttle - Melges 24, has been a huge thrill, and to get named Boat of the Week after is always icing on the cake, and a very pleasant (rum-filled) surprise. To my knowledge, the Boat of the Week uses a formula and other objective factors, and based off my own observations, it seems to go the teams who sail in one of the larger fleets in KW, and either win by a wide margin, or duke it out until the very end with a few other boats. It would be a challenge to have a goal to win Boat of the Week, as you would be much better off sailing hard, focus on winning your class, and letting the chips fall that you get the extra recognition. Winning a class in Key West is always a big challenge as a lot can happen in the five days of racing against a lot of really talented teams, and getting named Boat of the Week at the end of a week of battle is always a great surprise and leads to a fun last night in Key West. Fingers crossed I will be involved with another great program in KW 2014, and we can work hard to win our class and see what happens from there. -------------------- PHOTO: An exuberant Sam with the BOW trophy: http://tinyurl.com/KS-013113 Event website: http://www.premiere-racing.com/QKW2013_event.html PROFESSIONAL GRADE MEANS... Never having to Compromise. Now you can have it all. Military tough. Proven designs. Performance Driven. Innovation. Time tested. Reliability. There's no question why RIBCRAFT is today's RIB of choice for sailors, yacht clubs, and professionals. Whether you're in charge of your club's sailing program or race committee or you're looking for the ultimate race tender or just for fun boat, now's the time to contact RIBCRAFT to make your 2013 plans. For more than twenty years RIBCRAFT makes getting on the water easy, safe, and enjoyable. No more compromises. That's what you get with RIBCRAFT professional grade RIBs. http://www.ribcraftusa.com BISCAYNE BAY SHUFFLES THE DECK Miami, FL (January 31, 2013) - In contrast to the steady, stronger winds earlier in the week, Biscayne Bay shuffled the deck for the fourth day of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami. Overcast skies with winds ranging from 4 to 15 knots would provide a new test for the ten Olympic and two Paralympic classes. The regatta's largest event this year is the Laser, which features 70-boats in gold and silver fleets. Sweden's Jesper Stalheim finished the first series, which concluded Wednesday, with the lead and he finished today on top of the leaderboard in the new series. He was third and second today, while Charlie Buckingham (USA) overtook second place after winning race nine in the new series. The World #3 Bruno Fontes is in third. "With the new carryover scoring system and the bonus points for wins they have here for scoring, I'm not sure what will happen. It should be interesting," said Stalheim. "Yesterday (Wednesday), everything fell into place. I'm here to work on my starts and I did well with that. It's a really good fleet this week, especially a year after the Olympics." Stalheim finished third at the Laser European Championship (France) in June and won the Laser Europa Cup (Denmark) in September. The Laser Radials also started a new series this morning. Paige Railey (USA) asserted herself by winning the two of three races today. She has won three of the last four races to take a two point lead. Her discard is a six. Finishing second twice today was Ireland's Annalise Murphy. She started the new series with a lead. The World #5 Tuula Tenkanen won race seven. Sarah Newberry and John Casey (USA) are sailing away from the entire fleet. They have an impressive 11-point lead through four days of racing in the Nacra 17 event. The won race eight to cap another outstanding performance. The duo has won six of eight races this week. -- Full report: http://mocr.ussailing.org/index.php/contenders-elevate-their-game/ Results: http://mocrresults.ussailing.org/2013/24/24.html Canada team report: http://tinyurl.com/CAN-013113 USA team report: http://tinyurl.com/USA-013113 BACKGROUND: The six-day ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami (Jan 28-Feb 2) is the second of four events on the 2012-13 ISAF Sailing World Cup season. The season began in Melbourne, Australia (Dec 2-8) and will move next to Palma Spain (Mar 30-Apr 6) and then Hyeres, France (Apr 20-27). The ISAF Sailing World Cup is open to the sailing classes (equipment) chosen for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. -- http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/home.php ON THE ROAD BACK TO THE PODIUM Steve Mitchell has competed and coached at the Olympic level, and has World title trophies on his shelf to show that he knows how to play the game. As the Canadian Sailing Team High Performance Coach/Manager, it wasn't much fun to see Canada kept off the podium at the 2012 Games, and he is eager to avoid it occurring again in four years at the Brazil Olympics. Here he shares his thoughts on the topic: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Energizing North America... Our plan is to focus a lot more on North American based training, group training within the specific classes and some of that is linked to the coordination with the American team. Both countries are competing against each other but we can share resources to make it beneficial for each. There are also regatta opportunities within the continent that Canada can support and benefit from. Following Miami, there is now an event in Ft. Lauderdale which is open to all the Olympic classes, and a long time Olympic event in Long Beach, CA has been moved on the calendar to better fit into the schedule. In Kingston, CORK was historically a big event ten years ago but has gradually seen less participants, particularly from outside the country. But now our national team is committed to include CORK on our schedule, which we anticipate will help to attract the American teams as well. We anticipate this will help it become exceedingly useful for both countries, not just for the national teams but for youth development as well. Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/13/0129/#sm 2200 MILES WITHOUT A KEEL (January 31, 2013; Day 83) - With nine skippers yet to have completed their Vendee Globe, the plotline today revolves around a tired, lonely, Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) moored keel-less to a buoy for three days with too much time to think and not enough food or fuel. After 24 hours of surfing the coast to round Cape Finisterre in 30 knots of wind, rough seas, amongst the busy maritime motorway of cargo ships and fishing boats, a sleep deprived Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) has found shelter along the Galician coast, in the mining port of San Ciprian (San Cibrao). His moored yacht would be facing the incoming gale expected between late Thursday lasting until Friday. He also indicated that he had used his engine, which broke the engine seal, in order to finalize his approach to a mooring buoy. He must write a report to the jury to explain the facts. A second report will be issued to specify the start time. The jury will then decide his fate. The big question is when he will be able to resume his route to Les Sables d'Olonne. A potential weather window opens in just over 48 hours, which JP indicates must not exceed winds of 25 knots. If he returned to the race on Sunday morning, realistically he could complete the remaining 291 miles by Monday night. A double victory, fourth place and also, managing to successfully sail 2200 miles without a keel. Tracking: http://tracking2012.vendeeglobe.org/en/ Top 5 of 20 - Rankings as of Thursday, January 31, 2013, 20h00 (FR) 1. Francois Gabart (FRA), Macif: Jan 27, 14:18:40 UTC, 78:02:16:40 2. Armel Le Cleac'h(FRA),Banque Populaire: Jan 27, 17:35:52UTC, 78:05:33:52 3. Alex Thomson (GBR), Hugo Boss: Jan 30, 07:25:43 UTC, 80:19:23:43 4. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA), Virbac Paprec 3: 291.8 nm Distance to Finish 5. Jean Le Cam (FRA), SynerCiel: 1358.2 nm DTF Full rankings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html WORLD RECORD: The World Sailing Speed Record Council has confirmed the establishment of new Round the World Monohull and Singlehanded Monohull records. Francois Gabart (FRA) sailing the Open 60 Macif completed the 21600 nm circumnavigation on November 10, 2012 to the January 27, 2013 in an elapsed time of 78 days 2 hours 16 minutes and 40 seconds (11.52 knot speed average). The previous record of 84d 36h 9m 8s was set by Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) on the Open 60 Foncia in 2008/9. -- http://tinyurl.com/WSSR-013113 BACKGROUND: Twenty skippers began the 24,000-nm Vendee Globe, a solo, non-stop around the world race in the IMOCA Open 60 class. Starting in Les Sables d'Olonne, France on November 10, the west to east course passes the three major capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn before returning to Les Sables d'Olonne. -- http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ STORM TRYSAIL BLOCK ISLAND RACE WEEK XXV, JUNE 23-28, 2013 Entries are pouring in for The Storm Trysail Club's 25th Block Island Race Week, the East Coast's premier five day race week. Compete for the Rolex in the 'Round Block Island Race; North American Championships in IRC, HPR and J80's; East Coast Championships in PHRF and J109's; Swan 42 New England and Beneteau 36.7 Northeast Championships. Navigator-style courses for Double Handed, Cruising and Classic classes. Get your crew together, book your house, make your ferry reservations and enter now! Details on travel to Block Island, accommodations, marinas and Block Island Race Week and more at: http://www.blockislandraceweek.com PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S MATCH RACING CIRCUIT LAUNCHED While the fickle winds of Olympic class selection discarded the Women's Match Race event after only one appearance at the 2012 Olympics, the significant interest in the event has now been redirected toward the launch of the new Women's International Match Racing Series. This professional circuit will have five events in 2013, with prize money at each event and an overall prize pool of at least US $50,000 for distribution after the finale in August. "The women sailors have asked for a long time to have a Series of their own and WIMRA is thrilled to be in a position to work with our international event partner to make this happen," says WIMRA Executive Director and former Match Racing World Champion, Liz Baylis. "The Weymouth Olympics highlighted the spectacular nature of match racing and the Women's International Match Racing Series is going to take that to new heights." Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=15125 SAILING SHORTS * This August, sailing takes over Navy Pier as modern match racing meets maritime history. The Chicago Match Cup, a $100,000 sailing competition and the only U.S. stop on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, will set sail alongside one of Chicago's most popular attractions, the majestic Tall Ships Chicago 2013 Festival, Aug. 7-11, 2013. -- Read on: http://www.chicagomatchrace.com/news.asp?n=1124 * Tampa, FL (January 31, 2013) - David Reich shot out to the lead with a dominating performance on the first day of the VX ONE Midwinter Championship. Reich, of Birmingham, AL, notched two bullets to begin the regatta, then scored a second in the day's third race for just 4 points overall. Brian Bennett, builder of the boat, follows in second with 7 points, and Donnie Brennan rounds out the top three with 9 points. Hosted by the Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Florida, the Championship is the first stand-alone Midwinters for the young VX ONE Class. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=15128#15128 * Muscat, Oman (January 31, 2013) - The launch of the 2013 RC44 Championship Tour at the RC44 Oman Cup produced perfect sailing conditions of 9-15 knots for the start of the 13-boat fleet racing event. Katusha (RUS) was on fire to lead the day, rolling a 1-1-3 with Americans Steve Howe at the helm and Andy Horton on tactics. Closing the day in second place overall is Brian Benjamin's Aegir Racing with tactician Russell Coutts. -- Full report: http://www.rc44.com/news/view/katusha_rules_the_waves * Eight venues spanning the Middle East, Asia, South America and Europe have been announced for the 2013 Extreme Sailing Series, marking the third year of truly global competition for the circuit first launched as a European only event in 2007. The teams, sailing the Extreme 40 catamaran, will compete on stadium race courses with longer distance 'coastal races' and a Saturday evening special format race added to the 2013 event mix. Seven teams are currently listed for the season. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/ESS-013113 EIGHT BELLS Olympic sailing champion Timir Pinegin died on January 31, 2013 at the age of 85, the Russian Sports Ministry has announced. Pinegin won the first-ever gold medal in sailing for the Soviet Union in 1960, triumphing in the Star class event with his partner Fyodor Shutkov. The ministry did not specify a cause of death. He was a 16-time Russian champion in various classes and won medal at the world and European Championships, including European gold in the Star in 1964. After participating in six Olympic Games and retiring from professional sport in 1973, Pinegin served as head coach of the Soviet team from 1980 to 1988. -- http://en.rsport.ru/other_sports/20130131/642591341.html PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include thinking/not thinking, shorthanded fiasco, oxymoron, huge reception, weight placement, scooped, and sunset sailing. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/13/0201/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK Few activities have as much soul as sailing. Our culture has succeeded in complicating the experience, but the essence can't be lost. The sail and the wind, and our interaction with both, is a binding marriage. We are committed to it. This week's video, which highlights kitewing ice sailing, reminds us how simple it can be. Just the sail, the wind, and our interaction with both. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/13/0201/ Bonus Videos: * Quantum Key West produces great racing in great weather, but it also produce great daily videos too: http://vimeo.com/channels/kwrwlive/videos * While the offshore landmarks in Southern California are not nearly as notorious as those to the east, the ocean racing schedule continues to seek them out. The recent Sugarloaf Rock Race out of San Diego saw great competition with the TP52 "Bud", the STP65 "Bad Pak", the Sleds "Alchemy" and "Condor" and the R/P 50 "Blue Blazes". Video by San Diego Boatworks: http://youtu.be/iQkYAWt--K0 * This week on America's Cup Discovered we ask Emirates Team New Zealand exactly how different their second AC72 will be. The Kiwi shore crew break down AC72 Boat 1, while the sailors ramp it up and get physical. We also catch up with Torbjorn Tornqvist, the driving force behind Artemis Racing and their challenge for the 34th America's Cup. Tune in on Saturday February 2 approx 0800 PST 1100 EST: http://www.youtube.com/americascup SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "My idea of a Super Bowl is a toilet that cleans itself." - Maxine SPONSORS THIS WEEK UsedBoatEquipment.com - Farr 40 Class - North U - Doyle Sailmakers - College of Charleston - Team One Newport - North Sails - Marion Bermuda Race - Melges Performance Sailboats - Ullman Sails - Ribcraft - Block Island Race Week - Need stuff? 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