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SCUTTLEBUTT 3566 - Tuesday, April 10, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: North U, Atlantis WeatherGear, and Pure Yachting. A NEW DEFINITION FOR 'BOAT' While this article was written for marine industry professionals, all sailing enthusiasts can help to promote their sport. From William Sisson, editor of Soundings Trade Only... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You probably know the old saw. Q: What does the word "boat" stand for? A: Break Out Another Thousand. At the Recreational Boating Leadership Workshop in Chicago last week, National Marine Manufacturers Association president Thom Dammrich provided a different interpretation of the acronym. BOAT: Best Of All Times. The two acronyms nicely frame the chasm between selling a commodity (the boat) and selling the experience (boating). Dammrich's remarks came at the end of a presentation on affordability, which was the topic that a group of seven of us had been brainstorming and discussing for several hours. We presented our findings to the larger body. MarineMax chairman, CEO and president William McGill Jr., a member our small breakout group, helped put an exclamation mark on what we had been wrestling with. "I don't sell boats," McGill said. "I sell a lifestyle. Boating changes people's lives. It's important to understand that the reason why people boat is in the emotional part of the brain. It's hard to articulate. But that is boating." Dammrich agreed. "We have to sell the 'ing' and not just the 'thing,' " he said, referring to the experience of being on the water rather than the product itself. "We have to sell the value and the lifestyle." -- Read on: http://blog.tradeonlytoday.com/tradetalk/?p=495%22 GROWING THE PROGRAM In the rankings of college sailing teams, the top twenty is dominated by the powerhouse college sailing programs in the New England and Mid Atlantic districts. But among the latest rankings are three distinct outliers: veteran schools from the West and Midwest, and a rather new one from the South... in Miami. A competitive team only since 2004, David Hernandez has been president of the Sailing Canes, won a host of race trophies and mentored the next generation of UM sailors. As a senior, Hernandez has been an integral part of the club's growth from about 25 members to more than 60 in just a few years. When asked how it happened, Hernandez credited the newest members of the team. "Thank God for our freshmen," he said. "We have been able to win a number of district regattas by sending our next generation, and that's huge. It's going to be great to be able to hand the reins over to a group of guys that reminds me so much of the leaders on the team." The student run team expects to compete in the National finals in June in Austin, Texas. The nation's top teams from both coasts first meet in two, eighteen-school semi-finals (on May 12-13 in Annapolis). The top nine from each semi-final advance to the finals. Hernandez, an environmental engineering major born and raised in Miami, has served as treasurer, president, and is currently the social chair for the sailing club. As a graduating senior, he plans to continue sailing after college. "There's great competition in Miami and sailing will still be a big part of my life," Hernandez said. "I don't think I'll ever be able to let it go completely." For now, Hernandez is still focused on the task at hand. "The goal is that decades down the line the team will still be here, and be stronger than ever," he said. "We want it to be self-sustaining. And I've never been more confident about that than I am right now." Source: http://tinyurl.com/Go-Canes-040912 http://tinyurl.com/Sailing-World-040912 RACE & WIN We can show you how, working with you and your crew aboard your boat. Stop Guessing. Rig tuning, spinnaker jibes, mainsail trim, driving. We will answer all your questions. For Your Crew. After all you have put into your boat and equipment, get a North U coach for your crew. On Your Boat. Can you think of a better place? Within your budget. Let us design a program to match your needs and interests. Our training covers every facet of racing trim, tactics and boat handling. Call or visit to Learn More. 800 347 2457. http://www.northu.com STATE OF THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE (April 9, 2012; Day 23) - What prospects does the future of the Volvo Ocean Race have with the current rate of attrition among the fleet? How wrong are the design rules of the Volvo Open 70? According to the CAMPER team, which incurred sufficient damage to suspend racing for repairs, they find the current situation not just acceptable, but expected. "There's obviously been a lot of damage, but there's always damage in this race," said team CEO Grant Dalton. "Probably the boats are going quite a lot faster than last time, and the loads have gone up and haven't been calculated quite correctly by the engineers. But it's all part of it, really. Everyone has suffered something during the race. It has seemed to dish itself out fairly evenly. And I guess everyone will be a bit more careful for the rest of it." "Perhaps people can perceive it as careless across the fleet, but I have to ask what do people want to see," said skipper Chris Nicholson. "Do people want to go see Formula 1 racing, and see no car ever break down? Do they want to see the boundaries of technology and human endeavor pushed? Of course they do, and that's what this race is about. "In order for a boat to be reliable in this race, and believe me, our boat is reliable, you need the best designers, best builders, best sailors, and you have a good chance of it being right. Now we have done 30,000 miles without a breakage, and now we have had a breakage. But I don't look at that as unreliable. "We will learn and get better, and we won't have these same mistakes happen again. I still think it is a very good formula for the public and the competitors. I just can't imagine going to watch Formula 1 racing and there being no drama. It just wouldn't have the same appeal. And nor would this race either." -- Video: http://youtu.be/Fxh29GsbzrY COMMENT: Scuttlebutt contacted Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing to learn whether the team will be ready to compete in the In-Port race. Their boat was to depart by ship from the Chilean port of Puerto Montt on Monday, and then require nine days to reach Itajai, Brazil. Upon arrival, the team will then begin the process to repair the damaged hull. As of press time, the team has either been unable or unwilling to provide this information. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt SCHEDULE: Racing will commence in Itajai with the Pro-Am Race on April 20, the In-Port Race on April 21, and the start of the 4800 nm Leg 6 to Miami on April 22. -- http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule Leg 5 - Auckland, NZL to Itajai, Brazil (6,705 nm) Standings as of Monday, 09 April 2012, 22:05:39 UTC 1. PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA), Apr 6, 019d 18h 09m 50s 2. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP), Apr 6, 019d 18h 22m 28s 3. Groupama 4 (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA), 72.2 nm Distance to Finish 4. Camper (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), 2251.8 nm Distance to Lead - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR), Retired - Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL), Retired Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain (Oct. 29) and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles around the world via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com VOLVO OCEAN RACE - A VIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE By Ryan O'Grady, Sailing World So what has changed in this race to account for the extra damage? There have been two major cases of failure in the current Volvo. The first is mast failure, and the second has been structural delamination of the hull. Right now, there have been four mast failures in the race; Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Future Fibres), PUMA Ocean Racing (Hall), Sanya (Future Fibres), and now Groupama (Lorima spar, Future Fibres rigging). Of those failures, the only public comment has been from PUMA, where they seem to believe that a metal fastener failed, causing the rig to drop. From the other teams, we can only infer that the failures were due to the rigging, since both Abu Dhabi and Sanya have changed out their rigging packages. This is the first race to allow carbon standing rigging (VO 70 Rule 10.16.1), an area where Future Fibres has been working to push the limits on continuous molded carbon rigging. While teams have been busy exploring new rigging, mast designers also have had the opportunity to now work with high modulus carbon fiber (392 GPa verses the previous 300 GPa for you engineers out there) (VO 70 Rule 10.15.7). By using higher modulus materials, mast tube sections can be made smaller but with the same amount of stiffness, or greater overall stiffness can be achieved. Since none of the failures seem to be caused by mast tube compression failure, the most likely cause of the mast issues is in the carbon rigging. I don't expect to see carbon rigging banned in the next race, but I do hope the manufacturers all release engineering assessments of the failures so that everyone's product offerings can be improved. When addressing the issue of hull delamination, things become far more complex. Both CAMPER and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing pulled into Chile to fix damage to their hulls due to delamination. Telefonica had a similar issue, but the damage was less widespread, requiring just a short pit stop to pick up more material to reinforce their hull. Already, the Volvo 70 rule requires boats to be built above and beyond the requirements of every international insurance rule. (ABS, Lloyds, ISO) So why are the hulls breaking? -- Full report: http://www.sailingworld.com/blogs/racing/and-then-there-were-4-3-2 DISCOVER: LIFE ON THE WATER There are over 1,300 moorings in Marblehead Harbor. We can see most of them from our office here in the boatyard, and we can vouch for the number of sailboats that leave the harbor every weekend in the summer to go racing, blue-water cruising or daysailing. This is the town - and the lifestyle - that inspires the gear we make. A town where people live their lives on and around the water - where sailing gear has to be the real deal, and it needs to look as good as it works. Check out the new 2012 line at http://www.facebook.com/AtlantisWeatherGear?v=app_103530053019199. Discover Life on the Water. Discover Your Atlantis. A PARADIGM SHIFT It is hard to believe how much has occurred with the America's Cup in such a compressed time. The AC45 was only launched just over a year ago. The broadcast capabilities were first revealed last August. Both started well and keep improving. At each AC World Series event, the race format has been fine tuned. And this week, at the fourth event in Naples, the format will reveal a paradigm shift. Despite the America's Cup being a match race event, the race schedule has reduced the match racing emphasis. Viewers prefer watching the fleet races. As the primary purpose of the AC World Series is to grow the America's Cup brand, hopefully creating a hungry audience for the 34th America's Cup next year, doesn't this present a problem? Regatta Director Iain Murray comments on this revelation and its affect... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I think what is important is how the World Series is in 45-foot boats and that it's not the America's Cup. What it does do, is present the nationalities and the teams, and hopefully the super sailors - the "heroes" - as identifiable characters that will emerge in the America's Cup. If we were sailing in the same boats the whole time, whether it be AC72s or if the America's Cup was in AC45s, we would have a different pallet to work with. But we don't. And the America's Cup is and always will be match racing. What we have is these separate events in different boats, and not necessarily the same teams in the World Series as in the America's Cup. That in itself is confusing to people. What we are doing here is to simplify what we are producing. We must be very careful to keep the integrity of the America's Cup in one piece. It could have been a very easy call some time ago to decide the AC72s are too hard, and to carry on with the AC45s, and we would have all these teams in the America's Cup. There was a conscious decision taken for this not to happen. To me that was an important step. The America's Cup is a grand event. It is not going to be something that everyone can do. And it will be in match racing. I think more the question is are we diluting the America's Cup with the AC World Series. I hope not. I hope we are rebuilding the America's Cup with awareness, and creating our heroes in sailing, and something that the young kids can look forward to. And offering the competitors now, like Terry Hutchinson, Jimmy Spithill, and the others, they are all clearly the up and coming legends in our sport, and build them into the Ted Turners, Tom Blackhallers, and Dennis Conners of the future. It is a fine balance the whole time of what we do with the America's Cup. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The fourth regatta in the 2011/12 America's Cup World Series is in Naples, Italy on April 11-15, and will feature nine boats representing seven teams. Races can be viewed on the America's Cup YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/AmericasCup), either live or replay, or on television (americascup.com/en/Discover/AC-On-TV). Here is the race schedule: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-040612 ADVERTISING. FREE ADVERTISING The Scuttlebutt Classified Ads provide a marketplace for private parties to buy and sell, or for businesses to post job openings. For free. As a bonus, each week the Scuttlebutt newsletter includes some of the recent classified ad postings. View/post ads here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/classified_ads SAILING SHORTS * A new virtual-reality game - 'America's Cup: Speed Trials'- is now available, free, as an app for the iPhone and iPad. Players test their skills on an AC45, attempting to set the fastest time across an AC500 Speed Trial course. Optimal steering through the wind on the race course leads to a top placing, while mistakes are punished by loss of time, with big errors resulting in a capsize. Details: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-040912 * The Bermuda Sailing Foundation's sail-training schooner Spirit of Bermuda will join the 2012 Newport Bermuda Race fleet, sailing in the new "Spirit of Tradition" Division. In nearly six years of operation since September 2006, the 86-foot Spirit has provided a character development program based on experiential learning to over 2,600 young people and has sailed over 38,000 miles in overseas voyages to 17 ports in 10 countries. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/NB-040912 * The world's biggest wind farm is being planned for the South Coast of England. The Royal Yacht Squadron, the prestigious sailing club whose patron is the Queen, has written to 200 sailing clubs on the Isle of Wight and along the South Coast to call for action against the development, named Navitus Bay. The Cowes-based club, which is headed by the Duke of Edinburgh, fears the wind farm could ruin sailing from the Isle of Wight to the South-West, including the famous Fastnet Race. Read more: http://tinyurl.com/DM-040912 * After the Trofeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia MAPFRE, the third of seven ISAF Sailing World Cup Regattas, the overall standings have been shuffled around with new leaders taking control. Moving to the top of the Finn standings is Zach Railey (USA), while Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) moved into second place in the Women's Match Race ranks. Next up for the sailors is the Semaine Olympique Francaise, in Hyeres, France from 21-27 April. -- Full report: http://www.sailing.org/38167.php PREFER YESTERYEAR'S OLDSMO-BUICK OR CITREON? We thought not. A lot of RIB designs are really old. PURE YACHTING offers all new custom RIB's built in the USA. Multi-purpose YC RIBs. Coach boats for all programs. SuperYacht Tenders. Harbormasters. Police & Fire. Call RIB legend Whitey Russell now at 401-338-7457, http://www.pureyachting.com 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 Chip Pitcairn: Anybody else think it is a sad comment on the basic seamanship of the Volvo Ocean Race crews that Puma was out of food when the finished in Brazil? As I understand it the food is pretty lightweight freeze dried meals. From the competitive standpoint a malnourished crew certainly can't perform at the athletic level of a well nourished one, and these are very athletic boats. It would seem to me that any competitive advantage through weight savings by shorting food stores would be more than offset by the drop off in crew performance when on short rations. More importantly, what about reserves for emergencies? I guess it is like around the buoys racing now; you rely on the sat phone to call for help should anything happen. * From Rob Nye: As an avid sailor I read scuttlebutt every day you publish it. Great stuff! Some time ago I also developed a strong interest in riding motorcycles. I have replaced offshore sailing with long distance motorcycle rallies; they're like a scavenger hunt on steroids. I was delighted to see my two passions mix in Scuttlebutt 3565, however, in the interest of accuracy it should be noted that all "mile" bikes or more commonly described as Flat Track motorcycles are equipped with a rear brake. As much as I love sailing, no matter what the marketing types do to entice people to watch us race, it will be very difficult for sailboat racing to ever match the excitement of being at the track as the big twins are launched sideways into a turn. I'd say the marketing types who are trying to turn sailing into a payday are doing more to destroy high end sailboat racing than any insurance company. As an aside, I sold my boat because I don't need wind, crew or big bucks to race a one design in Newport. I get on my bike, turn the key and within seconds I'm having fun while I ride to sail on someone else's boat. * From Ray Tostado: Mr. Troup is exactly right and proper in recognizing what brakes can do in the wrong circumstance, or sport (in Scuttlebutt 3565). No, leave things alone. We have made so many changes to date to the sport of sailing that it's hard to recognize the competitors from the seagulls. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "I'm ready to listen... are you ready to think?" - Maxine SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - Point Loma Outfitting - North U - Atlantis WeatherGear Pure Yachting - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - USSTAG - North Sails Ullman Sails - Doyle Sailmakers - Mount Gay Rum Need stuff? 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