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SCUTTLEBUTT 3289 - Wednesday, March 2, 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: North Sails, Melges Performance Sailboats, and Lewmar. THE EVOLVING OLYMPIC PATH By Joe Morris, Yale University student The correct path for the nation's top youth sailors after their junior sailing days are over has recently come to be a hotly contested debate. In the past, the youth sailing circuit in the United States provided an organized, linear path, but most often ending as the sailors graduate from high school. Many of course then go on to college sailing, but lose touch with any guided framework for competing outside of the strict bubble of college-style sailing. Fortunately, over the last few years US Sailing has recognized this disconnect in international racing experience and worked hard to bridge the gap. Teams have been created like the US Sailing Developmental Team (USSDT) to aide sailors onto the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics. However, from these efforts the debate between college sailing and Olympic sailing has grown larger, and begs the question: is it possible to be successful at both? Youth yachtsmen and women would graduate from the Optimist or Sabot classes and move on to the three most favored junior classes of the 420, 29er, or laser. For those fortunate enough to have a team, short course high school sailing would supplement the longer course racing featured in most youth regattas. By the end of this four-year junior circuit, many sailors crave the next step of intensely competitive collegiate sailing, often leaving their hikers and trapeze harnesses behind. The repetition, competition, and organization of college sailing undeniably leads to a steep learning curve for almost all sailors, yet quite often collegiate all-stars, graduating with Olympic aspirations, were left without the speed, experience, and technical skills of the rest of the Olympic sailing world. -- Airwaves, read on: http://tinyurl.com/S1D-030111 EDITORIAL: In U.S. sailing regions with highly developed youth sailing programs, there are incremental steps from youth boats to high school competition and then to collegiate racing. But most of the boats are low tech, the path is highly structured, and there is a lot of support along the way. Many of the participants don't even need to own boats. Therefore, if the next step after college is to Olympic competition, it is an enormous leap. Expecting collegiate success to readily transfer to Olympic success is naive. Most people simply do not yet have all the tools. Depending on the Olympic event, there can be a huge difference between short course boat rotation regattas and long course racing in technical boats. If someone has Olympic aspirations, the sooner you fill your tool box with the needed skills, the sooner you will reach your goals. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor - Ken Legler comments: http://tinyurl.com/KL-030111 - Peter Isler comments: http://tinyurl.com/PI-030111 SNIPE CLASS LAUNCHES MEMBERSHIP GROWTH INITIATIVE The 15 1/2 foot, 2-person Snipe class, now 80 years young, remains a popular, tactical racing dinghy with fleets around the world. But like most corners of the sport, the class is struggling with growth issues. But a new initiative hopes to change that. At the Winter Meeting of the USA Snipe Class the Board of Directors approved a new Class development program designed to bring the Snipe sailboat into contact with people previously not exposed to the boat. The Class will be acquiring a group of newer, competitive Snipes and related equipment which will travel around the USA demonstrating the one design Snipe sailboat to interested groups and sailing clubs. "The motivation for the program is to try to stem the slowly declining Membership and boat ownership of the Snipe Class in the USA and the aging membership of the Class," explained class officer Don Hackbarth. "As the Class membership is aging we are not replacing exiting members with younger sailors. They are largely being exposed only to product provided to them by high schools and colleges and manufacturer classes. "The program will be used to expose the Snipe sailboat product and organization to a larger portion of the sailing market, particularly the young adult market, increase the 'touches' in the market, follow up with those who have a positive experience, help and keep them involved and hopefully, when they are established and able, they will be able to acquire a boat. "We will hopefully be presenting the product at Clubs, Sailing Centers, College programs that currently have no Snipe Fleet contact, as well as help the Fleets conduct clinics which can reach out to the young adults in their market area. Identified sailors who are not currently Members will also be invited to participate in regattas. As an example, the Atlanta Snipe Fleet will be having a college weekend introducing the Snipe to the college teams in our area. For that group we will provide three with a 'scholarship' to attend and sail in the Halloween Regatta (paying their fees etc.) "We discussed the idea of committing product to one or more teams for an extended period of time, say a year, but came to the conclusion that we would be better served to expose the product during the year to multiple parties and then follow up with those that show a continued interest." -- Additional information: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11400 CHANGE: It's interesting to note how the growth of (and youth sailing boats) has affected the broader scope of sailing. I'm now 48 years old, and when my generation graduated from college, there wasn't a question of what kind of boat we would sail. In Southern California, the Snipe was the popular class, we were sailing in the class as teens, and we continued to sail in the class when we graduated. For today's generation, my fear is that young sailors are so committed to organized youth sailing that once they graduate from school, they might not have a connection to options that they can continue on in. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor YOU CAN'T IMITATE SUCCESS Congratulations to the 2011 Rolex Farr 40 Champion 'Transfusion' powered by 100% North sails! 'Transfusion' won the Worlds last weekend in Australia and edged out 2nd place boat (also North-powered) 'Nerone' by just two points. Nine of the top 10 boats raced with North Class Sail Development (CSD) inventories including 'Struntje Light' which placed 1st in the Corinthian Division. North Sails-powered boats have won 12 of the last 13 Farr 40 World Championships. When performance counts, you can't imitate success: http://www.northsails.com SEMINAR: The iconic 125.5 nm Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race in southern California doesn't begin until April 15th, but preparation begins now. Here is information on a series of free "Sail to Win" pre-race seminars sponsored by North Sails: http://tinyurl.com/N2E-2011-prep EIGHTEEN FOOTER INTERGALACTICS The Annual 18' Skiff World Championships are coming up quick. You just can't call them that. It's an ISAF thing, and without their certification, nothing can be the World Championship. Hardly deterred, the Aussie's decided to rename it the J.J. Giltinans or J.J's for short. Named after James Joseph Giltinan, the Aussie businessman, entrepreneur, fleet secretary and founder of the 18' Worlds in 1938. It's the 3rd oldest sailing class trophy in the world, falling right behind the Snipes and Star class for longevity. Sydney Harbor is the birthplace of the 18s, which dates back to 1892. Initiated by a local sailing enthusiast named Mark Foy, to literally give the local sailing scene a kick in the pants and bring the sport into the collective minds and souls of the general populace's lexicon. A visionary, Mark decided that's racing must be more exciting, faster and with more color and flair than number on white cotton sails. 18' long and 8' wide were the only design limitations. "Make em fast and colorful" and add some gaming and uncertainly and the betting crazy Aussie's will come. And they have in droves. 18' racing is big business in Sydney, with a season that runs from October through March. The Aussie 18's League has over 4,000 members, never mind that only 117 of them are listed as sailing members. Collectively, it works.. Invited to join the fun by none other than Iain Murray during 1996 505 World Championships, Howie Hamlin jumped at the chance later that year. The result? "We got creamed," says Howie, and for several years after Howie and teammates never even broke the top 10. "It's like heroin, you get hooked and you can't stop coming back for more." Howie's addiction got so bad he had to bring some boats back home to play with, and over the years has imported 4-5 hulls from Australia, and is currently getting used to his newest Van Munster hull which debut a few weeks ago during the Australian Championships. Weekends and evening training with Mike Martin, Andy Zinn and Kurt Gooding finally paid off, and by 2002 Howie, along with Trevor Baylis and Mike Martin hit pay dirt, flying the Star Spangled General Electric spinnaker to victory, becoming the first American crew to do so. The following year Hamlin and Martin brought along Rod Howell and repeated. It's been a long dry spell ever since; last year Howie, Matt Noble and Fritz Lanzinger only managed a 16th out of the fleet of 30 boats, his aging former CST Composites not quite up to the task. This year he's returning with Fritz Lanzinger and Paul Allen and driving a brand new hull and rigging; Team Howie looks good to go. As an ambassador of sorts, Howie has been almost solely responsible for planting the seed for 18's on US soil. Read on: http://tinyurl.com/PD-030111 NOTE: Details on the JJ Giltinan Trophy, which will be held March 5-13, can be found here: http://www.18footers.com.au/index.php?page=jj-championship THIRD DISMASTING (March 1, 2011: Day 61) - From the leading duo counting down their final 750 or 800 miles to Cape Horn to those nearly 5000 miles behind fighting to make it across the Tasman to the Cook Strait, the vast majority of the Barcelona World Race fleet today are either racing in strong winds, or expecting them imminently. Virbac-Paprec 3 and MAPFRE are trying to outrun the approach of a fast moving low pressure system, the regenerated, reinvigorated Atu (Atu v2.0?) and escape around Cape Horn into the Atlantic. MAPRE has been on a slant slightly south of their adversary, but lighter winds and lost miles has seen them return north to better cover V-P 3 from behind. The third dismasting occurred Tuesday evening as the IMOCA Open 60 Central Lechera Asturiana was approximately 160 miles west of Cape Farewell, heading for the Cook Strait and lying in 11th place. No injuries reported, with the co-skippers now heading for Wellington which was 290 miles from their reported position. Race Tracker: http://tracking.barcelonaworldrace.org Standings (top 5 of 14 as of 20.01.08) 1. Virbac-Paprec 3, Jean Pierre Dick/Loick Peyron (FRA/FRA), 7591 nm DTF 2. Mapfre, Iker Martinez/Xabi Fernandez (ESP/ESP), 67.2nm DTL 3. Renault, Pachi Rivero/Antonio Piris (ESP/ESP), 1357.2nm DTL 4. Neutrogena, Boris Herrmann/Ryan Breymaier (GER/USA), 1377.3nm DTL 5. Mirabaud, Dominique Wavre & Michele Paret (FRA/SUI), 1574.9nm DTF Full rankings: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/ranking/ BACKGROUND: This is the second edition of the non-stop Barcelona World Race, the only double-handed race around the world. Fourteen teams are competing on Open 60s which started December 31st and is expected to finish by late March. The 25,000 nautical mile course is from Barcelona to Barcelona via three capes: Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, Cook Strait, putting Antarctica to starboard. Race website: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org LONE AMERICAN Professional sailor Ryan Breymaier is the lone American in the Barcelona World Race, and is currently in fourth along on Neutrogena with co-skipper Boris Herrmann (GER). The 35-year-old Maryland native recently talked with Outside from the Southern Ocean via satellite phone: * How did you get into sailing? I went to university at a place called St. Mary's College of Maryland, which had a very nice sailing team. When I arrived there I wasn't involved in sailing at all. I was a lacrosse player at the time. I saw an advertisement that said, "Come check out the sailing team. Beginners welcome." I said, hell, that might be something fun to do on the weekends. So I walked on and went sailing a few times and was hooked. I never went back to lacrosse after that. After school I started sailing professionally straight away and never stopped. * Why do you think people involved in sailing exhibit such passion? Sailing is something that captures people's hearts in the same way that any big sport does. Plus all the stories associated with sailing, the man against nature story. The idea of what we do is just so huge that everybody who gets into it becomes passionate about it very quickly. The idea of sailing a boat with two people on it 27,000 miles through areas where no one goes is pretty appealing to people who have the adventure spirit. * How have you been received as being the only American in the race? The European community who's involved in this type of ocean and who puts these races on are super happy to have other nationalities involved. In order to have a small sport like sailing grow, you need people from all over the world to be doing it. If Formula 1 was only people from England, or if rugby was only from South Africa, they would be very, very small sports. For me to be here as an American competing in this sport, they welcome it, they're very happy for it, and they see it as a very positive growth mechanism and way of getting more exposure. They welcome us with open arms. Full interview: http://tinyurl.com/Outside-030111 MELGES 32 MIAMI CHAMPIONSHIP The Melges 32 class wraps up the official Melges 32 Winter Series this weekend in Miami where nearly 25 M32's will be on the start line. Then the class prepares for the 2011 racing which will feature the World Championship in Spain. The 2012 Melges 32 Nationals will be in Newport, RI. New boats are available. Check out the class site at http://www.Melges32.com and http://www.melges.com SAILING SHORTS * (March 1, 2011; Day 24) - Brad Van Liew added yet another notch to his belt today to claim victory in the third sprint of the VELUX 5 OCEANS. The 43-year-old American crossed the finish line in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in his Eco 60 Le Pingouin at 5.16pm local time (1916 UTC) to make it three wins out of three legs so far in the 30,000-mile circumnavigation. Just over 300 nm away is Derek Hatfield (CAN), who holds a narrow 5 mile advantage over Zbigniew 'Gutek' Gutkowski (POL) in third. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com * Windsurfing New Zealand, a non-profit organization to promote boardsailing in New Zealand, is appealing for donations to help affected windsurfers following the Christchurch earthquake. There are reportedly many windsurfers that have lost their entire homes, businesses and tragically even some that have lost their loved ones. Additional details here: http://windsurfingnz.org/christchurch-earthquake-windsurfing-appeal * The 2011 J/24 East Coast Championship is experiencing a renaissance, with plans to celebrate the history of the event from its inception to present. They are looking for photographs, videos, articles, interviews, results or trivia from past years. Details at http://j24eastcoastchampionship.com/News.aspx * Heavy snowfall caused an estimated $40 million in damage to marinas and boats at Oklahoma's Grand Lake, according to reports. As much as 4 feet of snow fell in the area during the first two weeks of the month, the Tulsa World newspaper reported. -- Soundings, full story: http://tinyurl.com/Snow-030111 * (March 1, 2011; Day 32, 22:00 UTC) - The southern course by Thomas Coville (FRA) on the 105-foot trimaran Sodebo has helped reduce his deficit to 954.3 nm behind the solo singlehanded round the world record set by Francis Joyon (FRA) set in 2008 on the 97-foot trimaran IDEC. But with six days remaining in his approach to Cape Horn, his southern position of 55 degrees south latitude has put him in an iceberg zone that he now must navigate around. Coville is currently angling to the north which may cost him some miles but it will keep him alive. -- http://www.sodebo-voile.com/ * In an effort to absorb the large waiting list for the Rolex Fastnet Race, the Royal Ocean Racing Club have decided to increase the number of places available to IRC yachts by removing the 'professionally' sailed classes from the 300 entry limit. The race reached its entry limit 10 days after opening on January 9th and over 130 boats were on the waiting list. The Volvo Ocean 70s, IMOCA 60s, Class 40s and Multihulls, who will race under their own class rules, will be counted over and above the previous 300 entry limit. This revision adds about 50 more places to the total. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/Fastnet-030111 * With the first Act of the Extreme Sailing Series 2011 finishing last week in Oman, the organisers have opened the next round of Host Venue selection process for prospective cities and regions that wish to host an event in 2012 and beyond. The award-winning and innovative circuit provides Host Venues with an outstanding value-for-money destination marketing package, alongside direct economic benefits. -- Details: http://tinyurl.com/ESS-030111 PUBLICIZE YOUR INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES ... FOR FREE The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum encourages companies to post their personnel, product and service updates. Scuttlebutt editors randomly select Industry News 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 'HOW TO' VIDEOS AT LEWMAR.COM Thinking about installing or servicing your Lewmar product but not sure how to do it? Take a look at the Installation and Service videos on Lewmar.com. Click here to see offshore yachtswoman Lia Ditton explain how to strip down a Lewmar winch ready for servicing at http://www.lewmar.com/support-instal-vid.asp 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 Les Valmadre: I read with interest the article in Scuttlebutt 3288 regarding the steep climb of North American sailors to the WMRT program. In Perth, Western Australia we had for many years the Australia Cup and three years ago with the sponsorship of Royal Perth Yacht Club the cup was reinstated on the calendar and is now a grade one event with an auto qualifying slot into the last and most lucrative of the WMRT races the Monsoon Cup. Royal Perth Yacht Club alternating with Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club also host the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta which is for sailors (Skipper and Crew) 25 years of age or under with the winner gaining slots in grade 1 European match racing events as well as travel money and to help defray costs. Both these series are raced in a matched fleet of Foundation 36 owned by Swan River Sailing a not for profit organisation that "charters" the boats to the individual series. Both series attract sailors from all over the world with this year our first Japanese sailor competing in the WJR. Over the past few years the Australia Cup has had the best of the world's match racing sailors competing including Ben Ainslie (current world champ), Torvar Mirsky (currently sailing with an AC2013 challenger), Adam Minoprio (previous world champion)and many others whose names read like a championship list of sailors. The competition in both regattas is extremely high and the racing is fierce. Past winners include James Spithill, John Bertrand and a virtual whos who of international match and AC racing. I am therefore writing to the Scuttlebutt forum to let your North American readers know that in order to reach the levels required to win at the upper levels of the WMRT you need to start young, get out of your comfort zone, race where the racing is the best and compete against the best you can find. We know Perth, Western Australia is long way from North America but it is also a long way from Europe and yet European sailors make the trip regularly to compete at the best levels available in their attempts to gain an entry into the WMRT. --- Scuttlebutt Forum, read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11398#11398 * From Howard Bentley: (re, letter in Scuttlebutt 3288) Here, here, Lawrence Zeitlin! Unfortunately some in this world ignorantly believe these actions (of piracy) should be prosecuted as simple crimes. Some of those same people are the leaders of supposedly powerful countries that have the means and ability to do more. When you have weak leaders with no stomach to do the dirty work, then the world stays dirty. Cowardice comes in many forms but inaction in the face of terror, bribery, and kidnapping only begets more of the same. Fancy speeches and international apologies only placate the weak minded, not the heavy handed, and especially not the armed and dangerous. * From Nancy Graver: (re, Sail to Prevail event in St Petersburg, FL) The event which took place this weekend in St Petersburg was top notch! What was most interesting was that the event was pulled together in a very short time period on a minimal budget. Instead of dinners at the yacht club or fancy prizes, racing was stressed. With a small race committee and coaches who were available to help everyone, we had great racing. Kudos and thanks to all who made this regatta happen! This really should be a model for future events. Thank you Gene Hinkle, Betsy Allison and Paul Callahan! 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