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SCUTTLEBUTT 3103 - Tuesday, June 1, 2010Scuttlebutt 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. Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt Today’s sponsors: North Sails, Morris Yachts, and Henri Lloyd. ISAF AND THE MUTINY AT THE 33RD AMERICA’S CUP Drama, intrigue, twisting plot... all elements of a good story. Good stories may also have aspects we can relate to, yet can’t quite experience for ourselves. This was the 33rd America’s Cup, and like any good sequel, it carried on elements of previous episodes while also being unique. That it was. Bitter billionaires contesting in a mano-a-mano duel. No-limit multihulls facing off in a never before seen match race contest. Tactics and strategy - on land and by sea. Probably the only failing of this movie was its excessive length. Parts should have been cut. But when the ending came, bamm, it provided that extra element that all good series have. Something we did not expect. It was after challenger USA 17 crushed defender Alinghi 5 in both races to win the 33rd America’s Cup that Scuttlebutt legal analyst Cory E. Friedman broke the story of a mutiny on the race committee boat. What you say? Yes, during the deciding second race of February 14. 2010, the defense club - Societe Nautique De Geneve’s (SNG) - had their race committee actually go on strike and refuse to start the race ordered by ISAF approved PRO Harold Bennett. The Swiss mutiny was publically deemed a violation of the highest order, and questioned again how the America’s Cup could be considered a fair sporting event as long as biased hands administered the event. But another question loomed too. Would ISAF have the courage to investigate the matter and deliver harsh punishment where needed? After over three months, the answer is now upon us, and it is, just like the 33rd America’s Cup, not what we expected. Following a standard review process by the ISAF Race Officials Committee, it is their assessment of the ‘mutiny’ event that it may have been Bennett who was as much the mutineer as was the SNG race committee personnel. What ISAF found were a series of conflicts of who was really in charge. As PRO, one would assume that Bennett was in charge. If he wanted to run the race, then the race would be run. There were legal documents that supported this position. However, Bennett had also agreed with SNG that there would be a voting system. Bennett was among the four members that comprised the SNG appointed race committee, and Bennett would hold two of the votes. Prior to the start of the second race, a 3-2 vote was taken against starting the race. But Bennett believed the 7-9 knots of wind and 1 meter swell were suitable conditions, and when the three members of the SNG race committee refused to proceed and went below decks, he recruited non-SNG personnel and together they got the race started. So what does ISAF intend to do? It would seem that there was not a lot they could do. They found the race to be a fair contest, and since SNG did not protest it, the steps forward for ISAF is to clarify their rules and regulations such that the responsibilities of ISAF appointed race officers are better understood. -- Scuttleblog, http://sailingscuttlebutt.blogspot.com/2010/05/33rd-americas-cup-mutiny.html ISAF statement: http://www.sailing.org/32808.php ISAF Race Officials Committee report: http://tinyurl.com/28npe88 COLLEGE NATIONALS * Madison, WI (May 28, 2010) - After dominating the standings on day one of racing for the 2010 ICSA Women’s National Championship, the College of Charleston had a 35-point lead on their closest competitor (Boston College) as the final day of racing for the championship title got underway today on Lake Mendota. The less than cooperative breeze ultimately allowed B-Division to complete a set (two races), while A-Division was constrained to only one race (11 A) before the evasive breeze finally eliminated the chance to complete that set. The net result was each division would count 10 races, which for the Cougars came to 22 points from A- and 62 points from B-Division to equal 84 for the championship win. Having lost this title last year by nine points, College of Charleston’s final score was 25 points better than BC who retained second overall with 109 points. This is the second ICSA Women’s National Championship title won by the Cougars; their first was in 2006. -- Full report/results: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9965#9965 * Madison, WI (May 31, 2010) - Over the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend, the top 14 schools in the nation - as determined by their performance in one of the seven Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association conferences to which they belong - were in America’s Heartland racing for the 2010 ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship title on Lake Mendota. And for one team, St. Mary’s College (St. Mary’s, Md.), it was a reversal of fortune from 2009 when the Seahawks lost this championship on a tie breaker, to come back and win this year’s contest on a tie break with the same team - Boston College. Proving that they are a powerhouse in this format of sailing, the win marks the fifth time the Seahawks have clinched this unique championship which pits each college's three-boat team against another's in a round-robin series of matches. -- Full report/results: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9966#9966 PHOTOS: Since 2005, Scuttlebutt has partnered with photographer Glennon Stratton to produce photo galleries from the College Spring Nationals. Already posted are the images from the Womens and Team Race Nationals: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/cn/ FREE SAIL CARE & REPAIR FROM NORTH SAILS North Sails is providing free sail care & repair on all new North sails purchased in 2010. Honored anywhere in North's worldwide network of sail care locations, you will be in good hands no matter where your travels take you. Free sail care & repair is available on North cruising, racing, and one-design sails. Sails MUST be registered online & some restrictions apply. When performance & durability matter, the choice is clear: http://na.northsails.com HELMSMAN, SKIPPER, OR BOTH? By Andy Rice, yachting journalist I noticed John Glynn's question in Scuttlebutt 3102 about helm and skipper, and as it happens I've just written a piece on this subject for the Louis Vuitton Trophy website. My own observation would be that in days past the skipper was probably the guy that put the campaign together and gave himself the plum job of steering too. These days in the professional era, a skipper will put himself in whichever role he believes he can contribute most effectively. If there's a better match-racing helmsman in the team, then it makes sense to give the steering role to the best guy for the job. But the best steerer is not necessarily the best leader of the team. An example of how teams are waking up to the more specialised demands of the modern era is Francesco de Angelis, who used to steer Luna Rossa as skipper and helmsman, but eventually stepped aside from the wheel to give a specialist match racer - James Spithill - a turn at driving the boat. And Luna Rossa was a stronger team as a result. Here is the story I wrote: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In some teams the helmsman is different from the skipper, two distinct roles. In other teams the helmsman and skipper is one and the same person. Jochen Schumann is the skipper of All4One, but the steering of the boat he leaves to Sebastien Col, the top French match racing expert. So why do some teams split the role, while others have the all-encompassing skipper/ helmsman? “It’s not an easy question to answer,” says Schumann. “The skipper is in more of a legal or administrative role on board, in charge of the boat and the team, whereas the helmsman is driving the boat. Since the driver has a lot of responsibility for the team and the boat while racing, these jobs are often put together into one role. Which approach does Schumann prefer? “I think in some respects it's good to have the helmsman more free, directing the crew while racing, and leaving all the other management aspects to another person. It leaves him more focused to concentrate on the racing. I think there might be a lot of good reasons why they do it differently in other teams, but that's how I see it. The skipper makes big strategic decisions for the team, but for the actual racing the helmsman has the wheel so has the last say on what the boat does and where it goes.” So ultimately the final decision-making power lies with the helmsman even if he’s not the skipper, for very important reasons as Schumann explains: “The last decision while racing is always with the helmsman because he has ultimate control of the boat. So there is always a lot of pressure on the helmsman because as we saw with the collision between Aleph and Azzurra, the last movement of the helm either causes the collision or avoids the collision. No one else can take that responsibility, it was basically one person steering or not steering. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/28nz4hg MORE DELAYS IN LA MADDALENA Sardinia, Italy (May 31, 2010; Day 10) - The forecasted mistral was raging at full force at Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena, with gusts well over 30 knots canceling races for the day. The forecast for Tuesday indicates wind should be back in a 'sailable' range, but it may build too much later in the afternoon. It is not yet clear whether delays due to weather and boat damage will force revisions to the event schedule. The initial plan was for each team to complete a single round robin (9 races), where after the top eight teams would advance to a knock-out round to determine the Semi-Finalists. Current standings 1. Synergy, RUS, skipper Karol Jablonski (POL), 5-4, 5 pts 1. Artemis, SWE, skipper Paul Cayard (USA), 5-2, 5 pts 1. Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL, skipper Dean Barker (NZL), 5-2, 5 pts 4. TeamOrigin, GBR, skipper Ben Ainslie (GBR), 4-3, 4 pts 4. All4One, FRA/GER, skipper Jochen Schümann (GER), 4-3, 4 pts 6. Azzurra, ITA, skipper Francesco Bruni (ITA), 3-4, 3 pts 6. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, ITA, skipper Gavin Brady (NZL), 4-1, 3 pts* 8. Luna Rossa, ITA, skipper Ed Baird (USA), 2-6, 2 pts 9. BMW ORACLE Racing, USA, skipper James Spithill (AUS), 1-6, 1 pt 10. Aleph, FRA, skipper Bertrand Pace (FRA), 2-4, -2 pts* * Penalties deducted by Jury/Umpires Racing is scheduled to start each day with a warning signal at 10:00 local time (GMT+2). Racing concludes June 6th. Complete coverage, including live streaming Virtual Eye tracking of each race of the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena is available at http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com BACKGROUND: The Louis Vuitton Trophy series is designed to be a cost-effective format for match racing competition in Version 5 America's Cup Class boats. For the La Maddalena event, teams will take turns racing on four equalised America’s Cup Class boats: two have been provided by BMW Oracle Racing (USA 87 and USA 98) and two by Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (ITA 90 and ITA 99). After La Maddalena, the 2010 series continues on to Dubai (Nov. 13-28). MEAGER MEDAL HAUL IN MEDEMBLIK Medemblik, The Netherlands (May 31, 2010) - The Delta Lloyd Regatta, the fifth International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup event in the 2009-2010 series, hosted 592 boats amid all 10 Olympic sailing events and the 2.4mR Paralympic class. Sixteen countries collected medals, with Great Britain’s five podium finishes leading the field, while Spain and Croatia were next with four medals each. Of the 62 entries from Canada, Mexico, and the United States, the lone North American medal was won by US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics’ (USSTAG) Andy Horton (S. Burlington, Vt.) and James Lyne (Granville, Vt.) with a bronze medal in the 16-boat Star class. This was their second podium finish at a Sailing World Cup event in 2010: they also won a silver medal at US SAILING’s 2010 Rolex Miami OCR in January. Two other USSTAG boats finished in the top ten, with 2008 Olympians Amanda Clark (Shelter Harbor, N.Y.) and Sarah Chin (Hoboken, N.J.) finishing eighth overall among 46 Women’s 470 boats, while Olympic Silver Medalist Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) finished fifth in the 62-boat Finn class. Of the 37 Laser Radials, 2008 Olympians Tania Elias Calles (MEX) was sixth and Lisa Ross (CAN) was tenth, while Paralympic Gold Medalist Paul Tingley (CAN) finished sixth among the 18 boats in the 2.4mR fleet. After light air plagued the last two Sailing World Cup events, Olympic class sailors enjoyed competing in stronger wind this week. USSTAG Meteorologist Doug Charko (Auckland, New Zealand) summed up the conditions: “After taking a holiday in Palma and Hyeres, the wind came to play in Medemblik. No days were lost during the regatta due to lack of wind and only a few races were postponed during a light patch on day two. The majority of racing was in 5-10 knots, but there were plenty of races in 15 knots or more as well.” The sixth stop in the seven event ISAF Sailing World Cup is Kiel Week, scheduled for June 19-23, 2010, in Kiel, Germany. Photos: http://tinyurl.com/2bp5kwp Event website: http://www.deltalloydregatta.org USSTAG updates: http://tinyurl.com/USSTAG-DLR2010 CYA updates: http://tinyurl.com/CYA-052610 SUMMER EVENTS, BOAT SHOWS AND RACING AT MORRIS YACHTS! It’s official; Summer is here! The Newport-Bermuda Race begins June 18th. Good luck to Morris 40 Shearwater, Morris 45 Next Boat, and Morris 47 Reindeer. Cuyler Morris will head to Bermuda for the finish and to award the Morris Bell to the winners. On July 16-18, come to Maine for the sixth annual Morris Boat Show. This is a once a year opportunity to board the widest selection of Morris and other fine yachts. Show hours 10-6 Friday and Saturday; 10-4 on Sunday. For more information on these and other summer events please go to: http://www.morrisyachts.com/event or call 207-244-5509. CHOOSING BETWEEN ‘THE GUT’ AND THE RACE Larchmont, NY (May 31, 2010) - In a race where choosing sides is key, the crew aboard Hap Fauth’s (Minneapolis, Minn.) 69-foot Mini Maxi Bella Mente used their “Gut” instinct and flawless teamwork to win the Storm Trysail Club’s 65th Block Island Race. The 186 nautical mile race began Friday afternoon, May 28, and sent Bella Mente and 95 other IRC- and PHRF-rated boats off on a course from Stamford, Conn. (where host Stamford Yacht Club is located), down Long Island Sound, clockwise around Block Island (R.I.), and back. Choosing Plum Gut over an equally notorious passage called “The Race” on the way to Block Island and then again coming back, proved critical to Bella Mente in its taking of line honors after almost 19 1/2 hours of sailing. While Bella Mente finished at 11:40 Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend, the last of the smaller boats finished nearly 23 hours later. “It’s the key to every Block Island Race, choosing between ‘The Gut’ and The Race,” said Bella Mente’s navigator Dirk Johnson (Middletown, R.I.), who picked the former for both heading out and heading in. “Frankly from a navigational perspective, it’s a true test. Anyone can make it on a fair tide, but we hit it at foul tide both ways, and for a two-mile stretch on the way back, the crew had to make four sail changes. They had to be ready for everything and be flawless at all times.” -- Full report/results: http://www.stormtrysail.org/Pages/2010-BI-Race/2010-BI-Race.html SAILING SHORTS * (May 29, 2010) - TEAMORIGIN British America’s Cup sailing team announced that Australian-born Grant Simmer has been appointed as CEO. Simmer was most recently Managing Director and Design Co-ordinator of Alinghi, winners of the America’s Cup in 2003 and 2007, and will now take responsibility for the sporting and technical activities of the team as well as overseeing the commercial operations. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/24awgny * (May 31, 2010) - At 18h 45m 38s UTC on May 29th, ICAP Leopard, the 100ft super-maxi racing yacht owned by Helical Bar PLC chief executive Mike Slade, crossed the start line at Ambrose Light to begin her attempt on the 2,925 nautical mile monohull transatlantic speed record. ICAP Leopard will need to cross the finish line at Lizard Point before 12h 37m UTC on Saturday 5th June to break the current record held by Mari Cha IV of 6 days, 17 hours and 52 minutes (set in 2003). As of 2200 hours they were 1.64 nm behind the record. -- http://www.leopard3.com/transatlantic_record_attempt_2010.html * (May 31, 2010) - After the inevitable frustrations of the very light conditions of the past few days of the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race, over the last 24 hours the conditions have changed to produce some fantastic downwind sailing and, with the forecast for the next 24 hours showing the winds strengthening, the race to the finish in New York is on. Only 54 nm separate the top six teams, with Uniquely Singapore leading the charge with only 218 nm remaining. -- http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com * Split, Croatia (May 28, 2010) - Two races were held on the last day of the Finn World Master Championship, but a win for Michael Maier (CZE) in the first of the races was enough for him to sit out the finale after locking up his second Finn World Masters title. Silver goes to the defending champion Andre Budzien (GER) and a last minute charge from Christen Christoph (SUI) gave him the bronze. -- Daily reports: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9930 * The crew of the yacht Setantii, a 2004 Sweden 42 en route to Horta, Azores were successfully evacuated this morning (28 May 2010), following a collision with a submerged object 600 nautical miles west of the Azores. Setantii, which was taking part in the ARC Europe transatlantic rally to Europe, called a MayDay after the collision severely damaged their steering, pushed the rudder up into the hull and caused water ingress. -- Event website: http://www.worldcruising.com/arceurope/index.aspx IS YOUR SAILING GEAR READY TO GO SAILING? Sailing to Bermuda? Plan for your 2010 offshore racing or cruising now! The new Henri Lloyd Gore Ocean Explorer has taken innovation to new heights with the Dame award-winning Optivision Hood System integrated into the most advanced storm collar on the market. Available exclusively at HL Elite dealers or http://www.henrilloydonline.com LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Karl L. Kirkman: Regarding John Glynn's letter expressing confusion about the role of skipper (in Scuttlebutt 3202), Brad Butterworth is not to "blame" for changing the rules; he was probably honoring the long accepted marine tradition since the days of sail that the skipper is the individual on board a vessel in responsible charge. If you ever spent time on a larger vessel. you would observe that the skipper almost never touches the wheel; rather he almost always stands watch and issues commands to the person steering - the helmsman, and on a sailing vessel to the mate for sail trim. One clear exception seems to be fishing vessels of some size, and smallish passenger carriers and ferries. Often in yachting the two roles have been merged, but that does not change the relationship between them. * From Jim Champ: From the seventies through to about 1995, campaigning two handed dinghies as boat owner, sailing as forward hand, and taking the final decision on tactics, I always changed entry forms to describe myself as skipper, and put the current helm’s name in the crew box as helm. To my mind the skipper is the one in charge whether or not they actually point the thing. How many ships do you see where the captain is the one who holds the wheel? SUPPORT YOUR SCUTTLEBUTT The Scuttlebutt e-newsletter was first launched in 1997, well before regatta organizers and the sailing media had embraced the Internet. The early focus was Southern California, but as interest in the publication grew both nationally and internationally, so did the content. But the roots of Scuttlebutt sailing news remain in North America, with content selected to emphasize the events and stories of most interest to sailors on this continent. Scuttlebutt’s readership growth is largely due to satisfied “customers” spreading the word about the publication. Maintaining an active readership is vital for any media, as active readers are hopefully active shoppers for the advertisers that support the publication. And Scuttlebutt is supported by an elite group of companies, such that the limited supply of ad slots are now sold out until January 2011. Please help support Scuttlebutt by letting your sailing friend know about the publication. It is very easy to spread the word by clicking on this link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/wordofmouth CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION If Bill Gates had a penny for every time I had to reboot my computer...oh wait, he does. Special thanks to North Sails, Morris Yachts, and Henri Lloyd. 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