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SCUTTLEBUTT 3365 - Friday, June 17, 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: US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics and Harken. SANDERSON TO LEAD CHINESE TEAM (June 17, 2011) - China launched its first ever sole entry in the Volvo Ocean Race today and announced that one of the world's leading sailors would helm its Team Sanya for the gruelling nine-month, 39,270 mile challenge beginning in October. Despite its huge technical and financial resources, the world's most populous nation has never won a round-the-globe sailing competition but intends to make the breakthrough with the recruitment of New Zealander Mike Sanderson as skipper. Sanderson, 40, is a twice-winner of the Volvo Ocean Race and will chase a hat-trick of triumphs with a crew mixing experienced sailors with relatively raw Chinese members. It is the seventh world-class contender to join this year's race with Sanderson going head-to-head with some of the sailing's biggest names including American Ken Read (PUMA) and France's Franck Cammas (Groupama). "This is a fantastic opportunity to race under the flag of such a great country and culture," said Sanderson today at the Team Sanya launch in central Beijing. "We are building up a strong team and are ready to take on this exciting challenge. Our approach will be one of compelling intent, working fast and smart, representing this great country and team with ambition, dynamism and colourful energy." China, as is the case in many sports, has incredible potential within sailing and a win in the 38-year-old Volvo Ocean Race, previously established as The Whitbread Round the World Race from 1973, would be a huge boost to its ambitions. The race is regarded as sailing's leading test for monohull yachts. It runs from 29 October in Alicante, Spain to 8 July next year in Galway, Ireland, the longest, continuous sporting event. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0617/ SANDERSON SPEAKS With the announcement that China has launched its first ever sole entry in the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, we spoke with skipper Mike Sanderson - twice-winner of the Volvo Ocean Race - who will be leading the team along the gruelling nine-month, 39,270 mile challenge beginning in October. * What is the objective of the team? MIKE SANDERSON: The objective is that China is seen as an ocean-racing nation. When I was asked if I was prepared to do this, I obviously had to look at the big picture, and decide what the challenges were. And the challenge for me is doing better with a team of people nobody else thought could do it. This is about developing awareness in China, and for the Chinese to get the wave of momentum behind the Volvo Ocean Race. I am not held back when I speak to people: it's also in the hope that this is a stepping stone for another campaign in the next race, with a rotation of Chinese sailors onboard and on the shore crew to grow the sailing culture amongst the Chinese. A careful budget fits the objectives we have for his race; it's all about dipping the nations toe in water. We will be trying to overachieve in this one and hope to encourage bigger things in the generations to come. * Which boat will you use? MIKE SANDERSON: I wish I could say. We are still in the process and it has been an interesting debate. We looked at every boat that was in the race last time. We thought Ericsson 4 was our target, but then we quickly had to see what we wanted to achieve out of this race. One of the options was getting the winner from the last race and as many points as possible. And the other one was getting a boat that could get us onto the podium in all conditions. We are in the process of looking at all of the boats and there's one that's a candidate. We will announce it in about ten days. Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0617a/ US SAILING TEAM ALPHAGRAPHICS THANKS ITS SPONSORS! The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics would like to thank all of our sponsors for their on-site support this past week in Weymouth, England at the Sail for Gold Regatta, our first of two Selection Events for the U.S. Olympic Team. We were especially thrilled that 24 representatives from our title sponsor AlphaGraphics joined us in the U.K. and helped cheer on women's match racing where "Team Maclaren" (Tunnicliffe) won the gold medal and Team 7 Match Race (Barkow) the bronze. We are lucky to have such great, supporting sponsors! http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/ THANKS DENNIS! I don't admit to knowing Dennis Conner very well. But every time I see him at San Diego Yacht Club, I welcome the opportunity to interact with him. I am not convinced he feels the same way, as he often refers to me as the evil media that has haunted him over the years. He does challenge me to be nice. We had this exchange again last week at the Etchells World Championship, where he warned a group of people to watch what they say in my presence. I didn't take his comment seriously, and in private I scolded him about it. He admitted that I have always been fair to him, but speaking freely in the media has gotten him in trouble in the past. He sees it as trouble, but with today's world of homogenized pro sailors, spewing happy talk that will please their owners and sponsors, I miss the unexpected comments from the Dennis Conners, the Ted Turners, and the Tom Blackallers. Our sport today could use some raw personalities. Competing against Dennis last week at the Etchells Worlds was an absolute treat. He is not as healthy as he should be, but he was as wiley as ever, and his sixth place finish shows that he remains a remarkable talent. A six day, nine race series is not easy, much less so at 69 years. I have received a lot of comments about the success of our team's win at the Etchells Worlds, many directed at how we passed six boats on the final downwind leg to clinch the title with a race to spare. The truth is our light air downwind speed was not a strength until we noted how Dennis sailed his boat in those conditions. That leg was the first time we copied his technique. Thanks Dennis! -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt HEROES IN SAILING While working at a local medical clinic in the greater San Diego area last week, I picked up a chart with the name "North" on it. As I entered the room, I read the first name "Lowell". After a double take, I immediately recognized the patient to be indeed THE "Lowell North", as in North Sails. It was hard to concentrate on my doctoring as I had a wonderful interaction with Lowell and his kind wife Bea. They must have been embarrassed as I was gushing over how long I had been following his career and what a great fan I was. Talk about a brush with fame for a lowly PHRF racer turned cruiser secondary to a growing family and job responsibilities. The nurses looked at me as if I was nuts. I kept explaining to them..."5 x world champion, 2 x Olympic Medals, America's Cup, etc." The landlubbers just didn't get it. After a couple of hours in my care, while we were chatting about the Etchells World Championship, which I was keeping up to date on by reading Scuttlebutt, he was finally ready to be discharged home. When he got up, he kindly thanked me for my care. He then proceeded to pull out his North Sails belt right out of his pants and handed it to me as a memento of the occasion. I was speechless. What a class act. Thanks Lowell and Bea North for the greatest shift of my career. -- Dr. Johannes Neuendorf OVERCOMING THE FUEL DILEMMA One of the perennial, round-the-world, offshore dilemmas is the quantity of fuel carried on board a racing yacht. Calculating the optimum volume of diesel is a complicated equation: enough must be carried to complete the voyage and continuously charge the batteries to run the communications systems; autopilots; ballast pumps; navigation lights; radar and - if installed - a heater, while a fuel reserve to allow the boat to motor out of trouble must also be factored-in. Underestimating the required amount, or carrying too little fuel in an attempt to save weight and increase performance, can have a negative and disastrous result. Conversely, carrying too much fuel and additional weight will affect sailing performance over long distances, although the constant power-budgeting becomes less of a burden. In addition, marine wind turbines tend to lose power generating ability as the apparent wind decreases on a high-powered, reaching racing yacht, while solar panels tend to be inefficient in the high-latitudes of the Southern Ocean where increased cloud cover and the acute angle of the sun degrades generating potential. Until relatively recently, transom-mounted hydro-generator turbines were generally bulky, unreliable, inefficient, created an immense amount of drag through the water and were never considered appropriate for a competitive racing yacht. However, in 2007, French offshore sailor, Yannick Bestaven, successfully trialled his retractable hydro-generator on board the IMOCA Open 60 Cervin racing in the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre with co-skipper Ronan Guerin, before returning to Europe sailing solo on Cervin in the BtoB Race. During this period, Bestaven recorded that his hydro-generator was twice as efficient as a standard wind turbine. -- Read on: http://globaloceanrace.com/?page=news&news_id=481&lang=en PRO PERFORMANCE, INSTANT UV PROTECTION Shed the old cotton in summer's sticky weather for Harken Vent Tech-our 30 UPF Vent Tech shirts are cool, lightweight, quick-drying and antimicrobial for the best comfort in hot and humid weather. When it cools down, let your Vent Tech provide a soft moisture-wicking base layer between you and your outerwear. Long or short sleeves, welded ventilation panels, non-chafing flatlock seams, 2-way stretch, and breathable abrasion-resistant material. Read more and check out the video at http://www.harkensport.com/cat/shirts.html QUOTE / UNQUOTE SailBlast editor Michelle Slade describing her AC45 ride this week on San Francisco Bay: "The breeze settled in around 20 knots, it was warm and sunny and 'Coutts 5' was skimming along like nothing I've ever been on - it's hard to come up with a suitable analogy simply because I've never been on the water on anything as fast. In some respects the speed element for me was the feeling of speed I got while getting launched learning to kite surf - that torpedo effect from the water through the air but without the subsequent pain - and kind of like windsurfing more than a being on a sailboat, where you feel the speed more because of your physical proximity to the water. And although it's incredibly fast, it's different to being on a powerboat because it's not a powerboat! It's just a friggin' fast sailboat. There's got to be a huge temptation to play these boats to their edge because the speed is highly addictive." -- Full report: http://sailblast.blogspot.com/2011/06/still-pinching-myself.html NAME FIASCO SLOWS AUSTRALIAN CHALLENGE The Team Yachting Australia (TYA) syndicate insist their challenge for the 2013 America's Cup is alive, despite them not being named among the latest lineup of competitors. The list of challengers announced at a press conference in the host city of San Francisco included two teams from France plus representatives from China, Italy, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden and the United States. But TYA spokesperson Peter Baker, who was in San Francisco, was adamant their America's Cup campaign would proceed. Baker said TYA had not by last Friday received an endorsement from Yachting Australia (YA; national sailing authority) which they required in order to get a number from the Australian Sports Foundation, that would allow donors to their campaign to claim tax deductibility. Without that in place, TYA didn't put a deposit on a new AC45 boat, which they will need to contest the inaugural America's Cup World Series, the first part of the leadup to the 2013 America's Cup. Baker felt YA had not responded quickly enough to their request for endorsement and they had insufficient time to prepare new documents after being asked by YA to change the name of the syndicate. YA directors expressed some concern about the TYA name, believing it was too similar to their own organisation. YA chief executive officer Phil Jones said his organisation hadn't been aware the syndicate was operating under the Team Yachting Australia name until a media release containing it went out on May 28 and that their first meeting with Baker was not until June 2. Both parties were adamant TYA America's Cup campaign could still continue. Baker said he hoped to get the outstanding issues resolved within a fortnight and purchase a new AC45 in time for the third leg of the World Series in San Diego in November. -- Read on: http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8262141 SAILING SHORTS * Newport, RI (June 16, 2011) - The first event in the J-Class Global calendar is being staged this week in the fabled waters of the America's Cup on Narragansett Bay between the 140-foot Ranger and Velsheeda. After two days of racing, Ranger remains undefeated. Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11179 * Tuscany, Italy (June 16, 2011) - Lighter winds on day four at the Finn World Masters brought a lot of new faces to the front. Defending World Masters Champion Michael Maier (CZE) won his sixth race to take a points lead for the first time - though it is only by one point. Only one race was sailed, however, it was a day for the Italians with heat wins for Marco Buglielli (ITA) and Francesco Fragiani (ITA). The fourth heat was won by Uli Breuer (GER) to lift him up to second overall, with Allen Burrell (GBR) in third on countback. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/Finn-061611 * Marseille, France (June 16, 2011) - The TP52 world champions Quantum Racing had the ultimate rollercoaster day at the Marseille Trophy, but remain in the lead at the second stop of the five event TP52 Audi MedCup Circuit. After an assured win in the first race, they finished last in the second when they started late and ended up on the unfavoured side of the first beat. Russia's Synergy, who are now just one point behind the American crew, had a 7,2 for the day, while the best scoring boat for the day, Niklas Zennstrom's RAN (SWE) scored a second and a fourth. -- Full report: http://www.medcup.org/news/an-up-and-down-kind-of-day_4618 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include inland Star sailing, windy J/80 sailing, extensive money spending, time for paint before sailing, duck sailing, helmet sailing, and crew gear sailing. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0617/ BONUS: With 135 boats competing, the New York Yacht Club's 157th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex, held June 10-12, broke all of its past attendance records, and with winds whipping into the high teens for buoy racing over the weekend, it certainly is in line for being the most memorable Annual Regatta in recent history. Here are some photos from PhotoBoat.com: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0616/ BONUS: The J Class has returned this week to Narragansett Bay in Newport, RI for the dance of the lead-bottomed money gobblers. The 140 foot Ranger and Valsheda are hosting the crews for the first of a four-regatta series culminating in a race around the Isle of Wight in July of 2012 for the finale regatta, which will be for the newly-minted Hundred Guinea Cup. Photographer George Bekris shares images from Newport: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0616a/ 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 Being a compulsive shooter, Leighton O'Connor strapped his GoPro video camera onto his chest for an outing on a 21-foot Viper 640 in Marblehead, MA. It was cloudy, rainy, 50-something degrees, and 10-14 knots. In other words, perfect. "I got to race on a Viper 640 for the first time," said Leighton. "What a hooooooot! Very fun boat. A little wet but I finally got to wear my new dinghy boots that have been kickin' around in my car for a year. We cooked along for most of the day at 8-10 knots." Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/11/0617/ BONUS: Join Greg Gendell as he goes up the mast of the Quantum Racing TP52 for a rig check in Marseille, France. The intricacies of the carbon spar, when combined with the height and stunning backdrop, make this video very watchable: http://youtu.be/Zq-HZpILe0E 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 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 Antonio Sanpere: (re, Eight Bells in SBUTT 3364) I first started sailing in St. Thomas in 1970 and had the opportunity to sail with and against Walter Fischer. At that time he owned a Pearson 39 but was usually aboard Caviar, a Carter 1 tonner, owned by Lee Kelbert the president of Little Switzerland. I raced in the first Rolex International regatta and have won many of the time pieces. He was always a gentleman and fair competitor. He will be greatly missed. * From Tim Smith: (re, letter in Scuttlebutt 3364) I couldn't disagree more with John Schimert comments regarding your articles in SBUTT 3363. I thought using your win in the Etchells worlds (CONGRATULATIONS by the way, to the whole team) as a reminder of the value of getting our kids more involved in sailing at all levels was worthwhile and a nice twist. Your other article was really just an intro to Stuart's article and doesn't even mention the win (which I would surely have done.), so hubris seems a little harsh to me, how about congratulations instead? * From Scott Mason: As a competitor at a highly competitive championship that Craig's team thoroughly dominated, I can understand a slip in humility. That said, Craig and I spoke for hours about parenting and mentoring. His move to inspire a young sailor left a lump in my throat. Good on ya Craig, you do youth and sport a service. COMMENT: John has since apologized, and thanks to all the other supportive letter I received, and the flood of complimentary comments on Facebook. I was worried that my report of the young girl would focus too much on my act rather than her reaction. It was the later I wanted to highlight, and to hopefully encourage more interaction between today's young sailors and adults. -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION To maintain a healthy level of insanity, whenever you go out to eat order a diet water with a serious face. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Quantum Sails - BIC Sport - North Sails - Gowrie Group LaserPerformance - APS - Morris Yachts - US SAILING Ullman Sails - IYRS - Gladstone's Long Beach - USSTAG - Harken Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
