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SCUTTLEBUTT 2347 – May 18, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). THE MAN BEHIND THE MAN (After three races in the Louis Vuitton semi-finals, one thing appears clear: Luna Rossa helmsman James Spithill is doing the best job of the four challengers. In a revealing interview, BYM News met with Philippe Presti, the training helmsman for Spithill.) * Who is James Spithill? Presti: He’s a really talented one, with an even keel and sufficient ego to go where he wants to. When working, he’s a locomotive that nothing could stop. He doesn’t look for media attention and is pretty low profile in public, but he knows exactly what he needs to progress. His objective is to be the best, and he will be. * How did you prepare for these matches against BMW Oracle Racing? Presti: When I arrived in the team, we were doing two-boat racing and I insisted that we concentrated on key moments, like the ‘slam dunk’ in the second race for example. This one is my baby, I love it! Working like that helped us to build a precise strategy to beat Oracle. There are set situations where we want to bring them, but obviously I won’t comment on that now. * James Spithill is at the helm but Francesco de Angelis is the skipper, how does it work? Presti: James joined the team when Francesco decided to leave the helm to focus on his role of skipper and leader. Being the helmsman requires a lot of concentration and it’s very difficult to give at the same time all the directions to the crew. Plus there are different kinds of leaders. Some are charismatic by their acts, like James, and others, like Francesco, get full respect by their experience and their global vision of the game. The combination works well for us. -- Full interview: http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=8659 First team to win 5 races advances to challenger finals. The pairings are: 1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 1-1-0-_-_-_-_-_-_ = 2 4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP) 0-0-1-_-_-_-_-_-_ = 1 Wednesday, Race 3 stats: Wind speed (11-13kts), Race length (01:26:20), Total tacks/ gybes (ESP-18; NZL-22), Avg boat speed (ESP-10.275; NZL-10.225) -- http://tinyurl.com/34oefx 2. BMW Oracle Racing (USA) 0-1-0-_-_-_-_-_-_ = 1 3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) 1-0-1-_-_-_-_-_-_ = 2 Wednesday, Race 3 stats: Wind speed (10-13kts), Race length (01:24:17), Total tacks/ gybes (ITA-26; USA-31), Avg boat speed (ITA-10.25; USA-10.35) -- http://tinyurl.com/2wec5r * Race schedule: Semi-final racing is scheduled on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with a reserve day on Monday. Complete schedule: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php * Weather forecast: Friday's weather is said to be a 10-15 knot seabreeze from the southeast, 15ºC - 29ºC (59ºF - 84ºF), sunny with some clouds, and 55% humidity. -- http://www.emiratesteamnz.com TRICKLE DOWN BMW Oracle Racing sail designer Steve Calder predicts which sail developments will be become part of the wider world of sailing: “Probably the biggest thing we’ll see from this America’s Cup is a sort of de-compartmentalization of the design process. Rig designers, for instance, are getting a much better appreciation of what sail designers bring to the table—and vice-versa. Yacht designers nowadays recognize the tremendous amount of technology that sail designers and sailmakers contribute to the design process, and the result is that yacht designers, rig designers, and sail designers will no longer work in relative isolation. A race car designer, for example, couldn’t produce a fast car without knowing the horsepower and the type of engine and the kind of racetrack it’s going be raced on—to engineer the chassis and suspension you need to know everything else.” -- Read on: http://na.northsails.com/news.taf?_function=detail&news_uid1=352 * North Sails has developed an online "forum" where Cup fans can submit questions to the Sail Designers who have designed and developed sails for ten of the eleven Louis Vuitton Cup Challengers and the America's Cup defender, Alinghi. The North Sails team will select a variety of questions each week to answer and post online for your interest. http://www.northsails.com/americascup WORLDWIDE CUP AUDIENCE SOARS (Here are a few excerpts from a story on the BMW Oracle Racing team blog about the America’s Cup viewership) * Worldwide interest in the America’s Cup is soaring – with huge international television audiences and higher than expected traffic onto the event website and through to the individual team websites. This 32nd America's Cup is the most widely televised edition in the history of the event, according to a statement from ACM. As the second Round Robin of the Louis Vuitton Cup came to a close last week, over 30 rights-holding broadcasters, covering all the major territories in the world, have been showing the action. * The Internet is also attracting large audiences. According to the latest figures, the americascup.com website had an average of 140,000 unique visitors during racing days. This exceeds the target figure 100,000 and equals the number of visitors to the site for the entire period September 2004 to December 2006. * This growth in interest is an important measure of the market for sponsors and backers, not just in gauging the return on their investment for this Cup cycle, but also in making decisions going forward into the next. The figures reveal a 40% increase over the audience at the peak of the 2003 Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. -- http://blog.bmworacleracing.com/stories/3317065 WHAT’S IN A PREFIX? Mega- and super- are prefixes you’ll hear often at Hall Spars & Rigging. The Wally 148 mega-yacht mast is under construction. The super-high modulus carbon that makes up the rigs for Caixa Galicia, Cam and Mutua Madrileña ensures they have the lightest and strongest TP52 masts. And don’t forget “semi” - the semifinals leading up to the Cup races feature Hall-rigged Challenger Luna Rossa fighting to meet the Hall-rigged Defender, and currently leading its series 2-1. To purchase superlative products for your boat, talk to the experts at Hall or buy online. http://www.hallspars.com DOS BARCOS ESPAÑOLES EN VOR (May 17, 2007) Spain will field two boats in the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race. The participation of the Spanish entries was officially confirmed by Francisco Camps Ortiz, the regional president of Valencia, at a civic reception in the start port for the VOR in Alicante, Spain. The participation of two Spanish boats brings the number of confirmed entries in the race to five. The others are Mean Machine (The Netherlands), Ericsson (Sweden) and PUMA (United States). Pedro Campos, who headed up the movistar entry in the 2005-06 race, has been tasked with managing the Spanish campaign. Sponsors for the two boats will be announced over the coming weeks. Said Glenn Bourke, the CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, “It’s great news that we will have a major Spanish presence in 2008-09 with Alicante as the start port and two boats flying the flag for Spain out on the race track. We know from the findings of the independent research from the 2005-06 race that twinning boats with ports from the same country is a sound commercial model. It also brings some nationalistic fervour to the event.” -- Race website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2afanx CONGRESSIONAL CUP Long Beach, CA (May 17, 2007) - Everybody knew the Russians were coming to the Long Beach Yacht Club's 43rd Congressional Cup, presented by Acura, but not a French revolution. "La journee de Francais!" said Mathieu Richard. With four wins and one loss, Thursday was a very good day for him, the No. 2-ranked match racer in the world, and even better for Damien Iehl, whose 5-0 rush punched him from out of the pack into contention for the fourth slot in Saturday's semifinals. That will be determined Friday in the last three round-robin matches that loom as a heated scramble. Conditions Thursday mirrored the first two days, starting under a gray and gloomy marine layer with 5 knots of wind and improving to sunny and 12 knots by day's end. -- Complete results, news stories, and video highlights produced by t2p.tv are available nightly on the event website: http://www.lbyc.org/concup Standings after 15 flights 1. Mathieu Richard (FRA) 12-3 2. Simon Minoprio (NZL) 11.75-3 3. Johnie Berntsson (SWE) 11-4 4. Eugenly Neugodnikov (RUS) 9-6 5. Damien Iehl (FRA) 8-7 6. Scott Dickson (USA) 8-7 7. Brian Angel (USA) 7-8 8. Przemek Tarnacki (POL) 3-12 9. Andrew Arbuzov (RUS) 3-12 10. Martin Angsell (SWE) 2-13 TYBEE 500 The big daddy of distance races for the beach cat crowd was once the Worrell 1000. But when funding got scarce and crews couldn't afford a 14-day, 1000-mile race, it was shortened to 500 miles, with 6 day legs from Hollywood, FL to Tybee Island, GA. Beginning earlier this week on Sunday, the fleet is nearing the end with the final leg to start on Friday. For the thirteen teams entered, Leg 3 from Jupiter Beach to Cocoa Beach proved to be a buster, where only 5 finished, 5 failed to finish, and 3 teams failed to even start. Here is the report from the event website: The tide exposed a pile of rocks in front of the hotel, so the start was moved south. Boats lined up for the start in a 20-knot breeze with seas at six feet. At the gun, Team Tybee skittered across the fleet with Oolaalaa close behind. Both boats were tossed back on the beach. Tiki Orange was the first boat to beat the surf about two minutes later. Oolaalaa quickly repaired a broken rudder and passed the surf about 15 minutes later. At the other end of the line, Tiki White hit the surf and pitchpoled, snapping off her mast. Team Tybee was next to make it out fifteen minutes later followed by Acclerated Chaos and Tiki Yellow, who made the start look easy. Several other boats started but were beaten back by the heavy surf, breaking equipment and spirits. Others knew their limitations and declined to start, which would be the end of their official participation in this year's race. Fortunately there were no major injuries to teams or pushers. Oolaalaa finished first in six hours and five minutes with Tiki Orange finishing in six hours and thirty-five minutes. Team Tybee, Accelerated Chaos and Tiki Yellow finished in seven plus hours. Next stop - Daytona Beach! -- http://www.tybee500.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK Fortunately for the ‘buttheads, the cameras were rolling at the start of Leg 3 of the Tybee 500 (read above), and it is the source for this week’s video…make that, videos. If your time is tight, we recommend the top video as it captures what we would estimate to be the most expensive incident. However, they are all look to be humbling in their own way. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video(s): http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/0514 DISCOVER The Power of a Microburst. The Atlantis Microburst Jacket provides powerful protection in a lightweight and packable form – perfect for early summer when the air’s warm but the spray’s chilly. Pair it with the Grand Prix softshell, or slip it on over your base layer. Either way, the Microburst makes a great season-long layering solution. Not too warm, not too cold, fully waterproof and breathable, with pit zips to release excess heat on the downwind leg. Discover the new Atlantis WeatherGear. http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com SILVER PANDA WINS 58TH WILSON TROPHY (West Kirby, UK) Team Silver Panda (Clay Bischoff/Martha Carleton, Colin Merrick/Amanda Callahan, Pete Levesque/Liz Hall) won the 2007 Wilson Trophy by defeating rival team Whishbone in a rematch of the 2006 Wilson Trophy Final. Hosted by the West Kirby Sailing Club on May 12-13, the 2007 Wilson Trophy was another huge success. 32 teams from around the world returned to team racing’s mecca for what the Brits have dubbed the "Wimbledon" of team racing. This year’s field included top teams from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and England as well as five teams from the US. The finals of the 2007 Wilson Trophy saw only the second ever all American final as Silver Panda and the 2006 Wilson Trophy Champion Team Whishbone (Tim Fallon/Karen Renzuli, Tim Wadlow/Ery Wadlow, Pat Rynne/Galen Largay). After head umpire Peter Johnson warned both teams that rule 42 violations would not be tolerated in the dying breeze, the Pandas went out to win the first two races, but Whishbone avoided the sweep by taking race 3 after a close leeward mark rounding sent one of their boats off to the right to catch the favorable famous seawall shift. However, in the final race, the Pandas capitalized on a crippling rule 42 call on Team Whishbone, and eventually finished with a 1-2 combo to seal their first ever overall win at the Wilson Trophy. -- Look for the complete event report here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0517/ SAILING SHORTS * What happens when two American Lightning Class ambassadors are invited to help one of their most active fleets? Doesn't sound like a big deal, but when the fleet is in Lagos, Nigeria, it becomes one! Anticipation, excitement, and many friendships surrounded this weeklong excursion for Class President Steve Davis (Denver, CO) and Skip Dieball (Toledo, OH). Skip submitted daily reports from Africa that have been posted on the International Lightning Class's website: http://www.lightningclass.org/Results/results07/NigerianNationals/index.htm * This week on the Volvo Sailing Podcast they look at all things America's Cup with Peter Rusch as the Louis Vuitton semi finals begin to take shape, plus they also catch up with American tactician Dee Smith in the second part of their interview, and also talk to Sir Robin Knox Johnston as he returns to Britain at the end of the Velux Five Oceans, after becoming the oldest man ever to sail solo around the world. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org/podcast * Capri, Italy (May 17, 2007) - Day two of the Rolex Capri Sailing Week, sailed in the Gulf of Naples, saw the 51 boat fleet set out with very unstable wind conditions. Erratic southeast winds dominated the first race of the day only to suddenly change into southwesterly winds during the second race, making it incredibly difficult for all the tacticians who had to deal with the shifting wind of 50 degrees. Current class leaders are Farr 45, Barking Mad, Jim Richardson (USA); Swan 45, Atlantica Racing, Carlo Perrone (ITA); Mini-Maxi, OPS 5, Violati Massimo (ITA); and Comet S, Libertine, Biscardi Maurizio (ITA). -- http://www.yccs.it/eng/index.php * Registration is presently open for the 2007 U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship, to be held in Marblehead, MA on July 29-August 4, but limited to the first eighty entrants. Registration deadline is June 1. -- Details: http://www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/usjrw/single * Wisconsin-based yacht builder Palmer Johnson will build a new production facility in East Cowes, a story in the Isle of Wight Press reported. The new facility, which will produce 36.6m (120ft) and over aluminum yachts, is expected to create 70 jobs. -- IBI Magazine, full story: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20070417161753ibinews.html SCUTTLEBUTT BENEFITS * New Product Announcements: A place where manufacturers can list their product updates, and where the ‘buttheads can see what’s soon coming to the store: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/products * Classified Ads: These ads are free, and provide listings for Boats, Gear, Jobs, and a Wanted stuff section: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/classifieds LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Eric Hall: Regarding the lament about "the score" in the Scuttleblog (also in Issue 2346), I was in Italy for the first race in the LV semis and watched the race on Italy's channel 7. In the left hand corner throughout the race was the lead in meters. It was indeed fascinating, especially watching it fluctuate as Luna Rossa's strategy of non-coverage alternatively ran up, vaporized, then again ran up large leads. If someone knows someone at Versus, they should tell them to look into Italy 7's feed. And if you can understand American accented Italian language reportage - I cannot - Paul Cayard's commentary apparently exceeds already lofty expectations. * From Jamie Rosman, San Diego, CA: (edited to the 250 word limit) I have been enjoying the Louis Vuitton Cup coverage on Versus, but as you mentioned in Scuttleutt #2346, my number one complaint has been the lack of a real time "score" or distance ahead indicator on the screen. Listening to the commentators tell you that Team X has really benefited from a shift but having to wait several minutes to find out just how much of a benefit is quite frustrating. The other day I decided to watch a LV Cup preview show I had recorded but was going to delete (since I already knew all I needed to know by reading Scuttlebutt). Unlike the Versus coverage, this show did have a real time distance ahead bar graph in the lower left of the screen and it really added to my enjoyment of watching the race, even if it was only in a few highlight clips. I do have one other small beef with the Vs coverage. Before the race and a couple of times during the race, Vs shows a real time birds eye view graphic of wind direction and speed at various points on the race course. They go on to tell you how the data shows a right or left shift. What the graphic does not show is the rumbline bearing from the start to the windward mark, which would help tell the favored side. This is especially true in the case of race 3 where the windward mark was reset for the second beat. * From Gary Wood: It is interesting that Ray Tostado (Scuttlebutt 2346) calls BMW Oracle the US boat. I suppose you could call it so because it is primarily sponsored by a US company, but BMW is a German company. The crew is from all over, probably with as many Kiwis as any hot boat in the LV Cup. Personally, I am rooting for the Seattle boat, Luna Rossa, with local heroes Jonathan McKee, Charlie McKee, and Steve Erickson. But then, I believe there are two Seattle guys with Oracle - Paul Bieker working on appendage design, and Mark Holbrook as crew. * From Irv Heller: (edited to the 250-word limit) Kudos to Chris Caswell on a fine piece of writing (in Issue 2345). I still live in that hometown, and frequently drive past that same old grey dock that is one of the few constants still left of my misbegotten youth. Being there always stirs memories of what now seems like another lifetime, and puts a sly smile on my face. But it took a journalist's words to show me what those days really meant to us. Without knowing it, I learned a whole lot more than just how to sail. I learned when to take charge and when to take orders. I learned teamwork and self-sufficiency and trust. Most importantly, I learned how to learn. My parents had a rather hands-off approach to raising me, and I was lucky to find sailing on my own. I went around "adopting" families, most of whom coincidentally had sailboats. Well into my forties my life was spent looking for any excuse to go sailing. I raced, I cruised, I was on the college sailing team, I've worked as a shipwright, I was a delivery skipper, I was a charter boat captain. Sure, ditching school to sail to Acapulco was irresponsible, and stuff like that always got me in a lot of trouble, but Chris's words made me realize what kind of trouble I could have gotten into if I didn't have a love of the sea, and how different my life might have been. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" --Vince Lombardi Special thanks to Hall Spars & Rigging, Atlantis WeatherGear, and to the publishers of a new book advertised on the website: “Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die.” Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
