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SCUTTLEBUTT 2887 - Thursday, July 16, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Today's sponsors are Ullman Sails and Annapolis Performance Sailing. STORIES FROM THE 1979 FASTNET The Rolex Fastnet Race 2009 on August 9th will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the saddest chapter in the 608 mile race's illustrious history, one that began in fine weather, and then suddenly became a terrifying ordeal which led to 24 boats being abandoned, five that sunk, and 15 sailors that died. To honor this anniversary, Scuttlebutt is asking all participants of the race to share their stories. Here is a story from Jim Mattingly, who was aboard Ted Turner's race winning Tenacious: "Sailing the 61-foot Tenacious (a 1971 S&S design), we rounded the ROCK at approximately 18:00, hard on the wind with the #3 jib and double reef in the mainsail. Overpowered, we quickly changed down to a new special #4 and a third reef. Cold, wet, exhausted, and hungry coming off watch 20:00, our cook Jane Potts treated us to a delicious standing rib roast with all the trimmings. I don't know how she did it. The 'finger food' certainly gave the deserving crew the needed warmth and energy. "Reporting at the nav station for the grave yard watch midnight to 04:00 -- I'll never forget Ted Turner's briefing and PEP talk -- 'Mattingly, it's HELL out there. These are some of the worst conditions we'll ever experience. Rally your guys & be EXTRA careful. It's so bad twenty people are going to die out there tonight' (it turned out to be fifteen in the race & five coastal). "I couldn't believe he said that!! Oh well, that's Ted. My sympathy and prayers to those who weren't so fortunate and a great tribute to our nineteen crew members for pulling through with a victory." => Curmudgeon's Comment: I encourage others to share their stories as well. They can be sent to mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com or posted directly into this forum thread here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7783 SPENDING HIS KIDS' INHERITANCE At 58, New Orleanian John Dane III was the oldest American Olympian competing last year in Beijing. In fact, he was the oldest American Olympian of at least the past half century, fulfilling a 40-year quest than began when he was a teenager. But don't count on Dane trying to repeat the feat in 2012. John Dane III reflects on his Beijing experience: 'We did what we set out to do, which was to represent the United States in the Olympics,' he said. "We didn't medal, but to me anything beyond making the team was lagniappe.'"There's not enough Advil in the world to make it possible," said Dane, who with son-in-law Austin Sperry finished 11th in the Star class sailing competition. "I trained five days a week at 5 a.m. to get in the best shape I've been in my life, and my back still hurts, my knees still hurt, and my arm still hurts. Sailing in the Olympics is not just sitting there drinking a beer looking into the sunset." Plus, Olympic sailing can be as fiscally taxing as it is physical. In preparing for the Games after he and Sperry won the trials a year earlier, Dane moved to Los Angeles to train and shipped in four boats. He hired a strength coach, a trainer, a massage therapist and three sailing coaches. U.S. Sailing, the sport's national governing body, provided no more than 10 percent of Dane's expenses, which he considers too embarrassing to reveal. "Let's just say I did a good job of spending my kids' inheritance," Dane said. -- The Times-Picayune, read on: http://blog.nola.com/tpsports/2009/07/new_orleans_sailor_john_dane_n.html NOT JUST RACING When it comes to cruising, Ullman Sails understands that one size doesn't fit all. Rather than offering a stock line of cruising sails, we build custom sails that match a customer's budget, cruising style, and boat specifications. Our experienced sailmakers located worldwide can answer questions about cloth selection, UV cover protection, roller furling systems, and sailing inventory options. And don't forget to ask about our FiberPath technology for cruising sails. Be confident that you invested in sails that are built for durability and performance. Ullman Sails - Invest in your performance (and enjoyment!) Visit us at http://www.ullmansails.com OLYMPIC CHAMPIONSHIPS * Charlottenlund, Denmark (July 15, 2009; Day 5) - With the qualifying now completed, the top 48 entrants from the 96 boat fleet have advanced to vie for the European Laser Radial Championship title. Two races were finished today, with leader Paige Railey (USA) building a 17.5 point margin on second place Tina Mihelic (CRO), with Cathrine Gjerpen (NOR) 6.5 points further back. Racing ends on July 16th. -- Complete results: http://www.skovshoved-sejlklub.dk/6/public/raceResult.aspx?rid=55 * Riva del Garda, Italy (July 15, 2009; Day 2) - For the 2009 49er Worlds held on Lake Garda, Italy, the Ora came in as planned at 1pm and built slowly to about 18 knots, but soon dropped down to 12 with the last fleets coming off the water at 6:30pm. Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes rolled a 3-1-3 today, closely followed by fellow British teammates Paul Campbell-James and Mark Asquith who sailed a 2-3-1 to keep the two teams only a point apart. Sailing continues for the 87 teams on Thursday with three more qualifying races. Top North American is twenty-first place Billy Gooderham/ Ian Hogan of Canada. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7822#7822 VOLVO YOUTH SAILING ISAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (July 15, 2009) - For the second time at the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship competitors were left frustrated as all racing was cancelled with the breeze failing to materialize in Buzios today. After 30 knot gusts forced the Race Committee to call off all of Sunday's scheduled races, today it was a total absence of the wind which was the problem. After beautiful weather during the lay day, today started grey, wet and still and whilst the rain soon stopped, the skies never cleared and the breeze never got going. Around midday the forecasters were predicting some improvement in the conditions so all seven fleets were sent out, but the wind never got much above 3 knots and the Race Committee called it a day around 16:00. The forecast for Thursday is forbrighter skies and northerly winds of 12-14 knots. -- Race website: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/editions/2009/index.php => Curmudgeon's Comment: The Youth Worlds only had suitable winds to race on two of the first three days, and when their scheduled layday came on the fourth day - which had wonderful weather - they used it for play-time instead of using it to make up for lost races. Now when racing resumed on the fifth day (Wednesday), they can't race again. Instead of having raced on four of the five days, or even three of the five days, they are now down to only two of the five days. Can someone make sense of this for me? Shouldn't laydays be used as extra race days if needed? SAILING SHORTS * At the 0600 roll call on July 15, 2009 for the 2,225 mile Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, 41 boats had finished and two had retired from the 47-boat fleet. -- Standings: http://www.transpacrace.com/docs/2009racedocs/Standings09/TP09.S15.TXT * Corona del Mar, CA (July 15, 2009; Day 1) - Balboa Yacht Club's 43rd Annual Governor's Cup International Junior Match Racing Championship began today for the twelve teams, with mild conditions permitting the completion of six races for each team. Currently undefeated and leading the ISAF Grade 3 event is the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Men's team. -- Full story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7823 * American Zac Sunderland, who departed June 14, 2008 from Marina del Rey, CA in an attempt to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world alone by yacht (with stops), will successfully complete his passage when he arrives at Fisherman's Village in Marina del Rey on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 10:00am. -- http://www.zacsunderland.com * Ten marine aftermarket products were awarded recognition for innovative achievement by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and Boating Writers International (BWI) at the ninth annual Marine Aftermarket Accessories Trade Show (MAATS) in Orlando. -- NMMA, read on: http://www.nmma.org/news/news.asp?id=17688&sid=3 * Port Huron, MI - On a perfect summer weekend in the beautiful Blue Waters of Lake Huron, 16 boats competed for the right to lay claim to the title of 2009 Great Lakes IRC Champion. The Championship consisted of four one mile windward / leeward style races on Saturday and a 17 mile distance race on Sunday. After the five extremely competitive races were completed Val Saph and the crew aboard the Thomas 35 Rowdy were declared the overall Champions. -- Full report: http://www.us-irc.org/newsfull.cfm?ID=182 * Free weather forecasts are available for all sailors racing in the 101st Race to Mackinac, which starts this Saturday, July 18 (forecast will be emailed out on Friday, July 17) and the Screwpile Challenge 2009 in Annapolis, MD from July 19-21. To sign up to receive these detailed forecasts via email, visit the North Sails Online Weather Center: http://na.northsails.com/tabid/7240/Default.aspx THE QUARTER INCH FROM SWIMMING Anyone who's done it knows it hurts. Leaving bruises and marks that conjure images of medieval torture or alien abduction, hiking hard on a quarter inch of stainless wire is a necessary evil in our sport. So, what's a crew to do? At APS, "The World Leader in Outfitting Performance Sailors", we have a couple of special products designed to take the sting out sailing - hiking belts. Whether you're a grand prix sailor coming to the 2009 Melges 24 Worlds in Annapolis or you're a weekend warrior, you'll want to tack your mouse over to the APS blog to learn more: http://tiny.cc/hikingbelts RULES, RULES.WHAT ARE THE RULES? By Cory Friedman, America's Cup legal analyst (July 15, 2009) In case anyone is bored with sailing and other typically pleasant summertime activities, help is on the way. America's Cup adversaries Societe Nautique De Geneve (SNG) and Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) are back in court trying to scratch each other's eyes out. Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of New York, New York County now has an additional reason to look forward to her likely August vacation. Obviously, the mediation ordered by Justice Kornreich has not resulted in an outbreak of concord and good feeling. So, what are they fighting about now? SNG has built its boat with a snowmobile engine to run the winches and possibly (although at least one person at SNG has denied such a present capability) to pump movable water ballast. Well, what about Rule 52 which requires manual power for control adjustments and Rule 51 which bars movable ballast? It appears SNG maintains that, under Rule 86.1(b), SNG, as the Organizing Authority, is entitled to change Rules 49 through 54 in the Sailing Instructions - whenever and however it chooses. Amazingly (at least to me), as long as it sets forth the proposed changes in the Notice of Race (NOR) as required by Appendix J1.2(1), that is ordinarily its right, as long as doing so does not violate a class rule, which is prohibited by Rule 87. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/cf/#p40 WHAT IS YOUR 'MUST DO' EVENT? Each sailing region has its "must do" events, and Scuttlebutt wants to hear about the highlight events in your area. On July 20th there will be a raffle for all submissions, including this one from John Sherwood: This Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake regatta has it all. If I raced only one event a year, it would be 'summer Oxford.' Held the first weekend in August, it involves the following components: * A race on Friday from Annapolis to Oxford for "big boats" (PHRF, Cruising One Design) that involves 20 miles of bay racing, 8 miles in the Choptank River and 2 miles in the Tred Avon River with a finish 100 yards off the Tred Avon Y.C. lawn -- where the band is usually playing. * A big boat race around the buoys in the Choptank on Saturday. * Races for one designs -- Optis/Lasers/Penquins/Comets/Snipes/Stars -- on Saturday and Sunday. * Races in the Tred Avon River for the venerable and unique Chesapeake Bay Log Canoes on Saturday and Sunday -- trailed by dozens of highly partisan spectator boats. Read on, and post your event here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7726#7726 YOUTH TRIFECTA In Fort Lauderdale, FL, something seems to be going right at Lauderdale Yacht Club when it comes to training their youth racers. First it was Christopher Williford who beat out 198 boats to win the 2009 Optimist North American Championships, raced in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic. Next up was 15-year-old Erika Reineke, who travelled to Charlottenlund, Denmark to race in the 2009 Laser Radial Youth Europeans, where in the girl's fleet she finished first in the under 17 division, and second overall against a very competitive fleet of 75 girls, from 26 different countries. Rounding out the trifecta was skipper Channel Miller, who along with crew Yuri Namikawa (Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif.), won the 2009 U.S. Junior Double-handed Championship for the Ida Lewis Trophy. They topped 36 other teams of young women over 7 races sailed out of Hampton Yacht Club in Hampton, VA. -- Scuttleblog, http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2009/07/youth-trifecta.html CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Is your event listed on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar? This free, self-serve tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. These are some of the events listed on the calendar for this weekend: July 15-19 - Swan 42 North Americans- Harbour Court, Newport, RI, USA July 17-19 - Vineyard Cup - Vineyard Haven, MA, USA July 19-21- Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge - Solomons, MD, USA July 19-24 - U.S. Junior Women's Singlehandeds - Remsenburg, NY, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Please submit 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 Nick von der Wense: In response to Mr. Strueli in Scuttlebutt 28896, and to strengthen Annapolis's claim regarding the term America's Sailing Capital, Annapolis became the temporary capital of the United States after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Congress was in session in the Annapolis state house from November 26, 1783, to June 3, 1784, and it was in Annapolis on December 23, 1783, that General Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. If we choose to evaluate the distinction on races sailed in the winter, Annapolis is home to both IC, Soling, & Laser frostbiting at SSA for 20+ weekends, and AYC hosts a winter long series that mirrors the Wednesday night participation. Finally I propose we settle this simply on the water, in the format of a Laser regatta in December in Annapolis, to establish sailing superiority and end chest beating. Participants must be nothing other than residents or local sailors of the port of Annapolis or Newport. Lawyers are welcome only if they can sail a Laser. * From Ben Jarashow: (Regarding story in Scuttlebutt 2885) When most people hear the moniker "Sailing Capitol", they naturally assume that it refers to the amount of sailboat RACING that occurs in Annapolis. To argue that Annapolis is the place in the USA that holds more or better sailboat racing than anywhere else in the country is easily debatable. Rather, Annapolis is the true SAILING Capitol of the US - there is more cruising, sailing up and around the multitude of small rivers and creeks in the area in the warm (relative to the Northeast) waters of the Chesapeake, and there are more sailboats per capita than in any other small town in the country. Daysailors and passagemakers alike call the town home, and unlike racing sailboats, even larger cruising boats tend towards shallow enough draught to dock in town. In short, Annapolis holds some of the best sailboat racing in the country, but we ought not forget the majority of our sport, the non-competitive side. * From Cristian Alberto Palau Cabrera: Regarding the pictures of the new 70-foot Alfa Romeo (in Scuttlebutt 2886), I must remind you that this boat is NOT NEW given that last year, for the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the crew of the Ericsson 4 VO 70 took part in that regatta aboard the new Alfa Romeo 70 foot boat in order to improve their skills on a windward-leeward course. You can check by yourself the entry list of the 2008 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup (http://www.yccsmaxi.com/) and see that Torben Grael and his crew did race on the new Alfa Romeo 70 foot yacht. Saying that, I really appreciate if you could clarify the readers of Scuttlebutt and tell them that the boat only went to the shed to receive some modifications, but it is still the same boat that was race by Mr. Grael and the crew of Ericsson 4 for the event I already mentioned. The current name of this boat is Alfa Romeo 3, and if I'm not mistaken, Mr. Crighton is already selling the 100-foot Alfa Romeo (a.k.a. Alfa Romeo 2), which just broke the record of the TransPac race, some few days ago. * From D. Randy West, St. Barth: Having personally been struck by lightning three times, I feel I have a personal relationship with the bugger. I was on a motocross bike carrying my empty gas tank as a passenger when the driver got stuck on his cowboy belt buckle (nothing happened to us)! I have seen it strike one mast, vaporize its VHF antennae and arc to another mast on a steel boat and burnout all of its electronics as well as pinhole the hull as the electricity made its exit (boat was later abandoned off Nantucket while sinking...the owner could not find the ingress of water until the boat was later salvaged). I was at the wheel of a racing yacht, dismasted mid-ocean when it struck the water beside the boat, blowing one crewmember out of his bunk and shocked the bejesus out of me at the wheel. Another time lightning hit the water again near my wooden cat and went up the anchor rode that I was pulling on, blowing me and my girlfriend off our feet and vaporizing all the needles in the electronic gauges as well as causing the autopilot to turn on and hang a left till it smoked! I was just struck on this last trip up from the West Indies and it only shorted out the autohelm control head. Point being you NEVER know what it is going to do to thru hulls, rigs, electronics, people. kinda like the finger of God, no? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Have you ever been waiting for something like a bus, and someone asks, "Has it come yet?", and you want to unload with something like, "If the bus has come would I still be standing here?" Special thanks to Ullman Sails and Annapolis Performance Sailing. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
