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SCUTTLEBUTT 3217 - Wednesday, November 10, 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. 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, JK3 Nautical Enterprises, and LaserPerformance. ISAF ROLEX WORLD SAILOR OF THE YEAR AWARDS ISAF and Rolex announced that the winners of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2010 are windsurfer Blanca Manchon (ESP) and Laser sailor Tom Slingsby (AUS). The awards were presented Tuesday 9 November at a special dinner event during the ISAF Annual Meeting in Athens, Greece. ISAF received nominations for the 2010 Awards from across the world for sailors representing all aspects of the sport. The winners were selected by the ISAF Member National Authorities, the national governing bodies for sailing around the world, who voted for the one male and one female sailor who they believe most deserves the Award. FEMALE: The highlight in 2010 for Blanca Manchón was winning the RS:X World Championships, but she was also extremely successful on the 2009-2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas, finishing on the podium at five of the six events she competed in. Second in Miami was her first medal followed by another silver in Hyères. She then claimed her first gold at the Delta Lloyd Regatta before finishing both Kieler Woche and Skandia Sail for Gold with the silver medal. The impressive consistency of Manchón secured her second consecutive ISAF Sailing World Cup win. Her 2010 accomplishments are listed here: http://www.sailing.org/34441.php MALE: Tom Slingsby began the nomination period with a win at Skandia Sail for Gold 2009 and ended it in exactly the same way at the 2010 regatta. In between Slingsby won virtually every regatta he sailed in. Sailing as tactician on the Farr 40 Transfusion, Slingsby guided the team to second overall at the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in the Dominican Republic in April before returning to the Laser and the European circuit of the ISAF Sailing World Cup. Slingsby sailed at three of the 2009-10 regattas and won them all. Slingsby crewed for John Bertrand and Andrew Palfrey to win the Etchells World Championship, and then hurried himself to the Laser Worlds where he claimed his third title. His 2010 accomplishments are listed here: http://www.sailing.org/34447.php The list of 2010 nominees were: Female => Blanca Manchon (ESP) - RS:X World Champion & Double World Cup Winner Kristin Boese (GER) - Nine Time Kitesurf World Champion Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam (THA) - Youth Olympic Games gold medallist Lisa Westerhof & Lobke Berkhout (NED) - 470 World Champions Male => Tom Slingsby (AUS) - Laser & Etchells World Champion Antoine Albeau (FRA) -Professional Windsurfing Assn & Formula World Champion Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) - 470 Worlds and World Cup winners Lorenzo Bressani (ITA) - Melges 24 and 32 Champion Franck Cammas (FRA) - Record breaking offshore racer Ed Wright (GBR) - Finn World Champion and double World Cup Winner The 2009 winners of the award were Torben Grael (BRA) and Anna Tunnicliffe (USA). Each winner is presented with the prestigious ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award Trophy and a distinctive Rolex timepiece. -- Award website: http://www.sailing.org/worldsailor/index.php MERGING SPORT WITH TOURISM A slumping economy, compounded by a sport that struggles for commercial viability, has made large scale sailing events a hard sell in the United States. But a new initiative in San Diego hopes to serve the sport, while also benefiting a city that relies heavily on tourism. The first test will come in March when the professional RC 44 class launches its 2011 Championship season in San Diego. Here to explain the organization is John Laun, President and CEO of Sailing Events Association San Diego: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The mission of SEA San Diego is to pull together the resources of San Diego - the yacht clubs, the tourism industry, the marine enterprises - and to sponsor international regattas in sailing that are beyond the scope of what a yacht club could sponsor, and the driver for this is to increase the visibility of San Diego as a sailing destination. Right after BMW Oracle won the America’s Cup in February, a small group of people - Malin Burnham, Troy Sears, Chuck Nichols, and others - said ‘wouldn’t it be great now that we have an American team as the defender of the America’s Cup to have the America’s Cup here in San Diego’. That was the genesis (for SEA SD). Back in March and April a broad stakeholder group had meetings, and it is from those meetings that the idea of forming Sailing Events Association SD emerged. Quickly the America’s Cup event options changed, and San Francisco was named as the only venue in the United States that would be appropriate for the Finals, so we immediately changed direction to the RC44 class as a regatta that could be very true to the original aims and also give us the ability to demonstrate our ability to pull off a large scale international regattas in San Diego. There are a number of things that fit our profile. Obviously we would love to have an America’s Cup World Series event here in San Diego, and we are actively pursuing that. But there are other exciting events in the sailing that fit, for example the Extreme 40 catamaran had stated that they want to have an event in the United States. The Multihull One Design 70 have said they want to have an around the world race with a Southern California stop in 2013. And there are other events like that fit our profile. And we would love to have the RC 44 event be an annual event here, but that may depend upon the growth of the U.S. fleet. But we are looking forward to this being an ongoing event in San Diego as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To better understand SEA SD and the RC44 event, Scuttlebutt produced several videos from a press conference held last week at the USS Midway, one of America’s longest-serving aircraft carriers, now serving as a museum in San Diego: http://tinyurl.com/Scuttleblog-110910 NORTH SAILS INTRODUCES 3DL GENOA FOR J/24 CLASS North Sails has announced the arrival of a brand-new sail for the J/24 Class: a 3DL Genoa! Modeled after the North Sails ‘Newport’ Pentex Genoa, this new 3DL sail will meet the needs of J/24 sailors by offering a stronger, lighter sail that is faster and easier to trim than any other J/24 sail on the market. Pre-order your sail today for a mid-December delivery. When performance counts, the choice is clear: http://www.onedesign.com ANALYZING THE UNKNOWNS For the 34th America’s Cup, two of the most pressing unknowns surround the new platform - the 72-foot wing powered catamarans. First, who is to sail them, as multihulls of this size are not typically sailed inshore, let alone match raced. Also, what kind of racing will the boat provide. If the America’s Cup is to seek out the enthusiastic audience it craves, it will be vital for the viewer to see the boats skillfully sailed, and for each race to present a good fight. Here two of the team leaders respond to these questions: Who will sail the boats? PAUL CAYARD, Artemis Racing CEO, Challenger: “A little bit of our guide comes from BMW Oracle (during the 33rd America’s Cup). They involved good multihull sailors, most notably Franck Cammas in the beginning of their campaign, and they had James Spithill and John Kostecki and a lot of great sailors also on the boat. What appears was borne out from their experience was that fairly quickly on the America’s Cup world superseded the multihull world. The multihull world largely is an offshore world, and that is from design to construction to the sailing. So I think the answer is that it is easier to take America’s Cup sailors and teach them the idiosyncrasies of multihull sailing than to go the other way around.” Will the boat provide for close racing? RUSSELL COUTTS, BMW Oracle Racing CEO, Defender: “As to what will produce great racing in these multihulls, first of all the multihull rule is going to produce boats that are relatively even in performance but give the designers enough flexibility to still produce advantages here and there. “Maneuvering these boats is going to be an incredible challenge for the crew. I think they will be more physical than any of the previous America’s Cup boats in terms of what is required of the crew. Perhaps the helmsman and two of the sail trimmers will be the only positions onboard the boats that won’t be extremely physical. “I think the courses under consideration that Iain Murray (34th America’s Cup Regatta Director) and his guys are contemplating are going to produce very interesting racing. In the past many match races have been dominated by the boat that wins the start. Perhaps 80% of the races are won or lost at the start. We have watched many races that appeared very close in heavy displacement monohulls but I think when you look back there wasn’t a lot of passing. And I think in these multihulls, the difference between a good tack and a bad tack, or a good jibe and a bad jibe on courses where you are going to be forced to do a certain number of each, is going to put a premium on that. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10787#10787 LEARNING NEW SKILLS TO SURVIVE While his bosses were in Stockholm announcing Artemis Racing's challenge for the 2013 America's Cup, Terry Hutchinson was in Miami - training on Extreme 40 catamarans - getting used to the new realities of sailing's marquee regatta. There's a lot to learn because the America's Cup is rebooting, switching from sloops to fast, 72-foot catamarans with wing sails. Hutchinson, of Annapolis, Md., is one of two Americans in key positions with Sweden's Artemis Racing. The syndicate's CEO is Paul Cayard, who lives near San Francisco and is a veteran of the America's Cup, Olympics and round-the-world racing. As part of a new format, the America's Cup World Series will be sailed beginning next year in 45-foot catamarans while the 72-footers are being built. "The beauty of the America's Cup is not only the technological transition that's going to happen, but also a different format that's going to happen," Hutchinson said. "It's an environment we'll thrive in. These 72-footers will push teams to the limit. To have an understanding of where that limit is is going to be critical, or inevitably, people will get hurt. "It's great that there's clarity in the America's Cup," Hutchinson said. "I think that it's great that we have leaders in our sport that are willing to take a chance and are willing to try to take their sport to a new level. Who knows how it will play out, but I don't think anybody who's a sailor would criticize Russell and Larry at this point for doing what they think is good for the sport reaching the next level." -- Bernie Wilson, AP, full story: http://tinyurl.com/Forbes-110910 TEN SCHOOLS TO CONTEST KEELBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP The United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY will host the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Match Racing National Championship on November 19-21. This is the first year for the match race format, which had previously been held as a fleet racing event. The ten teams that have qualified to attend from the seven ICSA districts are: Mid Atlantic (MAISA): St. Mary's, Kings Point Mid West (MCSA): Wisconsin, Minnesota New England (NEISA): Boston College, Brown North West (NWICSA): U/Washington Pacific Coast (PCCSC): Cal Maritime South Atlantic (SAISA): Charleston South Eastern (SEISA): Tulane The championship will be held in Sonars with a crew of 4 or 5 with a minimum of 1 female required. -- http://www.collegesailing.org/ J/111 HULL #3 SOCAL TOUR DATES The crispy new sails are on, underwater video camera with GPS display is dialed in, kelp cutter installed and the J/111 is out sailing. We’re having so much fun with our hot new speedster that we need to show her off! Join us on Saturday November 13th from 2-5 pm at The Cannery restaurant in Newport Beach, CA for appetizers, drinks and viewing of the J/111 and Sabre 40. RSVP to jeff@jk3yachts.com. Can’t make it on Saturday? The J/111 will be sailing in the San Diego Hot Rum Series. Contact JK3 for the complete tour schedule in San Diego (619 224-6200), Newport Beach (949 675-8053), or http://www.jk3yachts.com VIDEO: During a demo sail in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a bunch of friends and potential J/111 owners took out hull #5 in a northwester with gusts to 25 TWS in flat water. Without trying to hard, the boat speed was a sustained 15-19 knots downwind, bursting to 20+ knots with 110 sq m asym and reefed main. Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C30axjKAyZI SAILING SHORTS * (November 9, 2010; Day 4) - The Reichel/Pugh 68 Akela's bid for the record in Long Beach Yacht Club's 804 nm race to Cabo San Lucas fell just over three hours shy at mid-day Tuesday. Akela, a Reichel/Pugh 78, missed Peter Tong's OEX (Santa Cruz 70) record by 3 hours 5 minutes 4 seconds. Its elapsed time was 3 days 1 hour 55 minutes 55 seconds. Bob Lane's Medicine Man, an Andrews 63, was due in around the margarita time, perhaps soon enough to bring the pharmacist first place on corrected handicap time for the second time in a row. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10793#10793 * St. Petersburg, FL (November 9, 2010) - The 2010 Snipe Class International Racing Association Women’s World Championship saw a dying breeze on its second day, which allowed for only one race for the 24 teams. Aine Fretwell/ Jessie O'Dell (USA) rode the best pressure into the lead and never looked back, but will need the drop race to overcome their 2-OCS-1 scoreline. A sixth place today moved Anna Tunnicliffe/ Molly Vandemoer (USA) into the lead, followed by day one leader Trixy Agusti/ Yuyu Agusti (ARG) in second. Nine races are scheduled, with the event to conclude on Friday, November 12th. -- Results: http://tinyurl.com/SPYC-110810 * (November 9, 2010; Day 24) - Polish ocean racer Zbigniew Gutkowski has suffered a painstaking blow to his fight for first place in the first leg of the VELUX 5 OCEANS when his halyard broke, leading to the destruction of his gennaker. Left now with only a smaller replacement, American Brad Van Liew has been able to open up a lead of 273 nm with 1398 nm to the finish in Cape Town, South Africa. -- Race website: http://www.velux5oceans.com * (November 9, 2010; Day 10) - When he brought the giant 31.5 metres trimaran Groupama 3 across the finish line off Pointe-a-Piitre, Guadeloupe today (Tuesday) under perfect sunshine and light breezes Franck Cammas (FRA) clinched the 9th edition of the Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale, the legendary 3542 miles transatlantic race from Saint Malo for solo skippers which takes place every four years (9 days 3 hours 14 mins 47 seconds; avg speed of 20.39 knots; actual course sailed of 4471 miles). The next class leader to finish should come from the nine boat Open 60 class where leader Roland Jourdain on Veolia Environnement is 758.7 nm from the finish. -- Event website: http://www.routedurhum-labanquepostale.com/en/s01_home/s01p01_home.php * A crew that rescued a sailor from Payette Lake in Idaho was awarded an Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal by the US SAILING Safety-at-Sea Committee for the seamanship they displayed. Steve and Charlotte Dube of Ontario, Ore. rescued a sailor in their Catalina 250 during the Mill Harbor Yacht Club’s Payette Cup Regatta on June 12, 2010. After a boom knocked a sailor overboard from another boat, Steve and Charlotte deployed a Lifesling and Charlotte steered the boat in circles around the sailor until the line was in his hands and the boat was stopped. -- Full story: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/Hanson_Dubes.htm * Next summer’s Transatlantic Race 2011, hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, New York Yacht Club, Royal Ocean Racing Club and Storm Trysail Club, has to date attracted 14 entries and seven provisional ones, with the deadline to enter February 28, 2011. The TR 2011, a distance of 2,975 nautical miles, is from Newport, RI to the Lizard west of Plymouth, England and will feature three staggered starts from June 26-July 3, 2011. -- Details: http://nyyc.org/home/article_933/ * The Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC) kicks off its offshore racing season in South Florida with the legendary 176 nm Miami to Nassau Race on Thursday, November 11. Fifteen entrants, ranging from 32’ to 60’, will start off of Government Cut in Miami, beat to Great Isaacs, reach to Great Stirrup and run to the finish in Nassau Harbor. On Saturday afternoon in Nassau Harbour, skippers and crews will compete in Nassau Yacht Club’s J-22 Match Race Championship. -- Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10790#10790 INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum encourages companies to post their new hirings, product and service updates. Scuttlebutt editors will select Industry update each week to include in the Thursday edition of the Scuttlebutt newsletter. Here is the link to post Industry News updates: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/INDUSTRY_NEWS_C15/ LP BUCKS!!! Take delivery of a new Laser, Sunfish, V15, Bug, Vago or Bahia between September 1st and December 31st and receive an LP BUCKS coupon worth between $200 and $450 to use at the store where the boat was purchased. Go visit your local dealer to take advantage of this great program. More info at: http://www.laserperformance.com/promotions/lp-bucks Sail Legendary LaserPerformance.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 Bob Fisher (re, Facebook Generation) It may interest you to know that as from Monday, November 8th, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has a Facebook page. So, exactly what is the Facebook Generation? * From John Rumsey: I think Lindsay Foster has it right in Scuttlebutt 3216. There will be more viewers who are interested in the personal side of the crews. It could be most interesting if they would focus on the private lives of the owners, crews and ground support teams to see who is sleeping around with one and another's wives and girl friends as they do on many of the popular, rather smutty TV series. That would bring in another whole area of the viewing public. * From Matthew Reid: (re, Lindsay Foster's post on the FB Generation) I have to totally agree with this point of view. I am well above the average age of the FB generation, but I love the medium. Yes, we do need to get to know the players and drama for it's the minutia that drives FB. Hot looking yachts and crew in great gear, arguments, rivalries, successes and failures no matter how great or small, need to be out there. Who loves coffee, who gets seasick, who falls overboard or off the dock, etc. The world (or at least the FB generation) will watch. Think Reality TV, ala America's Cup. * From Art Weekley, Newport RI: Wow! What a perfect example of the "Facebook generation" being addressed by AC promoters!! "We drive your cars......paint it red.........MAKE IT LOOK COOL". And not a word about actually sailing in a sailboat race!! Sorry kid, there's too many "senior citizen sailors" who still care about the sport and could care less about red boats and selling more shoes. Maybe the Louis Vuiton races will replace the AC after all. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Have you ever had a fly or small bug land on your computer screen, and your first reaction was to try and scare it with the cursor? SPONSORS THIS WEEK: Ultimate Sailing - Quantum Sails - APS - North U - J Boats North Sails - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - LaserPerformance Hall Spars - Ullman Sails - Holmatro - Southern Spars Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
