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SCUTTLEBUTT 3657 - Friday, August 17, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: Team One Newport and Soft Deck. A NEW PHILOSOPHY IS NEEDED Ben Barger, who was the U.S. windsurfing representative at the 2008 Olympics, is now focused on supporting all Olympic sailors. He is the ISAF Athletes Commission Chairman, and also an alternate to the USOC Athletes Advisory Council. Here Ben shares his view on some problems within the US Sailing Team. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- There have been two philosophical bullet points that have guided the US Sailing Team: - Development of sailors, not specialists. Olympic events change, and while investing funds to specialize in an event would appear wise, it is a gamble the team cannot afford to make. - Funding is performance based. Sailors must invest in themselves before the team can invest in them. However, both these points have adversely affected the team. Let me explain: Changing events: The United States is among the most influential countries when it comes to the choice of events at the Olympics. When the multihull was eliminated for the 2012 Olympics, and windsurfing was eliminated for the 2016 Olympics, the U.S. was a leader in making those changes. Not only has these changes cost US Sailing the support of sailors in those classes, but changing events to better suit the perceived U.S. strength is also a gamble. Rather than gambling on change, the U.S. should focus on making a long term investment in the events and its athletes. Funding: I agree that the general U.S. policy for athlete funding should always be performance based. However, no funding, as was the case with the windsurfing event, is not ever the right amount. There should be a minimum that each event gets to sustain the basic needs of campaigning, whether that event is at a development stage, has future medal hopes, or is an immediate medal prospect. The U.S. has made a system based on this quad medal hopes only and treated everyone else like a distraction. The running costs for a medalist program from my experience with other federations is around 500K per class per year and that's not just going to one team but a large team of national competing members. We should have won at least three medals with the US Sailing Team budget ($4 million), but instead we bought coach boats, supported 10 staff members full time and funded a few people in a few classes. We got unlucky in those few classes in London. The U.S. coaches and staff are paid significantly more what than their European counterparts, in some cases twice as much. Some people think they deserved it, but I believe more money needs to get to the sailors. Only 16% of total US Sailing Team money actually gets to athletes pockets. A crying shame. Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14330#14330 THIS IS SO AUSTRALIAN Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, who dominated the Men's Skiff (49er) event at the 2012 Olympics, revealed some of the factors behind the stunning success of the Australian sailing team. One of the factors behind the sailing team's success, Nathan believes, was having a social headquarters at a local Weymouth pub for the sailors and their supporters to get together at the end of each day. The pub was decorated in green and gold, was showing the sailing coverage and displaying the medal tally, and once the sailors started winning it was the centre of a media frenzy. "It was just an incredible atmosphere and it was half the reason why I think the team did so well, is that everyone was there having fun," Nathan says. -- Full report: http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/08/16/3569346.htm THE NEW SHORT Team One Newport is excited to present a new Short by a new company on the sailing scene. Quay, pronounced "key", has just launched this fab new sailing short and Martha's sure they are going to be a huge hit! This Short has simple styling with performance features that both the weeknight beer-can and high action sport boat racer will enjoy. Styles are available for men and women, so the whole team can look and perform their best. Check them out: http://tinyurl.com/quayshorts Team One Newport - The Foul Weather Gear Experts. 800 VIP GEAR or http://www.Team1Newport.com SAILING ISN'T A SPORT Nicholas Hayes, author Look it up. According to my dictionary, a sport is "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment." And while many sailors I know will say that they enjoy racing sailboats, sailing is so much more than just a lowly sport. When was the last time you saw tennis played in a pelting, thundering rain squall? Sailors do it all the time. When was the last time a basketball player studied emergency and rescue procedures to keep fellow teammates safe and secure? When was the last time you saw soccer players standing by quietly for hours and sometimes days, waiting for Mother Nature to join the game? When was the last time you saw a hockey player invite grandma onto the ice? When was the last time you saw a quarterback use a star to navigate, the moon to light the field, or pause to gaze upon the aurora borealis during a game? When was the last time you saw a sprinter stay on the field for hours and hours after the race just to be on the field? And when was the last time you heard any of these sportspeople say that they would sail to the very end? Sailors do it all the time. No, sailing isn't a sport. Sport should be so lucky. Source: http://savingsailing.com/2012/08/16/sailing-isnt-a-sport/ SPEARHEADING A NEW PERFORMANCE CATAMARAN CLASS When it comes to offering cutting edge grand prix racing, the Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco never seems to skip a beat. This year, the event - scheduled for its 48th edition on September 6-9 - will be adding performance catamarans to the already dense roster of monohulls sailing in IRC and one-design classes. Adding catamarans was inspired by the America's Cup sailing that has been taking place on San Francisco Bay, and, in fact, the Rolex Big Boat Series will follow an America's Cup World Series event in August and precede another in October. "The Rolex Big Boat Series is one of the premier events in the world, and having catamarans included in it for the first time is very exciting for us, especially in light of the interest in performance catamaran racing generated by the upcoming America's Cup World Series events in San Francisco," said St. Francis Yacht Club Commodore Peter Stoneberg, who will be racing in the event aboard his ProSail 40 catamaran Shadow. "I love catamarans. You just can't beat the thrill and adrenaline of racing them on San Francisco Bay, and this year's Rolex Big Boat Series will be the first premier class regatta that includes a catamaran division." According to Staff Commodore of the Bay Area Multihull Association (BAMA) Bob Naber, "The class will enjoy exciting racing, provide viewers with a fantastic experience and show a breed of catamarans that are available to sailors outside of the America's Cup." The class will include performance catamarans over 35 feet, with no limitations on technology and design. They will be scored using handicap PHRF ratings issued by BAMA and race on courses similar to those used for America's Cup racing. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/0816/ SAILING SHORTS * Kingston, ONT (August 16, 2012) - CORK International Regatta completed today for the 281 youth entrants from Canada, USA, Mexico, and Bermuda competing in four events. Winners were Alexander Burke (Laser), Kalin Hillier (Laser Radial), Charlotte Leclue (Laser 4.7), and Allie Surrette/ Ali ten Hove (Club 420). Racing continues for Olympic and elite development classes (Aug. 18-22), and will include North American Championships for the 29er, 49er, and Finn. Details here: http://www.cork.org/results/2012-results-resultats-2012/ * Cascade Locks, OR (August 16, 2012) - No changes at the top after the second day at US Sailing's 2012 Youth Championships on the Columbia River Gorge. All fleets are now discarding a drop race, with leaders continuing as Mitchell Kiss (Laser Radial), Greg Martinez (Laser), Scott Buckstaff/ James Moody (29er), and Max Simmons/ Riley Legault (Club 420). Racing continues through Saturday. Event website: http://championships.ussailing.org/Youth/US_Youth_Champs.htm * By the end of the month, ORACLE TEAM USA expects to have tested and launched the first of its two AC72 wingsail catamarans planned for the defense of the 2013 America's Cup. Weather conditions will set the agenda for the week Aug. 27. Day 1 will see boat in the water for structural load-testing and systems checks on design features. If all signed-off by the engineers and boatbuilders, Day 2 will be the yacht's first scheduled sail on San Francisco Bay. It will become the first AC72 to sail on the waters of the host city. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/O-T-USA-081612 * With fewer than 13 months remaining to the start of the 2013 America's Cup Finals, the event has launched a new website to better suit the needs of the teams and fans. Details here: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-081612 * The ISAF World Sailing Rankings has released their latest Olympic fleet racing update (Aug. 15) which now includes the results from the 2012 Olympic Games. The rankings, which accounts for a sailor's performance over 24 months, finds the top ranked sailor as also a medalist in 8 of the 9 events. -- Full report: http://www.sailing.org/news/32060.php * Newport, RI (August 16, 2012) - The historic Ida Lewis Yacht Club was a beehive of activity today as competitors readied for the eighth edition of the Ida Lewis Distance Race (ILDR) which is set to get underway at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, August 17. Three starts will dispatch approximately 26 boats ranging from 30-56' on courses between 104 and 177 nm. In its third year, the Youth Challenge has attracted four boats which have met the requirement that more than 40% of the crew must have reached their 14th birthday but not turn 20 prior to August 17, 2012. -- Race website: http://www.ildistancerace.org/2012/index.php * The St. Thomas Yacht Club's International Rolex Regatta is scheduled one week earlier in 2013 (March 22-24) to accommodate holistic shifts on the Caribbean regatta calendar that have been planned jointly by various event organizers to give sailors a better flow to their Spring racing vacations in the Islands. Also, the 40th Anniversary of the event finds the Melges 32 class has made the event a destination for its new three-event Caribbean series in 2013. -- Full report: http://www.rolexcupregatta.com/press/prread.php?prid=68 SOFT DECK At Soft Deck, we provide soft traction and shock mitigation products for everyone from dinghy sailors to the US Navy. But we really love the dinghy crowd, and we especially love the look of our new Royal Blue and White dinghy kit. These pieces look awesome, are designed to give a little padding, and great traction in the bottom of Optis, Sabots, or similar boats. This kit comes with two 18"x20" pads, 3M adhesive backing, and retails for $79.95, but we are introducing them to Scuttlebutt readers at 25% until we sell out. Check em out at http://www.soft-deck.com/products/two-piece-dingy-kit-royalandwhite-blowout PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include aerial arrival, dragons, 2000, kid stuff, back flip, all terrain, 5 o'clock somewhere, and cruising speed. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0817/ 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 This week's video is a parody titled "I'm Bringing Sailing Back", a sort-of music video that uses Justin Timberlake's song 'Sexy Back'. The dialogue begins like this.... First dude - "Dude, this is so chill." Second dude - "Yeah." First dude - "I love sailing." Second dude - "Too bad it's not more popular, you know?" First dude - "But I'm thinking about bringing sailing back." Second dude - "Sick, man." First dude - "Yeah." You have been warned. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/12/0817/ Bonus Videos: * This week on America's Cup Discovered, we look at each team competing in the America's Cup World Series San Francisco next week August 21-26. This program includes phenomenal footage of racing over the past year, including team highlights as we look ahead to San Francisco Bay becoming the world's battleground in just a few days time. Tune in on Saturday August 18 at approx 0800 PDT 1600 BST: http://www.youtube.com/americascup * Olympic Sailing Gold in England is in the August 17 "World on Water" Global Boating News Report. Laser, 49ers, 470 Men and the fabulous Women's Match Racing from Weymouth, England, the Farr 30 World Championships in Sweden, the Kite Slalom Europeans in Italy, the beautiful yachts in the recent Panarai British Classic Week and we pay tribute to UIM Class ONE driver William Nocker who tragically lost his life in Race One of the recent Gabon Grand Prix. See it on http://www.boatson.tv or download the "boatsontv" app and watch it on your phone/tablet anywhere anytime. 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 Roger Vaughan: In Butt 3656, I saw the Editor's Note that spoke of Red Bull's outer limits approach to extremism in sport, concluding in how Red Bull was likely "not concerned if disaster were to fling the crew through their wing branding...like this" and there was a link. So I clicked on it to find that capsize of the AC45 in the shadow of the Golden Gate on a 20+-knot day. Then I looked and realized I was the 1,923,615th person to watch this capsize that featured a crewman being flung (as promised) through the wing. We really are a bloodthirsty lot. * From Brooks Magruder, Singapore: Regarding the U.S. "Failure to Perform" in Olympics sailing (Scuttlebutt 3656), instead of reviewing and analyzing what USA did to prepare, it would seem more productive to look primarily at what all the medalist countries did to prepare. * From Matthew Fortune Reid: Simply said, I am proud of our U.S. Olympic sailors and, athletes in general. To participate is a huge win in itself. Not to medal may cause disgruntlement amongst those of us who were on the sidelines watching, but really, isn't it obvious how hard these sailors worked and sacrificed for years to get the chance to complete in this venue? As it has been pointed out, Great Britain and other well-funded countries were there on the podium. If you really want to see a difference and make a difference, donate to the cause. Otherwise, quit moaning and groaning, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Again, well done, all of you! * From Barrie Harmsworth, Dubai, U.A.E.: Back when Paul Henderson was President in 2002, the IOC reduced the number of sailing events and athletes because of the "costs and complexity of the sailing competition". The President of the IOC warned that Olympic Summer sports would be reviewed with the intention of removing one sport and replacing it with another every four years. In the Olympic Commission report given to the ISAF Executive, the principle of "universality" and qualification through Continental representation was emphasized. There is a misconception that the ISAF Executive Council - the decision making body - is democratic and these decisions are made on that basis. Anyone familiar with process would be aware that it is highly biased towards the vested interests of the most powerful sailing nations to the extent that the naïve developing nations scarcely understand what is happening. The latest decision to replace the windsurfer with the kite board is a clear demonstration of such actions by Council. Whilst I cannot speak for all Continents, I can for the Continent of Asia where approximately over twenty percent of ISAF's membership lies. These MNAs (member nations) have been left breathless and highly disappointed that their hopes and aspirations have been crushed... and who can blame them? For a corporate body that acknowledges that at least 65% of their revenue, and on top of that, even more comes to their stakeholders (MNAs), from one client, the IOC, they have a funny way of respecting the desires of that client. If it was my business I would run for cover. * From Chip Johns: Certainly the lack of U.S. medals in Weymouth is a disappointment, but to blame the fabulous growth of the C420 and CFJ classes in the country as the problem seems a bit extreme and misguided to me. Look at the positives of these classes. They have expanded the number of kids racing double-handed boats in the U.S. dramatically over the past 20 years. Well over 5000 C420s and CFJs have been built during this time vs 20-30 double-handed boats being built per year in the 80s. Many (half?) of the junior double-handed boats built in the past 20 are used in club or institutional environments serving multiple kids. This growth allowed the base of junior sailors to grow significantly over the past 20 years. Should an Olympic sailor athlete be sailing one of these boats when they are 16 or 17? Probably not, but if that sailor does not have the hunger to seek something a bit more challenging at age 16 or 17, then will they have the hunger for a medal when the time comes? I don't think so. I wonder how many top level junior sailors get burned out and completely quit sailing after attending too many national and international events when they are 12? What this country needs in its development program is a natural evolution that feeds as many kids into boats as possible, keeps them there for as long as possible, and allows the cream to rise and excel to international levels when they are ready. COMMENT: To clarify, in Scuttlebutt 3656 I was not faulting the contributions the C420 and CFJ have made to sailing in the U.S. But I contend their growth has required a couple realities to be acknowledged. One, as I said and Chip appears to agree, that elite young sailors need to seek out boats with greater complexity if they are to continue to improve. And also, these youth boats expire when young sailors grow older. The sooner a young sailor moves to a type of sailing that will exist beyond their youth years, I contend the more likely they are to remain active in the sport. Anyone want to comment on that? - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "The world is a dangerous place to live in, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it" - Albert Einstein SPONSORS THIS WEEK New England Boatworks - Kaenon Polarized - North Sails Atlantis WeatherGear - RIBCRAFT - US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider Doyle Sails - Pure Yachting - Ullman Sails - Team One Newport - Soft Deck Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
