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SCUTTLEBUTT 2644 - Wednesday, July 23, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. FINALLY -- COMMON SENSE PREVAILS In a remarkable display of bipartisan support for recreational boating, both the United States House and Senate passed S. 2766 on Tuesday, "The Clean Boating Act of 2008", which will permanently restore a long-standing exemption for recreational boats from permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act. The legislation now goes to the White House for the President's signature. Congressional action was spawned by a U.S. District Court decision in September 2006 under which an estimated 17 million recreational boats would have fallen under Clean Water Act permit requirements effective September 30, 2008. The permit would have dictated maintenance and operation procedures and potentially subjected boaters to citizen lawsuits as well as a penalty system designed for industrial polluters. "This is a fabulous victory for common sense and it just goes to show what can be done when the boating public, the marine industry and its representatives in Congress row together in a bipartisan way," said BoatU.S. President Nancy Michelman. THE SAILING LIFE IS A GOOD LIFE "I had awakened in the morning with a great sense of well-being. I'm good with the sound of a rushing bow wave. But as we flowed on through the mist I fell to remembering that I'd just the night before had word from a friend out West that Mark Rudiger had lost his fight with lymphoma, and I remembered Paul Cayard now at sea with his family on the Pacific Cup and how fine it is that this giant of grand prix racing has seized the opportunity to sail with family and friends at a special, unrepeatable time in their lives and I have so many other friends also on the high Pacific right now, some of them alone in the solo Transpac but not alone because they yak it up every day on the SSB so they are "family" too, and all these miles pass under so many keels—and Rudiger navigated Cayard's round-the-world win—and there are so many friends from all over that I'm running into here on the streets and last night the rain was bitter cold on Mackinac Island and most of the fleet was still out on the course and g'bless'em and now it's morning and I'm writing and boats are still coming in and time slips away from us and there is a sad beauty to that which seems to come directly out of this ephemeral, lovely thing that we do with water and boats and wakes that appear and disappear and there is no way to finish this sentence or as Kenneth Patchen would say, no way to begin. The sailing life is a good life. Thanks, Mark. Damn." -- Kimball Livingston, http://sailmagazine.blogspot.com/ OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN: 17 DAYS TO GO WASHINGTON DC– San Diego sailor Andrew Campbell anticipated many challenges on the road to the Beijing Olympics, but probably not this one: Find a suit, fast. Shortly before appearing at the White House with other U.S. Olympic Team members for a dinner with President Bush, Campbell yesterday dashed over to a Brooks Brothers a few blocks away to pick up a suit he'd been measured for just the day before. “I don't own a suit,” the 2006 graduate of Georgetown University said with a laugh. He explained that he hasn't needed one over the past couple of years, when almost all of his time has been focused on training and fundraising for his Olympic bid. -- Paul M. Krawzak, read on: http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20080722-9999-1s22breakout.html * From US Olympic Laser sailor Andrew Campbell (July 21): After shaking Mr. Bush’s hand and discussing the fact that I’ve been living just up the road at Georgetown while he’s been in the White House and was surprised we didn’t bump into each other more often, he replied: “Well, I guess I don’t get out enough these days!,” with a smile and a laugh. We were invited into the Oval Office for a photo with Mr. Bush and some brief comments about his commitment to showing how important the Olympic movement is to him and Laura by hosting us at the White House before the Games (instead of the executive standard of hosting medallists after the Games), and by attending the Opening Ceremonies August 8th in Beijing. -- Read on: http://campbellsailing.com/index.php/category/general/ => Note: 23 Olympians joined the President and his wife for two events specially organized to recognize the Olympic Team to a higher regard than ever before. The 2008 Games will be the first time a U.S. President travels out of the country to the Opening Ceremonies, and the White House has never hosted an official pre-Olympic honorary event such as this one. There are 600 athletes attending the 2008 Olympic Games, and only a select number were invited to the White House, so it was a distinct honor that four of those athletes were members of the US Olympic Team for Sailing. Early in his Rose Garden speech, the President mentioned sailing twice (once for the whole US Olympic Team's oldest athlete: John Dane). Go to the White House site for speech text, audio and pictures: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/07/20080721.html O’PEN BIC ENERGY The O’pen BIC Demo Tour heads for New England leaving new fleets at junior programs in Lake Minnetonka, Lake Geneva, Fond du Lac, Buffalo Canoe Club, and many more. Kids are excited to sail the modern self-bailing skiff design. Charters available for the U.S. O’pen “Un-Regatta” in New Bedford at http://www.communityboating.org. For more 411: http://www.OpenBIc.com AND THE WINNERS ARE . . . July 22, 2008 (Mackinac Island) -- Following are the four overall results for the 100th Running of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac representing top honors in each of the four divisions: Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division, Mackinac Cup Division, Multihull Division, and the Cruising Division. Chicago-Mackinac Trophy 1. Velero VII - USA 15044, John S. Barbour, Grosse Point, Mich., North American 40, 47:49:41 2. Smokum Too – USA 15044, Pete Mather, Thornbury, Ont., Beneteau 42s7 LWshoal, 48:00:08 3. Karma – USA 55367, Lou Sandoval, Martin Sandoval, Jack Buoscio, Chicago , Ill. , Beneteau 36.7, 48:18:18 Mackinac Cup 1.Stripes – USA 25168, Bill Martin, Ann Arbor, Mich., GL 70, 48:17:10 2. Evolution – USA 70, Terry Kohler and Pete Reichelsdorfer, Sheboygan, Wisc., GL 70, 48:46:45 3. Zeitgeist – USA 242, Robert T and Dr. Cornelia Zerban, Kenosha , Wisc., J109 Deep Keel, 48:59:29 Multihull Division 1, Gamera – USA 28, Matt Scharl, Chicago , Ill. , F-25C, 51:01:36 2. Nice Pair – USA 333, Bruce Geffen, Ann Arbor , Mich. , ***SSO, 52:37:08 3. Exodus – CAN 89, Larry Woods, Norval, Ont., Farrier F82R, 52:40:46 Cruising Division 1. Mirage – USA 32611, John Boyle, Aurora , Ill. , Beneteau 42, 51:35:55 2. Windara – USA 25472, Glenn and Elsa Gustafson, Sawyer, Mich. , J46, 52:23:58 3. Free at Last – USA 255, Allen Smith, Wilmette , Ill. , Brewer 12.8, 55:05:37 For the latest results, photos, and updates, please visit www.chicagoyachtclub.org PACIFIC CUP Steadily gaining on the fleet, Joby Easton’s double-handed Cascade 36 Raindrop (Portland, Ore.) has pushed into first place overall, recalling Skip Allen's double-handed victory aboard Wildflower in 2002. Employing a similar strategy of a sharp southern starting course, combined with superior boathandling, Easton and Huseby on Raindrop are now the ones to beat. With some superbly well-equipped and crewed boats chasing them from a more favorable Saturday start – more wind always being good – Raindrop will have quite a job holding on to her #1 spot. Following close in second and third place are Dean Daniels' Sleeping Dragon (Hobie 33) and Paul Cayard's Hula Girl (SC 50M). -- Updated official standings and links to time-delayed satellite reports at: http://www.PacificCup.org => Curmudgeon’s Comment. The Pacific Cup race has produced a number of interesting blogs. I’m particularly enjoying the postings of Philippe Kahn, sailing double-handed with Richard Clarke aboard the Open 50 Pegasus. Here’s an excerpt: After roll call this morning (the HF radio daily safety mandatory check-in with the Pacific Cup race org), Richard told me that I fell asleep with the mike in my hand, only to wake up 2 hours later. That felt great. We’ve accumulated total sleep deficit between steering all the time, constant sail changes, and fixing messed up things. We’re still licking our wounds. The total is a bruised ankle, a bruised knee, three cuts, a bloody nose and a big bump on the forehead. That’s the legacy of a wild 18 hours. Now it’s all gone, we feel great and the big kite is up. Double handed we don’t see much of each other: One goes to sleep when the other wakes up. We meet by the munchies bag. That is until the conditions are such that we both need to be there and then nobody gets to sleep. -- http://www.pegasus.com/log.htm AUDI MEDCUP Winners of the first regatta of the Audi MedCup Circuit 2008, Peter de Ridder´s Mean Machine (MON) leads the Breitling Regatta after the first three races on the Bay of Palma off Puerto Portals. At times the sea breeze was fitful as the oppressive, clammy heat and cloud cover stifled any increase in wind strength and with big wind shifts in direction, and variations in pressure it was not an easy day for the tacticians to decipher. With the wind peaking at 11 knots and at times as low as six or seven knots, the ability to change gears and adapt for best boat speed was equally important over what has been a day of the lightest average wind speeds since the opening regatta, back in May in Alicante. Terry Hutchinson (USA), Helmsman -skipper of Quantum Racing (USA), said: “In that first race - every time we did something well, someone would tack on us and send us back which I guess is a complement! It is good to see that the boat and changes with the sails and stuff have all been good steps forward- plenty of racing to go!” Standings after 3 races. 1 Mean Machine MON (1,5,1) 7 pts 2 Matador ARG (3,1,3) 7 pts 3 Quantum Racing USA (11,2,2) 15 pts 4 Platoon powered by Team Germany GER (7,4,6) 17 pts 5 Bribón ESP (5,10,4) 19 pts 6 Artemis SWE (4,11,5) 20 pts 7 Mutua Madrileña ESP (2,12,8) 22 pts 8 Cristabella GBR (8,6,9) 23 pts 9 Tau Cerámica Andalucía ESP (6,8,12) 26 pts 10 Rusal Synergy RUS (12,3,13) 28 pts http://2008.medcup.org/results SCUTTLEBUTT FORUM FOR YOUR EVENT REPORTS The Scuttlebutt Forum has returned, and is now better than ever. Whereas the newsletter has limits in length and scope, the Forum can accommodate all comers. For the regatta organizers that want to “speak” to the online community, the Sailing Event Reports section of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an ideal platform. Presently, the Forum categories are: > Dock Talk: For all your sailing comments and questions. > Sailing Event Reports: For posting regatta reports and commentary. > Collegiate Sailing: For topics specifically relating to college sailing. > New Product Announcements: For equipment, boats, and clothing/accessories. > Classified Ads: Free postings for gear, wanted items, jobs, and boats Log-in to the Forum here: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum RECOMMENDED READING The Houston Chronicle has done a comprehensive story about the two groundings of Texas A&M-Galveston’s racing sailboat Cynthia Woods, which subsequently lost it’s keel, flipped over and tossed the crew into the water – resulting in the drowning of Roger Stone. - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/5900127.html WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN CROCS MEETS REEF? The answer is the brand new flip flop and clog from Woolrich and boy, are they comfortable and functional!! Find these wonderful products and lots more such as the Astral life jackets and the Puma Crew Team T-shirts (only available at TEAM ONE NEWPORT) in the New Arrivals section of the Team One Newport website. They have the best Service, Selection, Quality and Expertise in the industry and they’re just really nice people who give back to the sailing community (donated to Sail Newport and Save the Bay). Visit http://www.team1newport.com or call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) SAILING SHORTS * CEO Challenges, the world leader in sport competitions for CEOs, has partnered with Bitter End Yacht Club, to create a CEO Sailing Challenge for business executives who love sailing and competition. The three-day competition will be held on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands on Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. This Challenge will be run concurrently with the Drake’s Challenge Cup, and include a pre-race pep talk from Dawn Riley, the first female CEO of an America’s Cup Challenge and former president of the Women’s Sports Foundation. – Details: http://www.ceochallenges.com/sailing/2008-ceo-sailing-challenge-bvi * Tyler Sinks (San Diego, CA) and Myles Gutenkunst (Mill Valley, CA) captured the 2008 Club 420 National Championship hosted by Stanford University Sailing, Redwood City, CA. 43 teams competed in the Open Division of the three day, 10 race regatta. Sailors grappled with the anticipated strong current and big breeze in South San Francisco Bay. Louis Padnos and Ben Spector finished second in the Open with Shone Bowman and Cooper Scott in third. Bowman/Scott won the Junior Division with the Female title going to Eliza Richartz and Rebecca King -- Results: http://www.club420.org/ * Snipe Fleet 554 and the Jubilee Yacht Club hosted the Snipe New England Championships this weekend off the waters of Beverly, Massachusetts. The event was won on a three way tie break by reigning world champion Tomas Hornos. Winchester sailors Jim Bowers, and John Macrae, rounded out the top three finishers in the 20 boat fleet. The sailors enjoyed a wide range of conditions of the six race series featuring a 12-15 knot westerly “harbor hurricane” with choppy waters on Saturday. Sunday proved equally challenging, but in a different way, with a 3-5 knot easterly and limited visibility. -- Full report and results: http://www.jycracing.org/press_release_Snipes%20Regatta_final.htm * Southern Yacht Club defended their 2007 victory against 12 challengers in the 2008 Gulf Yachting Association Junior Lipton Challenge this past weekend in New Orleans, winning for the 6th time in the past 8 years. Pensacola YC took second place with Bay-Waveland YC finishing thirds in the predominately light-air series. This event allows each team member to sail no more than twice and to skipper no more than once in the Flying Scots used for the event. SYC was represented by skippers Ben Herman, Kohl Killeen and James Pottharst with Neil Gahagan, Reed Kirk, Jon Nunn and Mason Ryan crewing. -- Photos and results: http://xrl.us/oarzy * A scholarship fund for underprivileged youth to take sailing lessons has been established as a suitable memorial and tribute to Helen Johnstone's outreach goals and love of the sport. A goal of the fund is to encourage community sailing programs and clubs to initiate such a scholarship program nationally, starting with Sail Newport as the pilot project. Support for this worthy cause is most welcome. Donations (tax deductible) may be sent to the Helen C. Johnstone Memorial Fund, Sail Newport, 60 Fort Adams Drive, Newport, RI 02840. Phone: 401-846-1983. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘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, 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 Gustavo Arcia: Three small countries, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and the US Virgin Islands topped the world in team racing. Someone commented on the advantage that small countries have in concentrating their talent in one or two teams. This is a paradox. Small countries have a smaller talent pool than big countries. The opportunities for competition at the green fleet level are of lower quality than in big countries. It is not clear how one or two clubs can gain a high degree of competitiveness vs. large countries. However, a.) You only need a small group of dedicated families to make a difference in a sport that requires enormous amounts of parent participation. b.) It is easier for a small country to have a plan and a strategy. They are not tied to the typical ho-hum yacht club in large countries, waiting for one star to emerge from their average program. Assembling those stars in large countries requires a good national sailing organization. If the organization is deficient, the country will produce only mediocre national teams. c.) A small country can hire young, aggressive, and dedicated foreign coaches with less trouble than a large country. d.) Sailors in small countries are usually wealthy and they can spend large amounts of money traveling to every international regatta; these kids are battle hardened at an early age. Youth sailing in large countries is a middle class port. Ironically, large countries have less money, and money makes the difference. * From Vicky Low: Yacht racing occasionally has a great individual who is able to communicate what comes as second nature to an audience outside of the world of sailing. Rudi was such a person and I was fortunate to work with him on Team EF in the 97/98 Whitbread. As one of the campaign's Press Officers we were blessed with a great orator and writer, who never once flinched from helping us to communicate our complicated sport, whether in the depths of the Southern Ocean, or once ashore patiently explaining the upcoming leg. Thank you Rudi, for your help, guidance and good humour. * From Bill Menninger: I had the pleasure of sailing with Mark Rudiger for a couple of seasons with the Santa Cruz 70 Silver Bullet. Mark was inspiring. He devoted a few days before the race to gather weather data and he integrated weather grids to the course before most knew what this even meant. I remember him telling stories of racing catamarans singlehanded across the Atlantic wearing a motorcycle helmet to lessen the constant pelting of the spray. Dodging buoys in the fog at 23 knots. I remember the kind and gentle manner he had with everyone, and the sense of urgency he had about making a good decision. One Mexorc race we went through an unexpected squall and Mark was the first to help with a sail change to the #4 jib. He put his mates first and I know he did the same with Lori. I think they had met around that time frame. He was so excited to have someone in his life he could share his love of sailing. The best to the Rudiger family! And fond memories of a sailing genius, a sailing role model and a great guy! CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well. Special thanks to BIC Sport and Team One Newport. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
