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SCUTTLEBUTT 3022 - Thursday, February 4, 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.Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/facebook Today’s sponsors: Ullman Sails and Summit Yachts. INTERNATIONAL JURY GETS FIRST TEST The International Jury (IJ) for the 33rd America’s Cup provided their decisions Wednesday morning on the request for redress by the challenger, the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), on five issues that were presented. The IJ determined that: * RRS take precedence over Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions. * Race officials to decide maximum wind speed and wave heights. * Americans can use high-tech wind-detection systems. * Americans can use environmentally friendly hull coating. * Races can start races at 10 a.m. Of course, how the IJ came to these decisions is nearly as interesting as the decisions themselves. And for that, we have America’s Cup legal analyst Cory E. Friedman to break it down: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- As part of my Valencia coverage I am reporting on the International Jury’s February 2, 2010 decision on USA’s five requests for redress. An additional request for redress on measurement has been heard and a preliminary ruling handed down, but the final decision has not been issued. Some of the decision is based upon the legal developments on which I have reported and some are pure Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) issues. On the RRS issues, feel even freer to take pot shots at me as, although I passed the US SAILING judge’s course with a grade that was not too shabby, I am not a judge. Interestingly, Société Nautique De Genève (SNG) seems to like lawyers a lot. USA was represented by Richard Slater, GGYC’s rules advisor (an International Judge and Umpire), and Skipper Russell Coutts (an engineer). SNG was represented by Hamish Ross, a NZL barrister (a former partner of Jury member Graham McKenzie) and Skipper Brad Butterworth. Astoundingly, Ross represented not only SNG as Organizing Authority and Alinghi, but also the Race Committee. While the Race Committee is technically SNG’s race committee, Harold Bennett, the PRO, was approved by ISAF and has to answer to ISAF. Moreover, Bennett has made a point of proclaiming his independence. Obviously, in the small world of top level officialdom, being perceived as in anyone’s pocket would not be very good for business. Thus, although this is not a legal proceeding and a potential conflict can be waived, a prudent US lawyer would ordinarily make sure that the Race Committee had friendly independent counsel so as not to impair the credibility and business interests of one of his or her clients. Ross objected to the requests as premature, as USA’s score had yet to be affected. While Bob Giuffra won a tactical victory before Justice Kornreich on procedural issues, Ross went down in flames as the Jury ruled that RRS 62.1 explicitly provides that redress may be granted when there is “the possibility that the boat’s score” will be affected, i.e., before the race. Oops. It pays to read the RRS. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/cf/#p56 QUOTE / UNQUOTE "From the point of view of the event, the public and the sponsors, yes there has been a very big step backwards. From the point of view of the sport, no, because I believe that for young people sailing is about speed" -- America’s Cup team owner Ernesto Bertarelli, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6122NP20100203 WATCHING THE AMERICA’S CUP While all the information is still not available on what television and Internet options there are to watch the 33rd America’s Cup, Scuttlebutt did receive this update regarding ESPN360.com in the United States: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For the first time in its programming history, ESPN360.com -- ESPN's 24/7 broadband sports network -- will carry the oldest sporting trophy event and sailing's most prestigious regatta and match race, the 33rd America's Cup. The best of three races duel will take place live from Valencia, Spain beginning Monday, Feb. 8th at 3:45 a.m. ET. Race 2 is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 10th and -- if necessary -- Race 3 on Friday, Feb. 12th, both at 3:45 a.m. ET. Calling the event for ESPN360.com will be ESPN sailing commentator and president of US SAILING Gary Jobson along with renowned sailing expert Randy Smyth, both former winners of the America's Cup. ESPN360.com is ESPN's live sports broadband network, giving fans a 24/7 online destination that delivers more than 3,500 live, global sports events annually. It is available at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection from an affiliated service provider. -- http://www.ESPN360.com * OWNER/DRIVER: Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli said he will personally take the helm of his yacht Alinghi when one of the most controversial America's Cup events in history finally gets under way next week. "I'm going to do it... I think I am at a sufficient level (of skill and experience) to steer the boat, it's an honor and a pleasure to do so in this America's Cup," the Valencia-based Spanish newspaper Las Provincias quoted him as saying. -- http://tinyurl.com/ykwxm7n * SCHEDULE: The Match is won by the yacht to first win two races. Racing will be attempted every other day beginning Monday February 8th. If a race is not started on a given day, or is abandoned for whatever reason, racing will continue on the next scheduled race date, (Wednesday the 10th, Friday the 12th, Sunday the 14th, etc.). * EVENT WEBSITE: The website for the 33rd America’s Cup has been launched, which has posted event documents and recent jury decisions. Also look here for forthcoming details on how to view the event: http://33rd.americascup.com/en/ * THANK YOU: Since his first report in September 2007, the Scuttlebutt community has lauded praise on America’s Cup legal analyst Cory E. Friedman for his insightful and engaging commentary. After 55 reports from the NY courts, Cory is going to Valencia, Spain to observe the Match close-up and provide timely updates for 'buttheads around the world. Rather than support this project with advertising dollars, Scuttlebutt had reached out to its readers for funding support, and they stepped up in a big way. Thank you! -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/store * TEAM UPDATES: Here are the best links for team information: - Alinghi: http://www.alinghi.com/en/ - BMW Oracle Racing: http://bmworacleracingblog.blogspot.com/ ULLMAN SAILS SWEEP KWRW MULTIHULL DIVISION Ullman Sails customer Bob Harkrider of Sarasota, FL and his “Merlin” team on the Gulfstream 35 Catamaran swept the Multihull Division with 10 bullets in as many races at Key West 2010. Their skill, coupled with a full inventory of Ullman Sails, proved a magic combination of speed, power, and durability. The sail inventory included Carbon GPL headsails and main, and a Formulon spinnaker. “Merlin” was the only catamaran in the multihull fleet. For over forty years Ullman has been a proven winner, committed to providing the fastest sails on the water. Invest in your performance. Visit http://www.ullmansails.com FOR THE RECORD (February 3, 2010; 16:52 UTC) - The rounding of the low off the Canaries last night went well and Groupama 3 was crossing a transition zone this Wednesday afternoon in order to tackle the tradewinds off Cape Verde. With a lead of nearly half a day over the reference time, Franck Cammas and his nine crew are now aiming for a suitable point of entry to enable them to rapidly traverse the Doldrums. One, two, three: after the archipelagos of Madeira and the Canaries, it's Cape Verde's turn to be the primary focus. Indeed, when you have to make your way down the Northern Atlantic as quickly as possible, it is necessary not only to follow the optimum trajectory in terms of miles covered, but also to take into account the obstacles which punctuate the course. In fact, avoiding traversing the islands is always a safe option as the effect of land is considerable when there are volcanoes culminating at over 2,000 metres! "We're sailing along the edge of a zone of high pressure and there are no waves at all: we're slipping along effortlessly. At this pace we're likely to be in the Southern hemisphere in a little over six days, which would be the second fastest time ever along this section of the course... And the Southern Atlantic seems to be improving day by day: it's quite pleasant after all the problems we've endured over previous attempts," indicated crewman Steve Ravussin. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/yb6tqt3 Current position as of February 3, 2010 (22:00:00 UTC): Ahead/behind record: +87.6 nm Speed (avg) over past 24 hours: 19.2 knots Distance over past 24 hours: 459.8 nm Data: http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne/positions.asp?lg=en Map: http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne/index.asp?lg=en * Groupama 3 must cross finish line off Ushant, France before March 23rd (06:14:57 UTC) to establish a new time for the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions. Current record holder is Bruno Peyron and crew, who in 2005 sailed Orange 2 to a time of 50 days, 16 hours, and 20 minutes at an average of 17.89 knots. DIARY OF A NAVIGATOR Navigator Stan Honey (USA) is among the nine crew sailing with skipper Franck Cammas onboard the 103-foot maxi trimaran Groupama 3 during their attempt to win the Jules Verne Trophy, a fully crewed round the world record attempt under sail. Stan will be updating ‘butthead readers from onboard Groupama 3, and replied to a few questions this week: * When it was decided to go, how far down the track could you forecast the weather pattern? STAN HONEY: Generally, at departure, you can get a good forecast of the trip to the equator and can get only a very general view of the structure of the weather in the South Atlantic. So you want a departure time where you won't likely be blocked in the South Atlantic and that has a reasonable time to the equator. * With the imperfect weather at time of start, was there a plan to abort if you were a certain distance behind the reference time? STAN HONEY: The North Atlantic trip was risky, especially regarding whether if we started after the low passed at Ushant, would we get past Cape Finisterre before the High moved E and shut down the wind? The calculations indicated that we would just make it. If we did make it, it was a very attractive forecast to the equator; possibly the second fastest in history. If we had been stopped at Finisterre it would have been so early in the trip that it would have made sense to return. * For routing issues, which part of the track poses the greatest obstacles? STAN HONEY: Normally the riskiest part is the South Atlantic because at the start, the forecasts are so far out and so are much less reliable. In our November 5 start, we had almost no risk in the North Atlantic, and the usual weather risk in the South Atlantic. As it happened the weather came out fine and it looked like our trip to the longitude of Cape Town would have set a record had we not been forced to stop. For this departure on January 31, we started on an attractive but risky pattern for the North Atlantic, but we have successfully passed the risky part of the North Atlantic passage. * How far ahead can you see now, and how is it looking? STAN HONEY: Weather models are quite good for three days, reasonably good out to six days, and increasingly dicey beyond that. We have substantial risk remaining in the South Atlantic. However, we are glad we started when we did and we are happy to be here. Waiting around on standby is one of the hardest things for sailors. Diary link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/1111 MY 2010 WISH LIST By Bill Sandberg, WindCheck magazine Certainly 2009 has been a year that most people will not be sorry to see go away. As this is the time of year when people reflect on the past year and look forward to the next, I am submitting my hopes for 2010. Here then is my wish list for the New Year. The America’s Cup: Get the farce that will be in Valencia over with and decide to go back to the spirited old nation vs. nation format. That way, some people may actually become interested in the Cup. Spend the money on the best sailors, sails, designs and not on the best lawyers. The success of the NYYC Challenge Cup showed that people do care about a race if you give them reason to. US SAILING: Under new President Gary Jobson’s leadership, we can look forward to unparalleled change, leadership and support. I’ve been proud to call him my friend for over 30 years, and he is the ideal person for the job. Rather than fighting about US SAILING and taking cheap shots on some of the blogs and e-mails, put your money and your time where your mouth is. US SAILING handles a huge variety of tasks in support of the sport we love, but it takes a lot of money to get it accomplished. $60/year for dues is not likely to break anyone’s budget, so sign up now and show Gary that we support him. Junior Sailing: The following is the mission statement of the JSA of LIS: “The Mission of the Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound is to support junior sailors at member programs and to encourage them to experience the joy of sailing and learn about and appreciate the complexities of the marine environment. “The JSA promotes ethical behavior among its sailors and encourages the teaching of lifelong lessons which seek to build character, foster teamwork and strengthen respect for self and others. “Through its programs and policies, the JSA seeks to support both serious competitors and recreational sailors at all levels of skill and to encourage their sailing in local waters and beyond.” Notice the word “lifelong?” This is what it’s all about. Let the kids have fun and learn to enjoy the sport for the rest of their lives. This requires some parents out there to back off and not push their kids, and their instructors, past the limit. If your child only wants to go out and have water fights, let them. Not everyone has to grow up to sail in the Olympics. There’s more…read on: http://tinyurl.com/yfsmtxa SUMMIT 40 WINNING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES Just as Mike Williamson and his crew aboard the Summit 40, ‘White Heat’ finished celebrating their victory in IRC 2 at Premiere Racing’s 2010 Key West Race Week, news arrived of another major win on the other side of the world. Peter Horn’s Summit 40, ‘Canute’, won IRC 2 in Australia’s Audi Victoria Race Week. It was a tough 19 boat class that included the recent Sydney Hobart winner and a host of competitive 35 - 42 foot IRC boats. This was ‘Canute’s first major IRC event and her first trip to the podium. ‘White Heat’ continues her winning ways after her class win in the 2009 IRC East Coast Championships. Find out more about the Summit 40 and her very hot little sister, the Summit 35 at: http://www.summit-yachts.com SAILING SHORTS * The three day 29erXX SEIKO Superbowl regatta was held this week with international teams spanning four continents sailing the skiffs on Biscayne Bay. The 29erXX is a souped-up version of the 29er, with its sights set on becoming a doublehanded womens event at the 2016 Olympics. This inaugural event was won by Hannah Nattrass (AUS) and Graham Biehl (USA), with Francisco Piccini/ Sofia Tedin (ARG) in second and Giulia Conti/ Alessandra Angelini (ITA) in third. -- Daily reports: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9027 * The Audi MedCup Circuit for TP52s and GP42s achieved a media impact of 24.9 million euros during 2009 according to a study in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, UK and Germany, the six goal markets for the organizers of the Circuit. This is an increase from 2008 that verged on the 18.3 million euros in spite of the 2009 circuit one less event than in 2008. These results position the Audi MedCup Circuit as the most important fleet regatta circuit of the world. -- Full story: http://2009.medcup.org/news/index.php?id=1516 * The Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race have commenced from Singapore on the second half of Leg 4 that takes the fleet from Western Australia to China. The race from Australia to Singapore was one of the hardest in the race to plan and execute, and it led to the grounding and elimination of one of the fleet’s boats. After the Singapore stop over, the leg to Qingdao will be fraught with the same poorly marked charts and strong currents that caused significant damage for the 2008-9 Volvo Ocean Race fleet when they competed on the same leg. -- http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com HOW DOES YOUR EVENT REACH BEYOND THE USUAL SUSPECTS Is your event living in a vacuum, wondering how it can reach beyond the usual suspects? The Scuttlebutt Event Calendar is a free, self-serve tool that is powered by the most utilized database in the sport. More media use this calendar database than any other service. Used primarily for event marketing and communication, the crew list service is also widely accessed to help connect available people with skippers in need. To view all the events, or to post your own event, visit the calendar at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar LETTERS AND FORUM Please email 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 BUDDY MELGES: Ever since it was announced last week in Scuttlebutt that Buddy Melges celebrated his 80th birthday on January 26th, the birthday wishes keeping coming in, all now posted on the Forum. Here are two more: * From Paul Henderson, past ISAF President: We were sailing in the 1963 North American Flying Dutchman Championship in Lavallette, New Jersey. It was a nice place to sail when New York City heated up and the heat bubble rose, sucking in the wind. One day the bubble over New York did not rise and we were sitting around the club waiting for the wind to come in. Entering the boat park, Skip Lennox (my crew) had picked up a large, discarded brassiere. He immediately went over and hoisted it up Buddy’s mast where it stayed as we waited until about 3:00 p.m. for the wind to come in. When we were finally able to start racing, Buddy was first and I was second at the first weather mark in a fleet of over 60 boats. As we rounded, I notice that Melges and Billy Bentsen had stopped without launching their spinnaker. Instead, they just sat there looking back at us. This was the North American Championship, a serious ranking regatta, so we knew something was up. “Up spinnaker!,” Skip barked as usual. And then Buddy broke up because sewn to the bottom of our spinnaker was the largest pair of silk bloomers you ever saw, with our number KC 41 neatly embroidered by Mother Melges, as we all affectionately called Buddy’s wife Gloria. * From Eddie Trevelyan, Gold medalist, 1984 Olympics: At the 1980 Soling Worlds in Puerto Rico (the site of Peter Isler's Buddy story), I witnessed a display of Buddy's unique ability to apply both sailing skills and "animal husbandry" skills on the racecourse. During one light-wind race (probably the first time in memory that strong trades didn't blow in PR), Buddy was the first (probably only) one to notice that cows grazing on a hillside were giving important clues. He took a sharp turn toward the edge of the course, and proceeded to sail past the fleet with a new breeze signaled by the cows' rear ends. This sailor from the "Heart of America" was surprised that the rest of us didn't know about cows' instinctive tendency to graze downwind. Happy Birthday, Buddy! Scuttlebutt Forum: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8997 CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Special thanks to Ullman Sails and Summit Yachts. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
