|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2381 - July 3, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). CURMUDGEON’S COMMENT This issue of Scuttlebutt is all America’s Cup, and is being distributed on the eve of the American Independence Day holiday, July 4th. Look for Scuttlebutt to resume its comprehensive coverage of the sport on Thursday. ALINGHI WINS THE 32ND AMERICA'S CUP Valencia, 3 July, 2007 - Alinghi won the 32nd America's Cup on Tuesday afternoon on the waters off Valencia. The Swiss Defender won its fourth consecutive race in dramatic fashion, to win the Match 5-2. This final race of the America's Cup was befitting of what has been the closest, most exciting America's Cup in recent history. Emirates Team New Zealand spent much of the race ahead on the advantage line, but with Alinghi in strong tactical position on the right hand side of the race course. The Kiwis were never able to get a big enough lead to cross ahead and switch sides. After making a pass on the first run and leading through the leeward gate by 14 seconds, Emirates Team New Zealand again found it couldn't get across the bow of SUI 100 on the second upwind leg. With both boats approaching the top mark separated by just a few metres, the Kiwis, approaching from the left on port tack, faced Alinghi roaring in on the privileged starboard tack. Both boats went into a 'dial-down' and the Umpires penalised the port tack NZL 92 crew for not keeping clear of Alinghi. That, effectively, was the race. Alinghi rounded the top mark ahead by 12 seconds and looked secure for the win. But then, an enormous windshift saw Emirates Team New Zealand able to lay finishing line which was now upwind. As Alinghi struggled to drop its spinnaker, the Kiwis turned into tack to fulfill its penalty obligation. Now downspeed, the Kiwis could only watch in horror as Alinghi slid across the line, just one second ahead. As SUI 100 crossed the finishing line, the crew was muted in its celebration, still stunned by what had occurred over the past five minutes. The spectator fleet paid its respect through a cacophony of boat horns. Then, the relieved and excited Alinghi crew took up a tow to join in the celebrations in Port America's Cup. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/2ojqpa 32ND AMERICA’S CUP MATCH – FINAL SCORE Challenger: Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 0-1-1-0-0-0-0-_-_ = 2 Defender: Alinghi (SUI) 1-0-0-1-1-1-1-_-_ = 5 * TV schedule: VERSUS will have a replay of the final race from 5:30-8 p.m. ET on July 3rd, while TSN Broadband has archived all the races for later viewing. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar/shows/#6 * Suppliers: Congrats to Scuttlebutt advertisers in their support of Alinghi: Hall Spars & Rigging (mast), Harken (winches and hardware), North Sails (sails), Kaenon Polarized (sunglasses), and of course… UBS (money). * Next Cup: Alinghi has announced that they have identified and signed a Challenger of Record, and that the Protocol for the next America's Cup will be revealed on Thursday. It is widely suspected that Desafio Espanol will be the CoR, and that the Cup will return to Valencia in two years. NO MAN LOVE Gordon Clarke wrote a song in support of Emirates Team New Zealand during the America’s Cup match, and Scuttleblog now has the music file and lyrics posted online. Here is the beginning: Hey, Grant, what’s that you say? We’ve won, but there’s another day. To win again, and rise above. Let’s keep our heads. No man love. No man love No hugs, no kisses. Leave that for nights, alone with the missus. No man love When we cross the line. A nod and a wink will be just fine -- Here is the link for the complete lyrics and to listen to the song: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2007/07/no-man-love.html QUOTES OF THE DAY * Ernesto Bertarelli, President of Alinghi, and Defender of the America’s Cup, on the last four years: “This is definitely bigger and better than last time. It has been much, much harder than I ever thought it would be. I think I was a bit naive in 2003 when I won. I have learnt more about the America’s Cup over the last ten days than I have learnt over the last seven years. It has really been an unbelievable experience in team building – to work with unbelievable people, through highs and lows and we have had a lot of them. I want to thank and mention the whole team. It’s been a real lesson in life; one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and today, besides the birth of my kids, is probably the best day of my life.” * Ernesto Bertarelli, on the 32nd America’s Cup: “Valencia has been a perfect venue for this first America’s Cup in Europe, surely team new Zealand helped, but I don’t think anyone can remember a more exciting match. Every single race was unbelievable. We will be thinking about the future shortly but right now its time to celebrate this victory.” * Ernesto Bertarelli, on winning with and without Russell Coutts: “Winning with Russell in 2003 will be one of the greatest memories ever. The beauty of this one is that it’s completely different - the team, the group, the helmsman, and if I had to pick one I would certainly pick this one, because it’s today and closer, and because it’s been harder. When you have to fight the way we have fought, and pull deep into the team, into each and every individual who was with us over the last four years, it makes it possibly the most fulfilling and the strongest victory, because this time the team has been able to come back from behind. Look at the score! Whenever we were behind everyone in the team pulled together to make it happen. It was everybody’s victory. The harder it gets the better it gets.” * Brad Butterworth, Skipper of Alinghi, on the key moment of the race: “The one second finish was very important.” * Brad Butterworth, on the last run: “Downwind turned a little bit into a minefield. I was a bit in denial that the breeze wasn’t going to hold, but Warwick Fleury did a good job of coaxing us to get the jib up on deck and get things going, and in the end the penalty was worth it. If it hadn’t been for the shift we would have won by over a hundred metres. It was great crew work.” * Brad Butterworth, on what he thought crossing the line: “Please put the blue flag up! - I’ve been lucky with the guys I have sailed with through those past four editions – Dean Phipps, Murray Jones, Warwick Fleury and Simon Daubney and I have sailed together for years, and it’s been a fantastic partnership and friendship. We have ended up in another team and with such a strong group of people. The strength has been fantastic and it has been incredibly fulfilling to sail with the best people in the world and show it in a regatta that has gone to the wire. It’s been different to the 5-0 of the others – it’s been really tough at times. To win against a team we have been so close to shows the strength of our group. It’s very fulfilling. The Cup is getting bigger and better. Defending with TNZ was a fantastic achievement as it hadn’t been defended outside the US, but now 150 years later it is defended in Europe for the first time ever with this team.” * Ed Baird, Helmsman of Alinghi, on the ‘dial down’: “It is something that the whole team has worked on for the past six months or so. Peter Holmberg and I have tried to put each other in as difficult positions as possible, and it lets the guys experience how it’s all going to work out. We’ve made a lot of mistakes over the past six months and we have learnt from everyone. Today coming in there it was fantastic just to feel confident and assured of how it was all going to work. And in the end it did go right for us.” * Ed Baird, on Emirates Team New Zealand: “I was part of TNZ in ’95. It has been amazing to watch the group and team develop over the years. The group has changed substantially but they have shown great strength and prowess on the race course, and developed skill in every area to a very high level. We are very proud to have finished in front of them in this event and it is really a great job done, as it’s not an easy event. It’s not an easy sport; there are a lot of places where things can occur as you saw in the last Cup in Auckland. At any moment disaster can strike - just like it tried to at the finish for us today with the pole breaking and the big wind shift. Its tight, fascinating racing and we have had two great competitors out there this week.” * Grant Dalton, Head of Syndicate Emirate Team New Zealand, his feelings after the race: “The guys have done an amazing job, and right now aren’t feeling that sharp – it’s been a long four years. I am of course enormously proud of them but Alinghi did a better job than us.” * Grant Dalton, on the the 32nd America’s Cup: “We enjoyed the Louis Vuitton but knew it was a just a step along the run to the ultimate prize of the America’s Cup. We didn’t come here to take part, we came here to win it and we haven’t done that. So now we have to re-group and see what the future holds. We don’t have a clue what is going to happen. We have been focussed on the present, and now we just need a bit of time. The New Zealand fans have been absolutely marvellous – so supportive both here in New Zealand and out and I take my hat off to them.” * Terry Hutchinson, Tactician, Emirates Team New Zealand, on the last roll of the dice before the finish: “It was a matter of throwing the dice down, and we threw ‘em down, but just not by enough. That ‘just not by enough’ has been a theme of the last three races. To lead in two of the three of the last races at the top mark, and not win those races, was disappointing.” * Terry Hutchinson, in praise of his team: “An unbelievable team effort. Dalts did a spectacular job. It was nice to be involved with a team that has the amount of character and heart that our teams has. Deano did good work. It was good to be a part of a team that was defeated in the manner that they were to come and fight like we did. And it’s nice to be included in that, 98 have some of the influence in that, and partake in the whole thing. Every now and then you need a couple of breaks to go our way, and in the last couple of races not one really ever went our way, which is a sign of the fact that Alinghi were doing a good job and going well. You can’t say enough about the calibre of that team. Hats off to them.” -- http://tinyurl.com/2o57aq THE LEEWARD GATE (July 3, 2007) The leeward gate was a new feature of the America’s Cup. It proved the undoing of Emirates Team New Zealand. Today the Kiwis repeated the error from the previous race in choosing the left-hand gate and allowing Alinghi to take the right. Although there were many key moments in the most epic race in America’s Cup history, it was this seemingly innocuous part of the course which would later lead to that dial-down and subsequent penalty against the Kiwis. “The one that will haunt me until at least the next America’s Cup is the bottom gate,” Terry Hutchinson admitted. “We came into the bottom on a 138-135 wind direction. So we chose the left gate for the bias and a clean rounding, picked a nice pressure lane, the shift went our way, breeze went back a little right, and yet again they had a little piece of us.” -- SailJuice: http://sailjuice.blogspot.com/2007/07/left-is-long-way-round.html UNFINISHED BUSINESS Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton wants another shot at lifting yachting's America's Cup. Team NZ's latest campaign ended today in a heart-breaking defeat in race seven, when a bad wave they hit just out from the finish line off Valencia allowed Swiss defenders Alinghi to sneak past. The final margin was just one second, but enough to allow Alinghi to complete a 5-2 scoreline and ensure the Cup stayed in Europe. "I've put my name forward and said I would run another challenge and we'll take if from there," Dalton said. -- Full story: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4117243a21895.html LETTERS TO 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, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Bob Leslie, Lakeland FL: (regarding remarks made in Issue 2380) What regatta is Magnus watching? The move we need is "Muzzle Magnus." Although I must admit he is so far off the mark its laughable, he definitely looks like a dill this time. This Cup has been fantastic in every way. Hats off to Versus. Hats off to the Kiwis. I loved it. * From John Wilson, Versus Producer: In response to Howard Williams’s comments regarding Versus commentator Craig Hummer (in Issue 2380), it is easy to sit back and criticize without having to sit in the hot seat. Craig Hummer is an absolute professional. When he was offered this job he knew nothing about sailing and has completely embraced the sport and his role. Part of his job is to build drama. Part of my job as his producer is to encourage him to do that. Are there some cliches? Yes, we are all guilty of using cliches. Our job is to do the best job we can to get people to watch sailing. When this events ends we will all look back with a sense of pride and accomplishment at what we have achieved. When I personally look back, I will fondly reflect on a new friendship with one of the best people and most promising broadcasters I have ever worked with. * From John Baker: Regarding the America's Cup, and the apparent Louis Vuitton dissatisfaction with the big-money angle, why not: 1. Do away with all those techie gadgets I see somebody looking through all the time, and the computers, and the input from wind bouys, and let them depend on the guy up the mast, like a sailor of old up in the crow's nest, and 2. Consider what the Tour de France does when the yellow jersey, if leading, goes down for some wacky reason (like a fan knocking him down accidentally, or a pin hole in a tire ...or a little hole in a spinnaker?): the leaders wait for the leader to catch back up and get back in the position he was in before it happened. In other words, do away with all this hi-tech stuff and let's see whose boat is faster and who reads the shifts from the cockpit (or masthead). CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Three friends from the local congregation were asked, "When you're in your casket, and friends and congregation members are mourning over you, what would you like them to say?" Artie was first to say, "I would like them to say I was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man." Eugene then commented, "I would like them to say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge difference in people's lives." Al considered what the others said and then replied, "I'd like them to say, ‘Look, he's moving!’" Through the excitement of the 32nd America's Cup, Scuttlebutt is grateful for the support by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender - AND WINNER - of the 32nd America's Cup. |
