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SCUTTLEBUTT 2295 – March 7, 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). DELLENBAUGH TO LEAD GERMANS Only three weeks before the beginning of Louis Vuitton Act 13 in Valencia, America's Cup winner David Dellenbaugh has been appointed to the position of tactician in the United Internet Team Germany. Former tactician Henrik Blakskjær will now strengthen the team as a pitman. “The position of a tactician is crucial on board. With David Dellenbaugh we appoint the most experienced tactician in our team,” says Head of Syndicate Michael Scheeren. Until now the American Dellenbaugh has been available to the team part-time only. However, the 53 years old Dellenbaugh moved his domicile to Spain in February 2007 and is now able to support the team until the end of the America's Cup. “I am very happy to see David in this position. His experience will help to make our team even stronger in the upcoming races”, says skipper Jesper Bank. David Dellenbaugh already participated in several America’s Cup campaigns successfully: For the first time he was the tactician in the US team Heart of America in the America’s Cup in 1987. He won the desired trophy as a tactician and starting helmsman in 1992 on the winning yacht America3. Three years later Dellenbaugh again participated as a tactician in the US team Mighty Mary. -- http://tinyurl.com/2mcvab A STRANGELY SILENT US-IRC How long has it been since anybody answered the phone at US-IRC? Maybe you know something I don't, but my personal count is over a month, and yes, I left messages. Having waved the flag for IRC a time or two, and being of the opinion that racing in the USA is better off with IRC, I'm a bit perturbed at the lack of obvious momentum. No, we don't expect the ranks of IRC-rated boats to continue growing as rapidly as they did when the rule was introduced, but it's not a good sign to go to US-IRC.org three months into 2007 and see the web site touting IRC Rules for 2006 Explained, or 2006 Acura Key West, 2006 Acura Miami, 2006 Bayview Mackinac, 2005 Annapolis to Newport, 2005 Rolex Big Boat Series, 2005 Marblehead to Halifax . . . You get the idea. There's also the 2007 Gulf Stream Series on the home page, but those announcements were posted in fall, 2006. It's not easy keeping up with these things from my cabana here on the California strand. But if, as I hear it from my friends on the Mysterious East Coast, Barry Carroll resigned from the US-IRC Management Committee a while back, wouldn't it be better to say so rather than leave it to the street to spread the word? And if not, answer the phone? -- by Kimball Livingston, West Coast Editor, SAIL Magazine, full story: http://sailmag.com/US-IRC DAY THREE: DUELING GOLD STARS When you win the Star Worlds, you have the option of replacing the standard Red Star class logo with a Gold Star. Call it a badge of honor, and perhaps a means to intimidate. So with current Bacardi Cup leaders Hamish Pepper and David Giles (NZL) also being the most recent World Champions too, they might be figuring that the reflection of their shiny Gold Star could give them a bit of help. However, at the start of Race 3 of the Star Bacardi Cup, Pepper and Giles had only to look up on their hip to see another Gold Star in the fleet, that being their closest competition in the regatta, Freddie Loof and Anders Ekstrom (SWE). For the next 10.5-mile race, despite the presence of 75 other boats, these two Gold Stars began their battle royale, with the outcome continuing as it has been of late – and a rarity in a class so deep with talent – as the Kiwis maintained their lead position in both the race and in the series. -- Read Lynn Fitzpatrick’s leg-by-leg account in her Bacardi Cup daily diary on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/StarBacardiCup Preliminary results after three races (top ten of 77 boats) 1. NZL, Hamish Pepper/ David Giles, 2-3-1, 6 points 2. SWE, Fredrik Loof/ Anders Ekstrom, 8-2-2, 12 3. AUS, Ian Murray / Andrew Palfrey, 6-5-6, 17 4. POL, Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Dominik Zycki, 4-9-7, 20 5. BER, Peter Bromby / Bill McNiven, 5-11-10, 26 6. GER, Matthias Miller/ Manuel Voigt, 7-7-17, 31 7. USA, George Szabo/ Magnus Liljedahl, 15-15-4, 34 8. AUT, Hans Spitzauer/ Christian Nehammer 14 [AVG]-17-11, 42 9. CRO, Marin Lovrovic/ Sinisa Mikulicic, 19-12-13, 44 10. SUI, Flavio Marazzi/ Donat Hofer, 14-4-27, 45 Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/3278pr EVER SET EYES ON YOUR STORM TRYSAIL? Learn to use storm sails without the cutting spray or howling wind of a full gale. UK-Halsey has just posted a 12-minute video on using storm sails, narrated by Storm Trysail Club’s Past Commodore Richard du Moulin. It’s the latest in our series of online safety at sea videos. Viewing is free (after logging on). Watch it, practice in normal conditions, mark all the settings, and then go offshore with less to worry about. Previous videos cover the Quick Stop, with and without a spinnaker, and using a life raft. These videos, our animated Rules Quizzes, and much more at http://www.ukhalsey.com NAUTICAL WACKOS NEED NOT CALL FOR HELP I don’t know about you, but I tend to sleep fairly peacefully. By that, I mean that I don’t have many nightmares and I can usually trace those few nightmares to an overdose of Shakey’s pizza, a Dunkin’ Donuts hyper-caffeinated frappe right before bedtime, or the heebie-jeebies two days before income tax deadline. But if I did have a nightmare, it would go something like this: I am alone in the middle of the ocean, perhaps 1,000 miles from the nearest land. No one knows where I am and I have no way of contacting anyone. I am aboard a 20-foot Tornado class catamaran, which is a handful for two competent sailors on an afternoon race, let alone singlehanded in the middle of the ocean. I am sailing in 30- to 40-knot wind and rough seas, not for a few hours, but for days on end. I have no water, no food and no medicine. It is night, and there is cloud cover and no stars. I have only a toy compass, but no flashlight to see it. Oh, yes, I have poor vision but I have no glasses, so I can barely see the end of the catamaran, let alone the sails. Get the picture? This is clearly a Technicolor nightmare that would have you sitting bolt upright in bed at 3 a.m., covered with sweat and trembling. This is a nightmare that wasn’t a dream. It was reality for a 40-year-old Italian named Francesco Di Benedetto who decided that he wanted to cross an ocean, the Atlantic Ocean to be precise. His Web site notes that he has 10 years of offshore experience, but he has something even more important: a mutant gene in the family pool. -- by Chris Caswell, Sailing Magazine, full story: http://www.sailingmagazine.net/onthewind.html NEW AND IMPROVED Telling the media about the latest gadget is one way sailing suppliers hope to gain free publicity. Rather than making the newsletter longer to accommodate these product updates, all these announcements will now be posted in a new category on the Forum called – you guessed it – New Product Announcements. This will be the place for companies to post their product news, and for the Scuttlebutt reader to stay in touch with what’s soon to come to the stores. Here is the link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/products SAILING SHORTS * The Etchells class is seeking any information on the large powerboat that sped across Biscayne Bay last Saturday, causing the breaking wake that led to the dismasting during the Midwinter Championship of entrant Oscar Strugstad. Witnesses should contact Class Secretary Bunny Wayt at mailto:etchells@att.net * (March 6, 2007) Tuesday was the second day of racing at the J/24 UBS World Championship, hosted by the Vallarta Yacht Club in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. Event updates are coming in later than our evening publishing time, but we are using the Forum to post the race news as it arrives. Top American contender Mike Ingham is submitting reports, so check back often: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/J24Worlds * Hamilton, Bermuda (6 March 2007) Blythe Walker, Katrina Williams, and Joshua Greenslade were named, respectively, the Bermuda Sailing Association (BSA) 2006 Omega Male, Female and Youth Sailors of the Year. The BSA Board of Governors, using nominations made by the BSA membership, selected these sailors for this distinctive honour. -- Full report: http://bermuda.sailingassociation.net/news/6146 * The Notice of Race for the 2007 Olympic Test Event, the ISAF Grade 2 Qingdao International Regatta is now available. The Qingdao Olympic Sailing Centre will host the regatta from 9-24 August, with racing on Fushan Bay from 15-23 August. -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j19FnAu/~&format=popup * The early discount entry deadline for this summer's 44th biennial Transpacific Yacht Race to Honolulu is the end of this week, Friday, March 9. Competitors signing up online and mailing their entry fee postmarked no later than March 9 will save 18-25%, depending on boat size. Also, a $50 discount will apply to the entry fee of an owner/ charterer who is a current member of US Sailing. A Transpac seminar for prospective ocean racers is scheduled Saturday, March 31, at Los Angeles Yacht Club in San Pedro, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. -- http://www.transpacificyc.org * While good winds at the beginning of the Newport Beach, CA to Cabo San Lucas (Mexico) Race helped the 51-boat fleet get out of the blocks and on their way south, race leaders are now reporting winds to be extremely light. Jim Madden, on race leader Stark Raving Mad, said on Tuesday afternoon, “This has been one of the slowest races to Cabo. While we'd hoped to finish on Monday or Tuesday, we're more likely to finish now late Wednesday or early Thursday - this is all wind dependent.” Look for results and reports (now) online at http://www.07caborace.org * North Sails has partnered with Sailing Weather Services to provide free weather forecasts for the 2007 Acura Miami Grand Prix (March 8-11), starting with an event overview on Wednesday, March 7. To receive these daily forecasts via email, please log on to North Sails' Weather Center: http://na.northsails.com/ew/ew_main.taf * If you are in Miami on Thursday, March 8, 2007, plan on attending a presentation by Jerry Kirby, where he will relive his thrilling experiences from the 2006 Volvo Ocean Race aboard The Pirates of the Caribbean. The presentation will include wild action videos with a compelling onboard view of the treacherous ride through the world's roughest waters and nature's most hostile weather. Jerry will talk about both sailing and the personal challenges of participating in the world's premier ocean race. Show time is 6:00 – 7:00 pm at the Shake-A-Leg Miami, 2620 South Bayshore Drive. If possible, e-mail mailto:tracy@shakealegmiami to RSVP. * The city of Alicante has today been confirmed as the venue for the opening event in the Breitling MedCup Circuit 2007. The southern Spanish city will host the City of Alicante Trophy from 13 to 17 June 2007. -- http://www.medcup.org * Almost 150 international Olympic teams from 21 nations are currently training in the Bay of Palma, with their aim being to prepare for the Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia - Mapfre to be held from 31 March to 6 April. Around 1,700 competitors and over 1,000 boats representing twelve classes (eleven Olympic classes and the Dragon as invited class) are being expected for this ISAF Grade 1 event. The 38th edition of the regatta will also be the Tornado Class European Championships. See photo of training center: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0306 NO SUCH THING AS BAD WEATHER... There's only bad clothing! Stay warm and dry with the best sailing gear from Team One Newport. Start with first layers from Patagonia (be sure to look at the new wool underwear!) and Slam, then a second layer from Gill or Henri-Lloyd. For your waterproof layer, look at the Team One Newport Signature Dry Suit or one from Musto. If you are on a high school or college Sailing Team, email mailto:Gretchen@team1newport.com for your copy of the Scholastic Program. For all the new products from Team One Newport, visit http://www.team1newport.com or call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) and talk to one of their Experts! 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 James Dadd, RORC Chief Measurer: (regarding Michael Millard's response in Issue 2294 to Russell Painton) I normally wouldn’t comment on hearsay, but, it is interesting how many people have concluded that the IRC Technical Committee (rather than the IRC Policy Steering Group) calculated the rating effects for carrying a ‘spinnoa’ using purely subjective methods. As part of that technical committee, I can assure you all that this was not, and never is, the approach taken. We looked into the effects using all the tools available to us, as well as discussing them with a wide section of industry experts, with whom we have had long standing relations. From this the committee draws its conclusions as to the best approach and the rating software is updated. The dimensions of any such sail are then input and the rating effects are dealt with within the program. Contrary to popular belief, we didn’t just ‘pin the tail on the donkey’. * From Cory E. Friedman: (from the Bacardi Cup report in Issue 2294) Go Jock! From 1999, when my sons sailed in the first Orange Bowl JO Club 420 fleet, until 2004 when my younger son sailed his last Orange Bowl in a Laser, we trekked to Miami every Christmas season. Every year, Jock, as Manager of the Sailing Center, kept the mushrooming event under control with unflappable good humor, even after a pretty terrible cycling accident. Few could have managed the chaos without a raised voice, as Jock did. Seeing the picture of him (and his crew) edging out Freddy Loof for first in a Bacardi race was the nicest thing I've seen in a long time and proof that sometimes nice guys finish first. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/StarBacardiCup/#mar5 * From John Potter: In Issue 2294, Mike Levesque asked what other tricks/tools RC’s were using to avoid resorting to the Black Flags option as used for the first race at the Star Bacardi Cup. Here are some: -- Make it a no-throw-out regatta. -- Never run a start without at least the one-minute rule (the "I" flag) in effect. With the one minute rule in effect you can start taking numbers, well, a minute before the start. Additionally, you can keep accurate track of boats that redeem themselves, rather than trying to determine if an OCS boat had properly dipped and restarted. -- At about 40 boats, it's time to think about a mid-line boat. Put the signal boat in the middle and have mark-boats on both sides. Now you have eight instead of four eye balls ferreting out miscreants. -- At about 40 boats, it's time to think about bow numbers. * From John Hammel: (Regarding Mike Levesque's question about line management) In large, agressive fleets I tried to err on the side of having the line favored away from the favored side of the course, to encourage the fleet to spread out along the line (making sure, of course, that the line was big enough for all boats). I used a pin boat rather than a pin, and gave the Pin RC the authority to call boats over. I used the I-flag liberally, with aggressive use of loudspeakers to hail those over early in the final minute which helped to make the others more cautious, and when there was a significant current pushing boats over the line, I shared my Valium with everyone. * From Don Allen; International Sailor; Canadian; Not RCYC: The Canada’s Cup has always been a well-kept secret. The hardest sailing series to put on the water. A cup series that features the best action in yacht club boardrooms. Fraught with more shifts than the race course. A Canadian Conspiracy? No way. Just typical RCYC. What a joke to lay blame on Terry McLaughlin; They are in a dispute! The Defending boat has not been named! Where is Terry in all this? RCYC members lack interest. That should be true. RCYC has gone the way of most Toronto sailing clubs. They have lost the money members interested in yacht racing. RCYC is just too proud to admit this. Have never been interested in asking other local clubs to form a "Defending Canadian Syndicate." Now that is the place to use Canadian. "Eh" looks good on you RCYC. * From Randy Singelyn: While the race website is weak, my daily updates for the Newport Beach, CA to Cabo San Lucas (Mexico) Race are coming from the NM 68 ‘Denali’ website, and contain some very humorous “day-in-the-life of”... during the race. An update the other day said: "At last report we were without a water maker. Well the boys spent about three hours completely taking apart the mechanics and rebuilding the pump. The outcome was pure clean water. That’s the good news. Joe immediately took advantage of our new found fortunes and started to brew up some water so we could eat some hot freeze dried foods….yummy! Well 20 minutes into it the stove stopped working. After further inspection, the propane tank was found to have a leak (thank good no smoking), but now we are out of propane so time to improvise once again. Next time we charge our batteries, we will put some pots on the engine and warm water. Who says we can’t think on our feet." Previous stories include spearing a 2-meter Sunfish, and retrieving a dropped reaching strut. Updates posted at http://www.denalisailing.com CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “My wife uses fabric softener. I never knew what that stuff was for. Then I noticed women coming up to me, sniffing, then saying under their breath, "Married!" and walking away. Fabric softeners are how our wives mark their territory. We can take off the ring, but it's hard to get that April Fresh scent out of our clothes.” - Andy Rooney Special thanks to UK-Halsey Sailmakers and Team One Newport. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
