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SCUTTLEBUTT 2839 - Thursday, May 7, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Today's sponsors are Ullman Sails and Harken Yacht Equipment. BRINGING SENSE TO THE NONSENSE By John Rousmaniere In the talk I gave at the recent America’s Cup Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on April 30, 2009, I encouraged the Cup’s powers to (1) honor the thousands of fans who love the Cup and its history, and (2) lighten up. The second job was made easier when my friends Tom Ehman of Oracle and Brad Butterworth of Alinghi took seats at opposite sides of the podium. Below is a slightly revised version of the talk, which was held on April 30th in the model room of New York Yacht Club in Manhattan. --------------------------------------------------------------------- “Welcome to the most glorious indoors space in New York, the most famous place in yachting, and the heart and soul of the America’s Cup and its fans. We are in the model room of the New York Yacht Club, and we’re going to have a little fun. “This room is the centerpiece of the clubhouse, which was built in 1901 by J. Pierpont Morgan and designed by an architect, Whitney Warren, who understood that sailors at heart are romantics. The appropriate reaction to this room - with its hundreds of models and its grinning sea monsters and its great drapes of seaweed - should be delight and laughter, not shock and awe. As one visitor observed, ‘Except for the absence of motion, one might fancy oneself at sea.’” -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0506 => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Great read, and nice to hear that despite the back tie dress code, John pulled no punches as his talk included Tom the Unlawyer, Brad and the Grammarians, beheaded NYYC commodores, and the advice Ted Turner once gave Dennis Conner. THREE RACES IN THREE DAYS Annapolis, MD (May 6, 2009; Day 3) - With continued light air, this time from the southeast, the sailors competing in the 2009 J/24 World Championship saw only one race completed, and although the air went nearly flat in mid-race, the time limit was met and everyone was able to finish. The conditions did result in some startling upsets for some of the early leaders, while those who were able to capitalize on good decisions early made out well. Taking second in the day's race was Washingtonian Tony Parker, whose Bangor Packet team moved to the top of the 79-boat fleet. Sailing with Parker, a long-time J/24 veteran with plenty of successes on his resume, are Dave Schoene, Geoff Ewenson, John McCabe, and Mattie Farrar. "With the breeze as light as it was, we knew the current was going to be the biggest factor,” Ewenson said. “The left side had more favorable current, and we found a fortuitous breeze line halfway up the first beat. We really worked hard to play the left side, and it turned into a one-way race track up that side." Charlie Enright (USA) aboard Talking Heads won the lone race, and has now moved up to 9th overall. Racing will continue through Friday. A worst-race throwout will factor into the scoring once a total of five races has been reached. Wind forecasts for Thursday and Friday are more favorable, so that goal should be attained or exceeded by the regatta's end. -- Complete recap: http://tinyurl.com/2009-J-24-WORLDS-5-6-09 Provisional Results, Day 3 (top 5 of 79) 1. Bangor Packet, Anthony Parker, USA, 5-22-2 = 29 2. Glaceau Vitaminwater, Jorge Xavier Murireta, MEX, 16-10-5 = 31 3. Clear Air, Rossi Milev, Mississauga, CAN, 21-5-6 = 34 4. Three Bond, Tetsuya Matsunaga, JPN, 12-3-23 = 38 5. Fiamma Gialla, Andrea Casale, ITA, 21-9-8 = 38 Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/J24Worlds-Results T2P video: http://www.t2p.tv/guide/j24w09.php SailGroove video: http://tinyurl.com/SailGroove-J24-Worlds-2009 * Chuck Allen, North Sails: “The conditions have been just awful for a World Championship, as there was no racing Tuesday and we barely got one in today under the time limit and waited around to see if the southerly flow would fill, faking us out for a couple of hours. Today was raced in an average of 3 knots with the same amount of current pushing towards the weather mark. I thought for sure there would be a general with the current pushing us over but only two boats were called, one being Anthony Kotoun, who was running second going in. Downwind into the current proved to be slow and torturous… we decided to keep going into the current sailing way passed the gates and it worked out well as we caught a free ride back towards the marks passing a huge clump of boats.” -- Complete report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7434#7434 POWERED UP IN FLYING SCOTS The Pontchartrain Yacht Club team proved their skill in Flying Scots last weekend, winning the GYA Opening Regatta in Bay Waveland, Mississippi, by a commanding six points ahead of second place. Fully powered by Ullman Sails, the team of Rob Doolittle, Collin Ross, Brock Schmidt and Ullman loft owner David Bolyard showed consistency throughout the event. In breezes of 15-22 knots, they stayed in the top two positions in all three races, earning Pontchartrain YC the Schieb Trophy for only the second time in the club’s 41-year history. Make an investment in your performance. Visit Ullman Sails at http://www.ullmansails.com ON THE JOB TRAINING Boston, MA (May 6, 2009) - The media crew role was instituted for the first time in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. It's not an easy job, with extreme working conditions. It was never going to be easy for Anton Paz to be Telefonica Black's media crewmember. The Galician is an Olympic champion, a man with incredible sporting gifts but a media background that didn't stretch far beyond giving interviews. So when he received a call to come to Rio de Janeiro and take the role of rookie reporter, it wasn't the most natural fit. "I am only now learning the media," he adds. "I am used to sailing the Tornado. This job is very different." That it is, not least in the type of sailing. Passing lines of longitude and latitude - not buoys - being one notable difference for a 32-year-old who only started the job during the Rio de Janeiro stopover. "I think the longest I had been offshore before was about one or two days," he says. "This was a lot longer." Roughly 16 days, in fact. "There is a lot to get used to," he says. "For the first few days I was down below a lot, trying to mend problems I was having with the equipment. I got seasick a bit and it was hard trying to sleep with all the noise from the boats. They are very loud and I was not used to it. And these boats, they move so much when there is wind. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-5-6-09 * VOLVO OCEAN RACE: Began Oct. 4, 2008, crewed around the world race in VO 70’s, with ten distance legs and seven In-Port races. The next event is the Boston In-Port race on May 9th, followed by the 2,550 nm transatlantic Leg 7 from Boston to Galway, Ireland that starts May 16th and is expected to finish by May 23rd. Seven of the eight teams are expected to compete (Team Russia will not compete). Event website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org Race tracking: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 => Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck will be in Boston from May 7-10, getting a close-up look at the Ericsson 4 VO 70 when he rides shotgun with skipper Torben Grael during the practice races on Friday. THE “IRONMAN” COMPETITION FOR SAILORS On May 11th, the 500 mile Tybee 500 race begins from Islamorada, FL, and for six consecutive days will compete in six legs up the Atlantic side of Florida to the finish on May 16th at Tybee Island, GA. There are now 24 teams signed up to compete in either Formula 18 or Inter-20 catamarans. Scuttlebutt checked in with Sean Ferrell, Principal Race Officer, for a quick update: “The number of racers this year is way up from last year. This is probably because the race is getting better known, even on an international level. We have most of the original teams back, but many more teams have been added. This year, we have 24 entries so far, which makes it the second biggest year since the initial year the Worrell race collapsed, and the sailors did our race instead. “The course has changed again this year back to the Islamorada, in the Florida Keys, because of better accommodations for our sailors (the economy might have something to do with this). It also provides a good distance race on the first day. Starting in the Keys actually puts the race up to around 540 nautical miles. All other legs remain the same. “The race means different things for different teams, I think. Some are out to win, but some realize that just to survive, and finish the race means a lot to them personally as sailors. I always say that the Tybee 500 is the “ironman” competition for sailors, and I think many teams would agree.” -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7432 MORE MESSED UP THAN A $2 HAIRCUT * (May 6, 2009) - The Alinghi website has reported that the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) had sent a letter to the Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) on May 5th to invite representatives of the Challenger of Record to Geneva on the May 11th for a follow-up meeting to their previous session on April 23 session. It was during the April session that the America’s Cup defender and Challenger of Record had met to negotiate the terms of the 33rd America’s Cup, and where a significant issue regarding the date of the event could not be resolved. SNG says the Deed of Gift requires the event to be held in May 2010 while GGYC believes the court ruling mandates a February 2010 match. A hearing has been scheduled with the NY Supreme Court on May 14, 2009 to determine when the event shall be held. -- http://www.alinghi.com/en/news/news/index.php?idIndex=200&idContent=19424 * (May 6, 2009) - It should come as no surprise that when the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) began promoting the idea of a multi-challenger America’s Cup using multihulls, that someone would walk through the door and commit to the idea. The challenge of Circolo Vela Gargnano - on the Garda lake (the second one in its history after the participation of +39 Challenge in the 32nd edition) was presented by representatives of Green Comm Challenge. It is not clear whether additional challengers will be permitted for the 33rd America’s Cup, as it would require the event to be delayed further for boat construction and testing and crew training. -- Valencia Sailing, http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/2009/05/circolo-vela-gargnano-presents.html MORE TENSION, LESS STRESS “Knowing your rig tension is everything when you're trying to record and reproduce your fastest settings. Before the Harken Rigtune Pro Digital Gauge, we measured with 3 standard spring gauges simultaneously because the gauges all read differently and changed over time. The Harken gauge is accurate to a single kilogram, readings never change over time, and now we don't have to travel with 3 gauges in our luggage,” says Andy Horton, US Sailing Team Star sailor, Luna Rossa afterguard - Save 20% at http://www.harkenstore.com SAILING SHORTS * (May 6, 2009) - It's tight at the top of the coed college rankings, with just four points separating first-place Georgetown from Boston College. Eight points back, in third, is Yale, who's also at the top of the women's college poll. -- Sailing World, read on: http://tinyurl.com/dhrj3g * Sweden is planning to challenge New York Yacht Club and its classic schooner America for a revenge match from a race that took place 1852 around Isle of Wight. A Swedish sailing syndicate featuring well known sailing profiles like America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race skippers Pelle Petterson and Gurra Krantz announced its plans at a press conference in Stockholm today. -- Read on: http://www.thechallengesverigeamerica.com/en/news/latest-news * (Port Washington, NY) - The 27th Annual Knickerbocker Cup, hosted by the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, will take place on August 26-30, 2009. The Knickerbocker Cup is a qualifier for the World Match Racing Tour, with the winner gaining an automatic entry to compete in the Bermuda Gold Cup, one of the most prestigious match racing events on the Tour. Twelve teams from around the world will be invited to compete in the 2009 Knickerbocker Cup. Deadline for entry requests is July 1st. -- Additional details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7428 * The Swiftsure International Yacht Race, the premiere long distance sailing race in the B.C. and US Pacific Northwest area, is running this year from May 23rd to 25th. Entry deadline is May 11th. -- http://www.swiftsure.org/ * Franck Cammas and his crew on Groupama 3 are now on standby until June 2nd for an attempt at the 458 mile Mediterranean crossing record (Marseilles, France to Carthage, Tunisia). The time to beat is 17 hours 56 minutes 33 seconds, a time set by Bruno Peyron aboard the catamaran Orange II on September 25, 2004 (average speed: 25.53 knots). -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/c6adk2 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). 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 John Williams: (re. multihull story in Scuttlebutt 2838) The challenge is to both keep the member national authorities interested in sending a youth multihull team each year, and to stop flip-flopping between the Hobie 16 with a spinnaker and the SL16 as equipment. Both manufacturers have provided boat to the event, but it has been a little tough to explain to parents of talented young sailors why they need to buy two different boats year to year to qualify. I hope that ISAF can make things easier by removing the politics from the selection process and chosing a single boat that meets the need of developing multihull talent for the event's inevitable return to the Games. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2009/05/multihull-momentum.html * From Andy Rice, SailJuice: (re. multihull story in Scuttlebutt 2838) I’m sure the irony of this is not lost on ISAF President Goran Petersson and the other big cheeses at ISAF. Question is, are they going to do anything about it? After the IRA/ Sinn Fein (terrorism combined with politics) twin-pronged approach by the multihull lobby last year, it has been all quiet on the western front for the past six months since the ISAF Annual Conference in Madrid. But with the Mid year meeting about to take place in Poland, it’s time for ISAF to update us on progress in reinstating the multihull via an 11th medal for Weymouth 2012. With other sports like swimming simply dripping in medal categories, it seems odd that the International Olympic Committee should deny sailing one extra measly medal. Fingers crossed for the multihull brigade that the IOC shows some mercy. -- http://sailjuiceblog.com/2009/05/06/706/ * From Doran Cushing: Browsing the results of the J/24 World, one team name raised a flurry of memories. Team Bomba Charter (Anthony Kotoun from the USVI) borrows its name, I suppose, from the venerable shuttle boat that runs from St. Thomas to the West End in the BVI. My memory is a bit of a personal mockery as I and a friend boarded the "Bomba Charger" for the crossing to a charter vacation in the British side of Caribbean Paradise. The boat accommodates maybe a hundred folks but we were among about a dozen aboard. With crappy American videos on the TV, we departed for the crossing. First I was handed a small paper cup. Shortly thereafter came a gent with a bottle of rum, who amply filled the paper cup. Being the stupid tourist, I began enjoying the beverage and was mostly finished when a second gent came around with the mixer punch. Such was my lovely voyage aboard the "Bomba Charger." Funny how the simplest memories of simple pleasures remain in simple minds. * From Pat Bradley: (re, boating during Vietnam war) There were Lightnings sailing in Danang Harbor in the spring of 1969, but we were at anchor and I couldn’t tell where they were sailing from, so never got to take one out. There also was a Lightning at Cua Viet up by the DMZ, but most of the parts were missing. There were some surfboards under it and a pretty good left break at the river entrance which we surfed once. That beach was “safe to surf.” You can tell that to Robert Duval. * From Ken Bertino: I haven’t thought about Vietnam (Phu Quac) in awhile; least of all sailing out of there. I sort of put back together a Lido 14 with some help and beach launched it. I just sailed it around the bay. It leaked, the sails were trashed, the centerboard rattled around… but it was sailing just like being at home. A little time away from where we were and what it was we were doing there. Every time the lines come back from the dock and I get underway, it is a very special feeling of freedom and peacefulness. I grew up feeling that, I felt it during my time in Vietnam, and it continues to be the best feeling in life. * From D. Randy West, St. Barth: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 2836) Oh, leave Reed Stowe alone, really, he likes it that way… and he is a nut! I have known him for 30 years and remember when he sailed into my island, St. Barth via circumnavigating Antarctica with a last stop before the Caribbean in the Falkland's circa 1979. The Captain du Port didn't think much of him in those days either and demanded he return to his previous port of call! But St. Barth loved him and his nutty sailing escapades and overruled the French Government and allowed him to stay...yeah he's a nut; but God looks after children, drunks and fools and he is all three... kudos to THAT, try the Kool-Aide..... CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION When something is 'new and improved!', which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, so it couldn't be new. Special thanks to Ullman Sails and Harken Yacht Equipment. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
