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SCUTTLEBUTT 2848 - Wednesday, May 20, 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 The Pirate’s Lair and North Sails. FROM THE PENTHOUSE TO THE OUTHOUSE (May 19, 2009, Day 4) This one is going to take some ‘splainin’. The Volvo Ocean Race fleet was on their dash to Ireland, but first they were seeking the points provided at the north-south scoring gate that was due east, dead ahead. The plan was to head for the gate, and continue on to the finish. Simple, right? Wrong! Just beyond the gate was an ice exclusion zone, and the only way around it was to turn hard right to the south. Here is where it gets tricky. As the fleet reached toward the gate on starboard, the wind went forward. The leaders were to the north, and while they were still aiming at the gate, their upwind angle had them ahead and to leeward of the fleet. But they were more to leeward than they were ahead, so when the boats to weather decided to change their tactic and sail higher/better angles to help get around the zone and not sail directly for the gate, it became a game changing move. When Telefonica Blue crossed the scoring gate thirty seconds ahead of PUMA, she padded her lead on the shoe boat by another half point. However, now both boats needed to tack to avoid the ice exclusion zone, and thus began their descent from the penthouse to the outhouse. First Ericsson 4 crossed clean in front, then Telefonica Black, then Delta Lloyd and finally ... PUMA and Telefonica Blue did just scrape ahead of Green Dragon, but not by much. Since then the fleet has been sailing upwind in 14 knot winds from the SE, short-tacking the western side of the zone, trying to get to the zone’s southern face so they can begin to aim again toward the finish in Galway. -- Excerpts from Event Website. To view what happened, go to the Race tracker (link below) and click the ‘back’ arrow. * Early Monday morning, Ericsson 3 collided with a whale, hitting it with both the keel and the daggerboard, with the boat came to a complete stop. A visual inspection revealed the keel fin fairings were damaged or off in a big area, and the daggerboard had also been significantly damaged by the impact, both of which should affect their speed for the rest of the leg. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/E3-05-19-09 * The auction for the autographed Scuttlebutt t-shirt, which was signed by all the skippers competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008/9 at the Boston stopover, will close this Friday (9:00 am PT). This is a one-of-a-kind item, and 100% of the proceeds for this item going to the Traverse Area Community Sailing. Post your bid here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/auction * 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. Teams are now on the 2,550 nm transatlantic Leg 7 from Boston to Galway, Ireland that started May 16th and is expected to finish by May 23rd. Current positions (as of May 19, 22:15 GMT): 1. Ericsson 4 (SWE), Torben Grael/BRA, 1,789 nm Distance to Finish 2. Telefonica Black (ESP), Fernando Echavarri/ESP, 2 nm Distance to Leader 3. Delta Lloyd (IRL), Roberto Bermudez/ESP, 4 nm DTL 4. PUMA (USA), Ken Read/USA, 4 nm DTL 5. Telefónica Blue (ESP), Bouwe Bekking/NED, 5 nm DTL 6. Green Dragon (IRL/CHN), Ian Walker/GBR, 10 nm DTL 7. Ericsson 3 (SWE), Magnus Olsson/SWE, 14 nm DTL Team Russia (RUS), Andreas Hanakamp/AUT, Did Not Start Event website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org Race tracker: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE QUALITY OF WEATHER FORECASTS During the Boston stopover, Volvo Ocean Race navigators took part in a workshop on QuikSCAT hosted by NOAA, NASA and Sailing Weather Services at the American Meteorological Society in Boston. QuikSCAT is the satellite wind-measuring device that works through scatterometry. A scatterometer is a microwave radar sensor used to measure the reflection or scattering effect produced while scanning the surface of the earth from an aircraft or a satellite. The SeaWinds Scatterometer aboard QuikSCAT is designed specifically to measure ocean near-surface wind speed and direction. SeaWinds uses a rotating dish antenna with two spot beams that sweep in a circular pattern. The antenna radiates microwave pulses across broad regions on Earth’s surface. The instrument will collect data over ocean, land and ice in a continuous, 1,800-kilometer-wide band, making approximately 400,000 measurements and covering 90 percent of Earth’s surface in one day. At the meeting, Ericsson Racing Team Meteorologist Chris Bedford showed examples of how well observed conditions from the boat on Leg 6 from Rio de Janeiro to Boston matched up with the QuikSCAT data. However, QuikSCAT is in its final throes. It was launched in 1999 as a three-year mission, and has far exceeded its intended lifespan. NOAA would like to replace the satellite and, in conjunction with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, is studying several ways of going forward. -- Excerpts from complete story: http://tinyurl.com/QuikSCAT-5-19-09 * Note from Chris Bedford; “NOAA and NASA need some publicity as they submit funding requests for the next generation QuikSCAT. It is an enormously important tool and directly related to quality of the forecasts and warnings available to shipping, cruising, and racing around the world.” MOUNT GAY RUM BURGEES NOW AVAILABLE AT THE PIRATES LAIR Let your rum flag fly! This flag measures 18x24 is double-walled and printed on both sides. Order now for this limited edition. For purchasing information, log on to http://www.pirateslair.com/store/index.html PROPER COURSE IS STILL IN THE RULE BOOK by Jos M Spijkerman, Netherlands, International Judge, Umpire Here's a question for all you Racing Rules of Sailing experts out there… When do you have to sail your proper course? There are five rules where proper course is mentioned. Most sailors will know the first one: Rule 17 - On The Same Tack; Proper Course If a boat clear astern becomes overlapped within two of her hull lengths to leeward of a boat on the same tack, she shall not sail above her proper course while they remain on the same tack and overlapped within that distance, unless in doing so she promptly sails astern of the other boat. This rule does not apply if the overlap begins while the windward boat is required by rule 13 to keep clear. The rule does not restrict your course in sailing lower than your proper course….. therefore in answer to the question: You don't have to sail your proper course. -- Read on: http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/2009/05/rules-answer-for-tillerman.html COMMUNITY SAILING UPDATE A new $2.5 million building for the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center will permit the center to begin classes earlier in spring and extend them into the fall, said Peter Rieck, executive director of the center. Construction is slated to start in June and be completed by next spring, with the new building providing six times the space as the center's current lakefront home. The center is at the south end of the McKinley Marina in Veterans Park. The two-story, 6,000-square-foot structure will house two classrooms, offices and a large community room, as well as provide the 32-year-old center with its first indoor bathrooms. The $2.5 million for the building was raised starting in 2005, when it became clear the center had outgrown its 900-square-foot quarters, she said. The center has a fleet of 80 boats and teaches sailing to children and adults. -- Complete story: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/44103507.html --------------------------------------------- A Bridgeport-based group (in Connecticut) that brings sailing to low-income children has won the Northeast Regional Award of $5,000 for the Interlux Waterfront Challenge. During the summer of 2008, 60 youngsters from economically-disadvantaged families were exposed to the joys of sailing through the Connecticut Community Boating (CCB) program. The CCB, spearheaded by Capt. Chris German, established the first and only community boating fleet in 40 years in Bridgeport. The program will continue during the upcoming summer as well, and the goals this year are to reach 600 students, obtain a fleet of boats, refurbish the docks at Pleasure Beach, and involve as many members of the community in these efforts as possible. German said the CCB gave participating youth “the chance to use Long Island Sound in a recreationally-passive and environmentally-friendly manner for the lowest cost in Long Island Sound. Plus, we collected some 400 bags of garbage and debris and kept it from washing into Seaside Park and Pleasure Beach.” -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/Interlux-5-19-09 WATSON NO AVERAGE TEEN The man who donated a yacht for (Australian) 16-year-old Jessica Watson's solo around-the-world record attempt agrees with family groups that a regular teenager shouldn't embark on such an arduous trip alone. But Watson is no regular teenager, according to Australian adventurer Don McIntyre. Indeed McIntyre, a veteran of 40 years' sailing experience, said the Sunshine Coast schoolgirl reminded him of another ambitious teenager he mentored - Jesse Martin. Family groups were quick to question the wisdom of Watson's attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo non-stop around the world, saying it was "irresponsible". Watson recently announced she would leave Brisbane in September and cover the 23,000-nautical mile voyage in eight months, ensuring she breaks the record set by fellow Australian Martin in 1999 at 18. "I tend to agree with them (family groups) entirely,” McIntyre told AAP. "If, and only if, it was your average 16-year-old girl who just jumped off the bed, left her Barbie dolls behind and left on a boat to sail around the world. It would be a total disaster. But fortunately that is not the case." -- Sydney Morning Herald, read on: http://tinyurl.com/SMH-5-19-09 YOU HAVE QUESTIONS... NORTH HAS ANSWERS! What can I do about mildew? How can I point higher? Is my mainsail the right shape? How can I improve my downwind speed? Should I convert to a FullBatten mainsail? If you've got a sail question, log on to our newly launched North Sails Q&A and get it answered by an expert North Sails sail consultant, sail designer or sail care specialist. Whether you race or cruise, we'll help make your sailing better... http://na.northsails.com WINDSURFING - WHERE IT’S BEEN & WHERE IT’S GOING By Bruce Matlack, Southwinds Windsurfing was born in the flower child era, and like most of the flower children, it has survived and matured. The industry nearly put itself out of business by getting too specialized, putting the original long boards and flower children who rode them out to pasture. In relative obscurity, long boards were kept alive over the years, mainly as an Olympic sailing class beginning in 1984. Here is the story (by Bruce Matlack, first National and World Windsurfing Champion) explaining its pitches and yaws along the way, and why Southwinds readers might want to give windsurfing a second look, especially if they took that one-time plunge many years ago and tried the sport. -- Read on: (begins on Page 42) http://www.southwindsmagazine.com/pdfs/southwindsmay2009.pdf SAILING SHORTS * Barring unforeseen problems with needed approvals, construction could begin next spring on two (Chicago) city harbors that would expand the number of mooring spaces for recreational boaters by about 20 percent and bring in more tourism dollars, Chicago Park District officials say. -- Chicago Tribune, read on: http://tinyurl.com/ChiTrib-5-19-09 * Three hurricane names in the Atlantic and one in the eastern North Pacific were retired from the official name rotation by the World Meteorological Organization's hurricane committee because of the deaths and damage they caused in 2008. The names Gustav, Ike and Paloma in the Atlantic and Alma in the North Pacific will not be used again. Those names would have been used again in 2014. In their place will be Gonzalo, Isaias and Paulette in the Atlantic and Amanda in the North Pacific. -- Trade Only, read on: http://tinyurl.com/rydz8l * The ten international skippers for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race have been unveiled. They will each skipper one of the ten stripped down, 68-foot racing yachts which are preparing to compete in the 35,000-mile challenge, the only global ocean race open to everyone, regardless of background and sailing ability. -- Full report: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/index.php/race_news/?item=549 * At 13:35:00 GMT (0735 local) today (19/05), in a chilly, 30 knot north-easterly breeze, the Class 40 team of Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson on Team Mowgli crossed the Charleston finish line as the final finisher of Leg 4 in the Portimão Global Ocean Race, taking 23 days 21 hours 35 minutes and 00 seconds to complete the 4,800 mile leg from Ilhabela, Brazil, to South Carolina. The 3,500 mile final leg from Charleston to Portimão, Portugal will start May 31, 2009. -- http://www.portimaoglobaloceanrace.com SNG MEMBERSHIP UPDATE The following letter was sent to the membership of the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), home of the America’s Cup defender Alinghi team: Please find hereby below an update on the America's Cup judicial situation following the decisions taken by the Supreme Court in New York on Thursday, May 14. 1. The match date must be set within the framework of a mediation that must also take into consideration the possibility of Circolo Vela Gargnano challenging us alongside the Golden Gate Yacht Club. If the match date cannot be set through mediation, the 33rd America's Cup match must take place in February 2010. 2. The match date prevails over the venue of the match, which means that the regatta date in February 2010 doesn't oblige your club to defend the America's Cup in the southern hemisphere, as required by the Deed of Gift though. The choice of the venue is within the Defender's province and as a result of your club's. 3. The GGYC must present its Customs Certificate as soon as possible or might be disqualified. According to the Court, the GGYC was hidden behind the notion "as soon as possible" during almost a year, which is unacceptable, but more importantly, the judge has confirmed that their Customs Certificate must correspond exactly to the boat measurements described in the notice of Challenge of July 2007, that is a boat 90 feet by 90 feet. -- Valencia Sailing, read on: http://tinyurl.com/VS-SNG-5-19-09 * Supreme Court transcript from May 14th: http://tinyurl.com/r2q4p4 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 Peter Harken: Michael Borga put it best regards "Sponsorship" (in Scuttlebutt 2846). I have found in my many years of regatta experience throughout the World, the French are by far the best at understanding the word "sponsorship" and how to use it and deliver to the sponsor so they keep coming back and back and creating fantastic events with huge public spectatorship. We in the US sailing community, in general, still don't seem to really know the difference between "sponsorship" and a "gift". Sponsorship is simply a business transaction - you ask a company for a dollar and in return you need to give a dollar's worth back. Fair is fair! If you ask for a dollar and give nothing back, you simply are asking for a "gift". So, if a yacht club is asking a company like mine to be a sponsor for so much money or like kind, we need a like's worth return or we are stupid and deserve to go broke! In such cases in our sponsored sailing world, a company’s return is in advertizing or exposure - like 99% of all sponsored sporting events. If you don't want to so call "clutter" your yacht clubs with advertising banners and such, then pay for the event with your own monies, but don't ask a company for Sponsorship and offer bad value return. I "gift" to charities and ask for no return. Yacht clubs and regatta events are not charities! Good sponsorship is okay, and if not pay your own way. The Corinthian spirit with good club volunteerism plus some sponsorship makes regattas very affordable so both are A-OK!-- Forum: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7507#7507 * Pete Hoffmann, Chula Vista, CA: (re, “Corinthian" sailing in Scuttlebutt 2847) I was 16 years old and the first “big boat” I ever raced on was Dean Morrison’s Rhodes 33, St. Francis 111 on San Francisco Bay. At the time that was a “Big Boat” coming up from Blue Jays on Lake Merritt. We were trying to pass another boat to weather and brushed him with our spinnaker. No one on either boat said a word except Dean, who said, “Ok boys, let’s go home,” where we dropped the sail and headed back to the barn. That made a huge impression on me and I have never forgotten it. I believe it is import to consider the impact we have on younger sailors and the future of the sport. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION My next house will have no kitchen - just vending machines and a large trash can. Special thanks to The Pirate’s Lair and North Sails. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
