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SCUTTLEBUTT 2339 – May 8, 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). SWEDISH MEATBALLS VS. SPANISH TAPAS Valencia, 7 May 2007 - When the week began, the Swedish Victory Challenge found itself needing to win its remaining three matches in Round Robin Two to have any hope of qualifying for the Semi Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup. On Monday, the Swedes leapt over the first hurdle, by beating the team they are chasing, Desafío Español 2007. Each team now has two matches left. Any combination of either a Spanish win or Swedish loss will see the home Spanish in the Semi Final. In other matches, Emirates Team New Zealand stayed in the hunt to overhaul the top point getter, BMW Oracle Racing, with a win over Luna Rossa Challenge. BMW Oracle Racing is one point ahead, and will face the Kiwis on the final day, potentially with first place on the line. – Complete race report from Flight 9: http://tinyurl.com/yu62e7 Round Robin 2 - Flight 9 1. +39 Challenge beat Team Shosholoza by 0:50 2. Areva Challenge beat China Team by 3:03 4. BMW Oracle Racing beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team by 0:57 5. Victory Challenge beat Desafío Español 2007 by 0:07 6. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa Challenge by 0:36 Provisional Leaders (RR1 pts - Matches Sailed RR2 - Matches Won - Total Pts) 1. BMW Oracle Racing (USA 98) 21-8-7-35 2. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 18-8-8-34 3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 19-8-6-31 4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 17-8-6-29 5. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 14-8-6-26 6. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 14-8-3-20 7. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 12-9-3-18 8. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 9-8-3-15 9. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 6-8-1-8 10. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 3-8-1-5 11. China Team (CHN 95) 1-9-1-3 Note: 2 points are awarded for each match won. * Must-see Tuesday: As we said about the Monday matches, kudos to the schedulers for their anticipation of saving the best for last. Of the five matches in Flight 10 on Tuesday, look for the final 2 to put some butts in the stands to see if Victory can continue their run, as they must beat Emirates Team New Zealand to stay alive in their semi-finals bid. If Victory wins, all eyes will then turn to the final match of the day, where a win by Desafío Español 2007 over BMW Oracle Racing will finally close the door on Victory. However, a loss by Victory will officially eliminate them, giving the Spanish the last semi-final slot regardless of the match result against the Americans. The remaining questions will then be whether Spanish helm Karol Jablonski uncorks the Cavas during the race, and how huge the party will be in Valencia later that night. -- Complete schedule: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php * Scuttlebutt Poll: The question regarding the financial penalties earned last week by Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team for their rules infractions seems to be drawing quite a crowd who felt that the jury option was inappropriate. There are loads of comments and even some suggestions, such as “Will we now see an unofficial list of prices to cheat in the AC?” Submit your vote and comments here (poll closes noon Tuesday PT): http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/polls/07/0504/ * Weather forecast: Monday saw 10-12 knot southeasterlies, and the Emirates Team New Zealand website calls for the good conditions to continue on Tuesday with southeast winds of 10-15 knots, a sunny 12º- 26ºC (54º-79ºF), and 30% humidity. GET OUT OF JAIL FREE Why should "the best sailors in the world" have a get-out-of-jail-free card for crew screw-ups? Victory Challenge pulled one of those "chase boat drops" on Monday, dumping 490 square meters of sail and associated strings in front of rival Desafío Español, and they did it suspiciously early in the rounding. We'd been watching the foredeck crew trying to catch up with some issues, but it's not as though they dragged the kite upwind and then dropped it as a last resort after paying the price (the crew literally cuts the halyard to let loose of the sail). The Spanish team popped a protest flag (having a spinnaker in the water in front of them probably dis-optimised their rounding) but they didn't file the protest and that's just as well. It didn't make or break their race, and how do you prove intent? Interpreting an incident like that is a Rorschach test.; an inkblot test. You are what you see. -- Kimball Livingston, SAIL, full story: http://sailmagazine.blogspot.com/2007/05/get-out-of-jail-free.html NOT MADE IN CHINA! Is there a difference? Yes! Camet products are made in San Diego, California with high quality U.S. materials. They are offered in a variety of designs and colors to meet the needs of individuals and teams. Made out of a lightweight, fast drying Supplex fabric with the reinforced Cordura seat for the optional foam padding. New to our line are the Rio shorts, Hobart Extreme shorts, and the new Navy Cargo shorts! There is a difference - come and see our new selection at http://www.camet.com/?Click=235 ENJOY THE WEEK – IGNORE THE PAIN How can five adults endure the following afflictions and call it their best week of the year? Sunburn, inflamed rotator cuff, flimsy meniscus or weakened ACL (take your pick), the odd scalp wound, epidemic muscle soreness, rope burn on one finger, bruises across several legs and arms, a few lacerations, and did I mention a mild hangover or two? Yes sir, it's called "race week," and whether you're in Antigua, Long Beach, Whidbey Island, Put-In-Bay, Key West, or, as in our case, Bermuda, there are lots of good reasons to take your vacation days and spend a whole week going around the buoys (although sometimes you get to play with a bit of pain). First of all, a race week is usually a chance to get away from where you live and work. Usually to someplace picturesque or even beautiful…and with a good water view, of course. Second, and this is what's coolest, I think, is that you get to work together with other adults in a sports setting, despite being in less than perfect athletic trim (in fact, last week, several of us would've been on the injured reserve list for most sports). -- Sailing World, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2249hq STORIES FROM DOWN UNDER The stories below are excerpts from the occasional newsletter of New Zealand marine artist Jim Bolland. Click on the link at the bottom to read them in their entirety, along with a tribute to deForest W.‘Shorty’Trimingham. * (Kiwi Chris Reid, boat captain on Peter de Ridder’s TP 52 ‘Mean Machine – Valle Romano reports on the teams recent success, as the new season gets underway in Europe.) The preparation for the Palma-Vela event was a little rushed as we have just come off a re-fit of the Mean Machine – Valle Romano. We left our refit late in the northern winter on purpose so we could do modifications at a time where it would be too late for our competition to react to them. We moved our jib tracks forward and re-modeled the jib cut out in the cabin top so our headsails would fit better at 5.5 degrees. This has improved the range we have and made the boat easier to trim. Other modifications we have done have been a sliding forward hatch to replace the old hinged one that gets stuck under the spinnaker pole when tight reaching and an extension of the existing topsides. The topsides were altered in anticipation of having more breeze in the last two events of this year’s ‘Med-Cup’. * In 1968 a bunch of Kiwi sailors, namely Chris Bouzaid, Alan Warwick, ‘Sticky’ Armitage, Roy Dickson and Peter Shaw took Bouzaid’s Sparkman and Stevens designed One-Tonner ‘Rainbow II’ to Heligoland (Germany) to, as Kiwi ’s say, ‘have a go’ for the One Ton Cup. It was a first for New Zealand sailing and there was a lot of interest in this keel yacht that was heading north to do battle on the North Sea. The ‘boys in black’ raced the cream of the world’s ‘One Ton’ crop and in a fleet of twenty-two finished a close runner-up to the German yacht ‘Optimist’, a Dick Carter design ably sailed by Hans Beilken and crew. Chris Bouzaid never accepted second place at anything he did! Very quickly he decided that, finance permitting, ‘Rainbow II’ would return the following year to relieve the Germans of their trophy. The team had learnt a lot about optimising their rating. ‘Rainbow II’ was set up well for any breezes over twenty knots but was short on sail area for lighter conditions. -- May '07 edition of 'A Brush with Sail': http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0430 CLASSIC BOAT RALLY The second annual SBC Classic Boat Rally began May 3 and will end May 10. SBC stands for Savannah-Beaufort-Charleston, three of the most beautiful and historic towns on the southeast Atlantic coast. Participating in the rally are classic designs (up to 24 feet LOA) sailing up the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) 20 to 30 nautical miles each day, from yacht club to yacht club, and sleeping ashore each night. In the inaugural Rally there were five boats participating, which increased this year to ten, and, while the numbers may seem small for an event, the significance of the event is in its uniqueness. With the cost of organized sailing being beyond the time and financial resources of so many, the Classic Boat rally has strived to pioneer a format for having many exciting aspects of long distance big-boat racing on a dinghy-sized budget, in relative comfort. Scheduled daily are 2-3 races of 8 to 10 nautical miles each. The starts are staggered in the pursuit format with the slowest boats starting first, and the race winner being the first to finish. This format should keep the fleet together and be fun for the participants, and each day ends with a reception and dinner at the host club. The participants will be contending with whatever the weather brings, which includes the tidal currents running from 2 to 6 knots, and navigation on the ever-shoaling ICW. Shore crews (spouses and friends) have their own land-based touring program in addition to helping with the logistics of shuttling the trailers and meeting the fleet each afternoon at the destination with the car, a hug, and a cold beer. The web site for the event is http://www.ClassicBoatRally.com CHARTERED BOAT + HOT CREW + HOT SAILS = SMOKIN’ WIN Chuck Bayer and his team on the Beneteau 36.7 Grizzly are smoking - two NOODS, two bullets! Grizzly torched the Beneteau 36.7 class in the light-to-medium air of the San Diego NOOD, then burned past the fleet in the medium-to-heavy air of the Annapolis NOOD. Not only that, the Grizzly team won using a chartered boat in San Diego. Grizzly’s wins are due to hot crew work and her blistering fast Doyle sails. Ready to light a fire? Call us at 1-800-94-DOYLE or check us out online: http://www.doylesails.com WONDERING ABOUT THE WEATHER Santa Cruz, CA (May 7, 2007) The 2007 Fullpower Melges 24 World Championship, hosted by the Santa Cruz Yacht Club, starts five days of competition Tuesday amid some intriguing confusion about the conditions and the competition. When the temperature hit 85 degrees F Monday with the wind in single digits, a day after some of the planet’s elite sailing talent completed the weekend’s “Pre-Worlds” buried deep in the 58-boat fleet, there was cause to ponder. But leave it to Dave Ullman, who has seen it all in his years under sail, to bring the picture into focus. Weren’t past class champion Nicola Celon (2006), driving Amadori Ezio’s Italian boat, and 2001 European champion Cedric Pouligny, driving Miles Quinton’s Mojo from the UK, in 43rd and 49th place? “It didn’t mean anything,” said Ullman, a perennial contender who finished ninth. Ullman figured that only two-thirds of the boats were using their racing sails, “and some didn’t bother to finish all their races,” he added. As for the balmy weather and meek breeze: “’It’s setting it up for windy,” Ullman said. -- Event site: http://www.melges24worlds2007.com/press.html SAILING SHORTS * The World Speed Sailing Record Council announced the ratification of a new World Record from Cadiz to San Salvador, also known as The Discovery route. The record is now held by Franck Cammas and his 9-person crew aboard Groupama 3, which set the record from 24th April to 1st May 2007 for an elapsed time of 7 days, 10 hours, 58 minutes, and 53 seconds (average speed of 21.7 kts). The previous record of 9d 13h 30m 18s was held by Steve Fossett aboard PlayStation in February 2003. -- John Reed, Secretary to the WSSR Council * British yachtsman Tony Bullimore has been forced to head north east in his round the world record attempt to climb out of the way of a vicious low pressure system sweeping up from behind. The Low is due to deliver storm force winds on May 9, and after the battering he received a few days ago from another Southern Ocean buster, Bullimore decided on Monday (Day 6) to get out of its way. Bullimore’s subsequent drop in speed puts him behind the solo circumnavigation record he is chasing, and it’ll be a significant task to catch up before Cape Horn. -- http://www.teambullimore.com * With 203 entrants at the US Optimist Team Trails in Miami, FL, photographer John Payne shares images from a few of the moments during the 3-day event: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0507 * North Sails has partnered with Sailing Weather Services to provide FREE weather forecasts for the fullpower Melges 24 World Championship from May 8-12 in Santa Cruz, CA. To sign up, log on to North Sails' online Weather Center: http://na.northsails.com/ew/ew_main.taf * Peter Barrett will be inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame, with the induction on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at the Madison Sports Hall of Fame banquet.This is only the second time that the the Madison Hall of Fame has recognized a sailor, with the first being legendary iceboater Carl Bernard in 1963. Reservations can be made by calling Hap Johnson at 608-836-9426, with details about Peter's recognition and additional event reservation information at http://mendotayc.org * Future Fibres has won the Technology Award at the prestigious Boat International World Superyacht Awards held recently in Venice, Italy. Future Fibres’ PBO standing rigging beat stiff competition within the short-list of the Technology Award category, including the design team behind Maltese Falcon’s revolutionary DynaRig, which went on to win the Sailing Yacht of the Year award. -- http://tinyurl.com/2frz5p CALLING ALL LASER SAILORS Sailing season is almost here. Are you ready? Vanguard dealers are your only source for Laser class approved equipment. Whether you're sailing in the North Americans or at your club weeknight racing, if you're not using class approved equipment, you're not sailing a Laser. To find a dealer, visit http://www.teamvanguard.com LOCAL CHEERLEADERS Scuttlebutt recently asked the ‘buttheads for a list of individuals who they felt were the leading spokespeople for the sport, and we ended up with an impressive list of nearly thirty suggestions. Now we want to hear about the unsung heroes. When sailing thrives on the local level, it is usually due to the efforts of those individuals who go "above and beyond." This thread is to give them the recognition they deserve (and to enhance their Google rating). Who are your local cheerleaders? Submit your nominee here on the Guest Forum (no log-in required): http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4777#4777 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 Art Engel: Your story on the Etchells NAs had a minor glitch (in Issue 2338). At the end of the regatta Hank Lammens and Chris Busch were tied on points for 2nd place with 22 pts each. Per RRS A8.1, the boat with the "better scores" wins. Hank had a 1st, a 2nd plus other scores. Chris had a 1st, but no 2nd, plus other scores. So, since Hank had "better scores" (1 + 2 vs. 1 + 4 for Chris) the tie was broken in favor of Hank. Your story had some nonsense about the race in which each boat got their 1st place being relevant - which isn't true under RRS A8 (which is the default tie-breaking provision and applied to this regatta). * From Chris Ericksen: The report on the 2007 Etchells North Americans in 'Butt 2338 included a statement that was in fact true but may have been misleading to the casual reader. In reporting that Hank Lammens won a tie-breaker over Chris Busch for second place in the regatta, it was stated that Lammens' "bullet in the second race of day one...beat out Chris's bullet from the first race." Unless the Sailing Instructions said otherwise--which I doubt--the tie-breaker in the rules (A8.1 of the RRS) calls for the scores to be listed in order of best to worst; "at the first point where there is a difference, the tie shall be broken in favour [sic] of the boat with the best score." Both boats did have a first-place finish, as correctly reported, but Lammens had a second-place finish, which Busch did not; this broke the tie as shown in the scoring. Curmudgeon’s Comment: We trust that Etchells sailor Chris Ericksen and esteemed US Sailing Senior Judge Art Engel know what they are talking about here, and we appreciate them stepping up to correct the story that was sent to us from the event. * From Colin Wrightson: I read your article by John Drayton about Ragtime (nee Infidel; in Issue 2336). I was an apprentice at John Spencer’s yard in Auckland, New Zealand when Ragtime was built. John and I built her in a shed with sawdust for a floor, and without the electric tools that are available today. Everything was done by hand, including all the sanding. When Ragtime was built, she was a long way ahead of her time, which shows by her efforts at the present time. It is great to see a boat made out of plywood and aerolite glue still intact as a 45 year old. * From Chris Boome: Whatever happened to fair sailing? When did the rules change for expensive boats owned by very rich people that it is OK to pay for blatant cheating with a fine instead of a disqualification? Why should the Italians be given another chance? * From Tom Keogh: It is sad to note the passing of Tom Dreyfus, who I met only briefly but will never forget. I'm also surprised to learn of the application of the schoolyard "do-over" rule at an international, umpired event with an apparently undisputed rules violation by Mascalzone. Can you imagine how many more great stories we'd be reading this week about Tommy if he'd been allowed to say, "Sorry guys, I didn't mean that. Let me have another crack at it..."? RIP CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION A donkey is a horse designed by a study team. Special thanks to Camet International, Doyle Sails, and Vanguard Sailboats. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
