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SCUTTLEBUTT 2895 - Tuesday, July 28, 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 Myboatsgear.com, Atlantis WeatherGear, and Aquidneck Custom Composites. HISTORY DOESN'T REPEAT ITSELF Back in 1937, Endeavour II was built in steel at the Nicholson's Yard [Gosport, England] to challenge the defending yacht Ranger, in the America's Cup match that year. Time and events [such as WWII] took their toll on these incredible yachts and before long both boats were gone - alive as legends, but with no physical presence. Known as "super Js", these boats were arguably the two most spectacular yachts in the history of racing. Their legend was so powerful, that it prompted two owners to recreate the boats. History was made on Friday, 17 July in Newport, RI, when the replicas of both Ranger and Endeavour II [Hanuman] lined up together for the first time since their historic match in 1937. This time, however, things turned out differently. Hanuman [aka Endeavour II] beat what was the American defender Ranger. Had this happened in 1937, Newport would be a very different place now. -- by William Tuthill, Scuttleblog: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2009/07/hanuman-j-boat.html * The Scuttleblog link above also has a wonderful 88-image slide show of Hanuman by photographer Cory Silken. NO VOLVO OCEAN RACE FOR BALTIMORE Maryland will not make a bid to bring the around the world Volvo Ocean Race back to Baltimore in 2012, as the uncertainty of when the recession will come to end made it difficult for state officials and sailing advocates to feel confident about raising the more than $3 million needed to host a stopover for the race. "We have to be more programmatic than saying 'OK, things are going to get better and let's take a chance,' " said Gregory H. Barnhill, chairman of Ocean Race Chesapeake, a nonprofit focused on promoting sailing regionally. "We don't have that option right now." Charm City would have again anchored the race's visit to Maryland, its first since 2006 when 250,000 spectators filled Baltimore and Annapolis' waterfronts for the international race's two-week stopover. -- BBJ, full story: http://tinyurl.com/msb6dl MARINE REFRIGERATION This week's newsletter from MyBoatsGear.com is in response to a boater who wanted to turn his icebox into a fridge for his 40 footer. He asked us what equipment he would need, how big, what type, etc. We investigated what makes Marine Refrigeration work and looked at all the equipment required. Read about it here: http://myboatsgear.com/newsletter/200915.asp You will learn how refrigeration works, and the equipment and space required. RSS feeds are available at Myboatsgear.com. LIFTING THE LID OF THE BOX As the TP52 Audi MedCup is now fielding only ten teams, and the current circuit leader having already stated they will not return in 2010, the TP52 class finds itself in danger of slipping off its perch as the most prominent, grand prix professional sailing class. As a means to right the ship, the class has now announced new rule changes that they hope will provide more value to current and prospective owners. Among the changes are: * Decrease or eliminate needed modifications to compete in IRC. * Curb construction options that mainly result in extra cost without any or very little return in performance, like the use of ultra high modulus carbon and kevlar nomex cores. * A deeper keel, a steel fin, heavier bulb, and bowsprit will reduce crew from 15 to 12 people. * Addition of twin backstays and square headed mainsail. * Reduce number of sails per year. Full report: http://www.transpac52.org/news/year2009/box.html WHY STEVE FOSSETT CRASHED The National Transportation Safety Board has published the official "probable cause" of the 2007 accident that cost wealthy adventurer Steve Fossett his life. It was "the pilot's inadvertent encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane [in combination with] mountainous terrain." It sounds as if it were an act of God: Poor Fossett was flying along and suddenly a rogue wind grabbed him and slammed him into a mountain. But it was almost certainly more complicated than that. The NTSB's conclusion in the Fossett investigation was not based on a lot of highly scientific CSI-style analysis. Some NTSB accident investigations are. But in this case, there was almost nothing to analyze. The airplane was so badly pulverized that searchers flew over it without noticing the debris. Meteorologists knew that there was a moderate southwest wind over the mountains at the time of the accident, but their computers could not tell them what the air was doing at any particular location. Reports from several pilots, and from a camper who probably saw Fossett clawing his way southward against a strong head wind minutes before the crash, painted inconclusive, even contradictory, pictures of conditions that day. The coroner had nothing to work with but a couple of bones. -- LA Times, read on: http://tinyurl.com/myjz9w TO MERGE BIKE RACING WITH BOAT RACING The Tour de France is the most well known and prestigious race in cycling, and each year it is notable how well the Versus network does at presenting this event. Combine a knowledgeable and entertaining broadcast team with stunning imagery, and even a five hour stage can hold a viewer's attention. Stealing from the TDF playbook, the 2005 Snipe U.S. Nationals incorporated the 'Yellow Jersey', which was awarded to the leaders after each day, and required to be worn on the following day. And just recently, the San Diego J/105 fleet honored the Tour as well. Here is the story from bike racer and J/105 owner Joseph Dagostino: "You combine the best aspects of bicycle racing into a format for yacht racing? The SoCal J/105 fleet experienced the sensation when the race committee decided to shake things up in honor of Le Tour de France. "Twelve boats came together on an ultra short course, taking a mere four minutes to complete a leg. Combined with the fact that two laps constituted a race, and with only two minutes between races, you have the makings for close racing and some very tired crew. -- Scuttleblog, read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2009/07/tour-de-france.html DISCOVER: YOUR NEW FAVORITE SAILING GEAR Do you have the new Aegis gear yet? The new Aegis line is designed in Marblehead by sailors for sailors and built to keep you DRY. Pair the hybrid bib with the spray top or jacket in nasty offshore conditions or by itself if you're just looking to keep your butt dry on the rail. Or go with just the jacket if you want to look great while you're rehashing the day's ups and downs over a post-race beverage. Visit http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com or call 877-333-SAIL to find a dealer near you. Discover: Your Atlantis => Curmudgeon's Comment: The folks at Atlantis are fielding their annual survey on the sailing gear market, and they'd like your input. If you can spare 3-5 minutes to complete the online questionnaire, they'll enter you in a drawing to win one of two $295 Aegis jackets they're giving away. Click on the following link to take the survey, and good luck: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2jifdnyfwtccwf3/start SAILING SHORTS * Class President Chuck Clay hung in on the last day to win his first-ever Cal 20 Class Championship Regatta, held at King Harbor Yacht Club on July 23-26. Clay, of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club and sailing with crew Mike Burch, was top in an 18-bout Championship division that included no fewer than four past Class Champions. Tony Gudish of the host King Harbor Yacht Club won the seven-boat Consolation Division; David Crockett of ABYC was top Master. Yuri Namikawa of Cabrillo Beach YC won the five-boat Junior Class Championship. Results: http://www.khyc.org/racing/2009/c_20/final_results_c20_championships_c.pdf * The 2009 Lightning Atlantic Coast Championship were hosted by Toms River Yacht Club in Toms River, NJ on July 25-26. Fifty-nine teams were greeted with two days of strong Barnegat Bay sea breeze. Top teams were tuning up for the North American Championship next month as well as the World Championship being held this September in Mallets Bay, VT. David Starck, Jody Starck and Ian Jones (Buffalo, NY) narrowly won the event over Allan Terhune Jr, Katie Terhune and Sarah Mergenthaler (Annapolis, MD). Bill Healy, Geoff Becker, and Jody Lutz rounded out the top 5. Full results here: http://www.lightningclass.org/racing/results/2009/acc.asp * (Los Angeles, CA) - After four races in King of Spain Regatta for Starboats at California YC, the team of Ben Mitchell and Hal Haenel were tied with Jim Buckingham and Rick Peters. They each had two firsts and two second place finishes in a regatta that was sailed in 9-11 knots of breeze. On the fifth and final race, the two teams were out in front of the pack again. The lead changed three times during the six mile race, but at the finish line it was Mitchell and Haenel who had their bow out in front . by just 20 feet. -- Results: http://tinyurl.com/lojfnv * Ben Rogerson and his Mini-Transat 6.50m yacht 'Mini Minx' was successfully in completing the 1,924 nm solo non-stop Round Britain & Ireland passage at 0625 hrs UTC Saturday 25 July 2009 in a total of 15 days 3 hours and 8 minutes. Rogerson used this test as part of his build-up to the Mini Transat (solo transatlantic race in 2011), and was the first Mini-Transat 6.50m to achieve this feat and believed to be the first boat of this size of any design to do so. * (Lysekil, SWE) - For the twelve invited teams, racing at the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship will span from July 28th to August 1st. The reigning World Champion and number one on the Women's ISAF World Match Race Ranking list, Claire Leroy (FRA) will be defending the World Championship title for the second time in a row. This year's championship is the first in the four-year cycle which will culminate in the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition where Women's Match Racing will make its debut on the Olympic program. The lone North American is Sally Barkow (USA). - Full report: http://www.sailing.org/28973.php * (July 27, 2009) - The 86-foot Windquest owned by Doug DeVos prevailed in the Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac Race as the first to finish Monday morning (34:39:50), about 90 minutes ahead of Ray Howe's 60-foot multi-hull Earth Voyager in the Cove Island Course to Mackinac. This was the first time since 2006 that a monhull outpaced a multi-hull to Mackinac Island. The Andrews 65 MicJay was the first finisher from the Thunder Bay course at 9:43 am. Starting Saturday, the 209 teams are sailing either the Thunder Bay Course (214 nm) or Cove Island Course (254 nm). -- http://www.byc.com/mack * (Newport, RI) - On Tuesday, July 28, Newport will have more space for more sailing at Sail Newport's Fort Adams Sailing Center. At 3:30 P.M. at the waterfront location by Fort Adams Beach, youth sailing students, local sailors and Sail Newport members will officially open the expanded dinghy park at Fort Adams, providing additional public access to the waters of Narragansett Bay. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7922 WHAT IS A DISTANCE RACE? Some time ago, Scuttlebutt World Headquarters received press releases from two different races on the Great Lakes, and both were marketing themselves as the longest annually held freshwater race. We were confused. Both the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac (289 nm) and the Lake Ontario 300 (300 nm) seemed to want the title, but since they weren't the same length, we figured only one could have it. Scuttlebutt didn't want to cause trouble, but we were curious. We contacted the Chi-Mac race since their race was shorter, and they brought up an interesting difference between the two races. The Chi-Mac race was a port-to-port race, whereas the LO 300 starts and finishes at the same port, and thus CYC did not consider it to be a 'distance race'. Not wanting to take the issue to the New York Supreme Court, Scuttlebutt put the question to a vote, and asked the Scuttlebutt community what they considered to be the longest annually held fresh water distance race in the world. Here were the results: 71% - Lake Ontario 300 29% - Chicago to Mackinac Here were some comments: -- "A distance race does not have to be point-to-point; it just has to be long." -- "The LO 300 sounds like a long buoy race." -- "Using CYC's logic, the Vendee Globe is not a 'distance race' because it starts and finishes at the same port. Enough said." -- "Why is Scuttlebutt picking this fight? Or encouraging it? You're starting to sound like Sailing Anarchy. If I wanted that kind of silliness, I'd subscribe to SA. This is a discussion not worth having!" -- "Starting and finishing in the same place, you are almost always exposed to more points of sail than a port-to-port race. For this reason, the Lake Ontario 300 can also be a better test of boat and crew." Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/polls/09/0724 VISIT AQUIDNECK CUSTOM COMPOSITES' NEW WEBSITE Aquidneck Custom Composites has recently launched their first website and would like to invite the readers of Scuttlebutt to check it out. ACC has been building custom boats for eight years now. Finally it has built a website. Check it out at http://www.aquidneckcustom.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Please submit your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, 'The Curmudgeon'). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). 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 Kathy Weishampel: After reading the final U.S. Optimist Nationals story in Scuttlebutt 2894, I am a little puzzled about this quoted encounter: "About 10 seconds after the start of the next race, Williford noted, 'I made him do a 720 [degree double] penalty turn. We were luffing and I moved up [from the leeward position with the right of way] and hit him.' Sly conceded later that Williford had caught him off guard. 'Yes, just before that happened he was far enough away that I didn't think he was going to do anything.'" I thought that boat to boat contact was to be avoided if at all possible. Am I misinterpreting his comments? It sounds like he deliberately hit him? * From Larry Forgy: Regarding the collision in the story about the Optimist Nationals, maybe an Optimist can't do much more damage than smashed fingers, but here is a competitor saying he purposely hit another boat, and did it by purposely denying the other boat an opportunity to keep clear. Am I missing something, or should this kid have been DSQ'd? Instead, he seems rather proud of himself. I know that there are adults racing with the attitude that if you can get away with it, it's good. I just didn't know they were being taught that. * From Chris Boome, San Francisco: This sure looks like a pre-meditated intentional collision to me. Shouldn't Williford have been disqualified? => Curmudgeon's Comment: Here is the story (with results): http://tinyurl.com/knahxv * From Jahn S. Tihansky, Director, Varsity Offshore Sailing Team, USNA: I saw the story regarding Around Long Island Race and wanted to make a correction and provide a little more info. The 1999 RP 66 Zaraffa was skippered by United States Naval Academy (USNA) Midshipman 1/C Nick Bernard and crewed by 16 other Midshipmen and 2 coaches. As you may have gathered, the race started last Thursday afternoon in challenging conditions (35+ kts., 8-10 ft. seas and torrential rain). These conditions continued for the first 12 hours of the race before abating. Zaraffa sailed the first 90 miles under storm jib and trysail. As it turns out, she was the only finisher in her class and a large majority of the 61 boat fleet dropped out. I wanted to point out that Bernard and most of his crew learned to sail during their time here at the Academy and I feel that their performance in the race is a testament to their tireless work ethic, unending desire to learn and improve their skills, and their ability to persevere in trying conditions. USNA was also represented by Swift, a Navy 44 sloop skippered by Midshipman 1/C Beth Hudson. Swift finished first in her class too. For sure the race presented the toughest challenges both crews had faced aboard their boats to date. This race was the final event of their 2009 summer cruise schedule which included competing in the Marblehead to Halifax Race and the Around Martha's Vineyard Race. * From Jamie Leopold: Outstanding letter from Tom Webster's in 'Butt 2893 about the ISAF and Alingi/SNG. In baseball I think they might call your comments a Grand Slam! Where are you Paul Henderson? * From Tim Patterson: Grant Dalton himself is no slouch. I do remember when Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts gave the helm to a then 21 or so year old Dean Barker in the last race of the 30th America's Cup in 2000, where he acquitted himself in a convincing manner then, as now. My favorite memory of Grant was when he was sailing Club Med in The Race, and they were in the midst of ice in the Southern Ocean and on the way to setting a new 24 hour distance record. They had set the record earlier in the Indian Ocean and it had already been broken by Cam Lewis coming along behind them. Ahead of Club Med now lay an iceberg, but in order to pass to windward of the berg and avoid the bit and pieces to leeward, they would be forced to tack. However, rather than tack, someone - it may have been Grant - went up the mast with a radio and the crew zigzagged their way through the ice field at 30 plus knots and took back the record. Some of the crew described it as the most exciting hour of sailing they had ever experienced. * From Greg Farrell: I'm not sure if I'm the only one out here, but after seeing video and photo's of Alinghi 5 over the past week I wish they would get the event out of the damn courts and onto the water so that we can witness these two beasts head to head. Fascinating! => Curmudgeon's Comment: Without any further delays, the racing will be in February 2010. Until then, both team websites are providing plenty of visuals for the imagination: - Alinghi: http://www.alinghi.com/en/ - BMW Oracle Racing: http://www.bmor-photo.com/default.asp?create=1 CURMUDGEON'S DICTIONARY Dilate. is to live long. Special thanks to Myboatsgear.com, Atlantis WeatherGear, and Aquidneck Custom Composites. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
