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SCUTTLEBUTT 3564 - Friday, April 6, 2012Scuttlebutt 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. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: Summit Yachts and The Pirates Lair. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES New Zealander Ross Field knows his way around the world. He has been involved in five editions of what is now known as the Volvo Ocean Race. His latest endeavor was the Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR), which was cut short this past February when a Southern Ocean storm caused boat damage and personal injury. Ross can relate to the problems occurring to the Volvo Ocean Race. As with the GOR, the safety zones now being created in the Southern Ocean to avoid ice are limiting the options when sailors are confronted with adverse weather. In his case, the course restriction forced him upwind in 40-50 knots with accompanying seas.... conditions that his boat could not withstand. Here are his comments: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Volvo Ocean Race has obviously become a disaster, and no one seems to be able to identify it. My contention is that when you restrict the area where boats can sail in the Southern Ocean, you are going to get breakages. Like the Global Ocean Race (for Class40s), the Volvo creates an ice zone to the south which forces the boats to sail in weather that they cannot sail in. The Volvo forced the boats to sail and race in 50 knots plus reaching in huge seas. If they weren't restricted, they could have gone further south into more moderate conditions. In all the previous races I have done I have seen ice bergs everywhere. Ice is not a problem - it's there for all to see. There are satellite images to give the most up to date information. We have all been sailing, unrestricted, through the Southern Ocean for years until 'someone' came up with an idea to stop boats doing it! I believe that race committees have become too cautious and ruined the concept and freedom of 'round the world races'. I ask the question: how can the French race around thru the Southern Ocean at 40 knots, at 60 degrees south, missing ice bergs, breaking records, with spray going everywhere, in a full carbon high tech boat and nothing happens! Food for thought, but I am sure nothing will happen and all the blame will be put onto the designers and engineers! PHOTO FINISH IN THE CARDS (April 5, 2012; Day 19) - A powerful South Atlantic weather system is propelling Telefonica to within striking distance of current leaders PUMA in a nail-biting finale to Leg 5, nearly negating a 400 nm deficit after suspending racing on March 31 for 17 hours to repair structural damage. Local squalls packing gusts in excess of 50 knots have battered both teams, but their attention has now turned to a massive low pressure system in the South Atlantic predicted to travel north and compress the pair to within two miles of each other in the next 24 hours. McDonald said his team, which has 30nm of lateral separation on PUMA, would do all they can to overhaul the leader. "It's going to be in the hands of the weather gods as much as anything else," Telefonica watch captain Neal McDonald said. "If we get them in our sights we'll have a good shot at giving them a run for their money." With a photo finish in the cards, PUMA skipper Ken Read said these were tense times for his team as they clung to the lead. "We're terrified," he admitted. "Nobody's had any sleep in the last day. We're working our asses off, that's all we can do. Sometimes the wind gods bless you, and sometimes they don't. Telefonica have had a day and a half shorter journey up from the Horn. There's nothing we can do apart from work our asses off and hope for the best." The latest ETA for the leading boats is 1600 UTC on Friday, April 6. An update from Groupama, which broke their mast on Wednesday, is that they will construct a jury rig and resume racing. They are currently in Punta del Este, Uruguay. -- Event media Leg 5 - Auckland, NZL to Itajai, Brazil (6,705 nm) Standings as of Thursday, 05 April 2012, 22:18:27 UTC 1. PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA), 262.6 nm Distance to Finish 2. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP), 19.3 nm Distance to Lead - Groupama 4 (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA), Suspended racing - CAMPER (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), Suspended racing - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR), Retired - Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL), Retired Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain (Oct. 29) and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles around the world via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com BUILT IN THE USA, DESIGNED BY MARK MILLS Summit Yachts has expanded its already comprehensive line of high quality yachts for 2012. Available are the Summit 35 racer/cruiser, a dual purpose yacht with the emphasis on "Racer"; moving up the performance scale to the Summit 40, the most successful IRC 40 foot race boat worldwide over the last 3 years; to the ultimate, semi-custom, all carbon race boat, the Summit 45. All models are built to the highest standards, and all rate well in each of the most popular rating systems. All three models are able to compete at the highest level of competition. Built in the USA, and designed by Mark Mills, check them out at http://www.summit-yachts.com FRANCO-AMERICAN RELATIONS The French America's Cup challenger Energy Team led by Loick and Bruno Peyron has announced a design agreement with the American Defender ORACLE Racing. The French team is licensing a base-line design package for an AC72 class race boat from the defender, which is permitted under the rules prior to 1 January 2013. This agreement enables Energy Team to achieve significant time and budget savings whilst maximizing its highest performance potential with its AC72 wingsailed catamaran in the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Series in July and August 2013. The winner faces ORACLE Racing in the America's Cup finals, starting 7 September 2013. The agreement is specifically a design license and does not for the moment include any sailing agreement. Additionally, the team is still not sufficiently funded to proceed with construction. "With the best design at our disposal," explains Energy Team CEO Bruno Peyron, "we really think we can surprise everyone in the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup with a budget of around 15-16 million Euros." The Multiplast yard has a build site ready and hopes to begin construction before the end of June, with completion scheduled for March 2013. This would provide three months of training in San Francisco prior to the Louis Vuitton Cup. "The next America's Cup is all about the best sailors, the fastest boats and an achievable business model," said Russell Coutts, CEO ORACLE Racing. "This agreement hits all three targets. Loick and Bruno have achieved fantastic exploits sailing multihulls. With the right technology at their disposal, they have the potential to reach the highest level in the America's Cup." -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-040512 * Russell Coutts is looking more like an ambassador for the United Nations than the CEO of ORACLE Racing. After finalizing a deal to help the French (above), he has hopped a plane to help China Team shake the money tree at the Hainan Rendez-Vous in Sanya, China (April 6-8). This event is where celebrities, jet-setters and superyacht owners descend on the sparkling waters of the "Chinese Riviera' for China's largest in-water yacht show, business jet show and luxury property and lifestyle showcase. -- http://www.americascup.com/en/Teams/China-Team/Latest/News/2012/4/asf/ SCUTTLEBUTT POLL: SHOULD THE RULES HAVE TIERED PENALTIES? In the April 2012 edition of Sailing World, columnist and rules expert Dick Rose discusses whether a protest committee should have discretion in the penalty they award when a boat is found to have broken a rule. And now Scuttlebutt is asking the question too. The current polling numbers show people are in favor of tiered penalties, but the comments indicate concern about the execution of such a system. Vote and post your comments here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/polls/12/0404/ SAILING SHORTS * Palma, Spain (April 5, 2012) - Sailing at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE, third event on the Sailing World Cup circuit, have been dominated by light winds. However, all scheduled races have been completed providing sailors in Palma with a full racing programme. The conditions appear too challenging for most of the North Americans with the exception of 2008 U.S. medalists Zach Railey (Finn, 2nd) and Anna Tunnicliffe (Women's Match Race, semi-finals). Racing concludes on Saturday. -- Full report: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/cronicas.php?idiomaz=3¬i=316 * A U.S.-Canadian advisory panel ended a five-year study last week with a recommendation against large-scale engineering projects to prevent swings in Great Lakes water levels, saying people across the region should adapt to nature's ups and downs. The $14.6-million investigation concluded that trying to control levels by placing more structures at choke points such as the St. Clair River at the south end of Lake Huron would be too expensive and damage the environment. About 200 scientists and engineers contributed to a report requested by the International Joint Commission, which advises both governments on issues affecting the Great Lakes and other boundary waters. -- Read on: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012203290586 * Spinlock has been bought by three of its current executives. Chris Hill, Peter Kirby and Caroline Senior will take over as chief executive, production director and operations director respectively. Rodney Hogg, who has owned and managed Spinlock for 35 years, will remain a shareholder and will be a non-executive director and management consultant to the company. -- Boating Business, full story: http://www.boatingbusiness.com/news101/spinlock-under-new-ownership PIRATES LAIR AND GILL SUPPLY LEXUS NEWPORT TO ENSENADA! The most storied West Coast regatta announces it's regatta gear package for 2012! Log on to http://www.pirateslair.com/category/NE2012.html to shop the best lineup in regatta gear! Pre-Order with your team personalizations for pick-up at event or shipped previous to this downwind classic. If you're planning a regatta, call us at (888) 724-5286 or email ken@pirateslair.com PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include shucking oysters, eating dirt, holding medal, pounding water, swinging both ways, fashion tips, and turning the corner. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0406/ * The talents of Studio Borlenghi/Guido Trombetta could make toy boats look sexy, so imagine what they could do on the professional sailing circuit. Or take a look at their RC44 class gallery from Portugal: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0405/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK In its 39th year, the International Rolex Regatta is considered the "Crown Jewel" of Caribbean Regattas. The 2012 edition attracted boats from the U.S., Great Britain, Puerto Rico, Canada, The Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Sweden, Monaco and multiple Caribbean islands. St. Thomas Yacht Club opens its doors (figuratively, that is, since its open-air clubhouse doesn't really have doors) to welcome guests and share extraordinary island-style experiences, not the least of which is three days of weaving through the visually arresting cuts, cays and islands of the U.S. Virgins. When it comes to winter regattas, it's hard to beat warm winds and island ambiance. And the scenery makes for great videos too. Click here for this week's videos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/12/0406/ Bonus Videos: * Ride the shoulders of Brock Callen for a sunrise kiteboarding session on the water in St Martin: http://youtu.be/GHLAA8Uz1l4 * This week on Episode 33 of 'America's Cup Uncovered' we uncover the latest news from the teams leading up to the first America's Cup World Series of 2012 in Naples, Italy (April 11 - 15). Team Korea is the first team to fly a hull in Naples during training with new skipper Australian Nathan Outteridge, 26. Then we catch up with Energy Team France's Loick Peyron and Yann Guichard to hear about their multi-hull cross training over the winter. Luna Rossa Challenge has announced their crew lineup, and we learn about a friendly rivalry between helmsmen Chris Draper and Paul Campbell-James. Tune in on Saturday April 7 approx 0800 PDT 1600 BST: http://www.youtube.com/americascup#p/c/915CDC8233C7B14E * April 6 "World on Water" features reports on the BMW Auckland Regatta in New Zealand, Giovanni Soldini's Miami-New York record attempt in his VO70 Maserati, the RC44 Cascais Cup in Portugal, the Bitter End Cup in Virgin Gorda, Practice Day for competitors in the ISAF Trefeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia MAPFRE in Palma, Spain and in our "Fresh to Frightening" segment the wild action of the UK Zapcat Racing. Two-Up racing in a RIB at full speed. See it on http://www.boatson.tv 1800 BST 1300 EDT Thursday April 5.12. SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Philip Walwyn: Volvo cars: thoroughly safe, absolutely reliable and rather dull. Volvo 70's: potentially dangerous, totally unreliable but far from dull. * From Mark Osterman: It's been a few weeks now that I have been considering writing this. But Groupama's dismasting was the last straw. Could someone please stick a fork in the Volvo Ocean Race and call it done? Those who did the Whitbread in the old days must be dismayed at this disaster slowly unfolding, like a slow motion train wreck making its unconventional way around the world. Could someone please put this race back in the hands of the sailors, and far away from the marketing and PR folks? Give us a course around the world that we all can relate to. No more routes to China and the Emirates. Sail it in boats that stand a good chance of making it around intact. Don't think it would be exciting? Think again. What makes it exciting is to have a bunch of boats virtually match racing each other around the world, all in close proximity. With superb on-board video coverage in almost real time. And all boats in contention after they round the Horn! The current spectacle is pathetic. COMMENT: What I fear is this letter will reappear next summer if the AC72s are not able to withstand the nuclear winds of San Francisco Bay. And it should, if the America's Cup boats falter like the VO70s are now. Did you think the 33rd America's Cup was a mess? Exploding boats during AC34 could knock this hallowed event further off the radar. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt * From Eric Sorensen: Bruce Kirby put out a great article, in Butt 3561 on the effervescence of sailing classes. The fresh classes with lots of bubbles are very popular at first and always will be if they are finishing first. When something new comes around that is a bit faster, the value changes - just ask a Moth rider. The older designs get flat compared to the freshly opened designs. New boats and a market for them are sustained due to new ideas that create speed in a new way. It is an expensive evolution and always has been. As to the left behind boats (read more affordable), they find new owners that use them either to enter the class they were made for as a learning tool or they are re-tasked with a new life in a different use. Fast boats seldom get left in the backyard or on the dock. Ratings may change but fast still works. Comfort is also useful but in the racing world that design feature is generally missing. Anyone thinking of buying a boat for fun should consider the use after it has gone through the first 3-4 years. Darwinism and survival of the fittest see most fast boats end up in PHRF racing. Many old IOR boats are sold cheap and have been fitted out with dodgers and have gone cruising. They no longer race as the ratings they might be awarded in PHRF would just be penalizing. To keep the old boats fast, the money injector has to work overtime no matter which fleet one enters. That Big Daddy WarBUCKS concept has been around since dugout canoes got a sail and most likely will not be going away. One has to accept that all boats are ice cream; which flavor do you like? * From Cory E. Friedman: Thanks to Bruce Kirby we now know that Yogi Berra actually copied the remark almost universally attributed to him from a joke he heard Niels Bohr make in a Copenhagen lecture illustrating Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle: http://tinyurl.com/Economist-040512 It turns out that Yogi was an avid fan and student of nuclear physics and copied all of his famous remarks from nuclear physicists who were illustrating important principles of nuclear physics. Match the Yogiism with the nuclear physicist he copied it from. 1) It ain't over 'till it's over. 2) It gets late early out there. 3) It's so crowded, nobody goes there. 4) Ninety percent of this game is half-mental. 5) If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there. 6) You can observe a lot by watching. 7) [What time is it?] You mean now? 8) It's deja vu all over again. 9) The future ain't what it used to be. Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller, Ernest Rutherford, James Chadwick, Leo Szilard, Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner, Hideki Yukawa. For extra credit, name the position each nuclear physicist played in science league baseball. For extra, extra credit, who said: "No officer, I don't know how fast I was driving, but I knew where I was."? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If you do not make dust, you eat dust. SPONSORS THIS WEEK APS - IYRS - North Sails - Atlantis WeatherGear - J Boats - Gowrie Group Dieball Sailing - Ullman Sails - Summit Yachts - The Pirates Lair Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
