|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2333 - April 30, 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). FICKLE WINDS RETURN Valencia, 29 April 2007 – With the close of Round Robin 1 scheduled for Friday, the task proved to be too much for the wind, where spotty conditions permitted only four of the final ten races to be completed. The anticipated duels with Desafío Español 2007 going against BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa Challenge, and Emirates Team New Zealand vs. BMW Oracle Racing, would be delayed until Saturday. These showcase matches lived up to their billing, with the Spanish earning a split by taking one from BOR – their only loss of RR1 – and the Kiwis suffering another hit at the hands of the American entry. These results weighed heavily on the final standings of RR1, where the Spanish solidified their stake at the fourth slot, and the Luna Rossa squad vaulted up to the second position. Round Robin 2, which has eleven more matches scheduled, will be the final series before the top four teams move on to the semi-finals. Due to the numerous postponements during RR1, the day off between rounds was removed, and RR2 began without delay on Sunday. However, the unstable weather system had not yet moved on, and only three of the five matches in Flight 1 were completed. With only one flight of matches scheduled each day in RR2, the postponed matches from Sunday will carry over to Monday, forcing some of the teams to sail two races to keep up with the schedule. For complete details from Sunday’s racing: http://tinyurl.com/2ljg2g Flight 1 1. BMW Oracle Racing beat United Internet Team Germany by 3:17 2. Victory Challenge beat Team Shosholoza by 0:52 3. Luna Rossa Challenge beat China Team by 2:57 4. Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team - postponed 5. Areva Challenge vs. +39 Challenge - postponed Provisional Leaders (RR1 pts - Matches Sailed RR2 - Matches Won - Total Pts) 1. BMW Oracle Racing (USA 98) 21-1-1-23 2. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 19-1-1-21 3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 18-0-0-18 4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 17-0-0-17 5. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 14-1-1-16 6. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 14-0-0-14 7. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 12-1-0-12 8. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 9-0-0-9 9. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 1-8-1-3 10. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 6-0-0-6 11. China Team (CHN 95) 1-1-0-1 Note: 2 points are awarded for each match won. * See the complete schedule at http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php * The eBay auction for an 18th man spot on BMW Oracle Racing, which includes flight and accommodations in Valencia, will close Monday at 6:00 pm PT. All proceeds go to the Susan G Komen For The Cure charity. -- http://tinyurl.com/2ke69p * Scuttlebutt and her sister title Scuttlebutt Europe have been given exclusive access from Seahorse magazine to 20,000 free digital preview copies of ‘There is no Second’ - the Seahorse guide to the America’s Cup. Among the writers are Paul Cayard, Russell Coutts, Dennis Conner, Chris Dickson, Tim Jeffery, and Tom Schnackenberg. Move fast if you want to get a free copy to download, as access will be cut off when the meter hits 20K. -- http://www.seahorse.co.uk/americas/us * The wind forecast for Monday is not significantly better, though it looks as though the temperature is warming up. The call is for southeasterly wind, no rain, and warmer at 22 degrees C (72 degrees F) NEW MEDCUP RACER FROM GOETZ The long-awaited TP52 for Spain’s CAM team has left Goetz Custom Boats en route to Europe. Designed by Botin Carkeek, the black boat will be campaigned on the Breitling MedCup circuit by HRH Felipe, the Prince of Asturias and heir to the Spanish throne, along with owners Fernando Leon and Kiko Sanchez. To view photos of the boat, or to learn more about the latest at Goetz, visit http://www.goetzboats.com DEER ISLE TO THE RESCUE (April 29, 2007) If we are to believe the sometimes frenzied charges shouted out from Valencia, the America’s Cup is a hostage to greed, the race schedule is a wicked conspiracy, the town is a sewer, and the Cup’s managers are profiting from the first, are behind the second, and deserve to be swimming in the third. Maybe there’s something to all that; I’ll be in a better position to know when I’m in Valencia for the Cup races. But I am certain that, over the past 156 years, the America’s Cup has survived far worse than light winds and aggressive protection of intellectual property. When someone seriously suggested the other day that the New York Yacht Club step in and clean up the mess that he and others believe was created by iniquitous Swiss landlubbers, I replied, “This is rich! For 132 years the world screamed that Morgans and other non-sailor Wall Streeters were soiling the holy grail in countless ways.” It was a relief, therefore, to read about a high school junior from Deer Isle, Maine, named Alison Turner, who showed up in Valencia with an aluminum ring passed down by her ancestor, Charles Scott. This ring was fashioned from remains of the two America’s Cup winners, Defender and Columbia, in which Scott crewed with other Deer Isle lobster fishermen in 1895 and 1899. -- by John Rousmaniere, full story: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0429 FRENCH SAILING OLYMPIC WEEK Hyeres, France (April 27, 2007) The conditions for the Medal race on Friday couldn’t have been better, with stable winds averaging 15 knots, bright sun, and fun waves. The short course racing was set close to the shore, bringing the thrill of the last race to the spectators in Hyères. With Canadians Oskar Johansson/ Kevin Stittle having already won the Tornado class, the excitement for the continent on Friday was for the Yngling event, where the American team of Sally Barkow/ Carrie Howe/ Debbie Capozzi led from wire to wire. While it was enough to move them up to second overall, it was not enough to dislodge the Russian team. Also doing well in the Medal race was Laser Radial sailor Paige Railey (USA), whose second place moved her up to fourth overall, but was not enough to overcome the DNF and RAF that plagued her earlier in the week. Among those teams missing out on the Medal race was 470 Women Erin Maxwell/ Isabelle Kinsolving. After finishing in the top ten at their last event in Palma, the team found that the heavier winds on Thursday to be their undoing. Said Erin, “Without the two capsizes, we would have finished in the top ten. While we are mildly disappointed with finishing 26th, there were are still thrilled at our progression towards the Olympics.” -- Results: http://sof.ffvoile.net Final Results: Top 3 plus top North Americans Tornado (43 entrants): 1. CAN - Oskar Johansson/ Kevin Stittle, 40; 2. ITA - Francesco Marcolini/ Edoardo Bianchi, 56; 3. FRA - Yann Guichard/ Alexandre Guyader, 58 Yngling (29 entrants): 1. RUS - Ekaterina Skudina/ Diana Krutskikh/ Natalia Ivanova, 46; 2. USA - Sally Barkow/ Carrie Howe/ Debbie Capozzi, 50; 3. GBR - Sarah Ayton/ Pippa Wilson/ Sarah Webb, 50 Laser Radial (105 entrants): 1. BEL - Evi Van Acker, 46; 2. NZL - Jo Aleh, 52; 3. LTU - Gintare Volungevici, 54; 4. USA - Paige Railey, 56; 6. USA - Anna Tunnicliffe, 60 470 Men (113 entrants): 1. FRA - Pierre Leboucher/ Vincent Garos, 42; 2. FRA - Nicolas Charbonnier/ Olivier Bausset, 50; 3. GRE - Mantis Panagiotis/ Theodoros Polichronid, 53; 8. USA - Mikee Anderson-Mitterling/ Dave Hughes, 98 Laser (188 entrants): 1. AUS - Michael Blackburn, 54; 2. AUS - Tom Slingsby, 66; 3. NZL - Andrew Murdoch, 67; 9. USA - Brad Funk, 82 Finn (68 entrants): 1. GRE - Emilios Papathanasi, 45; 2. DEN - Jonas Hoegh Christensen, 45; 3. NZL - Dan Slater, 68; 17. USA - Zach Railey 108 470 Women (60 entrants): 1. ITA - Giulia Conti/ Giovanna Micol, 31; 2. GER - Stefanie Rothweiler/ Vivien Kussatz, 51; 3. CZE - Lenka Smidova/ Veronika Fenclova, 73; 26. USA - Erin Maxwell/ Isabelle Kinsolving, 153 RS:X Men (108 entrants): 1. NZL - Tom Ashley, 29; 2. ISR - Shahar Zubari, 41; 3. FRA - Julien Bontemps, 45; 33. CAN - Zac Plavsic, 129 RS:X Women (71 entrants): 1. GBR - Bryony Shaw, 20; 2. ESP - Blanca Manchon, 30; 3. NOR - Jannicke Staalstrom, 41; 33. CAN - Dominique Vallee, 139 49er (74 entrants): 1. GBR - Chris Draper/ Simon Hiscocks, 58; 2. AUT - Nico Luca M Delle Karth/ Le Resch Nikolaus, 62; 3. GER - Marcus Baur/ Hannes Baumann, 65; 34. CAN - Rob Dale/ Hunter Lowden, 169 U.S. MULTIHULL CHAMPIONSHIP Melbourne, Fla. (April 29, 2007) - Racing at the U.S. Multihull Championship was exciting until the last day, Saturday, when no wind showed up on the waters off host club Melbourne Yacht Club in Melbourne, Fla. For John Casey (Longwood, Fla.) and John Williams (Jacksonville, Fla.), that was good news. The two Floridians demonstrated a very consistent performance throughout the regatta by winning every race they competed in, earning the National Championship title and US Sailing's Hobie Alter Cup. It wasn't as easy for the winners as it sounds, Casey/Williams were closely followed by Olympic medalist and US Sailing Team member John Lovell and his wife Katy Pilley-Lovell (both from New Orleans, La.), who finished second in every race. Third place went to John and Tiffany Tomko (both from Canyon Lake, TX). The Hoyt Jolley Sportsmanship Trophy was awarded to Matt McDonald (Merritt Island, Fla.). For complete results, photos, and daily reports from the event, please visit the event website at http://www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/usmhc GOOD LUCK IN THE NEW SEASON -- UK-HALSEY For most of us, a new racing season is about to begin. UK-Halsey hopes you do well and have fun. Try to bring some new people along: they could grow your club, your class, and your sport. Know the rules (our online quizzes can help) but remember: good sportsmanship often keeps trouble at bay. Make safety one of your top priorities (have you seen our videos…they’ll help you prepare). And if winning is eluding you, maybe some new UK-Halsey sails can get you to the podium: that has certainly worked well for many others. 1-800-253-2002, http://www.ukhalsey.com QUEEN OF THE ARABIAN SEA Volvo Ocean Race has moved forward with its plans to bring the 2008-09 event to India and it now looks likely that the major southwestern port of Kochi will be the stopover on the new race route through the Middle East and Asia. The booming shipping port on the Malabar Coast is now one of India’s foremost tourist destinations and the race stopover is sure to bring thousands of additional visitors to both Kochi and the State of Kerala. After starting in Alicante, Spain in mid-October 2008, the fleet sails from Europe via Africa, then goes to the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia before a stop in China ahead of its longest leg of 12,000 nautical miles to South America. It then stops in on the U.S. East Coast and Europe on the way to back to a Baltic port finish. -- Event website, full report: http://tinyurl.com/377yo2 * If you are reaching for your globe to see where Kochi, India is located, and why it’s referred to as the “Queen of the Arabian Sea,” here are some details from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kochi_(India) DONATE YOUR BOAT TO SCIENCE If you’re a boater with a passion for forensic science – and you have a trailerable boat or PWC that your you might consider using as a tax write off – a new program funded by a grant from the US Coast Guard could help the nation’s waterway accident investigators improve training and better understand boat collision dynamics. The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) is using the grant to glean information from a series of staged, two-vessel collisions starting this September in Virginia. A variety of powered, trailerable watercraft from bass boats, open runabouts and pontoon craft to small cabin cruisers and personal watercraft will be involved. After the staged collisions are performed, NASBLA intends to relocate the subject vessels to the National Transportation Safety Board’ s Training Academy in Ashburn, VA, where they will be used in future NASBLA boating accident investigation training. --Full story: http://www.boatus.com/news/releases/2007/april/nasbla.asp CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * Sometimes it's worth the wait and today's brilliant weather conditions in Annapolis proved just that. With 10-15 steady knots of wind and bright sunshine, competitors at the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta were treated to a final day of perfect conditions after enduring two days of postponed racing (on Friday and Saturday). Paul Van Ravensway (Annapolis, Md.) on Millennium Falcon was named the regatta's overall winner among the 270 boats entered, finishing a mere 2 points over Tony Parker (Annapolis, Md.) on Bangor Packet to win the 16-boat J/24 class. – Complete story and results: http://tinyurl.com/2w8eqq * (April 29, 2007) The 80th Bermuda International Invitational Race Week began on Sunday, where two race courses are hosting fleets for the IOD, Etchells, J/24, J/105, Lasers, and Snipe, with the later also using the event as their North Americans. Complete details at http://www.rbyc.bm/Default.aspx?alias=www.rbyc.bm/biirw07 * The Sailing World College Rankings as of April 27, 2007 are now online, where Yale has usurped St. Mary's for the top spot in the coed rankings, but the St. Mary's women hold strong. -- http://tinyurl.com/3yfdxc * Due to the exclusion of windsurfing among the list of preferred events that the US Olympic Committee submitted to ISAF for the 2012 Olympic Games, US Windsurfing, a member-based organization to support windsurfing in the United States, has gone on the offensive. Posted on their website is a lengthy dispatch the group sent to US Sailing, wherein they state their displeasure and interest to continue talks at the US Sailing Fall meeting. -- http://www.uswindsurfing.org *Oakland (CA) April 27, 2007 - Strictly Sail Pacific, the largest sailboat show on the West Coast that concluded on Sunday, April 22, drew over 15,500 people through its show gates. That tally of showgoer turnout factors into a 15% jump in attendance, compared to last year's gate, for this five-day sailboat show held annually in Oakland. Last year's show represented a 9% rise in attendance over the 2005 turnout. -- http://www.strictlysail.com * Bernard Stamm, the defending champion and runaway leader in the Velux 5 Oceans race, is currently expected to arrive in the finish port of Bilbao, Spain between 12:00 and 14:00 local time (10:00 - 12:00 GMT) on Monday. The Swiss skipper continues to lead the fleet towards the end of their circumnavigation of the planet following the start of Leg Three in Norfolk, Virginia (USA) on April 18. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com * Early finishers in the 60th and one of the slowest Lexus Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Races of all can relate to their America's Cup brethren in Spain whose Louis Vuitton Cup challenger trials stalled in a week of windless frustration this month. For the first 24 hours from Southern California to Baja California Friday and Saturday it was Valencia West for the bigger but not necessarily faster boats, led by Doug Baker's Magnitude 80 from Long Beach that finished 12½ minutes ahead of Jim Madden's Stark Raving Mad III from Newport Beach. -- http://www.nosa.org/06_races-press.html 1000 BOATS, 10 NATIONS, 1 DESIGN 80+ boats expected for the 2007 Worlds, 90 boats on backorder; used by the French Navy for Academy training, by RYA (UK) for their keelboat program, by SSSR (Sweden) for match-racing, and by J World in 5 locations. It’s the J/80 … fast, rugged, easy-to-sail & ISAF recognized. http://www.jboats.com/j80 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 David Redfern, Kent, England: (edited to the 250-word limit) Ten years ago I did a journey on a mediaeval caravel, the 'Matthew', with the great skipper and America's Cup designer, David Alan-Williams. I was the PR and Media director, and sailed with the ship for three months circumnavigating Newfoundland (2300 miles), then down to Boston, Bristol RI where we were hosted gloriously by Halsey Herreshof. We had help from the Royal Air Force AWACS planes flying out of Scotland on Sub patrols across the Atlantic. We had a deal where each week they would find the Matthew and get back 'live' TV pictures from the ship’s onboard cameras for the BBC. On a journey I did with the AWAC, we could not find the Matthew, now 1200 miles out in the Atlantic. There was every radar device known to man on this plane. We could see Inverness lighthouse in side profile from 500 miles. We could see and plot any ship on the side profile radar, fix its speed, predict its course and keep it logged. but we could not find the Matthew. In the end, we had to phone David on the 'Matthew' and ask his position. The 'Matthew' was wood and rope and canvas. There was a radar deflector, but the Nimrod plane couldn't pick it up. The pilot said we had a perfect stealth ship. I don't reckon if we had been sent on a mission however that we would have survived. Our getaway speed would have been only 4 knots! See http://www.matthew.co.uk * From Adrian Morgan: "Technical sports with zero emissions present a chance to be leveraged by companies who want to position themselves in that area. Sailing is a clean sport in the waters of this world using the energy of the wind." Hmm. This quote from Mirko Groeschner (forgive the marketing speak as he's a marketing man) appears in Seahorse's excellent Am***ca’s C*p Guide (can't use the name for fear of legal repercussions). Zero emissions? Clean sport? Antonov 125s flying heat-cured AC hulls half way across the world? Carbon fibre by the ton, and disposable sails (good for a race or two); travel for an army of crew and technical staff? Groeschner should come clean about the AC. The wind may be free; everything else about this circus is costing the earth. * From Chris Boome: (regarding Scuttlebutt advertiser David Dellenbaugh’s publication) What a treat to come home from work late, a bit tired and see that my new issue of ‘Speed & Smarts’ had come in the mail. What a great issue, all about upwind tactics. If you haven't checked this out, you are missing something. For the rock stars, it's a nice refresher; for the mid fleet guys, you need this info to move up; and for newer racers, you can learn why you are always getting beat by the same people. * From George Bailey: (edited to the 250-word limit) I beg to differ on the comments made about copyright. Ok, maybe the NFL tells the networks they cannot use "SuperFlush." Maybe the networks cave in. But the fact that someone holds copyright on "SuperFlush" does not prevent its use. There are all sorts of legal uses of copyrighted material, though you cannot use a copyrighted item in a way that prevents the person owning the copyright from making money off its use, or generally to make money for yourself without the copyright owner’s permission, or (in an educational setting) over and over if it is possible for students to buy a copy of a copyrighted work. A copyright is not a patent. No potential income is lost by the copyright holder merely because a copyrighted book name is used in a news article. No money is lost (to the NFL) when a network station mentions the name "SuperFlush". No America's Cup syndicate is deprived of any potential revenue when Scuttlebutt uses America's Cup. Maybe everyone is caving in because they cannot afford to go to court. But if you could afford to go to court, there is no way the NFL or the AC could prevent the use of copyrighted names in news articles in the long run. No, without permission, you cannot put these names on a t-shirt or beer caddy and sell them - of course not. But that is miles from using the name in a news report. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Any and all compliments can be handled by simply saying "Thank you," though it helps if you say it with a Southern accent. Special thanks to Goetz Custom Boats, UK-Halsey Sails, and J Boats. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
