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SCUTTLEBUTT 3186 - Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Scuttlebutt 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.
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EVOLVING INTO ENTERTAINMENT
David Hollom cautions that in pursuit of a perhaps impossible America's Cup
dream we should take care that not to squander the baby with the bathwater.
Article courtesy of Seahorse Magazine (October 2010).
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I am sure I cannot be the only one who was overjoyed at the prospect of a
fresh start under new management for the America's Cup, but who views the
subsequently unfolding scene with more than a measure of disquiet.
The main thrust of the defender proposals seem to be to make sailing a more
visually appealing sport for a television audience. Laudable in itself but
just by making more and faster action is not necessarily the way to achieve
that end. Some of the fastest sports are boring to watch and perhaps the
slowest sport in the world is the most absorbing.
I am a self confessed motor racing nut but have to admit that mostly the
best part of a Grand Prix weekend is the build up and the expectations -
which only very rarely transpire. True, Grand Prix racing attracts a huge
worldwide audience but that is more a result of the hype and not very often
the action, which once the start is over is usually few and far between. By
contrast, golf must be one of the slowest games in the world and yet it also
attracts huge audiences worldwide.
Can you imagine trying to sell golf to a TV executive from a different
planet who knew nothing about the game? 'Well it's like this. Two people hit
their ball down a field and if they are lucky, two or three minutes later
they have found it and hit it again but if you are unlucky it might take
several minutes more to find the balls. But don't worry, during this time
you can fill the screen with two players either walking down the field,
perhaps chatting or you can watch the hunt for the ball.
'Ah, you may even cut to another pair of players looking for their balls or
even hitting them.' It doesn't sound too promising does it and yet golf is
one of the most absorbing games to watch and I have to say one of my
favourites to both watch and play.
Now, our fictitious TV executive might well have said, 'That sounds rather
boring. To make it more exciting why don't we make the ball bigger, paint is
black and white and to speed things up, after we have hit it we will run
with it and instead of trying to put the ball down a tiny hole in a lawn,
which normally takes a long time, we will try and stuff it between two posts
which will be quick.
'Oh, and of course having more people will make it much more exciting so
instead of two we will have twenty two and sod the cost of the wages we will
save something by getting rid of their sticks and they can kick the ball
instead.' But it wouldn't be golf. It would be another game that you either
love or hate or view with a measure of ambivalence. -- Read on:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/0927/
=> Curmudgeon's Comment: With the next America's Cup seeking to heighten its
entertainment index, this story takes a look at why we're entertained by
sport (and why we may not be entertained by the 'faster is better' logic). I
encourage you to click thru, and if you like it, there are more stories like
this each month in Seahorse Magazine. To help with the subscription cost,
Seahorse is offering a discount of nearly 30% to Scuttlebutt readers.
Details here: http://www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/?promo_code=SB444177
JACK GIERHART NAMED US SAILING'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
US SAILING, the National Governing Body of the sport in the U.S., has named
Jack Gierhart its acting executive director. Gierhart has served as the
associate executive director of US SAILING since November of 2009. He was
the organization's marketing director from 2002 to 2005. He succeeds Charlie
Leighton who plans to retire in October from the position he held since
2005.
Gierhart has over 20 years of sales, marketing, and general management
experience in the technology and marine industries. Since re-joining the US
SAILING staff in 2009, Gierhart has been focused on growing the
organization's membership base and improving the overall information
technology infrastructure, content management and outgoing communications
initiatives. During his four-year stint as marketing director, he managed
the marketing, sponsorship, web, and licensing programs. -- Read on:
http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/Gierhart_Named_Executive_Director.htm
NORTH-POWERED MELGES 32S FINISH 1-2-3 AT 2010 WORLDS
Congratulations to Luca Lalli and crew on his Melges 32 'B-Lin Sailing' for
winning the Melges 23 Worlds in San Francisco, CA last weekend. A relative
newcomer to the Melges 32 scene, 26-year-old Lalli and his team never
finished worse than 15th in the ten-race series to win by 11 points over 2nd
place finisher John Porter and crew 'Full Throttle'. Congratulations to the
'Full Throttle' Team along with 3rd place finisher Jeff Ecklund and crew
onboard 'STAR.' All three boats are powered by North Class Sail Development
(CSD) inventories. When performance counts, the choice is clear:
http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/1972/Default.aspx
GOING SOARING
Australian John Bertrand will be forever known as the skipper who unbolted
the America's Cup trophy from the New York Yacht Club in 1983 when his team
won the 25th Match, thus breaking their 132 year win streak. Here he
reflects on his more recent accomplishment, the 2010 Etchells World
Championship:
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Well, the Americas Cup win was our Everest. It stopped the nation. The win
is still considered one of the most memorable events in modern Australian
sports history. That's hard to top!
This world championship for me is quite different. In winning the Americas
Cup I don't have anything left to prove. So my motivation, my interest in
sailing is different. This is all about putting a world-class team together
and flying with the eagles!
I'm in a very privileged position in that people like Ben Ainslie, Andrew
Palfrey and young Tom Slingsby want to go race with me. These guys are at
the top of their game. Ben is Ben, simply the most successful Olympian in
the modern era, Andrew is absolutely world class and Tommy is a younger
version of Ben. The kid's brilliant. So it's an absolute joy racing with
these guys.
As skipper, my job is to develop and nurture an environment that maximises
their potential. In fact that is the key ingredient in leading a successful
Americas Cup team where there's so much latent talent.
So sailing with Andrew and Tom in this last series, is like flying with
perhaps Jonathon Livingston Seagull....'higher, further, faster.' The boat
is quiet, whatever is said, is super accurate and whenever we make mistakes
we all understand, because we've all been there, seen it all before and so
instead, we just get on with it. It's the unspoken in which I delight.
There's so much knowledge on the boat.
So how important was the win? Great, but I loved the journey more. I loved
putting the project together, racing at the highest level with these
fantastic guys. The result followed. If you haven't read Jonathon Livingston
Seagull, read it. Then you'll understand. In fact, looking back on it, 'ol
Jonathon was a key inspiration for our Americas Cup win. --
http://www.etchells.org.au/
THE PLAN: What does it take to win the Etchells World Championship? Here is
how it was done in 2010, as detailed on Sail-World by winning crew member
Andrew 'Dog' Palfrey: http://tinyurl.com/Sail-World-092710
INSTANT CHEMISTRY
Have you ever arrived at an event and seen familiar faces on a new team and
said, "Ah ha! They're going to be tough to beat. I wonder what took them so
long to team up?"
That's what happened when Richard Clarke, four-time Canadian Finn
representative to the Olympics and Tyler Bjorn a long-time Star crew and
member of the Canadian Olympic sailing team, arrived at the Star North
Americans last year on Long Island Sound.
Bjorn was determined to put together a first class team and devised a plan
to that was too good for Clarke to refuse. He secured charter of a PStar, a
Star boat design that has only been available since the 2008 Olympics, and
asked Clarke to take the helm for the 2009 Star North American Championship.
Both Clarke and Bjorn are well known in various sailing spheres, but the
North American Championship was the first time that they showed up at a Star
regatta together. Long Island Sound served up crisp, bright autumn days as
well as cold and treacherous easterlies with huge swells. Through it all,
Richard and Tyler managed to stay among the leaders. They finished second in
the regatta and narrowly missed winning a Silver Star, an honor awarded to
Star skippers who win a hemispheric championship. Some people sail Stars for
a lifetime and never win a Silver Star.
The next opportunity for Clarke and Bjorn to win a Silver Star was at the
Star Western Hemispheres in Nassau in the spring of 2010. They had a little
practice at the Bacardi Cup in Miami where they finished 4th in a large
fleet. The Bahamas was a different story. Each and every day was windy and a
lot of boats damaged their rigs in the warm up regatta. Bjorn and Clarke had
one disastrous day in which they got tangled up with other boats, sent
someone to the hospital for stitches and Richard was swept out of the boat.
It just made Clarke realize how much he had to learn about Star sailing.
Knowing how much damage they could do, Clarke and Bjorn's strategy for the
Western Hemisphere's was to sail conservatively and not put themselves in a
position where they were forced to react quickly in the heavy air. It
worked. They won the regatta and their first silver star.
Both Clarke and Bjorn are very busy with other sailing campaigns and their
young families. When Wind Athletes Canada, an organization that promotes the
sport of sailing in Canada, supports training programs, funds and supports
members of the Canadian Sailing Team recognized Clarke's and Bjorn's
potential, they assisted with sponsorship. -- Read on:
http://www.worldregattas.com/ViewInfo.php?ContentID=492
PRECEDENT: Clarke and Bjorn will be following in the footsteps of British
Columbian Ross MacDonald, whose Olympic success in the Star event includes a
silver medal with Mike Wolfs at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a bronze with
Eric Jespersen at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
SHOULD WE DELETE THE DEFINITION OF POSTPONE?
By Matt Knowles, US SAILING Racing Rules Committee
Rules writers are always conscious of the need to keep the rule book short.
Wherever possible, it's best to make new additions as short as possible, and
look for places to shorten or delete existing rules.
US SAILING has proposed to delete the definition of "Postpone" from the
rulebook. Our proposal states:
The primary definition of 'postpone' in the dictionary is 'to delay or put
off to a later time'. That is exactly the meaning that the term has in the
racing rules (see rule 27.3 and Race Signals, Postponement Signals).
Therefore, there is no need for a definition of 'postpone' in the
Definitions section of the rulebook.
The current definition, when read literally, only applies to a race that is
delayed before its scheduled starting time. It is often the case, however,
that a race is postponed before its scheduled starting time and then
postponed again after its warning signal. Such a subsequent postponement is
not a postponement under the current definition. Thus, races are already
being postponed, without confusion or complaint, in a manner consistent with
the dictionary's definition of 'postpone' and not with the definition in our
rulebook.
In other words, not only is the definition unnecessary since the
common-sense definition would be adequate, but the rules definition is
actually not what we mean to say by "postpone"!
Thoughts? Post comment here: http://tinyurl.com/Unruly-092710
THE MELGES SHOW
You have to check out melges32.com and witness some of the best one-design
racing on the planet. Fantastic video and photos are posted from this past
week's Melges 32 World Championship in San Francisco. Congratulations to all
of the participants! The Annapolis Boat Show is up next. Check out the new
Audi Melges 20 up close on the F Dock. Go for a sail too! --
http://www.melges.com
PHOTO GALLERIES
* Maybe it was the windy venue. Maybe it was the depth of competitors. Maybe
it was the exciting boat. Whatever it was, the Melges 32 World Championship
got a lot of attention last week, and Scuttlebutt is thankful that
photographers Sharon Green, Joy Dunigan, Erik Simonson, and Dave Keane
shared their work with us. View it here:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0925/
* And while big brother was getting all the glare at its World Championship,
its smaller sibling Melges 24 had also attracted some talent for its class
North American Championship in Rochester, NY. Locals Adam and Lori Burns
took both the top title and the Corinthian Championship title - the first
time ever that both titles have been claimed by the same team at an
International Melges 24 continental championship. Photos by Fiona Brown and
Betsy Lawless: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0927a/
* Twenty international teams competed in the ISAF Women's Match Racing World
Championship at Newport, RI, and Scuttlebutt has the photos by Fried Elliott
to prove it: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0926/
* The 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit has been a steady source of dramatic grand
prix imagery, and the fifth and final event this weekend in Italy did not
disappoint. Sadly there was an event ending crash for one of the teams, but
gladly the photographers were there to capture the sequence. Enjoy:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0927/
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT E-10 GAS THIS WINTER
Will you soon be putting away your boat for the season? But before you do,
Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has some tips learned
from fuel industry insiders on how to store a boat with E-10 gasoline
(containing 10% ethanol) over the winter.
The Octane issue:
Over long winter storage periods, E-10 gasoline loses octane at about the
same rate as non-ethanol gasoline. So leaving the gas tank mostly empty -
and then refilling in the spring in the hopes of "refreshing" the fuel to
regain any octane loss - is not necessary. However, a nearly empty gas tank
introduces another problem: the strong possibility of phase separation.
Ethanol (an alcohol) attracts water. It also absorbs water - about 10 times
more than regular gasoline. When ethanol can no longer absorb the water, it
will "phase separate" from the gasoline. Should phase separation occur, the
(water soaked) ethanol will settle to the bottom of the tank, which is where
the engine's fuel system pick-up is located.
The problem with leaving a tank mostly empty is that it increases the tank's
"lung capacity" to breath in moist air (water) through the vent. If the tank
is mostly empty over the winter, there will also be less E-10 gas in the
tank to absorb the moisture. This combination of more water and less
absorption greatly increases the chances of phase separation. Adding fresh
gasoline in the spring would not remedy the problem - the phase-separated
ethanol would remain separated at the bottom of the tank.
Read on for the
- The Water Separator issue
- The Fuel Additive issue
- The best advice for storing E-10 in your boat's gas tank over winter
Complete report: http://www.boatus.com/pressroom/release.asp?id=558
SAILING SHORTS
* Thirty-three teams came to Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA for the
2010 Sonar North American Championship on September 24-26. After 11 races,
Jud Smith built an 11 point lead to take the title over Peter Galloway, with
Lee Morrison three points further back in third position. -- Final results:
http://www.easternyc.org/page/4617/5829/
* The Fireball Canadians have concluded at the Pointe Claire Yacht Club in
Montreal. Nineteen boats entered the event making this the largest turnout
of Fireballs at any venue in North America this year. Crews from Nova
Scotia, Alberta, Ontario, and British Columbia competed. Joe Jospe and Tom
Egli are the Canadian champions after a clinic like display of sailing. Tom
and Joe had seven firsts and two seconds on their way to the championship.
Yet despite this impressive result Joe stated that he felt pressured in
every race. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/27zkkcz
* Cold Spring Hbr, NY (September 26, 2010) - Twenty-five Atlantics raced for
the National Championship at Cold Spring Harbor. There was no racing on
Friday due to lack of wind, with a nice westerly breeze on Saturday allowing
for the fleet to complete three races, and a building easterly on Sunday
allowing for two more races. Norman B. Peck, Jr. took the championship, nine
points clear of Chris Wittstock of Cedar Point that won the tie breaker over
Norman Peck III of Niantic Bay. Norm Peck, Jr. first won the Atlantic Class
Championship in 1973; this was his 16th Championship win. -- Final results:
http://tinyurl.com/27upqw7
* Mystic, CT (September 25, 2010) - The Shields National Championship
Regatta saw 28 teams vying for the title, hosted by Mason's Island Yacht
Club on September 23-25, 2010. Despite winning the final two races, James
Hilton could not overcome the lead built by Robin Monk, with Monk winning
the seven race series by two points. Tied with Hilton, but finishing third
on the tie breaker, was John Burnham and Reed Baer. -- Results:
http://www.shieldsclass.com/2010/results.htm
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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 are 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 Chris Boome, San Francisco:
Didn't Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle Racing team ever read Gary Mull's article
written about 20 years ago? If they had, they would have realized that
Alcatraz is merely an Island and that in 2014 the tides will be high enough
to tow it to South Hampton Shoals and thereby opening up the bay for the AC.
* From Ken Guyer:
To say I am disappointed would be a massive understatement. I have followed
the America's Cup since the Intrepid years. My greatest memory in sailing
will always be the time I got to spend with Team Dennis Conner. I have to
admit with all the fighting between the billionaires, I really did not pay
much attention to the last one, but did get to watch the Oracle boat for
many months in San Diego. Special boat and incredible to watch under sail,
but NOT an America's Cup boat by any stretch of the imagination.
So Larry Ellison, in cahoots with Coutts has now stolen one of the oldest
sporting events and altered its history for greed. They liked not having to
actually compete on the water last time. It was enjoyable to design a
monster machine, go out on the water and just go sailing on a fast boat and
then claim to have won a cup that was deeded for a design and sailing
competition among nations. This is a mono hull event, always has been,
always should be. Let the multi hull sailors go out and create a multihull
event and maybe a hundred plus years from now it will have the stature of
the America's Cup. -- Scuttlebutt Forum, read on:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10574#10574
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
I always take life with a grain of salt, ...plus a slice of lemon, ...and a
shot of tequila.
Special thanks to North Sails, Melges Performance Sailboats, and
LaserPerformance.
Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
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