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SCUTTLEBUTT 2630 - Wednesday, July 2, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. A PANDORA’S BOX OF COMPLIANCE PROBLEMS Alexandria, VA, July 1, 2008 -- In response to a federal court order, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a draft permit for millions of recreational vessels for “normal operational discharges” that could open a Pandora’s box of compliance problems and unfairly subject recreational boaters – including those who own canoes and kayaks - to potential nuisance lawsuits. The EPA draft puts boaters and anglers squarely under new Clean Water Act regulations that go into effect September 30, 2008. Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) is urging all boaters and anglers to contact their federal lawmakers to bring corrective legislation to the Senate and House floor for a full vote as soon as possible to restore the federal exemption for recreational vessels for “normal operational discharges” that has been in existence for the past 35 years until the federal courts recently determined otherwise. Regarding the draft permit, BoatUS Vice President of Government Affairs Margaret Podlich notes, “What may appear quite simple on the surface will be anything but in reality,” said Podlich. “What happens if a neighbor – who perhaps may not appreciate boats – decides that you use too much biodegradable soap to wash your boat, witnesses an accidentally spilled orange juice draining out of the scuppers, or sees you wipe algae off the scum line? Under the present draft permit guidelines, all of these instances may be deemed a violation of the Clean Water Act,” added Podlich. “Even topping off a fuel tank, which is recommended for winter storage of today’s ethanol-laden gasoline, could be considered a violation,” she added. -- Full report: http://www.boatus.com/news/releases/2008/july/epa.asp FROM POLLYWOGS TO SHELLBACKS (July 1, 2008) Magnitude 80, closing in on the record in the Transpacific Yacht Club’s 13th Tahiti Race, crossed the equator Monday afternoon---always a memorable experience, especially for Pollywogs. A Pollywog is a sailor who has never sailed (airplanes don’t count) from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere, or the reverse. A Shellback is one who has, and there is a traditional ceremony emphasizing the distinction between the two. Doug Baker’s Magnitude 80 crossed the line between 2 and 3 p.m. PDT Monday, with navigator Ernie Richau providing this account from the ceremony: “This morning I awoke to see our watch captains Keith Kilpatrick and Jeff Scott in the galley with a bucket, mixing up more gruel for our equator crossing. A quick look at the GPS showed us we were just a few minutes from Latitude 00. After they finished with the gruel they began making their clothes. Keith was King Neptune while Jeff played the part of his mistress, Queen Codfish. I went on deck with the other crew and waited for our crossing. “At Latitude 00 Jeff and Keith appeared on deck. King Neptune wore a plastic trash bag with holes cut for his arms and head. His hair was gorilla tape with yards of red and white yarn stuck to it. Finally, he sported a triton---our spare jib batten with three forks taped to the end. Queen Codfish was a hysterical site. She wore a matching trash bag as a skirt. Under her skirt and taped to her leg was a full water bottle that also holstered a pair of scissors. She had no shirt but covered her chest with more gorilla tape tightly applied to make a sort of 'tube top.' Long flowing yarn made up her hair.” -- Read on: http://xrl.us/jb6mn CLASS WINS AT NEWPORT-BERMUDA RACE It was great to see a Swan 601, powered by her new Doyle main and spinnakers, win Class 11 in the professional division. Sam Fleet and crew on Aquarius beat a fleet of hot boats with professional talent: Blue Yankee, Numbers, Moneypenny, Rambler, and Bella Mente. It was just as rewarding to have Bandera win Class 14 in the cruising division. John Watts won the easier way: powered by a new StackPack! Bandera also competed with a new Doyle Spinnaker and Stratis Genoa. Let Doyle improve your boat's performance. Contact your local Doyle loft, 800-94-DOYLE, http://www.doylesails.com LOCAL LEADS PREMIERE FIELD IN SWEDEN Marstrand, Sweden (July 1, 2008) - Under sunny skies and a perfect 12-15 knot westerly breeze, Mattias Rahm and his Stena Bulk Racing Team got the jump on a highly-competitive 12-team field here in Day One of Match Cup Sweden, winning all of their first three matches in this fourth stage of the World Match Racing Tour. Exhibiting smooth crew work and a familiar mastery of the DS37’s used at this event, in his first match he met last year's winner of Match Cup Sweden and number four in the world championship series, Björn Hansen, who he left behind already in the start, and kept a good distance all the way to the finish line. The next two scalps to take were Sébastien Col, France, and Paolo Cian, Italy, who is number two and three in the World Match Racing Tour. Being based locally, Rahm has had much experience in the DS37’s which have been used here and in other events in Sweden and Denmark for over a decade. Because of tomorrow’s lighter wind forecast, Rahm admitted they “may have an edge when the conditions change,” but that “there are no weak teams at all, so we will be glad for every point.” Round robin racing continues Wednesday in Day Two of Match Cup Sweden, with four flights scheduled for the morning and three for the afternoon. Sunny skies, warm temperatures, and lighter winds are forecast, which should tempt more spectators to line the natural amphitheatre here at the Marstrand fjord. -- Complete report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/da/82438 Day one results: 1. Mattias Rahm (SWE), Stena Bulk Racing Team 3 - 0 2. Bjorn Hansen (SWE), Alandia Sailing Team 2 - 1 3. Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Mirsky Racing Team 2 - 1 4. Sebastian Col (FRA), French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge 2 - 1 5. Peter Gilmour (AUS), PST Team 2 - 1 6. Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Victory Challenge 2 - 1 7. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN), Trifork Racing Team 2 - 1 8. Ben Ainslie (GBR), Team Origin 1 - 0 9. Paolo Cian (ITA), Team Shosholoza 0 - 3 10. Damien Iehl (FRA), French Match Racing Team 0 - 3 Not yet raced: Ian Williams (GBR), Team Pindar Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team * (July 1, 2008) All three Swedish ladies secured their spots in the semi finals of eight team Match Cup Sweden, Women class. Jenny Axhede showed her unbeatable class winning all her seven matches, while 23 years young Anna Kjellberg made a sensational breakthrough in the international sailing world, winning five matches. Linda Rahm and Claire Leroy (FRA) each won six matches which secured their semi final spots. -- http://www.matchcupsweden.com MEAN MACHINE DOMINATES FIRST DAY OF THIRD MEDCUP EVENT Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy (July 1, 2008) - The MedCup Circuit’s return to Italy for the first time since 2006 in Punta Ala, Tuscany when Mean Machine (MON) won overall, was rewarded with a great opening day of solid, building sea breezes which remained solid until early evening to allow the target of three races to be met with relative ease. After winning the first MedCup event in Alicante, Spain, Peter de Ridder and his Mean Machine team stumbled hard to finish 11th in Marseille, France. However, the team appears to have rebounded in Italy to produce something a little closer to a virtuoso performance on Sardinia’s Gulf of Cagliari today when they won two of the first three races of the Audi Region of Sardinia Trophy regatta. Added to a fourth place from Race 2 today, the 2006 MedCup Champions lead the regatta standings by four points. Next in the standings is Quantum Racing (USA), with tactician Morgan Larson (USA) commenting on the day: “There are so many good teams out there and so many good people here that you just have to keep your head down and work harder and work to do a better job and that is what we try to do. Overall it felt good, we tend to work on how we feel we sailed, we had a few disappointing parts, but overall we had a good day. The main thing for us was that we really started well in each race which was good because that is something that we have been working hard on leading up to here. Generally it was the right which was paying but in the first race in particular I think the race committee did a good job in setting the bias to the line to even it up a little which made it a tough decision but I think we did a pretty good job picking the side of the course over the end of the line, but you have to say Mean Machine did a pretty good job today and they are going to be pretty hard to beat if they carry on like that.” -- Complete report: http://2008.medcup.org/news/?id=256 * From Paul Cayard, El Desafio skipper: “One thing I have noticed so far in the three days we have been training is that the sea is extremely flat and the wind is very steady. When you have conditions like this, the fleet usually gets to the windward mark all at the same time. Inches and feet will make the difference between 1st and 7th at the first mark. The regatta ends on Saturday, July 5th with nine inshore races scheduled as they missed one race in Marseille earlier this month. Thursday will be the offshore race, which has two scoring positions; one at the half way point and one at the finish.” -- http://www.cayardsailing.com PROPAGANDA OFFICIALS HANDLING ALGAE OUTBREAK The Olympics coming to China has provided the country’s heavily controlled media with the opportunity to sugarcoat and sell the place like used car salesmen. However, the recent algae outbreak in China has challenged even their savviest wordsmiths. They are now pitching that the outbreak was not a result of pollution and poor water quality but rather due to increased rainfall and warmer waters in the Yellow. They claim that it will be cleaned up by July 15th, and that the government would try to block algae from floating into the Olympic sailing area by installing in the sea a fenced perimeter more than 30 miles long. Perhaps the most reassuring statement coming from Big Red is this: “We will make all our efforts to finish this job,” said a propaganda official in Qingdao, who asked not to be named because of the political delicacy of the issue. “Now, forces from the entire province have become involved.” Oh good, the Propaganda officials are now onsite providing us information. Very reassuring! -- Scuttleblog, http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/07/chinese-propaganda.html DECLARE GEAR INDEPENDENCE Marblehead, birthplace of the American Navy, is also the home of Atlantis WeatherGear, the authentic American sailing gear company. So, each year at this time, we invite our fellow sailors and boaters to join us and free yourselves from the tyranny of boring gear. We offer sailing gear perfect for July conditions: the Microburst collection, fully waterproof yet lightweight and breathable jackets, vests and pants that'll keep you dry without turning up the heat. Join the revolution. Discover Atlantis. http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE When sailing at Dillon Reservoir in Colorado, which sit at 9,017 feet above sea level with adjacent 14,000-foot peaks overhead, local Terry Schertz said, “The game changes up here. It's very hard to be tactical. You could never take what you learned about tactics on the coast and do anything with that here. On Dillon, it's random wind-condition changes, boat speed, unpredictable weather patterns, and you've also got very cold water. It's not a place for beginners." -- Denver Post, full story: http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_9723771 US YOUTH CHAMPIONS DECIDED Belvedere, CA (July 1, 2008) - The third and final day at the 2008 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships was one of upsets and victories. For Tyler Sinks, defending champion in the C420 class, this was his and his crew, Briana Provancha's last U.S. Youth Sailing Championship. A veteran of a number of U.S. Youth Championships, this one may rank as one of his favorites. As Tyler said, "The only problem with this championship was too much wind - but we'll take it." In the Laser fleet, Cam Cullman pulled off an upset victory against Luke Lawrence, who had led the entire series but had an OCS on the final race and dropped to fourth. In the Radial division, Philip Crain's second and third place on the final day put him on top of the podium. Judge Ryan and Hans Henken, who are off to the ISAF Youth Worlds in Denmark in just a few weeks, took top honors in the 29er class. Complete report: http://xrl.us/jb467 Results: http://xrl.us/scores Onshore photos: http://www.rockskipper.com/Sailing/545800 Racing photos: http://xrl.us/action SAILING SHORTS * A scholarship fund for underprivileged youth to take sailing lessons has been established as a suitable memorial and tribute to Helen Johnstone's outreach goals and love of the sport. A goal of the fund is to encourage community sailing programs and clubs to initiate such a scholarship program nationally, starting with Sail Newport as the pilot project. Support for this worthy cause is most welcome. Donations (tax deductible) may be sent to the Helen C. Johnstone Memorial Fund, Sail Newport, 60 Fort Adams Drive, Newport, RI 02840. Phone: 401-846-1983. * With the next America’s Cup using multihulls, the five event iShares Cup for Extreme 40s has had increased attention as both the Cup defender Alinghi team and their challenger BMW Oracle Racing have used the class for their training. The Alinghi team competed in the first two events last month in Lugano, Switzerland and Hyères, France and will be entered in the third event that coincides with Skandia Cowes Week (August 2-4). The BMW ORACLE Racing team will be using the Cowes event for their first iShares Cup racing, having entered two of their boats. -- Full details: http://www.isharescup.com/container.asp?id=16854 * Southern Spars announced the acquisition of Southern Spars Cape Town and Sparcraft Cape Town, manufacturers of carbon fibre and aluminum masts in South Africa. Four years ago, Southern Spars initiated a licensing agreement with the enterprise to manufacture carbon fibre masts for the production market under for Southern Spars, and this acquisition will now further improve their production capabilities. Rigs currently produced by Southern Spars Cape Town include those for the Melges 24, Mumm 30, and Farr 40 one-design classes, plus rigs for GP42 and Open 40 boats. -- Complete details: http://xrl.us/jb6vj * US SAILING and North U have teamed up to offer Racing Rules Seminars in 2009, coinciding with the release of the new Racing Rules of Sailing for 2009-2012 that take effect January 1, 2009. The Racing Rules Seminar will be an intensive full-day program taught by top experts in the field: Betsy Alison, Brad Dellenbaugh, David Dellenbaugh, Bill Gladstone, Peter Isler, Dave Perry, and others. US SAILING members will receive a $40.00 discount to attend a Racing Rules Seminar. – Additional details: http://www.ussailing.org/sponsorship/rule_seminars.asp GOOD LUCK OLYMPIC HOPEFULS! Samson wishes fair winds to all the athletes participating in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Especially noteworthy are the US Men’s 470 Team Graham Biehl and Stu McNay, Canadian 49er Team Ben Remocker and Gordon Cook, Canadian Tornado Team Oscar Johansson and Kevin Stittle, and the Canadian Paralympic Skud 18 Team John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit. Samson is the rope of choice for these Olympic sailors. Follow their progress and see why they’ve chosen the best rope in the business at http://www.samsonrope.com/index.cfm?page=1 VIDEO OF THE WEEK This week marks the one year anniversary of the defender Alinghi’s stunning comeback victory over Emirates Team New Zealand in the 32nd America’s Cup. The racing began June 23, 2007, with the Swiss defender soon finding themselves losing the Cup, down 2-1 in the best of nine series. However, by July 3, 2007, the Alinghi team had rolled off four straight wins to successfully defend the match. Seven edited videos relive the moments of each race, and remind us what a spectacular event it was. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/08/0630 LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘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, 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 * Bill Sandberg: Congratulations to BoatU.S. and NWSA for recognizing the accomplishments of Pat Seidenspinner. I consider Pat a good friend and one of the finest race officers I've had the pleasure of working with. She's also been a great motivator for women sailors around the world. Per the recent thread of "what are we going to do when the current generation of volunteers retires", Pat will indeed be a hard act to follow. But if I know Pat, she is working on her replacement as we speak. * From John Gross: The last few years it seems sailboats designers having been pushing the envelope more and more for speed with radical designs. You see a lot of boats with the canting keels and other keels just break or fall off the boat. Masts are breaking too. What happened to boats that were designed to take the sea? The Cal 40s, the Swans, Frers, that seem to go fast without losing a keel or possibly a life. I know those who can afford it will get the designer/ architects to push that envelope, but hopefully they will consider the safety aspect of racing too. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: On the subject of breaking masts, we received a report from Dobbs Davis of Seahorse International Sailing that on Monday afternoon, Hasso Plattner's maxZ R/P 86 Morning Glory had retired from Eurocard Gotland Runt (in Sweden) when their 40-meter high carbon fibre mast failed under the third spreader. No one was hurt and the broken mast piece was secured immediately to avoid further damage to the boat and the rig. Morning Glory then proceeded by engine directly to Sandhamn where the yacht arrived early Tuesday morning. -- http://xrl.us/morningglory SCUTTLEBUTT FORUM IS BACK After a being offline since April, the Forum is now on a new host to better handle its needs. Whereas the newsletter has limits in length and scope, the Forum can accommodate all comers. Presently, the Forum categories are: > Dock Talk: For all your sailing comments and questions. > Sailing Event Reports: For posting regatta reports and commentary. > Collegiate Sailing: For topics specifically relating to college sailing. > New Product Announcements: For equipment, boats, and clothing/accessories. > Classified Ads: Free postings for gear, wanted items, jobs, and boats Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to 'Honor thy father and thy mother,' she asked, 'Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?' Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, 'Thou shall not kill.' Special thanks to Doyle Sailmakers, Atlantis WeatherGear, and Samson Rope. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
