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SCUTTLEBUTT 2200 - October 12, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with America’s Cup coverage in Scuttlebutt brought to you by UBS (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). SAILORS ELECTROCUTED AT 58th GOLD CUP Hamilton, Bermuda (Oct. 11, 2006) - The King Edward VII Gold Cup commenced today in varying conditions on Hamilton Harbour, but it’s safe to say that never in the previous 57 editions has it experienced a morning quite like today. The event is in its preliminary round robin stages. In Group A Sweden ’s Björn Hansen and Brian Angel of the U.S. dashed out to 2-0 records before racing for the group was prematurely halted around 11:30 a.m. Group B took to the water at 1:30 p.m. and completed five flights. Group A’s racing was suspended when a squall pushed through produced heavy rains and a bolt of lightning that struck three race boats. One boat, Peppercorn, saw its masthead windex blown off and a hole put in the bow when the lightning presumably traveled down the forestay and into the water through the hull. It was as if someone took a marlinspike and punched through the hull from the inside out. Four individuals were treated for injuries, which included Karl Anderson and Mark Ivey (both crew for Chris Law), Eric Boothe (bowman for Brian Angel), and umpire David Pelling of Canada. Ivey described what happened: “We had just changed boats after the (James) Spithill race and it began to downpour. We went below and were holding out. Then we heard a huge bang and sparks came out of the mast step. I was sitting on the partners and it shot through me and out my feet. I felt real weak and crawled out of the cabin and laid on the cockpit sole for awhile as it was pouring rain.” Boothe is living proof that lightning can strike twice. He was competing in a collegiate regatta in 1999 when lightning blew out the mast step of the FJ dinghy he was sailing. He wasn’t hurt in that incident, but he was a bit woozy today. His ear was next to the mast when the bolt hit. Thursday schedule calls for Group B to complete its two flights in the morning and then Group A to finish its round robin afterwards. The quarterfinals are slated for Friday, the semifinals on Saturday and the Final on Sunday. - Compete report and standing at http://www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com GIFT OF OCEAN SAILING (Port Lincoln, Australia) Young sailors now have the chance to sail on a state-of-the-art ocean racing yacht, with the ‘Ocean Mentor’ unveiled at the marina boardwalk last Sunday. The yacht was donated to the Port Lincoln Yacht Club by Port Lincoln's Peter Teakle, who said he was pleased to give junior sailors the opportunity to learn to sail in a Sydney 32 One Design Yacht. Mr Teakle said his love of the ocean and yacht racing, along with Port Lincoln producing so many successful sailors, had prompted the donation. The Ocean Mentor is the newest Sydney 32 One Design Yacht to form part of the Port Lincoln fleet, and will be used as a training vessel for up-and-coming sailors, with further opportunities being made available for non-sailing youth to experience the sport through planned come-and-try days. According to Mr Teakle, currently the majority of junior sailors progress from holdfast trainers to cadets or team racing in 420s, and do not often get the chance to race on the "big boats" and broaden their sailing experiences to include ocean fleet racing. -- Port Lincoln Times, full story: http://tinyurl.com/r9ny3 SURVIVAL TRAINING Ten days to go to the start of the Velux 5 Oceans, the skippers and their teams are working on final preparations. The eight skippers who are taking part in the original around the world solo race have just finished a survival and security course given by CEPIM in Bilbao. The French sailor Yves le Blevec, with the firesafety expert Henry Monet tried to familiarize the skippers with the reflexes they should have in an emergency. Some of these automatic responses may be crucial in their survival at the sea. First the skippers first had to get their survival suits. Once in the water with their suits on, the skippers realised how hard any movement could be. The survival suit allows them to stay dry and warm but also to float. Henry Monet who is very experienced in this kind of course explains, “There is a strong bouyancy which means something as easy as going under the water is very difficult.” In a jovial atmosphere, all the skippers worked on the SMDSM, which is the worldwide system for distress and safety at sea. Swimming is not easy, as the skippers have to stay on their back and swim backwards. After passing under a pontoon, and then under a boat, grabbing the rudder, they had to inflate a liferaft. Once all of the skippers were onboard, they had to practice putting the liferaft upside down. - Yachts and Yachting, full story: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?article=23743 ULLMAN SAILS REPEAT AT J24 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS Congratulations to Ian Southworth and his J/24 team on “Hedgehog,” who retained their title as J/24 European Champion at the 2006 regatta held in Poole Bay, Dorset, Great Britain. With a full inventory of Ullman Sails, “Hedgehog” dominated the championship with seven first places, three seconds, and did not have to sail the final race. Hedgehog’s winning record with Ullman Sails includes: 3 J/24 Europeans, UK, Irish, Northern & Southern Area Championships. Champions choose Ullman Sails! If you and your crew are ready for the “Fastest Sails on the Planet,” contact your nearest Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com MAKING CHANGES Neil Forrester, chairman of the Antigua Sailing Week organising committee, recently revealed new plans for the 40th Antigua Sailing Week next year. Forrester said, “After last year, we realised that we needed to make some changes. Sailing Week has been pretty much the same for the last few years and the event needs to evolve to satisfy the desires of today's racers.” After the event this year a questionnaire was sent out to all the participants requesting their views on the event and what they would like to see changed. Forrester said that they received over 50 responses. These responses were analysed and are being used to direct the thinking for 2007. As much of this involved the courses, the first change was to appoint a new race committee. It now includes, Tommy Paterson, the Chairman, Karl James, Franklyn Braithwaite from A&F Sails, Commodore of the Antigua Yacht Club Gerry Bardoe, Dr. Bernie Evan-Wong, a local dentist and keen sailor and Jan Santos. There will be some changes to the racing categories, particularly to Division A boats, which Forrester said would bring ASW more into line with some of the other Caribbean regattas. "We are looking to harmonize the racing categories throughout the Caribbean in the optic of establishing a Caribbean Racing Series for 2008." Another major change for 2007 will be the welcoming back of Multihulls. "These have been absent from ASW for many years but there is now a serious group of racing multihulls from Guadeloupe and BVI that we would like to see come and race in Antigua" The race is now open to racing multihulls which will race in Division A and the cruising catamarans that will race in Division B. - Full story: http://www.caribbeanracing.com/artman/publish/article_807.shtml OPEN 60-FOOT TRIMARAN PHOTOS Photographer Thierry Martinez caught up with two of the entries in the Route du Rhum 2006, the single-handed transatlantic race from St Malo, France to Guadeloupe, French West Indies, which starts October 29th. * Martinez was onboard the Open 60-foot trimaran 'Sodebo' with French sailor Thomas Coville as he was training near La Trinite sur Mer, France. - http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/1011 * Off the boat, Martinez catches up with Steve Ravussin (SUI) training in big breeze (read: big air) on the Open 60-foot trimaran ‘Orange Project' near Lorient, France. - http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/1011a FALL TRAINING IN VALENCIA After a month of sailing against other America’s Cup challengers, Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia Team is focusing on the work with ITA 90 and ITA 77. Throughout the month of October the team will be two-boat testing and racing “in-house.” Last week’s winds were from 6 To 18 knots, overall providing favorable conditions for the team’s testing. Vasco Vascotto confirms, “The weather, for now, has given us some great days. This was good for us because we were able to sail into the evening hours. We are making the most of these good periods, because we know that in November and December it will become more difficult to sail, therefore we are trying not to lose any valuable time…” A lot of people say that testing – although a crucial part of developing a new boat to its maximum potential – is boring work. But Jes Gram Hansen explains, “I think testing can be boring, but it´s an important part of development. It’s something you have to do and when you get more deeply involved in it, you start to see the different aspects of it and it becomes more interesting.” And if the weather doesn´t co-operate? “We have a long, long list of things we want to test in the boats. So when we cannot sail, we just go that long, long list of jobs and we start ticking some jobs off the list,” explains navigator Nacho Postigo. - http://www.mascalzonelatino.com PRE-INVENTORY CLEARANCE Hall Spars & Rigging’s inventory manager Cara Read says: “Sell it so we don’ t have to count it!” Discontinued hardware, select spools of line, pre-made rigging, and even some carbon spinnaker pole tubes are priced to sell. Hall polo shirts are also on sale. This clearance is web only and ends when Cara starts counting at the end of October. Visit our site and click on “pre-inventory clearance” to see the deals. http://www.hallspars.com SAILING SHORTS * Sail World has posted online the first part of an interview with Hamish Pepper, who won the Star Worlds last week in San Francisco after only joining the class in early 2006. Enjoy: http://www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=28055 * Matt Sheahan of Yachting World magazine has conducted a podcast with Alinghi managing director Grant Simmer, where he quizzes him as to whether the top dogs can take the development of a highly refined boat any further. Here is the link: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20060911160957ywnews.html * For those who have thought about wanting to crew on a Superyacht (and who among us haven’t), the International Superyacht Society announced the seminar schedule for its Eleventh Annual Crew Training & Luncheon. The event is being held during the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show on Friday, 27 October 2006 from 10:00 am-4:00 pm in the Radisson Bahia Mar Ballroom. The program is free of charge, with full details here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/1011.htm * Mark Gaudio and Jamie Douglas won the Harbor 20 Class Championship for the third consecutive year, held October 7-8 in Newport Beach, CA. Newport Harbor YC hosted 28 boats in the 7-race event, where just getting around the course was a challenge for the fleet with the 6-10 knots of breeze countered by a 5+ knot ebb tide. Team Sunday Driver was dominant with a (4)-2-1-2-1-1-1 tally and a double-digit victory over Chris Allen and Steve Schupack, with Jim Kerrigan finishing third for the regatta. Complete results can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/qfbbx * Two Volvo 70’s, ABN Amro One and Ichi Ban (formerly Brunel), are making plans to participate in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart, marking the first appearance of not one but two entries competing again from the 05/06 Volvo Ocean Race. * The Volvo Ocean Race organizers are currently running both a competition and also an eBay auction, with all the proceeds going to Petra and her children in memory of her partner Hans Horrevoets, a crewmember of ABN Amro Two who lost his life in the North Atlantic earlier this year on the Volvo Ocean Race ‘05/06. - http://tinyurl.com/zmcpz LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or space (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, there are no word or frequency limits on comments sent to the Scuttlebutt Forums. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forums: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Carolyn Bick, Rochester, NY (in regard to the Scuttleblog post: Have We Lost A Generation Of Sailors?) Yes, we are losing junior sailors. As a founder and advisor to a local high school team that I helped start in the Rochester, NY, I was excited about the growth of High School and College racing. However, I became appalled at the emphasis on basic short course racing by the whole high school racing organization. Our local race coach is great but he is "teaching the test" because of this system. When invited on larger boats, these kids had never seen a spinnaker or long courses on 420's in junior or high school sailing (unless exposed by parents). They were totally afraid and intimidated by a spinnaker because of no exposure. Myself and another skipper who races a J/22 have tried to invite junior sailors to participate. Unfortunately, they are so narrowly focused and have no knowledge of tuning, knot tying, wind shifts, compass reading, and spinnaker handling as to be almost a handicap. My daughter was interested in sailing in college but at 5'11 (even though thin), the weight requirements for the 420 are extremely light. The younger adults that I see continuing with racing have a family sailing background, extreme passion, and/or money. I have already seem a number of new, enthusiastic high school sailors lose interest and leave the sport because of the monotony of the racing and the lack of deep skill development and excitement. * From Casey Woodrum: As a former high school and college sailor and coach, I can empathize a bit for the generation who has moved on. For me, and many of the kids I've coached in high school and college, sailing had such low barriers to entry, yet was so much fun it made for a very compelling use of one's time and money. Racing 20 races in a weekend against 40 of your peers offers a sailing experience unmatched in our sport (even in other countries). For most it's a big let down to graduate and then look around at your options and realize most dinghy's cost $5000-10,000 plus berthing, trailers, tow vehicles new sails each year, etc. Coming from shared or chartered boats, the barrier to entry becomes very steep to anyone looking to start a career, pay down college loans, and save for a house down payment. The "lost generation" is soon gone to find more affordable pursuits. Perhaps it is the success of the scholastic and college programs, but perhaps the lessons can be learned and applied at the yacht club level. Why don't clubs sponsor affordable fleets of one-design dinghy's or small keelboats to encourage the twentysomthings to stay in the sport affordably? Some clubs have done this; let's hear from folks from those clubs to find out what's worked for them. * From Ken Voss: I am not sure about the Jr. west coast events, but Opti events are not short course things. They typically are 45 minutes to an hour races (or more)...the kids that succeed do spend time learning tuning and boat speed. They are low performance boats, but like the Snipe, encourage tactics. In terms of Olympics.... look at sailing...for the most part the existing classes emphasize experience rather than youth. They are also not classes popular in the US (other than Lasers, and Stars for people older than 20). There is a huge bubble of youth sailors that have grown through the Opti, now 420 and laser class...we need to encourage them and see where it goes. * From Reynald Neron: In response to Peter Allen message (in Issue 2199), who complains that someone has used the words "Petit Final" in a report (in Issue 2197), I would like to mention the fact that a "Petit Final" is different from a "Semi Final." The "Petit Final" is the final between the 2 losers of the Semi finals, for the gain of the 3rd and 4th spot. The Semi Final is the competition to get into the Final. That being said, I feel I should defend the Frog Language: When you write Petit Final on the US side of the pond (and everywhere else for that matter), you might as well spell it properly: "Petite Finale." Finale is a feminine word (hence the E at the end) and Petite being the adjective, it has to agree with it, and therefore we put an E at the end too. I have to agree with Peter Allen on one point though: It is a definite sign of our times when someone criticizes the use of the correct term (even if it is a foreign word) and offers a wrong solution. Good onya Texas! * From George Bailey: How xenophobic can you get? Heaven forbid that we use anything but good old-fashioned middle-class (or is it working class) "American" words to describe “small craft with sails” racing. And just which words would those be, by the way? Shall we toss all the words with roots that do not trace directly to the English? (What about the English words that come from the continent?) The French are noted for trying to keep English out of their language, with no success, of course. I guess we could claim tit-for-tat, but I thought we were better than that. And of course we would not want to admit that the sport was the least bit oriented towards the more well-healed among us, by calling those sailing things "yachts," now would we? Xenophobia and PC all in one breath. CURMUDGEON’S CONUNDRUM Why is 'abbreviation' such a long word? This issue of Scuttlebutt provided by Ullman Sails and Hall Spars & Rigging. America’s Cup coverage in Scuttlebutt is brought to you by UBS. |
