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SCUTTLEBUTT 2437 - September 21, 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 the support of its sponsors. SUPPORTING THE TROOPS Newport Beach, CA -- Tae McNeelege stood on the side of the 50-foot boat ‘It's OK’ and yelled out to a Marine on a nearby boat gliding by in the Newport Harbor. "What are you doing on the losing boat?" he shouted to the man decked out in uniform, standing at the back of the sleek sailboat Bolt. A little competitive spirit never hurt. The two Marines were joined that evening by about 30 others from Camp Pendleton, invited by the Balboa Yacht Club for the last of the summer "Beer Can" sailboat races. The 1st Battalion, 1st Marines were adopted by Newport Beach in 2003. Most of the 1/1 were recently sent to Iraq, but several who stayed behind showed up to represent their group. Members of the Wounded Warrior Battalion were also invited. The night wasn't just about giving Marines a break. The club also collected items Marines have asked for while in Iraq. Sailors showed up with bags and boxes full of basic needs such as toothpaste, coffee and board games. -- OC Register, full story: http://www.ocregister.com/news/marines-boat-iraq-1840896-sherburne-newport CHANGING TEAMS Larry Leonard spent an entire career battling corporate giant North Sails. After three decades of knocking heads with the most dominant force in the sailmaking industry, Leonard has joined his former rival. North announced on Aug. 24 that Leonard had been hired to work within the company's Performance Resource Group. The highly-respected, 30-year veteran of the business will work with high-level clients on building their racing teams and developing their sail inventories. In 1996, Leonard founded Quantum Sail Design Group and started going head-to-head with North in the grand prix market. Quantum carved out a niche as a cutting-edge company and grew into the second-largest sailmaker in the world with 60 locations in 22 countries. However, Leonard's involvement with Quantum came to an abrupt end last September when company officials announced that he was "relinquishing his role in day-to-day operations." Leonard said he was terminated by way of registered mail. Leonard promptly filed a lawsuit against Quantum and two parties recently agreed to an out-of-court settlement. Terms of the settlement were not announced, but Leonard seemed satisfied with the result. "I'm pleased we were able to reach an agreement that was equitable to both sides and can now move on," said Leonard, whose non-compete clause with Quantum has expired. -- Capital Online, full story: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/09_06-16/SAL BABY STEPS There was a Bill Murray movie in 1991, “What About Bob,” that had a line where Murray’s character Bob Wiley said the line, “Baby steps, get on the elevator...baby steps get on the elevator...” Wiley was working with a psychiatrist on some issues he had, and “baby steps” was his way of making progress. Kind of like, you must first learn how to walk before you can run. Maybe that is also what is happening with the Alinghi team. On Thursday, September 20th, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) and Alinghi announced that changes had been made to the Protocol for the 33rd America's Cup, with the result of this being that the "majority of BMW Oracle Racing’s (BOR) concerns" had been addressed and that the Defender was making a final appeal to the American team to drop their legal actions and join the competition. A review of their announcement harkens the line “baby steps” as this amendment is not likely going to cancel any of the legal proceedings in New York. Their proclamation of addressing the majority of BOR's concerns is a bit of a stretch, but it is worth noting the conciliatory tone of their announcement, and that Alinghi is interested in making some changes to the Protocol based on their meetings with the current challengers and with the event’s Arbitration Panel. -- Scuttleblog; for Alinghi’s full announcement: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2007/09/baby-steps.html DISCOVER THE BEST BOATING GEAR/EQUIPMENT Boat Show season is here and MyBoatsGear.com will be browsing the latest gear and bringing you the best offerings. From safety, to electronics to deck gear and 18 other categories, we bring you the best gear. Now with over 1,000 links to products conveniently organized for viewing anytime. Not only do we bring you news and information on the best gear, we offer how-to solutions as part of our newsletter campaign. MyBoatsGear.com: the boating equipment, news & review site. Bookmark MyBoatsGear.com and visit regularly for the latest boating equipment. – http://www.MyBoatsGear.com => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Without overly hyping our sponsors, we found a recent article on the MyBoatsGear.com website about binoculars to be of particular interest. It is a thorough description of how binoculars work, what all those numbers mean (i.e. 7×35, 8×40, etc.), and the pros and cons of the various prism designs. Their chart of binocular types for various uses and sports is a handy tool, and their review of some various models helps to narrow the choices. Finally, when you head to the store to shop, the article provides the keys to consider when buying Binoculars, and some reviews from Motor Boating Magazine and Practical Sailor as well. Enjoy: http://myboatsgear.com/newsletter/200798.asp IMPROVING GPS ACCURACY The US military announced that it will no longer procure Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites with the capability for worldwide civil sat nav degradation. In a release dated September 18, 2007, the Pentagon confirmed that "this capability, known as Selective Availability (SA), will no longer be present in the next generation of GPS satellites". Until 2000, the accuracy of the GPS civil signal was reduced using SA, so that a normal sat nav receiver would be accurate to only 100 metres or so. There was and remains a separate military signal, encrypted so only those with appropriate keys - such as the US forces and their allies - can use it. Despite SA, many civil users were able to achieve excellent accuracy using a technique known as Differential GPS, in which a ground station at a known location would calculate the SA error and transmit corrections to a mobile civil receiver in real time. SA was switched off in 2000 on the orders of President Clinton, but it remained an option. In the years since, the US government has sought to assure civil GPS users that SA would never be used again, but its presence has remained a concern. -- The Register, complete story: http://tinyurl.com/2bh8bd HOUSTON OR BUST Over the years, Scuttlebutt has fostered a wonderful relationship with the Bitter End Yacht Club, a dandy resort in the British Virgin Islands that annually hosts each fall the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championship and the Pro Am Regatta Week. Among the sailors currently on the hook this year are Russell Coutts, Paul Cayard, Ken Read, Butch Ulmer, Rod Johnstone, and Ben Ainslie, with the Curmudgeon also slated to attend. Besides the BEYC being a true jewel of the BVI, they are also a big supporter of the sport, and are seeking to help some of their own sailors get to “the show.” The BVI Women's Team of Emma Paull, Rebecca Paull Roulette, Clair Burke and Linda Phillips, three-time winners of the Caribbean Women's Keel Boat Championship, have their sights on competing at this year’s Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship in Houston on November 12-17. BEYC is helping in a big way by donating a week for two at the resort, which the team is selling to help fund their trip. And it’s a bargain! -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2007/09/houston-or-bust.html PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include a scenic sail sculpture from Maine, the launchings of the first Class 40 in the US plus the ultra grand Open 60 Hugo Boss, an update on traveling pro Mark Ivey and the Melges 24 US Nationals, Canadian artist Don Allen’s latest take on the America’s Cup, TeamOrigin taking their newly acquired V5 ACC boat for a sail, the carbon 49er rig, and the foiling International C Class catamaran. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0921 SAILING SHORTS * Rocky River, OH (September 20, 2007) Perfect sailing conditions on Lake Erie for the first day of the J/22 North Americans provided the 68-boat fleet to rattle off four races in the 10-14 knot breeze. Taking an early in the event is Greg Fisher (MD), sailing with Jeff Eiber and Todd Hiller, though it is only two points back that Texan Kelson Elam and local Fred Hunger sit tied on points. Hosted by Cleveland Yachting Club, racing continues on Friday and concludes on Saturday. -- Results: http://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/regatta_scores.php?ID=1536 * Newport, RI (September 20, 2007) The first day of the U.S. Match Racing Championship for the Prince of Wales Bowl got off to a great start for the eleven teams, with winds of 6-13 knots allowing for the near completion of the first round robin. The series format provides for two round robin schedules for all teams, with the top four moving to the semi-finals. No results had been posted by 9:00pm ET, but should eventually be available at http://www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/usmrc * Toronto, ONT (September 20, 2007) --With light winds plaguing the International C Class Championship this week, a schedule change was made to conclude the fleet racing and proceed to the match racing on Thursday. With fleet racing having been cancelled on Wednesday, the scores from Monday and Tuesday qualified Fred Eaton/ Magnus Clarke (Alpha/ CAN) and Steve Clark/ Duncan MacLean (Cogita/ USA) to the match racing finals. Winds of only 3-4 knots allowed for only one race Thursday, and despite Cogito dominating the start, Alpha’s superior speed allowed her to pass and extend to a 4min 7sec lead at the finish. -- Daily reports: http://tinyurl.com/2vm3pb * This week’s Volvo Saling Podcast chats with Russell Coutts on his win at the Breitling Med Cup with Artemis, along with a member of one of Brazil's most famous sailing families, Vincent Brun. Additionally, Volvo Ocean Race Chief Executive Glenn Bourke provides the latest news and developments surrounding the race. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org/podcast WINTER'S COMING - TIME TO RECONDITION YOUR GEAR Martha's tip for the month: If you own any foul weather gear, you should recondition it at least once a year, and what better time than now. Try Revivex or Nikwax products to treat all of your sailing and outdoor gear. Team One Newport has all the latest washing and conditioning products. Read the wash instructions and remember that certain foul weather gear needs to be dried in a home dryer at a low setting to re-activate the Durable Water Repellency. You’ll extend the life of your gear by doing this on a regular basis! For more info, call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) or visit http://www.team1newport.com 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 Chip Mann: (from Issue 2435, regarding the use of VHF radios in dinghy classes) The Inland Lakes Yachting Association, an association of inland lakes mostly in the Midwest, has been using VHF radios in their adult fleets for many years. This includes our MC fleet, which is a 16-foot singlehanded Scow. Besides helping with the OCS boats as several people have described, we find it very useful to communicate to our fleets, especially in wind conditions that are either over the class limit or flat. We are also using radio communication for starting countdowns. We are trying to get away from using guns and using automatic horn systems more and more for many reasons. As the horns are often not as loud and sometimes not heard by the competitors, we have now started to key a radio next to the horn so that the competitors are hearing the horns in real time. This was successfully used at our championship regatta in August. We did a verbal countdown and then switched to the horn on time for the signal. Since the radio receives the signal instantly it eliminates the delay in the sound reaching the competitors. Our race management team has proposed the use of radios for our youth sailors, but the parents have not yet bought into the idea. They seem to be reluctant for their kids to have a $100 piece of equipment that they need to take care of and not lose. If others have figured out the solution to this problem, let me know. -- Post additional comments on this thread here: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5310 * From Jack Curtin: (regarding Don Finkle’s commentary in Issue 2436) If you want to see great boats competing in the most "sportsmanlike" environment, come to Cannes and see the revitalized 12 Metre class World Championships. We're having a great time with great sailing. * From Scott Mason: Don makes some great points: people forget incidents but not angry behavior or nasty comments. Most of us do this to have fun, we like to compete with our friends, and we would like to be thought of well by others. I sail in the Finn class, which has its share of characters and incidents. The sailors I respect the most are those who sail within the rules, keep their mouths shut on the race course, don't use the rules or the edges of the rules to gain an advantage, are helpful ashore, and who - through their actions - are individuals that anyone would enjoy spending time with. There are others who choose less desirable courses of action, and they make the sport less fun. I often remind some of the "edgier" sailors that my son uses Paul Elvstrom's famous quote as his email footer, and has ever since he was awarded the Dave Perry Sporstmanship Trophy by his peers at the 2006 US Youth Champs. While I myself am far from perfect and have made comments to competitors that I later regret, at least a couple of my "edgier" fellow Finnsters have told me that they want to start behaving like the "Good Andrew" and I have actually seen some positive changes in their game day behavior. As long as we remember that our common interest in sailing should be fun, we will all act better towards others and enjoy the sport more. * From the Forum (johnc7777): One step further - if you think you have been screwed - don't make things worse by holding a public grudge. Find someone that knows more than both of you and get his opinion. If you don't like that one get another; just don't make it personal. A difference of opinion is what makes a horse race. -- Post additional comments on this thread here: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5319 * From Michael van Stom, Randwick, NSW Australia: I am writing in response to John Tormey's letter in Issue 2435 concerning the 49er class switching to a carbon rig. The 49er is a skiff and is a reflection of the 18' skiff. The 18's have used full carbon spars for at least 6 years and the square top mains appeared two years ago. Technology is advancing quickly now, so it makes sense to keep up to date. I think a Thistle with a carbon spar, square top main, asymmetric kite, and bowsprit would look pretty sharp, don’t you think? -- Post additional comments here on this thread here: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5318 * From Mark Yeager: Normally I truly respect the Curmudgeon’s judicious use of the delete key --knowing when someone was really 'stepping over the line' – but where were you on Doran Cushing's rant (Issue 2436) as it certainly didn't deserve space in this fine newsletter? I waited a day to write this so I could re-read it and see if I really felt the way I initially did when I read it for the first time. Move-On.org would be a better format for Mr. Cushing's political beliefs. They don't belong here. * From Gail M. Turluck: (Re: R. Geoffrey Newbury: Regarding comments on the 'lack' of crash boats in Issue 2436) Truthfully, any organized sailing activity that has sought the participation of people from far and wide is being foolish not to have at least two 'RESCUE BOATS' available, or more (should the type of boat, size of fleet, ability of the athlete participants or conditions make the increase sensible). No one leaves shore with an intention of breaking a mast, sinking a boat, having a heart attack, or any other emergency, but stuff happens! Anyone who has had any organizational training knows that emergency plans are an important part of event planning. I have been chagrined to be at one-design events where mark set boats were expected to double as rescue boats, yet they were so busy moving marks around due to changing conditions that sailors in need of aid weren't noticed. I have been to events where "rescue boats" only had a driver, solo, with no able bodied second to lend the aid. This is an area where US Sailing has some outstanding guidelines. No regatta organizer who wants to be known as an exceptional host should scrimp on having depth in support in this area. And yes, the challenge today is in finding the individuals who are willing to serve in those floating platforms. The good clubs accomplish the task. Curmudgeon’s Comment: All good points, but we seem to agree that it is sometimes easier said than done. This does not diminish its importance; just acknowledges the challenge. This thread is now closed. CURMUDGEON’S COUNSEL The Dalai Lama’s Instructions For Life: 1) Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk; 2) When you lose, don’t lose the lesson: 3) Follow the three R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions. -- To read all 19 points: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/karma Special thanks to MyBoatsGear.com and Team One Newport. |
