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SCUTTLEBUTT 2388 - July 13, 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. SPORTS AND COURTS From the moment that the Alinghi team, winner of the 32nd America’s Cup, presented the Protocol on July 5th for the next event, questions about its validity in Valencia grew rampant. The date of the event was not stated, nor was the type of boat defined. Alinghi had labeled the Spanish challenge of Club Náutico Español de Vela (Desafio Espanol) as the Challenger of Record, whose role with the defender is to define the rules for the 33rd event. However, with so much power being bestowed on the defender, and so little protection being provided to the challengers, the Spanish press attacked, calling the Club Náutico Español de Vela mere puppets of Alinghi. Since the Protocol was announced, most of the challengers have met informally a few days ago in Valencia to share their concerns, and now the Golden Gate Yacht Club (BMW Oracle Racing team) has officially launched the first frontal assault. They have submitted notice to the defender’s club, Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG), that the Spanish challenge is invalid based on the terms of the Deed of Gift, and therefore the Protocol is equally invalid. Among other deficiencies are that the Spanish apparently formed a club for their challenge only a few days before their challenge was accepted by SNG, and that it has never held an annual regatta as is required by the Deed. While the 32nd America’s Cup was for the most part clear of courtroom drama, the 33rd rendition looks to be back in the saddle. Here is the letter that the Golden Gate Yacht Club has presented to SNG that details their position, and presents themselves on behalf of the BMW Oracle Racing team as the new Challenger of Record: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0712 * Return volley: The BYM News website has posted a translated response from the Spanish challenge: http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=11971 * Television: A reminder that CBS will broadcast a one hour highlight show of the America’s Cup on CBS Sports Spectacular called, America’s Cup, A Sailor’s Story. The show will air this Saturday, July 14th, 2007, from 2-3:00 pm ET. * Paradigm shift: With the validity of the Protocol now called into question, Scuttlebutt has moved all the letters commenting on the changes Alinghi made for the 33rd America’s Cup – both published and unpublished – to the Forum (and killed the thread in the newsletter). Letters commenting on the recent actions of the Golden Gate Yacht Club are welcome, and should be sent to mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com HORN BLOWING AND BARGING Long Beach, Calif. (July 12, 2007) Splashing and crashing, charging and barging and the oompah of a tuba wafting on a brisk breeze under sunny skies set the tone for a rambunctious second start to the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii Thursday. With 12 knots of fresh wind gusting to 14, the Adrenalin was pumping. That's the name of David Clark's Santa Cruz 50 from Newport Beach that protested Sean Doyle's 1D35, On the Edge of Destiny, with Transpac's youngest crew ever. The pre-start protest---possibly for barging---will be sorted out after the two boats reach Waikiki in a couple of weeks or less, but a fair guess is that Destiny tried to squeeze in from behind the committee boat without right of way---"barging" in sailboat racing terminology. Meanwhile, out at sea, Monday's 23 starters found some encouraging wind after a depressing couple of days and were making up to 7 knots. Although they gained less distance southwest toward Hawaii, boats that went south, led by Simon Garland's Hobie 33, Peregrine, in Division 6 and Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 52, Between the Sheets, in Aloha A, appeared to have gained leverage on the others as they continued south while rivals lifted west more directly toward their destination. The final start will be on Sunday for Division 1, 2 and 3 boats, which includes marquee competitors Pyewacket, Magnitude 80, Rosebud, and Morning Light. -- Complete report: http://www.underthesunphotos.com/Press%20Releases/tp07pr27.htm NOT THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH There's a minor uproar over Roy Disney's entry of the highly-modified Pyewacket in this year's TransPac, and that he, perhaps the biggest supporter of TransPac ever, has been the subject of some unflattering press and snide comments. Has it been deserved? We're going to let you decide. First, the Pyewacket perspective, as paraphrased from Stan Honey, the renowned navigator and longtime member of the Pyewacket crew. Honey explained to us that, to keep things honest, US Sailing rather than the TransPac YC decides whether or not boats fall within the limits of the rating rule for the race. High-rollers trying to optimize their boats for the downwind race have up to 30 chances to fall within those limits. After about nine attempts, Pyewacket discovered something bizarre - that after a boat got over 90 feet, it suddenly got a much better rating for being longer, having more sail area, and being more stable. In other words, it was just the opposite of how it should be. Rather than keep this information to themselves, the Pyewacket team informed US Sailing. US Sailing replied that the Pyewacket team had it wrong, that there was nothing wrong with their rating rule. So Pyewacket had naval architect Juan Kouyoumdjian, who was doing their optimization, send all the info to US Sailing so they could see the error of their ways. Despite Juan K's best efforts, US Sailing continued to insist that they were right. -- Latitude 38, read on: http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/2007/0707/July11/July11.html A CONTEST AMONG DESIGNERS – TP52 CLASS We saw it with the AC class and we’re seeing it with the TP52’s in the latest Breitling MedCup; a true contest… not only between sailors but also among designers. The TP52 class is evolving - designers are pushing the technology envelope and what’s transpiring is fiercely fought out racing. Rig development is a key contributor to the class’s design evolution and Southern Spars’ latest development has produced a 20% increase in fore/ aft rig stiffness without compromise. To learn more about rigs that powered three of the top four yachts in the first TP52 Breitling MedCup regatta 2007, visit http://www.southernspars.com ISAF WORLDS – DAY 10 Cascais, Portugal (July 12, 2007) The Women's RS:X Medal Race at the ISAF Sailing World Championships was billed as a battle between youth and experience, with Zofia Klepacka (POL), just 21 years old, lining up against triple Olympic medallist Barbara Kendall (NZL), aged 39, in a battle for the World title. Initially the pendulum swung in favour of experience as Klepacka came under early pressure and dropped to the back of the fleet after falling off her board on the first beat, whilst at the front of the race Kendall lead round the first mark and was in position to win her fifth windsurfing World Championship. But from there Klepacka took control, reading the shifty breeze perfectly and flying on the downwinds to sail right through the fleet and lead into the slalom finish. She made no mistake on the technical final section, taking race victory ahead of Jessica Crisp (AUS). Going into the men’s race Ricardo Santos (BRA) held an eight point lead, but he also carried with him the memories of Athens two years ago when he led going into the final race but saw the gold, silver and then bronze medals slip through his grasp. The start was delayed as the race committee waited for the wind to stabilize, but when racing did get underway the regular shifts and puffs caused numerous place changes. Initially Santos looked to be in control, but by the gate he had dropped four places behind Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL), a result which could see him lose the gold medal. As the shifts came through the positions continued to dance around and a big puff at the end brought the entire fleet together for the final slalom section of the course. Miarczynski came across the line fourth, followed by Nick Dempsey (GBR) with Santos in seventh place, crucially within three places of Miarczynski and securing the World title for Brazil. The final medal races will be on Friday, where the 49er and 470 Men and Women will close out their events. While the North American contingent is represented in each class, the prospects of medalling are slim with 470 Women Erin Maxwell/ Isabelle Kinsolving (USA-10th), 470 Men Stuart McNay/ Graham Biehl (USA-9th), and Morgan Larson/ Pete Spaulding (USA-10th) down in the standings. -- Complete report: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j12Fnij`2&format=popup Top Three and Top North Americans 470 Men (112 boats) – Medal race on Friday 1. AUS - Nathan Wilmot/ Malcolm Page 1-6-2-2-1-6-2-4-(30), 24 2. NED - Sven Coster/ Kalle Coster, 6-14-2-1-6-3-8-2-(33), 42 3. POR - Alvaro Marinho/ Miguel Nunes, 2-8-14-1-(15)-12-3-1-2, 43 9. USA - Stuart McNay/ Graham Biehl, 3-7-5-6-14-11-(17)-14-13, 73 470 Women (64 boats) – Medal race on Friday 1. NED - Marcelien De Koning/ Lobke Berkhout, (4)-2-1-2-1-1-2-1-1, 11 2. FRA - Ingrid Petitjean/ Nadège, Douroux, 5-(25)-2-1-6-3-1-2-2, 22 3. JPN - Ai Kondo/ Naoko Kamata, 1-6-(10)-4-5-2-5-6-9, 38 10. USA - Erin Maxwell/ Isabelle Kinsolving, (26)-19-4-3-13-10-3-19-11, 82 49er (78 boats) – Medal race on Friday 1. GBR - Stevie Morrison/ Ben Rhodes, 1-2-1-1-4-1-3-1-4-8-1-(23), 27 2. AUT - Nico Luca Ma Delle Karth/ Leopold, 2-4-2-7-1-1-4-3-6-3-5-(12), 38 3. ITA - Piero Sibello/ Gianfranco Sibello, 7-3-4-2-1-6-1-1-(18)-12-6-1, 44 10. USA - Morgan Larson/ Pete Spaulding, 1-6-3-4-4-12-4-3-(15)-1-22-11, 64 Yngling (35 boats) – Final** 1. GBR - Sarah Ayton/ Webb/ Wilson, 2-3-4-2-3-(13)-11-4-6, 41 2. USA - Sally Barkow/ Howe/ Capozzi, 8-5-1-1-(DNF)-12-3-8-2, 42 3. GBR - Shirley Robertson/ Lush/ MacGregor, 1-2-3-9-10-(20)-2-3-9, 48 Finn (73 boats) – Final** 1. ESP - Rafael Trujillo, 3-2-(15)-4-1-3-7-1, 22 2. NED - Pieter Jan Postma, 5-(13)-1-1-1-6-5-3, 25 3. SLO - Gasper Vincec, 4-6-3-2-4-1-(33)-5, 30 7. CAN - Chris Cook, 1-6-3-8-2-2-(DNF)-10, 42 Laser Radial (106 boats) – Final** 1. BLR - Tatiana Drozdovskaya, 6-7-3-6-(15)-5-6-10-2, 47 2. FIN - Sari Multala, 2-5-15-1-12-6-(19)-3-3, 50 3. GER - Petra Niemann, 9-9-2-5-5-6-1-(12)-7, 51 5. USA - Anna Tunnicliffe, 10-13-1-5-9-2-(31)-5-5, 55 Laser (149 boats) – Final** 1. AUS - Tom Slingsby, (21)-1-1-2-1-1-16-9-6, 43 2. NZL - Andrew Murdoch, 23-2-3-1-8-9-(24)-2-2, 52 3. EST - Deniss Karpak, 8-(DNF)-12-1-7-6-8-3-5, 55 29. USA - Andrew Campbell, 13-7-9-(BFD)-7-24-23-13-18 - - 114 Tornado (49 boats) – Final 1. ESP - Fernando Echavarri/ Anton Paz, 9-8-1-(11)-4-3-6-3, 34 2. BEL - Carolijn Brouwer/ Sebastien Godefroid, 5-10-3-3-8-(18)-5-6, 40 3. NED - Mitch Booth/ Pim Nieuwenhuis, (15)-13-2-5-1-15-3-2, 41 10. USA - John Lovell/ Charlie Ogletree, 23-2-9-8-17-(25)-15-9, 83 Star (62 boats) – Final 1. BRA - Robert Scheidt/ Bruno Prada, 2-4-3-1-1-1-(29)-1-2, 15 2. FRA - Xavier Rohart/ Pascal Rambeau, 3-1-1-2-3-3-(7)-2-4, 19 3. GBR - Iain Percy/ Andrew Simpson, 1-(8)-2-5-2-2-4-8-1, 25 12. USA - Mark Reynolds/ Hal Haenel, 5-6-17-11-14-6-(18)-7-14, 80 RS:X Men (113 boards) – Final** 1. BRA - Ricardo Santos, 2-(5)-1-3-1-2-1-1-5-7, 30 2. POL - Przemyslaw Miarczynski, 1-1-(12)-1-1-11-4-2-3-4, 32 3. GBR - Nick Dempsey, 4-1-(7)-1-5-3-5-5-2-5, 36 26. CAN - Zachary Plavsic, 11-19-15-7-14-15-29-4-(32)-13, 127 RS:X Women (73 boards) – Final** 1. POL - Zofia Klepacka, 1-1-6-3-1-(8)-3-2-2-1, 21 2. NZL - Barbara Kendall, 2-(26)-9-2-2-3-1-1-10-8, 46 3. AUS - Jessica Crisp, 3-6-4-2-14-2-5-18-7-4, 47 Note: No North Americans qualified for the Gold fleet Complete results: http://www.cascaisworlds2007.com/home.php?content=resultadoGeral.php ** For classes where the schedule permitted a medal race, the points for the final race position are doubled for determining the entrant’s total score. * Sail TV will be broadcasting live coverage of the Medal Races for two hours daily on July 9-13. The channel will be providing two modes of coverage from Cascais, with a daily news update which is free to view, and live programming coverage of the event will be available for a fee. Details at http://www.sail.tv THE EVERCHANGING MAC In the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, presented by Lands’ End, the past 98 races has seen the differences among entrants increasingly vary in boat weight, sail area, and equipment. As these differences affect boat performance, the race has attempted to provide the means for everyone to compete. In past years, many cruisers have outfitted their boats with racing sails and advanced racing equipment to compete under the current two divisions: The Mackinac Cup and Mackinac Trophy. New in 2007, a third official division has been added - The Cruising Division - to provide the opportunity for true recreational cruisers to do the Mac. The Cruising Division allows a monohull to carry a single roller-furling jib or genoa and two (2) asymmetrical cruising spinnakers. It allows whisker poles, precludes symmetrical spinnakers; specifies how staysails will be treated and how the asymmetrical can be flown. It does allow power winches and electro-mechanical steering devices. It does not allow engine use except for purposes of charging batteries. The 2007 race begins on July 14th - http://www.chicagoyachtclub.org/racetomackinac * North Sails has partnered with Sailing Weather Services to provide one free weather forecast for the Chicago-Mac Race. This forecast will be emailed out to subscribers who sign up on the North Sails Web site before Friday at approximately 1600 CDT. - http://na.northsails.com/ew/ew_main.taf US YOUTH WORLD TEAM The US Youth World Team will include nine sailors that will represent the United States at the 2007 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Kingston, Ontario, Canada when racing begins July 14th. More than 220 of the world's best young sailors from 52 nations will compete for seven gold medals in the following classes: singlehanded Laser (boys) and Laser Radial (girls), doublehanded 29er (boys and girls), RS:X windsurfer (boys and girls) and multihull Hobie 16 with spinnaker (open). The members of the 2007 US Youth World Team are: - Girls Singlehanded: Anne Haeger (Lake Forest, Ill.) - Boys Singlehanded: Luke Lawrence (Palm City, Fla.) - Girls Doublehanded: Emily Dellenbaugh (Easton, Conn.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) - Boys Doublehanded: Oliver Toole (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Willie McBride (San Diego, Calif.) - Open Multihull: Eric Raybon (Shrewsbury, N.J.) and Jason Bilow (Shrewsbury, N.J.) - Boys Windsurfer: James Sobeck (East Quogue, N.Y.) The 2007 US Youth World Team will be accompanied by Team Leader Kent Haeger (Lake Forest, Ill.) and coaches Brett Davis (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Benjamin Glass (San Francisco, Calif.). * It has been announced that the provincial government will contribute $80,000 to help Kingston, Ontario in Canada host the 37th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. The regatta will be held at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour from July 12-21. The money, granted under the guidelines of the Ontario International Amateur Sport Hosting Policy, is intended to support both the athletic and economic benefit Kingston residents will gain from hosting this event. Fifty countries are signed up to compete in this year’s event featuring sailors aged 18 years of age and younger. -- http://tinyurl.com/2ez2ly DON’T MISS MORRIS YACHTS BOAT SHOW, JULY 20-22ND! One week from today in Northeast Harbor, Maine, Morris Yachts will throw open its doors for its third annual boat show. A part of Morris Yachts’ 35th Anniversary Celebration, this is a unique opportunity to step aboard more than a dozen privately owned Morris Yachts ranging from the M36 and M42 to Ocean Series yachts from 34-62 feet. You will be the first to see Cheshire Cat - the just launched Morris 48. All brokerage boats will also be available for your inspection. A not to be missed opportunity to get on board the widest selection of Morris Yachts! http://www.morrisyachts.com/news SAILING SHORTS * (July 12, 2007) The schedule for the 185 entries at the Optimist North Americans in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was for team racing on Thursday, with the pursuit of the individual title resuming on Friday and concluding on Saturday. Presently, Raúl Rios of Puerto Rico has a nine-point lead over Nicole Barnes of the US Virgin Islands, with Thomas Brauer of Argentina in third. Results and news are being updated at http://www.optinam2007-mexico.org/Optinam2007 * Watsonville, Calif.--(Business Wire)--July 12, 2007--West Marine, Inc. (Nasdaq:WMAR) today reported that comparable store sales for the thirteen weeks ended June 30, 2007 decreased 2.9%. Net sales for the period were $247.8 million, a decrease of 6.3% from net sales of $264.5 million a year ago. Comparable store sales for the twenty-six weeks ended June 30, 2007 decreased 2.8%. Net sales for the twenty-six weeks ended June 30, 2007 were $373.8 million, a decrease of 5.9% from net sales of $397.2 million a year ago. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/2ez2ly * The Women's International Match Racing Association (WIMRA)has joined forces with North U to offer a series of introductory clinics worldwide. To encourage interest in women's match racing, WIMRA will bring some of the sport's best champions, including Liz Baylis, Dave Perry and Katie Spithill, to share their expertise with the growing group of women's sailors looking to win in match racing. -- http://www.wimra.org/clinics.asp PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Here is Scuttlebutt’s new feature where we post random photos from the sport at the end of each week. Included this week are images from the Optimist North Americans, J/80 Worlds, Farr 40 Open Nordic Championship, the late Wendy Siegal, futuristic ACC design, dismasting, beached tanker, and a close crossing with Maltese Falcon at the Superyacht Cup. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here is this week’ s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0713 * If you worry about bad luck on Friday the 13th, maybe you will feel better after watching this YouTube video showing personal disasters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnAZSbviHf4 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 Michael H. Koster: Regarding Jennifer Hall's suggestion (in Issue 2387) that more user friendly tracking software be sourced to keep people interested in following race participants, my experience with the Halifax tracking was that it was very user friendly, especially when compared to the tracking used very Marion-Bermuda and Bermuda 1-2, which tended to be slow and cumbersome. But I must say, both systems are better than nothing. Based on the comments I have received from family and friends who have followed our offshore ventures using tracking web sites, they love it. No doubt, these sites will improve with time. * From Laurie Fullerton: Jennifer Hall wrote to express dismay at the lack of coverage on the Marblehead to Halifax Race. Although I submitted a story on the race - which ran the next day - thank you - it is difficult to get daily reports without a paid PR person doing the job. To get more coverage of these great events, I would suggest writing to daily and community newspapers demanding better sailing coverage. Coverage of sailing is way down in the mainstream press, but I find it just takes educating your local/ regional sports editor...one editor at a time.. one event at a time... each and every season...there must be a better way! * From Suzanne Grosby: It is always nice to see efforts to increase interest in sailing for young people. However, this is not new. I know that many Long Island Sound yacht clubs provide big boat race training. However, I believe mention should be made of a fine program run for over 20 years by Bill Austin of Norwalk, CT who lead Sea Scout Ship 6 to many successful victories at Block Island Race Week and other races on Long Island Sound. I was lucky enough to be along as a co-scoutmaster in 1997 when Celebration, a donated Cook 40 that the Scouts totally refurbished, was the first boat entirely crewed by teenagers to win their division at Race Week. The Race Committee didn't know quite what to make of this group of kids who screamed and danced every night at the prize awards, but when it came down to the last race of the week, which they needed to win, the race committee cheered as they crossed the finish line. There are many outstanding Sea Scout Ships across the country, providing community-based sailing to teenagers. * From Theo Muller, Wellington, New Zealand: It is really a sad state of affairs with Brad Butterworth insulting Grant Dalton in the way he did in Scuttlebutt 2386. There is not one New Zealander who is not proud of the way Dalton got ETNZ back together working as a team after the near collapse in 2003. This was quite evident throughout the series. They looked professional, behaved in a professional manner and share the top spot in match racing in the world. Grant Dalton is a hero. Sir Peter Blake did not have any previous America’s Cup experience either when he took on the challenge, and he won it twice for New Zealand. Grant Dalton will do this too for his country. Watch this space. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION A lot of good luck is undeserved, but then so is a lot of bad luck. Special thanks to Southern Spars and Morris Yachts. |
