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SCUTTLEBUTT 3397 - Wednesday, August 3, 2011Scuttlebutt 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. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: Morris Yachts, Team One Newport, and LaserPerformance. FIRST-EVER INDUCTEES ANNOUNCED Annapolis, Md. (August 2, 2011) - Catching up to 200 years of sailing history in the U.S.A., the National Sailing Center & Hall of Fame (NSHOF) today announced the 15 sailors who will make up the historic first-ever class of inductees into the National Sailing Hall of Fame. Over a two-month period this spring, sailors from all corners of the country - including a U.S. Senator and the mayor of a major metropolitan city - nominated their choice for induction into the sport's Hall of Fame, some even going so far as to consult noted sailing historian John Rousmaniere for accuracy in putting together their submissions. Inductees are American citizens, 45 years of age and up, who have made significant impact on the growth and development of the sport in the U.S. in categories of Sailing, Technical and Contributor. Nominations of non-citizens were also considered if they influenced the sport in the U.S., and posthumous nominations were also accepted. The undertaking to recognize Americans who have made outstanding contributions to the sport of sailing is central to the mission of the NSHOF which was formed in 2005 and has completed phase one of its plan to establish a permanent facility on the historic waterfront of Annapolis, Maryland. The selection committee, appointed by the NSHOF, included representatives from the NSHOF Board, the national governing body, the sailing media, the sailing industry, community sailing, a maritime museum and NSHOF founding yacht clubs. Emphasizing the national scope of the NSHOF, this historic first group of inductees will be honored on October 23, 2011, during an invitation-only ceremony scheduled to take place at San Diego Yacht Club in California. "After years of planning, we are so pleased that the heroes of our sport are getting their long-overdue recognition," said Dick Franyo, President of the NSHOF. "The National Sailing Center & Hall of Fame will be a place to honor these heroes and provide inspiration for all sailors - young and old." The next group of NSHOF inductees will be announced in July 2012, and through 2013 the number of inductees will not exceed 15. Beginning in 2014, the Selection Committee will induct a maximum of five sailors each year. For more on the individual accomplishments of the 2011 Inductees, please visit: 2011halloffamers.nshof.org 2011 National Sailing Hall of Fame Inductees (alphabetical list): Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.) Hobie Alter (Laguna Beach, Calif.) Capt. Charles "Charlie" Barr (Marblehead, Mass.) Paul Cayard (Kentfield, Calif.) Dennis Conner (San Diego, Calif.) Capt. Nathanael G. Herreshoff (Bristol, R.I.) Ted Hood (Portsmouth, R.I.) Gary Jobson (Annapolis, Md.) Buddy Melges (Zenda, Wisc.) Emil "Bus" Mosbacher, Jr. (Greenwich, Conn.) Lowell North (San Diego, Calif.) Ted Turner (Atlanta, Ga.) Joshua Slocum (San Francisco, Calif.) Olin Stephens (Hanover, N.H.) Harold S. Vanderbilt (New York, N.Y.). Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0802/ LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC TEST EVENT Weymouth/Portland, GBR (August 2, 2011) - The 12 Women's Match Racing teams put up with light winds on the first day of racing at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, the London 2012 Olympic Test Event. Seven flights consisting of 21 races took place on the opening day, with the Finnish team led by Silja Lehtinen and Russia's Ekaterina Skudina winning all four of their races. U.S. Team representatives Sally Barkow, Alana O'Reilly and Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham went 2-1 in their three matches, with wins against the Portuguese and Australian teams but losing by one second to the German team. Sally Barkow, commenting on their match against Germany, "We made a big mistake at the start and gave them the lead off the line. We gave her the control when we had it. The breeze was dying and there weren't many passing lanes. W were able to grind her down, but there wasn't enough time. She did a great job defending." On the forecast for Wednesday, Jim Trice (GBR) Met Office lead forecaster said, "We have a weather front approaching from the west, probably reaching us tomorrow night. It is going to be into the afternoon before the wind starts to pick up." Women's Match Racing continues the round robins Wednesday, with Men's and Women's RS:X scheduled to begin their series on Thursday, Aug. 4. The Men's and Women's 470, Laser and Laser Radial events begin on Friday, August 5, and the Finn, Star and 49er classes get underway on Saturday, August 6. The medal races will run August 11-13. Full report: http://www.sailing.org/london2012/news/36389.php Event link: http://www.londonpreparesseries.com/sailing/index.html US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics: http://tinyurl.com/USSTAG-073111 COMMENT: If I can make a suggestion, how about the organizers of this event put the results online. Hopefully I will not get this message during the Olympics when I click on the results link: "Sorry, there are no results available for this event." - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt BACKGROUND: The 2011 Weymouth and Portland International Regatta is designed to test the Olympic sailing venue and its operations in advance of the 2012 Games. Racing for the ten Olympic sailing events is August 2-13, where 325 entries representing 135 countries will compete across five courses on Portland Harbor and Weymouth Bay. Consistent with the Olympic Games, each country is allowed just one representative in each event. MORRIS 46, GRACIE, WINS TRANSPAC, ALOHA CLASS GRACIE, a Morris 46, built by Morris Yachts in Maine and skippered by Eric Gray, wins the 2011 Transpac race Aloha class. As the crew of seven crossed the finish line a champagne bottle was on cue for celebrating! "The build quality of the Morris was a great comfort to us when you are 1000 miles offshore," says Gray, "I have always known that Gracie was a great sailing boat and the Transpac was a great opportunity to sail her in a variety of conditions." For race pictures and more info visit: http://www.morrisyachts.com/news STATE OF PLAY Beyond aerodynamic efficiency, wings bring one special, not so obvious quality to multihull sailing - flotation. The forward element and each of three flaps in the aft element of an AC 45 wing are airtight and buoyant. As long as the wing stays in place, the boat will not turn turtle. Think thin, clear plastic film heat-shrunk over super-light, Nomex-cored carbon frames. I'm figuring the rest of America's Cup 34 floats, too, but that's not for lack of doomsayers on the sidelines. Fair to say, there is a collective holding of breath as we approach the August 6 opener of the new-look America's Cup, seven days of fleet racing, match racing and speed trials in Cascais, Portugal in one-design AC45 catamarans. The inaugural event of the World Series tour will set expectations. Competition begins in an atmosphere rife with speculation over the future of teams that are betting on the come. One, Venezia Challenge, was recently scrubbed for failing to pay deposits and failing to pony up the $1.1 million or so to pay for an AC45, making it two-for-two down from Italy. The got-a-billionaire-in-our-pocket teams - Oracle Racing and Artemis - we take for granted will be on the line with custom AC72s in 2013. The commercial teams, the ones that actually fit the espoused model of a professionalized circuit, are not to this point rolling in sponsorship dollars. Nor is the World Series tour. Nor is the Event Authority. Cascais needs to be, not just a good show, but a great show. We are well beyond the honeymoon phase with the new architecture, if there ever was a honeymoon phase, and Event Authority bashing is gaining a life of its own. Despite the best efforts of a few players who do not fit the ACEA employment profile of widely-scattered and San Francisco-blind, there is no warm-and-fuzzy, so-glad-you've-come-to-town aura around America's Cup Event Authority. As to the future, much depends upon results on the water. I'm figuring that ACRM, America's Cup Race Management, has done its work to give the Event Authority and the commercial teams something to sell. The sailing in Cascais should prove that pudding or not. Then it depends upon results in the boardroom. -- Kimball Livingston, Blue Planet Times, read on: http://blueplanettimes.com/?p=7493 POST YOUR INDUSTRY UPDATES HERE The Marine Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum was created so companies could get guaranteed exposure by posting their own personnel, product and service updates online. In addition to website traffic, Scuttlebutt editors randomly select updates each week to include in the Thursday edition of the Scuttlebutt newsletter. Here is the link to post Industry News updates: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news SAILING SHORTS * Sailing in the shadow of the USS Abraham Lincoln, 71 Club Flying Junior teams battled through 20+ knot breeze, flying reaches, "on the edge" downwind legs and some spectacular wipe-outs in the 2011 CFJ National Championships hosted by Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club in San Pedro's "Hurricane Gulch" on July 28-31. Keeping their CFJ on the rails, 15 year-old Scott Sinks (SDYC) and 16 year-old Greer Wattson (NHYC) posted consistent finishes to best the field. Korbin Kirk and Francesca Capellini finished second. - Results: http://www.cfjclass.org/2011/08/2011-cfj-nationals-results/ * San Francisco, CA (August 2, 2011) - The Laser 4.7 World Championship concluded today after six days of competition at host St. Francis Yacht Club. The boys division, which had 110 competitors representing 28 countries, was dominated by Spain's Francisco Gonzalez with bullets in five of the ten races. The girl's division was equally dominated by Cecila Zorzi of Italy, where she built a 29 point lead over the 51-boat fleet from 19 countries. The championship was restricted to sailors who are, or will be at least 12 years old but not 18 years or older in the year of the championship. -- Event website: http://www.sflaserworlds.com * On Wednesday August 3rd, the Laser Slalom returns to San Francisco's St Francis Yacht Club for two days of action right off Crissy Field. An invitation-only fleet of 32 competitors will face off on a course close to the beach configured to force hurry-up maneuvers. An international fleet including top racers from Australia, Italy, Germany, Canada, Dominican Republic and the US will compete. The talent-stacked fleet includes LaserPerformance Ambassador and Team Maclaren skipper Anna Tunnicliffe, Olympic Gold Medalist and US SAILING's 2010 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. Also competing is Scott Ferguson, the '09 and '10 Laser Masters World Champion. -- Details: http://tinyurl.com/SailBlast-080211 * Bellevue, WA (August 1, 2011) - The owner of a 42-foot boat that caught fire tonight at a Bellevue marina jumped into Lake Washington and towed the burning boat away as he swam so that other vessels wouldn't catch fire, a witness said. According to the Bellevue Fire Department, the boat was docked at the Newport Shores Marina when it caught fire around 10:20 p.m. Fire officials said it took about 30 minutes to put out the fire. The owner was successful in keeping other boats from catching fire, but he was burned and transported to the hospital. His condition is not known. -- Full story/video: http://www.kirotv.com/news/28736372/detail.html * Tropical Storm Emily intensified on Tuesday as it churned across the Caribbean on a path likely to take it over the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It said the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season was heading west-northwest at 12 miles per hour and had sustained winds of 50 mph. It said Emily was expected to remain a tropical storm, falling just shy of hurricane strength at its peak, And the latest track guidance for the storm showed it moving northward across the Bahamas, well offshore from the U.S. East Coast, before heading into the open Atlantic. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/Reuters-080211 BACK TO COLLEGE/HIGH SCHOOL SAILING SEASONS The Scholastic sailing season is fast approaching and Team One Newport is gearing up and so should you! Now is the time to submit your team rosters & contact info so we can get you and your team outfitted in high tech gear to keep you performing your best! Being dry and comfortable helps to give that mental edge towards victory! The first 5 coaches/captains to submit their list will receive a free gift. Call 800.VIP.GEAR (800.847.4327) - Fax 401.849.8460 - Email ted@team1newport.com - Web http://www.team1newport.com 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 may be 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 Mark Reynolds: The story in Scuttlebutt 3396 of when Peter Isler started having more fun racing kind of bummed me out. His epiphany led to his Yale team winning the College Dinghy Nationals in 1975 (with Dave Perry). Our San Diego State University team (Hugo Schmidt and I were skippers) finished a close second that year sailing ... now I know with a bit different circumstances we could have won! Some of that attitude did rub off on me years later when I sailed with Peter in some top level match racing regattas. We always had a lot of fun, did well and I learned so much! One match racing move that really stuck with me was after the gun went off, and we would enter and hunt down our competitor, Peter always very cool and relaxed would first wave and wish them good luck before we tacked or gybed and really got into it. * From Jim Champ: In Scuttlebutt 3396, it was interesting and apposite to have Peter Isler's "this is supposed to be fun" extract juxtaposed in the same edition with people who seem to have forgotten about having fun *sailing* and only care about passing places and tactical openings (with regard to W-L courses). Guys, do you ever think that you might have come to miss the point - or be sailing the wrong boats? You can have ten times as many passing options and tactical openings on computer games if that's all you care about nowadays... I had an interesting lesson watching Solos, which are slow and rather old fashioned single handed dinghies, racing at my club a year or two back (in the UK). They do plane to an extent in a good breeze, but they are far slower than Lasers for example. I observed that although there weren't that many actual overtaking manouvers on the reaching legs, boat speed had a crucial effect on the race. The faster girls and boys would open a gap behind them and close up in front of them, leaving them able to attack the boats in front at mark roundings and on the upwind legs, with a safe cushion behind to only need a loose cover on the boats behind. The slower sailors had a pack behind, were vulnerable at mark roundings, and had no way of protecting on the beats, because the boats behind would split and they couldn't put any kind of cover on. * From Mike Perry: As a member of one of the many shrinking keelboat fleets in North America, I seriously doubt the wisdom of returning to triangular courses. Owners of aging IOR boats struggle already to be competitive against modern, lighter sprit boats. The slight advantage some of us have upwind keeps us hoping, usually forlornly, to keep ahead on the downwind leg. Reaching legs make owners of old, but still vital boats in small, mixed fleets... shudder. * From Stephen A Van Dyck, US Sailing Judge and Umpire: A few observations about MY LIFE AS DEAN...and what it says about US Sailing and its other 20,000 sailor athletes. Dean is paid to be the Chairman of the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics (amount not known) There are 16 athletes on the team with him. There are 9 professional coaches, and 9 professional support staff, all pretty much full time. There are 19 paid professionals altogether in England for the US Team. There is more than one professional support person per athlete. A few observations about US Sailing's support of the rest of its 20,000 sailor athletes. There are about 50 volunteer certified US Sailing Umpires in the US. There are about 300 volunteer certified US Sailing Judges in the US. There are about 800 volunteer certified Race Officers in the US. These officials support over a thousand US Sailing sanctioned and non-sanctioned events. There are over 20,000 athletes that participate in US Sailing sanctioned events in a typical year. The President of US Sailing is an unpaid Volunteer. There are NO staff professional Umpire coaches in US Sailing. There are NO staff professional Judge Coaches in US Sailing. There are NO staff professional Race Officer Coaches in US Sailing. There is a total US Sailing staff of about 40, 8 are Professional coaches with the Olympic program. There is one US Sailing staff member for Race Administration for all the US Sailing racing programs. There is one US Sailing staff member overseeing Championships. There is one professional support for 1,150 volunteer officials. Is it not time for US Sailing's Board to rethink what it is doing for the 20,000 non-Olympic sailors and 1,150 volunteer Race Officials? COMMENT: In the past when similar comments have been made about the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics, we've been told the team does not receive any of their funding from US Sailing. Additional information on the team can be found here: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org. -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt * From Mal Emerson: While the editor's views on multihulls in AC may well be easing a bit, his editorial was certainly a step to the rear. Ever since Capt Nat designed and built Amaryllis in 1875, catamarans have been considered an aberration by the mainstream sailing community so he is in good company. Their performance is in general so far superior to the typical monohull that it is understandable. The obvious discrimination against multis by monohull sailors is evidenced throughout their history. This discrimination peaked in the AC in the aftermath of the 1988 contest and again in AC33 but it does not, however, make them anything other than sailboats. They have roots in sailing perhaps as deep as monohulls. Multi's would have won and defended the Cup more than the twice they have if it weren't for this unnatural discrimination. The "amateur" roots of The Cup certainly include all sailboat racing including the considerable number of multihulls sailed and raced throughout the Cup years and before. It's really time to get over it. In general multi's outperform monos, period. Amateur sailing has deep roots in multihulls and it's long past time they take their rightful place in the America's Cup. My bet is that Amaryllis built in 1875 would have beaten any of the 90 footers of the time and possibly every AC competitor since except the 3 multis raced in modern times. DON'T MISS OUT ON THE LASERPERFORMANCE EVENT BOATS! This year LaserPerformance will be supplying over 400 sailboats at select regattas across North America and the Caribbean. These Event Boats are lightly used at a significantly discounted price. If you are in the market for a Laser, Sunfish, Club 420, Optimist or Vanguard 15 please contact your local dealer (http://na.laserperformance.com/dealer-locator) or LaserPerformance (http://www.laserperformance.com) for details. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." - John Lennon SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - Doyle Sails - Melges Performance Sailboats - North Sails SailFast - Morris Yachts - Team One Newport - LaserPerformance Ullman Sails - West Marine - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Summit Yachts Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
