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SCUTTLEBUTT 3333 - Tuesday, May 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: North U, North Sails, and Camet. IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY DON'T ALWAYS COME American Bora Gulari, 2009 International Moth World Champion and Rolex US Sailing Yachtsman of the Year, has his sights set now on the 2011 Melges 24 World title, which will be held in Corpus Christi, Texas (May 11-21). The problem is that not too many others do. Here Bora shares his thoughts: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The upcoming Melges 24 Worlds will be the third U.S. Worlds where the numbers have dwindled from 93 to now thirty something. There are numerous ideas on why this Worlds is to be lightly attended, with most focused on the cost of getting there and the energy level and fitness required to survive a six day race schedule in 20 knot plus breeze each day. While these might be contributing issues, I think they both miss the mark a little. I think the real problem is the "Fleet Building Worlds" concept. This is when classes choose a venue to host a major regatta with the logic that it'll help the local fleet reach a critical mass to help them grow after the regatta. Whenever I hear that term, I cringe a little bit. I don't think it works; I think it actually does quite the opposite and does more to kill a class than improve its numbers. For these emerging fleets, the majority of the people who make up the fleet have to spend vacation time and substantial money to either compete or help run it. Instead, the Class needs to select a venue where a family would enjoy having a vacation, like what occurred at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, FL, the site of the 2005 World Championship, where there were 93 boats. The last time the Worlds were in the U.S. was 2009, and we were handed Annapolis in the end of October. No offense to my friends in Naptown, but I'm doing my best to never have to experience that again. To be at Corpus Christi in May, while being sand blasted by nuclear winds every single day might not sound like fun to the average person, it sounds like heaven to me. However, I fully understand I'm crazy and my girl friend reminds me of that fact daily. Nothing is going to change between now and two weeks from now when the Worlds starts, so we are going to have a small Worlds where only thirty-something boats will get to revel in the unique beauty of Corpus. The U.S. Melges 24 class is going to have the 2011 Nationals at the home of Melges Boats in Lake Geneva this October. The scenery is gorgeous; the trees are changing colors by then. Buddy will be there to offer his wisdom whether you want it or not. It is a great place to visit and even better place to sail. Hopefully the entry numbers will reflect that. FOR YOUTH SAILORS TO BECOME LIFE SAILORS In the Northern Hemisphere, youth sailing programs are getting organized for their summer sessions to begin next month. Countless parents have dreams of seeing their children embrace the sport, but the odds are stacked against youth sailors continuing in the sport through their teen years. Quite often the culprit is the program itself, or OMG, the parent. Here youth and USSTAG Coach Leandro Spina offers advice to help youth sailors become life sailors: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The key factor for youth sailors to become lifelong sailors is to have fun and get to love our sport. In my experience as coach of youth sailors, I see that most kids are introduced to our sport in racing oriented programs and they are too focused on winning. Winning is fun, but there are so many ways to teach the love for our sport. Kids love to surf waves, they love to defeat fear as sailing in the ocean for example, they love to go fast, they love to learn smart moves in a race course, and they love to travel and meet new friends. But they need discipline at a young age or the simply "go out for fun" approach will last few weekends and then they will find something else to do looking for fun. I like the racing approach but not focused on winning. Winning is a lot easier when you work hard to get better and If we teach them to get better as all around sailors, they will share the passion for sailing and they will always come back to sailing. Some will go to the Olympics, some will windsurf, some will just cruise with family, some will fly moths, some will sail big keel boats and sail around the world, some will design sails, some will design boats, some will build them, fix them, many will break them and some will become coaches to stay involved and share their passion for sailing... RACE & WIN A North U Coach can teach you how working with you and your crew aboard your boat. Rig tuning, spinnaker handling, mainsail shape, helming. We will answer all your questions. For Your Crew. After all you have put into your boat and equipment, get North U coaching for your crew. On Your Boat. Can you think of a better place? Within your budget. Let us design a program to match your needs and interests. Learn More. Our training covers every facet of racing trim, tactics and boathandling. Call or visit to Learn More. 800-347-2457. http://www.northu.com BY THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS After a weekend of big breeze and dramatic wind shifts on Chesapeake Bay, you might not expect an out-of-towner to come out on top of the Sperry Top-Sider Annapolis NOOD, where members of the Capital City's strong racing community accounted for the majority of the 220-boat fleet. Nonetheless, when the overall winner was announced, it was Copenhagen resident Thomas Klok - whose team won a three-way tie for first place in the 29-boat J/80 division - who came bounding up to accept the silver dish, as well as the real prize, an invitation to join the winners of seven other NOOD regattas at the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship, hosted by Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands this November. The Guldfaxe team has an interesting dynamic. Klok is the owner/ main trimmer. His brother-in-law, Will Crump, drives the boat. Klok's sister, Marie Crump, handles foredeck duties. The trio also work together as management consultants, which is why they refer to fourth crewmember, Scott Collins, as their therapist. "A lot of people wonder how we can work together and sail together," says Will Crump. "Somehow, we make it work. I think it's because we can be honest with each other. Sometimes, it's hard for family members who sail together to be honest with each other about what needs to change." * What were your expectations coming into the event? Will Clump: There were three world champions in the fleet, and this is probably the toughest J/80 regatta in the U.S. this year. So we didn't have great expectations, aside from looking at it as practice, because we'll be going to Copenhagen for the Worlds later this year. Thomas Klok: We got the boat about a year ago for the worlds in Newport (R.I.). I lived in Newport for a few years, and when found out the worlds would be in my home turf two years in a row... So we did the Worlds in Newport last October, then we left the boat here and sailed Charleston Race Week and this event, then we'll be shipping the boat to Denmark in about a week. * With the Worlds in Newport last year, there was a lot of enthusiasm for the J/80 in the U.S. Have you noticed a tapering off since then? Will Crump: Not at all. It's actually ramped up. People came out of that event saying, "What a phenomenal boat and class." There's still a lot of development going on in the class. There's a lot of difference between what the various sailmakers are offering, yet everyone's going about the same speed. So there's a lot of opportunity for people to get into the class and have fun figuring out the boat. Read on: http://tinyurl.com/SW-050211 WORLD'S TOP TEAM RACERS RETURN TO MECCA This week the world's best team racers will once again congregate in the United Kingdom for the sixty-second edition of the Wilson Trophy British Open Team Racing Championship, hosted and organised by West Kirby Sailing Club. Along with the Team Racing World Championship, which was first launched in 1995, the Wilson Trophy remains a highly acclaimed international team racing prize. Held on May 6-8 at the Marine Lake in West Kirby, the event has 32 selected teams coming not only from the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, but from Ireland and the United States as well. Sailing in identically matched, colour coded Firefly dinghies, used exclusively for this event, the 32 teams will fight it out over three days of Swiss league and elimination rounds, culminating in a thrilling Grand Final to be sailed in front of a packed spectator grandstand (yes, grandstand) on the final afternoon. The Wilson Trophy is a major logistical undertaking. Over the 3 days, more than 300 races are started, finished, accurately scored and uploaded to the online rolling results service. On the water, a twenty-five strong team of international umpires are on hand to give instant decisions on rule infringements and dish out the appropriate penalties. And to keep the throngs of spectators on shore happy and well informed, an expert commentary team broadcasts live updates on all the action out on the lake. 2010 winners Team Extreme from the USA, which was comprised of Zach Brown and Emmet Smith, Adam and Melanie Roberts, and Stuart McNay and Abby Coplin, are back to defend their title. The 2011 team line up will be Zach Brown and Emmet Smith, Thomas Barrows and Marla Menninger, and Stuart McNay and Michael Hession. More details about the event including entry lists and results can be found at the official event website: http://www.wksc.net/wilsontrophy AMERICA'S CUP: DEFINING THE LINES By Rebecca Hayter, Yachting World The 34th America's Cup is bounding ahead like a giant kangaroo - from monohulls to catamarans, soft sails - who even knew that term two years ago? - to wingsails, from intensely guarded designs to - gasp! - production-built AC45s, from one design rule to two: the AC45 and AC75, a youth series and now, well, if they keep this up, we are going to need soothing cups of camomile tea served at the press conferences. Here is the latest: you've all heard - and perhaps even contributed to - serious concern that the AC72 catamarans may end up being two extremely fast boats racing a million miles apart, which will be about as exciting to watch as, um, a pair of 80ft, 25-tonne monohulls drifting about a million miles apart. What we really want is these big cats missing each other by a whisker. So AC regatta director Iain Murray and his team have delivered - there will be virtual boundaries down each side of the course; their separation distance will be varied for strong or light winds. The boundaries will be depicted on screens mounted one in each hull, in front of the skipper. The electronics can measure the yacht's position accurately to within 2cm, updated 10 times a second. As the boat approaches a virtual boundary, the screen bleeps and gives a countdown, expressed as a positive in metres - for example, +20m, +15m....+5m. If they cross the virtual boundary, the countdown becomes a negative in metres and the umpires - in a shore-based booth - will issue a penalty of four boat lengths: 60m on the AC45, 100m on the AC72. To enforce the penalty, Murray says, "We tack them electronically. We set a line across the wind and when they fall back on that by sixty metres, they've cleared the penalty." The red penalty light on the boat's screen changes to green to show it is cleared. It carries a text message service so when a boat calls for room on another boat or protests, it comes up as a text. Murray says the race rules have avoided the traditional 720 or 360 penalty. "We want to penalise the boats, but we also want to keep them in the race. "Given time, this will develop into a proper chart plotting type thing where you see the course, the ocean and everything else," Murray says. Television audiences will have the same view as the umpires. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/YW-050211 NORTH SAILS-POWERED BOATS WIN IN ANNAPOLIS North Sails would like to congratulate the following owners and crew for winning their respective classes at Sperry Top-Sider Annapolis NOOD this past weekend: Thomas Klok, Guldfaxe (J/80); Rutsch & Costello, Bebop (J/30); Tim Bloomfield, White Cap* (Cal 25); Walsh & Potvin, SLAM DUCK* (Catalina 27); Richard Reid, Zingara (Ben 36.7); Rod Jabin, RAMROD (Farr 40); Allan Terhune, Dazzler (J/22) and Tony Parker, Bangor Packet (J/24). (* = partial inventory.) A special congratulations to team 'Guldfaxe' for winning the coveted Boat of the Week award! When performance counts, the choice is clear: http://na.northsails.com IS RUST ON SAILBOAT RIGGING DANGEROUS? Stainless rigging that shows signs of rust could be a safety hazard, as Ed Sherman explains on the Boats.com website: QUESTION: I've been inspecting my sailboat to put together a spring maintenance work list. When I look closely at some of the end fittings on my stainless steel stays I see evidence of rust. First of all, since this is stainless steel, what's up with that? But more importantly, does this rust indicate anything potentially dangerous with my rigging? ANSWER: Good news and bad news here; first the good news. Your mast is still standing upright. The bad news is that the photo (see link below) shows very strong evidence of crevice corrosion. First let me explain the science. Stainless steel is only going to become stainless in the presence of oxygen, which helps to form an invisible, but highly protective oxide coating on the surface of the metal. That is what prevents rust from forming. The photo you've sent shows an exposed end fitting. Sea spray and even rainwater can and will migrate down along the strands of the wire rope into the center of the end fitting, where it sits, somewhat deprived of oxygen. -- Read on: http://www.boats.com/blog/2011/04/is-rust-on-sailboat-rigging-dangerous/ FREE CLASSIFIED ADS The Scuttlebutt Classified Ads provide a marketplace for private parties to buy and sell, or for businesses to post job openings. Here are recent ads: * Etchells 552 in San Diego for sale * Sonars wanted * Hiring: US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD: Vanderstar Chair Position View/post ads here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/classified_ads 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 jmsenger (Forum - re, qualifier for College Nationals) Only one team from the West Coast and none from the Midwest? The new format installed in 2009 is working wonders. -- http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11781#11781 * From Mark Silvey: (re, copper paint thread from Sbutt 3330) In California, the approval process for a new bottom paint can take years and $100K +. As of today there are paints in the approval process, but there is no time expectation/limit on the process. There are zero metal paints available now and being used successfully in the U.S., (meaning able to be applied over existing paints and still working after 18 months in-the-water) that have not yet been approved in California. To do the in-the-water test for 2 years and be accepted in the marketplace, January 1 2015, doesn't leave much time for any product. When comparing what other groups sponsor, like the Northwest Marine Trade Association, please be aware some products may not work for all. Southern California water temperature, salinity, etc is very different from Seattle's, or Florida's. Paints do not work the same in all areas. "Acceptable alternative", must include in-the-water real world, hands-on testing, and some technologies need to be time tested. (MTBE) * From Jim Fulton: I watched the videos, and the AC45s are obviously twitchy, high-speed thoroughbreds. I think they're beautiful in their own way and they're probably a gas to sail. But the video experience is a different matter. Watching one boat edge ahead of another boat at 25 knots is not materially different from watching one boat edge ahead of another boat at 10 knots. In either case, the boats are nearly stationary in the middle of the screen; all that is interesting is the speed differential between the boats in the race, not the speed differential between those boats and some completely different boats somewhere else. Ellison, Coutts, and company will have to get a whole lot more creative in presentation if their aim is to make sailing more TV-friendly. If this happens, if the thrill of sailing can really be communicated to the audience, we just may discover that the type of boat doesn't really make all that much difference. COMMENT: The videos presented thus far have given us a tease, but are not yet near what is being planned. I'm expecting the visual equivalent of surround-sound. As for the switch from monohull to multihulls for the America's Cup, my gut tells me that catamarans are going to heighten the live viewing experience but will have significantly less impact on the broadcast experience. Like auto racing, where it's pretty cool when the cars fly by your seat in the stands, the broadcast viewing experience will be more reliant on how the event is produced to determine its "watchability". -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt BORA SHORTS Camet Performance Apparel would like to introduce its newest shorts - The Bora. The result of perfecting multiple generations of design, the Bora brings a new level of performance with its multi-ply fabric and stylish look. These comfortable shorts are made of as lightweight and quick drying fabric. They are reinforced with an abrasion resistant seat. They feature two side pockets, two deep side pockets and an adjustable waist. Handcrafted in San Diego, California to help reduce its carbon footprint by eliminating shipment from overseas. The Bora Shorts ~ your next pair of shorts both on and off the water. http://www.camet.com/?Click=1859 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Burglarize: What a crook sees with. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Gowrie Group - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - North U - North Sails Camet - USSTAG - APS - Melges Performance Sailboats Ullman Sails - O'pen BIC - Quantum Sails Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
