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SCUTTLEBUTT 2201 - October 13, 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). INDUSTRY COMMENTARY - Bruce Brown There is plenty of talk within the sailing industry about entry-level sailing and how to bring new blood into our sport. There is less talk about keeping those new sailors in the sport once they drink the refreshing cool water of racing. I often read that traditionalists would prefer to have the oceans and anchorages to themselves, like the old days when few sailed and fewer left the protection of their own harbors. I hear those same people swear about the increasing prices of products and the difficulty in finding the gear or even the boats they want to sail. It becomes a difficult discussion to hear when on the one hand, a desire to be out there in the calm of the sea dictates we pay a high price for our pleasure. Remembering that those days of few boaters and fewer sailors meant the elite were the only ones that could afford to enjoy the sport is a hard lesson to learn. How can we involve the sailors that are transiting through the various levels and help them to continue their passion for the sport? I witnessed an interesting element presented at a regional consumer event called Women on the Water. It was a focus to make boating more accessible to women. Seminars on boat ownership, boating terms and even demonstrations by women were available. Free admission was offered and almost a thousand women participated in this one-day event. It continues to show me that there is an active interest in boating and the industry continues to struggle to make it accessible to that 52% of the population. There is an interest and it deserves to be addressed! Read on, where industry professional Bruce Brown presents some suggestions on how to address the need: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/1012 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar US SAILOR OF THE WEEK (For this week, US Sailing looks inside their organization for their ‘Sailor of the Week’ recognition. Here is the report) Lee Parks' job title at US Sailing is Inshore Director, a title which she has proudly held for 21 years. But in reality, her job responsibilities are much more than that. One of the many hats she wears is that of the unofficial historian, the "go to" person when you need background information on US Sailing or sailing in general. For example, if you're wondering what type of boat you've discovered in your great-grandfather's summer cottage, she'll get you the answer. But perhaps what we're most proud of right now is that our very own Lee was the highest finishing female sailor at last week's Sunfish World Championship, making her the unofficial Women's World Sunfish Champion. If Lee could, she'd live on her Sunfish. In fact, her entire home in Newport is filled with Sunfish memorabilia. She first began sailing her Sunfish when she was 8 years old living on a lake on Cape Cod, MA, and while she has sailed on numerous other boats over the years, has always remained loyal to her little Sunfish. We're proud to have her as a member of our team at US Sailing! Link: http://www.ussailing.org/News/sailoroftheweek/Default.aspx?recordID=40 VIDEO OF THE WEEK The Asian counties are simply unable to host a World Championship without also having unbelievable parties. This region has a long history of going over-the-top with their festivities; even the Scuttlebutt team remembers the 1989 Snipe Worlds in Japan, where each evening the competitors boarded buses to travel to a new town that was hosting a party. We heard that the festivities at the 2006 Pre-Olympic regatta in Qingdao were epic, and this week’s video of the Opening Ceremonies at the 2006 470 Worlds in Rizhao, China is a great example of the length that they go to. We are betting that you have never seen this kind of event in the US. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/#media D4 THE FUTURE! Dimension Polyant’s D4 product has ten years of development, refinement and winning results. Whether it is winning major offshore, inshore and one design races or powering Megayacht to Coastal cruisers, D4 has been and continues to be the innovative leader in the paneled membrane market. With more development on the way, from fibers to lamination technology, D4 continues to be the performance yardstick into the future. With Dimension Polyant currently offering a fall discount to all sailmakers on orders placed before Oct.31, the time is now to look to the future. Ask your sailmaker, he knows! http://www.dimension-polyant.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE Brad Butterworth, skipper of America's Cup defender Alinghi, on who he hopes to face in next year's competition: "I think it's been good for the cup to be in Europe. It will be nice for it to stay in Europe so it would be nice to face (Italian challenger) Luna Rossa." – Herald Tribune, full story: http://tinyurl.com/ttpfu HORREVOETS FUNDRAISING When Hans Horrevoets lost his life in the North Atlantic earlier this year on the Volvo Ocean Race ‘05/06, the sailing community came forward to provide monetary support to his family through fundraising efforts such as on the Sailing Anarchy website, and most recently with an eBay auction and competition on the Volvo Ocean Race event website. On Thursday, October 12th, Team ABN Amro now announced information on how a direct donation to the family can be submitted. For those who are interested, funds can be sent directly to a new bank account that has been opened in the name of Hans’ daughter Kit, who was born on September 24, 2006. Here is the account information: Kit Horrevoets Account number 43.97.16.152 ABN AMRO Private Banking Vestdijk 18 Schansstraat 25 5611 CC Eindhoven The Netherlands IBAN: NL30ABNA0439716152 Swiftcode: ABNANL2A For questions, contact Cleonice Petry-Ferreira, Team ABN Amro: mailto:Cleonice.Petry-Ferreira@teamabnamro.com SPITHILL, RICHARD LEAD EIGHT TO QUARTERS Hamilton, Bermuda (Oct. 12, 2006) - The preliminary round robins are complete and the quarterfinalists set at the 58th annual King Edward VII Gold Cup, Stage 4 of the 2006-’07 World Match Racing Tour. After a wild start to the event Wednesday, when three boats were hit with lightning and a few competitors were taken to a doctor for check ups, Thursday was relatively sedate. The wind blew mostly from the southwest between 8 and 15 knots. A 20-minute squall with winds up to 30 knots blew through Hamilton Harbour during afternoon racing, but the crews were sent shoreside and no one was injured. The top four from Groups A and B advance to the quarterfinals on Friday, with Spithill versus Monnin, Hansen against Williams, Lindberg against Walker and Law versus Richard. The winner of each match will be the first to 3 points. – Event website: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/default.asp?m=da&id=10974 Group A Provisional Standings 1. James Spithill (AUS) Luna Rossa Challenge, 6-1 (Crew: Magnus Augustson, Torben Grael, Christian Kamp) 2. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, 5-2 (Crew: Nils Bjerkas, Robert Skarp, Carl-Johan Uckelstam) 3. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Team Apport.net, 5-2 (Crew: Martin Angsell, Pontus Meijer, Johan Tempelman) 4. Chris Law (GBR) The Outlaws, 5-2 (Crew: Karl Anderson, Mark Ivey, Scott Norris) 5. Brian Angel (USA) King Harbor Match Race, 3-4 (Crew: Eric Boothe, Payson Infelise, David Levy) 6. Scott Dickson (NZL) Dickson Racing Team, 2-5 (Crew: Whitlock Batchelor, John Hayes, Mark Strube) 7. Sandy Hayes (USA), 1-6 (Crew: Peter Bromby, Kim Hapgood, Cindy Olsen) 8. Jon Singsen (USA), 1-6 (Crew: Ben Bardwell, Kevin Horsfield, Nik Smale) Group B Provisional Standings 1. Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team, 6-1 (Crew: Greg Evrard, Olivier Herledant, Yannick Simon) 2. Ian Williams (GBR) Williams Sail Racing, 4-3 (Crew: Bill Hardesty, Gerry Mitchell, Mark Nichols) 3. Blythe Walker (BER), 4-3 (Crew: Adam Barboza, Carola Cooper, Somers Kempe) 4. Eric Monnin (SUI) Team Monnin, 4-3, 3.5 points (Crew: Simon Brugger, Fabien Froesch, Alain Marchand, Marc Monnin) 5. Torvar Mirsky (AUS), 3-4 (Crew: Nick Davis, Per Fyrkholm-Arr, Graeme Spence) 6. Alvaro Marinho (POR), 3-4 (Crew: Diogo Barros, Antonio Fontes, Miguel Nunes) 7. Paula Lewin (BER), 2-5 (Crew: Diana Mitchell, Lisa Neasham, Leatrice Roman, Peta White) 8. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia, 2-5 (Crew: Pierluigi de Felice, Rasmus Kostner, Chresten Plinius) SAILING SHORTS * Johnny Lovell and Charlie Ogletree won the 2006 Tornado Class US National Championships for the tenth time this week, eclipsing the nine-time record of their coach Jay Glaser. San Diego Yacht Club hosted the Nationals and will conduct the US Sailing Tornado Olympic Pre-Trials that start on Friday. The low score for the event was actually earned by the team of Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez of Puerto Rico, but they could not hold the title because of nationality rules. In third were Robbie Daniel and Hunter Stunzi. - http://www.sdyc.org/raceinfo/index.htm * October 12, 2006, Newport, RI - 36 Lasers and 20 Radials sailed three races for the rights to represent the United States Sailing Team at the Pan American Games next summer in Brazil. After a heavy overnight left more than an inch of rain over the sailing area, the breeze moderated by race time, with Friday’s forecast said to be significantly colder than today’s 70 degrees, with lighter winds anticipated. Laser: 1. Andrew Campbell, 6 pts; 2. Brad Funk, 9; 3. Clay Johnson, 13. Laser Radial: 1. Anna Tunnicliffe, 4 pts; 2. Paige Railey, 5; 3. Sarah Lihan, 10. - Andrew Campbell, complete results: http://www.sailnewport.org/npt/m/_general/3rdbeachresults.asp * Southampton, Great Britain: Claire Frost has joined the Secretariat of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), to head up the newly formed Marketing and Media Department. The new department will focus on key objectives as laid out in the ISAF Strategic Plan. Specifically this includes improving the quality and quantity of the media coverage of sailing and to continue to maximize the commercial value of the sport. Also joining the new team, from the ISAF Development and Information Department are Tamsin Rand, promoted to Marketing Coordinator, and David Knapman, our Website News Editor. - ISAF, full report: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6lFh?6q8&format=popup * (12 October 2006, Stockholm) Victory Challenge today announced that the team has been allocated sail number 96 for new boat that is being built for the 32nd America’s Cup. SWE 96 has been designed by Mani Frers and his father, German Frers, and their team at the design office in Milan. The boat is being built at Lindholmen Science Park in Göteborg, under the management of Killian Bushe, boatbuilding manager for the winning boats in the two last Volvo Ocean Races. - Complete report, which includes construction details, and a history of boats built so for the 32nd America’s Cup, can be found at http://www.victorychallenge.com/start.phtml?lang_id=1 * Thirty-nine boats - the largest fleet of Solings to race in North America in the past eight years - will gather on Monday at the Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis for the 36th running of the Soling World Championship. The fleet will include nine Europeans, six South Americans and six Canadians along with American sailors from Chicago, Milwaukee, New York and Connecticut. - Stuart Walker, http://www.solingworlds.com A WINNING COMBINATION! Ockam offers integrated instrument solutions with proven race-winning performance for all boat types. The powerful Tryad processor supplies a smarter, faster & lighter platform that includes built-in RS-232 communications, GPS, NMEA ports and polar data. Your information streams unimpeded throughout the system’s single cable network. Add an available 3-axis compass will provide the most stable, accurate real-time numbers available. Take advantage of the The new Matryx II, red backlit transflective graphical display that provides a simple, clear way to view information, strip-chart data and control the system. Contact Ockam to discuss flexible instrument solutions for everyday use. mailto:lat@ockam.com 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 Robert Hughes, owner of Farr 40 ‘Heartbreaker ‘: I was hoping to address several inaccurate statements made by Craig Fletcher about the Farr 40 class (in Issue 2198). Alan Field, a fellow Farr 40 owner, made a statement that he is against the new mobile "weather buoy". Fletcher responded with several inaccurate claims: He claimed the class has the best amateurs money can buy. Wrong. While a couple of owners may push the rules, on our boat the amateurs show up for a hotel room, plane ticket, lunch, and a crew dinner (all legal by ISAF regulations). Second, he said that each owner is backed by the best pro's money can buy - I assume he is speaking in terms of dollars? I am lucky to sail with fantastic pro's that I would not trade with anyone, but they are not the highest paid pro's in our sport - yet we seem to win our share of regatta's. Finally, Mr.Fletcher added that a Farr 40 owner cannot make a move without their three jockeys telling them if they are high or low.... it also seems that Farr 40 Owner Peter Deridder (Mean Machine) has done just fine driving in the TP52 class against the worlds best helmsmen. We also won a few regattas in the great Melges 24 class with our amateur crew. There is a reason there was 38 boats at the Farr 40 Worlds. It gives sailors the chance to race identical big boats against many of the best pro and amateur sailors in the World. * From Mark Lammens, Sask Sailing Clubs Association, Coach/Technical Director: It is very interesting to see the top sailors at the Star Worlds. It used to be old Finn sailors that were very successful, such as Rohart (FRA), Loof (SWE), Kusznierewicz (POL), and Percy (GBR), who are still very good. But now look at the ex-Laser sailors, Pepper and Lord (NZL), Mendelblatt (USA), and of course, 3-time Olympic Gold medalist and 6-7 (?) time World Champion Robert Scheidt (BRA). Laser sailors were 1,2, 6, and 11, with Finn sailors 3, 5, 8. -- Scuttlebutt checked in with Star class icon Mark Reynolds on Lammens’ observation, where Reynolds added, “One factor that has helped the Laser-sized sailor a bit this Olympic quadrennium is the Star class again fine-tuned their skipper/crew weight formula rule. Since the helmsman isn't quite as effective hiking as the crew, this formula has helped equalize helmsman of different sizes by varying the maximum weight of their crew. The recent change in the formula has helped the lighter helmsman a bit, so the larger Finn-sized helm doesn't quite have the advantage as they had before.” * From Richard M. Jepsen, CEO, OCSC Sailing, Berkeley, CA: (In regard to the Scuttleblog post: Have We Lost A Generation Of Sailors?) I agree with Carolyn Bick's reply (in Issue 2200), at least regarding the importance of a broad set of skills and knowledge. Proper and broad based introduction to the sport is critical to long term enjoyment and personal growth. Juniors coming out of US Sailing small boat "Level One" and "Level Two" programs are getting a thorough introduction to all aspects of small boat sailing and seamanship; many parts of sailing that are absorbing, challenging and useful regardless of whether one is sailing on a 420 or J22 or Snipe. (I'm not sure it is scholastic 'short course' racing's fault if their athletes didn't get that training before they joined the HS team) These youth are matriculating through the US Sailing system, finding lots of avenues for sailing, becoming instructors or coaches themselves, developing sailing contacts in their local area, whether through a yacht club, community program or high school, getting plenty of 'free sailing' in their late teens and early twenties through crewing opportunities. (With a broad base of skills and knowledge, they are in demand!!!) While I admit that interest in the opposite sex and in cars, the demands of college and other distractions pull young adults out of sailing, those who were fully and deeply immersed in the sport have proven more likely to stay with the sport, or return to it at the first opportunity. * From Michael H. Koster: Regarding the lost generation of sailors, I am of the opinion that the focus should be less on keeping these young folks in competitive sailing and more on just keeping them involved in the sport. These folks are overdosed on competitive sailing and are burned out. It does not surprise me that there is a drop off in interest once college sailing is finished. Ski resorts do not push racing programs as much as they do other amenities to retain young adults on their mountains. This includes offering more extreme terrain to challenge skills and opening up to alternative downhill interests such as boarding. Sailing also needs to open up. We should be promoting a variety of wind-driven water activities and not limiting ourselves to basically mono-hulls. There is more to sailing than just racing. * From Paul Kueffner, Southport CT: (in reference to letters in Issue 2200) Wow. A while back I read the somewhat hefty Sarum, a novel about the history of England by Edward Rutherford. In it he points out that for about 300 years - the period between 1066 and around 1350 - the official language of England was... French. Tourists may note that the Tower of London is white, while the surrounding castle walls are black stone. William the Conqueror imported white limestone from his native Normandy for the initial Tower, which made the wooden English castles of the time obsolete. (No wonder he defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.) He didn't speak English, nor did his sons or heirs. If you wanted to speak with the King of England, you needed to speak French. If you got into trouble with the law, you went through the legal system. (Oops! - trouble- French word. Oops- legal- French word. Oops - système- French word. You might have to go before a judge (oops again) and jury (oops!) of your peers (the French spelling is "pairs".) In fact, about 60% of CURRENT English nouns (noms) are of French origin (origine). Sorry (désolé - desolate) to burst the Texan bubble (bulle) of isolationism (French again!). We keep hearing that we live in a global economy, and need to learn other languages. It was true in 1066 and it's even more true now. Mille pardons. * From Ken Guyer, San Diego: What a relief to read the story about the lighting strikes at the Gold Cup and find the headline to be completely incorrect. Electrocution means death by electric shock. I am sure the injured sailors did not feel that great when struck by lighting, but it is a whole lot better than being electrocuted! *From Daria Blackwell: I am afraid that your report of the demise of sailors in Bermuda ‘was greatly exaggerated.’ The ‘diffuse electric shocks’ the three sailors and umpire experienced sent them to a doctor but ‘none was seriously injured.’ Curmudgeon’s Comment: Thank you to all our readers who were quick to point out that we could neither correctly spell nor define a word used in one of the headlines in Issue 2200. Our regrets for the confusion. * From Steffi Schiffer, Ft. Lauderdale, FL: (regarding the Curmudgeon’s Observation: You might be a sailing bum if you have a Mount Gay poster in your living room) Well...a Mount Gay poster maybe …but you REALLY might be a sailing bum if you have this: http://yachtrace.net/hats06.html CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION 1976: Moving to California because it's cool. 2006: Moving to California because it's warm. This issue of Scuttlebutt provided by Dimension-Polyant and Ockam Instruments America’s Cup coverage in Scuttlebutt is brought to you by UBS. |
