|
SCUTTLEBUTT 3073 - Monday, April 19, 2010Scuttlebutt 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. Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/facebook Today's sponsors: Holmatro, Interlux, and LaserPerformance. JOBSON AND HALL BROKER AGREEMENT (April 16, 2010) - US SAILING President Gary Jobson and US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics member Farrah Hall today announced that the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has agreed to Hall's request to dismiss her February 2008 complaint that The Racing Rules of Sailing do not comply with the Ted Stevens Act, a federal law, and USOC's Bylaws. Hall's request followed US SAILING's adoption of three prescriptions regarding the conduct of protest and redress hearings. The changes result from a redress hearing decision in October 2007 at the U.S. Olympic Trials for sailing in the RS:X Windsurfing class, which took place at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, Calif. After the 16th and final race, Hall led the regatta. She was dropped to second place after the redress decision about a collision, neither of which she was involved. As a result of the decision, Hall was not named to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. "Farrah Hall has been resolute in her quest to resolve an issue in the racing rules," said Jobson. "Although she lost the opportunity to compete in the 2008 Olympics, her efforts have culminated in a positive outcome for all sailors.These new prescriptions establish practices that are good for the sport, racing sailors, event organizers and race officials," said Jobson. "Many event organizers, from local to the highest level, have been following these practices for years. For those events that may not presently follow these practices, US SAILING is confident that they will be able to do so comfortably." "The new prescriptions and the procedures that will apply at US SAILING's qualifying events resulted from a lot of hard work to find common ground. I'm pleased with the result," said Hall (Annapolis, Md.), who is a member of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics and the highest ranked American women's windsurfer on the ISAF World Sailing Rankings. She has her sights set on representing the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. These prescriptions for certain events are effective on July 1, 2010: Prescription to rule 60: US SAILING prescribes that when redress has been requested or is to be considered, any boat may participate in the hearing provided she makes a written request before the hearing begins. When she does so, the protest committee shall act under rule 60.3(b) to consider redress for her at that hearing. Prescription to rule 63.2: US SAILING prescribes that when redress has been requested or is to be considered, the protest committee shall make a reasonable attempt to notify all boats of the time and place of the hearing and the nature of the request or the grounds for considering redress. Before holding the hearing, the committee shall allow reasonable time for boats to make written requests to participate. Prescription to rule 63.4: US SAILING prescribes that when practicable: (a) no person who brings an incident to the attention of the protest committee or who will give evidence at the hearing shall be a member of the protest committee; and (b) if a boat files a request for redress based on a protest committee decision, her request for redress shall be heard by a new committee that contains no members of the original committee. Full report: http://tinyurl.com/y2cj36k SMALL TURNOUT FOR FARR 40 WORLDS Farr 40 teams from Australia, Germany, Italy and the United States of America are now in the picturesque azure waters of the Caribbean to prepare for the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds, which are being hosted by Casa de Campo Yacht Club and Marina at the Casa de Campo resort in the Dominican Republic. But for what has been one of the most competitive titles in the sport to claim, there just aren't too many teams trying to claim it now. Only ten entries are competing in 2010, which is a dramatic slide from a down year in 2009 when 25 teams attended at the Worlds in Porto Cervo, Italy. After averaging over 35 teams for the three previous years, the drop of interest this week is alarming. The ten boat fleet does include Farr 40 defending and former World Champions, and North American, European, and Australian class Champions, and it is these committed class members that may have some work to do to understand and energize the current level of class interest. Following the Pre-Worlds this past weekend, won by Lisa and Martin Hill's Estate Master (AUS), teams will spend the following two days completing final measurement requirements and enjoying the world-class golf and resort facilities at Casa de Campo before racing commences for the World Championship April 21-24. -- Event website: http://www.farr40worlds.com/ RIGGING HYDRAULICS GO ELECTRIC Tired of pumping down your rigging hydraulics? Holmatro's remarkably quiet and compact electric pump allows you to adjust your vang, backstay, outhaul or any other high-pressure cylinders at the touch of a button. The electric pump is easily installed as an upgrade to an existing hydraulic rigging system or can power a new system when used with a small panel or push buttons. The two-stage pump operates on 12 or 24 volts, weighs only 9.7 pounds and is up to three times faster than a manual pump. Install Holmatro's electric pump and put your pump handle away. Go to http://www.holmatro.com to find a dealer near you. NO LOVE IN ANTIGUA Dr Jim Clark, the owner of the new J Class Hanuman, shocked competitors at the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta by pulling out of the event on the eve of racing and suggesting that he may sell his new yacht to 'someone who wants to go racing'. The much-anticipated clash between the evenly matched Velsheda, Ranger and the Endeavour II interpretation Hanuman was shaping up to be one of the great J Class events of the year. But Clark's decision, based on what he sees as excessive professionalism and the fact that Ranger wasn't being steered by her owner John Williams, brought the curtain down on the show before it had even begun. In another extraordinary move, Clark circulated a letter among competitors explaining why he had pulled out of the event. "I have come to the conclusion that racing in the so-called J Class Association is a complete farce. I learned from talking to the captain of Athena today that both Velsheda and Ranger have a complete, paid professional racing crew. "If I wanted to hire a paid professional crew, I would build a real, modern racing boat, or I would make a challenge for the America's Cup. But that type of competition is not of interest to me. "I built a replica of a J Class boat because I thought it was very beautiful. Originally, I did not want to even race it, but last summer, Mr Williams wanted to prove something so he challenged us to a race. I reluctantly did the race. It was pretty evenly matched, even though John Williams did not drive (in the proper spirit of the rules), and hired a professional skipper. "What is going on now has nothing whatsoever to do with the J Class Association Rules. The rules stipulate that either the owner or the captain, or a non-professional skipper, must drive the boat. Obviously, the owner of Velsheda, being a true sailor, can drive his own boat, and has done so for quite some time. Because of the nature of his rivalry with John Williams, however, even he has gotten reduced into hiring a crew." Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta continues through April 20th. Yachting World full report: http://tinyurl.com/y2p5t7q NEW YORK TO BARCELONA TRANSOCEANIC RECORD New York, NY (April 18, 2010; Day 11) - After a fast crossing of the Atlantic, comparing very favourably to the existing 60 foot monohull record of Bernard Stamm set in 2001 on the traditional route from Ambrose Light to the Lizard, leader Estrella Damm was faced with problematic weather forecasts when they arrived to the Straits of Gibraltar early Saturday afternoon. By Sunday, their fears were realized as they were virtually stuck in a wind hole, a handful of miles off Almeria, making just around four knots of boat speed in three or four knots of wind, while rival W Hotel was further offshore Sunday afternoon, more than twice as quick, and eager to gain back some of their lost mileage due to rudder related issues. "It was a big wave which bent the box where the rudder articulates" said Pachi Rivero (ESP) co-skipper W Hotels. "We took it off and repaired it. While we were doing the repair the wind angle was about 140 degrees, and when the wave went under us then we lost steerage because the one rudder we had left was out of the water. Then we broached and it was a mess. The solent was damaged, the keel and ballast were all on the wrong side. I don't know how long it took to get it all sorted out, but it was at least half an hour." -- Event website: http://www.ny-bcn.org/ Positions report (as of 20:30 UTC): Estrella Damm - 3343.1 nm from NY; 323.4 nm to Barcelona W-Hotels - 3254.4 nm from NY; 412.1 nm to Barcelona SCUTTLEBUTT TRIVIA Where does the term "batten down the hatches" come from? (Answer below) BIG BREEZE, BROKEN MASTS, HOLED BOATS, RIPPED SAILS Nassau, Bahamas (April 17, 2010) - Strong winds characterized the Star Class Western Hemisphere Championship on Wednesday through Friday, claiming five masts among the 29 entrants. The breeze eased to 10-16 knots for the final races on Saturday, providing "conditions that are more usual for this time of year," explained Regatta Co-Chairman Paul Hutton. Early event leader Richard Clarke and Tyler Bjorn (CAN) posted their worst scores in these final two races, but had enough margin to take the title over second place Augie Diaz/ Bruno Prada (USA) and third place Mark Mendelblatt/ John von Schwarz (USA). But it didn't all come easy for the winners, as Clarke share this story from the second to last day on Friday: "Now it wouldn't be a natural day if we didn't have a little drama to make things interesting. While we lined up to start the second race the taper on our jib sheet failed and as Tyler pulled the jib in all he managed to do was milk the cover off the rope. He quickly dived down to leeward grabbed the sheet by the core and quickly wrestled it into the cleat. This was going to make it very hard to play the jib as his choices were to use the very thin core that would barely cleat and would chew up his hands or the quickly fattening cover that was like trying to pull on a snake that is shedding its skin. "Time to man up and play the jib by the core. So we stick to the play book lead left off the pin wait for the fleet to tack and tack, but wait when we tack the core won't un-cleat and we flounder with the jib backed in 20+ while Tyler frantically tried to un-cleat it. Thankfully Tyler got it un-cleated quickly and the damage was not that bad. We found our jets again on the first beat and rounded 1st, extended on the reaches while trying to baby the tiller the best we could and then cruised the rest of the way to win comfortably." Full results: http://star2010.nassauyachtclub.org/results/star_2010.htm Daily event reports: http://tinyurl.com/y37naqp DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR YOUR BOTTOM? There's only one winning antifouling formulation that keeps proving itself year after year & that's Interlux VC17m Extra. Used by many of the world's largest sailing fleets and ocean events, super-smooth VC17m Extra is made for speed - with an extremely low co-efficient of friction, the hull just glides through the water. Learn more about VC17m Extra and other high performance coatings from Interlux here: http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa SAILING SHORTS * The start of The Clipper 09-10 Round The World Yacht Race leg from San Francisco to Panama, originally planned for April 19th, will now take place on Tuesday April 20 with yachts crossing the start line at 6pm local time. Postponing the start will help Team Finland which seeks to finish the leg from China on Monday. Additionally, skipper Chris Stanmore-Major had traveled to Europe for personal reasons, and his return has been delayed due to the erupting volcanoes in Iceland. -- Full report: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/index.php/race_news/?item=1837&p=1 * The Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) will hold the 2010 ORC International (ORCi) World Championship in Flensburg, Germany on September 5-11. This is the only ISAF-sanctioned offshore World Championship, and will include seven inshore races, a short offshore race, and a long offshore race. Favorites among the Germans are Christian Plump and his modified Rodman 42 Beluga Racing, winner last year's ORCi European Championship in Ystad, Sweden. Other teams are John Friedrichsen's X-332 Chinook and Peter Sueselbeck's brand-new Farr-designed Beneteau First 40 Westwind. A sistership in Australia won the prestigious Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race in ORCi. -- Details: http://www.fsc.de/regatten/orci-worlds-2010 * Soma, a St John-based Formula 40 catamaran and frequent BVI visitor, has smashed the Round Tortola Record in the first attempt on the Nanny Cay Challenge announced in February. Soma circumnavigated Tortola and outer islands in 2 hours, 50 minutes and 15 seconds smashing Triple Jack's record of 3 hours, 33 minutes and 27 seconds set in the PegLegs Round Tortola Race November last year. Total distance point to point is 31 miles; Soma sailed 45 miles to complete the circumnavigation averaging 15 knots with a highest speed of 25.4 knots. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/yyn6ha5 * Invitations to the match racing ISAF Grade 1 2010 Argo Group Gold Cup on Hamilton, Bermuda have been issued to the nine teams holding 2010 World Match Racing Tour Cards and to a select group of match race sailors. The Argo Group Gold Cup has a unique 24-team format. The Tour Card holders are priority applicants and will be joined by the winners of two qualifier events in the United States and one in Bermuda. The format allows other skippers to request an invitation before May 25th. The Organising Committee plans to notify skippers of their acceptance by mid June. -- Full report: http://www.bermudagoldcup.com/content/view/122/1/ West Marine today reported net sales of US$109.6m for its first quarter ended April 3, 2010, an 8.5 per cent increase over the same period a year ago. The company said it had an 8.4 per cent increase in same-store sales valued at US$6.9m, and new store openings accounted for US$5.0m. But net revenues were reduced by US$3.9m because of store closures in 2009 and 2010. -- IBI Magazine, read on: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20100315134219ibinews.html TRIVIA ANSWER To batten down the hatches is to prepare for bad weather. The origin of this phrase, which comes courtesy of 'butthead Jonathan Kriebel, is from the navy, where it signified preparing for a storm by fastening down canvas over doorways and hatches (openings) with strips of wood called battens. There is also a tune by this name by Snow Patrol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXPUODt5d2c SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar CATCH THE LASERPERFORMANCE BUG, AND GET OUT ON THE WATER The versatile LaserPerformance Bug has a Dacron sail for easy furling when storing or in heavy wind sailing. A race Mylar sail with power curved top section and larger sail area for higher performance is also available. Accessories for the Bug include oars, wheel kit (no dolly necessary) and engine bracket. Check it out at http://www.laserperformance.com/bug/home LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, 'The Curmudgeon'). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Oren Knapp Beach: As Arthur Knapp's other nephew, I second the motion laid down by my cousin Jamie Brickell (in Scuttlebutt 3072). Nothing would please Arthur more than to know that his trophy will continue to honor achievements by other sailors. * From Matthew Reid: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3071) I'm sure the immediate knee-jerk reaction is to fight the wind farm offshore, but I think this idea has quite a bit of merit. Boaters and other watercraft rarely go out that far, in fact, only a fraction of a percent do so. Visually, nine miles out puts them out of sight on most days, due to poor air quality. Clean, cheap, renewable energy--go for it! * From Tony Magee: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3071) Average wind of 18 mph nine miles out? They have to be kidding! I sailed southern Lake Michigan for more than 30 years and unless this group has figured in the occasional 40+ kt winds in a blow from the northeast, it's just not possible. I think a year-round average of 7 or 8 kt is closer to reality. Oh, the slating of sails, the glassy water, the flies. Brings back many memories... * From William Tuthill, Jamestown, RI: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3071) With regards to offshore wind power - I am all for it! Where would you rather work: high above the sea or deep underground mining filthy coal? Obviously wind makes sense. It doesn't have to be mined, processed, transported, and combusted [with tragic environmental effects]. BUT any sailor who has been becalmed while sliding backwards in the tide can appreciate the power and regularity of flowing water. The next money making clean energy source has been flowing beneath our boats for centuries! * From Dick Enersen: Tom Priest is another sailor with whom I have sometimes not seen eye to eye, but I heartily congratulate him for his letter on child sacrifice (Scuttlebutt 3072). Not only is his note directly on point (cf: Howard Bentley), but it is very well written and downright funny, in a macabre sort of way. * From Brit Chance: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3072) Dear Ed Adams.what a boost for the Class!! And a great story CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Dogs come when they're called; cats take a message and get back to you later. Special thanks to Holmatro, Interlux, and LaserPerformance. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
