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SCUTTLEBUTT 2970 - Wednesday, November 11, 2009Scuttlebutt 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 are Ultimate Sailing and North Sails. ROLEX 2009 WORLD SAILOR OF THE YEAR AWARDS Busan, Korea (November 10, 2009) - ISAF and Rolex announced that the male and female winners of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2009 are Torben Grael (BRA) and Anna Tunnicliffe (USA). Torben Grael (BRA) received his award tonight, and in his winning speech said, “It's an honour to be here. It's not the first time I've attended this award ceremony, but it's truly a different feeling to stand here,” he said, from behind the podium. “I am very thankful, and to be here I represent not only myself but all the people who helped me run my campaigns: the sailors, my family, my parents, my wife, the company Ericsson… it's been a fantastic year and it was a fantastic [Volvo Ocean] Race. This year has made me aware of some feelings I am not used to,” said an emotional Grael as he accepted his ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award. “I'd like to thank Rolex for their continued support- it's great what they do for our sport,” said Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), upon being named the female ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. “I've had great fun competing in a variety of classes, I love doing it, and I'd like to thank my sponsors, my teams, my parents for being my managers, and my husband for always allowing me to sail.” -- Read on: http://www.sailing.org/30249.php RETURNING TO VALENCIA…MAYBE (November 10, 2009) - After wasting 28 months in a fruitless legal battle, Switzerland’s Team Alinghi said today it would race America’s BMW-Oracle for the America’s Cup on Feb. 8 at Valencia, Spain, the same place the Americans offered to race in 2007. However, instead of a monthslong event involving a dozen nations, as the Americans had sought, it will be a best-of-three, one-on-one grudge match between a 115-foot Swiss catamaran and a 113-foot American trimaran that probably will be over in two races. Today's Swiss announcement, however, contained a big “maybe,” and, to crib a phrase from a popular TV show, there’s no guarantee Valencia is the final answer. Alinghi still is court, seeking to reinstate its first choice for a site: Ras al Khaimah in the Persian Gulf. That venue was tossed out last month by New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich, on the grounds that it violates terms of the 1887 Deed of Gift that sets basic rules for the America’s Cup. In addition, the Swiss last week offered to face the Americans at one of two locations on the Pacific Ocean on the northeast coast of Australia, Airlie Beach or Townsville. And today's announcement said the Australian venues would be left on table for another week, just in case the Yanks might like to drop their legal action against Alinghi that accuses the Swiss team of breaching its fiduciary responsibilities to the event. But as they say in the TV infomercials: “Wait! There’s more.” At a meeting between the teams during the weekend in New York City, a negotiator for Alinghi reportedly offered yet another venue: Abu Dhabi, a United Arab Emirate state not far from Ras al Khaimah. That was quickly nixed by the flabbergasted Americans. -- Detroit Free Press, read on: http://tinyurl.com/yzcrwpy * Alinghi statement: http://tinyurl.com/ygp7eg5 * BMW Oracle statement: http://tinyurl.com/yhdx45c => Curmudgeon’s Comment: What motivated Alinghi’s decision to suggest Valencia is not yet known, but it may rest in the report that Justice Kornreich received from the expert panel comprised of Graham McKenzie (NZL), David Tillett (AUS) and Bryan Willis (GBR). Since the findings of that report have not been revealed, Scuttlebutt legal counsel Cory E. Friedman has submitted a request for the court to publicly disclose the document. Read his request here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/1110/ BE THE ULTIMATE GIFT GIVER! New from Ultimate Sailing: Check out our new luxurious and comfortable pullovers for men and women with moisture transport technology and our popular hydro-zip T. Visit our website for more exciting gift items including the 2010 Ultimate Sailing Calendar, recycled shopping bags, note-cards, caps and more... http://www.ultimatesailing.com READY FOR FLIGHT San Diego, CA (November 10, 2009) - The American Challenger of Record for the 33rd America’s Cup left the dock with its giant wing sail attached for the first time, marking a major milestone in the campaign. The wing was first unveiled on Sunday evening, when the tent where it had been assembled was opened up. After a day of load testing, in the early hours of Tuesday morning it was attached to the BOR 90 trimaran for the very first time. A wing of this scale has never been built for a boat. In terms of size, the wing on the BOR 90 dwarfs those on modern aircraft. Towering nearly 190 ft (57 m) above the deck, it is 80 percent bigger than a wing on a 747 airplane (102 ft / 31 m). Getting the BOR 90 off the dock with the wing was a major mission in itself. The wing needed to be attached to the boat in near calm conditions, before Spithill carefully maneuvered away from the dock with the wing down, in a horizontal position, assisted by numerous RIBs. The first several testing sessions will consist of gently working up the loads on the boat and wing as the sailors become familiar with the new system. Full-scale testing of the cutting-edge rig will continue over the coming weeks as the team prepares to face Alinghi in the America’s Cup Match in February 2010. -- Full Story: http://tinyurl.com/oapdlw Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2009/11/winging-it.html QUOTE / UNQUOTE “(Alinghi) keeps saying we want to delay because we’re not ready to race. That’s patently ridiculous,” said Russell Coutts, CEO of the BMW Oracle Racing team. -- http://tinyurl.com/yzcrwpy IN THE THICK OF THE DOLDRUMS (November 10, 2009; 17:39) - Still leading in the Jules Verne Trophy, Franck Cammas and his nine crew crashed headlong into the Doldrums on Tuesday morning, with the tradewinds giving way to stormy squalls since early morning. However, the first phase of this passage through the ‘tunnel’ was going well with the team aboard the 105-foot trimaran Groupama 3 maintaining the same lead of 660 miles over the reference time and the exit from this zone scheduled for Tuesday evening. The team reports that they hit the zone around 0400 hours Tuesday: “At the time there was still a little crescent of a moon to light up a seascape in the throes of a major reshuffle: massive cumulonimbus heralding rains and gusts of wind, a short chop coming at them head on reminiscent of the first signs of the southeasterly tradewinds blowing across the equator, flying fish in search of a breath of air before getting caught up in the trimaran’s trampolines, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere colored by a torrid, wet heat. The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone is an octopus playing with its prey, trying to ensnare you in its tentacles, alternating between calm spells and flurries of wind, harsh changes in temperature, torrential rain and blazing sunshine.” As such the Doldrums is proving highly cooperative for Groupama 3, and at this rate, the crossing of the equator may well be done and dusted before Wednesday 1550 hours UT, which would mean a switch of hemispheres in under six days. This would amount to at least six hours better than on Groupama 3’s previous attempt in January 2008 (6d 6h 24’), but above all a bonus of more than a day in relation to the reference time set by Bruno Peyron on the Jules Verne Trophy. -- Team website: http://www.cammas-groupama.com/en/ Current position as of November 11, 2009 (00:00:00 UTC): Ahead/behind record: +687.9 nm Speed over past 24 hours: 18.7 knots Distance over past 24 hours: 448.5 nm Tracking: http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne2009/?lg=en * Groupama 3 must cross finish line off Ushant, France before December 26th at 08:09:26 (UT) to set new record. IMMERGENCE OF SOCAL 52 CLASS Seeking grand prix competitive racing in Southern California, a group of owners in San Diego and Newport Beach have gotten together to form the ‘SoCal 52’ class. The class is composed of current and former TP52s, most of which have been optimized under IRC for even better performance than the standard TP52. Though the TP52 class was born in Southern California, by 2004 most of the class had moved to the Mediterranean. Interest there was facilitated through patronage of the King of Spain and his boat ‘Bribon’, and during this time over 50 boats have raced in the ‘Med Cup’ circuit. However, the past two years has seen the fleet sized decrease due to the challenging economic climate. That provided an opportunity to bring some of these fast boats back to Southern California. In 2008, Ernie Pennell, the previous owner of the Tripp 50 ‘Falcon’, purchased the former ‘Rosebud,’ winner of the 2005 Transpac. Ernie brought the boat back to Southern California, installed a new rig, and made many other improvements. He now races her under the name ‘Cazador’. According to Pennell, his desire to race a TP52 was driven by a desire to race a fast high performance machine in a class environment. “Even though there are minor rating differences under IRC, any one of these boats are capable of winning any race with the boats usually finishing seconds apart. I have not had this much fun in 20 years!” -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/1106a THE SIERRA NEVADAS AWAIT YOU... If you’re an experienced sailmaker looking for a new endeavor, North Sails is currently hiring at our state-of-the-art 3DL sailmaking facility, located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas and minutes from Lake Tahoe, in Minden, NV. Inside our expansive 110,000+ square foot facility where 3DL sails are molded, North has an awesome SuperYacht finishing floor, where sailmakers use custom sewing machines that pivot to make the installation of corner and luff hardware easier. Over 100 employees work at our 3DL facility and Minden is a perfect place for those who love an active outdoor lifestyle year-round. For more information, click here: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/2478/Default.aspx BIGFOOT ON STARBOARD By Kimball Livingston On the West Coast we have more Bigfoot sightings than team races, but that’s changing. No less than three California yacht clubs sent delegations of 12 sailors apiece to New Orleans for the Southern Soiland Cup on Lake Pontchartrain last weekend. Even left of the Rockies, people have noticed that team racing drives youth recruitment, member satisfaction, and bragging rights. As trends go, it’s a trend, all right. Around New England, especially, team racing has grown to be a major thread in collegiate competition, and when yacht clubs pick up where schools leave off - which is exactly what they’re doing - they bridge the gap in which too many young sailors otherwise drift away from the sport. Southern Yacht Club saw this years ago and undertook to build itself up as a team racing power even while rebuilding from what Hurricane Katrina did to the Gulf Coast. For most of us, their Southern Soiland Cup last weekend was a first opportunity to enjoy the new clubhouse (clubhouse number four) of this 160-year-old institution, along with a bit of extreme southern hospitality. Frankly, my dear, the cobwebs have yet to clear. -- Read on: http://kimballlivingston.com/?p=752 EMIRATES TEAM NZ HOLDS LEAD IN LV TROPHY Nice, France (November 10, 2009) - Seasonal conditions returned Tuesday to the Bay of Angels off Nice, allowing race organizers for the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d’Azur to reel off a full day of racing with four flights, eight matches overall. The action was superb. An offshore breeze in the morning gave way to a southwesterly in the afternoon. The consistent conditions made for tight racing with the average delta in seven of the eight matches just 31 seconds. "The nice thing about today was that we had 12 to 13 knots of breeze on the racecourse, the most we’ve seen since we’ve been in Nice,” said TeamOrigin General Manager Mike Sanderson. “We’ve had relatively little practice in those conditions so every minute on the boat is really valuable for us." TeamOrigin’s second win came in the day’s final match against ALL4ONE, the host team for the regatta, when skipper Ainslie closed the door on his rival in the pre-start. "We nearly nailed Ben before that, but it changed from one side to the other very quickly so we made a mistake there,” said Jochen Schumann, skipper of ALL4ONE. “We had some options just a second before that. That’s how close it is." -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/yhwzmsu Current Standings Competing teams - Country - Skipper - Record Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) - Dean Barker, 4-0 TeamOrigin (GBR) - Ben Ainslie, 3-0 Azzurra (ITA) - Francesco Bruni, 2-1 BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) - Russell Coutts, 2-1 Artemis (SWE) - Paul Cayard, 2-2 ALL4ONE (FRA/GER) - Jochen Schuemann, 1-3 Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) - Karol Jablonski, 0-3 Team French Spirit (FRA) - Bertrand Pacé, 0-4 BACKGROUND: The Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d’Azur is the inaugural event of the World Sailing Teams Association. The WSTA event is designed to be a cost-effective format for the teams, with the four America’s Cup class boats being used in Nice on loan from three teams: ALL4ONE (FRA-93), Mascalzone Latino (ITA-90, ITA-99) and TeamOrigin (GBR-75). The boats have been equalised as much as possible to create a level playing field. Event website: http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/home/ Video interviews: http://www.youtube.com/user/btsbroadcast SAILING SHORTS * Terengganu, Malaysia (November 10, 2009) - The 2009 Asian Match Racing Championship is underway, with both New Zealand's Phil Robertson and Japan's Kan Yamada undefeated after the first day. The day started with a soft south westerly with the sea breeze kicking in and building gradually to a steady six-eight knots from the north-north east as the last flights of the day were sailed. -- Full story: http://www.sail-world.com/newsfeed_show.cfm?nfid=19&nid=63140 * The Canadian Yachting Association is hosting its AGM and Conference in Toronto from the 19th to 22nd of November 2009. The CYA is seeking input, and requests member participation in a survey it is conducting to better understand how the association can better serve the sport. -- Details: http://www.sailing.ca/features/cya_survey_complete_by_november_15th/ * The High School Atlantic Coast Champions were determined for 2009 this past weekend in Norfolk. Hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Scholastic Sailing Association at the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club, sixteen teams qualified to compete through qualifier regattas and other District selection procedures from the seven Districts of the Interscholastic Sailing Association. Norfolk Collegiate School (Norfolk,VA), became the overall champion, winning the B fleet and finishing 2nd in the A Fleet. Christchurch School, (Christchurch,VA), finished 2nd overall and won the A fleet, and took 4th in B Fleet. Loyola Academy (Chicago, IL) finished 3rd overall. 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 Chris McKesson, Naval Architect: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 2969) JJ Fetter…I remember JJ as the little girl that we used to push into the water off the SDYC Sabot docks, when her brother Trevor and I didn’t want her hanging around. It is one of those “I knew her when” stories, and I doubt that JJ remembers me, but those were great days. SDYC had a great junior program. JJ’s father, Thompson, used to take all three of the kids sailing regularly on his cruising boat, and the availability of the family’s Snipe and Boston Whaler rounded out the boating experience. The Fetters were a great sailing family, who simply wanted to have fun on the water, which sometimes involved pushing JJ into it! JJ it is an honor to have once known you, and I am confident that your whole family glows with pride at this Hall of Fame recognition. Well done, kid! * From Pat Nolan, Sistership Sailing School: Reading about the recent crash of the CG-130, I saw that there was a Facebook site created for people to send messages, condolences, etc. to the families, and noticed there were very few posts. I took the liberty of posting this from all of us, "As a life long sailor who was not acquainted with any of the crew of CG-130, I speak for all sailors who know of this terrible tragedy. We all mourn the loss of those brave men and women deeply. We appreciate immensely the altruism, courage and dedication of these good people who put their lives on the line every day to locate, help and rescue those of us who find ourselves in distress. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the crew and the two marines as well." This link was posted in the article: http://www.coastguardfoundation.org, for making a donation to the families of the deceased. Many of the crew had spouses and young kids. I encourage all of you to help out with a donation. It's the least we sailors can do to show appreciation for lives given up to save those of our fellow sailors. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “Stop messing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security crisis.” - Bill Maher Special thanks to Ultimate Sailing and North Sails. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
