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SCUTTLEBUTT 3086 - Thursday, May 6, 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.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt Today's sponsors: Ullman Sails, Southern Spars, and SailFast. ISLAND DOMINATION The second most important college sailing competition of the year was held last weekend when 36 schools were selected for two semifinal rounds to qualify for the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championship: the Eastern Semifinals in Charleston, South Carolina and the Western Semifinals in Seattle, Washington. When the weekend was completed, with the top nine schools from each Semifinal round advancing for the Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin on May 25-June 3, there was one statistic that seemed unavoidable. Among the winning A and B division skippers in each Semifinal event, three of these four skippers grew up as youth sailors amid the neighboring islands of the United States. The only winning skipper from the continental U.S. was Tyler Sinks (A Division, Eastern), who hails from the hallowed ground of San Diego, CA. As for the others, Bermudian Jesse Kirkland (B Division, Western) and U.S. Virgin Island's Cy Thompson (A Division, Western) and Taylor Canfield (B Division, Eastern) dominated the field. And let's not forget another islander - Thomas Barrows (USVI) - that finished second to Thompson. Providing a little insight into what is occurring in the Caribbean is Lyn Reid, Past Commodore and Bill Newbold, Commodore of St. Thomas Yacht Club: "It is not often a small yacht club in the Caribbean gets to blow their own horn but I believe it is now time for St. Thomas Yacht Club to stand up and do just that. "So far this year Max Nickbarg, a member of St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC), has already won the High School Singlehanded National Championship, and the Antilles School team - all members of STYC - ran through the Southern Regionals in both team racing and fleet racing and are one of the favorites to win both these National Championships in the next few weekends. A few years ago Antilles School, in just their third year of sailing with STYC members, accomplished this double championship victory and is on track to possibly do it again. "Taylor, Thomas, and Cy have been banging against each other on the race course together for over 15 years and they have remained fast friends through the victories and defeats. I attribute this to our strong junior program at STYC that places emphasis on 'fun' rather than having too much structure. We have never really had a full time coach employed at the club. Amazingly enough there is another strong group of young sailors coming up that will move into high school over the next few years to keep our sailing tradition in tact "Thanks for allowing St. Thomas Yacht Club (Home of the International Rolex Regatta, Carlos Aguilar Match Race, and Scotiabank International Optimist Regatta) a few seconds to sound off. Please help us root for the "islanders" in the upcoming weeks. Who knows, they might be buying you your first "pain killer' on your next visit to the Caribbean." -- Scuttlebutt Forum, http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9780 FINAL COUNTDOWN TO INTERNATIONAL SPORTING EVENT Now in its 61st year, teams from across the UK, Ireland and America are preparing to battle for the prestigious 2010 British Open Team Racing Championship for the Wilson Trophy, hosted by West Kirby Sailing Club in the United Kingdom. The world class action is set to take place this weekend, with an incredible 300 individual team-on-team races scheduled for May 7-9. Thirty-two teams have been selected to take part in what is the largest team racing event in the world. New for 2010 will be a flight of six brand new Firefly dinghies, the purchase of which was made possible thanks to the high levels of sponsorship the event has attracted this year. An estimate of 5,000 spectators are expected to flock to the shores of West Kirby's Marine Lake to view the cut-throat sporting action from just metres away. Competitors will take to the water in 36 color coordinated boats, making for a real spectacle. To explain the close tactical maneuvering, live commentary will be broadcast across the viewing areas from a purpose-built media centre. In an innovative move by the organizers, this year's commentary will feature live on-the-water interviews with the sailors, adding an extra exciting dimension for those watching. Results will be available online at www.wilsontrophy.co.uk as the action unfolds. The four teams attending from America are: New York Yacht Club Karl Ziegler and Mike Huang Chris McDowell and Chris Museler Roger Morris and West Kirby Crew New York Yacht Club Red Pete Levesque and Carrie Amarante Charles Enright and Caroline Levesque Ben Spiller and Anna Miniutti Team Extreme Zach Brown and Emmet Smith Adam Roberts and Melanie Roberts Stuart McNay and Abby Coplin The Woonsocket Rockets Justin Law and Augusta Nadler Nick Ewenson and Hilary Weich Joel Hanneman and Meredith Nordhem Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9778 ULLMAN SAILS NAMED EXCLUSIVE TORNADO SAILMAKER Ullman Sails is proud to announce the International Tornado Association has selected Ullman Sails GZ in Italy to be the exclusive manufacturer for the class' new one design sails! The new rules are already generating buzz in the class, intended to increase participation by putting a ceiling on cost. The Ullman Sails team, headed by Pablo Soldano, has been heavily invested in the Tornado class for 20 years. With an impressive record of winning designs and experience, Ullman Sails will not only provide technical expertise, but also service and support to every level of competition. Invest in your performance. -- http://www.ullmansails.com RECRUITING, BABY, RECRUITING Growing the sport is a reoccurring theme, but it could be argued that in some areas of the U.S. the sport is not even being sustained. New people must be brought in to replace those people who move, or move on. But this should be easy. By all accounts, youth sailing has never been bigger. If sailing was a business, how could it fail with such a huge pool of prospects? The reality is the sport of sailing is failing big time when it comes to converting youth sailors into life sailors. If youth sailing was education, our graduation rate is abysmal. In most developed sailing centers, youth sailing is in youth boats. When the sailor ages out of the youth boat - Optimist, Club 420s, etc - the trail too often ends. Why? Well, why do colleges seek out high school students? Why do businesses seek out college students? Recruiting, baby, recruiting. Here is an excerpt from an effort to seek some change by Eric Woodman, New England Representative to the U.S. Sunfish Class Association: "As you may know by now we have an exciting and full Sunfish racing calendar this summer in the region. We'll have events in five states (we need to get Maine on board!) for every level of skipper - from never been in a race all the way up to top International competition. We'll also have the North Americans/Junior North Americans as close as they have been in years (Long Island) and the 2011 NAs/JR NAs in Barrington RI the following summer. "As most of us are well aware, we have a noticeable lack of junior sailors who travel to regattas in the region. I think it's time we did something about that and I'm asking for everyone's help in turning this trend around. Carson Turowski, manager of the Vanguard Sailing Center in RI, has agreed to help as needed, too. "If you see a junior on the race course, encourage him/her. Tell them about the other events. Help them rig the boat (especially show them how to de-power the rig). Meet their parents. Tell them about the JR. NAs in 2011 (and 2010, for that matter). Talk amongst yourselves after racing about how to get juniors out on the water, etc. "As for the JR NAs in 2011, it's my hope that as a region we can use this summer as a chance to groom (for lack of a better word) some juniors to compete. Again, Vanguard Sailing Center is eager to support this effort, perhaps even providing charter boats, or other incentives. By the way, I don't mean we need to find the next champion (although that would be nice). I just want to get kids out on the boat so that we can have an active and strong future for the class in this region." -- Scuttleblog, www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog SUNFISH YOUTH WORLDS: As an added incentive to attract youth sailors, applications are now being accepted for the 1st Sunfish Youth World Championship, to be held July 16-18 at Sayville Yacht Club on Long Island, in Blue Point, NY. Entry deadline is May 15th. -- Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9730 SAILING INTO A STORM OF PUBLICITY A year ago, Jessica Watson's dream of circumnavigating the globe was exactly that. Plans for the 16-year-old's voyage had been made but with her parents struggling to find sponsorship, the project was in choppy waters. It is believed Roger Watson, an estate agent, and his wife Julie, an occupational therapist, had spent about $300,000 to fund Jessica's attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, non-stop and unassisted. But the cost of the expedition kept rising. Sponsors were eventually found and now the family's position could hardly be more stark. After surviving 120km/h winds, multiple knock-downs, six months alone at sea and even a collision with a freighter on a test run, Jessica is back in Australian waters. On land, her progress has been equally remarkable. Last month, her agent signed a deal with News Corporation valued at $700,000, far in excess of what most celebrities get paid for their stories. Her triumphant arrival in Sydney - her first steps on dry land are likely to be beside the Opera House - is being carefully choreographed by Events NSW and her management to occur on Saturday, May 15. They hope the homecoming will draw tens of thousands to the harbour and attract millions more on television. For a girl who was home-schooled by her parents and lived on a motorboat travelling Queensland's coast, life is about to change dramatically. -- Sydney Morning Herald, full story: http://tinyurl.com/26twafz * CIRCUMNAVIGATION: There is no international governing body that will officially confirm Jessica's adventure as anything more than an impressive feat by a young person. While it cannot be disputed that Jessica has sailed an easterly non-stop around the world, passing through all the lines of longitude, there is a strong argument that her route does not fulfill a circumnavigation of the planet. There are some people in the Scuttlebutt Forum that contend she has taken a short-cut: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9593 * DENIED: A Dutch court upheld the suspension until July 1 of a 14-year-old girl's bid to sail around the world solo, citing fears for her safety and ordering her supervision by authorities. Laura Dekker needs to complete the two-year trip before she turns 17 on September 20, 2012, to break the current record. "The court is of the opinion that the two-year solo sailing trip as planned ... holds great and unacceptable risks for the child," the appeals court in the eastern city of Arnhem, said in a written judgment. "It has not been shown that the safety of the child would be sufficiently guaranteed during the trip." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/2cvbwrt CAN YOU NAME THIS PLACE? Yes, it's fairly light in the summer but usually raceable. The cooling seabreeze is NE off Lake BLANK but tends to be less than ten knots. Fronts bring strong and hot SW pre-frontal winds and short lived cooler NW winds post-front. Sometimes it just blows West at 10-15. East is rare in the summer. Winter winds from the W and NW bring freezing spray and inhuman wind chills but nobody sails there in the winter. Where is this sailing venue? Answer on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt/posts/120593921291900 THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES In 2009 we saw Southern Spars-powered ETNZ and Matador respectively win the highly competitive Audi MedCup and TP52 World Champs. This year, eight boats on the circuit are powered by Southern: ETNZ, Artemis, Bribon, Matador, and Audi A1 have all undergone retrofit upgrades during the off-season while Team Origin has built to the 2011 box rule. On the GP42 circuit Airis and Peninsula Petrolium will also utilise Southern Spars. We wish all teams the best for a 2010 season that promises to be just as exciting as the last. In the end there can only be one winner; to find out what goes into designing a world-class performance rig visit: http://www.southernspars.com BROKERS AND COURTS * Clay and Teresa Prescott, former owners of ABC Yachts in Sausalito, California, were yesterday sentenced to eight months in county jail for embezzling more than US$200,000 from clients. The Prescotts were arrested last July on suspicion of embezzling funds after several yacht owners complained to local authorities. -- IBI Magazine, full story: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20100405131632ibinews.html * Florida brokerage firm HMY Yacht Sales was last week found liable for "negligent misrepresentation" regarding a US$2.6m yacht it sold in 2007. The verdict was rendered last week by a federal jury in a lawsuit brought by a Rhode Island man who claimed that the 66ft sportfishing vessel he purchased through HMY was "unseaworthy", and a preliminary estimate to repair the vessel was US$600,000 to US$1m. The jury held that HMY Yacht Sales was 85 per cent negligent. It also held Jim Barboni, the broker for the deal, was five per cent negligent. The judge ordered the company to pay US$1.8m in damages. -- IBI Magazine, full story: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20100405160209ibinews.html SAILING SHORTS * The U.S. Optimist Dinghy Association hosted the 2010 Team Trials (4/29-5/2) to qualify sailors for both Optimist international championships and also for the US National Team. One hundred eighty-five sailors competed in 13 races with good breeze over four days on Galveston Bay out of Texas Corinthian YC in Kemah, TX. The five top finishers - Wade Waddell (Lauderdale YC), Christopher Williford (Lauderdale YC), Richard Schuurmans (Houston YC), Duncan Williford (Lauderdale YC), and Harry Koeppel (Larchmont YC) - will represent the US at the 2010 Optimist World Championship in Langkawi, Malaysia (12/28-1/8). -- Results: http://tinyurl.com/294jd6r * (May 5, 2010; Day 16) - Light winds and thunder squalls haunt the Clipper 09-10 Round The World Yacht fleet as they work their way toward the Costa Rica coastline. The 'Spirit of Australia' team holds a 8nm lead over 'Qingdao' with 548 nm to Panama, where the nine teams will transit the canal before resuming the race to Jamaica. -- Event website: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com * The next event for aspiring America's Cup programs will be in Italy later this month as Sardinia prepares to host ten teams at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena from May 22 through June 6. The teams will race on four equalised America's Cup Class boats supplied by the event - ITA 90, ITA 99, USA 87 and USA 98. Teams will begin training on site on May 18th. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/27k6823 * Barbados, West Indies (May 5, 2010) - Chips Howarth & Vyv Townend (GBR) sits atop the 70 competitors after three days of racing at the Fireball World Championship. Today was a layday, with two races scheduled on Thursday. -- Event website: http://www.fireball-worlds.com/ * CORRECTION: The Scuttlebutt Trivia in Issue 3085 failed to state that Coronado HS in Coronado, CA had won the Interscholastic Sailing Association Fleet Racing Championship (Mallory Trophy) twice in the past decade, and that the Pacific Coast Interscholastic Sailing Association includes high schools in California. Arizona, AND Hawaii. CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Is your event listed on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar? This free, self-serve tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. These are some of the events listed on the calendar for this weekend: May 8 - Annual Edlu Distance Race - Larchmont, NY, USA May 8-9 - Melges 17 Lake Geneva Spring Regatta - Lake Geneva, WI, USA May 8-9 - H.S. Coed Championship (Mallory Trophy) - Greenwich, CT, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar CELEBRATE SEIS DE MAYO WITH SAILFAST ONE DAY ONLY ON MAY 6TH - The party keeps going at SailFast, and on Thursday Scuttlebutt readers can save $6 on any SailFast item (except charity wristbands) at http://www.isailfast.com. Use promo code "seis". Pacific side or Atlantic side, SailFast is an equal opportunity brand. Don't forget to join our facebook fan page and get special offers all year long. Click http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/SailFast/77667617152?ref=ts to join. 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 Frederic Berg: (re, 'What's Really Wrong With Yacht Clubs' in #3078) Let's face it, for most juniors it's cheaper to join a yacht club and sail a Laser than it is to go bowling a comparable number of times (assuming you sail once a week). For those who enjoy sailing on someone else's boat, perhaps a limited membership in the club with reduced dues and limited voting rights are an option. A 'one size fits all' approach to membership categories can have devastating consequences, particularly when a club finds it necessary to broaden its membership base beyond the traditional sailing member to meet its financial obligations. Soon the priority of the majority drifts away from sailing to a more mundane social agenda. I urge yacht club boards to entertain a broad spectrum of membership categories to more accurately meet its surrounding community's needs while maintaining control of the authenticity of the sailing and sailboat racing experience as it is the very nature of that authenticity that attracts members to the club in the first place. * From Roy Cundiff: It is so simple . and Bruce Ellis (in Scuttlebutt 3084) has many points that are right-on. Let's look at the Alamitos Bay Marina in Long Beach, CA. The Marina was built in the 50s and PAID for by the users in less than eight years. The wood docks were maintained nicely for many years. But when it came time to refurbish, all the money had been siphoned off by the City for other projects. Terribly neglect has caused some law-suits, and now there is no money to rebuild what had been paid for many times over by the users. Then there is the desire for marinas to squeeze out the small boats because they produce less revenue. A young person wanting to enter into sailing with a wife and a couple of kids might be unable to afford to keep a boat in the water because of the inflated prices charged by the City. $300 a month, for a 20 foot slip for a two thousand dollar Cal 20? Or a ten thousand dollar J 24? Most are moving to dry storage which means way less sailing. No wonder sailing in Southern California has come to a screeching halt. They have vacated 20% of the revenue by moving tenants out while having no plan .losing BIG revenue! A private company would have had the job done years ago. Where does this insane thinking come from and where does it put potential newcomers to sailing? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."- Ronald Reagan Special thanks to Ullman Sails, Southern Spars, and SailFast. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
