|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2334 -- May 1, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). MAJOR UPSET VALENCIA, Spain -- China Team upset Louis Vuitton Cup leader BMW Oracle Racing on Monday for its first win in America's Cup challengers series racing. BMW Oracle Racing was in control at the start and pinned the Chinese yacht out to the right behind its heel to build a 220-yard lead. But the Americans lost their headsail halfway on the first upwind lap. The CHN-95 sailed past the USA-98 before the headsail blew out again, forcing BMW Oracle Racing to finish the upwind legs with a single sail and allowing the Chinese to win with ease by 3 minutes, 5 seconds. Ian Burns, BMW Oracle Racing design coordinator said, “We will remove the rig and do a thorough inspection overnight. Obviously, we will take remedial action to ensure this does not happen again. We had a similar problem in Act 13, but the two incidents happened in completely different circumstances. We will be ready to race tomorrow.“ That wasn’t the only upset of the form guide however. The French Areva Challenge, disappointed with its Round Robin One performance, went out and won its first two matches of Round Robin Two, while +39 Challenge suffered two devastating losses in matches that were desperately close right up until the finishing line. Conditions on Monday were excellent for racing, with sea breezes of up to 15 knots on both race courses. The wind eased later in the day, but never dropped below 9 knots. -- Paul Logothetis, Associated Press Writer, http://tinyurl.com/3d8waa and the America’s Cup website http://www.americascup.com/en/ contributed to this coverage. * Photographer Daniel Forster has provided Scuttlebutt with a glimpse of the action in Round Robin One of the Louis Vuitton Cup during the week of April 22-28, 2007, which includes a foul sequence of Areva and United Internet Team Germany. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0430 Provisional Leaders 1. USA 98 BMW ORACLE Racing,23 1. ITA 94 Luna Rossa Challenge, 23 3. NZL 92 Emirates Team New Zealand, 20 4. ESP 97 Desafío Español 2007, 19 5. SWE 96 Victory Challenge, 16 6. ITA 99 Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, 14 6. RSA 83 Team Shosholoza, 14 8. FRA 93 Areva Challenge, 13 9. ITA 85 +39 Challenge, 6 10. GER 89 United Internet Team Germany, 3 10. CHN 95 China Team, 3 Note: Two points are awarded for each match won. Flight 2 1. Team Shosholoza beat United Internet Team Germany by 1:23 2. China Team beat BMW ORACLE Racing by 3:15 3. Luna Rossa Challenge beat Victory Challenge by 0:27 4. Areva Challenge beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team by 2:06 5. Desafío Español 2007 beat +39 Challenge by 0:01 Flight 1 4. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, by 0:25 5. Areva Challenge beat +39 Challenge, by 1:11 Event website: http://www.americascup.com/en/ SHOES, TEES AND LOTS MORE.... Team One Newport's Virtual Warehouse Sale is going gangbusters!! We are adding shoes and fun stuff like Volvo Race tees everyday!! The stock is limited and we do run out fast so PLEASE be patient with us! These are Final Sale items, but are SOOOO CHEAP, so go wild! Team One Newport needs to make room for all the awesome new stuff like the Atlantis Microburst jacket! If you are near Newport, RI, please join us for the Atlantis WeatherGear Premiere Event Thursday, May 3rd at our store! See you then! Call 800-VIP-GEAR or visit Virtual Warehouse Sale at: http://www.team1newport.com/products.asp?dept=116 HOW THE MEDAL RACE WAS WON (American Olympic Yngling Team 7 Sailing, comprised of Sally Barkow, Debbie Capozzi & Carrie Howe, won the final medal race last week in the Semaine Olympique Française in Hyères, France, boosting them up to second overall. Read on as they describe the race, which they entered in third place, and assessed how any of the top five boats could take the Gold Medal.) It’s risky starting on the left hand side of a small, strong (ten boat) fleet on a short course because unless you do it really well, they will have starboard tack advantage. However we decided on a little risk and a strong start at the left hand end of the line because the pin was favored. We went for it strong, fast, and straight and won the pin. Initially, we weren’t far enough ahead of the pack but we lee-bowed them and forced them back to the right as we went further left, then tacked and gained an inside left going into the windward mark. British skipper Sarah Ayton, who was second overall in points, was right behind us around the weather mark. After a hard jibe around the offset mark to keep our wind clear we were neck and neck with Sarah on the run in big steep waves and a fresh 15-knot breeze. It was a challenge to get across Sarah’s bow in order to get to the leeward mark we wanted, but we surfed two perfect waves, surging down and across the Brits’ bow to jibe and round the gate that let us head into the beat on the favored, left-hand side. -- Read on: http://www.team7sailing.com/content/view/57/29 THE NEGATIVES ARE BUILDING UP Team New Zealand's basic problem appears to be boat speed. They would also have to be worried about skipper Dean Barker's starting and the afterguard's decision-making. Yachting commentator Peter Lester said Team New Zealand should be concerned about their first-round performance. "They must improve otherwise they are in big trouble. "Starting must be a concern for them. A bigger concern will be the fact they are off the pace." In its maiden outing, NZL92 was beaten in three races. Its lack of potency was most noticeable against Oracle's USA98. Oracle trailed Team New Zealand by about 100m on the first beat yet managed to catch up, pass and then comfortably beat them. The Oracle afterguard played the windshifts to perfection but there was no denying the Oracle boat was a click faster than the Kiwis. Starting is also an area of concern, which is surprising considering how dominant Barker was in last year's final match racing regatta, which they won. The loss of key strategist Adam Beashel might have upset the flow in the back of the boat. Beashel injured his hand in the fleet racing regatta and is not expected to return for at least another couple of weeks. While the conditions have been light and shifty over the past week, Team New Zealand haven't been particularly successful in putting their boat in the best position. -- Julie Ash and Peter Lester, NZ Herald, full story: http://tinyurl.com/35kc3y QUOUTE / UNQUOTE -- Paul Cayard “What I think is going to happen in this Louis Vuitton Cup is everyone is going to lose a race that they didn't think they should lose. The big question is who is going to come back from a very disappointing day and still put 100 per cent on the table for the next race and who is going to have a hangover and be pointing fingers and worrying about what happened? In this cup the boats are closer than ever ... I think managing the highs and lows and getting a nice stability is going to be part of winning." -- NZ Herald, http://tinyurl.com/2xjaev THE MELGES 32 The New Melges 32 fleet continues to grow. The Annapolis NOOD Regatta was host this past weekend to the class’ East Coast Championship. The fleet was hyped! The day before the start of the regatta, the majority of the Melges 32 entries were out practice racing around marks while other classes sat dockside. People who have these new boats love them and love racing them. The Melges 32 Circuit now goes to the Chicago NOOD and then to the Nationals in Newport, RI. in July. For further information, race to melges32.com and http://www.Melges.com SLOW If Alec Oberschmidt or Mark Folkman and Mike Galloway had any complaints about the 60th Lexus Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race, it was not about the wimpy wind. 'The weather band was working for us,' Oberschmidt said after sailing Staghound, a venerable Reichel/Pugh 50, to first place overall among the big boats on handicap time to claim the President of Mexico trophy. Meanwhile, Folkman and Galloway’s Ono, an Olson 40 half the size of the fastest finisher, Doug Baker’s Magnitude 80, won the President of USA Trophy by correcting out on all PHRF entries. There were 449 entries but only 241 official finishers before the 11:00 cut off on Sunday. Some gave up the struggle in winds that reached double-digit velocity only briefly, while others - including many of the Cruising class boats that comprised one-third of the fleet - simply motored into Ensenada. -- Rich Roberts, http://www.nosa.org NAUGHTY NAUGHTY The Jury for the 32nd America’s Cup has fined the Italian Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team 10'000 Euros for a technical violation of the measurement rule for the America’s Cup Class. The Italian team used a different paint from that called for in the America s Cup Class Rule. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia had declared this different paint manufacturer on a form filed with the Measurers, but it was not flagged at that time as a violation. The Jury ruled that Mascalzone Latino did not gain any performance advantage through the paint, and that the breach of the rule was inadvertent. Due to this, the Jury decided no sporting penalty should apply. But noting that rule compliance is an important component of participating in the America’s Cup, the Jury fined decided to impose the 10'000 euro fine. The team will begin repainting its boat immediately. - http://tinyurl.com/2pq8on SAILING SHORTS * Bernard Stamm onboard Cheminees Poujoulat has crossed the finish line of the Velux 5 Oceans in Bilbao, Spain to complete the third and final leg of the race from Norfolk (USA) in 11 days, 23 hours and 53 minutes ago. It marked the end of a race that Stamm has dominated from day one. After 103 days, 22 hours and 10 minutes at sea, he won every leg of the race and finished with a monumental lead of more than 14 days on the overall ranking over second place Kojiro Shiraishi. Shiraishi finished the final leg 43 minutes behind Stamm. – http://www.velux5oceans.com * Dickenson Bay, Antigua (April 29) – The crystal-clear waters off the Caribbean isle of Antigua were spotted with sails today as the 40th Birthday celebration of Stanford Antigua Sailing Week got underway in ideal conditions. After a passing morning squall brought a brief round of sprinkles, a competitive fleet of 204 boats racing in 16 divisions set forth on an all new format for this popular event under blue skies and steadily increasing easterly trade winds. For standings, photographs and more: http://www.sailingweek.com * US Sailing has determined the 2007 schedule of its USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival (JO) program. The series of 22 events held at sailing organizations in the continental United States and Hawaii begins in June and wraps up in December. Now in its eleventh year, the JO program has had a tremendous impact on the growth of youth sailing, proven by the popularity of its regattas. The 2007 events are expected to attract some 4,000 sailors; over the course of its history, the program has drawn over 30,000 youth sailors. For the complete schedule and more information: www.ussailing.org/youth/racing/jo * T2P.tv has posted video coverage of the just completed 270-boat Sperry Top-Sider Annapolis NOOD Regatta. * Approximately 205 sailors of the top US Opti sailors will be going to Miami from May 3-6 with dreams of qualifying for international competition. Once the regatta is complete, the 56 of the top sailors will be invited to represent the USA in the Optimist Worlds in Cagliari, Italy; the Europeans in Varkiza, Greece; the North Americans in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico; and the Danish National Championship and Belgium’s Flanders Youth Race Week. Results will be available at www.coralreefyachtclub.org and www.usoda.org. * As this issue is being distributed, British solo circumnavigator Tony Bullimore is finally leaving Hobart to begin his attempt to break the current record for a solo circumnavigation set by Dame Ellen Macarthur in 2005 – 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, 33 seconds. Bullimore, 67, has spent five months in Hobart waiting for a favorable weather pattern. His 102ft catamaran 'Doha' - the much-modified ENZA New Zealand – is taking advantage of a weather window that will send Bullimore out across the Tasman Sea, around New Zealand and across the Southern Ocean to Cape Horn. - http://www.teambullimore.com/ SAIL FASTER AND SMARTER If you want to improve your results on the race course, you should read Speed & Smarts. This bi-monthly newsletter, written by winning America's Cup tactician Dave Dellenbaugh, is full of race-winning tips on boatspeed, tactics, strategy, rules and more! To see a sample issue or sign up for a subscription, visit http://www.SpeedandSmarts.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (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, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From John Roberson: Why all the fuss about copyright and intellectual property concerning the name of the event being sailed in Valencia at the moment? It is the Louis Vuitton Cup that is underway at the moment, and I'm sure LVMH don't mind how many times we use that title. I for one am more than happy to give them, and in particular Bruno Trouble, all the benefit I can because they have really enabled the whole contest to progress from a minor event in Newport, Rhode Island, to the spectacle it could be today, if only the wind gods would come to the party. The brief event that follows the Louis Vuitton Cup, well it's just a postscript to the main event. We don't need to mention that contest until June. * From Jimmy Biddle, Annapolis, MD: (edited to the 250-word limit) Another early season race in Annapolis, difficult breeze, difficult current, difficult competitors, and a somewhat under-supported race committee. Probably familiar to many of us. Personally, I thought that the RC did really well in the conditions and with the equipment, support, and experience they had on hand, really well! Nonetheless, there has been some quite typical grumbling about how the RC could have done more, more radio information, crisper course resets; all the usual complaints that we as racers are bound to make during the heat of the floating about. I am all for more communication, perfect course changes, and flawless starts and finishes but I also now accept my responsibility as a racer to contribute, which leads to my comment. Before any of us complain about how a course was set wrong or a start didn’t go well, or any other number of complaints we all hear or possibly say about our RC's and Juries, I ask that you consider taking the time to volunteer, learn to run races as well as sail in them. Our sport utterly depends on good people taking time out of their lives to run our events, most importantly, those that actually race, the only ones who have the real time experience. Next time a race doesn't go off well, ask yourself as crew, skipper, or what ever, could you have done it better? Do we know how to do it better? If all you have done is raced, the answer should be no. * From Derek Bouwer: The big Box Boats plying our sea do so mainly under autopilot with a single OOW on duty 1. The OOW, even if he does study the radar, has 10 seconds to see a yacht on the radar against all the background noise. 2. A lot of these Box boats are piled so high with containers that the OOW can only see over 5 NM away as anything closer is hidden from view by the containers. 3. These boat are capable of speed in excess of 20 knots, so you have only 17 minutes from horizon to colliding with something. When sailing I: 1. Tell my watch to conscientiously keep an all around watch, especially astern as most watches concentrate only on where the yacht is going. 2. I always assume that the vessel has not seen me. 3. If I am in any doubt, I get the hell out the way. * From Dan Dyer: Pleased to hear we will be using a VPP handicapping system for the 2008 Newport Bermuda Race. It was certainly a success in 2006 and encouraged a record fleet of over 260 boats. The word on the docks at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club was positive, although everyone complained about the huge high ridge that crossed the middle of the course with isobars a hundred miles apart. A VPP based system is the only way, although not perfect, to handicap a diverse fleet in design, age and size which is one reason the Newport Bermuda is so interesting. IRC and PHRF, in fact most systems, are effective on short windward-leeward courses where most boats are the same size and often from the same designers. A single-number handicapping system is popular with the crews, as they always know how they stand with the competition; however, in the Bermuda Race position reports are easily corrected for handicap with a calculator. It is also positive that for divisional trophies the committee will score using IRC, as well. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION A closed mouth gathers no foot. Special thanks to Team One Newport, Melges Performance Sailboats, and Speed & Smarts. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
