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SCUTTLEBUTT 3155 - Friday, August 13, 2010
Scuttlebutt 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.
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Today's sponsors: Team One Newport and Holmatro.
A DECADE OF MEMORIES
Ten years ago a sailing team began a journey with ambitions of grandeur
similar to every start-up. No IPO was offered, but a mission statement was
clearly laid out: Win the America's Cup.
On Aug. 11, 2000, the sailing world buzzed with word that Oracle Racing
intended to challenge for the 31st America's Cup, slated for Auckland, New
Zealand, 2002-03. It had purchased the assets - including the shorebase,
race boats, support boats and containers full of equipment - of a former
syndicate.
Since then the team has traversed what some would call a long and winding
road, others a long strange trip. Either way, it's been a memorable 10 years
for the team now called BMW ORACLE Racing, America's Cup champion.
A challenger finalist effort in the first showing took a step backwards to a
semifinal placing in 2007, but led way to victory on Feb. 14, six months ago
in the 33rd America's Cup Match.
When put into context, 10 years from start up to Cup champion is not all
that long. Sir Thomas Lipton and Syd Fischer would be green with envy.
For team founder and afterguard member Larry Ellison and the OTM's (original
team members) - Ian "Fresh" Burns, Tom Ehman, Melinda Erkelens, Mickey
Ickert, Brian "Puck" MacInnes, Tim Smyth, Julie Sutherland, Mark "Tugboat"
Turner and Brad Webb - still on the roster, it's been one heck of a ride.
"I think Larry knew it was a big challenge," said Erkelens, a legal counsel
who helped kick-off the team with her husband Bill in the spring of 2000.
"You're hopeful that you can win it quickly, but realistically it takes
awhile to get it all working, everybody in place and the right people on the
job."
On the heels of the conference call in August 2000 it wasn't inconceivable
to think that Oracle Racing would have immediate success. Ellison's
motivation for forming the team stemmed from his great success with the maxi
yacht Sayonara. Four times the sleek 80-footer won the Maxi Yacht World
Championship.
Coinciding with the fourth championship in 2000 was as a sea change in the
America's Cup. The all-conquering Team New Zealand, winners of the 1995 and
2000 matches by a combined 10-0, was disbanding. Suddenly, the Cup seemed up
for grabs.
Influential businessmen such as Ernesto Bertarelli and Craig McCaw followed
the likes of Patrizio Bertelli into the arena, buying up the best talent,
both sailing and design wise, in the world. Some of that talent happened to
crew on Sayonara. Fearful of losing his best sailors to other commitments,
Ellison did the next best thing. He joined them. -- Read on:
http://bmworacleracingblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/decade-of-memories.html
RACE FOR CUP SPEEDS UP
San Francisco City leaders will have to sail like a sleek trimaran on a
gusty day if they hope to host the America's Cup in 2014. Initially,
officials thought they had until the end of the year to put together a
host-city proposal for the world's oldest and largest regatta. But, they've
been told by BMW Oracle Racing, the team with the power to choose the
location for the next event, that a basic proposal is needed by the end of
September, according to Kyri McClellan, a project manager in the Mayor's
Office.
That means a draft of a basic proposal - including how various properties
would be used to stage the race, what resources The City could provide and
how the development of a village would be funded - needs to be created and
approved by the mayor and Board of Supervisors in about three weeks.
Supervisors return from recess Sept. 7, and the Mayor's Office hopes to hand
an approved document outlining the terms of agreement to billionaire Larry
Ellison's sailing team by the end of the month. The timeline, McClellan
said, is "ambitious."
But, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu thinks it may be possible,
depending on what exactly is in those terms of agreement. "We do need to
work quickly to come up with an attractive proposal that will bring the Cup
- and the economic boost that goes with it - to San Francisco," Chiu said in
an e-mail. "I, of course, want to look at specific terms, but I know we will
need to be creative to find the needed funds for the improvements." -- Read
more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://tinyurl.com/239lyly
12 METRE LEGENDS ARE COMING TO NEWPORT
The 12 Metre Class is honoring its legends in Newport this September and you
can be a part of the team with official gear from Team One Newport! Get a
polo shirt, Atlantis jacket or hat with the 12 Metre Legends logo for
yourself. Visit http://www.team1newport.com or call 800-VIP-GEAR
(800-847-4327) for all the best sailing gear with 25 years of expertise and
serving the sailors with the best selection around.
4 DAYS ON THE DROGUE
This year's Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Kaneohe, Hawaii in July
was full of surprises and firsts for the event. It was the first time Mini
Transats were allowed, and they proved themselves more than capable and
worthy. It was one of the rare occasions the northerly route paid off, and
it did in spades. It was also the first major test for the new Class 40
sailboat designed by Jim Antrim, and constructed by Berkeley Marin Center.
California Condor is the first Class 40 on the West Coast, and was inserted
into Division D with three seasoned SC 50's, a J/160, a Shumacher 52, an
Andrews 56 and a Farr 36. Her mission was to get her hard chined hull and
big ass roached main to Hawaii with enough time to spare to correct out
ahead of her division mates.
She jumped out to a quick lead and was in the process of passing boats which
had a four day lead and all was looking great for owner Buzz Blackett and
crew until the wheels came off when the rudder straps decided the fun was
over...Naval Architect extraordinaire Jim Antrim picks up the story here:
http://tinyurl.com/2c332kg
SKANDIA SAIL FOR GOLD
Weymouth, England (August 12, 2010) - Today at Skandia Sail for Gold we saw
the gold fleets split off. The majority of the sailors were dispatched to
silver and bronze fleets - with no more chance at the podium. But if that
was a deep cut, then the next will hurt even more, as many top seeds have
just one more day to rescue themselves. Friday night the top ten will be
decided for Saturday's medal races, and you have to be in it to win it.
"The racing is very close and with two more races tomorrow, a lot can
happen," said USSTAG's High Performance Director/Head Coach Kenneth
Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.). "It's great that we have such a competitive fleet
here, because that gives us the best training possibility available."
The highlight of the day was USSTAG's Erin Maxwell (Norwalk/Stonington,
Conn.) and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar's (New York, NY) two consecutive
bullets in the Women's 470. Their double win today strengthened their
position on the ladder, and the 2008 World Champions now sit in sixth place
overall, only nine points away from third place.
"It was a super shifty day so it was a game of making sure you stay on the
lifts and play the shifts well, but at the same time not taking too much
leverage on the fleet because you never know what the next shift is going to
be and if they could pass you," said Maxwell. "So we were really trying to
weigh whether it was time to cover the fleet or play the shifts, so it was a
juggling act. It was fun."
Perhaps the biggest move was by Canadian Michael Leigh in the Laser class,
jumping up to second overall with all top ten scores amongst his keepers.
Leigh has been late to join the training cycle for the 2012 Olympic
quadrennial, but is showing the signs that had him as one of the favorites
at the 2008 Games.
Event website: http://www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk/
U.S. team update: http://tinyurl.com/2crllzl
Canada team update: http://tinyurl.com/28aerk9
Follow US sailors on their blogs/websites:
Team Tunnicliffe: www.teamtunnicliffe.com
Zach Railey: http://www.zach2012.com/
Erik Storck/Trevor Moore: http://storckmooresailing.com/
Peet Must/Carl Horrocks: http://www.barnegatbay49er.com/
Rob Crane: http://robcraneracing.com/Blog/Blog.html
Clay Johnson: http://www.claysails.com/
Andrew Campbell/Brad Nichol: http://campbellnichol2012.blogspot.com/
Stu McNay/Graham Biehl: http://www.teammb.org/
Amanda Clark/Sarah Chin: http://www.teamgosail.org/
Maxwell/Kinsolving Farrar: http://www.470teamusa.com/wordpresstesting/
Doerr/Kendell/Freund: http://teamusa674.com/
Ben Barger: http://www.benbarger.com/
Farrah Hall: http://www.farrahhall.com/
* BACKGROUND: Skandia Sail for Gold is the final ISAF Sailing World Cup
event of the 2009-2010 series. Held at the venue of the 2012 Olympic and
Paralympic Sailing Regattas in the towns of Weymouth and Portland, England,
Sail for Gold has attracted more than 975 sailors from 57 countries.
WHEN IS A DSQ NOT ENOUGH?
The protest committee sometimes has the obligation to look beyond a DSQ.
During this year's edition of the SNEEKWEEK (an event in Holland) we
encountered some examples. It is sometimes not easy to neither decide nor
think about this issue, during the hearing. Here is what happened:
Someone sailing at the back of the fleet decides to skip not one, not two,
but four marks in order to get just behind the front of the fleet. The PC
decided - in absence of the party, who did not come to the hearing - that
this must have been deliberate and goes to rule 2. The DSQ becomes a DNE.
In another incident, an eight meter keel-boat sails above the layline to the
mark and approaches on Port-tack the mark to be left to port. There are more
the a few boats already approaching on Starboard and more than a few already
rounded and on a reaching course to the next mark. While some see the port
boat approaching they start to avoid her and keep a little higher other
still follow the 'train' downwind.
The port boat sails into the triangle in the hope she can find a space in
between. The result was a calamity filled with collisions and destruction.
The committee found in the subsequent protest that indeed the port boat did
not keep clear, but no penalty could be given, because the boat retired from
the race (due to the extensive serious damage).
They did not consider going beyond that. But should they have? Is this
reckless behaviour with serious damage and not a small change off personal
injury, not something that should be at least or even more penalized then
someone who skips a couple of marks?
The first argument that presents itself is about intent. Was the
infringement deliberate? In case of the marks it was - according to the PC,
but couldn't the same be argued about sailing into such a impossible
situation? Is there a rule in the book that can do this? The PC is still
discussing it. --
http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/2010/08/when-is-dsq-not-enough.html
FOR PERFECT HANDLING & CONTROL
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http://www.holmatro.com/marine/en/m1207-1-232/winch-handles.aspx
SAILING SHORTS
* Tallin, Estonia (August 12, 2010) - Despite the willingness of both the
competitors and the Race Committee to do everything possible to complete the
final two races of the 2010 Marinepool Melges 24 World Championship in
Tallin, Estonia, the wind refused to make an appearance on the final day.
The lack of any racing today, meant that the placings from the previous day
remained unaffected, with Italian helm Lorenzo Bressani on Uka Uka Racing
confirmed as the 2010 Melges 24 World Champion. In the Corinthian Division,
Norway's Oyvind Peder Jahre on Storm Capital Sail Racing Team were crowned
2010 Melges 24 Corinthian World Champions. -- Full story:
http://www.melges24.com/?p=news/&id=2360
* Two youth windsurfers Margot Samson (Belleair, Fla.) and Ian Stokes
(Norfolk, Va.) have qualified to represent the United States at the
inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. They join the U.S. Youth
Olympic Team of 82 athletes competing in 18 sports, the maximum number of
qualified U.S. athletes. The 12-day event kicks off this Saturday, August
14, with an elaborate Opening Ceremony and torch relay. -- Full report:
http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/News/2010/YOG_Preview.htm
* US SAILING's 2010 Junior and Youth Championships season reaches its
pinnacle in August with the Chubb U.S. Junior Championships in San Diego,
Calif. Sailors between the ages of 13 and 18 qualified to represent their
region through ladder event eliminations held among more than 1,000 yacht
clubs and 150 community sailing programs across country to compete in three
disciplines - Lasers (singlehanded), Club 420s (doublehanded), and
Lightnings (triplehanded). Chubb's U.S. Junior Championships, hosted by the
San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs, begins on Monday, Aug. 16 and runs
through Wednesday, Aug. 18. -- Full report:
http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2010_Chubb_Jr_Champs_Preview.htm
* Chicago, IL (August 12, 2010) - Starting Friday, ten teams from five
nations will be bringing top-level match race sailing to Chicago's Belmont
Harbor waterfront in the Chicago Match Race Center's (CMRC) Chicago Cup. At
ISAF Grade 2, this three-day event is the highest-ranked of any in the
CMRC's 2010 season, and is one of only three Grade 2's held in the US. The
winner of this year's Chicago Match Cup will qualify for an invitation to
the 2011 Danish Open in Denmark, an ISAF Grade WC prize money event on the
World Match Racing Tour. -- Full report:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10270
* The list of competitors for the ISAF Grade 2 2010 Toyota International
Match Race for the Detroit Cup (Detroit, MI) has been announced with 12
teams from five countries and one U.S. territory confirmed. The field of
competitors represents The United States, the US Virgin Islands, Denmark,
Russia, Brazil and New Zealand, and includes Anna Tunnicliffe, Bill
Hardesty, Dave Perry, and Taylor Canfield. -- Full report:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10269
* Three leading marine bankers who attended the Consumer Bankers
Association's "CBA Live" conference recently said that the loan industry is
"generally open to the idea of serving or reconnecting" to the US boating
community. Just over half of the lenders at the conference expect loan
demand to increase over the next 12 months. But they also said that growth
will be tempered by a sluggish economy. -- IBI Magazine, full report:
http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20100712154254ibinews.html
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt
include Thistle two wheeling, Caribbean Games, control issues, windsurfing's
comeback, blazing The Gorge, August computer background, soft versus solid,
and the true meaning of JAGUAR. Here are this week's photos:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0813/
* BONUS 1: What happens when you gather a group of youth sailors to talk
about what makes a sailboat go, and then empower the kids to design and
build their own model sailboat? According to T.J. Perrotti of Perrotti
Performance Design, you have a great time. Here are the photos to prove it:
http://sailingscuttlebutt.blogspot.com/2010/08/photos-and-report-from-t.html
* BONUS 2: While the photo department of Scuttlebutt World Headquarters was
closed last week, that didn't stop photographers Christophe Favreau and Mick
Anderson from capturing great shots at the 5O5 World Championship in Aarhus,
Denmark. And now, here is the gallery:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0808/
* BONUS 3: The 2010 Melges 24 World Championship wrapped up this week in
Tallin, Estonia, with photographer Pierrick Contin providing the imagery to
Scuttlebutt. With an entry list primarily from Europe, with only one team
from South Africa and two Japanese teams from off the continent, odds are
good that you weren't there. Here is what it looked like:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0812/
SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week,
send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Even at the highest level of sport, athletes are reminded that they must
enjoy what they do. To break up the monotony of their training in the
Olympic boardsailing event, Kevin Stittle and David Hayes from Canada and
Mariano Reutermann of Argentina went on a 62 mile distance run on Georgian
Bay in Ontario, Canada.
Reaching speeds of nearly 30 mph, with the wind waves providing frequent
launch ramp, this spectacular footage follows the group from Thornbury,
around Christian Island and returning back to Collingwood. This video was
provided by Benjamin Rouse of Resolve Films, whose mandate is to promote
sailing and raise the profile of the sport in Canada. Click here for this
week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/10/0813/
* BONUS 1: Maybe some of you have hang on a halyard and jumped from the bow
of a keelboat to swing along the hull and into the water. Maybe some of you
have rigged a chair between the clews of a spinnaker and flown in the air
with the kite. But we are guessing that there are not too many people that
have done EXTREME TENDER HALYARD LAUNCHING: http://tinyurl.com/27ekrqq
* BONUS 2: It is one thing to be able to sail a Laser, but a whole another
matter to take on the Columbia Gorge Racing Association's Laser Blow Out.
Participants typically race from Cascade Locks, OR to Hood River, OR, but
this year's race was cut short due to overwhelmingly high winds and huge
swells. Here are two videos from the event, with one following the fleet and
another onboard one of the boats:
Fleet: http://tinyurl.com/28kw8vl
Onboard: http://tinyurl.com/29hg329
SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week,
send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com
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 Bud Cassidy:
Having raced against Paul Henderson in Lasers in Canada, I'd like to read
his book (as was mentioned in Scuttlebutt 3154). Can you tell me where it is
sold? Amazon says they don't have it yet.
=> Curmudgeon's Comment: Details on purchasing Paul's book, "The 'Pope' of
Sailing", are available on the Scuttlebutt Forum:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10267
* From Jim Fulton:
I agree with Keith Kenitzer's comments (in Scuttlebutt 3154) on the
conflicting pulls of tradition and progress in the America's Cup. The
defender and the press are consumed with making the event more
spectator-friendly, and everyone seems to assume that a new design is the
key. I think that this is a false conclusion.
The designers and, probably, most of the sailors would like to have a hot
new boat. But, as Mr. Kenitzer points out, the best racing from the
spectator's point of view (meaning the closest racing) has been in mature
designs. So what if a new boat would go a little faster? Or even a lot
faster? Sailboats of the sort that are likely to be used in the AC - even
multihulls - are all relatively slow vehicles.
History suggests that, in the first cycle or two with a new design, someone
will discover a decisive advantage, and will sweep the event. If the event
is a blowout or nobody can see it, who's going to care? Spectators who are
not sailors aren't going to care whether the boats are new or old. The keys
to a great event are participation and close competition. It's good that
more thought is going into presentation. On-board cameras and microphones
can convey a lot of the excitement that the sailors experience. But I don't
think it matters too much what they're sailing.
* From William Tuthill, Jamestown, RI:
Maybe, just maybe, John Kerry chose to register and keep his boat in Rhode
Island, at the Newport Shipyard, because it is one the best places on the
entire east coast to keep a boat of that type. The yard specializes in large
and super sized yachts. It is one of the few places that has deep water and
a 330 ton travel lift. With a boat like that you need a lot of help. Like a
Ferrari owner keeping his car near the dealer, Kerry is smart to base his
yacht at the one place that can "make fix when she break". So 'chillax' you
political pundits - the next scandal will be along shortly.
=> Curmudgeon's Comment: Thread closed.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
Karma is like this: If we set causes in motion the effects come back to us.
Special thanks to Team One Newport and Holmatro.
Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
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