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SCUTTLEBUTT 2869 - Friday, June 19, 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. Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Today's sponsors are West Marine and PredictWind.com. BIG MAN ON CAMPUS There is no bigger individual award in college sailing then the Robert B. Morris Trophy, awarded annually to the College Sailor of the Year. Announced following the spring championships, the selection committee identified Georgetown sophomore Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, CA) as the 2008-9 honoree. When asked if he thought he was in the running for winning the award, Buckingham replied, “It actually never crossed my mind the whole year. A couple of people had mentioned it to me, but to be honest, I just wrote it off because I thought a sophomore would never be able to win it. It was something I didn't really focus on, which I think in the end worked to my advantage. It felt extremely good to be nominated and then when I won, I don't know, I was beside myself. It just felt really great. “I want to thank my crew Alex: there's definitely no way I would have gotten the award without her. I just want her to be recognized because she is such a dedicated crew. I'd also like to recognize my team because they are such an awesome group of people. Our practices are intense, but they are also really fun and the team definitely challenges me every day on the water. Finally, I'd like to thank my coaches, Mike and Alana. They are great coaches and fun people to be around. It was just a very good year. Overall, I am really, really happy.” -- Excerpt from Sailing World interview, http://tinyurl.com/SW-6-18-09 * Charlie is now in Kiel, Germany to compete in the Laser class at Kiel Week as a member of the US SAILING Team AlphaGraphics. This is the sixth event of the ISAF Sailing WorldCup, with racing to begin June 20th. Between coaches and sailors, there is expected to be over fifty Americans at the event. -- http://www.kielerwoche.de/eng/englishdefault.php THEY DID IT IN GALWAY! by Daria Blackwell The 2008-9 Volvo Ocean Race began in Alicante, Spain and will finish in St. Petersburg, Russia. In between, the race has had nine stopover ports, each unique in its own way, but the overwhelming favorite seems to be Galway, Ireland. As PUMA skipper Ken Read said, “I think I want to move to Ireland.” Daria and Alex Blackwell, who spent two weeks aboard their Bowman 57 ketch Aleria in Galway Harbour as volunteers in the VOR Galway, provide this report: “Alex and I were in Galway for the Volvo Ocean Race stopover and let me tell you, there is nothing we have ever experienced that matches the excitement generated for sailing by this amazing effort. They counted on 140,000 people showing up over two weeks of planned festivities. What they got was more than 450,000 people (we don’t yet have a final count), more than 10,000 children and loads of side benefits they haven’t even tabulated. Now that’s the way to run a sailing event that gets non-sailors to the harbour front. Let’s Do It Galway and Volvo pulled off a miracle we can all learn from.” -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0618 * VOLVO OCEAN RACE: Began in Alicante, Spain on Oct. 4, 2008, crewed around the world race in VO 70’s, with ten distance legs and seven In-Port races. The next event is the final In-Port Race on June 21st in Stockholm, Sweden. Live video, audio, and tracking starts at 10:45 GMT/ 12:45 Local. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.tv * T-BLUE UPDATE: Having resumed racing in Leg 9 on Wednesday evening from Marstand, Sweden, Telefonica Blue hopes to arrive in Stockholm by Friday afternoon, in time for the In-Port Race on Sunday. Event website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org Race tracking: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 WEST MARINE SAILING GLOVES Your skin is no match for even the softest line when a sheet or halyard goes on a tear. If you’d prefer not to turn your hands into hamburger, do what millions of sailors around the world do, rely on West Marine Sailing Gloves! They’re tough, comfortable and affordable. Amara synthetic leather palms won’t get stiff, crack or shrink. Elasticized backs ensure a proper fit and drain in a jiffy. Men’s and women’s sizes in Full-Finger and Fingerless styles, $19.99 to $24.99. Available at all West Marine stores. To find the store nearest you, log onto http://www.westmarine.com PEEKING UNDER THE COVERS The marine industry does not have too many public companies. Among them is West Marine, whose quarterly reports have been seen as a bellwether for economic decline. To help us understand their plight, Scuttlebutt contacted Bruce Edwards, Executive VP of Stores & Port Supply, for an update: * West Marine has endured some recent losses. Can you walk us through the past year to help us understand the situation? BRUCE EDWARDS: “Sure, the whole marine industry has been hammered in the past year, and West Marine is obviously part of the industry. From the rise in fuel prices last spring and summer to the overall economic decline, boating has been battered. “The second largest national chain of Marine Stores, Boaters World, filed for bankruptcy and is now in the process of liquidating and closing their stores. I think that might give a picture of how tough it’s been in this industry. Also, Genmar Marine which is one of the biggest boat manufacturers (many brands) in the US filed Chapter 11. “West Marine has suffered losses the past few years. We made our share of mistakes, that’s for sure. And of course we’ve been impacted by the overall contraction of the industry. But…recently, things have changed dramatically for the better at West Marine.” -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0618a WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR: TROIA PORTUGAL MATCH CUP Troia, Portugal (June 18, 2009; Day 2) - At Stage 4 of the 2009 World Match Racing Tour season, the French have come on strong at the Troia Portugal Match Cup as Philippe Presti, Sebastian Col, and Mathieu Richard of the French Match Racing Team all sharing in the top four places along with Wednesday’s day-end leader Peter Gilmour (AUS) and his YANMAR Racing Team. Philippe Presti, who so far has beat his closest rivals Gilmour, Col, and Richard, is in a comfortable position to advance as the top seed into the next Quarter-Final stage of the competition. But to complete the round robin, he must still face the current Tour leader, Adam Minoprio (NZL) and his Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch team, and Andrew Arbuzov (RUS) when competition resumes on Friday. -- Complete report: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/da/98461 Results from Day 2 Philippe Presti, FRA, French Team 8-1 Sebastien Col, FRA, French Team/K-Challenge 6-3 Peter Gilmour, AUS, YANMAR Racing 6-1 Mathieu Richard, FRA, French Match Racing Team 5-1 Ian Williams, GBR, Bahrain Team Pindar 5-3 Torvar Mirsky, AUS, Mirsky Racing 4-4 Adam Minoprio, NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch 4-4 Bjorn Hansen, SWE, Team Onboard, 3-4 Phil Robertson, WAKA Racing, 3-6 Andrew Arbuzov, RUS, 2-5 Ian Ainslie, RSA, Team Proximo, 1-8 Alvaro Mourinho, POR, Seth Sailing Team, 0-7 Match results: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/PMC09Results ON STANDBY IN BERMUDA The Bermuda 1-2, the race that combines a singlehanded leg from Newport, RI to Bermuda with a doublehanded leg for the return trip, is currently on standby. The first leg had 38 starters on June 5th, and with the fleet ready to start the second leg on June 18th, the race organizers decided to postpone due to a strong low pressure system that is moving off the coast on Sunday. Clay Burkhalter, who won Leg 1 in Class 6 that was comprised of seven Open 6.5 Minis, explains: “The storm system has a pressure of 996 milibars and could produce storm force winds (50+ knots) in the area of the gulfstream and north to the coast, basically on the rhumb line for Newport. Winds are predicated to be from the North, so for the slower boats in the stream, conditions could be treacherous, and for the boats further up the course, heavy upwind conditions would prevail. It looks as though a delay of 24 hours might not help as the low stalls south of Nantucket and then starts to drift in a southerly direction, sitting directly on the rhumb line and producing consistent 30-40 knot winds.” -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/Clay-6-19-09 * Bermuda 1-2 website: http://www.bermuda1-2.org/ SAILING SHORTS * US SAILING and Rochester Yacht Club (RYC) announce that applications are now being accepted for the Next Step to Rolex Program for junior women sailors age 13-17. As a key initiative of US SAILING’s Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship, the goal of the two-day clinic is to prepare graduates for future IWKC events. U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist and US SAILING’s 2008 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe is to be among the presenters at this year’s program, scheduled for October 2-4. Applications must be received by July 31, 2009. -- Details: http://www.ussailing.org/pressreleases/2009/Next_Step.asp * With the successful conclusion of the inaugural 2008-09 Portimão Global Ocean Race in Portugal imminent, the Race Director, Josh Hall, has released details of the next edition of the event. Scheduled to start in September 2011, the Global Ocean Race will follow the same route raced by the yachts competing in the 2008-09 event and will start from a European port. In close affiliation with Class 40 Association and following the successful circumnavigation of three Class 40s, it has been decided to make the race exclusively for Category 0, Class 40 yachts, split into two divisions: single-handed and double-handed. -- Read on: http://www.portimaoglobaloceanrace.com/?page=news&news_id=326&lang=en * For the fifth year ESPNU's presentation of college sailing features the top young sailors competing for this trophy that dates back to 1937. Onboard cameras and microphones highlight the action of 123 sailors from the most competitive 18 schools in the nation. Among the spectators was sailing champion Paul Cayard who talks about all aspects of the sport with host Gary Jobson. This one hour program is schedule to air on ESPNU on Saturday, June 20 at 3:00pm eastern time. View additional times here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar/shows/#6 * North Sails has partnered with Sailing Weather Service to provide free weather forecasts for this weekend’s Sperry Top-Sider Chicago NOOD Regatta and for Block Island Race Week, which starts on Monday, June 22. -- Details: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/7240/Default.aspx EXPERT WIND FORECASTS - FREE 1 MONTH TRIAL! Want a competitive edge in your next regatta? Use a forecast from PredictWind.com! We are the choice of champion sailors around the world...read about it at http://www.predictwind.com/Customer+Feedback.html Using proprietary technology we generate 2 independent forecasts twice daily. For Offshore Sailors we generate 7 day forecasts with truly global coverage. For Inshore Sailors we use an incredible 1km resolution model with local topography to generate a forecast of unparalleled accuracy for your sailing area. High resolution equals better accuracy. Get your FREE 1 month trial at http://www.PredictWind.com LIVING UP TO EXPECTATIONS For the 132 years that the New York Yacht Club held the America’s Cup, it was widely suspected that the first skipper that failed to defend would have his head mounted in the place where the trophy once rested. This theory failed the litmus test when Australia II defeated Dennis Conner's Liberty in 1983, but metaphorically speaking, was not that far off. A recent news story conjured images of what may happen to the British Sailing Team if they fail to live up to expectations during the 2012 Olympics. For the last two Games, the Brits have out-medaled the closest team by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. Now with the Olympics coming to London, will the pressure to perform be a positive energy or a negative? So what was the news story mentioned above? Nothing really, just how a construction project near the site for the sailing events unearthed an ancient burial pit containing 45 severed skulls together with a tangle of torsos, arms and legs. Of course, a similar result would not occur for those British sailors failing to Medal in 2012, but metaphorically speaking, may not be that far off. -- Comments: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2009/06/expectations.html PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include an image from the Save On Foods Van Isle 360, an image from the insurance files, an image from the patent office, images from the Navigation 101 class, an image from a trophy celebration, an image from the lack of sleep department, and a couple images from the harder you hike, the faster you go lab. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0619 VIDEO OF THE WEEK The Morning Light documentary came out on DVD and Blu-ray June 16, 2009, which followed its nationwide release in movie theatres on October 17, 2008. This project had been making headlines in Scuttlebutt since the call for applications was made in the spring of 2006, and the plan was hatched to document a team of young sailors in their quest to compete in the Los Angeles to Hawaii 2007 Transpac Race. When describing the movie concept, Producer Roy Disney replied, “It’s about the journey. We’re not making a film about sailboat racing and we’re not making a film about a boat. It’s a story about a group of young adults sailing across an ocean, the obstacles they encounter and the bonds they form. It’s a story about becoming more than the sum of the parts.” For the Jerry Springer crowd, the movie lacked drama and conflict, but most sailing enthusiasts enjoyed the effort. If you have never seen the movie, rentals are available at Netflix and Blockbuster, and can be purchased where DVDs are sold. For this week’s video, there are five brief clips to replay…enjoy: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/09/0619/ * If you have a video you like, please send your suggestion for next week’s Video of the Week to mailto:craig@sailingscuttlebutt.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get 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 Gregory Scott: Great letters and comments in Scuttlebutt 2868. The Kilroy - Kialoa one was dead on with my experience sailing as a key player for a very wealthy guy who became a close friend - and the Kobe wins NBA Championship. But here's the point and correlation between the two: We all know that the Kilroy's write the checks, and as we do in horse racing, we allow that person to bask in the limelight as thanks for the ride. What the Doran Cushing bit misses (slightly) is that there is a far greater comparative between Ericsson 4 and the LA Lakers than there is between Kialoa and the Penguins ... which is a complete correlation to the David Fuller's letter and where professionalism has entered the world of sailing. * From Ryan Hamm: In Scuttlebutt 2868, Doran Cushing believed how the media is off the mark when they give all the headlines to the lead player in a team sport. Regarding how his local paper reported how ‘Five-time Olympic medalist Torben Grael, sailing Ericsson 4, has clinched victory in the around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race…’, Doran said how it is “Pretty handy how he managed that big ol boat by himself. I guess the headlines this week should also have read ‘Kobe wins NBA championship’ and ‘Crosby wins Stanley Cup.’” As for me, I believe they do. Good job Torben, Kobe, and Crosby!!! * From John McLaughlin: (re, letter in Scuttlebutt 2868; edited to the 250-word limit) There is a better way. At all major Thistle events they hold a session with top skippers who give a complete overview of the days racing, what they did and why they did it. Each skipper can attend, ask questions, and learn, thus helping to even the playing field, which also helps to foster Corinthian values. This model could be used in Optis and other junior sailing events to give everyone an overview of the days racing and tips on how to do better. Each competitor can contribute to a central fund to make this happen. It would be in the best interests of Opti (name your class) sellers and sailmakers to contribute people who would lead the discussion (at the Thistles it is usually some of the top sailmakers and top notch amateurs). If they want to sell boats then they will contribute talent to the Coach sessions. I found the comments by a pro Coach very insulting and not in the best interests of the sport. One thing I really like about the Thistle Class is their central effort in making every sailor better. You can approach any skipper in the Thistle Class and they will tell you what they do and why the do it and frequently will go out with a skipper and comment on their set up, trim, and technique. The entire class supports this attitude. I am sure other classes do, as well. I have come to believe that we do not foster this attitude too far at many junior events. * From Tim Patterson: I feel strongly that the concept of coaches on a race course will not prove to be helpful to the learning process. All of us who sail in whatever boat have had some help at some point, even if was just a push off the dock. Many yacht clubs have sailing instructors. These hard working people run many trial racing situations where the kids involved have the chance to see and hear about how their own decisions on the course affected the outcome of a particular situation. It has always felt to me that if I am told in a situation how to react, I might have internalized the information better if I had been allowed to learn it on my own. When one is in school, as mentioned in the last Scuttlebutt, one gets lots of help in the classroom, even practice tests, but when the exam time comes you are on your own. * From Mike Moore: (re, letter in Scuttlebutt 2868) I'm glad to see the debate on this isn't going away. To a certain extent, the genie is clearly out of the bottle and I don't think the sailing world can expect to see it crammed back in, and I don't know that it should be. Generally, I agree with much of what Larry (Suter) has to say. Where I start to grow frustrated is where the coaching brings a decided advantage in real time. I don't mind that a sailor and a coach might spend hours in training refining tuning. I don't mind that a coached sailor may get a tow to and/or from the racing area. And I don't mind that the coached sailor can benefit from the coaches observations at the end of the day. Where I grow frustrated is where the coached sailor is told that the current at the mark is such and such, rather than discovering that for himself. Or where the coached sailor has different sails available on the water rather than having to decide for the day at the dock. Or where the coached sailor can feel comfortable under-rigging his boat because he has spare parts available to him on the water. Tennis may be a good analogy to the compromise I'd propose. Those who want to employ and learn from coaches can. The coach can be in the stadium and observe, but while competing, the coach and the athlete have no communication. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/Scuttleblog-6-19-09 => Curmudgeon’s Comment: There are now 37 comments on Scuttleblog about the topic of youth coaching. My contention is that everything has its place, but also everything that is ‘believed’ to be better for an individual has escalated, at times, beyond what is good for the sport. Amid this discussion, I wonder if the bigger issue is whether we are creating youth sailors only, or if U.S. youth programs are developing young people who will continue to sail after they have aged out of their youth boats. Comments? CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION It's not an optical illusion. It just looks like one. Special thanks to West Marine and PredictWind.com. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
