|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2193 – October 3, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with America’s Cup coverage in Scuttlebutt brought to you by UBS (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). WHERE THE MONEY GOES . . . Desafío Español, the Spanish America's Cup challenger gave last week a very interesting presentation and update on the research it is carrying out together with the CEAMA research institute, in one of the most important parts of an America's Cup campaign, the development and optimization of the sails. It is an irony that the "motor" of an America's Cup yacht, or any sailing boat, is also the most visible of its parts. Most teams go to great lengths to hide their hull, bulb and keel, but sails are impossible to hide, unless the team decide to train and test far away from indiscreet eyes and cameras. For example, BMW Oracle recently tested in Valencia sheets that are deemed to be revolutionary, only after distancing their boats tens of miles from the Malvarosa beach. Similarly, Alinghi, the America's Cup Defender, will most probably take advantage of their winter move to Dubai to test some new sails (maybe similar to this one that we spotted last July) far away from the other teams. According to Juan Carlos Sánchez, R&D director, the Spanish challenger will have spent in the 32nd America's Cup a total of 4 million euros (US$ 5 million) for the research, development and manufacture of sails. This sum represents approximately 7% of the team's total budget and is equal to the funds spent on the yacht's appendages (bulb, keel and rudder). Finally, Sánchez estimates that Desafío Español will have developed around 140 sails during this America's Cup campaign. In comparison, it is believed that some of the bigger teams have budgets that can reach 8 million euros (US$ 10 million), dedicated to sails. This extremely important part of an America's Cup campaign is carried out by the challenger's in-house team of designers and engineers aided by the CEAMA research institute. CEAMA is located in southern Spain and is home to the only wind tunnel in Spain that can provide wind simulations that can approach real-life situations. According to CEAMA, their tunnel is able to produce winds that vary with altitude. In real life, wind speeds are not constant but vary exponentially with altitude, meaning that even for the mere 35 meters of an America's Cup mast, wind speed at sea level is lower than wind speed at the top of the mast. In an extremely competitive environment such as the America's Cup, even a few degrees of further precision could mean the difference between winning and losing. -- Valencia Sailing, full story: http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/ FORMULA TO GET MORE BOATS RACING (Scuttlebutt received the following story from Bob Johnstone, J/Boats co-founder and supreme marketer of the sport. Bob was the race director for the event he describes below, which he finds as a fool-proof approach to getting boats on the race course) Imagine having a captain’s meeting and dinner the night before a charity pursuit race, then enjoying the 3 hour (12 mile) round-the-islands race, followed up by a postrace awards and cookout that evening. Note the 4 keys: (1) Two parties book-ending the race; (2) a charity race; (3) a pursuit race; and (4) a round-the-island race. Any one key can work, but when you combine all four, then success is assured. Such was the case with the Second Annual Boston Harbor Islands Regatta (BHIR says “Be Here!”) on Saturday, September 30, 2006. With 108 boats from a Marshall Catboat to a 2006 Bermuda Race class winner, the BHIR was 27% bigger than the inaugural of 85 local boats last year. This is October 1. Off-season. Here’s the scene: After a Captain’s Meeting, sponsored pre-race dinner and live auction Friday evening at the 5-Star Boston Harbor Hotel ($30 with free beer and wine and sun setting over the Harbor), the 108 boat fleet from 22 to 45 feet in length started Saturday at 10AM on a 12 mile figure-eight” benefit, pursuit race around Boston Harbor Islands National Park. -- Read on for Bob’s full report, particularly where he describes the simple solution for handicapping: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/bhir PERFORM TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS! All over the world, you will find Camet Padded Sailing Shorts. The leading teams are using the combination of our Code Zero Shirts and Sailing Shorts made out of a breathable, fast-drying fabric with a UVA certification (97.5%) for sun protection. With our closed cell foam inserts available for a variety of different styles of shorts, we have redesigned comfort, giving you the ability to hike hard without losing feeling in your legs. This will allow you to go longer and not suffer from fatigue, helping you to think clearly and perform to your expectations! http://www.camet.com MORE MODERATE BREEZE San Francisco, California - Day two of the Wells Fargo Private Bank Star World Championships continued on the Berkeley Circle today. A moderate westerly breeze of 10-12 knots prevailed although the start was delayed several hours due to a dense marine layer suffocating the breeze earlier in the day. The cloud burned off about 2:00 p.m. bringing brilliant sunshine and steadier conditions. Reading the shifts was the answer to success on the course with competitors reporting very shifty conditions at the outset of racing. Taking first place on Day 2 was the Swiss team of Flavio Marazzi and Martin Kozaczek, with Rohan Lord and Miles Addy from New Zealand in second. In third place was the Swiss team Daniel and Beat Stegmeier brothers. Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada took fourth, with Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau of France in fifth. Arriving in town late last week and sailing on a 12-year old chartered Star, the Stegmeier brothers are elated with their success so far, currently sitting in 7th place overall. Skipper Daniel with a huge smile on his face said, “The racing is very good and we’re enjoying it. We had already had a good experience on the right side yesterday. The locals seem to think the left is the favorable side but we stubbornly stayed right and it worked out. We don’t have a coach and didn’t get any training in here so it’s always nice to beat the professionals like this.” Standings after two races -- 66 boats 1. Flavio Marazzi/ Martin Kozaczek (SUI) 5 pts 2. Rohan Lord/ Miles Addy (NZL) 5 pts 3. Robert Scheidt/ Bruno Prada (BRA) 10 pts 4. Andy Horton/ Brad Nichol (USA) 11 pts 5. Xavier Rohal/ Pascal Rambeau (FRA) 19 pts 6. Hamish Pepper/ Carl Williams (NZL) 21 pts 7. Daniel Stegmeier/ Beat Stegmeier (SUI) 21 pts 8. Maurice O'Connell/ Edmund Peel (IRL) 22 pts 9. Dominik Zycki Mateusz/ Dominik Zycki (POL) 27 pts 10. Bill Buchan/ Erik Bentzen (USA) 32 pts SUNFISH WORLDS The 2006 Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina Sunfish World Championships began with a bang today as ninety-eight sailors from 16 countries were treated to relatively steady east-southeast winds for two, five-leg races. Charlestonian David Loring, the 1995 world champion in this class and chairman of this regatta’s organizing committee, showed incredibly consistent boat speed by winning both races. His margin of victory in the first contest was 55 seconds. He won the second race by a similarly convincing margin. The competition was almost without incident, though one sailor did capsize (Jacob Donkersloot of the U.S.), and at least two protests had been logged by 6:00 p.m. As most observers might expect, the fleet did suffer one general recall during the second race. “That was a real break for me,” explained Loring afterward. “I was buried, and I probably would have wound up in 60th place if there wasn’t a general recall in that one. It really taught me a lesson. There’s no reason to start in a crowd in this 100-boat fleet. I’m much better off finding clear air somewhere else down the line and using my speed to get out front.” The action resumes tomorrow with Race No. 3 scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. The forecast calls for northeast winds in the 10-15 knot range on Tuesday, which is good news for Loring and those sailors who favor stronger winds. -- Dan Dickison, http://www.sunfishworlds-2006.com. THE EVENT OF THE SUMMER Strong breezes and the best international fleet for the Etchells Worlds for many years, will sail on Fremantle’s Cockburn Sound in the 2006 Audi Etchells Worlds Championships from November 17th to 26th 2006.Recent history would suggest that an Australia sailor should win the Championship. The Etchells Worlds have been raced eight times in Australia since 1984 and only once, when Brit Chris Law won in Fremantle in 1990, has the title gone offshore. However there is another piece of history that will make this a tougher task than in previous years.It seems this will be a record international fleet, certainly the greatest number in recent Etchells World history. 35 boats out of 75 overall will be international competitors, therefore the traditional host country fleet ‘numerical advantage’ will be much less. The San Francisco Worlds last year was sailed in plenty of breeze, so the dozen US crews including Tito Gonzales the 2005 winner, Jud Smith who just won the 2006 North American titles, Dennis Conner and a number of other gun skippers including Russ Silvestri and Craig Healy are expecting similar, but warmer conditions with blue water, rather than brown. During the Fremantle Worlds sixteen years ago, Dennis Conner said, 'these would have to be the best sailing conditions in the world!’ He was talking about the same course that will be used in 2006. As Nev Wittey, a former New South Wales champion in Etchells, Olympian, two times World champion in Yngling and Soling keelboat classes ‘Fremantle and this fleet full of World Champions. This has to be THE event for this summer.’ -- Excerpts from a story by Rob Kothe, Sail-World website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/rqkeo SAILFLOW.COM - WEATHER WHERE YOU SAIL! SailFlow, the leader in real-time and forecasted marine weather, invites you to experience a unique new website. By collecting all public weather data (buoys, forecasts, warnings, satellite/radar, etc), SailFlow's FREE service eliminates your need for multiple weather bookmarks by giving you everything in one convenient location. Plus SailFlow operates a network of proprietary weather stations placed right where you sail and uses their own computer model to forecast conditions. A recent addition is a revolutionary weather graph that scrolls between current, past, and forecasted conditions without having to reload the page. -- http://www.SailFlow.com/new SAILING SHORTS * Herb McCormick has joined Sail Magazine as contributing editor. He will write cruising, lifestyle and racing features, as well as boat reviews for the magazine. Herb has over 25 years of experience in boating journalism. He has been a senior editor of Sailing World, editor-in-chief of Cruising World (2000-2005), and sailing correspondent for the New York Times. He’s a veteran inshore and long-distance sailor with over 30,000 offshore miles; long-distance race include the Bermuda One-Two, Newport-Bermuda, Transpac and Pacific Cup. He’s also co-author of the book, “Out There” the story of the first BOC Challenge. -- http://www.sailmagazine.com * Alicante, Spain was in fiesta mood this week for the official launch ceremony to unveil the Spanish port as the start venue for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. The local inhabitants turned out in their thousands to witness the official raising of the Volvo Ocean Race and Alicante ’08 flags in the town’s main square. Spanish sailor and syndicate head, Pedro Campos, who oversaw the movistar campaign in 2005-06, was revealed as the project leader for the Alicante-backed presence in the race. Members of Ericsson Racing Team, the first confirmed entry for the 2008-09 race, were among the throng. http://www.volvooceanrace.org * Clay Burkhalter from Stonington, Conn. has qualified for 4,200 mile Mini Transat single-handed Race from France to Brazil in 2007. His USA 575 Acadia, is a 6.5 meter (21 foot) solo, transatlantic racer designed by his uncle Rod Johnstone of J-Boat fame, with design features that place it on the cutting edge of today’s technology – water ballast, canting keel, asymmetrical daggererboards, carbon mast and twin rudders. Burkhalter and Johnstone, working together along with Composite Technologies of Bath Maine and Dodson’s Boatyard in Stonington, built a state-of-the-art Proto Class Mini boat. -- http://www.teamacadia.org/ * For the latest Scuttlebutt photo gallery, we are guilty of going with the car crash concept,” and only posted photos from the Vice Admiral’s Cup that were wiping out or about to. This event happened last weekend in Cowes, England, and included Farr 45s, DK46s, Beneteau 40.7s, and a fleet of Quarter Tonners. We certainly hope there were no casualties, and that everyone was able to (eventually) return to the dock for a pint: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/vac/ * When 19 boats headed out in San Diego's Mission Bay for the the Capri 14.2 Nationals, the sailors expected the sea breeze to be brisk, but not 20 knots worth! Averaging 15 knots, the four races were a real challenge, with three capsizes, one beaching, and several gear failures. Fortunately, the second day mellowed out considerably, with only 8-10 knots recorded. Three boats tied for first place in the final standings, but last year’s champions Scott Finkboner and Jennifer Lyons won the tie-breaker ahead of Kevin/ Tom Laube (second place) and Rex/ Bruce Cameron (third place). Complete results: http://www.mbyc.org/regatta/2006/capri14nationals.htm * Oracle will be the presenting sponsor of the Allianz Cup, Stage 5 of the 2006-’07 World Match Racing Tour. The official title of the event is Allianz Cup Presented by Oracle. It will be hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club and racing is scheduled Oct. 25-29 on San Francisco Bay. A total of 16 teams are planned for the $100,000 event that awards $25,000 to the champion. Skippers who have accepted invites to the event include Chris Dickson, Peter Gilmour, Dean Barker, Ed Baird, Peter Holmberg and Jesper Bank. http://www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com * The Optimist Southeast Championships took place over this past weekend with 87 sailors descending upon Lake Norman in North Carolina. With 5-15 knots of wind on Saturday the RC managed to get in six races to institute a throw-out race and qualify the event as a regatta. Luckily they did, as Sunday produced no wind and no racing. Final results: 1. Antoine Screve; 2. Pearson Potts; 3.Teddy Stokes; 4. Ian Stokes; 5.Max Lopez. The top 22 boats qualify to for the Team Trials in May to try out for the National team and international teams as well. - http://www.lync.com * Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America’s Cup, is visiting Munich, London and Paris this autumn to meet yacht club members, team sponsors and media at the Bayerischer Yacht Club, the Yacht Club de France and slightly differently in London, at the UBS headquarters in Finsbury Avenue, solely for the employees. The team members present will be aiming to give a unique insight into the sailor / designer relationship, starting the day with a workshop for the juniors of the Yacht Club, followed by a media point and then later the evening presentation for sponsor guests and Yacht Club members. -- http://www.alinghi.com/en/ * The Scuttlebutt website has an Amazon.com banner on the right side, and we managed to program the search feature to find a great selection of sailing books. Every time you click on the refresh button on your browser, a new book is displayed. Also view the 200+ books listed in the Club Library. Amazon.com provides Scuttlebutt a referral fee for any books purchased through their links on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com * From classics to cutting edge, many fast yachts are signing up early for the Newport Harbor YC’s Newport to Cabo Race which starts on March 3, 2007. From the venerable 40-year-old plywood sled Ragtime, who just finished a major hull refit, to the new RP 66 canting keel Stark Raving Mad III, all will be looking forward to the 800 mile downwind ride. Of the 20 early entries, there are four SC 70s and four SC 50s. Billed as the TransPac ‘Tune-Up,’ discounted entry fees are available until the end of October. Race info: http://www.nhyc.org * A spectacular fleet of 287 modern and classic yachts are assembled in Saint-Tropez for the 8th edition of ‘Les Voiles’ formerly known as La Nioulargue and first held in 1981. Monday saw the start of racing for the Modern Division, a competitive mix of boats including Swans, Beneteaus, and Wally Yachts. The ‘moderns’ ranges in size from the 9m (30') J/92 J'Go to 42m (140') schooner, Mari-Cha IV. A total of 111 yachts are entered in the ‘Tradition’ Division. - http://www.regattanews.com/event.asp?id=159 NEWEST J’S TO DEBUT AT OLDEST SHOW Annapolis, MD plays host to the 37th United States Sailboat Show later this week (October 5-9). The busy folks at J Boats will be showing off the new J/124, the new J/92S as well as the J/100, J/109 and J/42. Stop by, see the fleet, and meet the design team! http://www.jboats.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or space (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, there are no word or frequency limits on comments sent to the Scuttlebutt Forums. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forums: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Bill Walker: I think the web site listed below needs to be addressed for the sailing community to understand what the National Marine Fisheries and NOAA is proposing for speed restrictions of 10 knots or less for vessels greater than 65 feet. Being involved in sailing, and sailing on some really fast boats over 65 feet I see this could create all kinds of havoc on the sailing community. Races and record attempts will be effected by this ruling as well as large cruising vessels transiting the areas. Right whales and other species need to be protected but knee jerk reactions is not the answer. The rule has designated areas when there will be speed restrictions and it also is proposing “Dynamic Management Area” (DMA) which will make it very difficult for waterway users to comprehend and trip plan. The DMA is area when there are three or more right whales in an area they may impose a speed restriction of ten knots or less for 26 mile diameter circle around the whales for 15 days. This may be lifeted if NOAA has determined the whales have left the area. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/fr/fr71-36299.pdf * From Max Rosenberg: Geeze -- the skirts of the AC boats finally come off next April. Is it me or is this just dragging on way too long? I hope the Cup next time is only a 1-2 year deal. I am trying to stay interested...and I am a sailor. General Public? No chance. This gap has been far too long. * From Scott Ridgeway: No one makes it harder to follow regattas online than S. Francis YC. I somehow got through the Big Boat Series, but trying to keep up to speed on the Star Worlds is simply out of the question. I think that the curmudgeon should have a contest to see if there is a worse website is sailing. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION According to the Redneck Book of Manners, it's considered poor taste to take a cooler to church. Special thanks to Camet International, SailFlow.com, and J/Boats. America’s Cup coverage in Scuttlebutt is brought to you by UBS. |
