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SCUTTLEBUTT 3460 - Tuesday, November 1, 2011Scuttlebutt 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. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: West Marine, Morris Yachts, and Lewmar. THE EMBEDDED REPORTER The Volvo Ocean Race is unique in major sporting events, with Media Crew Members (MCM), switching between cameras during live TV production and preparing multimedia reports as the eyes and ears for the outside world during the longer ocean legs. These embedded reporters on board the Volvo Open 70s are not allowed to help sail but they are part of the teams that employ them in every other way. Holding a camera steady while hurtling in excess of 70kmh over heaving waves while water smashes over the deck like a proverbial fire hydrant all while hanging on for dear life is just one of the duties of a MCM. Turning freeze-dried food into an edible and flavorsome meal with nothing but the addition of boiled desalinated seawater every eight hours, plus supplying a snack every three hours, for 10 hungry teammates is another. Not to mention being the "bilge rat" whose unenviable job is to get down on all fours in the often hot and pungent environment below deck to bail the thousands of gallons of water that will inevitably wash and slosh inside the boat. Then there's the domestic chores like keeping below deck clean and tidy, making water, charging batteries and passing your teammates sunglasses, wet-weather jacket or what every it he wishes for at his every request. Some days the MCM may spend just a few hours above deck with the luxury of a fresh sea breeze to inhale. Associate Producer and MCM Manager Rick Deppe said you couldn't expect to find the qualities needed to fulfill the role of an MCM by placing an advertisement in a classified section: "Most reasonable people would think it's mad.'' Deppe said it takes physical and mental strength, versatility, adaptability, organisational skills, a technical aptitude, creativity, passion, a sense of adventure and good humour to handle the unique job. "You're living in extreme conditions, it's hot, it's cold, you're wet, you're sweaty, you're being tipped around, hit on the head and there is no space on board where another person is more than a few feet away. It's not for everyone.'' -- Full story: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/At-the-heart-of-the-action/3782/news.html PHOTOS: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/gallery/photos.html VIDEO: The six competing teams are in Alicante preparing for the 6,500 nm race from Spain through the Atlantic to Cape Town, South Africa. Set to start on November 5th, this is the first of the nine offshore legs. During the race, the multimedia team will be producing daily news updates, a weekly 3-minute news round-up and highlights from each of the 9 legs and 10 in-port races -- all available online at the VOR YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos SPORTSMANSHIP AND THE RULES Jos Spijkerman, International Umpire/Judge, takes a look at Case 40 from the ISAF Casebook 2009-2012 with amendments for 2010. This is an official interpretation by the ISAF committees on how the relevant Racing Rules of Sailing - Rule 46 in this case - should be used or interpreted. This case is copied from the Casebook with comments added by Jos. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary of the Facts: Throughout a five-race series, (boat) A competed with a crew of three. After the last race, (boat) B and others jointly protested A, alleging that she had broken a class rule that limited the crew to two. This was the first protest relating to the matter. It was refused because the hulls of the protesting boats were all over 6 m long, but none of the boats displayed a red flag. This decision was appealed on the grounds that the race committee ought, on its own initiative, to have protested A in all the races. Decision: As provided in rule 63.5, the protest was invalid because no red flag was displayed as required by rule 61.1(a). To uphold this appeal would amount to a conclusion that a race committee ought to know the class rules of each class, and that it then has an obligation to enforce them when members of the class themselves fail to do so. No such obligation is placed on a race committee. Furthermore, rule 60.2(a) is clearly discretionary, except when a race committee receives a report required by rule 43.1(c) or 78.3, which it had not. As stated in Sportsmanship and the Rules, 'Competitors in the sport of sailing are governed by a body of rules that they are expected to follow and enforce.' The primary responsibility for enforcing the rules therefore rests with the competitors. The appeal is dismissed, and the decision of the protest committee is upheld. -- Full report: http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/2011/10/pillowcase-of-week-4211-39.html HOLIDAY KICKOFF AT WEST MARINE That's right, the holidays are just around the corner. To help kick things off, we have a special coupon offer to tell you about. Visit westmarine.com November 4-6 and save up to $50 on your purchase. Complete details will be posted on westmarine.com starting Friday, November 4. http://bit.ly/HOL-KICKOFF SMART PHONE SAVED SAILOR French solo sailing star Florence Arthaud fell off her boat during a toilet break but was saved from the Mediterranean waters by rescuers after she called her mother by mobile phone. Ms Arthaud, winner in 1990 of the Route du Rhum single-handed transatlantic sailing race, was located and rescued near the island of Corsica thanks to a headlamp and the GPS system on her phone. A small wave hit the boat and knocked her overboard while she was taking a toilet break without her usual harness, she said. "I quite simply fell into the water while preparing to take a pee," the 54-year-old told BFM television. Ms Arthaud, alone on her 10-metre (33ft) yacht The Argade II when she fell overboard, managed to hold her phone, encased in a waterproof covering, above water and call her mother in Paris to raise the alarm. Her mother alerted a rescue team, which set off in search of the sailor. Ms Arthaud, one of the most respected female sailors in the world, was sailing for her own pleasure when the incident occurred. She spent almost two hours in the water before being rescued, and was suffering from hypothermia. -- The Telegraph, http://tinyurl.com/In-the-loo TAKING FORM The start of the new America's Cup World Series Village construction has given new shape to Broadway and Navy piers in San Diego where the next event of AC World Series is going to be held (on Nov. 12-20). The village site is raging with construction activity with trucks coming and going, with the building material and containers came from Plymouth a few days back. All the construction work is being managed by the Onshore Operation Director for the America´s Cup World Series, Peter Ansell, who is working with a 12-person construction team which is setting the village up. Ansell's construction crew is giving the best of their efforts full to make every bit ready as soon as possible before the event starts. Speaking to the local media, Ansell explained the work, "We´ve got about 108 shipping containers, although not all of them will come up here. Some of them contain the RIBs and we need to do some work on them. The on-water guys have a program of maintenance that they´ve got to do on the boats, and then the boats will come directly by water from the terminal." Ansell is heading the construction process step-by-step to make it more comfortable for the teams, who will start arriving at the venue before the race. He is making sure everything is in proper shape. He added, "In the last couple of days, we´ve been discharging all the containers from the ship on to the dock side of the marine terminal so all of that has been done in advance. All the containers now are at the dockside and now we are bringing the containers by truck and building the race village, including all the team bases, the ACTV compound..." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/ACWS-103111 FUNDRAISER: John Craig, PRO for the America's Cup World Series and the 34th America's Cup, will be giving a presentation in San Diego on November 8th of the latest technology being used in race management. Hosted by Southwestern Yacht Club, the event is a fundraiser for US Sailing Team Alphgraphics Finn sailor Caleb Paine. There will also be an auction to sail on the Artemis Racing AC45 during the San Diego ACWS event. Details here: http://www.southwesternyc.org/files/Sail%20Fleet%20presents%2011-8-11.pdf ATTENDING: Some of the key variables for attending the San Diego ACWS event are where to park, where to watch, and what else is there to do. For parking, a pay lot is located a block away, there are coin meter spaces along Harbor Drive, and the San Diego Trolley stops a couple of blocks away. There is a $10 charitable donation requested to enter the AC Village, which will host a number of alternatives to race watching. Here is a link to some of this information, with more details to come prior to the event: http://www.americascup.com/en/Latest/Blog/2011/10/Where-its-happening/ "WE'VE NEVER WANTED THIS TITLE MORE" With two consecutive event wins under his belt this season, Torvar Mirsky (AUS; The Wave Muscat) feels he has gone some way to shed his 'nearly ran' tag, but knows that unless his team lifts the ISAF Match Racing World Championship trophy at the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia (Nov. 22-27), he will have failed to silence his harshest critic - himself. Having made the podium for the past two years in the race for the ISAF Match Racing World Championship title, Mirsky knows the bittersweet feeling of being great but not the greatest. "The team won't be happy if we don't win this World Championship," admits Mirsky. "In previous years we've finished second and third - it won't be fun to do that again. Our season won't necessarily be a failure if we don't win, I mean we've given it everything and we've learnt so much within our team and ourselves, and have got our names out there into the sailing world. But, this season is different. We've never wanted this title more." Mirsky will be relying heavily on his recent wins for continued success. "The pressure we face is with our preparation, we will struggle with that," explains Mirsky. "Graeme (Spence) and Kyle (Langford) are in San Diego (for the ACWS) just before which will make training impossible before the Monsoon Cup. That said, we won't be ill prepared. This is our fourth Monsoon Cup so we'll rely on our previous experience from the event and just go when day one hits." With the top 3 teams on the Tour - Mirsky, Williams and second placed Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing - all only just over 6 points apart, the race for the title is set to be a close one. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/WMRT-103111 MORRIS YACHTS' US COAST GUARD YACHT NOW AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC Morris Yachts unveiled their Civilian version of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Leadership 44 training vessels last month. This performance vessel which comfortably accommodates a race crew of 7-9 evolved from the terrific success of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy project where Morris Yachts was chosen out of 11 yards to build eight new 44-foot sailboats for cadet leadership training. The civilian version retains all of the exciting sailing characteristics of the Academy's L44 with a modified Herreshoff-style interior for enhanced luxury and comfort. To view the brochure, click here: http://www.morrisyachts.com/Coast-Guard-Project SAILING SHORTS * The 4,730nm double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race, which was postponed from its scheduled start on October 30th due to severe weather, is now planned to start on Wednesday. For the 35 teams racing from Le Havre, France to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, the Channel will still be quite rough with 15-20 knots strengthening with gusts in big squalls and a heavy swell after the front. After the frontal passage associated with the depression, the boats will then be able to reach faster, driven by a wind from the west-northwest. The early stages of the race are likely to be fast. -- http://www.transat-jacques-vabre.com/english-section * Bruce Burton (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.), Dawn Riley (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and George Hinman (Greenwich, Conn.) were officially elected to US SAILING's 2011 Board of Directors. -- Full report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2011/BoD_2011.htm * The strength of the U.S. Olympic sailing program is in its female athletes, with the greatest depth in the Women's Match Racing event. The completion of the first of two qualifying events last week in Key Biscayne, Florida reduced the field to four teams, with their finishing position seeding them for the final qualifying event in Weymouth, England. Winner Anna Tunnicliffe will select her semi-final opponent among teams led by Genny Tulloch, Sally Barkow, and Stephanie Roble. Photos from John Payne: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/1031/ EIGHT BELLS Erich Bruckmann, one of the cornerstones behind the original C&C Yachts, passed away on October 28, 2011. Erich was born in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1930. He left Germany as a young man in 1956 to start a new life with his devoted wife and first son Peter. Within a year of arriving in Canada, Erich began what would be a lifelong career as a boat builder. He was at the forefront of the yachting industry in the 1960's and 70's as one of the founding partners of C & C Yachts. Through hard work Erich was fortunate enough to be able to retire at an early age and spent many years enjoying life and travelling with Lisa, especially hiking in his favourite Austrian Alps. "Erich was responsible for the construction of the C&C 61's and all of the custom boats that led to the developments of the C&C products," said Rob Maurice. "A quiet man who produced boats that brought a generation of people alive and allowed them to achieve their dreams, taught many how to earn a living for themselves and fostered a group of employees that continue to work today in the trade that he taught them to love. His influence continues; he will be missed." A Celebration of life will be held at Smith's Funeral Home, 1167 Guelph Line (one stoplight north of QEW), Burlington (905-632-3333), on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. Reception to follow at Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Carpenter Hospice, Burlington. -- http://tinyurl.com/Erich-Bruckmann FREE CLASSIFIED ADS The Scuttlebutt Classified Ads provide a marketplace for private parties to buy and sell, or for businesses to post job openings. Here are recent ads: * J/124 for sale * Holder 20 for sale * $1,000 off on a Brand New Doyle Mainsail * RIB for hire at San Diego ACWS View/post ads here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/classified_ads ALL WILL BE REVEALED AT METS 2011! With two weeks until the start of METS 2011 in Amsterdam, the Lewmar Team are busy preparing for an eventful show! It has been a busy year for the Lewmar Designers, and there will be some revolutionary new products on display. Come to Stand 11.101 for a preview. http://www.lewmar.com GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Morgan Larson: We are working hard to raise funds for the family of a great Moore 24 sailor named Joel Verutti who died last year. His wife and daughter are fighting to stay afloat with a tough mortgage, school and life in general. We have a fun evening planned at Santa Cruz Yacht Club on November 19th beginning at 5pm with food, libations and auction (RSVP: sailfast92@gmail.com). There have been many great items added to the auction, with 100% of the proceeds from this auction to go directly to Tina and Josselyn Verutti. Any help from the Scuttlebutt family would go a long way. Details on the auction are here: http://moore24.org/auction/ * From Bruce Kirby, Laser designer: The Laser Class (meaning the sailors) have recently voted for a rule change, part of which would allow the Laser Class to appoint builders, rather than Bruce Kirby Inc, which owns the rights to the Laser design. The official name for the Laser is the KIRBY SAILBOAT. This vote was taken at the urging of Heini Wellmann, Laser Class president. The notice for the voting was issued long before Kirby Inc. was able to make arrangements to re-establish its design rights, so most of the class were only concerned that there was no proper direction in class affairs. Had Kirby Inc re-established its ownership of the design rights at the time of the vote rather than on Sept. 22, 2011, the voting obviously would have been very different. Class members were not allowed to change their vote once it was made! The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) must now decide whether it will allow the class vote to stand or be disregarded. In Wellmann's proposal to the class, he has stated erroneously that the Kirby Inc rights have expired in Europe. These rights are based on Designer/Builder contracts, not on copyright, and they are valid with all Laser builders - Performance Sailcraft Europe, Laser Performance in the U.S.A., Perforrmance Sailcraft Japan and Performance Sailcraft Australia. The legal right for the Laser Class to interfere with these long established builder contracts is very doubtful. And any such change in the Class rules would not alter Kirby Inc's rights to appoint builders. So if such a change were approved, the confusion for the Class, builders, and 200,000 sailors would be devastating. * From Frank Kern, Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan: Concerning the US Sailing independent panel report that reviewed the 2011 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac accident involving WingNuts, I found some differences in the ISAF Category 2 offshore requirements and the MSR and SI's used for the Mackinac races insightful. However, I think they did miss a few differences that do enhance the safety of the Great Lakes races: Both of the Mackinac races require the monitoring of VHF channel 16 during the course of the race. There was an incident in the 1986 Bayview Mackinac race where a member of the Grizzly crew heard a channel 16 distress call to enable the rescue of the crew of sinking yacht Tomahawk. There is also a cell phone requirement that is useful on the Great Lakes because of the short distance to shore cell phone towers. Both Mackinac races require crews wear PFD's between sunrise and sunset. This is a much stronger requirement than most SI's use. Crew members can fall off and a boat may not have enough time to rescue that crew person before drowning. I was involved in a crew search on an overnight race on Lake St. Clair a couple years ago after a thunderstorm. Believe it or not, a multihull overturned in the dark and the crew was not wearing life vests. These members were lucky to survive because the work of the rescue boats in the race. Bayview does not require but strongly recommends that participating yachts have a medical form filled out by each crew member for potential medical problems. This can assist in the correct medical care for such an emergency. This form is on the Bayview website at http://www.bycmack.com/mack/pdf/medical_form.pdf. Race committees do everything possible to make offshore events safe as possible. But unfortunately it is tragedies like this where the learning process can continue to make them safer. NOTE: US Sailing conducted three independent panel reports on accidents that occurred in 2011 involving U.S. participants: the 2011 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac accident involving WingNuts, the youth sailing 420 tragedy on Severn River, and the Rambler 100 incident. Here are direct links to the reports: Chi-Mac: http://media.ussailing.org/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=16940 Youth death: http://media.ussailing.org/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=16941 Rambler 100: http://media.ussailing.org/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=16942 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Electile Dysfunction: the inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either party. SPONSORS THIS WEEK APS - Interlux - West Marine - Morris Yachts - Lewmar North Sails - Melges Performance Sailboats - Southern Spars Ullman Sails - Point Loma Outfitting - Quantum Sails - Ultimate Sailing Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
