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SCUTTLEBUTT 2337 – May 4, 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). DOG'S BREAKFAST Valencia, 3 May 2007 – Flight 5 of Round Robin Two of the Louis Vuitton Cup was postponed for the day on Thursday in Valencia, the Race Committee sending the fleet home at 16:15. Said Chris Bedford, team meteorologist for BMW Oracle Racing, “Today was a ‘dog's breakfast’ of wind directions as we had thunderstorms rolling off the shore. It started as a SE wind but then went around the compass through the afternoon. There were some promising periods but the RC didn't have enough time to get things started before the next ‘cell’ moved off the shore. The RC wisely put up AP over A just as lightning was scarring the sky between the north and south courses.” A double flight will be scheduled Friday, with Flight 5 followed by Flight 6. On the expected conditions, Bedford remarks, “It looks OK. There will be a cranking northwesterly in the late morning, especially up to the north out of the Segunto River Valley, but I'm hopeful that the gradient eases and the thermal will be strong enough to turn this into a sea breeze of moderate strength. It may take a short battle between the offshore and the sea breeze before racing gets started, but at the time of this writing (Thursday in Valencia at 8:00 pm), it looks like odds favor getting two flights off the starting line.” Flight 5 1. United Internet Team Germany vs. Victory Challenge 2. BMW Oracle Racing vs. Luna Rossa Challenge 3. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team vs. +39 Challenge 4. Team Shosholoza vs. China Team 5. Desafío Español 2007 vs. Emirates Team New Zealand Bye - Areva Challenge Flight 6 1. Luna Rossa Challenge vs. Areva Challenge 2. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team vs. United Internet Team Germany 3. Victory Challenge vs. +39 Challenge 4. Desafío Español 2007 vs. China Team 5. Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Team Shosholoza Bye - BMW Oracle Racing Provisional Leaders (RR1 pts - Matches Sailed RR2 - Matches Won - Total Pts) 1. BMW Oracle Racing (USA 98) 21-4-3-27 1. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 19-4-4-27 3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 18-3-3-24 4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 17-3-2-21 5. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 14-4-2-18 6. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 14-3-1-16 7. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 12-4-1-14 8. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 9-4-2-13 9. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 6-3-0-6 10. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 3-4-1-5 11. China Team (CHN 95) 1-4-1-3 Note: 2 points are awarded for each match won. Above scores not yet corrected due to result of protest filed by Desafío Español 2007 against Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (see details below). * Must-see Friday: With the postponement of Thursday’s races, Friday now has Flights 5 and 6 on the schedule. Despite the extra racing, the ‘must-see matches’ are all in Flight 5. Plan your work day around Race 2 with BMW Oracle Racing vs. Luna Rossa Challenge, and then later look for Thursday’s finale, Race 5 with Desafío Español 2007 vs. Emirates Team New Zealand. -- Complete schedule: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php * Busted Again: Earlier this week, Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team got caught using illegal paint, and was fined 10,000 Euros (13,553.05 USD). Now, they have been found in breach of the America’s Cup Class Rule during its win over Desafío Español 2007 in Flight 4 of RR2. Apparently the Italian team had the backstays stowed alongside the mast for much of the two upwind legs to avoid drag, but set them up before the final run to provide more support to the topmast. But the class rules say they must be either on or off at the start, and remain that way for the entire race. The Jury calls for the race to be resailed, and for the “Rascals” to pony up another 10,000 Euro fine. -- Full details: http://www.americascup.com/en/news/detail.php?idRubr=70&idContent=20801 WIND DIRECTIONS As the weather and wind have become so much of the story in Valencia at the Louis Vuitton Cup, Scuttlebutt asked Chris Bedford, team meteorologist for BMW Oracle Racing, about the varying wind directions, and which ones provide steadier winds. Said Chris: “The onshore winds are normally described as being ‘steadier’ than offshore winds. However, steady wind and Valencia are an oxymoron. Our weather observers always remark with amazement when the wind is varying within a range less than 10 degrees over any 10-minute period. We see any breeze that has shifts less than 10 degrees as pretty steady for Valencia.” As for the alignment of the land to the sea, Chris explains, “Onshore winds (anything blowing from the sea to the land) are just about any breeze with an easterly component (from the east). In Valencia, this includes northeast through southeast winds. Offshore winds (anything blowing from the land to the sea) are any breeze with a westerly component (from the west) or southwest through northwest. Wind from the north or south are along shore breezes.” MELGES 24 WORLDS: RIGGED FOR CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE The epitome of high performance one design class racing will be seen at the Melges 24 Worlds starting next week in Santa Cruz, CA with 60 yachts entered. It’s a regatta that is a true test of sailors’ ability. Southern Spars supply all the masts for the Melges 24 class and wish all teams great sailing. Having built the 1,000th Melges 24 rig last year, Southern Spars One Design also specialize in building high performing, consistent one design products including; carbon spinnaker poles, sprits, sail battens, composite stanchions, and tubing. Visit http://www.southernspars.com HELPING HANDS For the fifth year in a row ISAF’s Athlete Participation Programme (APP) will assist young athletes from developing sailing nations attend the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. Since its launch the APP has helped over 100 sailors attend the Championships, further spreading the appeal of youth sailing’s premier event. Ever since its introduction in 2002, the APP has helped youngsters from developing sailing nations attend the Youth Worlds. Not only does this give them the opportunity to compete against and learn from the world’s best young sailors, but they also receive training from some of the sport’s most respected coaches. This year APP grants have been awarded to 11 male and five female sailors from Argentina, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Colombia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Uruguay, St Lucia and South Africa. -- ISAF website, full story: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j17FnA~`D&format=popup RUSSIANS READY FOR DEBUT Long Beach, CA - The Russians are coming to Long Beach, on their way to . . . the America's Cup? Eugeny Neugodnikov and Andrew Arbuzov, currently sixth and 24th in the International Sailing Federation's world match race rankings, will be among 10 competitors in the Long Beach Yacht Club's 43rd Congressional Cup, presented by Acura, May 15-19, Tuesday through Saturday. While the more familiar world-class talents duke it out in Valencia, Neugodnikov and Arbuzov are believed to be the first Russians to compete in a match racing event in the U.S. If Neugodnikov's performance matches his ambition, he'll be leading Russia's first America's Cup challenge the next time around. Neugodnikov, 25, has been match racing only five years but claims success against two AC skippers on the world circuit---2-0 vs. James Spithill of Luna Rossa and 1-1 vs. 2000 Congressional Cup winner Dean Barker of Emirates New Zealand. Neugodnikov said on his website, "The Lord of the Sail has the aim to take part in the largest and most prestigious world, European and Russian sailing regattas. The basic purpose in 2006-2007 is to rise to 3 to 6 (he's already there), to win the Open World championship and to [join] the world match racing tour. That's all to raise the prestige of Russia on the international sailing scene. The general purpose of the team: participation in the America's Cup, the greatest event in world match racing." France's Mathieu Richard, No. 4 in the world, heads the Congressional Cup list. Others in order of rankings: Eugeny Neugodnikov, No. 6 Damien Iehl, France, No. 10 Johnie Berntsson, Sweden, No. 13 Simon Minoprio, New Zealand, No. 17 Martin Angsell, Sweden, No. 22 Andrew Arbuzov, No. 24 Brain Angel, USA, No. 35 Przemek Tarnacki, Poland, No. 51 Scott Dickson, USA, No. 101 The total purse will be $41,000, including $10,000 to the winner. -- by Rich Roberts, full story: http://www.lbyc.org/concup/CC07/stories/russians.htm VIDEO OF THE WEEK They say that sailing is not a sport that lends itself well to television. Okay, but what about windsurfing...and an indoor arena... with a pool... and fans... with jumps? Once you watch this video, you will be talking a different language. The sailors look like athletes, and the freestyle and jumps look expert. The whole package seems like mixing the X-Games with water. Don't be intimidated by the length of this video (9:05 minutes). Watch as much as you want, but our bet is that you will watch the whole thing. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/0430 RETURN OF THE J CLASS Like the creators of the fictional Jurassic Park who used DNA to reconstitute dinosaurs, the renowned yacht design firm Sparkman & Stephens is poised to reconstitute the majestic J Class racers that stalked the America’s Cup courses off Newport in the 1930s. Riding a recent surge of interest in the class, S&S is reanalyzing the plans and model-test data - the DNA of the J Class as it were - it used in the development of 1937 America’s Cup winner Ranger. The renewed interest in these sublimely beautiful, supremely powerful racing yachts, coupled with new regulations established by the J Class Association, has turned what was historically cherished intellectual property into new opportunities for interested clients. “We’ve been contacted by several serious yachtsmen about building J Class yachts for racing, cruising and charter,” says S&S President Greg Matzat. “We believe momentum is building toward creation of more of these magnificent vessels.” -- Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0427 MORRIS YACHTS BROKERAGE COME FIND YOUR DREAM BOAT! No one understands the high-end market like a high-end builder. At Morris Yachts, the sheds are open and filled with a fine selection of brokerage boats. Now is the perfect time to get in the car or hop that flight to Bar Harbor, Maine to find the boat of your dreams. With over 35 years of experience in custom yacht building, Morris Brokerage is uniquely qualified to broker high-end vessels whether built by Morris or produced by other quality builders. For more information on the boat of your dreams: Call James Allen, Brokerage Director, 207-244-5509 or go to http://www.morrisyachts.com/brokerage SAILING SHORTS * On Friday, May 4, 2007, an announcement is scheduled at 9:30 am that includes Ken Read, Skipper, PUMA Racing Team, Glenn Bourke, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race, along with the mayor of Boston and the CEO of PUMA. It is widely speculated that this announcement will include details surrounding the VOR 2008/ 2009 race coming to the New England region, rather than to the Baltimore/ Annapolis area that has been the US host for the past three races. Details of the announcement: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4755#4755 * This week’s VOR podcast includes one of the giants of the sport - Paul Cayard. A former Star World Champion, winning Whitbread skipper, and a World Sailor of the Year, Paul talks about the America's Cup, the TP-52 circuit, the World Sailing League, and the new look Volvo Ocean Race. There's also the latest from Valencia with America's Cup website editor Peter Rusch, and news regarding the VOR going to India. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org/podcast * Houston, TX (May 3, 2007) - The first day of the Etchells North Americans saw the thirty boat fleet complete three races on Galveston Bay, with strong morning winds gradually decrease during the day as light rain and thunder cells passed through the area. After San Diego’s Chris Busch won the first race, World Champion Jud Smith rattled off a couple of bullets to close the day with 5 points as the event leader. Canadian Hank Lammens sits in second (9 pts), Busch in third (11 pts), and local legend John Kolius following in fourth (16 pts). Racing continues through Saturday. -- http://www.etchellsnorthamericans.com * The Velux 5 Oceans race reports that Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, currently in third place, is expected to cross the finish line in Bilbao, Spain early Friday morning. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com * After weeks of careful review by 30 regional selectors, US Sailing has announced the list of about 150 competitors selected to compete in the U.S. Youth Championship, which will be held June 22-28 at Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, LA. Sponsored by Nautica and Vanguard Sailboats, the Championship will be raced in four fleets: Laser, Laser Radial, Club 420, and 29er. The winner of the boys and girls divisions in the 29er will each qualify to represent the USA at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship to be held in Canada in July. -- http://www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/youthchamp * A fundraising event for Sail Newport will celebrate Onne van der Wal's 20th Anniversary in the photography business. The event at the Jane Pickens Theater will feature captivating photography from exotic locations collected from Onne's 20 years of traveling the globe. The price ($45/ person, $40 for Sail Newport members) includes appetizers from Spark Restaurant and the presentation. A cash bar featuring Mt. Gay mixed drinks, beer and wine will be available. In addition, an auction will be held featuring travel, entertainment, and dining packages. -- Details: http://208.106.141.167/npt/m/_general/onneevent.asp EIGHT BELLS I am sorry to inform of the passing of Tom Dreyfus of the New Orleans YC on Wednesday, May 2, 2007. He was a good friend and one of the sailing worlds great characters. Through the 70s, 80s and 90s, he built some of the worlds fastest boats. Tom was someone you had to see to believe. -- John Rumsey WEEKEND CELEBRATION Cinco de Mayo - May 5th - is not an American holiday, nor is it Mexican Independence Day, which declared its independence from mother Spain on midnight, the 15th of September, 1810. It was on the morning of May 5, 1862 when 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City. The French had landed in Mexico (along with Spanish and English troops) five months earlier on the pretext of collecting Mexican debts from the newly elected government of democratic President (and Indian) Benito Juarez. The English and Spanish quickly made deals and left, but it took this battle to get the French to move on. WE'RE OVER HERE! With the dollar in the doldrums, US marine products are looking like an awfully good buy to the European market right now. The hungriest sales and marketing people from the marine world will seize the moment: Scuttlebutt Europe is the fastest, most cost efficient way to reach the actively engaged players of the European sailing market. Contact Graeme Beeson at gb@beesonstone.com, http://www.scuttlebutteurope.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 Doug Wall, NOSA President, 1989: (edited to the 250-word limit) It is very apparent that NOSA is having difficulty attracting racers for the Ensenada race in the last several years. In the 1980s and early 1900s, NOSA had 550 to 700 entries with no cruising classes. Since then, the entries of handicapped class boat entries are at least 50% less. One big reason is very slow races that result in a high percent DNFs. This year there was about 50% DNFs and among the finishers was a very high percent of the cruising class. This class came in to existence about 1991. This year only 159 sailing boats and 82 in the cruising class that finished for a total of 241. So what is happening with NOSA and the Ensenada race? Obviously, the reason is that the "wind gods rule" and not NOSA . There are other factors too, such as loss of some traditions. Therefore, NOSA should look at historical weather patterns that might show they should move the race to early April or late March. The last Friday (of April) has been traditional since about the third ever race around 1950. The first few races were in sync with the Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Ensenada. This created "over celebration" in Ensenada. Then the last Friday was deemed close enough with Cinco de Mayo and has been the date for about 57 years. It seems that change is needed before the "great race" dies. They say that the world's weather is changing. Maybe NOSA should consult with Al Gore! * From Paul Kueffner, Southport CT: What people wonder about the NPT-BDA race is that, given the results, why is one single-number system any better than another? Why use one that is far more expensive if the results aren't any more valid? As far as East Coast prevalence, many IRC certificates were issued in 2006 because people wanted to race in an anniversary year NPT-BDA event that required them to have one (unless you wanted to go 630 miles on what can be a mostly downwind race without a spinnaker). The YRA of LIS, which has a lot of NPT-BDA entrants on its rolls, gives us an idea of who actually prefers what. According to their 2007 Racing Program (p. 3 3), the 2006 fleet had 696 PHRF certificates. Of these, 102 boats - 14.6% - had IRC certificates. With no NPT-BDA race this year, how many of these are going to renew for 2007? Scuttlebutt recently mentioned an IRC race in Florida in which organizers were consolidating two of the divisions into one. They do not do this when they have lots of entrants. IRC is touted as being so precise (how many digits after that decimal point?) that a TP52 could seemingly race in the same division as a Tartan 27 and both skippers would feel totally at ease on the starting line and with their handicapped results, since it's so definitively right. I remain skeptical. * From Juergen Klinghardt (Bremen, Germany): Mr. Mendez in 'butt # 2335 unfortunately does not have all the facts about the Middle Sea Race (one of the most popular races in the Med). As a matter of fact, in this race there is an IMS class that is as strong as the IRC class. Last year, first overall in the IMS class was a 15 years old Swan 47CB. Although designed by the power of sophisticated VPP programmes, most of the modern super-maxis are not found in the IMS class, but were entered in the IRC class only. Why? The reason is clear: unlike IMS (and similar VPP rating systems as ORR), most of the more or less expensive gadgets to speed up a boat are left out of account by IRC, a big advantage for these yachts - and for those owners who have enough money to play with. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The consumption of alcohol on Cinco de Mayo may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster, and better looking than most people. Special thanks to Southern Spars and Morris Yachts. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
