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SCUTTLEBUTT 1951 -- October 24, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.RESTRUCTURING UNDERWAY Phoenix, Ariz. (October 21, 2005) - US Sailing has voted in favor of restructuring the organization, reducing the size of its Board of Directors from 49 to 14. The decision was made after a vote at the organization's Annual General Meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. and after months of preparation and review. The new structure follows the direction that most national governing bodies for sports nationwide are adopting. "This restructure will increase the effectiveness of the organization as the Board of Directors will now meet monthly to make decisions," said US Sailing President Janet Baxter. "This change demonstrates that US Sailing is trying to modernize the way we work and facilitates meeting our mission of encouraging participation and promoting excellence in sailing." A transitional Board of Directors has been created for the first year of the restructure, which will take effect after the close of business of the Annual General Meeting on Sunday, October 23. Next year, US Sailing's members will vote directly for the organization's Board of Directors. For more information on US Sailing's restructure and the organization's new bylaws: www.ussailing.org/organization/taskforce/structure. The list of members of the Transitional Board will be available by Monday, October 24 at www.ussailing.org/bod. -- Marlieke de Lange Eaton WELL DESERVED TRIBUTE Larry White (Niantic, Conn.) has been awarded US Sailing's most prestigious award -- the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy -- for his outstanding contributions to the sport of sailing. For 15 years, White was the president of the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA), a responsibility from which he stepped down earlier this fall. As ISSA's tenth President, the growth of school sailing went to full bore, from a handful of schools in New England to seven organized and active national districts nationwide. The nation was modeled after the collegiate version and booklets were produced to provide information on creating school sailing programs. "The remarkable expansion nationally, to the current membership of over 400 schools and 5,000 members in seven districts including schools in Hawaii and St. Thomas, is completely due to Larry's vision and leadership," said the US Sailing committee that nominated White for the award. White's influence on the development of high school sailing in the U.S. is not the only reason why he was nominated for the Herreshoff Trophy. He has fulfilled numerous other roles in the sport, including, but certainly not limited to, various roles as a US Sailing volunteer (Vice President from 1989-1990; Board of Directors 1978-1988, 1999-2000; Yacht Racing Council Chair 1987-1988; Race Management Committee 1985-1990, chairman 1989-1990; Race Administration Committee 1989-1990; Training Committee 1991; Inshore Committee 1994 to present, chair 1999-2000; and he is currently an International Judge); as well as numerous roles at other sailing organizations such as the Severn Sailing Association (Annapolis, Md.), Snipe Class International Racing Association, U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Kingston, N.Y.), U.S. International 420 Association, and much more. -- www.ussailing.org PIRATE UPDATE -- Paul Cayard "We have the Pearl back in the water and been sailing for the past three days. It is nice to get back out there and learning. We have been sailing alongside a couple of boats! First time was Wednesday with ABN Amro One. It was blowing about 30 and they had a special little jib and a nice set up on the main and they blew our doors off upwind. They turned and went back to the harbour first and we continued on upwind trying to sort out a few things with our rig set-up. When we turned to go back the speed immediately went up to 25 knots with just the jib and main. Then we put up the fractional kite … 30 knots. ABN later told me they laid the boat down on the way in. We actually did too before putting up the kite. Got the keel stuck on the wrong side in a gybe. Nothing too major. Just went head to wind on the new gybe, got things sorted with the electronic controls, canted, and ripped off at 25 again. "Today we lined up with Brasil 1 and ABN Amro One again in eight knots and things were much closer. There is a big difference in sails and one thing that is becoming very apparent is that sails make a big difference in speed in this class. Speed differences are in the knots, not tenths of knots! Tomorrow is a work day. We have a few small jobs to finish up so the boat is ready for measurement. We will try for the hull measurement on Sunday or Monday." -- Paul Cayard, VO70 Pirates of the Caribbean, full update: http://tinyurl.com/detub DUBARRY: UNSURPASSED BOOT TECHNOLOGY "When Irish weather forecasters say 'A fine soft day' they usually mean, 'a day of incessant rain accompanied by a force nine gale'" - Donal Foley. Heading offshore? Coming into bad weather? Keep your feet warm, dry, and comfortable with Dubarry high performance footwear. Choose from the new low profile, athletically-driven Annapolis boot, the high-tech Seaquest Kevlar/leather boot, the classic all-leather Ultima, and flagship Shamrock in navy Cordura/leather. Why do Dubarry boots command respect from the best? They are fully Gore-Tex lined, waterproof, and breathable with unsurpassed, award-winning sole technology that keeps you on board in all conditions. http://www.dubarryna.com SPITHILL DEFEATS COUTTS IN FINALS Australian James Spithill won the Investors Guaranty presentation of The King Edward VII Gold Cup match race championship, Sunday, beating the defending champion Russell Coutts in a thrilling decider 3:2. After a week of variable weather, conditions on the final day were perfect with 15-20 knot winds across Hamilton Harbour. Spithill, 26, the Luna Rossa Italian America's Cup helmsman and current world champion, lost the first race at the start, regained his composure in the second heat, but lost again to the 7-time Gold Cup winner in the third. This left the Australian with the uphill battle of winning the final two races, but far from buckling under the pressure, Spithill took total control of both starts and the rest is history. Coutts, who conceded the last race after the first round, having hit the committee boat at the start, was gracious in defeat. "It really did come down to the starts in all five races. James is the world champion and he sailed here very well.' Spithill's Luna Rossa crew was Joe Newton (Australia), Magnus Augustson (Sweden), and Charlie McKee (USA), In the petite-finals to decide 3rd and 4th placings, Steffan Lindberg of Finland defeated Ed Baird from Team Alinghi 2-0. Baird, who went down to James Spithill in the semi-finals 3-2 could not overtake the fast moving Finns who dominated both races. -- Laurie Fullerton Final Scores: 1. James Spithill - Australia 2. Russell Coutts - New Zealand 3. Staffan Lindburg - Finland 4. Ed Baird - USA 5. Chris Dickson - New Zealand 6. Mathieu Richard - France 7. Gavin Brady - Hong Kong 8. Ian Williams - UK Event website: www.kingedwardviigoldcup.com Curmudgeon's Comment: Interestingly, not one of the unseeded skippers made it out of the "knock-out" first round. AWARDS * The California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey has been awarded US Sailing's prestigious St. Petersburg Yacht Club Trophy for excellence in race management. This marked the third time in the last ten years that CYC received the award, making it the first time in the 38-year history of the Trophy that a yacht club has received it three times. California Yacht Club was selected from a list of ten nominations for outstanding organization and execution of the Keane Star Class North American Championship last August. The Keane Star Class North American Championship brought together 41 teams (82 sailors) from six different countries from August 16 to 21 at California Yacht Club. The nomination included ballots from 31 skippers who participated in the event. California Yacht Club received the highest rate possible for the award and received particularly high marks for most of the event's aspects, including mark setting, safety considerations, course location, mark setting, starting and finish lines, and more. -- www.ussailing.org/racemgt/St_Pete_Trophy/index.htm * Gene Hinkel (St. Petersburg, Fla.) was presented with us Sailing's Gay S. Lynn Trophy for outstanding contribution to disabled sailors and the sport of disabled sailing. Dedicated to the welfare and success of not only disabled sailing but also of individual sailors, His driving concern and mission are fair play and safety for all sailors. As a result, he has assisted them in many ways. He has run events for novice and severely disabled sailors in Access Dinghies, been involved with blind sailing and, perhaps most importantly, he has designed, developed and delivered adaptive aids for sailors around the world. His innovations in seating and other adaptive aids have meant that sailors could improve their performance in boats with increased safety. * Jo Mogle (Punta Gorda, Fla.), a lifelong supporter of boating safety through education and training, has received US Sailing's Timothea Larr Award for her lifelong commitment to standardized quality sailing education. The award is presented annually to an individual whose vision and guidance has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of sailor and education and training in the United States. Mogle exemplifies the best qualities, the highest standards and selfless devotion in her lifetime service to public service and boating education in general and specifically to US Sailing's efforts to train sailors for safety and excellence. FROM J BOATS TO "AARR!" BOATS What does the J/65 luxury cruiser have in common with the souped-up Volvo 70 Pirates of the Caribbean? Both are equipped for high-performance, long-distance sailing, and both chose seamless carbon-fiber spars from Hall Spars & Rigging. Hall's single-piece mandrel-molded construction process results in carbon spars that are light, strong, and stiff. Each spar is optimally engineered to fit the design and philosophy of the boat, sails, and crew. So whether yer searchin' fer buried treasure or chasing a trophy, Hall can build a gem of a mast for you. http://www.hallspars.com NEWS BRIEFS * Star class Pacific Coast Championship and US Sailing Team qualifier, San Francisco YC, Final results (23-boats -- five races without a discard): 1. Xavier Rohart/ Rambeau Pascal, 15pts; 2. Andy Horton/ Brad Nichol, 16pts; 3. Mark Reynolds/ Hal Haenel, 16pts; 4. Peter Conde/ Andrew Hunn, 18pts; 5. Steven Kelly/ Bill Holowesko, 23pts; 6. George Szabo/ Eric Monroe, 25pts; 7. Rick Merriman/ Rich Peters, 27pts; 8. Iain Murray/ Andrew Palfrey, 28pts; 9. Jeff Madrigali/ Anders Eckstrom, 30pts; 10. Andy Macdonald/ Brian Fatih, 37pts. -- http://www.starclass.org/search.cgi?Action=view&Event_id=610 * New Zealand supermaxi Konica Minolta broke the keel boat record despite finishing fourth in the 119- nautical mile Coastal Classic yacht race from Auckland to Russell. The 98-ft yacht crossed the line in 8h 29m 50s on Friday night, comfortably beating the record of 9h 22m which has stood since 1996. However, despite the record, Konica Minolta was fourth across the line behind multihulls Noumean catamaran Rongtudjuu, Murray Ross's Isis, which had Dennis Conner on board and X-Factor. Of the 232 boats that started the race, 189 finished in the trying conditions which included 30-knot winds and squalls. -- www.coastalclassic.co.nz * Yves Le Blevec's Mini Transat yacht Point Mariage dismasts while heading the Transat 6.50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia fleet. Le Blevec, one of the race favourites, who's been in constant battle for the lead with Corentin Douguet since 17 September, lost his mast between 0700 and 0900 yesterday morning while lying in third place. According to the race support team on the support vessel Gwalarn V, Le Blevec activated his D to indicate the "problem not in need of assistance" level. -- Sue Pelling/Yachting World, full story: http://tinyurl.com/95zwy * Nautor's Swan is expanding the services at its U.S. headquarters in Newport, R.I. with the launch of the Custom Yacht Sales office. Steve Barker, Executive Vice President - Sales for Nautor's Swan USA, will head the new service offering for all North American custom yacht prjects ranging from 100 to 160 feet. Barker will work with designers, project managers, and buyers to serve as the liaison between the client and the Nautor's Swan Custom Yachts division at the company's Boatbuilding Technology Center (BTC) in Pietarsaari, Finland. * The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) welcomed with great satisfaction the unanimous adoption of the first International Convention against Doping in Sport by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at its plenary session yesterday in Paris, France. Until now, many governments could not be legally bound by a non-governmental document such as the World Anti-Doping Code, the document harmonizing regulations regarding anti-doping in all sports and all countries of the world. Governments have accordingly, pursuant to the Code and with the assistance of WADA, drafted this International Convention under the auspices of UNESCO. -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1/Fh0u72& * Sally Barkow of Nashotah WI USA is the first to have her name on the Bermuda Trophy - A new trophy to be awarded annually to the winner of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Women's Match Racing World Championship. The elegant silver bowl has been presented by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and will be deeded to ISAF. The new perpetual trophy, which replaces the crystal ISAF Women's Nations Cup trophy which has previously been awarded to the world champion, now represents the highest level of achievement in women's match race sailing. -- www.vssailing.com CHARLESTON RACE WEEK - PRESENTED BY SEABROOK ISLAND Scheduled for April 6-9, 2006, Charleston Race Week is perfectly placed if you're traveling north after Miami, or if you decide to make it your first regatta of the spring season. Free storage for trailered boats, free dockage for first 50 entries. Southern hospitality and great racing! 843-722-1030 or http://www.charlestonraceweek.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is neither a chat room nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere.) * From Peter Seidenberg: Reading responses by Jamie Jones, Skip Whyte, Glenn Selvin and Geoff Ewenson to Alex Stout's letter in 'Butt 1946, all describing and advocating the liberal use of kinetics in their respective Olympic classes in conditions that beg for them fills me, a long-time and dedicated Laser sailor, with envy. How much fun it would be to sail the boat to its potential! Instead, the class rules restrict the athletes, generally in superb physical shape, to steering only and one pump per wave, no matter the conditions! At the recent Laser Master World Championships in Fortaleza, Brasil which I attended, sailors were flagged for rule 42 infringements in 20+ knot winds and 6+ foot waves! One wouldn't expect a race horse to run to its potential while pulling in the reigns! I feel it's time for the Laser class to go with the times and adopt unlimited pumping rules in appropriate conditions, similar to the Finn, 470 and possibly other Olympic classes. It's time to remove the jury anxiety and the jury subjectiveness and reward athleticism and its effective application off-wind (as well as up-wind) with the fun this generates. * From Peter G. Kremlick: Supporting the comments attributed to Patrick Weaver in Geoff Ewenson's piece (S'butt 1949), the incorporation of Radio Controlled model Yachts in an Olympic or "World Class" event might just be the stimulus that "big boat" sailing needs to get people back on the water having fun. There are several existing classes of R/C yachts that currently have world wide participation might provide a start. Contrary to popular opinion, R/C yacht racing is not just "playing with toys". It takes a considerable skill to build a fast R/C boat and far more finesse at the helm and trim than on Grand Prix racers. The skipper is alone with his radio. There are no tacticians, trimmers, bow men, or sewer workers and the afterguard is thankfully silent. With 50+ years of sailing experience, I now sail Radio Controlled exclusively (EC12M's and Wheelers). The competition is every bit as exciting as the "big" boats. Plus, the cost of owning and operating R/C puts the sport in reach of everyone who wants to join the fun. Finding crew is no problem. Good knowledge of the sailing rules is needed for success in R/C racing. Things are happening so fast, there is no time to consult the "book" before deciding to take a penalty turn or tough it out at the protest hearing. The sport of radio control sailing is every bit as challenging as it's big boat counterpart plus it is available to women, children, the elderly, disabled and challenged, all on an equal footing. * From Josh Lindsay: As a Laser sailor and a mechanical engineer, I have to take issue with Geoff Ewenson's message in today's edition. When he describes Patrick Weaver's assertion that "hiking in a Finn is technically using kinetics", one of them is unclear on either the concept of kinetics vs. statics, or on the spirit of the rule against using kinetics for propulsion. Webster defines kinetic as "Of or relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces and energy associated therewith". It is certainly possible, and in keeping with the spirit of the rule, to hike on a Finn without using the motion of the body. The static forces of gravity on the body of the sailor are what is supposed to counteract the wind's force on the sail to keep the boat in trim, not the kinetic effects of pumping. I would submit that the spirit of the kinetics rule is to see how fast we can make a boat go without using the kinetic energy of our bodies to make that happen. * From Dean Jordan, Vice President, KiteShip Corporation: As with most things in business, it comes down to money. We can argue until the cows come home about the efficacy of sail assist on modern ships, but I can tell you with certainty that organizations as diverse as BP Oil and the Danish Ministry for Environment and Energy are spending considerable sums of money investigating it, and designers as prestigious as Knud E. Hansen (http://tinyurl.com/7ex75) and Wallenius Wilhelmsen (http://tinyurl.com/co2gb) are proposing contemporary designs for sail-assisted ships in dead earnest. Project WindShip is very much alive; Knud E. Hansen has recently started on the project's phase III. KiteShip isn't about convincing anyone to use sail assist; the evidence (for and against) is widely published. However, for those who are considering the concept, we assert that VLFFS systems are significantly less expensive, easier to build, install, and maintain and offer significantly fewer compromises to design, construction and operation than any masted sail approach, and that therefore, the financial point of profitability may be earlier reached with kites than with masts and sails. If in fact the time is near to consider profitable sail assist, we assert that the time for considering profitable VLFFS assist may already be past due. * From Bruce Brown: Now that Dave Wright has gone to join JoAnne, it is appropriate for the Sailing Industry to remember what a dynamic couple they were. Dave made an impact on the sailing community in many ways. From his dedication to West Coast sailing growth, to reminding us of the value of small boat sailing programs, from community sailing to offshore racing, Dave never lost sight of the importance of service, honesty and fair play. He encouraged those of us that were in the industry to reach to high standards by showing us that it mattered - every day. He chastised us when we let down. (How could Dave know when we were not at our best? Yet he did!) He cared for his family before business, loved sailing more than almost any other endeavor and often reminded me of how lucky we were to be able to work every day at our hobby. Dave and JoAnne will be missed by the Sailing community that they loved. Dave, across the bar you've traveled - and we will miss you. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS "One nice thing about egotists -- they don't talk about other people." -- Steven Wright |
