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SCUTTLEBUTT 3637 - Friday, July 20, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: New England Ropes and The Pirates Lair. ZACH RAILEY - LIVING THE DREAM Going into the 2008 Olympics, American Zach Railey was a relative unknown. He was one of the newest sailors in the Finn class and was not really expected to win a medal. However, his consistency in the early days left him leading the regatta and he was suddenly the centre of attention. As the event closed out, he held his cool despite being match raced out of the first attempt to get the medal race away by the eventual Gold medalist Ben Ainslie. Zach eventually took Silver a day later when it was re-sailed in strong winds and big seas. It was a day that changed his life, and the realisation of an ambition that started when he was 12. Now, four years later he is the US Team Captain and a role model for a generation of young sailors. He started sailing at age eight, following a suggestion from his family dentist to try summer sailing classes. Sailing Optimists until he was almost 13 he switched to the Radial and then the Laser, but outgrew each boat in turn. Then Chris Cook (CAN) asked Zach to sail with him one day in a Finn and he has been hooked ever since. Last time around the US Olympic trials was a single winner-takes-all regatta. Like many elements of the new US approach to Olympic sailing, the trials system has radically changed, and this time around major regattas were used as indicators. "I like the new format as it measures you against the international competition you will race against at the Olympics. It also allows you to continue on the Olympic circuit without having to come home and concentrate on a trials event in the middle of the season. Overall, I think this was a huge success and I think it should be the way forward for our qualifications for 2016 and beyond. There may have to be some different regattas used next time but the general idea is a huge success." While winning the Silver in China was a massive achievement by any standards, bettering that colour in Weymouth is an even bigger ask, yet Zach is never negative about his chances and always focusses on what he is able to control. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/Finn-071912 QUOTE / UNQUOTE "Lowell (North) in my mind was the greatest sailor we ever had." -- Dennis Conner, who won the recent Greatest American Sailor contest staged by US Sailing, during his speech when inducted with Lowell in the inaugural class of the U.S. National Sailing Hall of Fame on October 23, 2011. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=4807 NEW ENGLAND ROPES SUMMER CALENDAR New England Ropes is busy again this summer sponsoring numerous sailing industry events. Supporting sailing is our passion and privilege especially at such great events as The Buzzards Bay Regatta and The CJ Buckley Jr. Team Race Regatta in August and the J/22 North American Championships in mid September. At New England Ropes, we know that creating high performance racing cordage provides sailors with the tools to perform at this high level and it's truly what makes us the best choice in cordage. Check out our products at these events and online at http://www.neropes.com! AMERICAN MADE Their operation had the taste of a seaworthy spy thriller. For two-and-a-half years, Jon VanderMolen and his crew worked around the clock in total secrecy, constructing 37 professional sailboats by hand inside a climate-controlled warehouse on M-89 just outside of downtown Richland, Michigan. Their customers were countries, and were all fighting for one thing: a medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Some coaches flew thousands of miles to inspect the progress of their investment. Others flooded the local boat builder with paranoid calls and emails: how was he building boats for the other countries' teams? What secrets was he hiding? "It was like espionage," VanderMolen said. "All of the countries thought we had different things for each other." In a little more than a week, VanderMolen will watch his work tear through England's coastal waters during the Star class Olympic competition, one of sailing's most prestigious events. From his perspective, there's a good chance at winning: 13 of the 16 Star boats vying for gold in the Olympics were made in his warehouse. On board are the best sailing teams in the world, including England, Canada and New Zealand. VanderMolen and his partner Mark Pickel, who now is coaching the Irish Olympic sailing team, made 37 sailboats to begin with, of which 13 made the Olympic cut. "Jon's will, power and determination with a little bit of German engineering from my side gave a solid and fruitful base to create the fastest star out there," Pickel said in an email. Pickel built sailboats for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and partnered with VanderMolen as he set out to build boats for this summer's games. Despite worried calls from all over the world, there is not much secrecy behind how the boats are made. Diligent craftsmanship is key. Some Olympic sailors VanderMolen's boats say they are the best in the world. "I just had a feeling that not only the boat was going to be good, he was going to create a great line," Tyler Bjorn, a sailor on the Canadian Olympic team, said during a phone interview from England. "You're making a Rolls-Royce, you're making a quality boat ... we started having good results right away." As in many cases, quality means money. One of VanderMolen's boats costs $85,000 to 90,000 - up to $25,000 more than a similar Italian-made vessel. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/MLive-071912 ISAF YOUTH SAILING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Dublin Bay, Ireland (July 19, 2012) - Though there is still one race remaining on Friday at the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship, two class titles have already been decided. First to start their celebrations were the visibly delighted Spanish 29er duo of Carlos Robles and Florian Trittel. They came ashore having retained the overall title that they won last year in Croatia by winning the first of their two races today and then sailing conservatively in the second to take the fifth place that they needed to ensure they cannot be beaten. Two comfortable race wins in the SL16 Catamaran fleet gave the British pair Rupert White and Tom Britz an unassailable 17 points margin. The pair add ISAF Youth Worlds gold to the SL16 class world title that they won recently, while White - grandson of 1976 Tornado gold medallist and double world champion - complements the Youth Worlds bronze he won last year as helm in the class in Zadar, Croatia. The Laser Radial Gold medal is very much within touching distance for USA's Mitchell Kiss, who finished third in the Laser Radial Boys Worlds in 2010 and was 16th last year in Zadar. He has 13 points over Australia's second placed Mark Spearman, but his position is slightly vulnerable with a BFD as his discard. -- Full report: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/news/38957.php Top Positions - North America Boy's Laser Radial - 1. Mitchell Kiss (USA) Girl's Laser Radial - 16. Natalia Montemayor (MEX) Boy's 420 - 11. Ian Barrows/ Ian Coyle (ISV) Girl's 420 - 10. Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick/ Abigail Rohman (USA) Boy's RS:X - 11. Ignacio Berenguer (MEX) Girl's RS:X - 19. Cristina Ortiz (MEX) Open SL16 - 10. Jeremy Herrin/ Sam Armington (USA) Open 29er - 4. Quinn Wilson/ Dane Wilson (USA) Complete results: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/editions/2012/results.php SAILING SHORTS * Boca Chica, Dominican Republic (July 19, 2012) - With three races now completed at the Optimist World Championship, the Singapore nation is dominating the 230-boat fleet. Their five person team holds the top three positions, with one teammate in 22nd but having won a race. Ivan Shestopalov (USA) is the top North American in 12th. Racing continues through July 25. -- Event website: http://www.optiworlds2012.org/ * Corona del Mar, CA (July 19, 2012) - The second day of the Governor's Cup youth match racing championship saw the completion of the Stage 1 round robin series, with the top 8 of 12 teams advancing to the Stage 2 Quarter Final Round Robin series. Leading the field at 9-2 is the defending champions San Diego Yacht Club with Nevin Snow, Jake LaDow, and Jake Reynolds. Racing continues through Sunday. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14200#14200 * Marstrand, Sweden (July 19, 2012) - Artemis Racing were quick to show the fleet the way as fleet racing at the RC44 Sweden Cup got underway in Marstand. After being lulled into thinking summer had arrived, the grey skies and rain returned bringing with it a light south easterly breeze that never topped 8 knots. But through the damp weather, Sweden's Artemis Racing shone. Racing for the RC44 Sweden Cup continues through to Sunday 22nd July. -- Full story: http://www.rc44.com/news/view/artemis_racing_show_the_way_in_sweden * Newport, RI (July 19, 2012) - The New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex started its second half yesterday with an Around the Island Race and began its final four-day buoy racing session today. Seven classes--four for IRC and one each for Swan 42, J/109 and Beneteau 36.7--set out expecting a forecasted 5-7 knots but were pleasantly surprised when a 12 knot east-northeasterly breeze greeted them for their first race. The good luck didn't last, however, as the wind first shifted to the southeast then died altogether, keeping all but two classes from enjoying a second race. -- Full story: http://nyyc.org/archives_public/article_1233/ * Cascade Locks, OR (July 19, 2012) - A postponement this morning for Day 1 of the Laser North Americans held until around 1:15pm when the ripples finally began to disrupt the mirror-like conditions on the Columbia River.dare it be said.very unusual conditions for this time of year in the infamous Gorge. The Columbia Gorge Racing Association race committee had their work cut out for them getting away starts for 173 registered boats, the largest fleet of boats ever hosted by the CGRA. Results were not available by press time. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/SB-071912 * The 23rd running of the Lake Ontario 300 Challenge begins July 21, attracting over 135 entrants to the start in Port Credit, Ontario. As the longest annually held fresh water sailing race on the Great Lakes, teams are coming from as far away as Chester, Nova Scotia and Erie, Pennsylvania, as well as from all points within Lake Ontario. Over 25 yacht clubs will be represented in this race with yachts ranging from 27 to 44 feet in length. They are competing in a variety of divisions that include, fully crewed, double handed, single handed, and a multihull division. Race website: http://www.lo300.org/ * l'Hydroptere DCNS, current holder of the one mile world speed record of 50.17 knots, is in Los Angeles and now on standby for a transpacific record attempt to Hawaii. They'll be attempting to beat the record set in 2005 by Olivier de Kersauson, at the helm of the 111-foot trimaran Geronimo, which covered the 2,215 nautical miles separating the Fermin Point lighthouse to the South-West of Los Angeles, from the Diamond Head lighthouse offshore of Honolulu, in a time of 4 days, 19 hours and 31 minutes, at an average speed of 19.17 knots. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/Bird-071912 TEAM AND EVENT TECH TEES! The Pirates Lair designs the best graphics on the best moisture wicking shirts! Go high tech on your boat for less. Email info@pirateslair.com today. PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include little sister, seeking gold, seeking fame, four of a kind, two of a pair, king of Madison Avenue, black and white, take off, and record seeking. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0720/ * One J Class boat is photogenic, but four together are drop dead gorgeous. Thanks to Kos Pictures and Ingrid Abery for the very fine scenery: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0719/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK The countdown to the 2012 London Olympic Games is nearly complete. The sailing competition among the ten events will be in Weymouth on July 28-Aug 12. This week we seek to incite interest in this special occasion, presenting profiles of the people and equipment that will be part of the games. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/12/0720/ Bonus Videos: * At the 2012 Olympics, there may be countless athletes representing countries from around the world, but in some sense there is only one - Ben Ainslie. Competing in his home waters, Ainslie is already Britain's most successful Olympic sailor with three gold medals and one Silver. But if he were to win the Finn event, he would become the most accomplished sailing Olympian ever. In this video, he talks through how his preparation has gone and what he aims to achieve from the last few days of training: http://youtu.be/Y1u7D0wL1vo * l'Hydroptere DCNS, current holder of the one mile world speed record of 50.17 knots, is in Los Angeles and now on standby for a transpacific record attempt to Hawaii. Have you seen this foiling, flying trimaran? Now you have: http://youtu.be/BB8LKjZjAyk * America's Cup "Uncovered" is now "Discovered" as we welcome a new season of racing with a new production team, new boats, new content, and new opportunities. This week on America's Cup Discovered we catch up with "Mr. Multihull", also known as Energy Team's Loick Peyron. He's done it all in the sailing world: short course sprints, solo-sailing, and global circumnavigation. But there is more to charismatic Loick than meets the eye, he loves the Black Eyed Peas (and may sing a few notes for us...) and he's also a very good, perhaps professional, whistler. Tune in on Saturday July 21 at approx 0800 PDT 1600 BST: http://www.youtube.com/americascup * Extreme Cats, Tris, TP52's feature in the July 20.12 "World on Water" Global Sailing News Show. See the Extreme Sailing Series in Porto, Portugal, the Tour de France a la Voile race around France, Cork Week Ireland, finish of the KRYS Transat in Brest, France, the 470 Europeans, Largs, Scotland and in "Fresh to Frightening" Quantum Racing hits "warp" speed in Race 8 of the Royal Cup. See it on http://www.boatson.tv or download the "boatsontv" app and watch it on your phone or tablet anywhere anytime. SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.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 William L. Sandberg: I was fortunate enough to attend the sendoff for our US Olympic Sailing team last Saturday at Larchmont YC. It was attended by over 1000 junior sailors, not to mention the many sailors who came in off the water after sailing in the first day of Larchmont Race Week. I never thought I'd see the day where sailors would be signing autographs, posing for pictures and just soaking up adulation from adoring fans. During the Q&A, the US team also spoke just the right words to the young sailors. "Make sure you have fun." "Set your goals and if you don't reach them, reset them." "Never give up." How refreshing to watch this group of outstanding athletes--ladies and gentlemen all--ideal role models. Just the sort of person you'd like your son or daughter to grow up to be. GO TEAM USA. * From Amy Backus: Congratulations to Mitchell Kiss on leading the Laser Radial Boy's class at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship this week. This is certainly an achievement to be proud of. I do hope that Mitchell, who is probably all of 15 years old, does not continue to believe in such dated and stereotypical statements (in Scuttlebutt 3636), i.e. "She is so good, and it kind of sucks getting beat by a girl.". The "girl" he is referring to happens to be 25 year old Paige Railey, Olympian, Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, and European and National Champion. Not sure it would "suck' for any one: man, woman, boy, or girl to lose to Paige on any body of water on any given day. * From Jamie Leopold: I have followed the discussion about the Bermuda Race, and Carina getting penalized for having a pro on board steering the boat for a few minutes. However, I think that most pros can be much more effective at increasing the performance and speed of a boat by not being on the helm. Let's face it - tactics, sail trimming and fine tuning has just as much (if not more) to do with speed as the way the boat is steered. And when someone is driving a boat, their primary focus is on steering the boat, watching the sails, waves and sea that are affecting the boat. If I were a competitor of Carina's, I'd rather have the pro on the helm than fine tuning the boat. * From Gary Bodie: Commenting on the events that led to the capsize and death a year ago in the Club 420, trapeze spinnaker dinghies are quite stable on a broad reach or run with crew to windward trimming the spinnaker and skipper sitting to leeward and steering. Most crews stand up for a spinnaker take down; it's difficult to get the pole off the mast if you don't, and it's much easier to stuff the spinnaker down if you're standing. But, when the crew's weight comes off the weather side, the boat either heels to leeward, or the skipper bears off further to compensate. Even with a small skipper, it may not be enough to bear off to a run; you might need to bear off by the lee to keep the boat flat. Experienced skippers will stand up to balance the boat instead of going dangerously by the lee. If it's really windy, it can be better for the skipper to move all the way to the windward side and actually head up slightly as the crew straddles the middle before even starting the take down. Experienced skippers would also likely gybe first to port in this situation, and then take down on the new windward side before rounding to port. I'm guessing that Olivia stood up and started the take down, her skipper bore off by the lee and unintentionally gybed. Olivia was then caught with the boom at her back, boomvang against the back of her legs, facing forward with possibly the trapeze wire and shroud also in her way. The trapeze hook getting engaged *may* have been incidental to her predicament. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14197#14197 EDITOR'S NOTE: We will close, for now, this thread in the newsletter. However, readers are welcome to post additional comments in the Forum thread: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14157 * From Greg Walsh: A compromise on the coaching issue (mentioned in Scuttlebutt 3631) during regattas is to allow them on the course, but only as observers. They can't ever tow except in the event of emergency, can't carry any equipment for a competitor, and there can be no communication from one hour before the start until after the last place boat finishes. Let the coaching occur away from the race course so that the division between the haves and have nots is not so apparent. COMMENT: I just looked at the NOR for the 2012 Thistle Nationals which are in San Diego later this month, and saw no limits on assistance. I suspect the Thistle class hasn't had a problem with this in the past, but is also not eager to see a flotilla of coach and support boats at the event. Having raced at that venue, and knowing the distance from the host club to the race course, and the challenges that course presents, an active coach would certainly be an advantage. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION I was worried my car mechanic might try to rip me off. I was relieved when he told me all I needed was turn signal fluid. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - Vineyard Race - North Sails J Boats - Point Loma Outfitting - Pure Yachting Ullman Sails - APS - New England Boatworks Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
