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SCUTTLEBUTT 3399 - Friday, August 5, 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: JK3 Nautical Enterprises and Summit Yachts. STANDING BY FOR THE FAN EXPERIENCE By Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt I've had a number of people contact me about providing reports next week from the inaugural event of the America's Cup World Series (ACWS) in Cascais, Portugal (Aug. 6-14). To each of them I say: - Tell us what it's like to attend - Tell us how the locals embrace the event Up to this point it's been about the boats, the teams, the race format, the broadcast features... but not much about the fan experience. The 2011 ACWS host cities - Caiscais, Pymouth, and San Diego - are having to pay fees to stage the events, and they need to fill hotel rooms and serve some meals to warrant this tourism investment. A fan experience is crucial. Additionally, the America's Cup is attempting to commercialize itself, and it is doing so without benefit of a secure stadium. While stadium sports covet the sponsor and broadcast media rights along with the spectator gate income, the America's Cup must manage these revenue streams in public space. As sailors, we assume water access is available to watch our sport. We want to get in our boat, idle up to the race course, and experience the action. The reality, however, is the AC45s are very fast, and a crowd of privately owned RIBs attempting to keep up with the boats is a nightmare scenario. So while the combination of a 5 knot speed limit at a distance of 300 meters from the course border is a buzz kill for the private boaters, the alternative is to risk people getting run over. Then again, there is incentive for the organizers to limit supply as they are seeking to sell high priced tickets onboard designated up-close spectator boats. Think floor seats at a Lakers game. To help create interest, organizers are eager for the enthusiastic fan 'twit' and 'book' away to their social network, but anyone thinking of commercializing their event updates is blocked by a litany of published rules. Media personnel are thoroughly vetted, with various rights distributed among them. Much like you wouldn't be smuggling your video equipment into Yankee Stadium to covertly broadcast the game, the same rules apply for the ACWS. For those adventurous enough to experience the inaugural event, we understand that excessive fees will gain you entrance to VIP hospitality opportunities. And for those seeking to go on the cheap, these free activities will be available to the public... - Watch the racing live in the village, featuring America's Cup groundbreaking new graphics and live commentary. - Visit the America's Cup Experiential, where visitors will get a taste of the teams and what it's like to sail on a high-speed catamaran. - Take on the Racing Simulator, your own match race test, video-game style. - Get up-close to best sailors in the world, with the day's racing highlights and first-hand reports from the sailing stars every race day at 20:30 on The Base stage. - Listen to great local bands and DJ's, with surprise international live acts on the final weekend. If you are seeking to enjoy the 'show' from the comfort of your couch, you will need to be connecting your computer to the television for the big screen experience. But while there has been significant talk about the improved viewing experience, there has been a complete absence of information of how to watch it. We are told the races will be streamed live, beginning at 1400 local time (GMT+1) on Saturday afternoon, with the player somewhere on americascup.com. We do not know if the shows will be archived (and we have asked and asked). In addition, the races will be live-tweeted at @34thAC. The forecast for Saturday is for northwesterly winds building to 15 knots, possibly increasing later in the afternoon. With the tight course layout and puffy offshore winds, and some teams with very little AC45 experience, collisions and capsizes are likely...just what the Facebook generation was hoping for. Cascais race program: http://tinyurl.com/2011-ACWS-Cascais Fan features: http://tinyurl.com/ACWS-fan-features CALENDAR: Following the inaugural America's Cup World Series event in Cascais, the second stop on the circuit will be Plymouth, England on September 10-18, followed by the final 2011 stop in San Diego, USA on November 12-20. ADAPTING TO STADIUM SAILING The story in Scuttlebutt 3398 titled 'Are the Sacrifices of Stadium Sailing Too High?' was curious about the compromises occurring within the sport to heighten media and fan awareness. Among the sectors of the sport feeling this pinch is the Women's Match Racing event for the 2012 Olympic Games. With their course location typically near shore, the racing conditions are often affected by the local landscape. American Anna Tunnicliffe, who won the 2010-11 ISAF Sailing World Cup, comments on the situation: "I think it's a responsibility on part of the sailors to have to commit to say, yes, we are going to grow our sport and as such we might have to sacrifice a little bit of the sailing. I know the first time we sailed in Weymouth, we sailed right beneath a hill and we all complained about it. We were told, 'Well, this is where the spectators and media are going to be.' "You just have to wrap your head around it, find out where it's going to be and learn how to sail in those conditions. We've sailed there the last two events and it's been fine. We've put the negativity aside, taken the positives and growing with it. We've had spectators out watching us. "You may not be able to do it with a Big Boat Series or a Star course that close to shore because they need a mile or more for the beat. But if you do a short course for the fast paced stuff like the match racing or the 49ers that's easy and exciting to watch, then that'll grow the awareness and grow the spectators. Then you can branch the media out to the longer courses." J/111 HULL #3 AT JK3 NAUTICAL ENTERPRISES With over 30 J/111's delivered around the world and over 60 total ordered, one-design racing and winning offshore performance is fulfilling the promise of a fun, easy-to-sail 36 foot sailboat. The 111's instant acceleration, finger-tip response on its large wheel, forgiving "groove" upwind and blistering speed downwind is bringing a lot of joy to 111 owners and crew. J/111's are sailing offshore with great success on the East and West Coasts of America and in Europe. One-design sailing activity has begun to take place all over the world, come visit the J/111 in San Diego today to take a look! San Diego (619-224-6200), Newport Beach (949-675-8053), http://www.jk3yachts.com COMMENT: The JK3 team allowed me to steer their J/111 last week in the San Diego weeknight series. What do they say... "So easy a caveman can do it"? This one qualifies. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC TEST EVENT Weymouth/Portland, GBR (August 4, 2011) - The third day of the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta saw the start of the Men's and Women's RS:X and Nick Dempsey (GBR) and Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED) are locked on three points apiece after they both recorded a bullet and second place finish. Throughout the day the wind was blowing in between 12-15 knots. On the conditions Van Rijsselberge said, "It was nice out there. It was a bit shifty on the breeze but as long as the sun comes out it's nice." Canadian Nikola Girke posted a 7-8 to stand 8th overall among the 25 competitors. In the Women's Match Racing, the conclusion of the Round Robin series for the twelve teams saw Russia's Ekaterina Skudina finally get derailed from her undefeated record, falling today to Sally Barkow (USA) and Claire Leroy (FRA). Nonetheless, when the top eight teams advance to the Quarter Finals on August 6th, Skudina will be the number one seed and will face Olivia Price (AUS). The other match ups are Silja Lehtinen (FIN) and Anna Kjellberg (SWE), Mandy Mulder (NED) and Sally Barkow (USA), and Lucy Macgregor (GBR) and Claire Leroy (FRA). Racing continues for the RS:X sailors Friday, along with the first races for the Laser, Laser Radial and Men's and Women's 470. Racing for the Finn, Star and 49er classes get underway on Saturday, August 6. The medal races will run August 11-13. Full report: http://www.sailing.org/36416.php Event link: http://www.londonpreparesseries.com/sailing/index.html Canadian Sailing Team: http://tinyurl.com/CYA-080411 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics: http://tinyurl.com/USSTAG-073111 UNBELIEVABLE: After three days, this ISAF regatta is still unable to post timely online information. And when they do eventually post the results, they are in PDF form, the lowest form of life on the internet. Considering all the dynamic tools now available, and the urgency for ISAF to improve sailing's reputation as a fan-friendly Olympic event, it is stunning how badly the world governing body for the sport of sailing is handling the online portion of this Olympic test event. BACKGROUND: The 2011 Weymouth and Portland International Regatta is designed to test the Olympic sailing venue and its operations in advance of the 2012 Games. Racing for the ten Olympic sailing events is August 2-13, where 325 entries representing 135 countries will compete across five courses on Portland Harbor and Weymouth Bay. Consistent with the Olympic Games, each country is allowed just one representative in each event. HURRY UP AND WAIT - THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE OLYMPICS By Dean Brenner, Chairman, U.S. Olympic Sailing As we (slowly!) ease our way into the racing here at 2011 Test Event, I'm reminded of the single biggest difference that always surprises first-time Games participants. To quote my friend and two-time Olympian Tim Wadlow, "there is a shocking amount of down time at the Olympics." How many other one-design regattas can you think of that last two weeks? I can't think of any. But that's how long this Test Event is, and that's how long the Olympic regatta will be next year. This translates into more off days than normal, and this can be frustrating for people not used to it. There's just more time to fill off the water, especially if the wind gods don't cooperate. This is where your team's off-the-water support system can really pay big dividends. If you do a good job creating a culture people feel good about... if you do a good job creating comfortable space to hang in... if you do a good job choosing the correct personalities that your team will want to spend time with... if you do all these things well, the time off the water can be a lot more productive and a lot less tedious. And if you do it well, then when your sailors go back on the water, they do so with a great frame of mind. In our program, we always remind people that everything we do is connected to everything else we do, and all the different parts of the program matter. Everything has an impact on how the team does on the water. Hurry up and wait... that's the new wrinkle when you come the Test Event or the Games. And the sailors and the team as a whole have to have a plan and a method for dealing with this new reality. -- http://usstag.blogspot.com/2011/08/hurry-up-and-wait.html QUOTE / UNQUOTE "I think in sports where referees (or some form of an official) enforce the rules, there is an attitude to push to the limit what the referees allow with no recourse for the competitors to call fouls that they see. Our sport takes away the referees and forces us all to constantly play the game to the same standard, otherwise our fellow competitors can and will call us on our actions." -- Tracy Usher, winner of the Peter Barrett Sportsmanship Trophy at the 2011 U.S. Singlehanded Championship: http://tinyurl.com/US-Sailing-080411 AN IDEAL FAMILY DAY BOAT Looking for a beautiful, fast, easily handled daysailer? Look no further than this stunning Mark Mills design, the md35 from Summit Yachts. The standard teak deck, electric main sheet winch, and retractable sprit make this an ideal family day boat. The md35 makes a great PHRF and one design race boat as well. Easily transported and stored with its available custom trailer, this boat ticks off just about anyone's wish list for the ideal family boat. Check this out as well as the complete line of Summit Yachts at http://www.summit-yachts.com SAILING SHORTS * San Francisco, CA (August 3, 2011) - With 25 knots registering on the committee boat the Laser Slalom 2011 fleet hit the water for the wildest ride on the Bay, the St Francis Yacht Club's Heavy Weather Slalom event, presented by Laser Performance and Maclaren. Racing began about 1pm in a flood tide and white caps, with the finals seeing Peter Shope and Ben Richardson (both USA) going head to head for four exhausting races. Shope prevailed, with third going to Scott Ferguson who was also recognized for a phenomenal crash that catapulted him some two boat lengths off his stern. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/SailBlast-080411 * US SAILING wants to learn more about sailors around the country. They have developed a short survey to help gather information about sailors' interests and what they know about US SAILING's programs and services. US SAILING members and non-members are encouraged to participate. Please take five minutes to complete this survey and help US SAILING expand its contributions to the sport: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/US_SAILING_Non-Member_Survey * Complementing its global TV 6-part series and programming platform, and the live TV coverage at each of the four previous worldwide Acts, the Extreme Sailing Series Act 5 from Cowes will also be broadcast live. Three days of enhanced 'LiveTV' coverage (7-9 August), will be complemented by four further days of a more basic 'WEBcam' product, allowing all seven days of racing to be watched from around the world. With strong winds forecast in this notoriously challenging venue, some of the best sailors in the world from 15 different nations will battle it out for Act 5 honours in front of a worldwide audience. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/ESS-080411 * From September 9 to October 19, 2011, US SAILING will hold its annual election to fill three seats on its Board of Directors. The nominees for the Board of Directors - Bruce Burton, Bruce Cook and Dawn Riley - will vie to fill two slots on the Board. Nominated by the House of Delegates and running unopposed for a three-year term is George Hinman. Online voting begins on September 9. Details: http://tinyurl.com/BOD-072711 * Brewer's Yacht Haven West (Stamford, CT), one of the Northeast's largest full-service marinas with a boatyard for major winter storage, will shut down in the fall after losing its lease from a developer that plans to remediate and develop the land, according to a report from the Stamford Advocate. Unable to gain an extended lease or purchase the 14-acre site, Jack Brewer said he was told by Norwalk-based Building, Land & Technology two months ago that the boatyard must be off the property by Oct 31. -- Boating Industry, read on: http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?id=2811421 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include high fives, new launches, sweet sailing, bad endings, brilliant solutions, self preservation, and seriously big ideas. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0805/ 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 New Zealand's Ross Field and his son Campbell are best known for their individual exploits in the Volvo Ocean Race, but they have now teamed up to compete in the double-handed, Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR). Beginning in Mallorca, Spain on September 25th, ten doublehanded Class40 teams will start this five-leg circumnavigation race. And while the Fields are short on Class40 sailing time, they are extremely long in the experience needed for this type of contest. This week's video is a short documentary of the Field's GOR campaign: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/11/0805/ BONUS: When a fleet of youth sailors set out on San Francisco Bay, caution is advised. And when they set out for a race around Alcatraz Island, concern is warranted. But when the fleet had just completed the T293 World Championship, this was an award they had earned. Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/svk1pp#p/u/0/shW0xCuOUEE BONUS: In July, twelve elite youth teams competed in the Governor's Cup International Junior Match Racing Championship, hosted by Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar, CA. The finals proved to be an all American event, with the San Diego Yacht Club team of Nevin Snow, Jake LaDow, and Jake Reynolds taking the title over local Newport Harbor Yacht Club. Here is a video from the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfrUbgJhyXQ BONUS: If you have a pair of Red/Cyan 3D glasses, this video from Brian Karr and Rockledge Productions will bring you onboard a Vectorworks Falcon F16 catamaran for the Daytona Beach Summer Sizzler Regatta: http://vimeo.com/27076895 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 Robbie Ferron, Sint Maarten: The discussion about "having fun" initiated by Peter Isler in Scuttlebutt 3396 is distorted by his own ability to have fun. He clearly manages this very easily and I can attest to that. Others do not and are content to be close to others having fun or be content on finding excuses as to why they could not have fun. In fact , the discussion on "fun", is quite funny. Here in Sint Maarten, our annual Heineken Regatta has for the past thirty years used the slogan "serious fun" and we plan to continue using it for many years. Unfortunately it is interpreted in very many ways! Some people even think being serious is fun. Others interpret it as total fun and abandonment tackled in the most serious way possible which means never being serous! Personally I am having lots of fun talking about fun * From Dobbs Davis: In regard to Scuttlebutt 3398...like it or not... Stadium Sailing is here to stay. The advent of new technologies in gathering and transmitting images from onboard to your screen only goes so far in conveying the visceral excitement of highly-competitive sailing, especially to non-sailing audiences, so spectator-friendly formats will be important to expand awareness of the game. This is vitally important for media and sponsors, who usually won't have a clue about the nuances of the sport, but whose interest is important to foster the growth and development of the sport. Next weekend in Chicago will be an excellent example of this in action: at the largest tourist attraction in America's third largest city there will be bleachers set up at the east end of Navy Pier and live commentary provided to watch ten teams from five nations duke it out in the first event of the US GRAND SLAM match race series, the Chicago Grade 2 Invitational. This will be another great opportunity to have the public see competitive sailing, up close and personal. * From David Fuller, YachtSponsorship.com: It's going to be interesting to see the finished product, but it probably won't be super slick in Cascais. The hard part is putting it all together from a moving platform - that is quite hard to do, but it's a kind of geeky thing. No matter what the technology boffins create, the real secret will lie in the commentary. Will the live explanation of the graphics be able to educate and entertain? Good business people know that expectation management is key to how people feel about the product. The media people at ACEA have talked up the TV so much that we are all expecting something mind-blowing, but in actual fact, it will be an evolution rather than a revolution. We wait with interest to see what they come up with, but all the graphics in the world will mean nothing if no-one sees it. THANK YOU! It is the attempt for every edition of the Scuttlebutt newsletter to have something for everybody. As founding editor Tom Leweck would explain, the newsletter should be like a buffet table. And at the end of every good buffet table is desert, or for Scuttlebutt, the Curmudgeon's Observation. This newsletter feature has several 'elves' that regularly submit these kernels of counsel. These supporters are not thanked enough, so to all of you... and you know who you are... thank you! - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Any argument carried far enough will end up in semantics. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - Doyle Sails - Melges Performance Sailboats - North Sails SailFast - Morris Yachts - Team One Newport - LaserPerformance Ullman Sails - West Marine - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Summit Yachts Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
