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SCUTTLEBUTT 2558 – March 21, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. REGARDING MANDATORY MEMBERSHIP by Jim Capron, President, US SAILING There has been a lot of discussion in recent days about a possible new requirement for active racing sailors to join US SAILING. The requirement would be a new US SAILING Prescription to the 2009-2012 Racing Rules of Sailing. In essence, the rule would require skippers and anyone steering the boat to be members of US SAILING, but only in races above a certain level. It is NOT our intention to require beginning sailors to be members, nor is it our intention to have this rule apply to racing at local clubs or sailing centers open primarily to their sailors. As the national governing body for the sport, US SAILING creates, organizes and administers the many programs that provide a level playing field to racing sailors throughout the country. We train and certify judges and race officers, administer the racing rules, decide appeals and resolve disputes. For offshore racers, US SAILING provides rating certificates and administers the rating systems that open up racing to various types and sizes of boats. We rely on our members to help us maintain and administer these programs. Most of the competitive sailors I ask agree that racing sailors ‘should’ be members of US SAILING to support the sport, but balk at any notion that racing sailors ‘must’ join US SAILING. Many of those who admit they ‘should’ support US SAILING do not join. The reality is that we spend a lot of time and energy into trying to convince nonmembers to join, or convince existing members to rejoin the following year. Mandatory membership in the national authority is common practice for other sports in the United States, and it is certainly the norm with other sailing governing bodies abroad. For other countries, universal membership or support is mandated either directly by the NGB or its government sports agency, or through club or association dues. Either way, a significant majority of racing sailors worldwide contribute to their national authority. US SAILING is one of the few sports which make membership in the NGB voluntary and as a result, a minority ends up supporting the majority. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0320 * Curmudgeon’s Comment: When the 2001-2004 ISAF rulebook was released, there was a new requirement that every competitor had to either be a member of a national authority (such as US Sailing) or a member of a club or other organization affiliated with his or her national authority. This was what led to the creation of Scuttlebutt Sailing Club, which was (and still is) a legitimate, free solution to the requirement. Soon thereafter, US SAILING together with Yachting Australia were able to amend the requirement to the current standard. Interestingly, Yachting Australia has recently revised their stance, and now requires membership in their yachting federation. FRANCE WINS WOMEN’S LASER RADIAL WORLDS Auckland, New Zealand (March 20, 2008) Sarah Steyaert of France has won the 2008 Women's Laser Radial World Championship today after a sensational finish to the regatta when previous leader Lijia Xu of China was disqualified (by the on water judges for body movement) from the final race, ultimately costing her the world title. Steyaert was lying third at the start of the sixth and final day, and went out and won race nine of the championship and then placed 5th in the final race to secure the title. The final day spelt disappointment for Belgium's Evi Van Acker who had a shot at the title at the outset of racing today, lying second overall. In her worst day yet Van Acker recorded a 47th and 20th slipping out of the medals and back to 9th overall. -- Final report: http://events.laserinternational.org/en/events/reports/100z12 Final results (116 boats) 1. FRA, Sarah Steyaert, 6-1-2-2-(36)-(24)-20-3-1-5, 40 2. CHN, Xu Lijia, 3-(DSQ)-1-1-3-30-6-4-(DNF), 49 3. GBR, Andrea Brewster, 9-12-(28)-(17)-10-4-15-9-6-4, 69 4. LTU, Gintare Volungeviciute, 5-(DNF)-23-(28)-4-3-9-20-2-15, 81 5. AUS, Sarah Blanck, 1-4-8-(42)-11-8-28-18-(40)-3, 81 10. USA, Anna Tunnicliffe, 6-(OCS)-1-33-13-(34)-1-18-7, 84 13. USA, Paige Railey, 3-2-(DNF)-7-8-34-4-(45)-DNE-1, 118 31. CAN, Lisa Ross, (37)-14-3-14-20-(55)-22-38-19-33, 163 * Scoring note: When 10 or more races are completed, 2 races scores will be excluded. However no more than one score will be excluded from the finals series races and only when two or more finals series races have been completed. DNE is a disqualification [other than violation of 69.1(b)(2)] not excludable under rule 89.3(b). Complete results: http://events.laserinternational.org/en/events/results/100z12 MEDAL RACE REMAINING FOR EURO OLYMPIC EVENT Palma, Spain (March 20, 2008) The fifth day of racing in the 39th Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE didn’t live up to its expectations. The winds for the Olympic fleets were too strong in the morning, shifty at lunch time and dying in the afternoon, allowing for only 10 races to be completed across all the classes. The 470 men and women had their hope cut short after their race was cancelled after the start. Same fate for the second race in the Finn and Laser radial. The Laser standard fleets didn’t even hit the water. Two races were successfully sailed in the Yngling, Tornado, 49er and RS:X events. Canadian Finn sailor Christopher Cook has been coming on strong, and by rolling a 8-1-1 in his final three races, has moved up to tenth overall, thus qualifying for the final medal race on Friday. Other entrants among the North American contingent that have qualified are in the Finn (3rd, Zach Railey, USA), Yngling (5th, Barkow/Capozzi/Howe, USA), and Laser (9th, Andrew Campbell, USA). Only the top ten in each class are in the medal race, where finish scores are doubled to determine the final results. A light south-westerly reaching 10 knots is expected. Daily report: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/cronicas.php?idiomaz=3¬i=98 Complete results: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/result.php?miclase=470%20Men * US 49er representative Tim Wadlow, on their twelfth place finish: “We waited onshore most of the day because the winds were too strong. We finally got two races in the afternoon, but needed the extra race that was scheduled, but not completed because of the long delays earlier in the day. So we earned ourselves an extra day of rest and preparation leading up to the European Champs. This week we had been using older equipment, and focusing more on developing and testing some new boathandling and tuning ideas, rather than racing for the best possible final result. Next week at the Europeans we will break out our good equipment, and go a bit more 'all out'.” -- http://www.wadlowrast.com DISCOVER THE BEST IN ROLLER FURLING MyBoatsGear.com is a free online magazine dedicated to finding and reviewing the best boating products. The latest newsletter is titled “Roller Furling Headsails” (http://myboatsgear.com/newsletter/2008228.asp). Here you will find tips like what to look for in a roller furler, the pros and cons of the major brands of roller furler, plus you will find tips and cost comparisons and related ideas like how to set a Storm Jib on a roller furler. MyBoatsGear.com is a one-stop, boating gear resource for boaters. Our Aim is to promote boating products in an unbiased format. -- http://www.MyBoatsGear.com "LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED" Coaching on the Olympic level has become as common as telltales on a sail. For the US star team attending the summer Olympic in Qingdao, John Dane and Austin Sperry are no strangers in this department. Among those coaching the Americans is Aussie Rodney Hagebols, who shares some insight into the campaign: * What are some of the challenges you foresee for the Beijing Olympics? HAGEBOLS: Our biggest challenge at the moment is that there are many things we are currently testing in a limited amount of time. The best news is that we have a great benchmark with our testing program, the 8230 boat we won the trials. It is a very fast boat in different wind ranges, and we know this boat and rig package very well. Any gains from where we are at will be very small. Other challenges for the Olympics will be the limited amount of accreditations the team will receive for coaches. So the Trinity team needs to be as self-sufficient as possible going into the Games. Then there are always the food and water issues to make sure the athletes don’t get sick. Being sick in a hot environment can lead to other problems such as dehydration etc. * What do you enjoy most about working with the team? HAGEBOLS: The best thing about this team is that the team is not just Austin and JD. We have three excellent coaches: Hans Wallen, Steve Erickson and myself. We really are a “team” and we are all committed to getting the best result we can in China. We are all currently living in a house in Miami that provides a great forum for bouncing ideas off each other. It is very productive. * What is unique about working with a father and son in-law team? -- Read on: http://austinsperry.com/news?id=7385 AMERICA'S CUP SAILS INTO MURKY WATERS Clarity? Not quite. For all those who might still actually care about the America's Cup after the shortsighted shenanigans of the last nine months, we still do not know when and where sailing's main event will next take place. But at least we do seem clear on the answers to who, why and in what. In the wake of Justice Herman Cahn's latest ruling in the New York State Supreme Court, Alinghi and its owner and crew member, Ernesto Bertarelli, are obliged to accept that their challenger will be BMW Oracle Racing and Lawrence Ellison, its owner and crew member. The yacht of choice will be a multihull, presumably a catamaran. Such a duel, however painful in the birthing, has its charms. Bertarelli and Ellison, once allies with the Cup's modernization in mind, are now old-fashioned antagonists after all the sniping and lawyering. What makes the duel even edgier is that Ellison's new skipper and mastermind is none other than Russell Coutts, the New Zealander who once played the same roles for Bertarelli and is still rightly considered the best Cup sailor of his generation. -- International Herald Tribune, read on: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/20/sports/ARENA.php TRIVIA QUESTION What is America’s Cup defender CEO Ernesto Bertarelli's least favorite movie? (Answer below) SAILING SHORTS * The International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) has announced that the Equipment Evaluation for the One-Person Keelboat and Three-Person Keelboat events will take place in Hyeres, France from April 26-28, following on from the ISAF Grade 1 Semaine Olympique Française. The equipment being tested for the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Sailing Competition will be the N1, FI460, 2.4mR, and High Performance of the Access Liberty for the one-person keelboat, and the Sonar, SB3 Club, and a development of the SKUD18 for the three-person keelboat. The equipment for the two-person keelboat remains the SKUD 18 through to the 2012 Paralympic Sailing Competition. -- Full announcement: http://www.sailing.org/22500.php * Newly revealed America’s Cup Team French Spirit has announced that along with President and team manager Marc Pajot, that Philippe Presti and Bertrand Pacé will also be members of the team. Presti is an active skipper on the World Match Race Tour, and competed in the last Cup with the Luna Rossa Challenge. Bertand has been involved in the last six Cups, most recently with the BMW Oracle Racing team. The Team French Spirit Challenge is made under the burgee of the Yacht Club de Saint Tropez. -- Complete announcement: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5929 * The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) has announced that high-performance line manufacturer Marlow Ropes has been named an Official Sponsor. In addition to becoming an Official Supplier for all of the 2008 ICSA National Championships, the company will sponsor the Marlow USA Award which will annually provide free line and rigging support to an ICSA sailor who is actively campaigning an Olympic class boat. -- Complete announcement: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5930 * Correction: The dates for the Brasil Sailing Cup/ World Match Race Tour listed in Issue 2557 were incorrect. The actual dates are April 22-26, 2008. -- http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include the winner of the Women’s Laser Radial Worlds, some of the new faces with the BMW Oracle Racing team, a Reichel/ Pugh 69-footer under construction, participants from the Harken Women’s International Match Racing Championship, media moguls Peter Montgomery and Rob Mundle on an America’s Cup recon mission, and a sexy, new 12 meter one design. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/0321 TRIPP DESIGN SEEKS NA W/ SE (NVL ARCH W/ SAILING EXP) Tripp Design is experiencing an increased demand for high-end projects and we are looking to expand our team. To join us you will need four years experience in a design office, and your second language shall be Autocad and Solidworks. Intimate knowledge of composite production and composite structural calculations is a must, and FEA experience is a plus. Since we are designing exciting sailboats, having logged countless hours of exciting sailing is in order. Finally, if you enjoy teamwork and fit the Bill, contact us at mailto:jobs@trippdesign.net. To view our designs, visit http://www.trippdesign.net VIDEO OF THE WEEK For better or worse, the sport of sailing has an attached mystique that stems partly from the exclusive clubs that support its participants. We suspect that if everyone trailered their boats to city launch ramps, docked in public marinas, and told sailing stories on park blankets rather than mahogany bar stools, participation would be sky high. Scuttlebutt Sailing Club was a start, but folks still like to socialize, so maybe we need to take a look at how another segment of society handles the club scene: rednecks. Sang by Craig Morgan, here’s the video for the song “Redneck Yacht Club” from the album “My Kind Of Livin'”. 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/08/0317/ 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 Ian Guanaria: In response to the following from Graham Alexander, we in Australia have for several years been required to be a member of our yachting federation and I have never heard of anyone being driven away from sailing. In fact it is a requirement of most clubs that crew also have to be a member if they sail more than 3 races per year. It is a small price to pay, as long as the money is funneled back into our sport. Those of us who sail class boats also have to be a member of the class Association, be it a yacht or dinghy. * From D. B. Tanner: I'm a weekend recreational racer and am already a member of US Sailing and my class association, and think requiring membership by the owner/skipper to race is totally legit. No matter where you race, if it's sanctioned by any organization be it your local yacht club, local, regional or national class association, you should be required to have race insurance on it (which conveniently, is offered to members at a reasonable cost through US Sailing). Wednesday night beer can races aren't generally sanctioned by anybody but the competitors themselves. We're talking about racing here, not a casual tennis game. If you want to race NASTAR (skiing) you sign a release. If you race SCCA (cars) you have to sign a release and be a member. Sailing is the ONLY sport where lowly lake sailors like me can enter an event (for example the NOOD's) and as a member of US Sailing, mix it up (or at least try) with the absolute best pro's in the world. Try to find those kinds of competitive opportunities in skiing, figure skating or tennis. They don't exist. If you want to support the sport, pony up the 60 bucks, save some money on your boat's insurance and raise your sails; let’s go racing. * From Richard Hazelton, Editor 48 ° North Sailing Magazine: I couldn't agree more with those who have expressed their "dislike" of mandatory membership in US Sailing. It would be different if we saw any benefits at the local level where most everyone is racing. The rule book is necessary, but everything else really goes to a small number of top sailors. Of course they need the support, but so do those club racers that are really paying the bills. Yacht clubs are working hard to keep up membership and participation in their events, and to put one more requirement on their members makes it that much harder. Prediction: the clubs will still have the racing, they just won't be connected to US Sailing. * From Ken Legler: Congratulations to Bill Bentsen for the winning the Harman Hawkins Award for contribution to Race Administration. The 1996 racing rules re-write was absolutely ingenious and Bill was a huge part of it. Not long after his Olympic Gold in Solings, Bill was our mentor for a dozen college-aged and slightly above race managers at the new NA Sailing Center on Lake Ontario at Association Island, NY (summers 1974-76). Bill combined expertise, attention to detail, and humor when turning young sailors into professional race managers. Thanks to Bill's wisdom, we not only successfully ran dozens of national and world championships but we helped Bill construct the standard Sailing Instructions used today. The RM techniques of reading wind, squaring courses, starting on time, eliminating general recalls - all skills taught by Bill - have been passed on for over a generation now by those that had the pleasure of working with him. Thanks Bill. * From Al Schreitmueller: (regarding the America’s Cup) In the good old days a "dispute" that has gotten this out of hand would be settled at 40 paces with matched pistols, one on one. In some ways it seems a shame we have gotten away from this. This is no longer about my stable is better than yours. It's "me and you" up personal. Who's "man" enough? Winner or loser - both would go down in history for the guts to get granular. * From John Navas: (re, the loss of s/v Daisy in San Francisco Doublehanded Lightship race) It's all too easy to forget that yacht racing is an extreme and hazardous sport, particularly (as in this case) shorthanded, and that conditions outside San Francisco Bay can be treacherous -- we've lost a number of good, well-sailed boats in the past few years. A friend of mine lost his J/35 in a quite similar way a few years ago, but was lucky enough to survive along with his partner. In this latest incident there was apparently no EPIRB signal, so it's likely there was no automatic EPIRB properly mounted and ready, which might well have alerted the USCG fast enough to save lives. There's been discussion of making EPIRB mandatory in ocean races, but no action thus far, even though cost is now quite reasonable (as little as $500). Hopefully this tragic incident will improve the chances of making EPIRB mandatory in ocean races, preferably automatic EPIRB properly mounted and ready. TRIVIA ANSWER We don’t know if Bertarelli is a “treky”, but if he is, we suspect that the second feature film (1982) based on the Star Trek science fiction television series might hit a little too close to home: “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Andrew Carnegie once said, "Concentrate your energies, your thoughts, and your capital. The wise man puts all his eggs in a basket and watches the basket." That advice works for the kid hunting for Easter eggs too. Happy Easter! Special thanks to MyBoatsGear.com and Tripp Design. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
