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SCUTTLEBUTT 3077 - Friday, April 23, 2010Scuttlebutt 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. Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/facebook Today’s sponsors: Camet and Flexofold. OLYMPIC MEDAL RACE AND TELEVISION By Paul Pascoe Following the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, where there was very little coverage of sailing, three requests were made to ISAF from the TV Producers that led to the development of the Medal Race in sailing, and its introduction at the 2008 Olympic Games in Qingdao, China. 1) The first was that people only want to watch "finals", so TV are really only interested in televising the last race live, and sailing had previously scheduled several events final races at the same time. So the first request was to reschedule so that each final race was at a different time (easy done!). 2) The second request was that they wanted to see the winner of the Gold Medal cross the finish line in the final race, race their hands in triumph and celebrate as is the case in every other sport. The requirement was not that they win the race, but that they be on the race course and cross the line with the commentator saying things like "AUS needs to finish better than 4th to secure the Gold Medal", which is similar to what happens in the Decathlon where an athlete needs to "finish in under 4:15 to secure the Gold Medal". It was never a requirement from TV that the Gold goes to the winner of the medal race. This led to the change that you could not drop the last race. 3) The third requirement was that "we don't want to have to wait five hours for a protest hearing before we can pronounce the winner". To accomplish this third request, direct on-water judging was proposed for the Medal Race. Obviously this is difficult in a fleet of 30 Lasers, so a manageable number of 10 for the final race seemed a reasonable compromise. However, that then meant that if a person was more than 10 points in front, they couldn't be beaten assuming a DNF was only 11 points, so there was lots of discussion regarding what should a DNF be scored, or if there should be some weighting on the Medal Race scores. Yours truly went and rescored the previous three Olympics with one race to go, and in only one occasion (2004 470 Women) had a team been more than 20 points in front going into the last race. Triple points was a strong contender but it was felt that this would be difficult to get through politically. So double points was introduced and unfortunately as is always the case, at the 2008 Games another team (470 Men) finished more than 20 points in front, but were still required to sail the race which they did and duly won, so the TV guys were happy. However, it had been decided that even though there was on-water judging, that competitors should still be allowed to submit a request for redress. And of course, there were duly two requests for redress on Medal Races in 2008, with one that could affect the medals in the 49er. So unfortunately for two events in 2008, the final results had to wait for protests, defeating the whole purpose of the exercise. I believe the latest ISAF decision to deny redress (for specific events such as the Medal Race) is therefore just a push to try and get the results to be decided on the water rather than in the protest room, with results flashed up onto the screen immediately and not something that says "come back in three hours, or maybe tomorrow when we might have the results". -- Scuttlebutt Forum, http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9672#9672 THE AMAZING RACE - OLYMPIC VERSION European travel is a necessary evil for the aspiring Olympic athletes from North American, but the spread of Iceland’s volcanic ash has made it significantly more evil for the sailors trying to get to Hyeres, France for the Semaine Olympique Francaise (April 25-30) - one of the major regattas in the international Olympic sailing circuit and the fourth of seven events in the 2009-10 ISAF Sailing World Cup series. With over 700 sailing teams expected, the disruption of airline travel will keep Americans Rob Crane and Clay Johnson (Laser), Peet Must/ Carl Horrocks (49er), Rick Doerr’s team (Sonar), and John Ruf (2.4mR) from attending. For the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics members that were able to get to Hyeres in time for the start on Sunday, it was like a leg from The Amazing Race reality television show: Sarah Chin, Women’s 470: “Well, Amanda and I finally made it to Nice airport! Only took 30 hours of travel! I really thought this trip would never come to fruition after the events of the past 7 days. Between the two of us we experienced 5 cancelled flights before finally finding an itinerary that would work: we visited three continents in order to get to Hyères! New York-Miami-Caracas, Venezuela-Madrid-Nice. But we are here and that is all that matters now. And we are ready to compete.....now if only my bag would arrive (was a no-show at the baggage claim in Nice)! The airline thinks it's stuck in Madrid and will hopefully deliver it tomorrow (Friday).” Zach Railey, Finn: “Kenneth [Andreasen] and I flew to Atlanta and then to Madrid and then had to buy tickets on another airline to get to Barcelona. That’s as close as we could get to Hyères. Debbie [Capozzi] met us in Barcelona and we waited for Bryan Boyd to drive up from Valencia where he was training. All four of us then piled into the car with all our gear and boats in tow and made it to Hyères after a 7 hour drive!! Finally here and had the first day sailing. I’m glad we got lucky and were able to make it.” Event website: http://sof.ffvoile.net/ USSTAG: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Events/World_Cup/SOF_2010.htm CAMET’S 2010 MUST HAVE CLOTHING: The Nantucket shorts are the best looking, top quality shorts with a New England style. Made of lightweight nylon fabric for fast drying and comfort, reinforced with an abrasion resistant seat pocket. Optional foam pad insert. The shorts feature two side cargo pockets with a Velcro® closure flap and two deep inside pockets. With the great success of the Wahine in Silver, we have decided to add a new color to the line! The addition of Slate Grey will allow teams to purchase both men’s and women’s team gear. The Wahine and Martinique are a big step forward in the design of women’s clothing. http://www.camet.com GROWING THE SPORT A frequent Scuttlebutt thread is in how to grow the sport. But people must become sailors before they can become racers, and it is in Annapolis, MD where a program is providing the means for a “no strings attached” opportunity to get the local community on the water. Read on: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Zoe Smith, Frank Callahan, and Iulian Pogor laughed and joked with the familiarity of old friends as they walked along the Annapolis City Dock after an afternoon of sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. The three didn't know each other prior to Sunday, but a four-hour complimentary sailing lesson provided by Annapolis Community Boating helped them forge an instant bond. "It's about getting to know new people and team-building," said Pogor, a financial analyst based in Annapolis. The group was among the first 16 of the season to take advantage of FreeSail, four-hour free sailing lessons, which run every Sunday until the first week of October. In its second year, FreeSail has exposed more than 450 people to sailing. The program is offered in conjunction with Annapolis Community Boating and the National Sailing Hall of Fame. Participants are eligible for one session to allow more people to take advantage of the program. The goal of the program is to expose newcomers and sailors of all levels to the water with the hope that they will continue with the sport."We want to get people out on the water," said Susan Taylor, one of the organizers of the activity. "It gives them a taste of it without having to spend the money." -- The Baltimore Sun, full story: http://tinyurl.com/3ypngyr COLLEGE NATIONALS The 2010 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Spring National Championship will be held in Madison, WI on May 25 - June 3 to decide the Dinghy, Team Race, and Women’s champions. The teams that will qualify for the Dinghy championship must first succeed at the Semi-Finals, where the top nine teams from each event will advance to the finals in Madison. Here are the teams that qualified for the two ICSA National Dinghy Semi-Final events to be held May 1-2, 2010: ICSA National Dinghy Western Semi-Finals at Seattle, Washington Hosted by the University of Washington MAISA: St. Mary's, NY Maritime, Hobart & William Smith, Old Dominion NEISA: Yale, Roger Williams, Harvard, Salve Regina PCCSC: Stanford, UC Irvine MCSA: Minnesota, Saint Thomas, Notre Dame NWICSA: Washington SAISA: Eckerd, Miami SEISA: Tulane, Texas Event website: http://collegesailing.org/nwicsa/semis/ ------------ ICSA National Dinghy Western Semi-Finals at Charleston, SC Hosted by College of Charleston MAISA: Georgetown, Navy, Washington College, Kings Point NEISA: Boston College, Brown, Tufts, Vermont PCCSC: USC, Hawaii MCSA: Wisconsin, Northwestern NWICSA: Oregon SAISA: South Florida, Charleston, Florida SEISA: Texas A&M Galveston, Texas A&M Event website: http://collegesailing.org/saisa/2010semis Nationals website: http://collegesailing.org/nas/spring10/champs/index.html SAILING SHORTS * Announcements regarding the next America's Cup will be made in May but neither the date nor the location have yet been decided, New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts of defending champions Oracle said Thursday. "We have had several consultations for the 34th edition, namely over the design of the boats and we are very close to making a public announcement over the Cup next month," he told AFP. "It will be in 2013 or 2014. As for the location, everything is still open. San Francisco is appealing, but other sites in the United States and elsewhere in the world are as well," he added. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/38v7lce * Australian Olympian and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Chris Nicholson has been announced by Emirates Team New Zealand as skipper of Camper’s entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. Nicholson will be joined by the current world match racing champion, New Zealander Adam Minoprio. The boat will designed by Botin Carkeek in collaboration with Emirates Team New Zealand. Marcelino Botin is principal designer for Emirates Team New Zealand. The start of the build is planned for August this year in Auckland; after sea trials early next year the yacht will be shipped to Spain. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/28vzxx5 * (April 22, 2010; Day 2) - Racing at the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds was canned today, halfway through the first race of the day. Disappointing for all involved - the race committee that had worked hard to get the course in place, the competing crews that had waited patiently for the wind to settle and Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, owner of Transfusion (AUS), whose crew had chiseled out a handy lead in what racing there was. Going into day three, with positions unchanged, Transfusion leads Barking Mad, Jim Richardson (USA), and Nerone, Massimo Mezzarona/Alberto Signorini (ITA). Racing concludes Saturday.-- Full report: http://www.regattanews.com/pressrelease.asp?pid=100282&lang=1 * Corpus Christi, TX (April 22, 2010) - Despite the chaos that the Icelandic volcano ash caused, nearly 40 competitors are competing this week at the 2010 International Kiteboard Association Course Racing World Championship. The event is taking place in conjunction with the Texas Boat show, which is attracting several thousand spectators. The races will be held off McGee Beach and continue until Sunday, April 25. -- Event website: http://2010ikaworlds.sailspace.net/ * (April 22, 2010; Day 3) - Following the race start on Tuesday in San Francisco, the serious business of racing is well underway among the nine crews of the Clipper 09-10 fleet. An inshore and offshore divide has occurred, with 5 meter waves and winds up to 40 knots being reported. Quickly gaining top form is leader Team Finland riding the inshore route, perhaps benefiting from their short 36 hour layover in San Francisco as opposed to the three week stop by the majority of the fleet. Leaders are expected to arrive in Panama around May 11th before commencing their 591-mile sprint to Jamaica. -- Event website: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/ * The first quarter of 2010 ended with U.S. brokerage sailboat sales outperforming the first quarter of 2009 both in the number of boats sold and the total valuation of those boats. According to sales reported by yacht brokerage members of YachtWorld.com, unit sales increased from 938 boats in 2009 to 1235 boats in 2010, a 32 percent gain. Valuation of the sales increased even more, by 47 percent, from $66 million to $97 million. -- Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/0421/ PERFORMANCE MATTERS Under sail or under power; daysailing, cruising or racing - performance matters. The single most important thing you can do to improve the performance of your boat is to change to a low-drag, high-thrust Flexofold propeller. The attention to design and manufacturing details is apparent at first look. Relentlessly refined for maximum efficiency under power and lowest drag under sail -Sail faster & further, motor at lower RPM with a Flexofold sailboat propeller. Click the link for more information: http://tinyurl.com/FlexoFold-scuttlebutt PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include trans-Atlantic sailing, Clipper sailing, P-Ville sailing, backyard sailing, busted sailing, haphazard sailing, replacement sailing, cold sailing, and fashionable sailing. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/10/0423/ * World's Most Beautiful Women In Kitesurfing: http://tinyurl.com/ycfjyat * World's Most Beautiful Women in Windsurfing: http://tinyurl.com/2u7vea2 * Photog Jurg Kaufmann iphone app photo gallery: http://tinyurl.com/393o39d 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 Getting excited about Olympic sailing can be a challenge. Much of the equipment isn’t used in North America, and dinghy sailing typically languishes in the shadow of the America’s Cup and other grand prix keelboat events. Plus the Olympics come only every fourth year. But the Olympic trail is exciting, so the challenge then becomes how to leverage the available tools so as to share the athletes and their experiences with the sailing audience. This week’s video takes a big step in the right direction, providing an open window to this world, and introducing the current roster of athletes that comprise the U.S. SAILING Team Alphagraphics. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/10/0423/ SICK DAY: The latest LaserPerformance ad campaign says, “If you’re planning on taking a sick day, make it a really sick day.” Their ad in Sailing World magazine features LaserPerformance’s production manager Joel Hanneman calling in “sick” to take advantage of epic sailing conditions. While this video is not from the photo shoot, it could have been as these Laser sailors take on 30-35 knots on the route Rockingham to Fremantle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xKpMiFfaVU AMERICA’S CUP: The America’s Cup trophy continues to make the rounds, last week greeting the attendees at the Strictly Sail Pacific boat show in Oakland, CA. This show is on San Francisco Bay, and everyone in attendance really wants to see it stick around and host the 34th Match there as well. If you are one of the other cities vying for the event, here are the people you are competing against: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP4zH0YNS4s CLIPPER CUP: The fleet of nine 68-footers that are competing in the Clipper 09-10 Round The World Yacht Race enjoyed a three week stopover in San Francisco, restarting this week on their leg through the Panama Canal to the leg finish in Jamaica. Here is a video by Sergei Zavarin from the start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQlc2e8DtL4 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 LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Chad M Lyons, Branford, CT: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3076) The story about Olympic Windsurfer Kimberly Birkenfeld's court battle fell short on accuracy. She was offered $500,000NZ (the maximum set by the NZ court) or approximately $700,000USD. That is a fraction of the $15M she sued for. This story (from stuff.co.nz) added insult to injury by suggesting that she refused "the full amount". Get it right. * From Zvi Ziblat, I.J. (ISR): In response to Jos Spijkerman redress issue in #3076, may I differ with Jos unhappiness on deleting redress at the Medal Race in the Olympic sailing games. Studying other sports, and maybe someone will prove me wrong, I couldn't find redress given in any. How unjust it might seem in the Marathon if the leader is tripped on his last 10 meters to the finish after running more than 42 kilometers, be it by accident or let's make it more interesting, on purpose. There is no redress. No one will give him a medal. We all will mutter "tough life" and go on, so why should sailing be different; why not take away redress away altogether? * From Paul P. Nardone, Jr: (re, commentary in Scuttlebutt 3075) A comment about Owen Muyt's decision to take the protest into his own hands is unsportsmanlike like. Either put the protest flag up, call for turns, or protest the other boat in the room or just sail on and don't dwell on it. To be a bully and take someone's trophy is totally unsportsmanlike like and he should disqualify himself under Rule # 1 * From Charles Smith: In regards to the article PLAY BY THE RULES OR LOSE YOUR WINE by Owen Muyt, we all can relate to what we believe are infringements and competitors getting away with a situation if no one else saw the infringement despite repeated calls to do turns. But we keep patting ourselves on the back and bragging about how our sport is "self policing". One of the downsides to that is that it is self policing. You get to be a policeman and prosecuting attorney. Instead of a penalty of one bottle of wine being confiscated or stolen, depending on your point of view, out of several that were awarded, somebody should have cowboyed up and put in the protest and waited for the hearing and given evidence and kept the crew sober enough to testify and put up with the peer pressure from the rest of the fleet to let it go so we can have prize giving. Who wanted to be a cop anyways? We all have to make the not socially insignificant effort to enforce the rules. Even if you lose the protest due to lack of witnesses I'll bet that the hotshot will think a little longer next time about tacking or ducking. And if not then maybe somebody else will pull on their big girl panties and get him into the room. Sooner or later he has to learn. We are self policing and therefore we get the rules observance we deserve. * From Michael H. Koster: (Regarding J class boats, pros and safety) I wonder if there is any empirical evidence out there to support the notion that having professionals on board a racing sailboat is safer than a boat raced with an amateur crew as some of your letter writers seem to suggest. I have been racing for over 25 years and the only time a boat I have raced on ran aground or hit rocks was when a professional(s) was onboard. One of those times resulted in personal injury (2 cracked ribs). I would hypothesize that because pros do not pay any of the boat's bills coupled with their desire to win so that they can market a favorable outcome results in a higher level of risk taking that owners and amateurs are less likely to take. * From Chris Mitchell, Auckland, NZL: After reading about the J Class crews being professional or not, I just want to say they are very big dangerous boats carrying huge loads easily capable of killing people with only moderate levels of crew error or equipment failure. I want to encourage sailing as much as anyone else, but these boats are unsuitable for sailing by amateur crews. I would love to sail on one, but I would want a professional crew all around me to save my sorry arse in event of a snafu. I suppose there is debate about what is and isn't a professional crew, but in this case I think it sounds like a dispute between people that has become public, when it should remain private. Maybe you could end this thread? CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" - Albert Einstein Special thanks to Camet and Flexofold. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
