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SCUTTLEBUTT 2354– May 30, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). RUMORS AND PREDICTIONS Former Team New Zealand and Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts believes Team New Zealand has the better boat heading into the Louis Vuitton Cup final with Luna Rossa. Coutts said the black boat looks good for the light Valencia conditions, with a distinct advantage in downwind boat speed. He is confident if the sailing team gets it right, the Italians will have their work cut out for them when racing starts. Coutts said if Dean Barker and the crew at the back of the boat sail as well as everyone knows they can, then they will be more than a match for Luna Rossa. He also believes Team New Zealand has the edge in terms of equipment and personnel. -- NZ Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10442465 * Pollster: The Scuttlebutt poll is presently siding with Coutts, as 53% of the vote is casting their confidence behind Emirates Team New Zealand. Is this how you feel? Cast your vote at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/polls/07/0524 * No love: Coutts thinks the Italian entry will lose, the ‘buttheads thinks so too, and now the Luna Rossa helm James Spithill is now not getting much love from his country. Australian fans will NOT be seeing any of the Louis Vuitton Cup final live on TV. Fox Sports, which holds the Australian rights, will run a highlights package of the LV final afterwards on June 14. However, Fox Sports’ current plan is to provide live coverage of the America ’s Cup match, which begins on June 23rd. * Rumorville: America's Cup yachting defender Alinghi is reported to have broken its rudder while sailing off cup venue Valencia. The Swiss syndicate, which won the cup off Team New Zealand in Auckland four years ago, would not comment on the breakage. Reports out of Spain say it was the rudder. This is the second time in a week Alinghi has been linked to a training mishap. -- NZ Herald: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=106&objectid=10442636 CHALLENGER FINALS Racing begins June 1st (best of 9 series) 1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ = 0 3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ = 0 -- Complete schedule: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php HISTORY OF TWO TEAMS * New Zealand: The thread of New Zealand's America's Cup involvement goes all the way back to 1987 and Fremantle, Australia. Auckland merchant banker Sir Michael Fay supported New Zealand's challenges in 1987, 1988 and 1992, and could have won at his country's first attempt. Had his team, KZ-7, overcome Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes and its skipper hell-bent on winning back the cup he had lost in 1983, then the Kiwis would had beaten the defending Kookaburra team, too. When Fay bowed out following the disappointment of 1992, Sir Peter Blake stepped up to lead Team New Zealand (TNZ), having won the Whitbread Round the World Race with Steinlager II and set a new Jules Verne circumnavigation record with Enza. With Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth and others at Alinghi, TNZ won the America's Cup in San Diego. -- Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/yqwzab * Italy: It was almost a throwaway remark from Argentine yacht designer German Frers to Patrizio Bertelli, boss of the Prada fashion empire, but it got taken seriously. Discussing a proposal of what was to become of his 107ft high-performance cruising boat Ulisse, Frers asked: "Have you thought about the America's Cup?" So the Prada team were born, good enough to go all the way through the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger trials in Auckland in 2000 and sail Team New Zealand for the cup. But after an epic challenger final against Paul Cayard's AmericaOne, Prada were no match for the Kiwis. It was not so happy second time around, when Prada failed to get close to their previous success, never mind surpass it. Eyebrows were hardly raised when, at the end of the fruitless 2003 campaign in Auckland, Bertelli vowed "never again". What he did not count on was the persistence of his skipper, Francesco de Angelis. -- Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/yvocq4 PURE TECHNOLOGY. When talking about technological advancements in marine electronics… look no further. Ockam leads the way in sailing instrument technology by utilizing an advanced scientific approach to ensure the most reliable and accurate real-time data available. The powerful Tryad processor allows for easy sensor input calibration and processes information in 3D using pitch and roll. Tryad now has the ability to log all your data in its flash memory without an onboard PC. The new Matryx II graphical display uses transflective LCD technology to deliver crystal clear information, strip-charts and system control. OCKAM: a distinct competitive advantage. For information, contact mailto:sales@ockam.com COLLEGE NATIONALS Annapolis, Md. (May 29, 2007) - St. Mary's College (St. Mary's City, Md.) has won their second Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) national championship in less than a week as competition for the ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship (May 27-29) wrapped up Tuesday at the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.). Just days ago, the Lady Seahawks dominated the racing to win the ICSA Women's National Championship at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.), before the action relocated to Annapolis where the US Naval Academy is hosting the final two events in college sailing's spring tripleheader (the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championship will run May 30-June 1). This is the fourth ICSA Team Race National Championship (2004, 2000, 1999) won by the Seahawks. Skipper and crew on the water for St. Mary's were juniors John Loe (Baton Rouge, La.) with Meredith Nordhem (Chicago, Ill.); freshman Jesse Kirkland '10 (Warwick, Bermuda) with graduating senior Hilary Wiech (St. Michael's, Md.); and graduating senior John Howell '07 (Galesville, Md.) with junior Maggie Lumkes (River Forest, Ill.). The final four championship standings: St. Mary's (12-5) followed by Yale (11-6), Hobart (11-5) and Harvard (9-7). -- http://www.collegesailing.org/nas/spring07/teamcoed/teamrace.asp NEW FORMAT The ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship begins May 30th in Annapolis, MD, and for the schools that qualified for the event, they will have to travel a different road in 2008. The annual meeting for the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association last weekend approved a proposal for how schools will be qualifying in the future for the eighteen available slots provided at the Coed Dinghy Nationals. The previous format awarded each of the seven Districts with a set number of slots for the Nationals based on the size of their membership, with these slots then being awarded to the top finishing teams at each of the 7 District Championship events. The new format will have 2 Semi-Final events, where the top 9 schools from each event would then go to the Nationals. The number of schools from each District attending the Semi-Finals will still be based on the size of the District, but it will be less restrictive than the current allotment for the Nationals. As in the past, schools will need to qualify for the available Semi-Final slots through their District Championship. The location of the Semi-Final events will rotate around the country each year, and it will be the national rankings of those schools attending the Semi-Finals that will determine which of the two events that they attend. The result of the new format is likely to heighten the competitiveness of the Coed Dinghy Nationals. Where some Districts are traditionally less competitive than others, they have still had representation at the Nationals. This will likely change, as beginning in 2008, each District is only assured a trip to the Semi-Finals. From there, it will be the top 9 teams - regardless of their District affiliation - that will qualify for the Nationals. * The schools competing in the 2007 ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship are Georgetown, St. Mary's, Navy, Hobart/ WmSmith, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Boston College, Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, Univ. of Washington, Stanford, Charleston, South Florida, Texas A&M Galveston, South Alabama, Brown, and UC Irvine. * Look for online video reports from the Coed Dinghy Nationals on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights at http://www.jobsonsailing.com AND NOW THERE ARE SEVEN Russia will field an entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. Backed by Oleg Zherebtsov, a St Petersburg businessman, the yacht will be skippered by former Austrian Olympic Star sailor Andreas Hanakamp. Michael Woods, who was Director of Race Operations for the 2001-02 race, will manage the team. “We will use the best international resources available to put together a competitive team in the 16 months we have available to design and build the boat and then have full training and sail testing programme,” Hanakamp said. He added that there will be a strong Russian element to the campaign. The team plans to launch their new Volvo Open 70 in April next year to allow a full programme of sail testing and crew training in the North Atlantic before the start in Alicante, Spain in October 2008. Prior to April, the team will use a Volvo Ocean 60 (the former Merit Cup), for crew selection and plans to develop new talent in order to create a crew of youth and experience. The Russian announcement brings the number of confirmed entries in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 to seven. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/ytooaa * Farr Yacht Design (FYD) has been commissioned to research, design and support two Volvo Open 70's for the Pedro Campos-led Spanish entry in the 2008/2009 Volvo Ocean Race. This is the first time that FYD has elected to work for a single program for the Volvo Ocean Race. -- Full release: http://www.farrdesign.com/press%20releases/VOR_May07.htm WE CAME. WE SAW. WE LEARNED. YOU WIN. UK-Halsey was one of just two sailmakers competing in Valencia. Sadly, our boat has been eliminated (they'll be back). Competition at that level raises your game: it certainly raised our's. Much of what we've learned is already showing up on our customers' boats and in their racing results. This isn’t just a trickle-down effect: it’s a deluge. That’s why taking a look at UK-Halsey makes good sense for your next sail quote. Our sailmaker-run lofts are all over the world, building great sails for racers who keep getting better and keep coming back. Contact us at 800-253-2002 or http://www.ukhalsey.com WHERE THE FAGAWI? It was a picture perfect day for sailing. The prevailing winds for yesterday's 36th annual Figawi sailboat race from Hyannis to Nantucket last weekend were strong and the course a classic, according to participants and organizers of the popular event. Competitors agreed. "It was pretty straightforward," said Thomas Zauli, skipper and owner of a Jon Meri 40-foot boat named Stargazer out of Fairhaven. Stargazer was one of more than 200 boats to make the crossing and the second in its class to finish the race. Jibing and grinding their way to Nantucket, the boat's nine-member crew was likely typical in that there was an absence of a typical member. Coming from a variety of professions and originating in places that included Illinois and France, the group could have been selected at random except for one thing. They all loved to sail. As they boarded the sailboat in Hyannis Harbor some crew members were meeting for the first time and their experience sailing was clearly wide-ranging. By day's end they were working together like a well-oiled machine and chumming around like old friends while hanging over the boat's starboard rail. -- Cape Cod Times, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2g9cut => Full results: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0529 PREPPING FOR THE VENDEE GLOBE Portland, Maine -- The Great American III doesn't look much like a world-class sailboat as it undergoes renovations in preparation for the world's ultimate sailing race. Instead, it looks more like a 60-foot shell of fiberglass. But in the next few weeks, the boat will be transformed and launched into Casco Bay as it is readied for the 2008 Vendee Globe, an around-the-world solo race that's held every four years. The Great American III is the second boat to be refitted in Portland for the grueling competition at sea. Not only do Vendee Globe skippers sail by themselves for 25,000 miles, they aren't allowed to stop along the way. The race is about pushing limits and new frontiers. "It embodies the attributes in which Americans pride themselves," said the boat's owner, Rich Wilson, who's from Marblehead, Mass. -- WHDH TV, full story: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO53497/ SAILING SHORTS * A new website called Marine Bargain Hunter is now available on the Internet that seeks out the best bargains on marine equipment, gear and supplies for the online shopper. -- http://marinebargainhunter.com/sb * (New Orleans, LA) Twelve teams with over 100 high school sailors attended the National High School Team Race Championship last weekend, hosted by Southern Yacht Club, The University of New Orleans, and Tulane University on Lake Pontchartrain. Sailed in 420’s, Tabor Academy of Marion, MA won with Dinghy National Champs Newport Harbor High School of Newport Beach, CA in second. -- Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/2d68s9 * Mills Design has been selected by the newly formed Summit Yachts partnership of George Carabetta and Barry Carroll to draw their new IRC 40’ Cruiser/ Racer to be built by King Marine in Argentina, which also built Desafío Español 2007 for the Spanish America’s Cup challenger, as well as the IRC 66 Blue Yankee and a series of the latest carbon-fiber TP 52’s and GP42’s. Summit Yachts hopes the new boat will debut at Key West Race Week this January. -- http://www.mills-design.com/King401.htm * The Laser Atlantic Coast Championships were sailed this past weekend at the US Sailing Center - Martin County, in Jensen Beach, FL, with 23 Full Rigs, 47 Radials, and 28 4.7s. The Full Rig fleet was won in the last race by Apprentice Master Ernesto Rodriguez of Miami, FL, after third place finisher Fred Strammer retired from the last race for fouling Rodriguez at the last leeward mark. The Radial Fleet was won by Colin Smith of Lauderdale Yacht Club, while the 4.7 fleet was taken by Edgar Diminich from Vero Beach, Florida. Full scores can be found at http://tinyurl.com/2yfln4 MARKETING YOUR EVENT Gaining online exposure is an important tool in the event marketer’s toolbox, and one of the easiest ways is to post events on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar. The calendar’s database is shared by several sources, furthering its reach beyond the land of the ‘buttheads. Look for the latest events, and to learn how to post your own event, at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 Paul Stipley: It will be interesting to note for the next America’s Cup if teams find the national approach to be more marketable. After the citizenship rules were eliminated, the arms race for talent was on. However, it seems like a few teams this go have found support by hosting more sailors from the country of the club they are representing. BMW Oracle has gotten trashed for not be more American, while the other semi-finalists seemed to get more support by having more of their countryman aboard. The latest from the British team sounds like they are hoping onto this bandwagon. The event is about marketing now, and I would love to see the event swing back toward this feature. * From Brent Boyd: Yeah I am an old fart, but the best AC racing I have seen was between countries bashing it out against each other and the Fremantle Doctor. Wind, waves, with sails and equipment breaking in the quest to win the Cup. All the technology has actually detracted from the fun and excitement of racing. Sometimes the outcome can be predicted halfway up the first leg. With the narrow wind limits of eight to eighteen knots or no sailing, there are no sail changes or real pressure on the rigs a broken piece of carbon fiber at the spreader is now a big deal. I would like to see Larry Ellison put together an all-American Crew and take back the America’s Cup can you raise to the challenge Larry? * From Susan Chasm: Looking at all the boats at the Breitling Regatta, and all the courses that must host all these Olympic classes, I really wonder how good the racing can be at these European events. Throw in the lights winds, how can these events come close to representing the kind of sailing that should be emblematic of Olympic competition? Seems like there has gotten to be fleets overlapping with each other, and race committees unable to adjust courses to match the changes in the wind direction. Too bad all races can’t be in Miami, FL in the winter and Long Beach, CA in the summer. * From John Timmons: It was really neat to hear the comments (in Issue 2353) by Adrienne Patterson, the College Female Sailor of the Year. The loss of her mom seems to have allowed Patterson to be her sailing in perspective, and show her what is really important in life might not be those minutes between the start and the finish line. Too bad such lessons need to be so costly. * From Ray Tostado: Open airwaves of on deck activity seems a bit too much as entertainment goes. What exactly would benefit the viewer? It has received very little support from football viewers as to what goes on in the huddle. Sort of like watching a staged Hollywood football classic. Knowing it is being broadcast will change what is being said. And then there is the problem of language. Would there be subtitles, or live translation? The Kiwis sort of speak English; but are the Italians, Spanish, obligated under contract to converse in English? How much voice delay would cover up the occasional vulgar epitaph? On deck mikes would be drenched with ambient noise. Would intercom chatter be subject to competition eavesdropping? Me, I'd like to see tighter coverage of the mechanisms the crew are engaged in. Having spent decades setting up cameras on boats, I say that the coverage is only using about 50% of the conventional visual vocabulary available. I cannot feel excited about a wide shot of afterguard clustered around grinders. There are a lot of exciting camera angles being ignored in the presentation. But out of respect, I will say that what is available is good. It is tough to edit live coverage as well. It took the golf tours 4 decades to get their act together and present a comprehensive coverage TV format. There is no shame in hanging a 5-minute time delay into the show. Remember, it's still just a show to the viewers. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION You might be a sailing bum if you'd marry a girl just to keep a good foredeck person. Special thanks to Ockam Instruments and UK-Halsey Sails. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
