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SCUTTLEBUTT 2139 - July 18, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.TIME TO REFLECT (Saturday July 15, 2006) Round-the-world yacht race winner Mike Sanderson was relaxing on his new boat Windward in Westhaven Marina yesterday. With a two-week holiday in New Zealand coming to an end he was preparing to head for Waiheke Island for a quiet night with a book and a glass of wine. A vastly different scenario from the last nine months, where he banged and crashed his way around the world on a 21m yacht living on freeze-dried food. Sitting in his striking Southstar 37, the ABN Amro One skipper admits he has had little time to reflect on his victory. Since the win ABN Amro have announced they will continue for another 18 months. The syndicate's two boats will compete in various regattas. ABN Amro Two is in Chicago for a regatta next weekend while ABN Amro One is being prepared for Cowes Week and the Rolex Maxi Worlds. Sanderson has signed with the team for that time. However, the Dutch Bank has yet to signal whether they will compete in the 2008 race. Looking back on the round-the-world race, Sanderson said the highlight for him was winning the first leg. "For me the first leg is about overall boat speed and preparation. It is no coincidence that the boat that has won the first leg has gone on to win the race, in every race since 1974 or something." Just where that first leg will be in the next race is uncertain. Organisers have announced a series of changes to the race, which is likely to include lucrative stopovers in Asia and the Middle East. Sanderson said the changes had to happen. - by Julie Ash, New Zealand Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10391349 BOYS NOT INVITED (Darien, CT) Brigette Croke, 10, is years from getting her driver's license and the independence that comes with it, but she knows the driver's seat of a sailboat and the feel of the open sea. Controlling the sail and rudder of her Optimist Class Dinghy racing boat, Croke tacked and jibed her way around Long Island Sound yesterday with about 80 girls, ages 9 to 15, looking to improve their sailing skills at the Noroton Yacht Club Optimist Dinghy Racing Clinic for Girls. The clinic was started six years ago by John Hammel, a club member who wanted to give girls a chance to gain confidence and improve skills for sailboat racing, a sport traditionally dominated by boys. Clinic organizers hope it will help develop a broader base of American female sailors who compete. "This is one sport where boys don't have a physical advantage. But at a younger age, boys are more aggressive," said Michael Rudnick of Darien, an organizer. "In a regatta, no one needs to bark to win. They just need to be confident." - by Lauren Klein, The Advocate, full story: http://tinyurl.com/ltact DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME Two Irishmen ran into trouble on Saturday night when they missed their ferry home and stole a fishing trawler to try and sail back across the Irish Sea. Stephen Brennan and John Mahoney stole Le Bon Mawr from Holyhead Harbour's fishing quay after an extended drinking session. Neither knew how to sail the 30ft boat, however. They became totally lost and sent out a mayday call, initiating an extensive air and sea rescue search. After eight hours at sea and an operation costing several thousand pounds, they were located by the Holyhead lifeboat early on Sunday morning. - by Sam Brunner, Practical Boat Owner, full story: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20060617101232pbogeneral.html SAN DIEGO BOAT SHOW Join the J Boat team from JK3 Nautical Enterprises, Inc. this July 20-23 for the San Diego Summer Boat Show! This is a great summer for J Boats, and all who are and want to become J Boat owners. Come down to the Sheraton Hotel & Marina on Harbor Island to check out the J/109 that we will have on display. Looking forward to seeing you there! You can also check us out on the web at http://www.jk3yachts.com 2006 BACARDI BAYVIEW MACKINAC RACE (Sunday, July 16) The biggest boat also was the fastest in the 82nd sailing of the Bayview Port Huron to Mackinac Race. Windquest, an 86-footer owned by Doug DeVos, crossed the finish line in an elapsed record time of 24 hours, 17 minutes, 38 seconds, a new monohull Southampton course record. The time was 1 hour, 12 minutes, 8 seconds better than what it took Equation to complete the 253-mile course last year. As of 10 p.m., seven boats had crossed the finish line, with the bulk of the 260-boat fleet expected to finish during Monday. - by Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News, full story: http://tinyurl.com/lb2jg Curmudgeon’s Comment: We are still waiting for a race report from the event organizers, but here are the preliminary race results: http://www.byc.com/mack06/results-overall.cfm YOUTH WORLDS (Monday, July 17) Bright sunshine, warm temperatures and a festive atmosphere met sailors attending the lay day at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. With little wind blowing across the Weymouth and Portland waters, competitors were met with a host of activities with which to fill their day. Some of the events included: * FICO and IMOCA World Champion sailor Mike Golding spoke to the young sailors about the ins and outs of Open 60 sailing and to spread an environmental message about how sailors can help keep their playground clean. Golding then opened his Open 60 boat ECOVER up for tours. * Team Basilica, with their Volvo Extreme 40, provided tours of their catamaran, and skipper James Grant spoke of the various sailing careers available. Following a prize draw several sailors and volunteers got to go out for a sail on ECOVER and Team Basilica. * A dynamic Laser RC (remote control) tournament took place, with Israel’s Moshe Apel, who is competing in the boy’s 420, was crowned top dog of the championship and won his very own Laser RC. * Olympic bronze medallist Nick Dempsey spoke to the group about what it takes to campaign, from youth classes all the way through to the Olympic Games. Event meteorologist Fiona Campbell was optimistic about the three remaining race days. “Weymouth certainly feels more like a Mediterranean venue this week with temperatures reaching 29ºC (84ºF) under clear blue sunny skies. Winds will continue to be light for the remainder of the event, ranging from three to nine knots, but the direction should be steady.” -- Complete results: http://www.youthworlds.org -- Daily podcasts: http://tinyurl.com/nzxq2 HEAR WHAT THEY SAY They may look similar at a distance, but close up no two America’s Cup yachts have got the same sail plan. BYM News’ Aldous Grenville-Crowther went along to hear what the men behind the sails had to say. * Mike Schreiber, principle sail designer, Alinghi, on the balance between testing things and hiding any innovations from the other teams: “We don’t hide too much of what we do, we want to bring things out, develop them and push forward. That’s just the philosophy of the team. Incidentally, the quality of the entire fleet is way up compared to last year.” * Juan Garay, sail designer, +39 Challenge, on inflatable battens: “There are many different approaches. Most of the teams are developing their own inflatables and using a combination of standard battens and inflatables. Now there are companies coming out with a product ‘off the shelf’, which is a really good thing for us smaller teams.” * Sylvain Barrielle, sail designer, China Team, on being the only team to use UK-Halsey sails rather than North Sails: “I don’t think its about the brand, its about the people, like everything else. Every team has its own sail makers and, if you can get good designers and good people, you will make good sails.” - Read comments from all the teams at http://www.bymnews.com/americascup/html/sails_by_sailmakers.html PHOTO GALLERY CONTEST After posting two new photo galleries on the Scuttlebutt website on Monday, we noticed a skipper and crew combination that was at both events, and we were wondering if anyone else would notice. We have two nifty floppy hats from Ockam Instruments for the first two correct answers. We need the full names of both skipper and crew. Here are the two galleries, and then you need to post your answer on the Forums link below: US Sailing Junior Olympics: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0717 US Snipe Nationals: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0718/ Forums Link: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2748#2748 ANNAPOLITAN PROFILE (The following excerpts are from an article that originally appeared in the July issue of SpinSheet Magazine, and is part of a monthly series where they profile some of the local Annapolis, MD. Sailors.) Anderson spent her childhood in Hampton where she started sailing with her father in a Sunfish at a very early age. The Anderson family moved to Annapolis when Derby was 14, and she stayed involved with high level Optimist sailing. She moved on to 420s and sailed for the varsity team at The Key School. When the 2001 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Regatta came to Annapolis in 2001, Anderson led a team of junior sailors aboard a J/22. She says, “I had fun working on the boat and meeting the fleet, so it was a great experience and good life lesson.” In late May, Annapolis sailor Derby Anderson helped the Georgetown University sailing team to a school-best second place finish at the Women’s Dinghy National Championships. In the wake of the regatta, she was named to the 2006 Ronstan All-America Team. Shortly after the nationals and graduation, Anderson flew to Europe with friend Ginny Holt (and no return tickets). The pair of Annapolis sailors landed in Valencia, Spain, where the America’s Cup action is heating up. They contacted friends and friends of friends and soon found themselves with positions working for the event and syndicates. Explains Derby, “I had a picture of Dawn Riley on my wall in high school. Then at the 2001 Rolex regatta I had a really inspiring talk with her and was happy to learn how nice she is in real life. Now I just got in from working for her all day here in Spain. It’s crazy to get to stay in touch with her and hang around someone I’ve admired for so long.” As for providing advice for parents who want their kids to excel on the race course, she offers, “There’s a fine line between encouragement and pushing. When I was nine, I would win races and small regattas, but it was all just for fun, and it happened easily in the beginning. Then when things got harder, I wouldn’t want to try. Sometimes I would get scared of a big breeze. My dad would say, ‘Go out and at least try. Then you can come in if you hate it.’ I needed him to give me some motivation, because at that age I was okay with giving up. Eventually I realized my own motivation, but I did need help in the beginning to get the drive I have today.” - Full story: https://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d249000/e247462.asp ALWAYS FREE The Scuttlebutt Classifieds have always been a free service to Scuttlebutt readers. Okay, we did charge for boat ads for a short time, but it proved to be more work than it was worth, so now they have been free for almost a year. If you are not using the Scuttlebutt Classifieds for your buying and selling needs, you are not doing enough: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/classifieds SAILING SHORTS * Sarah and Lizzy Newberry won the 2006 US Sailing Youth Multihull Championship, sailed in Hobie 16s in Miami, FL. Sarah, age 18 and Lizzy only 12, are the first an all girl team to win this event. Because Sarah will age out before the ISAF youth championship next year, second place finishers Jason Bilow and Eric Sachs will challenge the Worlds best youth Multihull sailors at the Youth Worlds in Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 2007. Event website: http://www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/multihull * Leads remained unchanged today in all classes competing in the first half of New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex. With one day to go, this was the third day of handicap racing for 66 boats in three IRC and three PHRF classes as well as a class for 12 Metres. (A Classic Class completed its series yesterday after two days of racing, and the Race Week's four-day one-design segment will begin on Thursday after an Around-the-Island Race on Wednesday.) Half of the fleet completed four races, while the other half completed three. Event website: http://nyyc.org/index.cfm?menu=12&openitem=12 * California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a budget that adds US$11.3 million to the state's department of Boating and Waterways budget for fiscal 2006, allocating a total of US$83.5 million. The budget, according to a statement, includes an extra US$2.5 million for boating law enforcement aid to local governments. The increase in funds came primarily from a California Senate bill that increased vessel registration fees from US$10 to US$20. - IBI Magazine, full story: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20060611145932ibinews.html * While BMW Oracle Racing had thus far been the only America’s Cup team that had been sporting a bow sprit, the BOR team noticed that a boat in the Alinghi compound was also sporting something similar: http://static.twoday.net/bmworacleracing/images/sprit_bmwPreview.jpg * Windjammers YC on Lake Tahoe hosted the J/24 Western Region Worlds Qualification this past weekend, July 15 and 16. The event was sailed at the South end of Lake Tahoe, near the Nevada/California line. 19 boats registered coming from Washington, Oregon, California and New Mexico. The weather was outstanding with Northerlies from 5 to 10 knots for the five races both days. The top two places qualified for the Worlds, which was 1) K. Whittemore, Seattle WA and 2) R Cox, Dublin, CA. Complete scores: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/0717.htm * A reunion party for current and former employees of West Coast North Sails Lofts (Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, San Diego, Seattle, and San Francisco) is being planned for the Labor Day weekend. If you are or know of any of the North Sails alumni, please have them contact Alan Johnson for more information at mailto:alantheinspector@juno.com WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE LEITER! This is an event from which many future All American and Olympic sailors get their start. The US Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship for the Leiter Trophy, sponsored by Vanguard Sailboats, is sailed in Laser Radials, held at the Houston Yacht Club, July 22-28. For updates visit http://teamvanguard.com and http://www.ussailing.org LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thought at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Riley Walters: Regarding the BN controversy, about ten years ago Richard of Latitude 38 addressed this problem in his publication by suggesting a much better term was BMW (for Boat Maintenance Worker, of course). Since it didn't take a lot of brain cells to make the switch, it was seized upon, and until resurfacing in 'Butt, I hadn't heard the pejorative term BN since. * From Teki Dalton: For many years now in Australia, the term BN meant Boat Nigel. Are there any sensitive Kiwis out there? * From Ted Livingston: Banzai ("Live Forever") to Peter Harken, for daring to sign his name to a very valid reason for diminishing participation in our sport (in Issue 2138). I'm on the same page with Peter in suspecting that the endless appearance of new classes is a major (Major!) factor in the dismal sight of an RC going through starting sequences for 20 classes (each with a bare minimum number of competitors). In contrast, note in the same issue of Scuttlebutt, the turnout for the Snipe Worlds (As Augie probably would say, "When you find a good class, Stick With It!"). * From Roger Marshall, US Editor, The Yacht Report (http://www.theyachtreport.com): Responding to Paul Dietrich and Michael H. Koster’s comments. I have said for years that sailing organizations need to get young people into sailing at an early age. In my opinion the best way to do this is to approach them in grade school. Now Captain Kid’s is doing exactly this. Captain Kids is creating an environment that gets water, boating and sailing related events into the classroom and on the water. You can find out more by going to http://www.captainkids.org/. While it may not be a quick fix, an organization such as this will increase the size of the sailing and boating market in a few years. * From Alfred Poor: Vic Beelik wrote about encountering a microburst on Lake Tahoe under full sail. Growing up sailing on the Chesapeake, I became acquainted with line squalls and developed a healthy respect for them. My rule of thumb is that if you question whether or not to drop sail, you’ll be too late to do anything about it. Isolated heavy weather like this is dangerous, and it’s a whole lot easier to hoist the sails again when the winds fail to materialize than it is to try to shorten sail in 50+ knots of wind. * From Ray Tostado: You folks discussing water spouts and micro burst would cringe at the weather events you can encounter on the Great Salt Lake, where salinity is on an average around 16% when normal ocean salinity is around 3.5%. On a clear balmy day with a gentle 12-knot breeze, sailing over mirror glaze water at hull speed is a visual paradise. Because of the weight of the water, a violent wind micro burst attacks without notice. It skims atop the lake surface about 20 feet high and hardly leaves a ripple of texture for a signature. Maybe you can detect a very low hum sound as it nears. Then, wham, your mast is in the water! In the time it takes the boat to recover and stand tall again, the effect is gone and you are back reaching for hull speed as though nothing had happened. In the distance you can see the traffic on I-80. I can recall having been smacked by a micro burst while driving along at 75 mph. The van changed an entire lane without my moving the wheel one inch. Fully loaded 40' freight trailers have been seen being flipped upside down in seconds. The desert micro burst is a swirling energy packet; unlike a flat surface force of other wind anomalies. This makes for a totally reckless capture of objects in its influence. It can lift, lay down with blunt force, or change an objects orientation, all in a second. * From John Diggins: I am curious about the J/80 class rules. Sue Bodycomb's shot of USA 828 (at the J/80 Worlds, Bow # 38) shows a crew member sitting on top of the lifeline while under spinnaker. Is this class legal? Photo: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0716/9.jpg CURMUDGEON’S CONUNDRUM At what age can a man accept being maturely bald? Special thanks to JK3 Nautical Enterprises and Vanguard Sailboats. |
