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SCUTTLEBUTT 3700 - Thursday, October 18, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: Ullman Sails and APS. AC72 CAPSIZES: RISKS AND PREPARATION Safety issues with the Americas Cup radical new 72-foot-long catamarans have been a hot topic since the design was unveiled. Capsizing wasn't an "if" but a "when" -- and "when" arrived on Tuesday, when Oracle Team USA pitchpoled in 30 knots of wind near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Dirk Kramers, Oracle Team USA's engineering guru, and Iain Murray, Americas Cup Regatta Management Director, recently addressed the risk issues inherent in the boat's design and how best to manage the aftermath of flipping one of these huge race yachts. 2013 will make the fifth Cup cycle for Kramers, who was one of the multihull expert behind the Stars&Stripes 88 and Alinghi 5, as well as the Alinghi and Young America monohull campaigns. His experience with the America's Cup is one of the most extensive of any active player. Kramers believes that the safety systems designed into USA-17 are fairly self-explanatory personal safety equipment, rescue personnel, righting lines -- but noted that many safety systems would not really see active practice. At least not planned practice. Post-Tuesday, that may be a different story. "There are a lot of different safety aspects, most of which are common sense, like wearing life preservers and helmets", said Kramers on a recent tour of the team's Pier 80 base. "It's also important to always have a knife on you in case you get stuck or caught somewhere, like a diver you can cut yourself free." "The boat is set up with righting lines, in case we have to right the boat. We also have buddy-breather cartridges, so if you have to dive, you can go under longer. But it's also an organizational issue; we have three to four boats out there supporting us, and there's a whole set of response maneuvers that we've practiced to make sure that we do the right thing at the right time. For example, if someone falls off and gets hurt, that's the first priority. The next priority is getting the boat head-to-wind. So there's a whole series of events that have different response maneuvers." Oracle went with a design that includes a large pod below the boat's hard wing that acts as something of a wing extension, providing more power closer to the waterline. That's a positive contribution, but one negative with the pod is it means the sailors cannot do the "monkey dance" down the netting to safety. "One of the aspects that's difficult about this kind of boat is that once it's capsized, you can't really climb up or climb down. So you're sort of stuck. With the AC45, you can climb up and down, but this boat has the big pod in the middle. And you can imagine falling off, if the boat is at 90 degrees. If you fall down into something hard, that's not going to be good. We've had a lot of guys falling off the AC45s, but we've been lucky that no one has hit something hard yet -- like what happened to Russell, it was inches away from it being a big problem. And it's happened to other guys. That is the biggest thing, making sure the guys have something to hang onto." -- CupInfo, read on: http://www.cupinfo.com/en/americas-cup-ac72-capsize-preparations-12093.php READ THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL Despite watching the teams at the America's Cup World Series become increasingly proficient at surviving an AC 45 capsize, it was well understood that an AC 72 capsize would be much worse. The narrow line between control and catastrophe would be given a wide berth. But on October 16 the line got crossed. America's Cup defender Oracle Team USA capsized their AC 72 on the team's eighth day of training on the boat, digging their bows in for a pitch-pole while bearing away downwind. "I guess we found our limit today," admitted tactician Tom Slingsby. With training days limited by the rules, and with the defender already behind schedule due to daggerboard problems, Oracle Team USA was in catch-up mode. What made matters worse, Emirates Team New Zealand appeared to be progressing quickly with the development of their AC 72. And with the light winds of fall and winter soon to descend on San Francisco Bay, the defender needed hours on the water. The forecast for San Francisco Bay on Tuesday was for a maximum of 18 knots; certainly within the range of safety. But when winds spiked to 30 knots, the defender was caught using one of their limited training days in excessive conditions. Witnesses say the team appeared to be wisely cautious, using only the small headsail and keeping the hulls in the water rather than foiling. The defender had previously demonstrated their foiling ability, but had yet to exhibit the same foiling control as the Kiwis. And with a strong ebb pushing against winds estimated to be in the mid-20s, maintaining control in the steep chop at this early stage of training was prudent. But herein, quite possibly, lied the onboard conflict. Observers have noted that the defender's AC 72 opted for a narrow bow shape design, which is good for reducing weight and windage but does not prevent a pitch-pole like a fuller shape. So how did the designers expect their AC 72 to avoid pitch-poling in strong winds? As team engineer Dirk Kramers explains, their AC 72 is supposed to be foiling when they bear away. "Our hull is quite small, much smaller than Team New Zealand's, so we are reliant on the foils to keep it from pitchpoling in a bearaway," explained Kramers. Memo to spectators... get good seats at the upwind mark. UPDATE: The San Francisco Bay current, which swept the AC 72 four miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge, was estimated to be over five knots. The boat, which capsized at 3:00 pm Tuesday, was upside down when it finally returned to the team's Pier 80 base by 1:00 am Wednesday. The wing, estimated to cost $2 million, was completely destroyed. A replacement wing, according to Jeremy Leonard of Sail Revolution, may not be ready until after Christmas. The port hull, which had filled with water, was supported by airbags as it was pumped. The platform was eventually hauled, with no disclosure at press time regarding damage. Video of the capsize: http://youtu.be/drgglIebuQY Photos: http://www.cupinfo.com/en/oracle-ac72-capsize-photos-12094.php 'CURRENT OBSESSION 2' CROWNED J/105 SOCAL CHAMPS Ullman Sails customers swept three of the top five spots in the J/105 Southern California Championships last weekend in San Diego! Congratulations to Gary Mozer and his team on "Current Obsession 2" (photo: http://tinyurl.com/J105-CO2) who claimed the title, securing the championships with a score of 1-3-5-3-1. Dennis Conner's "DC's Pholly" finished a close second, collecting two bullets in the five-race series. And Dennis and Sharon Case on "Wings" finished 5th overall in the 22-boat fleet. All three boats were powered by 100% Ullman Sails inventory! Good luck to all the competitors at this week's J/105 North Americans in San Diego! -- http://www.ullmansails.com WHAT'S IN A NAME? At next week's Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Yachting Association in Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 27, 2012, members will vote on a proposal to change the name of the organisation to Sailing Canada (Voile Canada in French). If approved, the proposal will align CYA with nine of the ten Canadian Provinces who use "Sail" or "Sailing" in their titles, with the International Sailing Federation, the International Olympic Committee and with neighbouring US Sailing. It also brings CYA into line with many other Canadian National Sports Organisations that use the format "Name of Sport" Canada in their titles. Adoption of the new name will enhance marketing opportunities for the organisation, while dovetailing well with the recently launched national sailing program, CANSail. It is intended that the name will be associated with the Maple Leaf sail logo, a registered trademark of the CYA. Additional details: http://tinyurl.com/SC-101712 IMPROVING OUR OFF-WATER GAME Jay Livingston is a corporate coach who sails, and finds a lot of common ground in what it takes to succeed at both work and play. Here he discusses how to build our fundamental skills off the water... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We all have limits to our on-the-water practice time, which combined with the number of things we need to practice puts pressure on us to build as many of our fundamental skills as possible off the water. Physical strength and stamina are two obvious candidates to develop off the water. Studying the racing rules of sailing and basic tactical and strategic considerations are two more. The one that often doesn't get attention is improving the subtler facets of the mental side of our racing. Self-control or self-regulation (a psychological term) is the base of the mental game and will also make it easier to study and do the repetitive practice routines needed to develop all the other aspects of your sailing. Self-regulation allows us to resist "coming apart" when we make a mistake, the wind shifts unpredictably, a competitor messes with our plan for the leg or any other thing happens that stimulates a strong emotional reaction in us. Self-regulation is the basis of our ability to continually focus on important clues about speed, wind shifts, heel angle, etc., without getting distracted by thoughts of our greatness or inadequacies, our successful start or the last terrible mark rounding. Self- regulation is the ability to pay attention and stay as calm as necessary or to spike your emotions in order to carry on when you're tired, cold or discouraged. A person with self-regulation stamina can continue to make good decisions long after others have started unconsciously opting for "keep doing what I'm doing" plans. In extraordinary circumstances, when others are finding it increasingly difficult to keep their emotions moderated, the sailor with self-regulation power will still have moderate reactions and less need to expend energy regulating them. -- Read on: http://lasersailingnotes.com/node/150 Professional website: http://www.livingstonservices.com/ COLD WATER SURVIVAL, HYPOTHERMIA, RESCUE & RECOVERY By Vincent Pica, US Coast Guard Auxiliary Hypothermia is a subject that my son and I, members "back in the day" of a USCGAux Cold Water Team, were trained in. Recently, amongst the professional life-saving community, whispers started that we had it all wrong - that data, from US Navy studies from the post WWII era on "Time of Useful Consciousness" on molded dummies with internal brass skeletons, didn't calibrate to live testing conducted by various scientific and medical studies in the last couple of years. Further, medical testing of the effects of cold water on human physiology would lead one to believe that the standard "fireman's hoist*" of a stricken mariner, taught everywhere, could in fact lead to a worsening of the effects of cold water on the victim, even leading to death. This column is about that. The Cold Facts... Back in August 2010, while attending the National Convention of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary in Phoenix, AZ, I attended a presentation on this topic by a Canadian organization called Cold Water Boot Camp (coldwaterbootcamp.com) which works in cooperation with many lifesaving organizations, including the US Coast Guard. In the video part of the presentation, I saw a good friend and fellow member of US Coast Guard Forces - Mario Vittone, USCG Marine Safety Specialist and former Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Instructor - featured as one of the "guinea pig" subjects. In the past, Mario would ping me with commentary on hypothermia. "Vin, some of the this stuff is not lining up with the latest data. Be careful!" The problem I had was in sorting out that which was still good and that which was good to go - as in "outta here!" There was no official report to rely on. Well, not only was there now an official scientific report, but I could talk directly to one of the subjects - Mario Vittone, USCG, who has published a detailed article on the subject (mariovittone.com/2010/10/the-truth-about-cold-water/) that I want to acknowledge as an underlying source document to this column. Traditions Die Hard at Sea... It isn't easy convincing mariners that a lifetime of tradition and practice is wrong. And not everything we know and practice on this subject IS wrong. Here are the facts: The first phase of cold water immersion is called the cold shock response. This we've had right. Data now shows that roughly 20% die in the first two minutes. They take on water in that first uncontrolled gasp, panic and drown, plain and simple. In some, the cold shock triggers a heart attack. Surviving this stage requires you to stay calm and get your breathing under control. If you don't, your life is measured in minutes and you won't need two hands to count them. -- WindCheck, read on: http://tinyurl.com/WC-101712 A SPRAY TOP SUPER DEAL Getting ready for Fall? APS picked up a large inventory of Henri Lloyd's TP1 Pace Smocks so we could offer our customers a great deal. A perfect smock for dinghy sailing, the Pace is waterproof, breathable, and full of great features to ensure you're dry and comfortable on the water. Complete with a half zip neck closure to allow for simple on and off, this smock at this price can't be beat. You better act fast - with a deal like this they won't last long! http://bit.ly/UW0q50 SAILING SHORTS * With the aim of bringing younger sailors into the Canadian 49er class, Pitch Pole Skiff Products (aka 49er.ca) will be providing charter boats to young sailors interested in sailing the Olympic class 49er skiff. The charter boats will be a complete 49er with dolly, a carbon mast and ready to race for a period of one year. This is a perfect opportunity for young Laser, C420 or 29er sailors, both male and female, looking to make the jump into the exciting 49er (or FX) class. Applications shall be submitted on or before Thursday, October 25th, 2012. Full details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14654 * Twelve teams will compete in the U.S. Team Racing Championship, hosted by the Larchmont Yacht Club on October 19-21. The roster is led by defending champions Minor Threat with skippers Cy Thompson, Charlie Buckingham, and Tyler Sinks and crews Kelly Stannard, Lucy Wallace and Alex Taylor. Racing in Vanguard 15s will be held in Larchmont Harbor. -- Full report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2012/USTRC_12_Preview.htm * St. Petersburg, FL (October 17, 2012) - After two days of light air, the third day failed to provide sufficient wind for any racing at the 2012 Sunfish World Championship. Local David Mendelblatt leads the 75-boat field with a 5-2-2. Racing continues through October 19. Full results here: http://sunfishworlds.org/resultsfull.asp?j=2012&e=N * Martha's Vineyard, MA (October 17 2012) - Winds proved to be too light for any heats on the third day of the 2012 North American Speed Sailing Championship Invitational, with the forecast for similar conditions on Thursday. After three heats, Outright World Speed Record Holder Rob Douglas holds the overall leader. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14650#14650 INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. Here are some of recent postings: * Spirit of Canada Offshore Sailing * Onboard Wifi. Only Better... NautiCloud! * UK Sailmakers - Titanium Blue sails View updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news 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 John J. Ford: After reading in #3699 the articles Bloody Mess and Painful To Watch, is it possible that the envelope (for the 34th America's Cup) has finally been pushed off the edge? * From Bruce Edwards: Thanks for your report in Scuttlebutt 3699 regarding Sydney yacht designer Joe Adams who had been found murdered in the Philippines. Joe was aged 81 and was responsible for designing the 1973 Sydney Hobart winner "Helsal". She was affectionately known as the "Flying Footpath" as she was constructed of ferro cement which was nearly unheard of for a racing boat. Joe also designed the Adams 10 which was a popular Sydney Harbour and Lake Macquarie day racer. A very early build of this boat was set up to race the Hobart in the early 80's and was named "Tun Tun" because it rated Two Ton. A sad way for Joe to go. * From Scott Kaufman: Very surprised to hear of Joe's death. Joe was from a different era. A former high school teacher who sailed around the world with his wife in a 30 footer in 1965. He was very friendly with Bob Miller (Ben Lexan) and learned yacht design the old fashioned way... by reading Skene's elements of yacht design. A natural designer, he honed his trade first on cruising boats and then turned to the racing world and production yachts. Over the years he designed hundreds of boats. A sad ending. * From Bob Austin-LaFrance: Like many I was saddened by the news of Britt Chance's passing. This past Saturday I had a wonderful way to reflect on the man, the myth, and the legend - I raced the Thunder Mug out of Duck Island YC, CT. on the Chance Custom (31.55') Arabesque. To put things in perspective, I was intimately involved in building this distinctive, dark blue IOR racer 30 years ago in a garage in Bozrah, CT. Thank you Jonathon Lathrop! She has been scrupulously maintained by her current owner, Bob Bruno, and could pass for a brand new, albeit a strange design... blooper included. At the end of the day Saturday, Arabesque won her class, sealing a first in class for the 2012 season, Eastern CT Sailing Assoc. Thanks Britt for 30 years of magic and memories - what a legacy! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "The truth is always exciting. Speak it, then. Life is dull without it." - Pearl S. Buck, Pulitzer Prize winning author SPONSORS THIS WEEK JK3 Nautical Enterprises - BIC Sport North America - Dieball Sailing North Sails - Team One Newport - North Sails - Point Loma Outfitting Allen Insurance and Financial - Ullman Sails - APS - Soft Deck Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
