|
SCUTTLEBUTT 3241 - Thursday, December 16, 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. 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, Southern Spars, and Atlantis WeatherGear. BOAT BIRTHDAYS, BILL LEE AND SANTA CRUZ By Jeremy Leonard, Surf City Racing How many people have a birthday party for their sailboat? My guess, not that many. How about a 30th birthday to celebrate a multi-decade winning spree, which amongst the many highlights include a Pac-Cup win, a blistering Coastal Cup record time that stood for almost 10 years, and a Delta-Ditch Run whose mono-hull record still stands to this day? The owners and crew of the well-known Santa Cruz 50 Octavia did just that last Saturday in the Santa Cruz Harbor. Past and present crew, the owner, friends and family, and the man who started it all, The Wizard (Bill Lee) showed up for the dockside festivities. Octavia, as the name suggests, is hull number eight and was ordered by the Kett Family back in the late 70's and delivered in 1980. Shepard Kett, the current owner recalls what Bill Lee told his father Stewart Kett upon delivery of Octavia 30 years ago, "When Bill gave it to Stewart he said that he was just letting him take care of it for a while. Bill felt like it was his baby. We are the last of the original owners of the SC50s." I had a chance to catch up with Bill Lee (The Wizard) recently, and we discussed the success of the SC50s in the 2010 Pac Cup. Bill is truly amazing; he can remember hull numbers, original owners and a little anecdote about each. It really does seem like he was connected to each and every boat that left The Coop. He recalls, "The first 50 was named Chasch Mer and went to Honolulu in '79... and that was Randy Parker's boat. I think we built twenty-eight 50s all together. We built most of them in 1982, when we were building a boat a month." This is an impressive boat-building schedule to say the least. What changed in the Santa Cruz boat-building scene to where now there's hardly any new development? Bill speculates, "In those days the average person could afford to live in Santa Cruz, and as the housing prices skyrocketed, so did the cost of keeping a roof over your head. It became a lot harder to hire the people that you need ...building is a labor-intensive deal and it's just hard to do in an expensive area." The cost of living, and more strict environmental regulations probably played the two most major roles in ending the SC boat building party. In such a radical and creative environment such as Santa Cruz back in the '70s and '80s, Lee had to employ tactics to keep the employees from wandering off. He remembers with a chuckle, "We bought lunch for the guys for several years, we found that if they went away for lunch, sometimes they wouldn't come back. One day we were working on wage reviews and we couldn't find somebody. Turns out they were out on a surf break." The mantra of keeping all of the new boat's bows pointing toward the front door necessitated the use of certain creative tactics. If a boat had to turn back into the shop in order to revisit a station or repair someone's screw-up, the boat was said to have bad juju. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/JL-121510 OVER TO YOU, MR. ELLISON By Kimball Livingston Earlier I posted an account of how the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday in favor of the city's bid to host America's Cup 34. Then came time for the Mayor to sign. City Hall was looking bright and seasonal . . . On those steps, last February, Larry Ellison declared that he wants to defend the America's Cup on San Francisco Bay, "If we can." There is an answer. He can. Mr. Ellison also said, "We don't need taxpayer support. We need access to waterfront land." Done. The next call belongs to Larry Ellison. (Technically, to the Golden Gate Yacht Club, but I don't have to ask where Commodore Young stands. And did I hear Golden Gate Yacht Club mentioned once in the proceedings?) So, in a city with notoriously fractious politics, we have united a divided Board of Supervisors with an Office of the Mayor they've sometimes treated as the enemy. We've brought the leading environmental groups to the table eagerly offering to help speed environmental reviews. We've secured the support of maritime unions who were queasy at first about foreign crews working foreign-flagged vessels in US waters. We have proved that it is possible to cut a deal inside the glass house of democracy - with a few sausage cuttings smearing the windows - and the man driving the next move is the man whose ambition and determination won the America's Cup in February, 2010 in a boat with a wing sail too tall to fit under the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh, the betting line: The last time I checked, Northern California was still the leader in information technology, which appears to be a viable industry going forward, and which, the last time I checked, appeared to be a viable sponsorship pool. Long-term readers will know that I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Valencia, Spain and rose to defend it against detractors. But VLC is just not part of this equation. Newport, RI was and is and shall remain a fine, international sailors' town, with a great draw. I love Newport. But it doesn't have the wind, the amphitheater, the backgrounds of San Francisco Bay. Italia? Ask Berlusconi. Story source: http://kimballlivingston.com/?p=5685 ULLMAN SAILS WELCOMES A NEW LOFT IN SOUTH RUSSIA Ullman Sails proudly announces the new addition of Ullman Sails South Russia to its international group of sailmakers. The new loft is located on the Sea of Azov in Taganrog where partners Pavel Vostrokonov and Alexey Yaroshevich have owned and operated their loft Activcentre since 2003. With 20 years of experience in sailmaking, Pavel and Alexey are known throughout Russia for quality sails and reliable service. The team also has a distinguished record on the racecourse - Pavel is a past Flying Dutchman national champion and both have won several offshore races in the Quarter-Ton class. Invest in your performance. www.ullmansails.com BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL The America's Cup Race Management (ACRM) has made reductions on how much it will cost to compete in the next America's Cup. "These changes are designed to allow the teams put their initial investments into building their teams and boats," said Iain Murray, CEO, of ACRM and Regatta Director for the 34th America's Cup. Among the revisions are: - Reduction of entry fee and bond requirements and delay of fee deadlines. - Reduction of penalties for not competing in AC World Series pre-events. - Additional free shipping for teams to AC World Series pre-events. - Delay of deadline when teams must build their first AC72. - Delay of deadline for when teams must use only exclusive design team. Murray contends that these cost reductions will enable three more prospective teams to now commit to entering. The amended Protocol can be found here: http://www.americascup.com/official-documents/ ENTRY #5: With Bertrand Pace serving as the Aleph Team France leader and multihull specialist Alain Gautier in the crew, it would seem the team has the necessary seamanship skills. Coming up with $50 million, however, represents a real challenge. Pace remains cautiously optimistic about the team's prospects to secure the requisite funding. "Our (entry) announcement does not mean everything is in place yet," says the 49-year-old Cup veteran. "But we remain reasonably upbeat. We will probably know within two months whether or not we will compete or not,” he says. "The next two months will be key." -- Sailing World, full story: http://tinyurl.com/SW-121510 GROWING THE SPORT - THEY ARE OUT THERE By Tony Bull, Ullman Sails Every week I hear the lament of the boat owner. "Where can I find a crew"? It seems to be harder to get one together these days. It is not uncommon to see the Saturday afternoon fleet slowly diminishing in size and calibre while good race boats spend their weekends swinging on moorings. So how do we go about introducing others to the wonderful world of yachting? Extolling the virtues of sailing to readers of this magazine is very much preaching to the converted, but it is worth pondering the question: Where are all the sailors? We know the typical demographic of the sailor. It is very a very popular activity with the younger set and why not? Parents see sailing as a great education. All of the skills needed for sailing are important life skills. Decision making, patience, team interaction and self-reliance are just a few. A lot of these kids will leave their yachting pursuits upon entering adulthood and make reappearance in their early forties once they have achieved a more stable financial life. This is an understandable situation with a life dictated by children, mortgages and dual incomes. But why should it only be ex-sailors who get back into sailing? I know of several cases where people have discovered sailing in middle age and are incredibly passionate about the sport. One colleague got a sailing lesson for his fiftieth birthday from his wife, who just thought it was something he may possibly enjoy. Nine years later he is on his second boat and eyeing a third. He races several times a week and is a voracious student of all things nautical. He wonders what he used to do before he discovered sailing! -- Read on: http://www.mysailing.com.au/news/they-are-out-there ADVICE FROM THE RIGGING EXPERTS One of our next projects is converting an IRC'ed Club Swan 42 from stainless steel lifelines to New England Ropes STS-12 SK90. Why convert??? Weight- Converting to Dyneema from SS is a HUGE weight savings. We recently replaced a Swan 55's runners from oversized 1x19 wire to SK90. The assembly of their wire and turning blocks for the control lines went from 17 lbs each, to 4 lbs for the SK90 (including the control lines for the weight of the new ones!) Attachments- On the forward end, the lifelines are simply luggage tagged onto the pulpit, removing the screw eyes. The attachments on the aft end go from turnbuckle assembly's to a simple ferrule lashed to the attachment point on the pushpit. Cleans up the whole attachment point, and actually eliminates a whole system that could catch, or wear on lines. Wear and Tear- Removing the wire creates a softer assembly for everything from people's hands, to spinnakers and jibs which will be rubbing over the top, back and forth. Think about how much happier your jib will be going over Dyneema than stainless wire. It is not just a simple plug and play to convert however. It is HIGHLY suggested that you clean out the holes in each stanchion that the lifelines are to pass through, if not replacing the stanchions completely. Just as you would want to replace a sheave when converting a wire halyard to a rope one, the same principle applies here. The wire has grooved into the hole, and has created an unpleasant home for Dyneema which will chafe it. Time should be taken to completely smooth inside each stanchion, making very sure to remove any rough points for the new lifelines. We actually splice Dyneema cover onto the lifelines where they pass through each stanchion as extra protection. -- http://wmriggingnewport.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/next-project/ SOUTHERN SPARS SETTLES INTO NEW PREMISES We are pleased to announce that Southern Spars New Zealand have settled into a new home. The bespoke 10,000 sq. meter manufacturing facility enables Southern Spars to introduce new technologies and accommodate the growing demand for larger and more technically advanced superyacht and grand prix race rigs. For those wishing to contact us, our new details are as follows: Physical Address: 15 Jomac Place, Rosebank, Auckland 1026. Postal Address: PO Box 71020, Rosebank Mail Centre, Avondale, Auckland. Tel: +64 (0)9 845 7200; Fax: +64 (0)9 845 7201 We wish everybody a safe and happy New Year. For further information about the new facility please contact news@southernspars.com ESPN THE MAGAZINE ON RULES IN SPORTS By Matt Knowles, rules expert Some interesting reflections on the role of rules in sports from ESPN The Magazine: "At the risk of exposing ourselves as hopelessly lame, we submit that rules get a bad shake. They aren't the enemy of artistry. They're the opposite. Rules are like water to an oar, the resistance that makes flow possible. In music writer Kelefa Sanneh's recent review of Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop, he noted that the genre emerged only once rappers stopped freestyling and started building their rhymes around backing tracks in 4/4 time. This gave them form to follow, structure to push against. 'By submitting to rhythm,' Sanneh wrote, 'paradoxically, rappers came to sound more authoritative than the free-form poets, toasters, chatters, patterers and jokers who came before them.' Think of how the NBA bounces to the beat of two steps per dribble, 24 seconds per shot. It was the tension of those limits that resulted in the greatest shot by the greatest player, Michael Jordan's game- winning jumper against Utah in the 1998 Finals. Without the travel rule and the shot clock, basketball, too, would be mere free-form poetry. The article explores proposed rules to make various sports (baseball, American football, NASCAR, hockey, golf, etc.) more fun." What if we asked the same rule about sailing? What one rule would you change to make the game more fun to play and to watch? I'd delete rule 18. But that's a topic for another blog post... http://rulestalk.blogspot.com/2010/12/espn-magazine-on-rules-in-sports.html => Curmudgeon's Comment: Who other than me will now go to their rule book to find out what RRS 18 is? IMPACTING YOUNG PEOPLE, ONE STUDENT AT A TIME For the past six years, the Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA) has been teaching inner city kids the joys of sailing. Sailing is now part of the curriculum in three public schools, with participation by over 80 students, and the association's eight-week summer camp trains more than 100 children annually from 29 schools in New Providence and the Family Islands. "Our year-round school sports and summer camp programs collectively delivered more than 3,000 instructed sailing sessions to young Bahamians during 2009 and to date we have had nearly 900 kids pass through the association's camps," said Sailing Operations Director Jimmie Lowe. "We also have a regatta program that teaches competitive sailing for those with the appropriate skills and interest, including entry into local and overseas regattas." The Bahamas' first Olympic medals (gold and bronze) were won in sailing events in the 1960s, and Bahamian sailors continue to compete on a regular basis in major international regattas. A major goal of the association is to broaden the number of Bahamian sailors through development of the National Sailing School, which uses the facilities of the Nassau Yacht Club at no cost. "We are trying to positively impact our young people, one student at a time, through this educational outreach. Crime is a big problem today and we see our program as one way to get kids off the streets and give them a sense of pride in their accomplishments. Sailing builds seamanship, integrity, discipline, fair play and respect for others, all of which can contribute to the growth and maturity of an individual," Lowe said. -- The Guardian, read on: http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bsa-developing-sailing WHO SAYS THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH? The Scuttlebutt Event Calendar is a free, self-serve tool that is powered by the most utilized database in the sport. Used primarily for event marketing, the crew list service is also widely accessed to help connect available people with skippers in need. To view all the events, or to post your own event, visit the calendar at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * Melbourne, AUS (December 14, 2010) - Following the blow out on the third day of Sail Melbourne, racing at this first event of the 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup is scheduled to proceed on Thursday. The forecast through to the final race on Saturday is for winds of between 10 and 20 knots. -- http://sailmelbourne.com.au * The CAMPER team, led by skipper Chris Nicholson (AUS), has announced its crew for the2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race. Team members have between them no less than three Olympic campaigns, 17 America's Cups, 22 Volvo/Whitbread races and numerous world championship titles. Included in the crew are Stuart Bannatyne (NZL), Will Oxley (AUS), Roberto "Chuny" Bermudez de Castro (ESP), Adam Minoprio (NZL), and Rob Salthouse (NZL). -- Full details: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-121510 * The ISAF World Sailing Rankings for 15 December 2010 have been released, with Americans Paige Railey (2nd, Laser Radial), Zach Railey (4th, Finn), Anna Tunnicliffe (4th, WMR), and Mark Mendelblatt (4th, Star) among the top five from North America. The next release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings will be on 9 February 2011 up to and including US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR, the 470 North American Championships and the RS:X Asian Championships. Full rankings here: http://www.sailing.org/34883.php DISCOVER: THAT SOMETIMES IT PAYS TO BE LATE! Nope, we're not talking about the late approach at the windward end when you want to go right. We're talking about a great holiday deal for all you procrastinators out there: Spend at least $195 on Atlantis gear and get a free Microburst vest, or spend at least $295 on Atlantis gear and get a free Microburst jacket, the lightest-weight waterproof/breathable piece of sailing gear on the planet. Perfect for summer sailing or even Key West & Charleston Race Weeks. Visit http://www.atlantisweathergear.com/Holiday_2010 for a list of participating dealers. Discover Your Atlantis 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: * Handbags made from Olympic campaign sails * SL33 Grand Prix Catamaran - AC Training Platform * Regatta Trophies * Sunseeker 40 Meter and Sunseeker Manhattan 63 Meter View and/or post Industry News 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 Andrew Kraus, Island Heights, NJ: I just read the latest blurb on the SF venue nonsense (in Scuttlebutt 3240). If you knew all the ongoings in the restaurant kitchen (maybe the Chef is a tyrant and makes people cry, maybe they ran out of ingredients and changed the item), would you have the same enjoyment of the food on your plate? Probably not. But you don't know what happens in the kitchen. Your food shows up, it looks good, maybe a little different than your last visit, but still a great meal and smells wonderful. Why do we need to hear all the nonsense about the America's Cup? Surely this can't be new. What is new is that every sordid detail is circulated. Announce the boat. Announce the location. Announce each competitor that signs on. Run the races with great coverage and let folks enjoy it. If all the rest of this stuff keeps getting coverage, then we will ultimately despise the competitors and the process and tune out. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The goal today is to reduce my rate of WTF’s per hour. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - Hall Spars & Rigging - Team One Newport North U - North Sails - LaserPerformance - Doyle Sails Ultimate Sailing - Ullman Sails - Southern Spars Atlantis WeatherGear - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Holmatro Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
