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SCUTTLEBUTT 2194 - October 4, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with America's Cup coverage in Scuttlebutt brought to you by UBS (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS Team New Zealand had its new America's Cup yacht delivered under the cover of darkness early on Wednesday morning. NZL 92 arrived at the team's Viaduct base on Auckland's waterfront after the journey over the Auckland Harbour Bridge and will be prepared for a launch later this month. NZL 92 will undergo about six weeks of trialing with NZL 84 on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf before being shipped to Valencia. - http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/842344 Team managing director Grant Dalton said appendages, hydraulic and electronic systems and deck hardware would be fitted over the next couple of weeks. The team's second boat, NZL 84, is also being modified after having been in Valencia, Spain, where next year's America's Cup will be held. - http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3818038a1823,00.html Curmudgeon's comment: Thanks to Chris Cameron, we've got photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/1003/ THE TEAM (The following excerpts are from an article that is appearing in the October issue of SpinSheet Magazine, and is part of a monthly series where they profile noteworthy Chesapeake Bay sailors.) Annapolis native Farrah Hall is a member of the U.S. Sailing team in the Women's RS:X boardsailing class. In August, she represented the United States in the Good Luck Beijing 2006 Qingdao International Regatta at the Olympic venue in China. Hall learned to sail around age 13 at the Cape St. Claire youth sailing camp on the south shore of the Magothy River. Her parents didn't sail, and she admits, "I didn't really get enthusiastic about it until early high school when a boy I was seeing bought an old windsurfer. I was immediately fascinated with it and begged my dad for one." Hall's father found an old longboard in the classifieds, and she sailed it around the mouth of the Magothy for a while "without really knowing how to tack or gybe." She admits, "I ended many of my early windsurfing expeditions getting towed back into the beach." At Broadneck High School she was on the varsity cross-country, indoor track, and outdoor track teams. At age 16, she got involved with triathlon and participated in Olympic-distance events around Maryland. After graduating from Broadneck in 1999, Hall enrolled at St. Mary's College of Maryland where she studied Biology. At St. Mary's she began to focus on windsurfing and spent two summers working at a windsurfing shop on Martha's Vineyard. During her sophomore year in college, she started a windsurfing club. The small but dedicated group of sailors raised funds and awareness and were able to purchase new equipment and organize events. A club-sponsored community learn-to-windsurf day taught windsurfing basics to about 70 students. In 2002, the St. Mary's College Windsurfing Club won the "Best New Club" award from the Student Government Association. The club remains active, although Hall graduated in 2003. - Read on for the full interview at http://www.apsltd.com/newcrp RECORD LINE-UP (Following are two excerpts from a story posted on thedailysail subscription website.) A record number of entries are due to take the start line of the Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale (singlehanded) race when it leaves St Malo bound for Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe on Sunday, 29 October. At least 77 boats are currently expected to compete, numbers well up from the 58 that took part in the devasting race in 2002. The main reason for the increase in numbers is due to advent of the new Class 40 - by far the biggest fleet taking part, with 25 yachts so far qualified. Despite being a dumbed-down Open 40 aimed at the enthusiastic amateur rather than the ambitious pro, the class has proved exceptionally popular with a wide range of sailor. The IMOCA Open 60 class will be the one to watch, particularly as it includes the two new Farr designs, Vincent Riou's PRB and Jeremie Beyou's Delta Dore and also Dominique Wavre's new Owen Clarke designed Temenos. It will also see the IMOCA debut of Brian Thompson's new Artemis, the former Pinda.and one time ORMA 60 skipper Marc Guillemot, racing none other than the winning boat from four year ago, Ellen MacArthur's former Kingfisher Open 60, while his new Open 60 is in build. All the new boats are still very new and the question will be - have the teams had enough time to optimize their boats to take on some of the older but more fully optimized boats. http://www.thedailysail.com SEE AND SAIL THE NEW e33 The just launched e33 performance daysailer is a result of a partnership between Robbie Doyle and Jeremy Wurmfeld. The 33-foot daysailer combines a slim traditional form with unmatched sailing ability. Designed to be sailed to its fullest potential with the entire crew seated comfortably inside the cockpit, the e33 is for those who appreciate high performance comfort. Visit us at the Annapolis Boat Show, October 5-9 and make an appointment to go sailing on October 10, 2006. For more information and photos of the e33, visit http://www.esailingyachts.com TO FINISH FIRST, FIRST YOU MUST FINISH (The Daily Sail subscription website spoke with singlehanded skipper Alex Thompson about his current project. Hear are some excepts.) The start of Velux 5 Oceans, the latest incarnation of the BOC Challenge/Around Alone singlehanded round the world race with stops, from Bilbao on 22 October will mark the first of three Open 60 round the world races in as many years for Hugo Boss skipper Alex Thomson. It will also be the last race he does in his present boat, the former Sill previously campaigned by Roland Jourdain. The new Hugo Boss, a Finot-Conq design, is currently under construction at Neville Hutton's yard in Lymington ready for Thomson to step on board once he gets back from his latest adventure. Considerable work has been carried out to the present Hugo Boss. Prior to this the boat had been fitted with a new keel foil, this time made of carbon fibre rather than fabricated steel. "The surface area is bigger but the centre of gravity goes down a bit and it is lighter so we have more weight in the bulb," explains Thomson. "As we were coming back from Cape Town during the Vendee, Nick Moloney's keel fell off. You start to listen to what is happening and whenever you hear a noise you start looking at the keel - especially because mine was one of the oldest. And then when Mike's fell off it was even worse. So we came back, pulled the boat out of the water and found our keel had a crack in it..." It seems that the foils on canting keel boats have to withstand considerably more abuse load-wise than fixed keels. -- http://www.thedailysail.com WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BIG BREEZE? San Francisco, California - There was a delayed start while the breeze kicked in to 11-12 knots at the gun for the Wells Fargo Private Bank Star World Championships. After two general recalls, the Z flag was raised and at the third start, 8 teams were called over early. Protests were subsequently filed and are under review by the jury. The westerly breeze was steady during racing at 14-15 knots. Andy Horton and Brad Nichol (USA), took first, ahead of Marc Pickel and Ingo Borkowski (GER), in second. Mark Reynolds and Hal Haenel (USA), took third, followed by Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams (NZ), in fourth. Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau (FRA), took fifth. Said Reynolds, "We had a good start, tacking very quickly to the right. It was a little better to go right but not much. We lost the Germans on the second beat who then went more south on the second run, while Horton (USA) went back to the right as the wind shifted. We missed both shifts on the second beat but were able to stay in the top three. Those guys are a little faster than me downwind." At the end of racing Nicolas Rosas (ARG), was on the dock at the St Francis Yacht Club furiously pumping water from the boat he and Juan Kouyouumdjian are racing. Hit on their port aft quarter off the start by Bill Buchan and Erik Bentzen (USA), the Argentinians took on a huge amount of water as the race progressed, upsetting their result. Said Juan K, "We were losing places at the end as we had too much water on board on the last beat. Still, today was a lot easier than other days. The current was playing more in the first beat and first run than later in the race but we're finally beginning to understand it here." -- Michelle Slade Standings after three races (no discard) -- 66 boats 1. Andy Horton/ Brad Nichol (USA) 12 pts 2. Rohan Lord/ Miles Addy (NZL) 15 pts 3. Flavio Marazzi/ Martin Kozaczek (SUI) 19 pts 4. Robert Scheidt/ Bruno Prada (BRA) 23 pts 5. Xavier Rohal/ Pascal Rambeau (FRA) 24 pts 6. Hamish Pepper/ Carl Williams (NZL) 25 pts 7. Daniel Stegmeier/ Beat Stegmeier (SUI) 39 pts 8. Mark Mendelblatt/ Mark Strube (USA) 49 pts 9. Ian Murray/ Adrew Palfrey (AUS) 54 pts 10. Jim Buckingham/ Mike Dorgan (USA) 55 pts Event website: http://www.stfyc.org CLOSING OUT THE BEER CAN SEASON (Scuttlebutt received the following story from Omar Webb, who reports on the last Wednesday night race of the season in his area. Sailing the shortest waterline boat in the fleet, known amongst his colleagues as the 'Hotfoot on Steroids', Webb provides some insight on keeping the sport fun during the season finale at West Vancouver Yacht Club, BC, Canada.) It's a sunny 20 degrees. Both my best crew show up on the same day, the wind is a light inflow, maybe 5 knots, the Esky cooler is groaning under the load, and there is another very distorted plastic bag with beer can bumps on the surface. We decide to make enough room in the cooler for the items in the bag. It's a safety issue, as you can't have loose cans whizzing about the place. They may come open, and then what? On our way to the start line, we decide to hoist the 75 sq. meter asymmetrical spinnaker, although we were rated for only the 22 sq. meter in this series. We arrive in the starting area just a tick before our class flag, and now must resolve another critical safety issue. Inside the five-minute gun, our crack team had to empty and stow the half full aluminum liquid containers empty. This used up most of the time required to peel to the legal assy sail. The helmsman calls for a show of hands on what to do, with the unanimous sentiment being that the peel would be "Too Hard." - Read on for the full story, including how the team handles the ethical problem of using an illegal sail, and their view on the whole beer can racing concept: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/1002 MORE SUPPORT, NEW SOFTWARE FROM B&G Matt Fries of Kingstown, Rhode Island has joined B&G as East Coast Race Specialist. Matt brings a strong background both in sailing and electronics. A regular competitor in the Farr 40 fleet and other grand prix classes, Fries has managed Custom Navigation's Portsmouth, RI location for the past six years. Bob Congdon, B&G Sales Manager, will relocate to the Pacific Northwest from Newport, RI, bringing a higher level of service and support to the West Coast. Don't miss the chance to preview B&G's new Version 8 Deckman Tactical Software at the Annapolis Sail Show, Land Space #9. Contact mailto:bob.congdon@sim.net LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or space (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, there are no word or frequency limits on comments sent to the Scuttlebutt Forums. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forums: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Chris Ericksen: Reluctant as I am to stir up controversy, I think the claim that the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD, is the oldest such show (as touted by J/Boats in 'Butt 2193) is incorrect: I think that the Long Beach (California) Sailboat Show, for one, is at least that old. I have a distinct memory of attending that show in 1971, which was 35 years ago, and it was not the first one ever held; please don't ask how I remember, just rest assured that I do. Maybe they are saying that it is the oldest strictly-sailboat show, and that may be; maybe they mean it is the oldest, continuously-running in-the-water show, that may be as well. But oldest? I doubt it. * From Paul Kueffner: A letter in Scuttlebutt 2193 referred to the apparent quick and unthinking reaction of NOAA and NMFS to the depletion of the Right Whale populations off the East Coast. Their proposed plan would seem to require vessels 65' and over (both sail and power) to proceed at speeds of 10 knots or less in specific areas like Cape Cod Bay that are critical to Right Whales, or moving zones up and down the East Coast where Right Whales have been sighted. Ship "strikes" seem to have been a significant factor in limiting the population of these animals to about 300, currently, worldwide. They have not been hunted by commercial whalers since about 1935, and can obviously use whatever help we can give them to boost their population. They eat plankton (possibly red tide plankton, helping to keep that scourge in check?) and krill. They swim at about 5 knots and must have a hard time getting out of the way of fast-moving boats. The NOAA and NMFS have been working on this proposal since 2001, according to the link that appeared in Scuttlebutt 2193. The deadline for public comments on it was August 25, 2006. * From Eric A Sorensen (edited to our 250-word limit): Thanks for the article on where the money goes describing the amount of research on sails. I am very sure that the R&D on that topic will assist racers, cruisers, and commercial sail in attaining the most efficient shapes and construction. Of course most club racers will not see most of those advantages since we like to replace sails only when they explode, due to modest budgets, but when we do get to order that new fast weapon ... look out! Cruisers will benefit in this trickle down research but will get sails that hold their shape longer, through more wind ranges, and have been adapted to long life as well. Perhaps some of the tech developed will assist the commercial ventures due to the size of the AC boats and the even larger sizes needed for freighter sailing. The Maxi fleet will certainly benefit as cost in that class seemly has no upper end for spending. It seems the AC boats are smaller than the Maxis so the ideas can be tried out 3-4 ways for the same cost as a single large sail for a Wally yacht or similar. The subtly of sail design at that level has to be with a variance of mm vs inches on the foil. * From Pat Healy: Bill Buchan is in his "later" 60's, and 10th overall / second US boat after two races at the Star Worlds! What a great role model. * From Mark Dolan: Yes, the USCG has said they have extended the public comment time frame regarding live fire (the shooting up the trout and salmon) on the Great Lakes. This was done over out cry by recreational boaters. I am a Maritime Officer on the Lakes, at no time this season has there been a posting of a comment session in their LNM's. I found out from a local newspaper. These "practice sessions" have already begun on Lake Superior this September. Oh, I feel so safe. The only safety problem we may encounter up here are the whiskey smugglers heading south and the backhaul with cigarettes (Oh yes, that went out with prohibition) and now drive by shootings. Come on USCG, you were the governmental heroes after Katrina. Re-channel your resources, send your extra ammo where it is needed and forget about use 'em or loose 'em. * From Rasa Bertrand: Ditto - I agree with Scott Ridgway's comments about the difficulties navigating the St Francis YC website. * From Chris Boome (re Scott Ridgeway's comments about the race information of the StFYC website): I don't know what he is thinking about, not only are the results posted well before dark, they also give you the mark rounding order. All you do is go to: http://www.stfyc.com/You do have to click on "Regatta Information" and then choose the Star Worlds, how hard is that? * From Richard Peters: In your search for the worst sailing websites, let me nominate the official web for the Sunfish World Championships. We are now three days into the event and while they have posted the resumes of the volunteers - there are no results up yet? -- http://www.sunfishworlds-2006.com./results.htm * From Peter O. Allen, Sr. (regarding Scuttlebutt's latest photo gallery, from the Vice Admiral's Cup at Cowes) I may never get on a sailboat again. At least not until tomorrow. Thanks for bringing us this type of coverage: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/vac CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION 1972: Screw the system - 2006: Upgrade the system Special thanks to e Sailing Yachts and B&G Instruments. America's Cup coverage in Scuttlebutt is brought to you by UBS. |
