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SCUTTLEBUTT 3028 - Friday, February 12, 2010
Scuttlebutt 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.
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TIME TO GO RACING
Peter Lester (NZL), who was among the afterguard on Michael Fay's 130-foot monohull KZ-1 during the previous Deed of Gift match in 1988, provides these comments from Valencia after two failed attempts to complete the first race of the 33rd America’s Cup:
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The conditions yesterday (Wednesday) appeared pretty reasonable - it was a beautiful clear day, and the breeze was a healthy 18 knots. It would have been a tough race, but it would have been full of action. But the race committee, headed by New Zealand's Harold Bennett, canned the proceedings as the 1m swells were considered too extreme. It has to be said these "extreme" conditions are easily managed by club sailors around New Zealand.
It is getting to be quite farcical when these two multimillion-dollar machines, with all their technical wizardry, can't go out and race in conditions that approximate the real world of sailing. From where I'm sitting they are meant to be able to race these things, it's meant to be an ocean course and for them to not have raced just doesn't seem right to me. The boats not being strong enough is not an excuse - if they haven't built boats that are sturdy enough to cope with conditions, then tough.
As we've seen time after time, the defender controls the game. It is becoming very clear that Alinghi are leaning on the race committee to ensure that they don't race in conditions unsuitable for their yacht.
While yesterday's (Wednesday) postponement means the boats will stay in one piece, the same can't be said for the public image of the America's Cup. With every postponed race the sport is losing further credibility in the eyes of the public. There is a real sense of disappointment and frustration among the punters gathered here, and no doubt the people watching on the television and internet at home. -- NZ Herald, full story:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10625649
TIME TO BE PATIENT
Two-time America's Cup winner Peter Isler, whose five America’s Cup campaigns include the successful defense in the 1988 Deed of Gift match with Dennis Conner onboard Stars & Stripes, provides his perspective on the pace of the 33rd Match:
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I have enjoyed and appreciated Cory Friedman's long-running commentary in Scuttlebutt. I even dug deep and contributed to his junket to Valencia. But like all of us, he has his own personal perspective. And thanks to his legal training and experience in NY State (and his clever analogies) that perspective has contributed to the value of his reports for many of we laymen ..... though I'm sure at times over the past couple of years, both teams, and their counsels would have loved to silence his "back seat driving". But I'm not alone in appreciating the fact that Scuttlebutt has chosen to share his perspective, which has usually been a lot meatier than the information released by the two parties.
However in his most recent release (in Scuttlebutt 3027), he seems to have fallen into the clutches of a mindset (or least he's feeling its tug) that is a common malady for Cup aficionados.... that is that we Cupheads somehow deserve an America's Cup under terms that are convenient for us. Sitting in Valencia waiting for PRO Harold Bennett to pull the trigger, it must be as frustrating as it is for us in California who set the alarm for a few minutes before the updated start time only to learn that its time to go bed and stare at the ceiling wondering how long the postponement will last.
But none of us deserve to have a race at a scheduled time. And Cory's clever argument that the Deed of Gift says that in this duel, both parties should begin taking their twenty paces and turn and fire at the prescribed time regardless of weather is his opinion. But from my perspective, I'll beg to disagree. I think the most powerful aspect of the Cup's Deed of Gift is that it gives sailors (read bona fide yacht clubs) all the opportunity in the world to play their game, and only brings in the Judge when they can't agree. And I see the Deed working quite elegantly as we "patiently" await the calming of the Mistral and the coming of the summer sea breezes.
Although BMW Oracle challenged certain aspects of the NOR and SI's (and a lot more!), they've not specifically turned to the Judge to complain about Harold. I know, he was hired by Alinghi and the race committee is loaded with pro Alinghi staff.... but Russell Coutts and the gang know and respect the fact that Harold is a sailor - and a damn good PRO. -- Read on:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=9103#9103
FAST SAILS ARE REQUIRED
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RACING ON FRIDAY POSTPONED
* SCHEDULE: The Match is won by the yacht to first win two races. Race warning signal for Friday has been delayed to 11:54 am local time (CET), with the race to start at 12:00 pm. The race schedule will continue to attempt a race every other day, with the next race scheduled for Friday, February 12 (and then Sunday, Tuesday, etc.).
* WEATHER REPORT: Alinghi’s weather team suggested Thursday afternoon that the chance of racing taking place on Friday was a ‘slight’ one. They are forecasting up to twenty knots in the morning with wave heights between one and two metres. They believe the winds are set to calm down around noon, but the deciding factor will be how long it takes for the sea state to moderate enough for racing. Depressingly, according to both teams, there have only been a handful of days in the last month where the weather would have allowed America’s Cup racing to take place. -- Offshore Rules,
http://www.offshorerules.co.uk/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=471
* ONLINE VIEWING: The BMW Oracle team’s online live ‘Dock Out Show’ begins Friday at 8:25 am local time (CET), with the racing broadcast dependant on actual start time. A reminder that all options state that shows will be archived for later viewing. Here are some of the North American online viewing options:
http://bit.ly/a0j9iY
* VALENCIA LOCAL TIME:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=325
* COURSE: The first and third races will be a course twenty nautical miles to windward and return; the second race, an equilateral triangular race of thirty-nine nautical miles, the first side of which shall be a beat to windward. Golden Gate Yacht Club won a pre-event coin toss, and chose for a starboard end start entry for the first and third races.
* EVENT WEBSITE: Look to the 33rd America’s Cup website for event documents, jury decisions, and other event details:
http://33rd.americascup.com/en/
* TEAM UPDATES: Here are the best links for team information:
- Alinghi:
http://www.alinghi.com/en/
- BMW Oracle Racing:
http://bmworacleracingblog.blogspot.com/
THE ANSWER IS BLOWIN IN THE WIND
By Matthew Sheahan, Yachting World
At the Alinghi base today (Thursday) the Defender ran a workshop for the press led by their weather gurus John Bilger and Jack Katzfey. The session was fascinating as the pair explained how the team goes about collecting its data and how different this Cup is to previous ones both for the met boys and the crews.
"For the sailors, this Cup is really a case of sailing blind," explained Bilger. "On a version 5 Cup boat wind spotters could see 10 minutes ahead from the deck and 16 minutes from the top of the mast. Now, given the speed that these boats are sailing at they can only see 1 minute ahead and 3 minutes from up the mast."
"We're also hearing from the crews that the biggest performance issue on these boast is the weather," he continued. "If they can find 1-2 knots more breeze, the improvement in boat speed is far greater than any other performance enhancing factor that the team has tested. Just 2 knots of boat speed can produce another 6-7 knots of boat speed."
And it's not just the potential increase in boat speed that is linked to a small increase in wind speed. According to Bilger 1 knot of pressure can be equivalent to a 20 degrees wind shift. Clearly for these generation of Cup boats, wind speed is far more important than wind direction. -- Read on:
http://tinyurl.com/yj5xp52
IF YOU WERE A BETTING MAN…
Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has quoted Larry Ellison’s BMW Oracle as the favourite in the three race series at 4/6, with Alinghi at 11/10. They are also predicting that it is only slightly more likely to rip a sail than it is to break a mast. Here are their predictions:
Ripped sail - 2/1
Boat to dismast - 5/2
Man overboard - 4/1
Boats to collide - 6/1
Boat to sink - 12/1
Website:
http://www.paddypower.com/bet/sailing
‘Butthead Jamie Leopold reminds us that the New York Supreme Court had set a date of February 25 to hear the “constructed in country” case concerning the legality of the sails being used by Alinghi 5. This was one of the few lingering issues that remained prior to the start of the Match, but now Jamie is wondering if the bookmakers have a line on the odds of:
1. Getting in an actual AC race before Justice Kornreich hears the CiC appeal.
2. Completing the AC best of three series before Justice Kornreich hears the CiC appeal.
3. Justice Kornreich issuing a ruling on the CiC appeal before the best of three match is completed.
Said Jamie, “Who knows, perhaps the wheels of justice will turn faster than good sailing weather comes to Valencia.”
As for the long shot of the event, billionaire adventurer Richard Branson says he will try to end the bickering between his America's Cup friends so the event doesn't spend any more time in the courts. Branson saw Alinghi president Ernesto Bertarelli Thursday before meeting BMW Oracle counterpart Larry Ellison. The Virgin Atlantic president says he will try to ensure there are no more court cases so "this sport is looked after for future generations." Branson said Virgin could form a team for the next edition only if current British syndicate Team Origin were to lose its funding. --
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35349784/ns/sports/
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FOR THE RECORD
(Day 12 - February 11, 2010; 17:50 UTC) - Snaking between cells of high pressure, Franck Cammas and his men aboard Groupama 3 know that they have to endure another 24 difficult hours before they can hook onto a steadier, powerful W'ly breeze. "I hope we've escaped the lightest breezes now,” said skipper Cammas. “This Thursday morning, we weren't even making an average of six knots, with less than three knots of breeze. Fortunately we're in the process of leaving these zones, which are closing up behind us. The end of the tunnel lies at 37 degrees South!"
The difficulty for navigator Stan Honey and onshore router Sylvain Mondon, lies in locating a coherent route, keeping the risk of coming to a complete standstill at a minimum. "We had to make a decision two days ago,” noted Cammas. “We opted for the riskier route, that's to say traversing zones of flat calm, and we're doing better than if we'd taken a big detour to get around them! We're fairly happy with our decision because we've gone faster than the wind holes, which are forming behind us." -- Complete report:
http://tinyurl.com/yfh9s7c
Current position as of February 11, 2010 (22:00:00 UTC):
Ahead/behind record: -201.9 nm
Speed (avg) over past 24 hours: 13.5 knots
Distance over past 24 hours: 323.7 nm
Data: http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne/positions.asp?lg=en
Map:
http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne/index.asp?lg=en
* After their start on January 31, 2010, Franck Cammas and his nine crew on Groupama 3 must cross finish line off Ushant, France before March 23rd (06:14:57 UTC) to establish a new time for the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions. Current record holder is Bruno Peyron and crew, who in 2005 sailed Orange 2 to a time of 50 days, 16 hours, and 20 minutes at an average of 17.89 knots.
DIARY OF A NAVIGATOR
Navigator Stan Honey (USA) is among the nine crew sailing with skipper Franck Cammas onboard the 103-foot maxi trimaran Groupama 3 during their attempt to win the Jules Verne Trophy, a fully crewed round the world record attempt under sail. Stan will be updating ‘butthead readers from onboard Groupama 3, and replied to a few questions this week:
* How does the team feel about this attempt so far?
STAN HONEY: We left for this Jules Verne Trophy attempt on a weather pattern that was risky near Cape Finisterre, not long after the start, and then had significant risk of being slow in the South Atlantic. With the limited time in our team’s schedule it appeared to be the last departure opportunity left for us. Our hope was (and is) that we could get to the Cape of Good Hope within a half day of Orange 2's record time. We still might be able to achieve that with some luck.
In hindsight it was good that we left because it turns out there were not any subsequent departure possibilities within the time that would have worked for Groupama's other commitments.
* How typical are the weather challenges right now in the South Atlantic?
STAN HONEY: This passage through the South Atlantic has been very challenging due to the large St Helena High, and the new High joining it coming from the SW. It has been my lightest and slowest passage in the South Atlantic. It reminds me of the Transpac in 1979, navigating the appropriately named yacht, Drifter.
The Southern Hemisphere SE trades have been unusually light this year. But it does not take much wind for these big multihulls to make good speeds so we were happy with our passage through the SE trades. The tough part of our passage to the Southern Ocean Westerlies has been passing through the "Horse Latitudes" that are between the SE Trades and the Westerlies. In fact we are still struggling to get out of the St Henena High and exit the Horse Latitudes.
* How do the Southern Ocean Westerlies currently look?
STAN HONEY: The outlook for the Westerlies in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean is very good. We just need to get to them.
* How will Groupama 3 overcome the current record?
STAN HONEY: Having inspected Orange 2's track, I suspect that Groupama is a few percent faster than Orange 2. When Bruno Peyron and his crew on Orange 2 set the current record in 2005, they had extremely impressive passages in the South Atlantic outbound, and then in the Pacific. We gained on Orange 2 in the North Atlantic, and will lose substantially to Orange 2 in the South Atlantic, although we still might come close to our goal of being within a half day of Orange when we pass the Cape of Good Hope. We are unlikely to be able to better Orange 2's time in the Pacific due to their terrific passage there. So to beat Orange 2 we will need to be reasonably close at the Cape of Good Hope, make gains in the Indian Ocean, and gain in the Atlantic on the way north to the finish line off Ushant, France.
Complete diary:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/1111
LETTERS AND FORUM
Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum.
-- To submit a Letter:
editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com
-- To post on the Forum:
http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum
* From Dick Enersen:
Notwithstanding my destroyed daily sleep regimen, I remained awake this afternoon long enough to digest Lawyer Friedman’s latest ('Butt 3207). As we have come to expect, he’s spot on in his analysis of the situation. He is also appropriately tough on SNG and its RC.
I particularly appreciate his observation about the race course. Long story short, it is not a half-mile Laser sausage; it’s a bloody ocean race. Shoot the wind, drop some marks, shoot some guns, start a watch and see who comes back first (under 7 hours elapsed time).
I don’t claim to be a meteorologist or a great Med hand, but it seems that weather, good and bad, moves damn fast in the Valencian winter. It’s bad for the event, and what audience there is, not to able to take advantage of every opportunity to race. I read the article’s quote of PRO Bennett, about there being only 5 or 6 acceptable race days in the past 3 weeks, as a subtle shot at his SNG paymaster.
If we’re lucky, after there's no racing on the 14th, SNG will announce that they will try to race every day except after the completion of a race, as the Deed requires. If we're REALLY lucky, it will be over on Sunday, GGYC will collect the Cup, and we can get on with life and the next event.
I need a nap.
* From Jamie McWilliam:
It's been brilliant having Cory Friedman as the sailors' translator/interpreter of legal mumbo-jumbo over the last two years of AC madness. But for him to continue to be the most outstanding reporter on the event even now it is out of the courts is a staggering feat. His piece today ("IS THIS A DEED OF GIFT MATCH OR WHAT?") is absolutely perfect, and shows a grasp of simple common sense that is entirely absent in the event itself. For heaven's sake, fire the starting gun.
* From Alex Arnold:
"Part 58" is must reading for all interested in AC33 or the America's Cup period.
* From Dierk Polzin: (re, story in Scuttlebutt 3027)
Paul Cayard thinks that maybe this cup is not promoting the sport very well. Do you think? It's been that way for several years now, 100% legal battling and 0% sailing. If it was ever about the sailing they could each hop into a Tech at the MIT boat club and see who was the best and be done with it.
These types of personal duels were resolved more efficiently 200-300 years ago with a revolver or saber. Even better joisting on horses at full gallop with lance. With those duels at least the gene pool was cleansed a bit and there were no delays due to the meteorology. I've seen photos of kids in optimists in Miami that can sail in bigger waves than these guys can.
* From Julian Everitt in Valencia:
Alinghi may be troubled by the height of the waves offshore in this winter environment while Oracle are happy to race and yet it was really Alinghi that brought this venue upon itself.
When Ras Al Khaimah was mooted as a venue after break downs in the talks with Abu Dhabi, Oracle did, in fact, informally agree with RAK that they would be happy to race there. For a very short while Dr Katter Massaad (man in charge of AC for RAK) was very keen to meet with Larry Ellison and so the stage appeared to be set. But then all went quite from RAK. We can all wonder why?
=> Curmudgeon’s Comment: The above letters are mere sampling for all the posts that are now in the Forum. View it all here:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/DISCUSSION_C6/Dock_Talk_F5/
CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION
I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Microsoft Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to a document that I swear I did not make any changes to.
Special thanks to North U and Team One Newport.
Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
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