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SCUTTLEBUTT 3763 - Monday, January 28, 2013
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Today's sponsors: UsedBoatEquipment.com and Farr 40 Class.
GABART CRUSHES RECORD, WINS VENDEE GLOBE
(January 27, 2013; Day 79) - Today Francois Gabart (MACIF) completed the
Vendee Globe as the winner, setting a new race record of 78 days, eclipsing
the previous record set by Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) of 84 days in the 2008-9
edition. Armel le Cleac'h (Banque Populaire) crossed the finish line 3
hours 17 minutes later in second - the closest finish in the Vendee Globe
history. The previous record was 6 hours 33 minutes between winner Vincent
Riou and Jean Le Cam in 2005.
"The entire race is something very intense and once you get here in Les
Sables d'Olonne, the transition is a unique moment," said Francois. "I've
given 100% for two months and a half and when it stops all of a sudden, it
feels quite strange.
"My initial goal was to do my best but MACIF and I didn't think about
winning, we weren't that ambitious. We wanted to have a great race, that
was it. But when I passed Armel in the Indian Ocean, I knew Jean-Pierre was
behind and Vincent was out of the race and I started thinking maybe I could
do it.
"I want to thank Armel because he's one of the reasons why this Vendee
Globe was so unique. Fighting against him made it all so special. When I
see Armel, I want to thank him for making it possible for me to have such a
great race with him, and thanks for not passing me too!
"Four years ago, I was at Michel Desjoyeaux's press conference when he won
the Vendee Globe; I had started pro sailing six months before. What
happened since then is something incredible. I don't really realise.
"What is really difficult in the VG is how many problems and technical
issues you face. One problem is easy to deal with, but several at the same
time or in a row, that's another story. Tough nights are among the most
difficult moments, especially when you know it's just the beginning of the
race. My priority was to do my best to make sure each problem was taken
care of, so I don't have too many at the same time.
"Last night was difficult but it's ok because I knew it was the last. But
still, there were huge waves, cargo ships and fishing boats, things that
can definitely put an end to your race. There were 35-knot gusts, it was
very dangerous and difficult.
"I've surprised myself, yes, and it's been going on for quite a while, it
feels great. I don't know how long it will last though. I look back at my
race and wonder how I was able to handle all those issues and twists of
fate, either at the same time or one after the other." -- Read on:
http://tinyurl.com/VG-012713
http://tracking2012.vendeeglobe.org/en/
Top 5 of 20 - Rankings as of Sunday, January 27, 2013, 20h00 (FR)
1. Francois Gabart (FRA), Macif: Jan 27, 14:18:40UTC, 78:02:16:40
2. Armel Le Cleac'h(FRA),Banque Populaire: Jan 27, 17:35:52UTC, 78:05:33:52
3. Alex Thomson (GBR), Hugo Boss: 946.7 nm Distance to Finish
4. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA), Virbac Paprec 3: 1063.8 nm DTF
5. Jean Le Cam (FRA), SynerCiel: 2506.3 nm DTF
Full rankings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html
CONTINUING: Since losing his keel last week, Jean-Pierre Dick tested
sailing Virbac-Paprec 3 with only water ballast in rougher conditions than
these last few days, in the company of Alex Thomson. After studying the
weather conditions in depth, Jean-Pierre has decided to not stop at the
Azores and will continue at least until Portugal.
BACKGROUND: Twenty skippers began the 24,000-nm Vendee Globe, a solo,
non-stop around the world race in the IMOCA Open 60 class. Starting in Les
Sables d'Olonne, France on November 10, the west to east course passes the
three major capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn before returning to
Les Sables d'Olonne. Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) set the course record of 84
days in the 2008-9 edition. -- http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/
FIND THE BEST EQUIPMENT DEALS HER
Outboard engines, rope, electronics, sails, roller furlers, safety gear,
life rafts, anchors, you name it. People are selling some brand new gear
and some old. Have you bought something and then didn't use it? We recently
sold a bunch J/105 parts, including a Mast, Triad trailer, complete wheel
steering system and Sails on top of old electronics. The adage one man's
trash is another's treasure is so true especially for boat owners. Buy and
sell used boat equipment online 24/7. http://www.UsedBoatEquipment.com
NO PARTY TOO FAR
Key West, FL (January 25, 2013) - It wasn't hard to figure out who the
winners were upon conclusion of Quantum Key West 2013. Andrea Pozzi and the
Italian Melges 32 sailors aboard Bombarda were passing around bottles of
champagne. Jim Richardson and his Farr 40 crew on Barking Mad were drinking
a tray full of mudslides. Hearty handshakes and bear hugs were exchanged in
the cockpit of 52-foot Azzurra.
Brian Porter (Lake Geneva, WI) and his team on Full Throttle duked it out
with Alec Cutler (Pembroke, Bermuda) and the Hedgehog crew from beginning
to end in Melges 24 class, second-largest of the regatta with 23 boats.
Full Throttle won Race 9 to build a cushion then placed third in Race 10 to
seal a three-point victory over hedgehog, which got the gun in the final
start.
"It couldn't have been a nicer week. We had great wind, great competition
and great race committee work," said Porter, who has now captured Melges 24
class three times at Key West. Andy Burdick served as tactician and did a
superb job despite fighting through terrible illness on Thursday and
Friday. Sam Rogers trimmed the spinnaker while Matt Woodworth worked the
bow aboard Full Throttle, which earned the ultimate honor of Quantum Boat
of the Week.
"I really have to credit my crew. My team is really exceptional. As a
group, we really work well together," Porter said. "Our biggest edge was
downwind sailing. We had really good speed going downwind and I think that
was a big difference."
J/70 was the largest class at Quantum Key West 2013 with 39 boats and the
brand new design was showcased with some spectacular racing. North Sails
pro Tim Healy and his experienced team on Helly Hansen seized the lead on
Thursday then held it by winning both races on Friday, which featured 14-16
knot winds. Geoff Becker (tactician), John Mollicone (trimmer) and Dave
Reed (foredeck) comprised the crew on Helly Hansen.
"It was really fun to figure out how to sail the boat. Right up to the last
race we were working on tuning and experimenting with techniques," said
Healy, a J/24 champion who was making his J/70 debut. "We went out early
every morning and tinkered with sail trim and rig tune. We made progress
every day and the crew worked very hard at fine-tuning every maneuver."
David Franzel (Somerville, MA) captured the Corinthian portion of J/70
class, consisting of 12 boats that did not have a professional aboard.
--Full report:
http://www.premiere-racing.com/keywest13/QKW_Friday_Release1-25-13.pdf
Full Results: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=716
Event Website: http://www.premiere-racing.com/QKW2013_event.html
POSITIVE PROGRESS
Steve Benjamin, a founding member of the High Performance Rule (HPR) and
co-owner with wife Heidi of the Carkeek 40 SPOOKIE, invited Scuttlebutt
editor Craig Leweck to experience HPR racing during Quantum Key West.
SPOOKIE proved to be a highly technical 40-foot keelboat being handled like
a dinghy - correction - a skiff. Its high performance rewarded expert crew
work with significant penalties for mishaps. Afterwards at the dock, "Benj"
shared his comments on the following topics:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SB: What got HPR started?
BENJ: The idea first came from Stan Honey and in some ways an outgrowth of
the grand prix working party which was trying back in 2007 or so to bring
together some of the vested groups to get a grand prix rule working. But
the effort kind of blew up with everyone going away angry. But after I was
appointed the chairman of the New York Yacht Club handicap rules committee
at the end of 2010, the club was motivated to get the wheels turning again.
SB: Why might people like HPR?
BENJ: It's a published rule which allows people to immediately see the
impact of a change. It is so much easier to operate under this system when
tweaking the boat's parameters. You don't have to run any trials, or submit
measurement changes and money to learn how these changes impact the rating.
With HPR we can operate off a spreadsheet and instantly see the result of
the changes.
For SPOOKIE, we had one parameter- the tack point of our spinnaker - that
was slightly over maximum. So we were able to sit down with an Excel
spreadsheet of the rule and tinker with it to determine exactly the extent
it was over maximum and the options to correct it.
There is a contingent of people that prefer the transparency. We don't want
to be held to the subjective hull factors; we want to know exactly what it
is rated and why and how you get to that rating. The HPR is so simple; it
is down to basically 12 factors now.
SB: What is its type form?
BENJ: HPR could be viewed as a brand of boat, a high performance planning
type boat between 26 and 72 feet. But boats don't necessarily need to be a
planning boat like SPOOKIE. We've been working really hard with HPR to get
the rule to a point where a range of boat types can be competitive. For
example, the Ker 40 Catapult, which is considered an IRC type boat, had a
dilemma at Key West as there was no IRC class for that size of boat. They
were planning on racing in PHRF, but they are a grand prix-type team and we
swayed them to race HPR. We are having some great races.
SB: How will the rule be administered?
BENJ: HPR was originally funded by the NYYC but the ownership has since
been transferred to the ORA (Offshore Racing Association). Then Dan Nowlan,
who is the Offshore Director at US Sailing, had the idea of having a world
central processor of certificates. Dan suggested the ORC because they were
set-up with the software and the website portal that was already providing
this service. And the ORC agreed, so pretty soon, perhaps within a month,
every HPR certificate that comes out will be issued by the ORC world
central processor. All countries will feed into that. What's notable is
that this is the first time in the history of the world that there was one
central authority worldwide issuing certificates. This is extremely
positive.
Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/13/0125/
AND THE QUAD BEGINS MONDAY
Miami, FL (January 27, 2013) - For the 24th time in ISAF Sailing World Cup
Miami history, excellence in Olympic and Paralympic class racing will take
place on the emerald waters of Biscayne Bay. This six-day regatta gets
underway on Monday, with over 300 of the best sailors in the World
representing 35 countries. The regatta marks the second of four stops on
the 2012-2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup series.
Coconut Grove was energized on Sunday in anticipation of the start of
racing, as sailors finalized registration details, toured the event's five
sailing venues, fine tuned their equipment, and acclimated to the
conditions on Biscayne Bay with some practice. Sunday's Miami Marathon
added to the electric scene at "The Grove" in celebration of fitness and
athleticism.
The ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami provides an opportunity for U.S. and
international Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls to begin their campaign for
Rio 2016. Olympians, World Champions, and a cast of rising stars will be
tested.
All eyes are on the Nacra 17 (mixed multihull) and 49er FX (women's skiff)
as the two new Olympic class events. The Nacra 17 will be making its debut
at the ISAF Sailing World Cup this week in Miami. The 49er FX made its
first appearance on the international stage at ISAF Sailing World Cup
Melbourne last December. Many of the sailors in each of these events are
making the transition from another boat or class. ISAF World Cup Miami will
provide the perfect opportunity for these sailors to build camaraderie with
new teammates and make progress with their new boats. -- Read on:
http://tinyurl.com/Miami-012713
UPDATES: The event website will host real-time racecourse blogging,
commentary and fan interaction with Cover it Live, regatta results, photos
and news updates: http://mocr.ussailing.org
BACKGROUND: The six-day ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami (Jan 28-Feb 2) is the
second of four events on the 2012-13 ISAF Sailing World Cup season. The
season began in Melbourne, Australia (Dec 2-8) and will move next to Palma
Spain (Mar 30-Apr 6) and then Hyeres, France (Apr 20-27). The ISAF Sailing
World Cup is open to the sailing classes (equipment) chosen for the 2016
Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. --
http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/home.php
THE FABULOUS 40S
The Farr 40, the most successful one design keelboat of its size, was
introduced in 1997. Since then over 150 boats have been built and 15 Rolex
World Championships have been completed in Australia, Bahamas, Dominican
Republic, Europe and the USA. The history of the boat and class is
beautifully documented in the photo-rich coffee table book The Fabulous
40s, written by acclaimed yachting journalist Bob Fisher with photos from
the best marine photographers in the world. To purchase outside the USA or
bulk orders within the USA please email farr40@staggyachts.com. USA buyers
can shop for the book on-line at http://www.farr40.org
SAILING SHORTS
* US Sailing announced the selection process for athletes to qualify for
the 2013 US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider, the national team comprised of
the top Olympic and Paralympic class sailors. American sailors qualify for
the team based on their 2012 results or performance at 2013 ISAF Sailing
World Cup Miami, scheduled for January 28-February 2. Selection in the
Nacra 17 and SKUD-18 will take place at future events. -- Read on:
hhttp://tinyurl.com/USA-012713
* The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Attorney Office announced last week that
Shane Coxon, 24, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Washington for knowingly making a false distress call to the
Coast Guard in July 2010. Coxon was sentenced to time-served of
approximately three and a half months imprisonment to be followed by two
years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay the U.S. Coast
Guard more than $4,500 in restitution. -- Read on:
http://tinyurl.com/USCG-012713
* The Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium is the world's longest running
technical forum dedicated to advancing the study of the art and science of
sailing yacht design technology. Registration for the 2013 Symposium, which
will be held in Annapolis, Maryland, USA on March 15-16, is now open with
special discounts available for early registrants. Details of the
preliminary program can be viewed at http://csysonline.com
* Offshore sailing veterans Peter Isler and Sam Heck are teaming up on a
presentation which focuses on the Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas
International Yacht Race which starts March 22/23. Topics include internet
weather information, race preparation, weather routing/route optimization,
Baja/local knowledge tactics and tips. Hosted by Newport Harbor Yacht Club
on February 2. Details here: http://nhyccaborace.com/home/2013/01/11/532/
EFFECTIVE EVENT MARKETING
There is no simpler or more effective method to create awareness of an
event than to add it to the Scuttlebutt regatta calendar. The database for
this calendar is shared by a media partnership to ensure widespread
viewership. Are you an event organizer? Add your event here:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar
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 Jorge Suarez:
In Scuttlebutt #3762 in Photos of the Day, I saw the photo of the 1978
College Sloop National sailors on the Hokule'a voyaging canoe. When I saw
the name of the canoe, my heart sank! I remembered that the Hokule'a was
built to test the hypothesis that it was possible to sail from Hawaii to
Tahiti by using non-instrument navigation. On its second voyage and only in
the Molokai Channel, one hull took on water and the canoe capsized. On
board was Eddie Aikau, THE Big Wave Surf God, who tried to paddle a
surfboard to Lanai and begin a rescue (no radios!). Eddie was never seen
again. The rest of the crew was saved by the Coast Guard. This occurred in
March of 1978!
* From Brooks Magruder:
Regarding the starboard/port hailing quiz in Scuttlebutt 3762, this reminds
me of a "funny now" situation where a rookie crew kept hearing our skipper
hail "hold your course" to the crossing starboard boat-- hailed solely as a
courtesy to let them know we saw them. Then later when we were on starboard
and approaching a gaggle of port boats, the rookie didn't hear the skipper
hail, so thought he'd be nice and hailed "hold your course" to the burdened
vessels! That forced us to duck them all.
* From David Villiers-Child:
I absolutely agree with your correspondent (in Scuttlebutt 3761) on the
need for a simple set of rules, like him I have sailed and raced for all of
my life. It seems to me the two problems are the rules are a one size fits
all set and frankly we need separate sets for the windsurfers the team
racers the dinghies and small keel boats etc. The other is that the
organization and the rules of our sport have become a sport/industry in
themselves not for the benefit of the competitors.
* From Joshua Bone:
Regarding simplifying the racing rules of sailing, here are the ice boat
rules...all on one page. Note the top section. These rules are designed to
prevent collisions: http://www.iceboat.org/elements/NEIYA_rules_no_club.jpg
PRO BONO
The Scuttlebutt website provides a portal for sailing businesses to
announce their personnel, product and service updates...for free! As a
bonus, each week the Scuttlebutt newsletter includes some of the recent
updates. Are you in the marine industry? Post your updates in the Industry
News section of the Forum.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
History repeats itself. That is one of the things wrong with history.
SPONSORS THIS WEEK
UsedBoatEquipment.com - Farr 40 Class - North U
Doyle Sailmakers - College of Charleston - Team One Newport
North Sails - Marion Bermuda Race - Melges Performance Sailboats
Ullman Sails - Ribcraft - Block Island Race Week
Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
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