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SCUTTLEBUTT 3354 - Thursday, June 2, 2011Scuttlebutt 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: Gowrie Group and Ullman Sails. UPDATED AMERICA'S CUP PROGRAM TO BENEFIT TEAMS San Francisco, CA (June 1, 2011) - With the newest generation of America's Cup boats exceeding the expectations of event organizers and the teams, the AC45 wing-sailed catamaran has now been selected by competitors for use in all America's Cup World Series events. Using the AC45 in all AC World Series events instead of switching to the AC72 in season two was one of several changes voted on by America's Cup competitors on Tuesday. This move also provides teams with another opportunity to manage competition costs. The larger AC72 will now appear on the water from July 2012. Teams will work up their AC72's and race the AC World Series leading into the Louis Vuitton Cup, America's Cup Challenger Series, and the 34th America's Cup Finals in San Francisco. The extended time-period for the debut of the AC72 allows teams more time for development of the boat. The race format and scoring for the 2011 AC World Series have also been released. The format will include a combination of Fleet and Match Racing with winners for each as well as an overall winner that will be determined on the final Sunday of the regatta. The AC World Series starts August 6, 2011 in Cascais, Portugal. Other updates agreed by the Competitors today include: - Teams to launch AC72s starting July 1, 2012 (there is a limited exception to launch and sail earlier for any proven pre-existing contractual obligations) - Teams have the same limited number of testing days in the AC72s in advance of racing. - The first Performance Bond for the AC World Series is eliminated and replaced with an Entry Fee ($100,000 USD). - Updated late entry procedure - Teams can enter late at discretion of the Defender. - Competitors must sign an AC45 purchase contract with a 50 percent non-refundable deposit paid by June 10. - Teams will consolidate their websites into www.americascup.com by July 1, 2011. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/43ecrb7 * Scuttlebutt spoke today with America's Cup Race Management to get some edification on some of these revised items, as follows: Teams originally could not sail AC72s prior to January 1, 2012; there will be no update on number of teams entered until after June 10, the date by which Competitor's now must sign an AC45 purchase agreement with a 50% non-refundable deposit. Clearly this new item swings both ways. There may be teams who don't/can't come up with the $$$ for whatever reason which puts them out, while there may be late entries who pony up and join the show, particularly now that Teams can enter late at the discretion of the Defender and a late entry fee is not automatic. It's rumored that there'll be an announcement regarding final team numbers at a press conference in San Francisco on June 15. Finally, race format and scoring info for the 2011 World Series events is at http://www.americascup.com/documents/regatta-notices_33. Stay tuned. SHARING WISDOM Rod Davis is approaching his 11th America's Cup and has competed in four Olympic Games (Gold, Silver and two 5th placings). Add in a ton of match racing, a few Admiral's Cup and other things thrown in, and you have the seasoned experience that comes from age and awareness. Before Rod 'became' a Kiwi through marriage, he got his sailing career started in Southern California. Here he shares some wisdom with CleverPig.org: * How did you transition from a young aspiring sailor to a world-renowned top-level professional? RD: I was two years into my Accounting degree, can you picture that? Me an accountant! Anyway, I decided I wanted to go sailing more than have a "real" job. So I left University and went to work for North Sails in Long Beach, California (my dad was not impressed...). I worked for North for ten years. My big break came from the Congressional Cup. I crewed for a few years, won a couple as a crew and then decided to try skippering. At my first attempt, we lost the cup in the last race. It was very disappointing after so much preparation to get it "right" the first time. The following year we won. In my time at North Sails Seal Beach (1976-'85) I did three America's Cup campaigns and two Olympic campaigns. Remember back then you did not get paid for sailing, only for making sails. So I was always broke. The good thing was that AC programs were very short, one year or so. Olympic programs were a weekend deal, with weeklong regattas every so often. That is how you sailed "professionally" - by sail-making during the week and sailing on the weekends. Now things are different. But when you are 24 years old you don't have many expenses, so it worked. My sailing career was a bit backwards of the norm. I cut my teeth crewing on "big" boats in southern California. Well, we considered them big back then, 35 to 40-foot boats, mostly for offshore sailing. I did a little skippering on the side in Snipes and Lasers. I took to match racing and that transformed me from crew to skipper. * How does your sailing expertise affect your kids' sailing? RD: Tough love, I guess. But I believe with kids it is about teaching them bigger lessons than just sailing - lessons that will help them through all their lives. If you cut corners for short-term gains or wins, you just cheat them in the long run. Like I said, it is not about the sailing: when it comes to teaching, the lessons are much bigger than that. That is the same way I coach, be it Dean Barker or an Opti sailor; I want to teach more than just how to win at sailing. We owe it to our students, kids or fellow sailors to share all the knowledge and make them better - even if we are not there to advise at that moment. Full interview: http://tinyurl.com/3f6oajy GOWRIE GROUP: SUMMER BOATING CHECK LIST Now that the 2011 boating season has officially commenced - we're providing this checklist (http://tinyurl.com/summerboatchecklist) to help ensure you have a safe and enjoyable experience this year. Remember to double-check that the specified launch date and geographic limits on your insurance policy align with your 2011 boating plans. You can easily find this information on the first page of your insurance policy. If you have any questions, or would like a competitive comparison quote, contact the marine insurance experts at Gowrie Group: 800.262.8911, boats@gowrie.com, http://www.tinyurl.com/gowriequote (use code: Scuttlebutt). COLLEGE SAILING WRAPS UP The Intercollegiate Sailing Association's three national championships, Women's, Team Race, and Dinghy titles were sailed over the past ten days in Club Flying Juniors (CFJs), at Cascade Locks, OR. The victorious teams are: ICSA/Sperry Top-Sider Women's National Champions: Univ. of Rhode Island ICSA/APS Team Race National Champions: Roger Williams University GILL/ICSA Dinghy National Championship: Boston College Here is the report after Day 3 of the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship: Cascade Locks, OR (June 1, 2011) - Today was the last day of the Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship. Both A-division and B-division completed 14 races in the event; four races in A-division today and six races in B-division were sailed on Windward/Leeward courses. In the end it was Boston College who commanded the lead and won the Henry A. Morse Memorial Trophy. Teams who were controlling the day and always had a presence in the top of the fleet were the top six teams most of the day: Boston College, Georgetown University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Mary's College of Maryland, College of Charleston and Harvard University. The nearly all-freshman Stanford University team had some great moments winning race 11B and having a few top five finishes in both fleets. In A-division Charlie Buckingham '11 with Karen Phillips '11 and Sydney Bolger '12 for Georgetown, Michael Menninger '11 with Franny Kupersmith '11 and Ben Lezin '13 for St. Mary's and David Thompson '11 with Catherine Pelo '13 and Hannah Littell '11 for Hobart and William Smith separated themselves in the scores early on sailing really consistently in the event. A highlight in B-division was Taylor Canfield '11 with Emily Migliaccio '11, Patrick Hession '13, Emily Massa '12 and Daniel Bloomstine '11 from Boston College, who strongly led the division throughout the regatta. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/3lhjrl2 Top 5 of 18 Team, A score - B score, Total 1. Boston College Eagles, 95 - 66, 161 2. Hobart and William Smith Colleges Statesmen, 95 - 93, 188 3. Harvard University Crimson, 115 - 75, 190 4. Georgetown Hoyas, 81 - 122, 203 5. St. Mary's College of Maryland Seahawks, 90 - 120, 210 Results: http://2011nationals.collegesailing.info/results/co-ed-results/ PHOTOS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/cn/ MARK FOY: THE MAN BEHIND THE NAME ON THE TROPHY With the Mark Foy Trophy regatta to be sailed at Sonderborg, Denmark from 6-11 June, many followers may wonder at the name behind the trophy to be contested by 26 teams from seven countries. Mark Foy's deeds are at the heart of 18ft Skiff Racing and his philosophy is still as valid today as it was in Australia 120 years ago. Foy, regarded as "the father of 18 Footer racing", was born in Victoria (Australia) in February 1865 and moved to Sydney in 1884 where he began business under the name 'Mark Foy' (which became one of the largest department stores in Sydney for 100 years). His hobby was sailing but he soon became disappointed that, despite the beauty and location of Sydney Harbour, there was practically no public interest in sailing. He came to the conclusion it was because yachtsmen did not cater for the public. The courses meant that the fleet was out of sight for more than an hour and there was no attempt to entertain spectators while the competitors were out of view. Adding to this was a complicated handicap system which caused further delay while the winner was being determined. As an entrepreneur, he was determined to popularize yacht racing and came up with specific aims to achieve his target. The Foy philosophy is printed below and it's amazing how similar it is to the popular Extreme Sailing 'package' of today. The Foy method: - Boats must be more colourful and more easily identified than by a number - Racing must be exciting and faster - Wins should be decided on a first-pass-the-post basis The major problem was producing a faster racer but Foy solved this with the first of the 18 Footers. He catered for the enthusiast who liked to follow the racing by introducing coloured emblems on the mainsails, and a triangular course of about three miles which was in full view of the public for the entire race. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/3emm4a3 BIGGEST, BEST PRIMED FOR NEWPORT REGATTA Some of the largest, fastest sailboats in the world will compete in the 2011 edition of the Annapolis-to-Newport Race, which begins Friday at noon on the Chesapeake Bay. Rambler and ICAP Leopard are both 100-foot racing machines that were built specifically for setting course records in ocean distance races. Both boats have the capability of breaking the Annapolis-Newport Race record of 42 hours, 58 minutes and 12 seconds that was set in 2001 by Carrera - a Farr 60 owned by Joseph Dockery and skippered by Annapolis resident Chris Larson. Also entered in this year's race is the Farr 80 Beau Geste and the Tripp 75 Bella Pita. All the aforementioned maxi yachts are competing in the Atlantic Ocean Racing Series, which is sponsored by New York Yacht Club, Storm Trysail Club, the Royal Yacht Squadron and Royal Ocean Racing Club. Annapolis-Newport is among seven qualifying races on either side of the Atlantic Ocean that comprise the series, which is highlighted by the Transatlantic Race that begins off Newport on June 3. "It's great that this new series has prompted these big boats to enter the Annapolis-to-Newport Race. We hope the skippers and crews enjoy themselves so much they come back in the future," said Chip Thayer, chairman of the Annapolis Yacht Club race committee. Rambler, owned by George David of Connecticut, recently set the course record for a monohull in the Royal Ocean Racing Club Caribbean 600. David, a New York Yacht Club member, called the custom-designed racer a "a Volvo 70 on steroids." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/3hug2gq SAILING SHORTS * The ISAF World Sailing Rankings for June 1, 2011 have been released. Visit the ISAF World Sailing Rankings homepage at http://www.sailing.org/rankings to view the full Ranking lists. The next release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings will be on 29 June 2011 and will include Skandia Sail for Gold in Great Britain, Kieler-Woche in Germany and the Star Western Hemisphere Championship in the USA. * Registration is now open for the J24 East Coast Championship, which will be held in Annapolis, MD, beginning October 28. Worried about the cost of housing? We will find a local family to host your team. Concerned that it's too far to drive? We will find you a good charter boat. Afraid that your team is not competitive? We will provide you with on the water coaching. Other concerns? Contact us and we will try to address them. -- Registration at: http://www.j24eastcoastchampionship.com/Registration.aspx * (May 30, 2011) - EUROSAF has announced plans to bring back the Eurolymp Sailing Circuit (EUROLYMP) from 2012/3, following the decision of ISAF to limit the number of Sailing World Cup Events in each Continent to one per annum, with Europe being granted two for the period 2012-2016. EUROSAF (and before them, the European Union Sailing Association - EUSA) arranged EUROLYMP from 1985 to 2004, events, which proved to be very popular with the sailors. When Europe was allocated five ISAF World Cup Sailing events, the need for EUROLYMP lessened, so its' circuit was put on hold. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/3g7oxtv "LOCOMOTION" SWEEPS THE 2011 AROUND CATALINA RACE Congratulations to Ed Feo and crew on Andrews 45 "Locomotion" who took advantage of the big breeze this past weekend in Southern California to sweep the Cabrillo Beach-Dana Point YC "Around Catalina" Race with a first to finish, first in class and first overall corrected! Fully powered by Ullman Sails, "Locomotion" finished the 75nm "Around Catalina" race and 3rd installment of the Ullman Sails Offshore Series in just over 9 hours. Competitors anticipated gale force winds, but the 13-boat fleet saw only 10-25kts. Feo's team is preparing for the upcoming 2011 Transpac Race in July. Invest in your performance. http://www.ullmansails.com. CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Is your event listed on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar? This free, self-serve tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. These are some of the events listed on the calendar for this weekend: Jun 3 - Annapolis to Newport Race - Annapolis, MD, USA Jun 3-5 - CYA Womens National Keelboat Championship - Montreal, QC, CAN Jun 3-5 - Southern Bay Race Week - Hampton, VA, USA Jun 4-5 - Cal Race Week- Marina del Rey, CA, USA Jun 4-5 - Senior/Masters Naples Sabot Nationals - Corona del Mar, CA, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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: * BoaterRated launches a "Virtual Dockside" Review Web Site * MC-R 35 - a dual purpose cruiser / racer * Aquila RP 45 - A new Reichel Pugh 45 Foot Performance Sailing Yacht 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 Tim Sladden (Group 1, Rochester YC): I happen to think ISAF has the classification code mostly right, but much more important than the code itself is how each class or event chooses to apply it. Let class associations, yacht clubs and race organizers decide whether to allow Group 3 sailors in their events. Simple! Some classes will embrace pros, as their presence usually raises the game for everyone. Some classes will want to restrict them to keep costs down or retain a Corinthian tradition. That's OK too. Keep the code simple, minimize loopholes, and let the decision to allow Group 3 sailors be made locally! * From John Wade: Years ago, as a kid of 13, I sailed on an Alden ketch in the Annapolis-Hampton race. On board was a fulltime paid hand, Arty. Arty cooked and kept the boat in good shape (at least that was the theory). Arty's real function was to drink himself blind every day. Arty was probably 50 but looked like 80. The only thing he could cook was fat back, which was incredibly delicious. Arty probably knew how to sail, though there was no real indication of this talent ever being exhibited in any useful way. Arty would have been classified as a group 3, professional. I think the sailing community should get rid of all classifications regarding amateur/professional ability. There's always going to be good sailors and bad. If a guy can make a living sailing, more power to him. If the mediocre sailor doesn't feel good being beat by the best, he can go play golf. To further keep sailing open, no prize money should be paid to anyone, and no tickets sold, for anything. Then all this discussion goes away. As a crew I never paid for anything regarding my expenses for racing on the boat. As a boat owner I always pay for the expenses of my crew. That's what owners do. And it's not to buy the best crew; it's just fulfilling the owner's obligation of racing the boat. It's his boat, and he needs a crew. Crewing may be a privilege, and it may not. It may be a chore. Let's keep it simple, and if the whiners can't stand the heat, do something else. One should be able to race anywhere he wants, and not be restricted by his ability or profession. That goes for his weight, too. Arty slipped overboard one winter's night and passed to his reward in the cold waters of the Lafayette River. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "If you resolve to give up smoking, drinking and loving, you don't actually live longer; it just seems longer." - Clement Freud, British politician SPONSORS THIS WEEK Melges Performance Sailboats - North Sails - Lewmar - Morris Yachts Quantum Sails - LaserPerformance - Gowrie Group - Ullman Sails International Yacht Restoration School - US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
