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SCUTTLEBUTT 1972 -- November 22, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.SAILING SUMMIT Last week attendees from 16 countries gathered in Amsterdam for a day-long 7th Annual Industry Sailing Summit prior to METS, the largest recreational marine equipment show in the world. An impressive array of speakers provided diverse viewpoints on many challenging topics regarding the sailing world. ISS patron, Sir Robin Knox Johnson, started the creative process early suggesting boat shows be called boating shows focusing more on the activity rather than just the product. Paul Strzelecki of Henri Lloyd lead a powerful panel discussion on sailing sponsorship with panelists Mirko Groeschner, marketing director of BMW/Oracle Racing, Bruno Trouble of Louis Vuitton, Tim Sewell of Skandia, and Ed Leask of Fast Track all highlighting the benefits to sailing sponsorship for Skandia, BMW, and Louis Vuitton. Another hot topic included perspectives on the value of preserving sailing in the Olympics and how this can be best accomplished. Attendees were challenged with views on the new scoring systems and ideas from Julian Bethwaite, designer of the 49'er, on creative technological solutions for more on-course cameras, GPS technology and fashion in boat design. There is general agreement on the value of sailing in the Olympics but, as always, differing ideas on how this can best be accomplished. For 2005 the ISS offered its first annual cash awards to presenters of 'winning sailing programs'. Two winners were announced: Brazilian Axel Grael, brother of Olympic medalists Torben and Lars Grael, winning a $4000 cash prize for the Grael Project (http://www.torben-grael.com/english/graelproject/) in Brazil which already is successfully developing the creation of a nationwide community sailing program serving the underprivileged. $1,000 was awarded to John Arndt for his successful development of the global sailing holiday Summer Sailstice (http://www.summersailstice.com). ISAF's 'Connect to Sailing' initiative was outlined as another promising and positive result from prior summits. -- John Arndt, www.sailingsummit.com COMPLETE SURPRISE Jordi Sevilla, the Public Administrations Minister, announced yesterday that the Socialist Government was setting aside some two million Euros to promote the Americas Cup races in Valencia. The promotion will be undertaken by a specially created company and will be both on a national and international level. The announcement came as a complete surprise to both Valencia Town Hall and the Valencian Government, both of whom are staging similar promotions. When asked about the Government's plans, an official spokesman from Valencia Town Hall stated: "I have absolutely no idea what this is about." A similar reaction was received from the Valencian Government. However, both institutions expressed the hope that whatever the Government is planning would not clash with what both organizations are currently undertaking. -- Valencia Life Network, publisher@valencialife.net SEARCHING FOR THE PROPER VENUE In 2007 the International Sailing Federation will commemorate its centenary year with a variety of activities to pay tribute to the worldwide appeal of sailing, and to encourage more participation in the sport. The festivities will span the globe to embrace the cultural, social and educational aspects of sailing. The ISAF Centenary will be celebrated under the theme 'Sail the World'. The nature of the centenary events that will run throughout 2007 will encapsulate all elements and levels of the sport from professional races featuring the stars of the sport through to grass roots sailing. The pinnacle celebration will be the 'Sail the World' sailing festival which will take place over the weekend of 1-2 September 2007. The two day festival will take place simultaneously around the world involving national sailing authorities, classes, event organizers and sailing clubs. ISAF will partner with a City which will host the headline event of the 'Sail the World' weekend, including a series of professional rematches, one-off regattas, grass roots programmes and activities to honour the people and places of historic importance to the sport while reflecting the local culture of the Host City. The weekend will culminate with a unique 'Sailor of the Century Awards', a Gala event to recognize 100 years of achievement across all disciplines of the sport which will be attended by royalty, sailing legends and international luminaries from the world of entertainment, sport and media. ISAF would like to invite Cities interested in hosting the ISAF Centenary celebrations, 'Sail the World Festival' and 'Sailor of the Century Awards' to register their interest by December 9. Cities should register their interest by contacting Inga Leask, at Fast Track Sailing, ISAF's exclusive Commercial Partner for the 'Sail the World' sailing festival and 'Sailor of the Century Awards', on +44 (0) 20 7593 5200 or inga.leask@fstrk.com. The bid guidelines will be distributed by ISAF following registration. The deadline for Cities to submit their final bids will be January 31, 2006. Each bid will then be evaluated by ISAF with the announcement of the Host City on March 6, 2006, subject to contract. WIRELESS INSTRUMENT SOLUTION Ockam Instruments offers a cost effective wireless instrument display solution: the OS4 EYE Software for your pocket PC based PDA. View multiple pages of instrument data, control the system & track trends on stripcharts - all in the palm of your hand. The EYE seamlessly connects to your Ockam system through the boats PC using WiFi to give you full control anytime, anywhere on the boat. It's time to make your PDA more useful then ever. Limited Time Special: Purchase OS4 EYE software and receive a free EYElid (weather-proof PDA cover). For more Information, contact mailto:lat@ockam.com RIGHTING MOMENT IS KING Mike Sanderson's crew on ABN Amro One have claimed the first stage points in the Volvo Ocean Race, rounding the scoring gate at the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. She passed the gate at 0130 GMT Monday, with Neal McDonald's Ericsson crew in second place 10 hours later. For Sanderson, this was a belated response to those who denigrated his Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed yacht after her sluggish light air performance in the In Port race in Sanxenxo on Nov 5. McDonald continues to head the table as the boats head down the south Atlantic on their 6,400 mile Vigo-Cape Town leg. Wait and see, was Sanderson's patient message, and on Thursday and Friday ABN Amro One took off. ABN Amro One and Ericsson are probably the lightest built boats in the seven-strong fleet, with the biggest lead bulbs on their keels, at nearly six tons. But the Kouyoumdjian designed boat has a wider, more powerful hull than the Farr-designed foursome of Ericsson, Brasil 1, Movistar and Black Pearl. For the past four or five days, Sanderson's boat has been hooked-up beautifully with appropriate sail/ hull/ wind angle and speed combinations. "Righting moment is king," said Sanderson, of the virtues of maximum ballast. "It works in the America's Cup, it works on ORMA 60 trimarans, it works on Open 60 monohulls, so there's no reason for it not to work on a Volvo 70." -- Tim Jeffery, the Daily Telegraph, complete story: http://tinyurl.com/dzhe7 Position Reports -- Monday, 2200 GMT 1. ABN Amro One, 3207 miles to finish 2. Ericsson Racing Team, +80 miles 3. Brasil 1, +83 miles 4. ABN Amro Two, +87 miles 5. Sunergy and Friends, +1011 miles 6. Movistar, Retired 6. Pirates of the Caribbean, Retired Event website: www.volvooceanrace.com LENDING A HAND The Spanish (America's Cup) challenge is lending a hand to its compatriots in the Volvo Ocean Race. The Spanish team in the around the world race suffered significant damage to its boat on the first day of racing and pulled into Portimao, Portugal to make repairs. Desafío Español immediately got in touch with the ocean racing squad to make its team available for anything they would need. The teams are linked by Spanish sailing legend Pedro Campos, who has a senior management role on both teams. Agustín Zulueta, manager of Desafío Español explained that the works will be done in two places: the wing and rudder at the base of Desafío and the works directly on board of the boat, in Portimao. In Valencia, the logistics team of Desafío assisted in securing all the materials needed to repair the damaged daggerboard and rudder. Valencian Pep Ribes, the bowman on the VO70 Movistar arrived in Valencia on Thursday with the damaged pieces and they are being repaired at the Desafío Español base, with the assistance of the America's Cup team's shore crew; the goal is to have them ready next Tuesday. At the same time, Desafío Español sent six of its composites shore crew to Portugal to assist in repairing the structural damage to the boat. -- America's Cup website, complete story: http://www.americascup.com/en/ LIGHTNING WORLDS Club de Yates Higuerillas, Chile -- Once again Alberto Gonzalez has convincingly won the Lightning South American Championship. Final results: 1. Alberto "Tito" Gonzalez, Diego Gonzalez & Cristian Herman (CHI) 15 pts; 2. Cristóbal Pérez, Cristián Pérez & Francisco Perez (CHI) 24pts; 3. Peter Hall, Philip Kerrigan & Jay Deakin (CAN) 28. Final results - International Lightning Masters Championship: 1. Peter Hall, Philip Kerrigan & Jay Deakin (CAN) 12 pts; 2. Jim Carson, Jay Lutz & Michael Schon (USA) 20 pts; 3. Bill Mauk, Bill Fastiggi & Suzy Coburn (USA The 45-boat Lightning World Championship started Monday at the same venue, with similar results. Standings after two races: 1 Alberto Gonzalez (CHI) 3 pts; 2. Jay Lutz (USA) 9 pts; 3. Cristobal Perez (CHI) 9 pts; 4. Amanda Clark (USA) 10 pts; 5. Ched Proctor (USA) 11 pts; 6. Bill Mauk (USA) 16. ). -- http://www.lightning.cl/2005Worlds/ GIVE THE GIFT OF SAFETY: DECKWARE BY SPINLOCK Spinlock Deckware harnesses bring comfort and freedom to performance sailing. Mast Pro Harness provides comfort while aloft with extra-wide thigh straps, multi-tool holder, spike pocket, and stainless steel buckles. Perfect for racing bowmen. Deck Pro harnesses use an easily adjustable belt system - fast to put on, automatically adjusting to clothing changes. Ergonomic shape provides exceptional freedom of movement. Pro Harness with Integral 150N Lifejacket offers easy inflation handle, sprayhood, and light. Lifejacket exceeds ISAF and ORC regulations and complies with US race regulations. USCG approval pending. Visit http://www.spinlockdeckware.com to shop online. Coming in 2006… Spinlock PXR Cam Cleat! NEWS BRIEFS * James Spithill with his Luna Rossa crew of Jonathan and Charlie McKee, Manuel Motero and 11 year old Mac Agnese won the 54-boat Carloan.com Melges 24 King's Day Regatta/ Atlantic Coast Champions -- a light air affair that was essentially sailed in less than 8 knots of wind. Final results: 1.) James Spithill; 2.) Dave Ullman; 3.) Gabrio Zandona/ Giovanni Maspero; 4.) Vince Brun/Scott Holmgren; 5.) Jamie Lea/ Stuart Simpson; 6.) Brian Porter. -- http://www.usmelges24.com/ * The 20th Edition of the ARC began on Sunday as 224 boats from 25 nations sailed across the starting line in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands heading for Rodney Bay Marina, St. Lucia in the Caribbean. The 2700 nautical mile passage will take most of the yachts between 18 and 21 days. http://arc.worldcruising.com/en/ * Alamitos Bay YC's annual Turkey Day Regatta attracted more than 300 sailors from San Diego to San Francisco on 225 boats in 18 classes, from Lido 14s and eight-foot Sabots for kids and grownups in the bay to larger Olson 30s and A-Catamarans in the outer harbor inside the breakwater. Cal 20 class winner Barney Flam described the weather conditions for Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's annual Turkey Day Regatta as "light and fluky and at times quite tricky." But for November, Flam said, the 5 to 6 knots of wind "was pretty good." -- www.abyc.org * Former President of the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) Ian Harrison (GBR) has been awarded the IPC Paralympic Order, the highest tribute a person connected with the Paralympic Movement can achieve. Other holders of the Paralympic Order include former President of the IOC Juan Antonio Samaranch (ESP), and Ian is the first person directly connected with sailing to receive the Order. -- www.sailing.org * Employees at Skandia, the long-term savings company that is the title sponsor of the famous Cowes Week regatta on the Isle of Wight, have voted for the Ellen MacArthur Trust to be the official charity of Skandia Cowes Week for the next three years. Dame Ellen MacArthur launched the Trust in 2003 to enable young people aged 8-18 to take part in sailing as a way of helping them regain their confidence on their way to recovery from cancer, leukaemia and other serious illness. -- http://www.ellenmacarthurtrust.org * While turkey is a traditional feature of a Thanksgiving meal... some turkeys have other plans. Click on the link to hear what this bird has to say: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/iwillsurvive HERE, THERE, & EVERYWHERE Coast to coast, border to border, and around the world; whether patrolling our waters, officiating regattas, or coaching our children, Ribcraft RIBs prove themselves day in and day out. Now's the time to see for yourself what safety professionals and yacht clubs already know. Contact Ribcraft today for information: http://www.ribcraftusa.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From John Harwood-Bee (Re 'The Volvo'): Whilst a keen advocate of progress, 'cutting edge' is not always the best. Innovation, invention, and occasionally sheer madness have produced some remarkable advances in the world of sailing. However, some recent 'leaps' show that thinking far outside the box brings problems now seen out in the Atlantic. Remember Team Phillips? Great idea until put into practice. Orange II ? Geronimo? Needed some serious shaking down before they settled down to success. All at the leading edge of technology, they, apart from Team Phillips, needed intensive testing and modification to achieve success. But whilst all that was taking place, immediate success in extreme conditions was being achieved by a very modern but more traditional boat. Steve Fossett's Playstation (subsequently called Cheyenne) was the first of its kind when launched She went on to hold the majority of internationally recognized sailing records without significant problems. As a further example the recent Quest round the world race was won by the two oldest boats. When endurance is a priority you need strength, resilience and staying power. Finely tuned sprinters are to be admired but they don't do well on a marathon course. As for the argument should we send the crews out in the new boats … come on. They have tested these vessels and know how skittish they are. Nobody was press ganged into them. We should just wish them all well and sit back and enjoy the excitement. * From Dave Beck (re Volvo Ocean Race): Yes it would be nice if the VOR had attracted more teams, and it would be nice if the boats had more development time, and it would be nice if they didn't discover things that need fixing after they are thrashed hard the first time competing in heavy weather. But what fun would that be? Teams form late, boats take time to build and smart people make the best decisions on design, sails and how hard to push based their experience and the best information in their computers. Given the event time constraints, and the talent/financial support drain of the America's Cup (which I dearly love, but does it give us nail biting spectacle for nearly a year? No.), the VOR people have done remarkable things. The Volvo 70 is a magnificent concept, turning performances that only much larger multihulls could contemplate until recently. If you have watched any video of the boats at speed, you can only come up with adjectives like "breathtaking" and feelings like, "damn, I want to do that….." The boats are oversized, overpowered and under-crewed seagoing skiffs. That's what makes them unbelievably cool. Technical and personal risk is what makes sport spectacle. There are few adventures to match the VOR. Check out the VOR website, download Virtual Spectator and enjoy something beyond daily experience. Or then again, don't, if it fills you with the need to protect us from ourselves whether we want you to or not. * From Gary Jobson: I would like to respond to Donna Wotton comments. At the Athens Olympic Games, Geoff Mason produced NBC's sailing coverage which I served as the commentator. John Wilson also helped with our production and did numerous interviews. In all we produced 15 shows that aired on the Bravo cable channel. These 15 shows totaled 3 hours of coverage. We used on-board mics and cameras. We made sure to interview the American sailors in every report who had sailed that day. NBC is planning to continue with daily coverage in 2008. Regarding the new Olympic scoring system, from a television viewpoint we like races that are close, have frequent lead changes and offer compelling personalities. It is important that sailors participate in interviews. In Athens, two American sailors refused to talk to NBC. Personally I favor no throw out regattas so the last race counts. I would also like to see more reaching because sailboats go faster on reaches. I hope we will have more point-of-view cameras aboard the boats. As far as explaining the new format, sailing has always been a challenge. I wish it was easier. Think of the Louis Vuitton Cup repecharge or the Volvo Ocean Race which went from simple to complex. * From Peter Hinrichsen, Yngling and FD chief measurer (edited to our 250-word limit): The new Olympic format with double weight on the last race will enhance the temptation to cheat in this race, and therefore the necessity for measurement check at the finish of this race becomes a priority. While the vast majority of sailors do not in my opinion cheat, as a measurer I have to be cynical in order to protect those that sail fairly. Having done this job at a number of Olympic Games the pressure when a medal is on the line is significant. My concern is that, with the requirement for umpires on the water that there will not be the facilities for the measurers to do their job. Furthermore as this race will be on the same day as the medal ceremony there will be little time for the jury to deal with a measurement protest. I presume that a disqualification on measurement, or any other grounds, will only affect this race, i.e. the worst that a participant can finish is 10th? My other concern is that this format will filter down to local regattas, just as the sausage courses and weight limit have. This will mean that all but the final 10 competitors will pack up their boats and go home the day before the prize giving. Not good for the bar receipts, the closing dinner, or the sponsors and sad for the winners. I do understand the quandry that ISAF is in, and despite the above remarks, think that this is probably a reasonable compromise. * From Barbara Gold: In regard to Peter Johnstone's comment about Opti sailing I would like to point out that I have been reading Scuttlebutt on this junior stuff and disagree completely with him that the Guest Editorial was a "complainer". The way I read it is heart felt information coming from a concerned parent who child sails competitively in the Opti class. First hand information is just that, information. Not everyone is going to have the same opinion, but if Scuttlebutt were to censor what is printed and what is not we may as well live in North Korea. * From J A Booker: With all due respects to the Curmudgeon, Peter is right. If I rant in the letters section and use my own name, I expect that readers will accept or discount what I have to say as just another reader of Scuttlebutt. If you take what I say, give me a fictitious name, and move the content up the page to "Guest Editorial" status, it sounds an awful lot like you agree with me. I suspect that most readers will agree that your opinion carries significantly more weight than mine. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Opinions are like navels -- everyone has one. |
