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SCUTTLEBUTT 2510 – January 14, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, featuresand dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. RECORD INTERNATIONAL FIELD FOR KEY WEST Racing sailors from 18 different nations are on their way to the southernmost point in the continental U.S. Acura Key West 2008, presented by Nautica finds a record 60 foreign boats and US entries from 35 different states among the 261 entries. Competing in the 16 different classes on four separate courses will include Dan Meyer’s Judel/Vrolijk 66-footer Numbers, John Brim’s R/P 55 Rima 2, a pair of new J/122s, the Mark Mills designed Sllim 37 and 2-time Boat of the Week winner Irvine Laidlaw’s latest Highland Fling, a swing keel Wally 80. Familiar names like Cayard, Barker, Butterworth, Bekking, Isler, Hutchinson, and Warden-Owen are among the notables that will be in attendance. Teams will unite to compete in the 11th annual International Team Competition for the Nautica Watches trophy. This “side competition” with a focus on national pride will feature eleven 3-boat teams from the Farr 40, Melges 32 and Melges 24 classes. Additionally, the PHRF US National Championship will be decided at Acura Key West, with 55 boats in six classes competing for the title. Nearly 70% of the entries are racing in the one design arena. Once again the 46-boat Melges 24 class is the biggest class, and the J/105s have an impressive 34-boat turnout. The 25-boat Farr 40s are starting their earnest preparation for the 2008 Worlds in Miami next April while the Swan 42s will make their Key West one design debut with an impressive 12 boat turnout. Melges 32 growth in this country and abroad is clearly exhibited with their strong 27-boat showing. Racing will be next week, January 21 through 25. To assist the online audience, the Premiere-Racing.com website will provide regular updates during the day from all four courses in addition to Kattack race tracking and daily video reports by Gary Jobson. -- http://www.premiere-racing.com * Curmudgeon’s Comment: Among the attractions of Key West for the sailors are the emerald-colored waters, sunny skies, dependable breezes, and warm temperatures. This also attracts countless top photographers, for which Scuttlebutt will be relying on to produce our annual event photo gallery. Any photographers interested in participating, please submit your images by January 24th to mailto:photos@sailingscuttlebutt.com EARLY LOOK AT RACING BARGE For the America’s Cup faithful, with waves of disappointment crashing over the bow, a light hearted moment can help to ease the pain of time. This comes, unsolicited, from Bi Bof: “Ahead of the Supreme Court's decision to be released on January 14 and following the typo ‘Keel Yacht’ in their challenge filed in July 2007, Oracle will be forced by the New York judge to race with a 90 x 90 feet ‘Keel Yacht. ’ “As Oracle's got unlimited budget, they already secretly launched a first boat (see photo in blog) and sources are reporting that they are expected to launch their second one within the next few days to begin their long testing campaign. Note that this "keel yacht" is still not quite as wide as described in their Notice of Challenge to make it ‘valid’.... but it is getting closer. It is not known if Russell Coutts was on board for the maiden voyage of Oracle's latest weapon.” -- Scuttleblog, http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/01/keel-yacht.html * There is a hearing scheduled for Monday, January 14th to address the terms of the settlement order from the original lawsuit between the Swiss defender SNG and the American challenger GGYC. On January 28th, there is another hearing for SNG’s new lawyers to renew and reargue points from the original lawsuit, such as the “keel yacht” debate. -- BYM News, complete report: http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=21068 * Alpine wrestling champion Jörg Abderhalden has been voted "Swiss of the Year" by television viewers of a gala event held in Zurich on Saturday evening. Abderhalden, aged 28, took 20.38 per cent of the telephone votes, ahead of the director of the new James Bond film, Marc Forster, and Ernesto Bertarelli, head of the yachting team Alinghi, which successfully defended the America's Cup in 2007. -- Complete report: http://tinyurl.com/3d3cdn HAPPY AT HOME & ON THE RACE COURSE. HOW DO YOU MCLUBE? Charles H. McLubes his storm windows and shutters. Rick S. McLubes the sticky weather stripping at his front door. Tim W./Chris R. McLube their 49er foils to keep them moving up and down smoothly and minimize kelp issues. They also McLube the mast track, tell tales, and the outside of the mast and spreaders and jib so the spinnaker slides across easier during gybes. Of course they McLube the spin, sock and retractable pole too… doesn’t everybody? For more racing tips check out: http://www.mclube.com/sailkote/tips.php How do you McLube? VETERAN RETURNS FOR FRESH OLYMPIC BID At 40 years old, Kiwi boardsailing legend Barbara Kendall is considered one of the veterans of the sport. But to Canada's CarolAnn Alie-Rosenberg, Kendall is just a spring chicken. More than seven years after competing in her last international regatta, 47-year-old Alie-Rosenberg is making her comeback at the RS:X World Champs in Auckland. The three-time world champion's return to boardsailing has seen her career come somewhat full circle. In 1983 she attended her first world champs in Auckland. Now, 25 years on, she is back in Takapuna looking to qualify for what will be her fourth Olympic Games. "I gotta tell you, five months ago I wasn't even thinking about being here," she said. "I just thought it'd be fun and the worst that can happen is we'll have a two-week family vacation in Auckland." -- NZ Herald, read on: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=502&objectid=10486221 * Racing for the RS:X Worlds began Sunday in light conditions, but both Men and Women completed two races. Canadian Dominique Valle is currently top female North American in 31st, with Alie-Rosenberg as next Canadian only seven points back. The Worlds is the final event for countries that have yet to secure an Olympic berth in the RS:X class. There are 21 countries competing in the Worlds for the final nine Men slots (USA, CAN, and MEX have all qualified), with 12 countries vying for the final seven Women slots (USA and MEX have yet to qualify). -- http://www.rsxclass.com/worlds2008.html SAILING WITH STRANGERS by Kimball Livingston, SAIL I've lost track of how many times I've walked onto the deck of a raceboat full of strangers and walked off with a new set of friends. It tells me something about the game. Or about the people who play the game. Or something. Of course it's easy to make friends when you share an interest, but there's more here than you get out of birding with strangers, perhaps even—let's go to the wall—bowling with strangers. This sailing thing is pretty darned committed. It takes a bit of learning to do it tolerably well. It takes a bit of character to do it as part of a team. It can be a walk in the park. Other days, you can kill somebody or yourself. – Read on: http://sailmag.com/SailingWithStrangers BARCELONA WORLD RACE Open 60 doublehanded round the world race (started Nov 11; 25,000-miles) (Day 64 – January 13, 2008) Hugo Boss crossed the Cape Horn scoring gate at 01:13 GMT overnight on Saturday, with skippers Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape now turning their attention to chasing down race leaders Paprec-Virbac 2. “The outlook for the next week is for a few big low pressure systems to come off the land and deepening in front of us, so that will make life pretty interesting. We’ll just try and pick our way through it,” said Andrew Cape. Behind the leading pair, there is real action in the Southern Ocean with a deep depression dishing up horrible conditions. "Last night we had some very difficult conditions with some gusts of up to 56 knots without any visibility near to an area where icebergs had been plotted a week ago,” wrote Javier Sansó from on board a very ‘shaky’ Mutua Madrileña. “The waves have begun to reach a considerable size - between 8 and 10 metres - with some of them breaking at the top. And yesterday, we broke the speed record for the boat, without really trying! The speedo said 36.8 knots and we sailed for quite a while above 30 knots with 3 reefs in the main and our staysail.” -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com Positions at 18:00 GMT 1-Paprec-Virbac 2, Jean-Pierre Dick/ Damian Foxall, 5,862 nm DTF 2-Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson/ Andrew Cape, 856 nm DTL 3-Temenos II, Dominique Wavre/ Michéle Paret, 2,656 4-Mutua Madrilena, Javier Sanso Windmann/ Pachi Rivero, 2,786 5-Educación sin Fronteras, Servane Escoffier/ Albert Bargues, 3,595 Retired - PRB, Vincent Riou / Sébastien Josse (broken mast) Retired -Delta Dore, Jérémie Beyou/ Sidney Gavignet (broken mast) Retired - Estrella Damm, Guillermo Altadill/ Jonathan McKee, (rudder damage) Retired - Veolia Environnement, Roland Jourdain/Jean-Luc Nélias (broken mast) WINTER: NO SUN Think again, Key West Race Week is here and it’s sunny, warm, and breezy. Got Kaenon Polarized? No worries, Kaenon’s got your back. We’ll be there under the tent, next to the keg, every day after sailing with a full display of our latest and greatest products for men and women! Speak with Genny Tulloch about fitting you and your specific needs, and catch up with all the unemployed AC sailors rockin’ Kaenon on the water and under the tent – like Ray Davies, Kevin Hall, Warwick Fluerry, and others. Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. Available in Rx. http://www.kaenon.com FRANCIS JOYON'S IDEC HITS TROUBLE The hard part is making it seem easier - and nothing could be truer than Francis Joyon's attempt to shatter Ellen MacArthur's solo non-stop round the world record which has seen mast damage, an injury and now a fierce north Atlantic winter to nurse his 98ft trimaran back to the finish line at Ushant. Joyon's Idec remains 20 per cent quicker than MacArthur's smaller 75 foot B & Q, or nearly 13 days ahead at the same stage than the 71d 14hr record the English yachtswomen set two years ago. But Joyon's difficulties have reached new levels. The normally measured Frenchman talked of the Sword of Damocles hanging over him - the starboard rigging which he discovered had nearly unscrewed itself on Friday when he scaled the 105ft mast to retrieve a broken mainsail halyard. He has not been able to make a 100 percent repair, and conditions are about to subject IDEC to violent, boat-breaking conditions. "I'm still [sailing] upwind and the boat is banging around," Joyon said, "and with the strengthening trade wind, the seas will get rougher and I still need to find a compromise to avoid further risk of dismasting." But this will prove even more difficult for Joyon after badly hurting his ankle on Friday when climbing the bucking mast a second time to tighten the rigging attachment. -- Tim Jeffery, Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2qwd4m CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * Strictly Sail Chicago, the largest indoor sailboat show in the country, will be held January 31 – February 3, 2008 at Navy Pier. Scuttlebutt has discount tickets to help attend the four-day event to see the latest sailboats and sailing accessories on the market. -- Details: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/01/butthead-benefit.html * North Sails has partnered with Sailing Weather Services to provide free weather forecasts for Acura Key West Race Week from January 21-25. To sign up for daily forecasts, log on to: http://na.northsails.com. * Nominations will be accepted until January 16th for US Sailing's national sportsmanship award, the W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Sportsmanship Trophy. The trophy will be presented at US Sailing's Spring Meeting in Newport, RI, in March. Details at http://www.ussailing.org/sportsmanship * The World Sailing Speed Record Council has ratified the new outright singlehanded 24-hour world record set by Thomas Coville (FRA) onboard the 105-foot Trimaran "Sodebo" on January 5-6, 2008. In setting the new record, Coville’s average speed was 25.8 knots while traveling 619.3nm. The previous record of 25.76 knots and 610.45nm was set in 2006 by Yvan Bourgnon (SUI) onboard the 60-foot Trimaran"Brossard”. -- http://www.sailspeedrecords.com * The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club will be hosting Safety-at-Sea seminars on February 2nd & 3rd in Hamilton, Bermuda. A US SAILING Sanctioned SAS Seminar will be run on Saturday and two ISAF approved “hands-on” sessions will be run concurrently on Sunday. Saturday attendees will receive the certification required for many offshore events starting from the USA, including the Newport Bermuda Race and the Marion Bermuda Race. Attending both the Saturday and Sunday sessions gives a person the "Pass" Certificate for the 'ISAF Approved Offshore Personal Survival Course' required for many Cat 0,1,2 races. -- Registration information: http://www.ussailing.org/safety/Seminars/index_new.asp * A 30-foot vessel, damaged by fire and its mast broken, was found drifting unattended off the Kauai coast on Sunday by fishermen. The boat’s owner, Darrin Bunker, had left Dana Point Harbor three months earlier, bound for San Diego. Bunker had very little sailing experience, and it was his maiden voyage with the boat. It is estimated that the boat had drifted down the coast to Baja California, where it was swept out to sea by trade winds and currents that eventually pushed it to Hawaiian waters -- a journey of more than 2,500 miles. -- LA Times, complete story: http://tinyurl.com/3dstus J/122 CLASS RACING TO DEBUT IN 2008 With IRC wins at major events across Europe and America and orders into June, the 40’ J/122 is already one of J Boats’ most popular introductions ever. Fleet #1 (LI Sound) is formed and class racing begins in 2008. Best of all, owners love their J/122’s cruising comfort. http://www.jboats.com/j122 LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (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, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Geoff Newbury: (Re: Bill Buchan: story in Issue 2509) "In 18 knots of breeze, we switched masts and stepped the new one." There is such a *MASSIVE* universe of understatement hidden in that sentence! Just... WOW! * From Steve Bodner: (regarding Video of the Week in Issue 2508) What an intro for the video of the week... you hit the head on the nail on describing why our windsurfing talent has migrated to Hawaii from its early roots in southern California. But the weakest event for the US…come on. Sure our Olympic program is suffering, but can you blame the sailors that are trying with little support from US Sailing, and virtually no coach for the past 12 years! There are no feeder programs for windsurfing like the other Olympic classes have with junior, high school, and college sailing programs, nor is there the support from the Olympic Sailing Committee who funds only medal potential. The fact that most of our talent lies in other windsurfing classes - like wave, freestyle, slalom, and formula racing - should open the eyes of the guys like Dean Brenner who have a say in choosing the classes for 2012. The Olympics is begging for more modern, young, energetic, TV-friendly sports for the next Olympics. Kevin's video footage shows us that perhaps we don't need one design windsurf racing for the Olympic anymore. The times they are changing. >> Video link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/08/0107 * From Rob Gauntlett: I am currently in Chile on my down South America as part of a Pole-to-Pole expedition to raise awareness about the environment. After leaving the North Pole in March, we have skied, dog sled, sailed, and cycled our way down through Greenland, the North Atlantic, the US, Central America, and now South America documenting our experiences as we go. Our next challenge when we reach Punta Arenas will be to sail to the South Magnetic Pole on a boat called Blizzard. However, we desperately need some funding to make this happen and are looking at selling berths onboard to subsidize this cost. We are nearly at the end of our penultimate leg and would really appreciate your support in helping us cross the finish line of our carbon neutral journey. As editor of Scuttlebutt, I was hoping you might be able to put me in touch with any individuals that might be interested in this type of adventure at this late notice. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Happy to help. For anyone interested, here are the details: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0111 * From Bizzy Monte-Sano (edited to the 250-word limit) I was saddened to read of Peter O’Donnell’s death in “Scuttlebutt” Issue 2507. As you mentioned, Poddy came to the U.S. as a member of the “Gretel” crew in 1962. That year was Australia’s first attempt at winning the America’s Cup, and although they did not prevail, the “Gretel” crew was superb on all fronts; they were great sailors and competitors and terrific company ashore. I can recall, as though it were yesterday, the “Gretel” and “Weatherly” crews drinking beer and singing “Waltzing Matilda” at the Black Pearl after the last Cup race. Australia’s diplomatic corps never fielded a finer set of ambassadors! The next summer (1963), I had the pleasure of racing with Poddy and his “Gretel” shipmate, Dick Sargent aboard Jakob Isbrandtsen’s “Windrose” in the Trans-Atlantic Race to Plymouth and then in the Admiral’s Cup. When we were in Cowes, the Queen’s yacht “Britannia” was also there, and as loyal Australians puckishly eager to poke fun at the “Pommies”, Poddy and Dicko would dip “Windrose’s” ensign, with the result that some lowly English naval seaman would be dispensed from “Britannia’s” foredeck to run to her stern to return the courtesy by dipping her gigantic ensign. Once the seaman had returned to the foredeck, Poddy and Dicko would repeat the process! I have been fortunate enough to do more than my share of sailing, but I will always remember, and hold dear, the memories of racing with and against Poddy during the summers of ’62 and ’63. He was great sailor and a wonderful shipmate. * From Ted Beier, Chairman, NCESA Rules Committee: Recently, Scuttlebutt reported that the E Scow Class membership voted to convert to an asymmetrical spinnaker (asail) rig, which is not quite correct. The proposal that was voted in adds the asail rig as a sanctioned E Scow configuration. Sailors may race either configuration, asail or symmetrical spinnaker, in a sanctioned regatta, but may not switch from one to the other during the subject event. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION A jiffy, as in “I’ll be there in a jiffy,” is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. Special thanks to McLube, Kaenon Polarized, and J Boats. A complete list of Scuttlebutt’s preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
