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SCUTTLEBUTT 3550 - Monday, March 19, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: Kaenon Polarized and Quantum Sails. NO FURTHER SANCTIONS British 4-time Olympic medalist Ben Ainslie has officially been cleared to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games. On March 16th, the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) announced they would not impose further sanctions on Ainslie stemming from an incident that occurred at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships. Ainslie had been disqualified from two races in the Finn event after a confrontation with a media boat cameraman on December 10th. Following the incident, a report was sent per RRS 69.1(b)(2)(c) to the national authority of the competitor (Great Britain), the host country of the event (Australia), and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). Any one of these three bodies could have suspended Ainslie's eligibility to compete in events leading up to, and including, the Olympic Games. On February 10th, Great Britain announced they would not impose any additional penalty. Less than a week later, Australia took a similar position, stating that any further penalty should now be considered and determined by ISAF. Here is the announcement that was provided by ISAF... ------------------------- The ISAF Executive Committee has met to consider the reports from the International Jury of the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships and the RYA Tribunal. The role of ISAF under Racing Rule of Sailing 69.2(a) is to first determine whether or not it is appropriate to conduct a further hearing into the reports received. The Executive Committee has reviewed the decisions of the International Jury and the RYA Tribunal, the video evidence of the incident, other relevant documentation from Perth and has taken legal advice. Mr Ainslie was asked to comment and did so. The Executive Committee supports the decision and the report of the International Jury and the report of the RYA Tribunal that found that Mr Ainslie committed Gross Misconduct and believes that the penalties imposed to date are appropriate. Accordingly, ISAF does not regard it as appropriate to conduct a further hearing into the incident and no further action will therefore be taken. The issue of Media Boats is a separate matter from the decision issued today. The ISAF Media policies were clear and the issue of adherence will be considered separately. ------------------------- Ainslie is Britain's most successful Olympic sailor with three gold medals and one Silver. If he were to medal at the 2012 Games, Ainslie would join Torben Grael (BRA) as holding the most sailing medals with five. If Ben were to win, he would equal that of Paul Elvstrom (DEN) who won four consecutive Olympics. In short, Ben would become the greatest sailing Olympian ever. Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12994 MANAGING THE GROWING PAINS The 34th America's Cup seeks to combine its history with extreme action when the challenger series begins next summer on San Francisco. But how extreme is extreme? When the first AC72s get launched this July, we will finally see how extreme this 161 year old event has become. But the latest performance predictions reveal that these boats, when sailed on the notoriously windy SF Bay, could be dangerously extreme. Monitoring and managing risk is a common thread as other sports push the envelope, but with so little history, danger lurks closer than ever. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To the pulsing beat of blaring music, hard-edged athletes will push the limits before a pumped-up throng of 100,000 screaming extreme-sport devotees at this weekend's Crashed Ice competition in Quebec City. The sport, a combination of hockey and downhill skiing on an obstacle course, sees groups of skaters racing at 60 kilometres an hour through the city's streets. Crashed Ice, heavily promoted by Red Bull, is just one of many new extreme sporting events that advertisers and broadcasters are latching onto to reach new audiences. However, the recent deaths of Canadian skiers Sarah Burke and Nick Zoricic, both participants in extreme-skiing events, call into question the delicate balance between an athlete's desire to push boundaries and the need to keep them safe. Skiing is not the only sport dealing with high danger to its stars. Auto-racing, mixed martial arts and professional hockey all have dealt - and continue to deal - with these issues. "As an organization, we feel the pressure," said Kelley Korbin, spokeswoman for the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, the body that oversees Canada's skiers in superpipe - the event for which Burke was training when she crashed on Jan. 10 in Park City, Utah and later died. "These sports are progressing so fast that we can't tell you what a winning run is going to look like at the Olympics two years from now," Korbin said. "What we want to do is provide a safe environment for them to try and do those things. But obviously, these sports are risky, that is part of what makes them so exciting and fun." World Cup downhill skier Ed Podivinsky, who spent more than a decade racing at speeds of more than 100 km/h, notes an often-overlooked difference. "You have to separate the newer sports from the traditional sports," said Podivinsky. "In my sport, we had 70 years of history on some of those tracks and you pretty well know how things turn out at that high level." Today, extreme sports are still in their infancy and, as in the case of Burke and Zoricic, who died March 10 after slamming into safety netting during a run in Grindelwald, Switzerland, there are obvious growing pains. Read more: http://tinyurl.com/Extreme-031812 FRESH PRODUCE Always fresh ... sometimes bold. Kaenon Polarized is proud to present our new Spring Sunglass collection for 2012. Colors, textures and treatments inspired by our friends and the active outdoor lifestyle we live. Featuring Hard Kore in Matte Red, Purple Haze Eden, Navy Fade Bolsa, Jade Fade Georgia, and special edition G-Love Special Sauce Burnet! These and others are now available at your favorite sailing shops: Team One Newport, APS, Point Loma Outfitters, Sailing Supply, Crowley's and authorized dealers near you. For both men and women, boys and girls. Available in prescription. http://www.kaenon.com Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. TOO BIG, TOO EXPENSIVE If Emirates Team New Zealand win the next America's Cup, they will dump the AC72s and take a clean-sheet approach to selecting the design and size of boats for the 35th Cup, according to team boss Grant Dalton. Dalton has made no secret of the fact that he considers the current AC72 class too big and too expensive, noting that building an AC72 soaks up 65,000 manhours, compared with 20,000 for a Version Five monohull. "It would be nice to be in a position where we have to decide the next boat," he said in a question and answer session at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. While being careful not to get ahead of himself in the sense of predicting a Cup win in San Francisco, Dalton said: "The AC72s are too big and too expensive. These are the wrong boats. It might have been a great idea, but it is a folly really." He noted that the Cup community was not rushing to participate, suggesting that the extreme nature of the boats might have scared teams away. "There are three billionaire teams and us," he said. "If we won, we would start again with a clean sheet approach and make new decisions," he said. He noted that this would be something to discuss with the Challenger of Record, which, if ETNZ managed to win, would be Luna Rossa. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/0318/ QUICK TURNAROUND The port of Auckland proved to be little more than a pitstop for the six Volvo Ocean Race teams this past week. After their arrival last weekend from China, it was all each team could do to prepare for their return to racing this weekend... (March 17, 2012) - Local heroes CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand clinched a dream victory on Saturday, winning the Auckland In-Port Race in front of tens of thousands of ecstatic fans to reinvigorate their Volvo Ocean Race campaign. CAMPER, the Spanish sponsored team who count Auckland as one of their two homeports, earned the advantage with a tack right to the shoreline off the start and once in front never let go, keeping a comfortable lead all the way home on the 60-minute course. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG finished second, just 54 seconds behind, followed by Groupama sailing team in the third podium spot. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/VOR031712 (March 18, 2012) - A decidedly heinous forecast loomed for the start of the 6,705 nm Leg 5 to Itajai, Brazil as crews would be quick to get into the challenge of the Southern Oceans. "The first thirty-six hours will doubtless be the hardest part of this leg with a great deal of headwind, current and big seas," said Groupama skipper Franck Cammas. "We can expect wind up to 50 knots and the accompanying seas. Over the duration of the leg, we're going to have some windy conditions, but in principle it'll be downwind." The conditions took its first casualty after five and a half hours of racing when Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing made the decision to return to Auckland when a bulkhead in the bow which secures the heavy weather J4 headsail had ripped clean out. "I don't think it was a structural threat to the boat, but it would have been a big repair to get the bulkhead back in and take the load of the J4 which is a sail we're probably going to use 80 per cent of the time in the Southern Ocean," skipper Ian Walker said. The team was 40 miles from Auckland at the time, and hopes to resume racing within the next 24 hours. Following their departure from New Zealand, the fleet extended upwind to the north east on starboard to escape the worst of the massive low-pressure system and pick up northerly winds on the eastern section of the storm. Telefonica took the lead when they were the first to tack to port, and are now the low boat as the fleet heads in an ESE direction toward Cape Horn. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/VOR031812 Leg 5 should take approximately two and a half weeks, with the leader estimated to finish by April 4th. Leg 5 - Auckland, NZL to Itajai, Brazil (6,705 nm) Standings as of Sunday, 18 March 2012, 22:01:39 UTC 1. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP), 6543.7 nm Distance to Finish 2. CAMPER (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), 5.4 nm Distancer to Lead 3. Groupama 4 (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA), 16.4 nm DTL 4. PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA), 16.4 nm DTL 5. Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL), 22.2 nm DTL 6. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR), Suspended Racing Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos GROUPAMA: Groupama's chief executive Thierry Martel announced 15 March that the company is to pull out of all sailing and football sponsorship. Groupama's sponsorship of Franck Cammas' team was originally intended to include the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race but will now run until the end of this race. -- Yachting World, full story: http://tinyurl.com/YW-031812 BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain (Oct. 29) and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles around the world via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar SAILING SHORTS * Long Beach, CA (March 18, 2012) - The final stop of the three event California Dreamin' Series met with too much wind for the Butler Cup, an ISAF Grade 3 match race hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club. With a severe storm watch in effect and high winds, no races were able to be run. Nicole Breault of St. Francis Yacht Club was declared the winner of the series based on accumulated points. The first place earned an invitation to next week's Grade 2 Ficker Cup, March 22-24, a gateway event to the Grade 1 Congressional Cup, March 25-31. -- Full story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13437 * Brisbane, Australia (March 17, 2012) - After three races were conducted on Friday to help get caught up after Thursday was abandoned, three more races were held today for the 233 sailors from 19 nations to conclude the Laser World Masters Championships 2012. Laser Standard Apprentice leader Chilean sailor Matias Del Solar won all three races to win the title, which he hopes to expand on when he competes this summer at the London Olympics. Standard Grand Master Wolfgang Gertz won his third Laser Masters title after wins in 2009 and 2010. Tracey Usher (USA) finished second in the division, and was top North American for the event. -- Full report: http://www.sail-world.com/newsfeed_show.cfm?nfid=12&nid=94975 * (March 15, 2012) - This week, after struggling somewhat at the St. Mary's Team Race, Yale and Roger Williams have dropped in the Sail1Design College Sailing Team Race Rankings, making way for big jumpers Georgetown and Boston College who top out the list in first and second. Stanford remains consistently ranked third, with Charleston moving up one place to fourth. In general, the same ICSA powerhouses remain on the list, slightly shuffled from the last rankings. Strong performances by Connecticut College and URI earn them new spots in the rankings as well. -- Full list: http://www.sail1design.com/rankings/icsa-rankings * (March 16, 2012) - The Alpari World Match Racing Tour today announces that Chief Executive Officer Jim O'Toole will not be renewing his fixed term contract with the Tour and after discussions with the Board of Directors it has been agreed that he will part company with the Tour with immediate effect. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13433 QUANTUM ONE DESIGN ON TOP OF LEADING KEELBOAT CLASSES The J/24 2012 Midwinters were dominated by Quantum sails with a solid 1, 2 finish. Our J/24 sails have been racking up National, North American, European and World titles for years. In Miami, our Melges 20 sails were on top finishing 1, 3, 5 at the 2012 Bacardi Sailing Week. Our Fusion M sails have won every M20 US Nationals since the class started in 2009. Quantum OD team members go the extra mile to provide the best service and the latest technology. Contact us to see how we can help you move up the championship ladder. http://www.QuantumSails.com 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 BJ Jones: Concerning the comment from Andy Zimbaldi in Scuttlebutt 3549 about aging of yacht club membership, we made an attempt at Lake Norman Yacht Club several years ago to address this by drastically lowering the membership costs for younger prospective members. We are a lake YC on Lake Norman, just north of Charlotte, NC and are probably no different from many clubs trying to deal with an aging membership. Previously we had an under 30 membership dues and initiation price and an over 30 price that were different, but not by much. We had maybe one or two under 30's in 5 years join. We then totally revamped our dues and initiation structure for the under 30's to make it much easier and enticing to join. For a member just out of college, we made the dues $125 and initiation the same. The structure was then adjusted upwards each year by a bit until it got to where at 29, it was the same as before. Our reasoning was that we weren't getting any young members anyway, and we wanted them in the future so it wasn't really costing us anything to have them join now. We definitely have more under 30's join than we did before and they are actively involved. * From Ken Bertino: Steve Gregory's comments (in Scuttlebutt 3549) hit a chord with me. The amateur sailor and owner are taking this all a little too seriously. I have, as have many others who've sailed with pro sailors. And while it is good, it is not always fun but we learn from it. We learn from the experience, but do we grow the sport because of it? Or do we take that approach onto the next boat we sail on with all amateur sailors and demand too much from the owner and crew? I am not trying to cast aspersions but ask, is this a part of the problem when it comes to racing? The other issues about clubs, access, costs have been around for many, many, many years. Yachts clubs have their place and in my opinion are a good tradition for our sport. Public sailing is more available now than ever. And yes, boat ownership is expensive? * From Glenn Selvin: Regarding the Australian survey that cites the cost of sailing (in Scuttlebutt 3548), a close friend just spent a whopping $1300 on a Lido 14, and he can't wait for summer races to start! For bang for the buck, $1300 is a steal, and certainly isn't exclusive. I, on the other hand sail a Finn, and yes, $10,000 is pretty stupid for a 15' boat. Indeed, the price of the boat is keeping people from sailing them. But the best answer to people who think sailing is too expensive? Show them a picture of a small boat like a Lido, Sunfish, Laser, or even a Cal 20! And the old Ericksons, Islanders, Cals? A bargain! * From Rob McNeal: I live in Bayshore Gardens, Florida, which is a small canal community with a neighborhood not-for-profit marina (no facilities - only slips). The marina was intended for residents only, but due to the economy and a lack of slip holders, it's open to anyone at this time. Many of us who sail (and have powerboats) belong to the 52 year old Bayshore Gardens YC. This club is a relatively informal group averaging anywhere from 30 to 60 members a year, most of whom don't even have a boat. Our yearly dues are under $20. And we do struggle for membership. When I talk to people about the fun we have and possibly joining us, I am careful to no longer lead with the phrase "Yacht Club". I have visibly seen the negative reaction when I use that phrase, which means I then have to try to explain how our little YC is not what they perceive a YC to be - specifically elitist and expensive. No survey could be clearer to me. There is certainly a place for the formal YC to be - but there aren't many places for those that cannot afford it and want to be much less formal about it and still have a sailing experience. We are lucky to also have the Sarasota Sailing Squadron in this area (which BTW has a tremendous kids sailing program). I suspect the choice long ago to use "Sailing Squadron" as opposed to "Yacht Club" may have been intentional there too. ATTENTION: In 2001, Scuttlebutt Sailing Club was launched as the official club of Scuttlebutt sailing news, officially sanctioned by US Sailing, and officially available to all Scuttlebutt readers. Need a club or just want a cool window decal or coffee mug? Details here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/ CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Every silver lining has a cloud around it. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Doyle Sailmakers - Summit Yachts - North U Atlantis WeatherGear - Ribcraft - North Sails - Mount Gay Rum J Boats - Ullman Sails - Southern Spars - New England Boatworks Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
