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SCUTTLEBUTT 3404 - Friday, August 12, 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: Vineyard Race and Quantum Sails. KIWIS ROLLING OVER THE COMPETITION IN CASCAIS Cascais, Portugal (August 11, 2010) -- Emirates Team New Zealand is quickly becoming the star of the show at the America's Cup World Series, Cascais. For the second consecutive day, the Kiwis earned maximum points, after beating Artemis Racing in a match racing duel for first place to conclude a full day of racing. The Emirates team picked up where they left off yesterday, winning two of the three fleet races to qualify at the top of the pile for the match racing final. Then, they beat the Artemis Racing crew handily, when the Swedish team accumulated a series of penalties around the race course. "It's very satisfying for us to feel like we are really improving and starting to get more and more to grips with the multihulls," said a very understated Dean Barker, the New Zealand skipper, when he returned to the dock. The battle for third and fourth on the day was between ORACLE Racing stable mates Russell Coutts and James Spithill. But the highly anticipated match was nearly over before it began, as Coutts was forced to restart after he jumped the line ahead of the starting gun, handing an insurmountable lead to Spithill. Team Korea, Energy Team and China Team all performed well at various times during the day. The Koreans beat Energy Team for fifth place, while China Team led for much of the third fleet race before it all unraveled during the second lap of the course. "It's been a difficult day," admitted China Team skipper Mitch Booth. "We sort of saw glory and ran the other way. In the last race we were leading for the first lap but then we had a crew handling error and that cost us from qualifying for the match racing. But we are happy with the team's performance and the improvement." Among the guest racers on Thursday was America's Cup legend John Bertrand, the skipper of Australia II, the first challenger to win the Cup in 1983. "This was my first race on an AC45," he said. "The boats are extremely physical and the racing puts the crews under tremendous pressure to make the right decision at the right time. There is no margin for error. We haven't seen anything yet!" The daily seeding points from yesterday and today's races will be added to points earned on Friday to determine Saturday's finalists for the AC Match Race Championship. Only the top six teams will advance to race on Saturday. The event concludes on Sunday with the AC World Series - Cascais Championship, a 'winner takes all' fleet race that will determine the winner of the first stage on this new global professional circuit. -- Full story: Match Race Championship - Seeding points after Thursday's races Place/points 1. Emirates Team NZ: 10, 10 - 20 2. Oracle Racing Spithill: 9, 8 - 17 3. Artemis Racing: 6, 9 - 15 4. Team Korea: 8, 6 - 14 5. Oracle Racing Coutts: 5, 7 - 12 6. Energy Team: 7, 5 - 12 7. China Team: 3, 4 - 7 8. Aleph: 4, 3 - 7 9. Green Comm Racing: 3, 3 - 6 Match Race Results Match 1/2 - Emirates Team New Zealand beat Artemis Racing: 1-0 Match 3/4 - Oracle Racing Spithill beat Oracle Racing Coutts: 1-0 Match 4/5 - Team Korea beat Energy Team: 1-0 Seeding Fleet Race Results - Thursday August 11 (place, points) 1. Emirates Team NZ: 5, 1, 1 - 26 2. Artemis Racing: 1, 5, 2 - 25 3. Oracle Racing Spithill: 3, 2, 3 - 25 4. Oracle Racing Coutts: 2, 3, 7 - 21 5. Team Korea: 4, 6, 5 - 18 6. Energy Team: 6, 8, 4 - 15 7. China Team: 8, 4, 6 - 15 9. Green Comm Racing: 9, 7, 8 - 10 7. Aleph: 7, 9, 9 - 10 Cascais race program: http://tinyurl.com/2011-ACWS-Cascais Fan features: http://tinyurl.com/ACWS-fan-features CALENDAR: Following the inaugural America's Cup World Series event in Cascais, the second stop on the circuit will be Plymouth, England on September 10-18, followed by the final 2011 stop in San Diego, USA on November 12-20. UPDATE FROM CASCAIS: AMERICA'S CUP PRO JOHN CRAIG SailBlast chatted today with America's Cup PRO John Craig just after he'd come in off the water after Day 4 in Cascais. Unusually light conditions have been a bit of a surprise for all involved but Craig and his team are doing their best to keep the racing interesting. "We're learning more as we keep going along but all in all the racing's proved to be pretty exciting with the nine boats and short racing, little reaches." --------------------------------------------------------------------- SB: How are the bottom tiered teams faring against the better teams? Craig: They're actually doing really well. They're probably not as consistent yet but they're all having flashes of brilliance and in all honesty, at any given race, somebody could take it on and I've been impressed. I figured some of them would be a lot further behind and they're speed in catching up has been really good. Both Team Korea and China have had some good races. Team NZ and Oracle and Artemis definitely have more players on the ground here and are more advanced but I think the speed with which these other teams will come up is probably a lot better than I thought it would be. SB: How are the starts working out? Craig: It's good - we originally figured that they would approach the line all at speed and it appears now that they're fighting a little bit more for position and then they turn the speed on but we actually had to increase the side of the virtual boundary below the starting line because they all gone into there and go into point mode up towards the pin and the committee boat then when they get on the line they turn and let it rip. That's been a little different to work out. But it's so critical to what end you pick with respect to how windy you think it's going to be and what your apparent wind is going to do because sometimes guys start at the leeward end and think, 'ok, I can kind of live here and beat' and there's other times if you're up in the top end you can get over and get a little bit of speed and bear off. So there's definite tactics and people are picking ends. It's not a line up and go, so that's good. SB: Wind conditions seem unusually light? Craig: It was light today and we had to go outside and find some breeze. We weren't able to tuck into the bay for a while. Historically they'll tell you that it's never like this but.this morning we started a race at 2pm and had huge wind shifts, couldn't get them around the track properly so we had to abandon that race which was fine. Outside was better breeze so we went out there which was great - got some good racing in there. It wasn't inside like sometimes you wish it would be so sometimes it's just a balance and ensuring everyone's fully engaged and also that you've got quality racing going on. -- Full interview: http://tinyurl.com/3t4cad6 DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS YEAR'S VINEYARD RACE WEEKEND Take part in the East Coast classic, presented by Thomson Reuters and hosted by Stamford Yacht Club. Three courses to choose from: cruising division; multihull division; race tracking and post-race trophy party. Join Tom Whidden at our skippers' meeting. Start date: Sept. 2. Register today: http://tinyurl.com/43fhc3v HIGH WINDS PLAGUE OLYMPIC TEST EVENT Weymouth - Portland, GBR (August 11, 2011) - Sailors had another day of blasting wind on Day 10 at the London 2012 Olympic Test Event. One of the few classes to make it off the docks was the Star class, which completed Race 7 and 8. Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) continue to lead on 12 points. The day's race wins went to Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson in Race 7 and Flavio Marazzi and Enrico de Maria in Race 8. USA's Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih scored a 10th and 5th to hold the overall 8th position. Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED), Zofia Klepacka (POL) and Silja Lehtinen (FIN) picked up the first gold medals. Van Rijsselberge had been tussling with Great Britain's Nick Dempsey throughout the week in the Men's RS:X with the pair locked on equal points after eight races. But the deadlock was broken ahead of the Medal Race after Van Rijsselberge had a better fifth day of sailing than Dempsey to enter the Medal Race with a seven point lead. No racing was possible in the Finn class and they will race Friday as will the 49er, Star fleets, the Laser, Laser Radial and Men's and Women's 470. American Women's 470 duo Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar along with Laser Radial sailor Paige Railey will race their medal races on Friday. At the event's first prize-giving on Thursday night, Sally Barkow, Alana O'Reilly and Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham received a bronze medal in Women's Match Racing. Saturday is the concluding day of the 2011 Weymouth and Portland International Regatta. -- Full report at: http://tinyurl.com/43nb2gz Canadian Sailing Team: http://tinyurl.com/CYA-080411 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics: http://tinyurl.com/USSTAG-073111 BACKGROUND: The 2011 Weymouth and Portland International Regatta is designed to test the Olympic sailing venue and its operations in advance of the 2012 Games. Racing for the ten Olympic sailing events is August 2-13, where 325 entries representing 135 countries will compete across five courses on Portland Harbor and Weymouth Bay. Consistent with the Olympic Games, each country is allowed just one representative in each event. THE WAVE, MUSCAT LEADS X-40s INTO FINAL DAY Cowes, GBR (August 11, 2011) - After winds gusting into the 30s for most of the day, by late afternoon the wind dropped below 20 knots and the turning tide flattened out the sea to allow racing to begin on the penultimate day of the Extreme Sailing Series Act 5 at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week. Nonetheless, a huge turn-out of spectators crowding to Egypt Point, and the beach surrounding the Extreme Sailing Series Race Village. The 11 Extreme 40s were divided into groups as conditions were still on the limit to race the fleet in one group with reefed mainsails but gennakers permitted after the first two races much to the public's delight. With half of the fleet racing at a time, the tactical objective for the crews was to get as far into the shore as possible on the beat to make the best of the favourable eddy off Eygpt Point and definitely out of the 2.5 knot counter current offshore. At the close of play The Wave, Muscat continues to lead with a margin of 10 points on Luna Rossa, Alinghi third with Groupe Edmond de Rothschild fourth, now just six points shy of the podium. Friday is the final day of racing for Act 5. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/3ckze82 Overall standings - day 6 1. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) - 138 pts 2. Luna Rossa (ITA) - 128 pts 3. Alinghi (SUI) - 117 pts 4. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA) - 111 pts* 5. Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT) - 104 pts 6. Oman Air (OMA) - 101 pts 7. Team GAC Pindar (GBR) - 93 pts* 8. Niceforyou (ITA) - 81 pts 9. Emirates Team NZ (NZL) - 73 pts 10. Aberdeen Asset Management (EUR) - 69 pts 11. Team Extreme (EUR) -51 pts 12. Artemis Racing (SWE) - 23 pts* * Penalized BACKGROUND: The Extreme Sailing Season is embarking on its fifth season, with Cowes as the fifth stop for the nine event tour that will travel through Asia, Europe, and North America this year. The platform used is the one design Extreme 40 catamaran, with each five day event combining 'open-water' racing with 'stadium' short-course racing in front of the public. The 2011 ESS has grown in part due to the multihull format planned for the 34th America's Cup in 2013. -- http://www.extremesailingseries.com/ SURFING OR SAILING? San Francisco, CA (August 11, 2011) - Racing resumed today in the Laser Masters Worlds under mostly cloudy skies and 10 to 15 knots of wind that later piped up to 20. With the ebb tide going against the westerly wind, waves were up making for great downwind surfing. The 30 sailors in the Great Grand Masters fleet, who must be at least 65 on the first day of racing, started racing later today, in hopes of bigger breezes, which they certainly saw. Keith Wilkins (GBR) sailing in this fleet, in eight races has taken six firsts, a tenth (his dropped race) and a fifth in his last race today. He's 21 points ahead of James Quinn (NZL) in second place. Wilkins has been in the Laser since he was 29 and has won the Masters Worlds 11 times. In the Grand Master fleet, racing started close with Americans Bill Symes and Bruce Martinson just 1 point apart. After the first race, they were tied and by the second race Symes edged out over Martinson. "Bill is just truly fast upwind," Martinson said, "and just extended on the downwind, which is exactly what he's supposed to do." Symes, who's leading the fleet said, "It's nice," he said, to have a day where everything just goes your way." Racing continues through Saturday. -- Full report and results at: http://sailingresults.net/site/event/17/default.html SAILING SHORTS * Marblehead, MA - Henry Brauer and Stewart Neff on Scimitar hold a narrow lead over Brian Keane on Savasana after today, the first day of racing at the J/105 North American Championship where a fleet of 42 teams are competing. Scimitar started the event brilliantly with a 2, 1, 4, followed by a 10 in the day's last race for a total of 17 points. Savasana's second in that last race brought them to 18 points after previous scores of 4, 9 and 3. Bill Lakenmacher on Radiance rounds out the top three with 31 points. Racing continues through Sunday. -- Full results: http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=436 * (August 10, 2011) - At the Nespresso Cup in Portofino, sailing legends discussed the challenges facing the sport of sailing including Loick Peyron, Jochen Schuman, Francesco de Angelis, Samantha Davies and Emirates Team New Zealand boss, Grant Dalton, who recently announced the support of Nespresso in their mission to win back the Cup. The Olympics, the Volvo Ocean Race, the America's Cup were some of the topics taken to task as these five sailors gave an insight into their own personal views on the sport today. -- To watch (full version duration 22 mins): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zKcRO1I_d4 * Maine Built Boats will hold its second annual "Open Boatyard Days" on August 15-16. During this two-day event, participating boatbuilders, boatyards, and marine-related businesses from Kittery to Eastport will open their doors to the public and even offer guided tours (on the hour, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.). From refits of existing yachts to new builds of both power and sail boats, participants will enjoy a rare opportunity to witness firsthand one of Maine's signature industries. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/3rpscex QUANTUM SAILS WIN 7 OUT OF 8 RACES AT M32 NORTH AMERICANS Quantum powered teams finished 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 at the 2011 Melges 32 North American Championship in Newport, RI with Ryan DeVos and his 2010 National Champion VOLPE team adding the 2011 NA Championship to its scorecard. The Quantum R2.5 max-sized runner won all but one race! Upwind, the Quantum class main, light and medium Fusion M carbon sails powered the top boats with blazing speed on the waters off Newport where the 2012 World Championships will be held. Thanks to our Quantum customers for their support and for choosing green; congratulations to all! Contact a Quantum M32 guru for more information. 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 Cameron McIntyre (re Scuttlebutt 3403): The [AC World Series] commentators are horrible. Why is there an assumption that everyone watching knows absolutely nothing about sailing? * From Craig Rowell, Santa Cruz, CA (re Scuttlebutt 3403): Woa....Things are really getting going in San Francisco...Debra Self, what an appropriate name, is heading up a group and they are lined up behind her to put the kebash on the San Francisco Americas Cup. This was so predictable. It is just unbelievable how S.F. the State of California and the rest of the empowered folks with not much better to do will line up to kill a fantastic opportunity for San Francisco and the rest of the US to put on a world class event. Rather than focusing on coordinating their concerns in a constructive manner it is going to be about finding anything that folks can hang their hats on including seaweed to stop this event. Predictable but sad. * From Rich Hayes (re Scuttlebutt 3403): I'm not sure I understand the point that Paul is making by quoting that well known ditty! Apart from the fact that the yacht is the give-way vessel and not the stand-on vessel, he may not be aware of the local regulations which state: "Vessels over 150 metres have a 'Moving Prohibited Zone' 1000 metres long x 200 metres wide ahead of them. Vessels under 20 metres long are prohibited from entering this zone". And if that isn't clear enough, the UK sailing bible (Reed's Almanac) goes to great length to explain exactly what that means to the small vessel, and what she should do about it. Reviewing the video, the yacht was lucky only to lose her rig and a couple of sails; a few feet difference and she would have been hit. It doesn't bare thinking about. It is likely that the skipper will be prosecuted. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION You know times are tough when CEO's are now playing miniature golf. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Vineyard Race - Point Loma Outfitting - North Sails - APS LaserPerformance - Ullman Sails - Gowrie Group - Quantum Sails Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
