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SCUTTLEBUTT 2818 - Wednesday, April 8, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Today's sponsors are Melges Performance Sailboats, North Sails One Design, and 2009 Invitational Regatta for the Hoag Cup. SEEKING TO SPEED UP AMERICA Last December, Scuttlebutt interviewed American Rob Douglas, who briefly held the outright world speed record, setting a pace last October of 49.84 kts - the first kitesailor to hold the overall speed sailing title. Rob pushed the mark up to 50.54 knots, but on the same day Alexandre Caizergues (FRA) captured the current record of 50.57 kts, again using a kite. Douglas is the instigator behind the North American Speed Sailing Project, sponsored by The Black Dog, Lynch Associates, Cabrinha kites, NPX wetsuits and Dakine accessories, and coached by Olympian Mike Gebhardt , which saw its first action of 2009 when they attended the International Kiteboarding Class Association Kitespeed World Championship at Plage Napoleon, Port St. Louis du Rhone, France on Mar. 29-Apr 5. Overall the NASSP Team did well as they continue to grow and fullfill the NASSP mission statement: “To build a team of American speed sailors who will compete on the world stage in any class of sail to bring speed sailing records and results back to American shores.” In France the team collected a World Championship in womens and placed 3rd, 4th, and 12th in mens. Preliminary plans are being developed by NASSP to bring IKA kite speed to the USA later this fall. An invitational GPS event with prize money for the worlds fastest and their teams on Martha’s Vineyard in 2009 is the plan. The Top Gun trophy will be up for grabs. More to come… http://nassp.net/nassp * Scuttlebutt interview: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/tt/#rob CHEWED UP, SPIT OUT It's the second week of leg four (Volvo Ocean Race to Qingdao), the wind is low and the sea is choppy. Anders Dahlsjo is working in the pit of Ericsson 3 when suddenly the boom breaks free of a line and slams against his head. He's out cold. When he comes round he's in Richard Mason's "no mercy medical clinic", blood trickling from his head. Mason cleans the wound and glues it shut before returning to his day job. A few days earlier, Mason, the onboard medic, used forceps to pull out a mashed thumbnail from Magnus Olsson's throbbing hand. Olsson then returned to skipper the boat, a position he has held since Anders Lewander tore the medial meniscus in his left knee in leg three. Mason went on to suffer a prolapsed disc in his back, ruling him out of leg five. Across the ocean on PUMA, Ken Read is staring at a grotesquely mangled and bloodied index finger after it got jammed in a titanium block. Grimacing in pain, Telefonica Blue's Bouwe Bekking is close to fainting after tearing a buttock muscle. Watching from home is PUMA's Chris Nicholson, two screws embedded in his right knee after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the second leg. Never before have the pre-start words of Neal McDonald, a Green Dragon watch captain, seemed more apt. "These boats just chew people up and spit them out," he said in Alicante. "They can be pretty nasty." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/ck2f4k * Seven of the eight teams (Team Russia is not racing) are expected to be ready for the April 11th start of Leg 6 from Rio to Boston (4,900 nm), with teams expected to begin finishing by April 27th. -- Event website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Sail Newport and the PUMA Ocean Racing Team want to put one of the "buttheads" on "il mostro" for the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port "practice racing day" on Friday, May 8th 2009. This is the day prior to the Boston In Port Race which is scheduled for May 9th, 2009. Ken Read, Skipper of il mostro says: "These practice days are actually the most fun days of sailing we get to do. There are a ton of starts and short course races that day. The Race Committee is out there working out the kinks and we benefit by blasting around a set up course all day long. The raffle winner will be grinning ear to ear after this day of sailing... Guaranteed....." -- Details: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2009/04/to-sail-on-puma.html MELGES WELCOMES FOUR NEW SERVICE & SUPPORT AGENTS Melges Performance Sailboats has officially added four new Sales and Customer Service Agents to the Melges team — Anthony Kotoun, Seadon Wijsen, Mike Wolfs and Eric Hood. These great sailors bring an extra-added level of experience, knowledge, professionalism and excellence to the Melges USA program. The popularity of Melges boats remains at an all-time high. Whether you have a scow or sportboat, Spring is here and the sailing season is really starting to heat up! Parts, accessories and the latest gear are always available online at Melges. Be prepared to outperform by contacting a Melges Agent near you! Melges.com (http://www.melges.com/?p=pages/contact-melges-agents-na) PATIENCE SKILL TEST IN PALMA Palma De Mallorca, Spain (Apr. 7, 2009; Day 3) - The third day of racing in the Princesa Sofia Mapfre Trophy in Palma, third event in the ISAF Sailing World Cup, tested the patience of Olympic sailors and race officials with low clouds and rain delaying the expected wind. The 49ers finally caught up on their 6th race after 3 attempts and 1 hour wait under the rain. Erik Storck and Trevor Moore, the top ranked member on the 2009 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, rolled another top ten score, with their fifth place finish today pulling them up to ninth overall. However, after waiting on shore and then on the water under the rain, the other classes came back to shore at 4PM with no racing for the day. More suitable conditions for Wednesday are expected, with the northwest Mistral to provide average winds and small chops. For Wednesday and Thursday, the Laser, RS:X and 470 men and 49er classes will sail the final stages in Gold and Silver fleets, while the other classes will continue racing with the whole fleet. On Friday, April 10, the top ten teams in each class will sail the medal race. -- Event website: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org CARBON TILLER EXTENSION COMPARISON by APS Tech Tuesday is our feature here at the Stern Scoop where we plan to highlight some of the more technical aspects of some of our products. From line specs to how to properly rebuild a winch we hope to provide some fodder for the tinkerers and engineer types out there. Today we're starting with some detailed specs on carbon tiller extensions. We offer seven different types with rubber universals (there are some larger big boat extensions made of carbon as well from Forespar). From top to bottom we have the Acme Fatso, Acme Fatso Jr., JCD, Ronstan, Forespar Giant Stick, Forespar Big Stick and Holt Allen. I threw a quarter and a dollar bill in there for a size comparison. -- Read on: http://blog.apsltd.com/2009/04/tech-tuesday-carbon-tiller-extension.html TROPHY BANQUET DRESS CODE The Scuttlebutt poll regarding trophy banquet dress code initially came from when we saw how the New York Yacht Club Annual Awards Dinner 2008 was a black tie event, but it was also motivated by our curiosity as to the general standard of dress for these events. The poll results likely have as much to do with the type of club the respondents belong to, as to whether there have been any changes to the standard. Here are the results when we asked what the standard of dress was for your club's annual trophy banquet? Black tie - 13.28% Semi-Formal - 30.71% Dressy Casual - 34.02% Casual -21.99% Here are some comments from the voters: ~~ “Yeah, let’s have black tie events. Just the way to reinforce all those prejudices about sailing being a rich man’s sport.” ~~ “Over the 30 years that I have been a member of our Club, I have noticed a decline in attendance as the dress code has been relaxed. Use to be the main event of the year. Perhaps we should learn from history.” ~~ “Yacht clubs are way too crusty in general. I prefer Racing Clubs and Sailing Centers such as Sail Newport or Severn Sailing Association where it is about the sailing and not the restaurant.” ~~ “As a proud member of the NYYC, I appreciate the "Mess Jacket or black tie" requirement as it adds dignity and shows respect for those club members that did well in the seasons racing.” Read all comments here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/absolutepm/xlacomments.asp?p=7 ONE DESIGN SAILING STIMULUS PACKAGE!!! North Sails One Design wants to help stimulate your sailing! NO sales tax and FREE shipping on all North Sails One Design products ordered online by April 17, 2009. Take advantage of this special offer to get the world’s fastest One Design sails in time for spring racing. Valid for orders from/delivered in North America only. Other restrictions apply. http://www.onedesign.com CAMP CAMPBELL FOR ELITE YOUTH SAILORS Long Beach, CA (Apr. 7, 2009) - "Is everybody tired?" director Andrew Campbell asked, addressing the 113 youth sailors of the Class of 2009 on the last morning of the California International Sailing Association's 32nd annual Advanced Racing Clinic at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. "Yes," came the labored but unanimous response. "Good," Campbell said. "These are the days when you make gains on your critical opponents, when they're sitting back and you're still pushing hard." Push hard they did Tuesday, when a cool southwest breeze piped up to 15 knots well before noon and tested their rough water skills. The 29ers, International 420s and Club 420s sailed outsides the breakwater in seas of 4 to 5 feet; the Lasers, Radials and CFJs---the doublehanded starter boat here---found it slightly smoother inside. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0407 * The class winners were Mac Agnese/Ian Simms (29er), Declyn Whitmyer/Ian Storck (Club 420), Kate Rakelly/Colleen Hackett (CFJ), Mac Mace/Jeff Aschieris (I-420), Claire Dennis (Laser Radial), and Will Howard (Laser). -- Complete results: http://www.abyc.org/upload/2009RESULTS1.HTM SAILING SHORTS * Emirates Team New Zealand are not saying whether they will attend Alinghi's pre-regatta, scheduled to be held in Valencia in July in the wake of BMW Oracle's court victory over the Swiss holders of the America's Cup. Earlier indications from within the Team NZ camp were that any journey to Valencia to race against Alinghi and other Cup challengers would be called off if the Swiss lost the court case. -- NZ Herald, read on: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10565225 * The National Marine Manufacturers Association estimates that as of late March, marine industry unemployment was more than 50 percent, NMMA President Thom Dammrich told the Springfield Business Journal for an article published yesterday. Retail boat sales fell off precipitously in July 2008, Dammrich said. In the fourth-quarter of 2008, one in three NMMA members furloughed operations for a period of time, and one in 10 closed down a plant entirely, he told the paper. -- Boating Industry, read on: http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?id=2104147 * Authorities in France have released more details about the French yacht seized by pirates over the weekend. The sailing yacht Tanit, pictured left, is carrying two couples and a three-year-old boy. The boat had set out from Vannes on France's Atlantic coast in July last year en route to the Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar before it was seized on Saturday. -- Yachting Monthly, read on: http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/auto/newsdesk/20090307135914ymnews.html * The same Kiwi team that introduced Virtual Eye animated racing to the world of sailing and the America's Cup is about to transform viewing of Formula One. Ian Taylor and his team have produced many world class events, including the recent Louis Vuitton Pacific Series yachting in Auckland. Their new contract with the BBC takes them off the water and onto the racetrack. -- TVNZ, watch video: http://tvnz.co.nz/motorsport-news/kiwi-2598090/video SILENCE IS BROKEN On April 2nd, when the New York State Court of Appeals found in favor of BMW Oracle Racing and Golden Gate Yacht Club, in the case they initiated in August 2007 against Alinghi and Societe Nautique De Geneve (SNG), America’s Cup fans worldwide waited with anticipation to hear from the calm voice of reason, from the individuals that would get the event back on its tracks. So far, we have only gotten a little of nothing. Alinghi said they were ready to get back on the water. Dethroned Challenger of Record Club Náutico Español de Vela said they were disappointed. Mascalzone Latino team Vincenzo Onorato owner came a little stronger, telling Alinghi to now get lost, along with all the teams of “cunning professionals who hypocritically supported him until now.” (and then some of the hypocrites spoke too). However, the one voice we did not hear from was BMW Oracle Racing… until now. Here is their brief statement: “The Golden Gate Yacht Club and its team, BMW Oracle Racing, remain committed to negotiate with the Defender, Société Nautique de Genève/Alinghi, a conventional mutual consent protocol for the next America's Cup that would involve all teams. This follows the April 2 decision of the New York State Court of Appeals confirming the Golden Gate Yacht Club as the Challenger of Record for the 33rd America's Cup. “BMW Oracle Racing's owner, Larry Ellison, and the President of Alinghi, Ernesto Bertarelli, have communicated with each other since the court ruling. At this stage the club believes it is best to keep communications between the parties private in the interests of reaching a successful conclusion as quickly as possible.” -- Scuttleblog, http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2009/04/ggyc-speaks.html BIG BOATS WEIGH IN FOR 2009 HOAG CUP JUNE 12-14 Invitations will go out soon for the 2009 Invitational Regatta for the Hoag Cup in Newport Beach, CA, June 12-14. A sneak preview promises a lineup of the finest and fastest ocean racers. The ULDB-70s led by Ed McDowell's Grand Illusion, overall winner in 2007, and Roy E. Disney's former Pyewacket II that set a Transpac record, will face a force of latter-day Transpac 52s including Jim Madden's new Stark Raving Mad V, Andy Rasdal's Valkyrie, and Ernie Pennel's Cazador. The TP52 Viva la Vida, 2005 Med Cup winner, is available for charter with all proceeds benefiting Hoag Hospital. -- http://www.HoagCupRegatta.com * Info on chartering the TP52 Viva la Vida can be found here: http://newport-racing.com/yachtsspecs.html SECOND CHANCE by Kimball Livingston, SAIL I see that various pundits are ruminating upon a course of sagacity, wisdom and compromise for our America's Cup antagonists, Misters Bertarelli and Ellison, urging them to come to terms and launch what both profess to be the goal, a match to match 2007. Well and good. I'll believe it when I see it. All Bertarelli had to do, at the end of the 32nd match for the America's Cup, was tell everybody to come back to Valencia in two years and do it again. (Didn't happen.) Bertarelli's recent comments hint at a preference for Armageddon over compromise, High Noon at the Not-So-OK Corral, and maybe that's not the worst thing. I'm talking about a second chance at the Big Picture. One of the ironies missing from most reflections upon the big boat-catamaran debacle of 1988 is that it could have been huge. If the USA had chosen to build a big boat to meet the Kiwi big boat—which was eminently beatable, a piece of junk—the match would have played as a spectacle. Press and hype beyond measure. The world was ready. The networks were ready. We're talking prime time. This, friends, could be our second chance. -- Read on: http://sailmagazine.com/second_chance/ QUOTE / UNQUOTE Bruno Trouble, whose involvement with the America's Cup extends back to 1970's as a helmsman, and since for 20 years as the Event Director for the Louis Vuitton Cup, comments on the future of the next America’s Cup: “'I truly believe that BMW Oracle, Golden Gate YC and Larry Ellison will do as much as they can to have a multiple challenger involvement in the next America's Cup. However, in my opinion, there is only about 25% chance of this eventuating.” -- Sail World, http://www.sail-world.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get one letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Tyler Carder, Largo, FL: You guys need to study your geography. Your story (in Scuttlebutt 2817) about the Rolex Women's Match Race Championship going on this weekend was headlined "Top American Women To Face Off In Tampa" - but the series is hosted by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club and the Sonars are kept at the St. Petersburg Sailing Center, neither of which are in Tampa (area code 813); as you might guess, these places are in St. Petersburg (area code 727). You see, St. Petersburg and Tampa are two different places! And there is a fairly good-sized body of water between them called Tampa Bay. While Tampa Bay has been made a part of the names of the area's professional football, hockey and baseball franchises (respectively, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Tampa Bay Rays), there is no city, town, village or group of huts known as Tampa Bay, Florida. But whereas the Tampa Bay Bucs play in Tampa, and the Tampa Bay Rays play in St. Petersburg, the Tampa Bay Lightning play in the St. Petersburg Times' Forum, which is in...Tampa. Sure, it's a little confusing at times, but residents of St. Petersburg can get pretty testy about the media screwing up their geography, because ST. PETERSBURG AIN’T TAMPA! So, unless the crews competing in the Rolex Women's Match Race Championship in St. Petersburg, Florida this weekend decide to cross Tampa Bay (on one of the four bridges that connect St. Petersburg and Clearwater in Pinellas County, Florida, from Tampa in Hillsborough County, Florida) for a drinking contest in Tampa's soddenly infamous Ybor City area, they will not be facing off in Tampa. But no doubt they will do battle in ST. PETERSBURG. * From Dave Few: (re, the next America’s Cup) First let's see the big Cats have a race - all that effort and no race is a terrible waste to this old Engineer. After that, do the monohull thing with a full set of challengers. CURMUDGEON’S (POLITICALLY CORRECT) OBSERVATIONS He is not a "Cradle Robber" - He prefers "Generational Differential Relationships." Special thanks to Melges Performance Sailboats, North Sails One Design, and 2009 Invitational Regatta for the Hoag Cup. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
