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SCUTTLEBUTT 2670 - Thursday, August 28, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. THE OBSTACLES THAT U.S. OLYMPIC SAILING MUST OVERCOME Since the 1996 Olympics Games, the United States has led all countries in the total medal count for each of the four Games. Interestingly, it was also the 1996 Games when parity entered the sailing events, with the sailing medals being shared by a greater number of countries. The amount of time, energy, and money being invested in Olympic sailing has risen, and likely is now at a par with, many of the elite Olympic events. The US did not keep pace with this rise, and are now playing catch up. However, there are some unique aspects about the US and the sport within they may make this task more challenging. Some of the distractions in attracting top Olympic candidate are equal for all counties, such as professional sailing or non-sailing careers. Some of the obstacles in the US are beyond the leadership of US Olympic Team, and will require cultural shifts amongst youth sailing. Among the keys for the US is for the best sailors to be competing in the Olympics, not just the ones who are able to. Make Olympic sailing exciting and sexy, develop the necessary skills earlier, improve the level of play in North America, and of course, improve funding so that sailors without superior financial backing can take on the task. With some consideration, we have tried to identify the unique challenges the US faces in improving their medal count. Among the points made include geography, size of country, class development, marketing, funding, youth development, youth boats, and college sailing. Please read though, and we are eager for the ‘buttheads to add their comments: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6304 ONE QUAD ENDS AS ANOTHER ONE BEGINS The first ISAF Sailing World Cup is set to launch at the end of 2008, bringing a new annual series of sailing to the international sailing calendar. The World Cup will be open to the sailing events chosen for the 2012 Olympic (and Paralympic) Sailing Competitions. ISAF President, Göran Petersson said, “The ISAF Sailing World Cup will bring a new focus to Olympic sailing, demonstrating the excitement, skill and passion of the sport. It will give Olympic sailors a clear annual competition structure, the media a definitive series to feature and sponsors exposure across a host of top quality events that will be at the forefront of the sailing calendar.” The ISAF Sailing World Cup 2008-2009 will consist of the following events: 16-21 Dec 2008 - Sail Melbourne Regatta, Melbourne, Australia 25-31 Jan 2009 - Rolex Miami OCR, Miami, USA 04-10 April 2009 - Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia MAPFRE, Palma, Spain 18-24 April 2009 - Semaine Olympique Francaise, Hyeres, France 27-31 May 2009 - Delta Lloyd Regatta, Medemblik, Netherlands 21-29 June 2009 - Kieler Woche, Kiel, Germany 14-19 Sept 2009 - Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, Weymouth, Great Britain Notice of Race: http://www.sailing.org/24457.php TRIVIA QUESTION When did the sport name in the Olympics change from ‘yachting’ to ‘sailing’? BEGINNING THEIR PERSONAL "LEG 1" by Ken Read, PUMA Ocean Racing skipper (August 26. 2008)- PUMA Ocean Racing was born in March of 2007. What a year and a half it has been. And today, it all came together. This morning at 11:00AM Eastern Standard Time, we set off from Newport, RI., bound for Alicante, Spain. Our team has called this our personal "leg 1" of the Volvo Ocean Race. We have practiced everything imaginable with this boat and crew for a good part of the year and a half, so why not practice an actual Volvo leg? We had everyone and everything (the boat, the sails, sailors, and families) consider our leaving a race day. Even our shore team was in the mindset, and they are probably breaking down the shore base back in Newport as I write. And thank goodness we pulled it off because we would have looked pretty silly to all the press that showed up for our send off. So now we've been offshore for about 5 hours and have heard the 55th version of Jerry Kibry's story of running "Yankee Girl" up on a small island called No Man’s Land off the tip of Martha's Vineyard. I swear he really thinks he is telling us this story for the first time. And man does he crack himself up... Anyway, when we come by these parts again in about 8 months time hopefully we will have circumnavigated the world with just 4 short legs to complete the full Volvo Ocean Race. Boston, the only North American stopover in the race is just a shoirt trip around Nantucket and Cape Cod (from where we are right now). Joe Fallon and his team at Fan Pier have promised us a heck of a party when we get there. So where do we go from here? Only time will tell, but I sure know where er have been. Tons of work has gone into the campaign from more people I can ever list or thank. Starting with PUMA, who believed in this race and our team. We are on our way to the official start of the Volvo Ocean race 2008-2009 in Alicante, to really get things going, but it's a huge relief to get on our way and begin our personal "leg 1." -- http://pumaoceanracing.com EXPANDING OUR ROSTER Join a winning team. Hall Spars & Rigging has an immediate opening for a spar design engineer in our U.S. facility. Hall engineers work with our sales, project management, and production teams to create the optimum spar and rigging solutions for each customer. The position requires a minimum of three years' experience in spar engineering, naval architecture, or related marine engineering. If you love sailing and are skilled in AutoCad, Solidworks and Excel, visit our website for a sample of the exciting projects we work on every day. Email resumes to mailto:jobs@hallspars.com or visit http://www.hallspars.com STACKING SAILS ON A THE VOLVO OPEN 70 For the ‘butthead community, the communications from the boats during this Volvo Ocean Race will be unprecedented. We will be virtually onboard, but eating better and a lot less salty. To better getting the feeling of what it takes to sail a VO70, Justin Chisholm hopped onboard with skipper Ian Walker and the Green Dragon team for a training sail from Dublin to Cork. Here is an excerpt of his report: “With several hours of sailing on starboard ahead of us the crew set about ‘stacking’ the boat. This procedure involves using the weight of any the moveable items aboard to counteract the heeling effect of the wind and make the boat go faster. Literally everything, sails, boxes, bags and sleeping crew are shifted to the windward side. By far the heaviest items to move are the sails, which need to be moved across the deck at shoulder height whilst trying not to damage the winch pedestals. The weight of each of these sails is inconceivable. To get some idea imagine a bag, roughly the same dimensions as a family sofa, filled with wet sand. Now imagine you have to man handle it over your dining room table from one side to the other without dropping it on the best china dinner service.” “When Green Dragon tacks or gybes it takes five crew working at full capacity, to get the sails un-stacked, manhandled across the boat and restacked on the new high side. Meanwhile the rest of the crew are below moving the entire contents from one side of the boat to the other. Once everything is transferred the final manoeuvre is to swing the canting keel onto the new side. Happily this is achieved effortlessly, care of the dedicated generator and a set of huge hydraulic rams. “The process of tacking or gybing takes the Green Dragon crew around fifteen minutes. ‘We are getting faster at this the more we do it’ Walker assures me. ‘It’s a pain in the backside to have to do this every time you want to change direction. Gybing is the most difficult. First of all you have to slow down for ten minutes whilst you prepare to gybe. Then you have to gybe. Next you have to sail slowly whilst you restack everything. It’s a nightmare. I reckon on a windy leg, when the boat could be doing twenty five knots, it costs us about seven miles to put a gybe in’.” -- Offshore Rules, complete story: http://www.offshorerules.co.uk/khxc/index.php?app=gbu0&ns=prodshow&ref=329 POINTS TIGHTEN AT TP52 AUDI MEDCUP EVENT Carthagena, Spain (August 27, 2008) Consistency is hard to strive for, but the story for the second day of the Region of Murcia Trophy, fifth event of the TP52 Audi MedCup Circuit 2008, was the teams that rolled steady scores and the teams that didn’t. The shifty 15-21 winds and rough seas regularly mixed the dividends on either side of the track, whilst downwind there were always extra gains to be made in the surfing conditions. The day’s biggest misfortune visited Platoon powered by Team Germany, who won the first race but was forced to retire just prior to the second race when their forestay fitting failed. Quantum Racing proved they were entirely fallible too, as summed up by their skipper, a visibly frustrated Terry Hutchinson (USA), “I sailed like a lemon. That’s all there is to it.” However, two teams that have worked all season for better scores, found the day much to their liking, with both Mutua Madrilena and Desafio gaining only four points each in the two races. After winning a protest against Artemis, Bribón remains on top of the leaderboard. Thursday’s schedule calls for the double point offshore race, with the fleet returning to buoy races on Friday and Saturday. -- Complete report: http://2008.medcup.org/news/?id=381 Standings after four races (Top 5 of 14) 1. Bribón, ESP (1, 3, 8, 3, 15pts) 2. Mutua Madrileña, ESP (6, 5, 2, 2, 15) 3. El Desafio, ESP (9, 4, 3, 1, 17) 4. Quantum Racing, USA (5, 1, 4, 8, 18) 5. Matador, ARG (2, 6, 5, 5, 18) Full results: http://2008.medcup.org/results/venue.php?trophy=5 MORGAN CUP IS THE BIGGIE FOR KEELBOAT TEAM RACING Newport, RI, (Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008) – New York Yacht Club 1 won the Morgan Cup Team Race Invitational, hosted at the NYYC's Harbour Court, August 22-24. New York was tied with Pequot Yacht Club, of Southport, CT, but won by virtue of a tie-breaker. Sailing for NYYC 1 were Colin Gordon, team captain, Ben Kinney, Ned Jones, Martha Carleton, Robbie Richards, Senet Bischoff, Stu Saffer, Monique Roeder, Clay Bischoff, Joe Aleardi, Brit Bischoff and Brian Fox. This is the NYYC's fourth win in as many years. In the realm of team racing, the Morgan is a biggie - the "Best of the Best" by resume only, with a 3-on-3 format in Sonars with spinnakers. It is the keelboat version of the Hinman for dinghies, and is filling the void in the post-college (and post-post-college) sailors' high-level competitive offerings. Many World and National champs in various classes as well as Sailors of the Year come from all around, and this year it was filmed (gimbaled on-boards, chase boat plus hi-res camera on shore) by Gary Jobson (direct from his Olympic duties). The umpire roster was equally impressive. As a newer/broader category of team racing (keel boats), the Morgan has become the model event that has really sparked a lot of interest and requests for participation, as well as a lot of follow-on keelboat team racing such as events and program at Newport Harbor, Boston Harbor, St. Pete, Southern, Seawanhaka, and soon Chicago. -- Complete report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6282 MY FAVORITE ANNA TUNNICLIFFE STORY During Anna Tunnicliffe’s Olympic campaign, which led to her Gold Medal finish in the Laser Radial, we have come to realize that she is one of the most respected, well liked elite athletes in the United States. We know that on the long trail of her life that led to the Podium, Anna has touched many people, and provided a sterling example of how the sport should be played. We don’t always have the opportunity to share good stories about good people… or even thank them for being them… so here is an opportunity to do so. Tufts University coach Ken Legler shares his Anna story, “I was running a college women's regatta in March one year on a cold and blustery day when one team turtled and couldn't get righted. As they were struggling in the cold water I brought them in and looked for some Tufts sailors on the dock. I found Anna Tunnicliffe and her Old Dominion crew dressed in drysuits ready to go. Knowing they were really fit, great sailors and good sports, I asked if they would help and they jumped at the chance. I dropped them off on the upside down boat in the 40 degree water where they immediately righted the boat and sailed it in.” Do you have a favorite Anna story that you can share? Please post it here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6306 NO ROOM FOR MISTAKES AT J/22 WORLDS Last week’s 2008 J/22 World Championship in Rochester, NY, was the scene of a hard-fought, world-class event featuring a competitive fleet filled with national and world champions. In light, shifty conditions, Ullman Sails customers showed top speed, placing in the top five overall out of the 104-boat fleet. Ullman Sails’ Phil Wehrheim along with Greg Koski and Max Skelley claimed 3rd overall, followed by 2008 Etchells World Champion Bill Hardesty in 5th, both competing with 100% Ullman inventory. These two boats were the only teams among the top five finishers to win a race. Visit Ullman Sails at http://www.ullmansails.com SAILING SHORTS * Ridgeway, ONT (August 27, 2008) – After three days of racing at the Sunfish World Championship, hosted by Buffalo Canoe Club, leader Paul Foerster has widened his gap on the 72-boat fleet. Foerster now holds a 32 point lead after nine races over fellow Texan Greg Gust in second. Earlier this month, Foerster won the U.S. Singlehanded Championship at Sayville Yacht Club in Blue Point, N.Y, also sailed in Sunfish. Racing at the Worlds continues through August 28th. -- Event website: http://www.sunfishclass.org/~worlds * Westport, CT (August 26, 2008) - A 3-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., girl died Tuesday morning when the Hobie Cat sailboat carrying her and three others capsized off Cockenoe Island in Long Island Sound. Alexandra Vitale was unresponsive when rescued from the water by police and was later pronounced dead at Norwalk Hospital. Alexandra was on board with an instructor and two cousins, William Howell, 3, and Andrew Howell, 6, also of Brooklyn. All three children were wearing life jackets, according to police. -- Complete story: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_10312435?source=most_emailed * Thirty-four entrants participated in the 31st T-10 North American Championship Regatta, hosted by Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club with three days of racing off of Montrose Harbor in Chicago, IL. Following the event, which was won by the Sampson/ Smith team onboard Portable Fun Box, a number of special awards were presented. Wild Norwegian, from the host Chicago Corinthian YC, was awarded the Sparkman & Stephens Trophy for the greatest margin of victory, finishing 9th, 25 points ahead of 10th place. Earning the Charlie Britton award designated for best comeback performance was Cheap Thrill, Tim and Nancy Snyder, Chicago Yacht Club. -- http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=167 * A reception for Olympic Laser Radial Gold Medal winner Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) will be held at Norfolk Yacht and Country Club this Sunday, August 31st from 6:00 - 8:00 PM, Norfolk Yacht & Country Club. -- SBRNYCU, club website: http://www.norfolkyacht.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Here are a few of the events that are coming up: Aug 29-Sept 1 - Bronte Rocks - Oakville, Ontario, Canada Aug 29 - The Stamford Vineyard Race - Stamford, CT, USA Aug 30 - Herb Elphick Memorial Race - Jacksonville, FL, USA Aug 30-31 - Crab Regatta - Annapolis, MD, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar TRIVIA ANSWER The name of the sport in the Olympics changed from ‘yachting’ to ‘sailing’ at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. 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 Mike Esposito: I think it's interesting that Societe Nautique de Geneve (home club of Alinghi) is invited, but not Golden Gate YC (home club of BMW Oracle). If any place should have space to accommodate the competing egos, you'd expect New York YC to be it -- they managed to host the America's Cup for 132 years for heaven's sake. * From David Sligh: It was wonderful to see the distinguished list of initial invitees to the New York Yacht Club World Invitational Cup. Several tremendous clubs, all with a rich racing heritage. However, it's surprising that Royal Canadian Yacht Club is the only Great Lakes representative when there are several clubs worthy of participating. For instance, Macatawa Bay Yacht Club is the current holder of the Canada's Cup having won a hard fought series with RCYC last year. MBYC also won three out of the past six CYC's Race to Mackinac. Chicago Yacht Club and perhaps even Detroit's Bayview YC could also be outstanding inclusions into this event. * From Andy Vare: Obtusely absent from that distinguished list is the Mercury Bay Sailing Club, home of Sir Michael Fay's 1988 NZ-1 challenge, designed by no less than Bruce Farr. Since the Cup has devolved into the Big Little America's Cup, replete with catamaran's and legal proceedings, it seems only fair to give the NZ-1 crew a seat at the table. Also conspicuously absent is the Golden Gate Yacht Club, something of an abomination really, considering that Mr. Ellison has run his challenges through them for several cup cycles now. Still no room at the inn? I see Sir Thomas Lipton's club represented. Well done. When exactly did they last field a challenge? And whither the network coverage? Does Coutts get broadcast rights at the dinner? The whole invitation thing is a sticky wicket, with the NYYC facing certain criticism no matter how good their intentions, so let's refer the topic to Abigail Van Buren for consideration. When she pronounces, we'll have something to go on. * From Benjamin Jarashow: (edited to the 250-word limit) Oh, no! My favorite (insert name here) Yacht Club did not get invited to the NYYC Regatta! With respect to all other yacht clubs in the world, I must say that NYYCs list seems sensible from what appears, to me, to be a regatta held in true homage to the ideals of Corinthian competition, of which NYYC holds themselves, rightly or no, as a pinnacle. From their press announcement: "Its essence is to bring together amateur yacht-club teams to compete against teams from around the world." Around the world, not around the block - no disrespect to other USA Yacht Clubs, but it would be hard for them to be taken seriously, if for this event they invited a slew of other American Clubs. Again, from the press release: "world’s most prominent yacht clubs". Not the ones against whom NYYC has competed in the past, nor even those with the absolute best race records, though I'm certain that does help a Clubs prominence, within our sport, but those YCs who are seen by international peerage to be active and interested in the same Corinthian goals as NYYC. If this regatta is intended, as I infer it to be, the inheritor of the mantle par excellence with title "friendly competition between nations", then I am rather taken aback when the first reaction to it's announcement is indignation from some. Rather, I recommend taking this event in stride, and in comparison to its predecessor, previous holder of that same mantle, which currently and for the foreseeable future resides in a courtroom - not friendly, nor being competed for by nations. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: In the theme of "No good deed goes unpunished," we consider this thread now closed in the newsletter. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. - Elayne Boosler Special thanks to Hall Spars & Rigging and Ullman Sails. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
