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SCUTTLEBUTT 2262 – January 18, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). MORE LIGHT AND SHIFTY AIR All three IRC classes at Acura Key West 2007 presented by Nautica have seen close and exciting racing. A mere point separates the top two teams in IRC 1 and 3 while there is a tie in IRC 2. “The IRC classes have truly brought together some of the top sailing minds in the world. People like Russell Coutts, Dee Smith and Kenny Read, just to name a few, have really elevated the sailing level of the IRC boats here,” said Bruce Golison, principal race officer on Division 2, which includes all three IRC fleets. “With today’s challenging conditions, no lead was safe and no deficit was too great to overcome.” Hissar and Numbers are engaged in an intense duel for the lead in IRC 1, which features the eight largest entries in the regatta. Hissar, a Farr 60-footer owned by Edgar Cato of Newport, R.I., earned its third victory of the series in Race 6 and enters Thursday one point ahead of Numbers. Olympian Morgan Reeser is calling tactics while America’s Cup veterans Mike Toppa (main) and Mick Harvey (jib) are the primary trimmers aboard Hissar, which finished a disappointing sixth out of 10 entries in IRC 1 at Acura Key West 2006, but has posted a string of firsts, seconds and thirds this year. Volvo Ocean Race veterans Hamish Pepper (tactician), Erle Williams (trimmer) and Jerry Kirby (bow) are part of a top-notch crew on Numbers, which has placed first or second in five of six races. It could not be any closer in IRC 2, where Colm Barrington’s Ker 50 Magic Glove and Doug DeVos’ TP52 Windquest are deadlocked at 13 points apiece. Samba Pa Ti, John Kilroy’s newly-launched TP 52, is just four points behind in third. Magic Glove, a brand new boat designed especially for IRC racing, notched its fourth bullet of the series in Race 6. Barrington, an Irishman making his Key West debut, leads the series after winning the tiebreaker based on number of first place finishes. Esmeralda, the brand new Club Swan 42 owned by Japanese industrialist Makota Uematsu with Read aboard as tactician, has a score line filled entirely with firsts and seconds yet still leads Spirit of Malouen by just one point. Frenchman Stephane Neve and his crew aboard the Sinergia 40 have equaled Esmeralda with three bullets and trail based solely on a third in Race 3. Joe Fly, the Italian entry that had been runaway leader in Melges 24 class, suffered a disappointing result that enabled the tightened the standings. Owner Giovanni Maspero and crew finished 20th in Race 6 and saw a 14-point advantage reduced to two. Dave Ullman, a California sailmaker and defending class champion here, won the fifth race then tacked on a seventh to put the pressure on Joe Fly. Former collegiate All-American Bill Hardesty (Merchant Marine Academy) is serving as tactician for Ullman, who has finished no worse than seventh the entire series. Reports are posted at the following sites: http://www.premiere-racing.com http://www.jobsonsailing.com ESPN.com: http://tinyurl.com/ysnnra AIMING HIGH Africa's first America's Cup hopefuls Team Shosholoza started out with the aim of winning a race or two. Now, despite having the oldest boat in the challengers' series, the South African team has raised their sights and is determined to make this year's semi-finals. "At the beginning of last year we were taking it as it came and hoping to win a few races but now we're in a position where to come fourth, to make the semi-finals, is something in our minds," said skipper Mark Sadler. “It's going to be bloody hard and difficult to get that right but it is a possibility and that's where we're aiming. It started off as an adventure ... but after winning a few races we are a fully fledged America's Cup team. We've achieved more than we expected to already and whatever more we take away is a bonus," Sadler said as the team prepared to travel to Valencia in Spain where the Louis Vuitton Cup - the challengers' elimination series - will be held. -- Wendell Roelf, Rueters, http://tinyurl.com/yv72qd CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar OVERARCHING REALITIES He sailed a Finn in the Olympics, placed 3rd in the Snipe Worlds and was the 1970 Sunfish World Champion. He is an author, inventor, designer, and presently the chief promoter of the Alerion Express yachts. He is Gary Hoyt, who is also a ‘butthead. Below Gary continues the discussion on sailing and the Olympics, where he presents 4 overarching realities: 1) Recognize that the success of sailing as a sport does not hinge on Olympic participation. That said, Olympic exposure can be very useful in the promotion of sailing, and corrective measures need to be taken to ensure sailing’s survival in the Games. 2) Recognize that viewer interest in sailing is directly related to reliable wind power—15 knots or over. Regardless of equipment, there is no visual excitement possible in light wind contests. Since light wind venues are a prescription for failure, we must stop chaining Olympic Sailing events to the whims and locations of the host country. Just as the Winter Olympics require snow, the Sailing Olympics require strong wind and wave action to deliver the visual excitement on which Olympic survival depends. 3) Recognize that viewer interest in the Olympics is concentrated primarily on individual skills and short time events. This is evident in the popularity of track, swimming, gymnastics, skiing and skating events. Instead of trying to cover the spectrum of sailing where keel boats and crew work are clearly important, sailing in the Olympics should be presented as an individual skill where recognizable personalities can emerge and be identified with. Single handed sailing will force the use of smaller equipment, which reduces costs and rewards the youthful participation that is the express purpose of the Games (and sailing’s best hope for the future.) 4) Recognize that creativity is needed to make sailing events shorter and more varied. There is no need to be confined to the tedium and elongated duration of the typical Olympic course. Take a lesson from snowboarding and free sailing to be as spectacular as it can be. So let’s have team racing in Lasers with big national flags on the sails. Let the windsurfers strut their stuff by starting from the beach, blasting out and over the breakers to an offshore mark and then back through the waves to the beach. Have some simple triangular courses where swift, single handed A Cats can shine. And how about a relay race where foiling Moths have to pass batons? Then maybe a big medley relay with teams comprised of Lasers, Windsurfers, A Cats and foiling Moths all competing. And stage it all in a place like Hawaii, where wind, waves and sunshine add to the TV appeal. Sailing is all about adapting to changing circumstances, so let’s adapt. -- Garry Hoyt "FASTEST SAILS ON THE PLANET”…PERIOD! The 2007 racing season is NOW! Is your sail inventory ready? International Grand Prix, to highly competitive One Design, to local Club Racing, Ullman Sails has the right sail design technology and fabric selection to deliver the "The Fastest Sails on the Planet." Ullman Sails new "FiberPath" sails are arguably the lightest, strongest string load-bearing sails available! "FiberPath" is stronger for its weight, and delivers superior longevity when compared to the alternatives. For more information on "FiberPath," or to get a quote on the "Fastest Sails on the Planet," contact your local Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com AWARDS The Cruising Club of America (CCA) has presented their Blue Water Medal for 2006 to Minoru Saito, an admired Japanese solo sailor, who at the age of 71 completed his seventh single-handed circumnavigation of the world. His latest voyage which ended in June, 2005, in Japan, completed 240,000 miles at sea. The crew of ABN Amro Two received the 2006 Rod Stephens Trophy for Seamanship for skillfully carrying out the night time recovery of an overboard crewmember during the Volvo Ocean Race. And Larry and Maxine Bailey (Seattle, Wash.) were awarded the 2006 Far Horizons Award for their adventurous full-time cruising aboard their 43-foot cutter Shingebiss II during the past 14 years that had left 93,000 miles in their wake. -- http://www.cruisingclub.org/ CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC Team New Zealand has been based in Auckland since October where it launched its second boat, NZL 92. While no decision has been made, syndicate boss Grant Dalton suggested the newest addition would be the main weapon used in Valencia and he's happy with the way the programme is moving along. "It's just now a matter of ... getting our configurations in place, what keel, what rudders we are going to run and putting it on our freighter – because we can't afford shipping any more, it takes too long, so we are air freighting the whole thing..." Dalton is cautiously optimistic about Team New Zealand's progress. "You never really know. I'm happy but I might be fooled as well. I kind of look at it and say where would I want to be if I could be anywhere now in terms of progress? I, maybe naively, think we are about as good as we could be at this stage. We took quite a lot of heart from our results last year in cleaning up but that's a double-edged sword. I think what it meant for us is that we were comfortable in the progression line that we were taking, rather than having to have a massive ... rethink." And Dalton has a simple game plan for bringing the Auld Mug back to the Viaduct Basin later this year. "Keep on steady, monotone every day, every day's the same. No matter who you are racing you perform, you get the basics right." -- The Southland Times, http://tinyurl.com/y5hgdw RS:X NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS With just 11 points in nine race with one discard, Przemyslaw Miarczynski from Poland walked away with an easy win in the 27-boat fleet of the ISAF Grade C1 RS:X North American Championships in Miami. Ivan Pastor (ESP) took second with Piotr Myszka, also from Poland, in third. Zacc Plavsic from Canada was the top North American in 12th place, with the USA’s Benjamin Barger one place further back with 90 points. Poland also dominated the women’s racing, with Zofia Klepacka scoring as easy win. The top North Americans were Mikola Girke and Dominique Vallee - both from Canada - who finished ninth and tenth respectively. The USA’s Karen Marriott finished 16 and Mexico’s Demita Vega finished one place further back in the 24- boat women’s championship. -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1fFnAB72 THE TALK OF THE REGATTA Twenty Melges 32s invaded Key West and their racing has been the talk of the regatta. The Melges 32 has very quickly put together a strong following. With nearly 40 boats on the water in just 18 months, the class has been keen to get together and race in all the hot events. Following the pattern of the very successful Melges 24, the Melges 32 has formed an exciting Winter Series that kicks off with the Midwinters in Key West, then goes to the St. Pete NOOD and concludes with Miami Race Week. Find out more about the Melges 32: http://www.melges.com / http://www.melges32.com SAILING SHORTS * Over 40 nations have already applied for entry to the ISAF Sailing World Championships, the pinnacle event for the Olympic Classes in 2007 taking place in Cascais, Portugal from 28 June-13 July. With two weeks still remaining for nations to apply for their priority places, the 2007 Worlds looks well on the way to eclipsing the 71 nations who appeared in Cadiz four years ago. The 2007 ISAF Worlds is the principle qualification regatta for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, with 75% of all national places to be decided. -- http://www.cascaisworlds2007.com * The winner's podium at Fifth Caribbean Laser Midwinter Regatta, that was held in Cabarete Dominican Republic, January 12-14, could have been at the Worlds, too: 1) Gustavo Lima (POR), 2) Bernard Luttmer (CAN), 3) Diego Romero (ARG). For three days the wind blew an average of 18 knots with gusts measured at 25 knots. At times the event that was sailed close to shore with hundreds of people watching close by. $5,000.00 in prize money was distributed among the top three winners and first Overall Master - Ari Barshi (DOM). -- Complete results on http://www.caribwind.com/ltc * Seiko Watch Corporation and the International 49er Class Association today signed a unique two year partnership agreement. The global partnership is the first of its kind for an Olympic sailing Class and represents the emergence of the 49er as a powerful marketing platform. Over the next two years Seiko will assist the growth and development of the 49er class worldwide through a series of joint initiatives. The partnership is designed to further grow the class throughout the world with a series of training courses and master classes to increase the coaching, participation and expertise globally. -- http://www.49er.org * Luna Rossa's ITA 94 will be christened Thursday morning in Valencia, Spain at Luna Rossa’s base. -- http://www.lunarossachallenge.com * Bernard Stamm continues to extend his already impressive lead over second placed Kojiro Shiraishi in the Velux 5 Ocean round the world solo race. Now 177 miles astern of the reigning champion, Koji reports he has suffered severe seasickness since leaving Australian shores, but is now beginning to settle back into his routine. Also suffering is Graham Dalton, who in third place is sailing with a bandaged hand, having burnt it yesterday with boiling water. After a tough stopover in Fremantle, while Dalton feels fatigued, he’s pleased to be back out racing. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com * Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team´s second new boat for the 32nd America’s Cup, ITA 99 is currently en route to Valencia from Green Marine of Lymington (UK), where it has been undergoing the final fit out. ITA 99 will travel by truck from Lymington to the UK shores where it will be ferried across to Spain and then continue on to Valencia. In December, Mascalzone Latino-Captialia Team retired the “old” ITA 77 and in January started sailing again with ITA 90, the first of the two new boats constructed for this campaign. * Jean-Pierre Dick, skipper of Paprec Virbac, has selected Irish sailor Damian Foxall as his co-skipper for the Barcelona World Race. With over 25 years of ocean and dinghy racing experience Damian, 37, lists five round the world races on his CV and 18 trans-atlantics, adding up to over 280,000 miles of sailing. He competed in two Volvo Ocean Races in 2005/06 onboard Team Ericsson r and in 2001/2002 with Team Tyco. He was part of the America’s Cup 2004 K Challenge crew and was on Cheyenne for their successful assault on the Jules Verne non-stop crewed round the world record. -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com * ESP-97, Desafío Español's new boat, started on Wednesday her first sailing tests. At 10:30 am ESP-97 docked out of the Desafío Español base for the first time in order to embark on a test sail that lasted 4 hour during which the members of the technical department, together with the sailing crew, carried out the first structural tests.According to Iñigo Toledo, technical coordinator of ESP-97, "today we were able to considerably advance in our schedule since we carried out numerous tests of the boat's structure that were initially planned for Thursday and Friday". -- Valencia Sailing, full story: http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/ 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 Jim Capron: Scuttlebutt 2261 leads with a nice story about Acura Key West Race Week 2007 which begins "North America's largest regatta . . . ." That made me wonder what criteria is used to define large when speaking of sailboat racing events. Is it the number of competitors or the number of boats? Or maybe some other criteria, like racing area? Certainly KWRW is a huge event and attracts a large number of competitors. Meanwhile, a few miles north, US Sailing is preparing to host the Rolex Miami OCR next week with over two times the number of boats racing compared to KWRW and twice the number of racing circles (566 entries, 47 countries, 8 circles). While both of these events are undeniably impressive for their sheer size, I doubt either can claim to be the largest in North America. Certainly California's SCYA Midwinter Regatta with over 600 one-design and offshore boats has a right to be in the running. But what is the criteria? Which is North America's largest regatta? Curmudgeon’s Comment: FYI -- Jim Capron is the President of US Sailing. * From Scott Fox: When I first read your headline "North America's largest regatta has experienced a full scale foreign invasion" I thought you were talking about North America's largest regatta (per boat count) the 820 boat 2007 Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta that starts next week. It too has experienced a "foreign Invasion" with 47 countries represented. http://www.rolexmiamiocr.org/regatta/entrylist.htm Also a slight but important correction regarding your results of the recently completed 470 North Americans. The majority of 470 championships are run as two distinct events men's and women's, not the championships plus a women's fleet. Therefore Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler were the "top US boat" in the North Americans finishing 3rd in the Women's fleet, Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and Dave Hughes were the next top US boat having finished 6th in the Men's fleet. CURMUDGEON’S COUNSEL Employment application blanks always ask 'who is to be notified in case of an emergency.' I think you should write, A Good Doctor! Special thanks to Ullman Sails and Melges Performance Sailboats. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
