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SCUTTLEBUTT 3446 - Wednesday, October 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: Doyle Sails, Team One Newport, and LaserPerformance. CONCOURS DE ELEGANCE FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE DINGHIES By Justin Scott Carbon alongside wood. Blazers alongside malodorous wetsuits. Moths alongside Vipers. Greenwich hedge fund managers alongside a professional tree climber from Jamestown. The once manicured lawns of the American Yacht Club of Rye, New York are awash with a melee of contrasts and drying spinnakers. It is once again that unique sailing pageant, the Heineken High Performance Dinghy Open (on Oct. 7-9). According to the logo on a shirt in one of my closets, I first attended the HPDO on 2006. I haven't missed the event since then. For anyone who enjoys a "back to the future" combination of modern boats and hospitality from a bygone age, this needs to be on your bucket list. The HPDO is partly about sailboat racing, partly about a social gathering of folks who love lightweight high performance racing boats, and partly a Concours de Elegance of carbon, wood and epoxy spread out on AYC's lawns and dry sailing area. An essential ingredient of the HPDO scene is groups of sailors just wandering around looking at other people's boats, peering under foredecks, ooohing and ahhhing at rigging and fixes. There are ten dollar fixes to hundred dollar problems, and inevitably , thousand dollar carbon solutions to ten dollar problems. This regatta has a buzz that is very special. I don't think the founders of the regatta ever anticipated that it would grow to this size. Nor do I think they had a strategy to create a destination regatta. I believe they just sensed something was missing from the sailing scene in the North East. John Wyles joined AYC when his globetrotting wife was posted to the United Nations in New York. John is one of those quietly enthusiastic men who convey a love of the sport without shouting or banging the table. He owns a couple of 5-0-5s and sports the trim grey beard that seems to be de rigueur for half of the of 5-0-5 owners. After reinvigorating the local 5-0-5 fleet, John gently suggested to his fellow AYC members and local 5-0-5 owners that there was something special about the congenial atmosphere of a British "dinghy open meeting". He described an open meeting where a club would open its doors to a couple of dinghy classes, and for a modest fee, provide a weekend of racing, some hot showers, and a keg of beer, where sailors would hang around after racing in the dinghy park swapping stories and tuning tips, where the emphasis was on small fast boats sailed by one, two or three people and where the silverware was less important than the hot showers, good friends and beer. Sometimes the right person, says the right thing at the right club, and it all comes together. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/Viper640-101111 2011 HPDO: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=478 GENUINELY COMPLEMENTARY The Extreme Sailing Series is in its fifth season but fears over its future grew when America's Cup rolled out plans for a similar circuit in a similar boat all funded by the world's fifth richest man. Can the Extremes survive? Mark Turner is almost certain that had he taken the job with the America's Cup, his five year old Extreme Sailing Series would now be defunct. Last year, he was offered the position as Regatta Director of the 34th America's Cup. He was tempted but with a young family and some timely and interesting challenges with the development of Extreme 40 racing, he turned it down. "It was flattering and it would have been nice to do things without worrying about where the money was coming from but I have no regrets. I would not have lasted long. "The Extreme Sailing Series event would have died I'm sure. The America's Cup World Series would be the only circuit to exist and I would be running that." As it is, Turner is growing the Extremes and despite a sluggish and complicated sponsorship market, insists the business is sound with income streams from tourist boards bidding up to a million euros a time to host a regatta, hospitality and merchandising earners and increased entry fees from a loyal band of competitors. From five venues in 2010, it extended to nine this year from Boston to Istanbul, Cowes to Muscat, Qingdao in China to Trapani in Italy with Almeria and Singapore next on the list. This will reduce to eight in 2012 with Boston dropping off the list due to the US slump. All venues were chosen for delivering Turner's unique concept of sailing, a form of 'stadium sailing' that falls into the category of 'sportainment'. It features bang on performance catamarans that are almost impossible to sail well by novices but in the hands of the world's best sailors are capable of breathtaking speeds and electrifying competition. Given a bit of wind and some inexperience among a crew, the action can quickly become spectacular with capsizes, crashes and some unholy messes. It was this potential for sporting drama that turned the America's Cup on its head as defenders BMW Oracle seized the opportunity of dipping into owner Larry Ellison's unbounded pockets to upgrade the image of the Cup from 'Flintstone' to 'Facebook'. -- Telegraph, read on: http://tinyurl.com/Telegraph-101111 BROADCAST: Using the one design Extreme 40 catamaran, this year's nine event tour is travelling through Asia, Europe, and North America. The eighth stop is October 12-16 in Almeria, Spain with live video coverage from the event beginning Wednesday. Details here: http://tinyurl.com/ESS-101111 JACKPOT WINS VIPER 640 NA'S FOR 3rd TIME Brad Boston, Lee Shuckerow, and Eric Vigrass on Jackpot won their third straight Viper 640 North American title. 2nd place finisher Jeff Jones also used Doyle's latest sails. Since Doyle Boston Sailmakers entered the Viper 640 class, no other sailmaker has won as many races or major events. Doyle's current Viper sail designs are the result of a full and exhaustive computer design and full size sail testing program that has proven to create fast, easy to trim and long lasting sails for the fleet. When one designs come down to one, it's Doyle. http://www.doylesails.com/onedesign WHAT'S HAPPENING TO PARTICIPATION IN ONE-DESIGN SAILING By Elizabeth Dudley, Airwaves The J22 East Coast Championship was canceled in the early part of September. It had to be rescheduled for a later date due to a "lack of interest". Four years ago, the J22 class, at least in the Annapolis area, was one of the strongest fleets. But just a few weeks ago, before a major event was to be held in Annapolis, only nine boats had registered, even with the deadline looming. However, this dropping off in numbers at regattas has not only been seen in the J22 fleet, but in one-design fleets around the country. I am sure at some point in everyone's sailing career, you have sailed an event and were disappointed by the attendance. Or you have participated in the phenomenon of: I'll sail if everyone else does. But everyone else is thinking the same thing, no one signs up, and then no one sails. The more boats that sail a regatta the better the competition. The more boats that sail, the more fun everyone will have. So then why are fleets struggling to keep participation numbers up? And how can that be fixed? What makes a strong one-design fleet strong? The answer, like everything else to do with sailing is not black and white. It will differ from fleet to fleet, location to location, and everyone has an opinion. Before writing this article I spoke with Joel Labuzetta, Junior Program Director at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, Skip Yale, owner of Yale Cordage and active in the youth sailing program of Falmouth, Maine, and John Loe, an avid sailor. Each had their own take on the matter at hand, but many of their thoughts were similar. Perhaps the idea they agreed on the most was that in order to keep a fleet strong, young people have to continue to be introduced in to the boat. Joel Labuzetta gave the example of the V-15 fleet in Annapolis. It used to be a strong fleet, but then everyone that was sailing the boat had kids and got busy. There were no new young people in the class to keep it going. It has fallen off significantly. Like most other things in life, there is a succession: the old phases out and the new phases in. The problem lies in the breaking of that cycle. But then how do you keep the wheel in motion? Typically, when a parent signs their child up for a junior sailing program, they sign them up to sail a specific type of boat. Be it optis, lasers, or 420s. The kids then spend their summers learning a lot about one type of boat. This is certainly not a bad thing. But Skip Yale says that the Falmouth, Maine area junior sailing programs have found success in introducing their sailors to "unconventional" junior sailing boats. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/S1D-101111 HELPING THE MARINE INDUSTRY The Marine Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides companies with free online exposure for their personnel, product and service updates. Plus each week the Scuttlebutt newsletter selects a sampling of updates to feature in the Thursday edition. Are you in the marine industry? Post your updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news SAILING SHORTS * New Orleans, LA (October 11, 2011) - The 2011 J/22 World Championship begins racing Wednesday for the 64 teams from four countries (United States, Canada, Cayman Islands and Germany). Thirteen races are planned for the four day event. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11913 * A day and a half summit devoted to developing to the highest standards of on-water race delivery will be held in Kingston, Ontario on October 26-27 for race officers, judges, and event hosts. -- Details: http://www.sailing.ca/news/sailing_officials_summit_at_the_cya_agm/ * Corona del Mar, CA (October 11, 2011) - Twelve teams will compete for the Prince of Wales Bowl this week at the 2011 U.S. Match Racing Championship, hosted by the Balboa Yacht Club. Raced in Governor's Cup 21 boats, this International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 3 event begins on Thursday, October 13 and ends Sunday, October 16. Favorites include three-time Champion Dave Perry (Southport, Conn.), Collegiate All-American Taylor Canfield (St. Thomas, USVI) and defending 2010 Champion Shawn Bennett (Tiburon, Calif.). -- Full report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2011/2011_USMRC_Preview.htm EIGHT BELLS One of the greatest Star crews of all time, Hugo Schreiner of San Diego, CA, suffered a massive heart attack last week. He returned home from work complaining of chest pain when he collapsed, and despite the arrival of paramedics within minutes, there was nothing that could be done. He died at 63 years old. Hugo was a hands-on guy, a construction expert who could build anything. He had refurbished a Scandinavian trawler, "Harmony", when he was discovered by John Driscoll. They went on to win the Star North Americans in 1982, where Hugo got his first Silver Star. When Hugo was into something, he was never satisfied. He was always driven to be the best. Looking to improve he started sailing with Mark Reynolds - then a rising star- but hooked up instead with Vince Brun who was at the time was the proven winner. For training, they would bicycle out to the Point Loma tide pools. Hugo would push them hard back up the hill, building their leg muscles so that they could out hike the competition. Vince knew if it came down to a tacking duel they were better than anyone. Victory was theirs at the 1986 Star Worlds in Capri, Italy - the largest fleet ever with 117 boats! Hugo was a sought after crew, winning many regattas with the likes of Bill Buchan, Paul Cayard, Barton Beek, and others. In 1992 he won the Star Worlds for a second time crewing for Carl Buchan. Again it was his competitive drive to excel which was the difference as they came from behind with a win in the last race. On long beat back to St Francis Yacht Club from the Berkley Circle, as a victory celebration, Hugo was steering with Carl trapezing off the backstays! We will all miss Hugo. He was the King of the Star crews and one of the characters that make going to Star regattas way more interesting. Never one to mince words, he always told it like it was and had some great sayings like, "It can't be an exciting sport if you don't need a helmet!" -- Rick Peters, full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12745 DON'T FORGET THE SMALL STUFF.. Protect your iPhone/Pod/Pad, Camera, Kindle or Blackberry with a waterproof case! Keep your valuables dry while being able to use them when Mother Nature or lady luck are not being nice. These amazing cases fit most popular portable electronic devices from iPhone's to Cameras with zoom. Check out our accessories page for these or to shop for the full range of great Small products including GoPro HD Waterproof Cameras. Online at http://www.team1newport.com/departments.asp?dept=46 or call 800.VIP.GEAR (800.847.4327) to order! 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 Tom Arthur, New Zealand: I was interested to read Elaine Buntings article on Helmets in issue 3445. In NZ approximately five of us Europe Dinghy sailors wear helmets. These boats have very low booms and if you forget to ease the vang before a gybe there is no room between the side deck and the boom. While practicing repeated gybes alone one day in fresh winds, I made the mistake of forgetting to ease the vang. As I dived across the boat I took the full force of the boom onto the top of my head. Fortunately my helmet took the force and there was no injury to me, but without the helmet I may well have ended up unconscious in the middle of that lake without another boat in sight. Helmets also keep your head warm in rain or wind and are not in the least uncomfortable. We use a motley assortment of old bike, kayaking and even a cricket helmet. * From Paul Newell: On the topic of whether helmets will become as common as lifejackets (Sbutt 3445), this is something I've been considering doing for some time now. There a several personal reasons for wearing protective head gear: 1) We have an old Tornado cat that still has some spectacular turns of speed and coming up all standing with a nose-dive at 20kts+ has all the potential for personal injury. 2) We have an old Half Tonner with a very low boom that could hit the cockpit crew (I know I could lift the clew but that causes an even bigger problem with the runners). 3) Our foredeck hand has been hit more than once with the head sail clew ring during the tack (He's a slow learner!!) 4) We have a RIB that is capable of close to 40kts. 5) I have now lost too much hair. I no longer have the benefit of getting any pre-warning that I'm about to be hit on the head or for that matter walking into something. Now that I have to wear glasses for close work some of the peripheral vision is impaired when using the wretched things. One of my sons used to wear a "Gath" hat for wake boarding. My recollection is that they looked something like the helmets that the BMX cyclists use and very similar to the hats the Extreme 40's use i.e. a snug fit without too much bulk. Any head impact is probably not as severe as a motorcycle crash and the padding can be proportionately less. I'm sure that others have a different list of reasons but it comes down to one thing: "Where do I get one of these hats from?" * From Peter Allen, Rochester, New York: If we want sponsorship, we need to make our sport more easily understood. We need to humanize sailing and serve it up as a familiar dish, or at least one that is more common than a rocket ship. Thanks to the evening news, even the exploration of space is more familiar and more understood by most than even local racing in Lasers and Lightnings. At the moment I'm referring to the lead item in today's issue ('Butt 3445) about the Volvo Open and, more generally, about interest in yacht racing and sailing in general. I had the chance to board and tour Puma's trial horse before the last Volvo race and meet some of the crew members. So that encouraged me to cheer for Ken Read and company as they participated in the race. I could visualize them in the boat, even though they were sailing in a new boat that wasn't even in the water at the time of my tour. Now, if all the Volvo teams were more open, as suggested by Chris Nicholson in 'Butt #3445, maybe we would have a larger pool of interested spectators/followers for our sport. We might even attract a few new participants. Otherwise, we are asking for interest and support for something that happens "away," well off-shore. We follow no track, as in NASCAR. The boats aren't anything that the average Joe or Jane can relate to, like a Chevy, or a football, or a basketball hoop, most of which most people have, at least casually, seen or maybe even used. Certainly the Volvo boats (or the new America's Cup cats, for that matter) aren't anything like Uncle Jim's Catalina 22. Most of the public still thinks that sails are pushed by the wind, and that somehow boats are able to float, even though they may have a lot of heavy ballast. We really need to work on bringing our sport to the people. Either that or let our sport be dominated by the wealthy who can finance their own sailing endeavors. LASERPERFORMANCE FALL SALE PROMOTIONS - 9/1/11 THRU 12/31/11 Buy a qualifying boat and receive a free GoPro HD Helmet Pro video camera. Check out the Heavy Air Laser Slalom (below) filmed mostly on GoPro's. As always, yacht clubs, camps and individuals can take advantage of low Fall Fleet Builder promotional pricing on C420's, Opti's, Bug's and CFJ's. Details at LaserPerformance.com (http://na.laserperformance.com/home) or your Local Dealer (http://na.laserperformance.com/dealer-locator). VIDEO: http://na.laserperformance.com/news/heavy-weather-laser-slalom-2011-2 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If someone has a mid-life crisis while playing hide and seek, does he automatically lose because he can't find himself? SPONSORS THIS WEEK IYRS - Harken - North Sails - Gowrie Group - Salt Harbor Studio Doyle Sails - Team One Newport - LaserPerformance - Ullman Sails JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Summit Yachts - New England Ropes Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
