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SCUTTLEBUTT 3243 - Monday, December 20, 2010Scuttlebutt 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: APS and Henri Lloyd. SAILING MARATHON PROVIDES PERFECT SOLUTION By Bruno Trouble, 2-time Olympian, America's Cup skipper I am just back from the World Yacht Racing Forum in Estoril, Portugal. We talked about the Olympics and the need to bring variety to the sailing events so as to prevent the possible exclusion of our sport from the Games. ISAF Secretary General Jerome Pels rightly explained the need for change regarding the classes chosen for the Olympics. I too have been concerned about this, and have given much thought as to how our sport can best proceed with its Olympic vision. At the Forum I presented my conclusion, which I share here in Scuttlebutt: Facts: - The Olympic classes do not reflect the real world of sailing. They are all dinghies or boards (except for the Elliot!). - A huge chunk of our sport is about offshore racing such as IRC (over 8,000 certificates I heard!), ORC, IMOCA, Figaro, Farr 40s, and offshore classics (Sydney-Hobart, Bermuda, Transpac, Hong Kong to Philipines, Fastnet, etc. There are hundreds of them! - Even small countries have a lot of offshore sailors (Hong Kong, Monaco, Dubai , Oman, Caribbean....many!). - A century ago (not that far back!) the only way to transport a love letter or a Declaration of War from a continent was to put it on a sailboat! Sailing offshore is part of our souls as humans! Conclusion: - The Olympics are looking for diversity. Including an offshore events a great way to attract a new audience. - It can be a singlehanded, doublehanded, or mixed crew. - The race would start the day of the opening ceremony - or the next day and will go for 5 or 6 days. - It would be the ONLY Olympic event you could watch 24 hours a day wherever you are in the world! - It would be a great TV/Internet product that would generate a huge media attention worldwide. It would be very easy to understand for the general public. We want to create sailing heroes; the winner after a 5 or 6 day race out at sea would be a star! You can anticipate the time of finish by adding short laps at the end of the main course or use virtual marks. The boats will not be a problem. We will find a boat builder able to provide 20 to 30 similar boats for the event at no cost (I promise!) Size? Around 30-35 feet . Catamaran? Why not. This idea would be a good way to reconcile the ''virtual'' Olympic present family and the core of our sport. I sailed twice in the Olympics for France and I know how isolated we were - and still are - as Olympics sailors. Not everybody can appreciate the challenge of competing in dinghy one designs on a windward leeward course, but people need not be sailors to appreciate the adventurous challenge that an offshore event would present. Rather than ISAF seeking the solution through changes to format or class type, let sailing take a page out of Olympic history by presenting our own marathon - the offshore distance race. Source: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/1218 WISSA HISTORY Whenever there is mention in Scuttlebutt about the 'firsts' that occur in kitesailing, the grand poobah of the World Ice and Snow Sailing Association, president William Tuthill, kindly reminds us that kiting began on the hard water first. Here is William's history lesson: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Either you have been to a World Ice and Snow Sailing Association (WISSA) event or you have not. If you have, then you know ... but if you have not ... then get ready. To describe a WISSA event is not easy, and words alone are not enough. Think about this... The WISSA Ice and Snow Sailing World Championships is the oldest international event in the history of windsurfing. When windsurfing first became popular in the late 1970's people living in cold climates discovered that windsurfing rigs were also ideal for sailing on ice and snow. The sport of iceboating is centuries old, but "boats" for sailing in the snow always had problems because of the downward pressure from the rig- they would bog down. The windsurfing rig changed all of that. Standing on a sled and trapping the wind between the ground and the sail provided the lift required to make snow sailing possible for the first time in history. So-the windsurfing rig made possible a whole new sport. Next came kites. Kites were developed for use on snow and land well over a decade before the sport of Kiteboarding [in water] was born. Around 1990, winterboard inventor Sami Tuurna of Finland came up with a new design for a wing to be used with skis, skates and land boards. Originally called the "Skimbat", the first wing resembled the "Wind Weapon" that briefly came onto the windsurfing scene at the same time. Fast forward to present, and the sport of windsurfing is in full recovery from a decline after its halcyon days. Kites have morphed into a new waterborne sport called Kiteboarding, and wings are more efficient and better refined than ever. All of these sports have seen their ups and downs, and each has their advantages and disadvantages. But here's to you! Here's to you living life, and coming out into the winter winds to sail fast and take part in the most prestigious international ice and snow sailing event in history! Bring your flag, bring your culture, and represent your history at the 2011 Ice and Snow Sailing World Championship in Oravi, Saimaa, Finland on February 25 to March 6. -- Photos and links: http://sailingscuttlebutt.blogspot.com/2010/12/wissa-history.html THE GIFT GIVING FINISH LINE IS IN SIGHT Looking for the place to get that last minute sailing gift? With great gifts for sailors like the new Gill knives, the ever popular Ultimate Sailing calendar, and a killer deal on APS Practice sails for Optis, Sunfish, and Laser sailors, APS, "The World Leader in Outfitting Performance Sailors", is poised to throw you a life ring and save you from holiday shopping hassles. What's more, this year we're offering Free Ground Shipping on qualifying orders! What could be easier? Shopping for your favorite sailor is not only fun and easy at APS but Free Shipping also awaits you. http://bit.ly/APS_Gifts BIG COMMITMENT LEADS TO HOT START Melbourne, AUS (December 18, 2010) - Sail Melbourne, the opening event of the 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup season, came to an end with close finishes and a number of upsets on the final day of racing. While typically the smallest event of the circuit that spans seven events on three continents, the summer weather provided critical training conditions for the two American teams that medaled. After leaving for Australia on November 8th, 2008 Olympians Stu McNay and Graham Biehl claimed silver in the Mens 470 event. Also notching significant time down under was 2010 Scuttlebutt Sailing Family of the Year member Erik Storck and 49er teammate Trevor Moore, whose bronze medal marks their first podium finish in an ISAF World Cup Regatta. Here is their report: "Going into the race, we were eight points up on the fourth place boat, the two-time World Champion Australians. They came at us in the start, and we were circling with them for a couple of minutes in the 12-15 knots of wind and steep waves. At go, we found ourselves to windward in a fair lane that would not last. We were forced to tack away. While we did not want to split from the Aussies, we needed to get clear and come back to cover when we could. Fortunately, in tacking clear we also tacked onto a port tack lift. Soon thereafter, we got a righty puff to tack back in and cross most the fleet. We were third at the weather mark with our competition well back. "It is at these times when we are especially glad to have done so much boathandling practice. When the pressure is on, and all that you need to do is get around the racecourse, it pays to be automatic in everything. We were. We found a few more shifts and puffs that got us past the next two boats, and we won the race! We were not aiming to win the race, just to beat the Aussies and secure our bronze medal, but it certainly was a nice bonus! Final results are here. "This event, at the conclusion of our 50-day trip to Australia, had many firsts for the team. We wore the ISAF leader bibs for third place, for most of the regatta without relinquishing them. We raced a Medal Race for only the second time. We won the Medal Race for the first time! Most importantly, we medaled in a World Cup event for the first time. We beat some of the best in the world. We showed ourselves we can do it, at the close of a productive year, and the beginning of what is sure to be our best year yet." Full report: http://tinyurl.com/StorckMoore-121910 Regatta website: http://sailmelbourne.com.au THAT'S NOT SMOKE, THAT'S FIRE Rhode Island's top economic development official said Sunday that representatives of BMW Oracle Racing and Golden Gate Yacht Club have expressed an interest in holding the next America's Cup in Newport but haven't made a final decision. Newport is vying with San Francisco for the right to host the world's most prestigious sailing competition in 2013. Negotiators have spent the last week in Rhode Island, and the state economic development corporation's executive director, Keith Stokes, told The Associated Press on Sunday that "everything we've presented has resonated very strongly with them." Stokes said he would present to the EDC board on Monday a letter from America's Cup negotiators expressing an interest in holding the event in Newport, about 30 miles south of Providence, and hammering out an agreement with the state. He declined to release the letter ahead of the meeting but said he would be joined by GGYC board member Tom Ehman. "I think we've come up with several options that are pretty compelling," Stokes said. "Newport's simply just gone out and played its best game." Stokes has said that hosting the racing in Colonial-era Newport could require as little as $10 million in improvements, a small fraction of what changes would cost in San Francisco. Newport's proposal has centered on Fort Adams State Park, which offers panoramic views of Newport Harbor. Gov.-elect Lincoln Chafee believes Newport is the natural site for the America's Cup but it will be important to weigh the costs of hosting the competition against the required infrastructure improvements, his spokesman Mike Trainor said. -- USA Today, full story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-12-19-america--cup_N.htm CONFUSION: While the America's Cup is intended to be a challenge between clubs, the inmates have fully taken over the asylum. How odd is it to think about Golden Gate Yacht Club, which is located on San Francisco Bay, defending their trophy elsewhere? But when BMW Oracle selected the Club to represent them, the Club agreed to relinquish the power of venue selection to the team. FIRE: There was some bad blood between the BMW Oracle team and San Francisco when the City finalized their bid. So when the team travelled to Newport, RI, which had been removed from venue consideration in July, it was initially viewed as a smoke screen to leverage their San Francisco deal. However, sources in Newport say they are now convinced the team is seeking a suitable agreement so they can hold the America's Cup somewhere other than San Francisco, and are very seriously considering Newport as the venue. OPTIONS: Speaking of bad blood, Larry Ellison shouldn't expect the red carpet treatment in Valencia, Spain anytime soon. They remain bitter at his assurance that if he won the 33rd America's Cup, that Valencia would host the 34th Match. While Valencia bowed out of the bidding war, the team's options still include an Italian venue, and surprise surprise, a United Arab Emirates venue. VISION: While there has been disappointment in some corners that the BMW Oracle vision for the 34th America's Cup would be in multihulls, the first hard evidence that the team's vision had misread the market was when they reduced the entrance and participation fees last week to hopefully encourage more teams to enter. Will the next shoe to drop be the continuing rumor that the event must be delayed from 2013 to 2014 so as to allow the team to accomplish all the other far reaching aspects of their plan? SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar O CANADA, WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE The last time Canada was present in the America's Cup was in Fremantle in 1987 when a combined project from Secret Cove Yacht Club and Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron challenged the Defender from the Royal Perth Yacht Club and got eliminated in the Louis Vuitton Cup round robin. Fast forward nearly a quarter of a century and it now seems possible that the world's second largest country by area could be once again represented in the competition for the world's oldest sports trophy. Red Maple Racing, led by Toronto financier Kevin Reed, is the project that embodies Canada's drive in the America's Cup. Valencia Sailing talked to Reed about the background, current sate and future of the project. * Let's start with a brief background on the project. What made you try to form an America's Cup challenge? KEVIN REED: I've certainly been a fan of the America's Cup for perhaps three decades and it's something Canada hasn't had an entry in since 1987. In the last 5-6 years I have been speaking with Paul Henderson, a former ISAF President, about an entry for Canada. All these years, both personally and through the companies I own, I have sponsored many Canadian Olympic athletes, including Canadian Olympic sailors. With the new format America's Cup Race Management and America's Cup Event Authority have prepared it has certainly become very attractive now for Canada to take a look at this. The economics of the old model or at least the last 10-15 years was restrictive but now, Russell Coutts and his team have done a tremendous job transforming it into a business like Formula 1 or other professional sports. * At what stage of preparation is the project right now? Will you personally fund it or will you have other backers as well, whether private individuals or companies? KEVIN REED: In the next 45 days we'll be looking at a few things. One of them is the financing mechanisms. Can we put them in place so that the project is financed not only by me but also Canadian companies that want to sponsor us? In the next area, we believe there is enough Canadian talent to put together an all-Canadian sailing team. Another area we are looking into is the design and build team and again we believe the talent is here. So, we have three things Paul Henderson, myself and the rest of the team are looking at: The financing mechanisms, the sailing and the design and build teams and we are trying to be all-Canadian in all three areas, as much as we can. * Do you believe you can be competitive with a solely Canadian team? KEVIN REED: We certainly believe we have the talent pool to do that. There is a number of Canadians that have been involved in previous America's Cups as well as other major sailing events and we are convinced this talent pool is right here in Canada. Complete interview: http://tinyurl.com/VS-121910 HENRI LLOYD LIFESTYLE CLOTHING- NOW AVAILABLE IN THE U.S. The wait is over. Everyday clothing with all the comfort and performance that's associated with the HL brand. Move from work to weekend with our new line of Lifestyle gear, crafted to exceed your expectations, not your budget. Visit http://www.henrilloyd.com TWO NEW AMERICAN CAMPAIGNS TARGET LES VOILES DE ST. BARTH A "new kid on the block" generally has to earn the respect of those who have long ruled the neighborhood. In the case of the Les Voiles des St. Barth, it took only one running - its debut in 2010 - for the regatta to become a fixture for American sailors who compete on the multi-event Caribbean racing circuit, which entices teams from all over the world to spend part, or all, of the winter season sailing in paradise. For the 2011 edition of the Les Voiles de St. Barth, scheduled for April 4-99, two U.S. teams - Vesper/Team Moneypenny and Rambler 100 - will headline. Each epitomizes a level of player commitment not unlike that commanded by other serious team sports where motivation is key and the ability to work together over a long period of time increases the chance of success. "We participated in the inaugural Les Voiles de St. Barth and knew immediately we would return for 2011; we will have many of the same crew we had last time," said Jim Swartz (Park City, Utah), a venture capitalist who has been circling the globe for years seeking new adventures aboard his various yachts named Moneypenny. His latest acquisition, a TP52 (formerly named Quantum Racing, which was the 2010 TP52 world champion), replaces his 2010 entry, the Swan 601 Moneypenny, and will have aboard it some of the world's finest sailors, including Gavin Brady, Ben Beer, Jamie Gale, Brett Jones, Ken Keefe, Matt Waikowicz, and Swartz himself, who, as he always does, will take the helm. "The boat is currently in Florida, having modifications made to it, which will take it out of its current one-design configuration, and we'll have our first serious race week with it at the Miami Grand Prix in March; then it's on to St. Barth," said Swartz, explaining that the "Vesper" in the new boat name refers to James Bond's true love, the double agent Vesper Lynd, who also inspired the Vesper Martini. (Bond fans should know Swartz also campaigns a Melges 32 named Q.) -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/1219/ CALM BEFORE THE STORM (December 19, 2010) - Since the start on Thursday of the second leg of the VELUX 5 OCEANS solo round the world yacht race from Cape Town to Wellington, New Zealand, Christophe Bullens was forced to return on Friday to repair rudder issues. Today Bullens rejoined the other four Eco 60 skippers, who have faced upwind conditions from drifting to 30 knots as they work south toward the expected westerlies that will send the fleet across the Southern Ocean. leads Said leg 1 winner Brad Van Liew (USA), who trails leader Derek Hatfield (CAN) by 1 mile, "The Aghulas Current is a warm water current that wraps around Africa and really makes the entrance to the Southern Ocean a warm paradise for sea life. I have only seen this place sailing at full speed like most people; but wow is it different when you're going 3 knots. I have had yellowtail swimming in the shadow of the boat, weird eddies of swirling debris, jelly fish everywhere, flying fish and 23 degree Celsius water temps." -- http://www.velux5oceans.com SCUTTLEBUTT CLASSIFIEDS - FARR 30 WORLDS The Farr 30 International One Design Class Association has announced that the prestigious St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, California will host the 2011 Farr 30 World Championship in conjunction with the renowned Rolex Big Boat Series, September 8th to 11th. This will mark the first time the Class will host their World Championship on the west coast of the United States. For anybody looking to take on this championship, there are two Farr 30 listings in the Scuttlebutt classifieds: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/classified_ads 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 Rose Pearl: Regarding the Curmudgeon's Observation at the end of Scuttlebutt #3242 ("People who live in stone houses shouldn't throw glasses"), hey.that's not how it goes! Truth be known, the story is about an African chieftain who loved thrones. His people made him a gorgeous new throne every year and he collected them over many years storing them in his grass hut. One day when his grass hut became so stacked up and crammed with thrones, the grass hut just burst and fell over. And this moral of this story is: "people in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones". However later in the so called civilized western world, people took this historic story and modified it to say that "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". I don't know what that means; I've never seen an entirely glass house that would compare to an entirely grass house. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. SPONSORS THIS WEEK APS - Henri Lloyd Interlux - Southern Spars North Sails - Ullman Sails Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
