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SCUTTLEBUTT 2793 - Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Scuttlebutt 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 and North Sails.
MARK REYNOLDS: THE AUTHORITY ON THE OLYMPIC KEELBOAT
American Mark Reynolds knows a thing or two about the Star class. His dad was
runner up twice in the Olympic trials (1964 and 1968), and Mark is a 2-time
Star World Champion and 3-time Olympic medalist in the class. Mark shares his
thoughts on this pre-eminent Olympic keelboat event:
* The Star class has a long history of attracting top sailors, but the class
is costly. Has the desire to succeed pushed the class out of reach for too
many people?
REYNOLDS: The Star class continues to attract top sailors and all Olympic
classes are costly to compete at the top level. The desire to succeed has
pushed every Olympic sport to a higher level, requiring a greater and greater
level of commitment in time and money and the equipment cost is not the only
issue. In sailing there still are many classes that have a mixture of amateurs
and professionals and the Star class is certainly one of the best examples.
However, there is a growing gap between the amateurs and pros, and it's a
challenge for the class to serve both groups.
Equipment cost is an issue but it's not where most of the money gets spent
anymore for the pros, but it is an issue for the amateurs. The largest price
increase in the boats (which have all been made in Europe for since the mid
80's) has been the collapse of the dollar against the euro over the last 7
years with the cost up 80% at one point last year compared to 2001. This has
also increased the cost of campaigning in Europe for Americans. One big
advantage that the Star class has is a strong market for used equipment and
the fact that the boats stay competitive for a long time. This helps the pros
reduce costs by retaining most of the value in their assets and helps the
amateurs with good equipment at reduced prices.
* The class has recently voted to limit on the water coaching. What is your
opinion of this ruling?
REYNOLDS: Frankly I don't think the new rule will make too much of a change,
at least when it comes to reducing coach boats on the course. There are
various reasons to limiting coaching. No one likes the power boats powering up
and down the course chopping up the water and we all know now that the less
fuel we can burn these days the better. There's also the risk of collisions. I
saw the result of a major one last summer in China with a top coach running
into a top Tornado and then there was American windsurfer Kimberly Birkenfeld
getting run over by a coach boat at the 2002 pre-Olympics in Athens. -- Read
on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0303B
CLOUDS, CALMS AND SQUALLS
by Kenny Read, PUMA skipper
(Mar. 3, 2009; Day 18) - I know I am sounding like a broken record, but the
closeness of the (Volvo Ocean Race) out here is just phenomenal. We snuck by
Ericsson 4 Monday afternoon and they dogged us overnight gaining slightly as
we sailed into lighter winds. It has been the nature of this leg so far for
the leader to not have the chance to stretch, and so it went last night and
this morning.
The ridge that we had to get through proved to be our nemesis. We positioned
ourselves to leeward of the two Ericssons, planning on getting headed
throughout the day. And sure enough we did. Problem was, as both Ericsson 3
and us were headed, Ericsson 4 got on the other side of a cloud and literally
sailed away over the horizon. Brutally frustrating for a team who has worked
so hard.
Breeze has filled and we pretty much went through our inventory today
switching from the largest to now the smallest headsail we have as we went
from four knots of wind at one stage to now 26 knots and climbing. Tight
reaching, but at least putting some good miles under us. Next issue is the
dreaded scoring gate, a line of latitude (approx. 100 nm to the south).
Our jaunt down the Pacific has pretty much come to a screeching halt as the
fans have been turned on, the fire hose unscrewed and the temperature rapidly
turned down. Now I have to figure out a way to keep the Kiwi's on board as we
brush by their beautiful island. -- Full report:
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2009/March/EMAIL-PUMA-L5-D18-1623
Crewed around the world race in VO 70’s, with ten distance legs and seven
In-Port races. Leg Five from Qingdao, China to Rio de Janiero, Brazil is
12,300 nm, with the finish estimated on March 20th. Current positions (as of
Mar. 4, 1:00 am GMT):
1. Ericsson 4 (SWE), Torben Grael/BRA, 7,142 nm Distance to Finish
2. Ericsson 3 (SWE), Magnus Olsson/SWE, 11 nm Distance to Leader
3. PUMA (USA), Ken Read/USA, 13 nm DTL
4. Telefónica Blue (ESP), Bouwe Bekking/NED, 52 nm DTL
5. Green Dragon (IRL/CHN), Ian Walker/GBR, 70 nm DTL
Telefonica Black (ESP), Fernando Echavarri/ESP, Did Not Start
Delta Lloyd (IRL), Roberto Bermudez/ESP, DNS
Team Russia (RUS), Andreas Hanakamp/AUT, DNS
Event website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org
Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4
Race tracking: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com
MELGES 32,24,20 – FANTASTIC RACING
When looking for the best one-design racing out there and an incredible
sportboat experience look to Melges. The Melges 32 and Melges 24 classes are
still strong and active with fantastic racing in the very near future. The new
Audi Melges 20 fits into this family too as this new class begins to build
with a one-design start at this year’s Charleston Race Week and an Audi
National Championship slated for this summer in Holland, Michigan. Daylight is
longer, get on the water and sail a Melges. Race to http://www.melges.com and
get involved.
BROKEN RIBS ADDS TO DINELLI’S PROBLEMS
(Mar. 3, 2009; Day 114) - Currently in tenth position, Raphael Dinelli has not
had to look far for problems, breaking his boom Monday and then that night
sustaining what is believed to be a cracked rib. Dinelli is understood to be
in some pain but is continuing to work Fondation Océan Vital, making some 7.4
knots just slightly west of north Tuesday afternoon. The accident occurred
while Dinelli was on deck, looking out for a nearby ship which had been
spotted on his Active Echo tracking system. Dinelli was knocked backwards by a
rogue wave, landing on the deck, and twisting awkwardly as he fell. After some
hours in his bunk to rest, after consultation with the race doctor, it is
understood he has sustained a cracked, or broken rib. On a brighter note,
ninth place Rich Wilson, who has needed to detour around two consecutive high
pressure systems which have added the best part of 1000 more miles or a week
to his race, has finally managed to bring his bow east on and head more
directly towards the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne, France, now 1422.2 nm
away.
Event website: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en
Complete standings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html
Race tracking: http://tracking.vendeeglobe.org/en
SHOULD SAILING HAVE REDRESS?
How unique is sailing that its rules provide for Redress - in essence a
do-over to correct something that went wrong? A car racer is out of the race
when a competitor causes the crash. The same thing happens in sailing, but
Redress helps the victim. The winning run at a baseball game is ruled out due
to the blown call by the umpire. For the boat called OCS when evidence proves
otherwise, Redress rectifies the mistake.
Sailboat racing does not operate in a controlled environment, and certainly
does not have instant reply. Mistakes happen by competitors and race
officials, and Redress is there to clean up the mess. Determining situations
that qualify for redress, and adequate compensation for qualified situations,
is not an exact science. So, where do you stand on the question: Should the
Racing Rules of Sailing provide for Redress? Read the rule on the Scuttlebutt
poll, post your vote, and submit your comments here:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/polls/09/0303/
KIWIS CLAIM SUPERIOR OLYMPIC RESEARCH
With so little known about the curious winds and currents to be expected at
the 2008 Olympics last August in Qingdao, China, advance planning was a
priority. This task was not always easy, as the Chinese government seized in
March 2006 weather research equipment owned by the British team, but thought
to have been for used for spying.
Now the New Zealand team reveals how they created a three-dimensional model of
the land and undersea terrain that gave sailors knowledge of what to expect
from wind and currents. While it could be argued that the Kiwis underperformed
by earning only one medal (though it was a gold), this information does reveal
the lengths at which countries are going to seek an edge. Read on:
“In the unique conditions off the Olympic yachting venue at Qingdao in China,
the heavy pollution and haze in the air meant sailors were often sailing
“blind”, unable to see land or get a bearing from landmarks. Plus, the course
was made complex by major variations in seabed depth, “crazy” currents and
light winds.
“However the three-dimensional model gave the New Zealand sailors an intimate
knowledge of the depth of water under them at any part of the course, the
expected tide directions and the current speed. These readings were based on
detailed research done before constructing the model in Auckland, and proved
to be significantly better than the “official” tidal information given to
competitors by the Chinese administrators. It is also believed that no other
team had any technology as advanced as the Kiwis’ model.” -- More:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0303a
STAGE SET FOR THE 2009 WMRT
by Kinley Fowler, Mirsky Racing Team
The stage is set for a vicious battle on this year’s World Match Racing Tour
as a number of heavyweights in the sailing world have been given the chance to
compete for the championship - including Alinghi skipper and America’s Cup
champion Ed Baird, 3-time gold medalist Ben Ainslie, and 2-time defending
Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams - along with a number of America’s
Cup teams and young up and comers.
It all kicks off next week in Marseilles, France as the Tour’s newest event
gives 12 teams a chance to get some early points in the fight for the 2009
world title. After finishing the 2008 season in fifth position in both the
Tour standings and the International Sailing Federation rankings, the Mirsky
Racing Team believes their offseason physical preparation and a good record in
the event’s J/80 boats will make for a good season starter.
It is exciting for us to be competing together again” said Torvar Mirsky. “We
feel like we have had a good lead up to the event with two physios working
closely with our team and getting us in good shape for this year’s Tour. We
have never felt better!” The team will be travelling to France for some final
training prior to the event with defending champion Ian Williams and Alinghi’s
Ed Baird in the J/80’s.
Mirsky Racing Team: http://www.mirskyracingteam.com
World Match Racing Tour: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com
NORTH ONE DESIGN UPDATE
The season has just started and North customers are flying to the top of the
leader board! Jorge Murrieta, from Mexico, won the J/24 NAs and John Poulson
dominated the J/24 fleet at the Sperry Top-Sider St Pete NOOD. Bill Hardesty
won the Jaguar Midwinters for the Etchells and North's own Greg Fisher won the
J/22 Midwinters! Rick Merriman took first in the Star Class at Miami OCR and
Lorenzo Bressani won the Melges 24s while Jeff Ecklund won the Melges 32s at
Acura Key West Race Week. Read interviews and regatta reports at
http://www.onedesign.com
* North Sails and Sailing Weather Services have partnered to provide free
weather forecasts for Acura Miami Grand Prix from March 5-8 in Miami, FL. To
sign up for these daily detailed forecasts, simply log on to North's online
weather center: http://na.northsails.com
SETTING SAIL ON SEA OF DISPOSABLE PLASTIC
A handful of young men and women are constructing one of the strangest vessels
ever seen on the San Francisco waterfront - a fantastic plastic catamaran made
of cast-off plastic bottles filled with dry ice. When it is finished, sometime
next month (in April 2009), the boat, a 60-foot catamaran named Plastiki, will
sail out the Golden Gate bound across the Pacific for Australia, a voyage that
will be either an absolute disaster or a huge sensation.
The mastermind of the project is David de Rothschild, a 30-year-old sometime
polar explorer and all-around adventurer who is the scion of the famous
British Rothschild banking family. De Rothschild, a tall, lanky man with a
wispy beard and intense eyes, will be accompanied by a crew of sailors,
adventurers and creative people, and individuals he calls "thought leaders."
The idea is to use the adventure to attract attention to plastic bottles,
which he says are a symbol of waste in the world.
He held a two-liter water or soft drink bottle in his hand during a tour of
the embryonic boat at Pier 31 on San Francisco's northern waterfront Monday.
"This," he said, glancing at the clear bottle, "is a dumb product." He tossed
it aside, into a bin with other bottles that will be used to float his boat.
Plastic bottles, he said, "take a huge amount of energy to manufacture," and
are used and then thrown away. Only a fraction, he said, are ever recycled.
"It is a symbol of waste," he said. -- SF Chronicle, read on:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/03/BA42167TCI.DTL
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 Andy Burton: (re, letter in SBUTT 2792) With all due respect to my
friend Dick Neville, It's too bad that those young sailors' eyes glazed over
at that rules seminar. I'm sure it was boring for some of them. But the
problem is more a societal one than a problem with sailing.
Sailing is inherently a complex sport. There are a myriad of different
situations on the racecourse in which one can find oneself, and the rules have
to address them all. No amount of simplification is going to change that. As
many of us who've been in the sport for a while recall, in an attempt to
simplify them, we had a major rules revision a few cycles ago. Slowly, as
holes have been plugged, the rules inevitably became more complex again.
Face it; sailboat racing is an elite sport. No amount of trying is going to
sell the masses on the subtle joys of getting cold and wet while pushing a
boat around a racecourse. Kids who do get into sailing, though, are lucky.
They've invested in a sport that can give them pleasure for the rest of their
lives, while their peers will soon give up the gridiron, baseball diamond, or
soccer field.
* From Bill Sandberg: I agree with my good friend Dick Neville's comments
about simplifying the racing rules, not only for kids, but for adults as well.
While I think it will be many years before that happens, US SAILING has
developed a product that will make the existing rules easier for sailors of
all ages to better undertand the RRS. It's called the "Handy Guide to the
Racing Rules of Sailing 2009-2012". A sixteen page booklet, it takes all the
rules one needs on a race course and presents them in easy to understand
language complete with diagrams and is available to members for $5.95 (vs.
$15.95 full version). I talked with a person who sailed at Key West, and he
used the booklet so much during the regatta that it was dog-eared by the time
it was over. Check it out on the US SAILING site by going to the store. I
recently presented the concept to program chairs of the Junior Sailing
Association of Long Island Sound, and they got it immediately. It may not make
the NY Times best seller list, but it will become a must have for sailors
everywhere.
=> Curmudgeon’s Comment: I have two of the US SAILING rules handy guides
sitting on my desk, and I will mail them at no cost to the first two postings
of any existing thread on the Scuttlebutt Forum (Dock Talk section):
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/Discussion_C6/Dock_Talk_F5/
* From John Graham: To follow on from your story (in Issue 2792) about the
Lake Eyre Regatta in Australia, the Annual Todd River Regatta in Alice
Springs, central Aus, may have to be cancelled this year. All the water that
is going into Lake Eyre may cause the Todd River to flow, thereby causing the
cancellation. The Regatta is usually "run" with bottomless boats on a dry
riverbed.
CURMUDGEON’S CONUNDRUM
If love is blind, how can we believe in love at first sight?
Special thanks to Melges Performance Sailboats and North Sails.
A complete list of preferred suppliers is at
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
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