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SCUTTLEBUTT 3491 - Friday, December 16, 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: North U and Hall Spars & Rigging. DO YOU HAVE YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION READY? When American Bill Brangiforte won the 2010 Sunfish North American title, beating out 86 others in the 14-foot, singlehanded boat in Long Island, N.Y., his age of 47 years also made him the oldest person to ever win the championship. Bill remains on a roll, finishing third and top American at the 2011 NA's, and below shares what he's learned about fitness, nutrition and getting faster with age: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Although I am not big on New Year's resolutions, this year I made one. I wanted to do everything possible to prepare for the 2011 North Americans in Barrington, RI. I decided this preparation would include three things: 1. On-the-water training 2. Fitness training 3. Education Since it would be two months before we would be sailing again, I decided to focus on the last two first. In this report, I will discuss some learning experiences on fitness. After dealing with endless snowstorms in January, I finally started working out in Feb. One week later, I broke my shoulder. I was really bummed out, realizing it would be months before I could get in the gym or sail. However, as in other occurrences in life, when something bad happens, there is often something good that comes from it. In this case, the silver lining was an education on staying in shape while getting older. After pouting for awhile and letting the shoulder heal, I decided to try some physical therapy. The P.T. guys were great (one was a sailor) and set up a program to get me back on the water ASAP. I also read a great book by Former Laser world champion Michael Blackburn, called Sail Fitter. This is a summary of what I learned. The most important muscles used in singlehanded sailing are the quads (front of leg), core (abs and lower back) and biceps. The lower quads are the main muscle supporting the body when hiking. These can be strengthened by standard gym exercises like leg extensions, lunges and squats (instead of me trying to explain any exercises, it would be best to go to YouTube and see the proper form.) For more sailing specific work, make a hiking bench or try my new favorite - sitting on a balance ball while locking your feet under a weight rack. After your toes are locked under the rack, slide back on your hamstrings and do crunches. This is the best sailing exercise ever, since it works your core at the same time. Another great exercise for the legs is bike riding. Not only is bike riding great for your legs, it is even better for your cardiovascular system. We all know how important that is, particularly as we get older, but you would be surprised how much it helps your sailing. Having good cardio endurance helps keep your head in the game during a long race, or back to back races. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/Sunfish-121511 THE END IS NEAR AT ISAF WORLDS Perth, Australia (December 15, 2011) - With three days of medal racing scheduled for Friday through Sunday, competition at the ISAF Worlds today saw the finalists heading into the battle for gold in Women's Match Racing Friday and the top competitors in the Gold fleets jockeying for one of the ten positions in the coming medal races. In light to moderate south easterly breezes, the 49ers completed one Gold fleet race to be on schedule for Sunday's medal race, the Lasers completed two races that further consolidated the top ten and a breakaway leader emerged in the Men's RS:X. The Women's 470s and Stars enjoyed a lay day. * Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) and Lucy Macgregor (GBR) will face off for the gold medal in the Women's Match Racing final on Friday, December 16. Tunnicliffe overcame Russia's Ekaterina Skudina by winning their first two races, and then closing the series 3 to 1. Macgregor's path was more harrowing as she dropped her first two races to Claire Leroy (FRA) before winning the final three races to win 3 to 2. Skudina and Leroy will compete for the bronze * John Pink and Rick Peacock of Great Britain, second in the today's lone race, moved into the overall lead in the 49 event. Americans Erik Storck and Trevor Moore scored a 14th to remain in 13th position. The 49er fleet is scheduled for three races on Friday and Saturday before their Medal Race on Sunday. * The Women's 470 fleet had a rest day on Thursday and will resume racing on Friday and Saturday with their Medal Race on Sunday. Spain's Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos hold the overall lead while the World #1 team Erin Maxwell/ Isabelle Farrar Kinsolving (USA) is in 14th position. * Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) has broken away from Nimrod Mashich (ISR) in the Men's RS:X Gold fleet after three races today, placing himself firmly in a winning position. A 10-17-13 by Canadian Zachary Plavsic moves him down to 14th position. The fleet has a rest day on Friday before racing resumes on Saturday and the Medal Race on Sunday. * Model of consistency Tom Slingsby (AUS) continues to hog the limelight of Laser sailing at the ISAF Worlds with his fifth victory and a fighting fifth place to be 11 points clear of his nearest rival, Great Britain's Paul Goodison. American Clay Johnson (USA) is in 17th position. The Laser event has a reserve day on Friday before returning for the ninth and 10th races on Saturday with the Medal Race on Sunday. * The Star fleet had a rest day on Thursday, with two races on Friday before Saturday's Medal Race. Brazil's Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada holds a six point lead on Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih (USA) in second position. NOMINATIONS: The U.S. and Canada are using the Worlds to nominate their 2012 Olympic representatives. Any top-placed Canadian finishing in the top ten will receive nomination, while the U.S. is combining the Worlds with a previous event to elect its fleet race athletes. For the fleets that are currently racing, no Canadian has secured their nomination though Richard Clarke/Tyler Bjorn look good in 8th in the Star and Zachary Plavsic is close in the RS:X fleet. Among the Americans, only Erik Storck/ Trevor Moore are a lock in the 49er. Here is the link to the U.S. trials tracker: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Games/Olympics/Track.htm BACKGROUND: The ISAF Sailing World Championships are held every four years, bringing together the Olympic class organization to host their most prestigious event. The 2011 edition on December 3-18 will see over 1,100 sailors from 78 nations coming to Perth, Australia to compete in their class World titles and to qualify their nations for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. -- Event website: http://www.perth2011.com RACING, CRUISING, WEATHER, INSTRUMENTS Seminars, Webinars, CDs, DVDs, Clinics, Coaching & Race Weeks... Your 2012 plan for improvement starts at North U. You can spend a lifetime learning to be a better sailor. Accelerate the process at North U: 800-347-2457, http://www.northu.com TRYING TO GET TO NARNIA Have you looked at the tracker on the Volvo Ocean Race website? Have you wondered why the teams are heading ESE when the finish in Abu Dhabi is more toward the north? How about the 126 nm of separation between the high lane and the low lane? Here's an explanation from skipper Ian Walker that might help.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (December 15, 2011; Day 5) - Sailing events are forever labeling themselves the 'F1 of sailing' but Volvo has taken it a step further by introducing the marine equivalent of the safety car. A cold front extending north-south across the fleet containing rain, little wind and a 180 degree windshift is moving slowly east at about 12 knots. Sadly this means that we sail into it at 20 knots, the wind dies, we stop until the front moves forward and we regain the wind from the old direction. All the time this is happening, those boats behind pile into the back of us whilst we are held up by the 'weather safety car'. Only when the front slows down or if we get some magic gust from a rain cloud or something similar will we be able to pop through to the east side and away. Sanya was over 60 miles behind us yesterday (Wednesday) and now we can see them right up behind us. It's always nice to have a boat in sight but it's annoying to have lost such a big margin so quickly. The only real question for navigators and skippers is where to position yourself on the north / south axis in the line up behind the 'safety car'. If you can get through it fast then north should be good, if it takes longer then south could be stronger. We are currently trying to slide south a bit to get in touch with Puma and Camper and minimise any leverage they have over us. -- http://tinyurl.com/AD-121511 Course details: http://tinyurl.com/Piracy-121111 Leg 2 - Cape Town, SA to Abu Dhabi, UAE Standings as of Friday, 16 December 2011, 1:02:47 UTC 1. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP) 2. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR), 20.0 nm Distance to Lead 3. Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL), 24.5 nm DTL 4. PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA), 61.8 nm DTL 5. Groupama (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA), 62.5 nm DTL 6. CAMPER (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), 73.1 nm DTL Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos Race Schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule WTF: If you look at the race's Dashboard, there is a column called Distance to Leader. Well, this title is blatantly wrong. The distance they list is what it would take for each team to be in the lead, not what it would take to be next to the leader. With the boats spread as far as they are, the Distance to Leader and the Distance to Lead are much different. And while we're at it, what the heck is going on with the Heading and True Wind Direction arrows? See for yourself: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/dashboard/leg_2_report_39.html BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles of the world's most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com SAILING SHORTS * (December 16, 2011; Day 24 - 00:00:00 UTC) - Nearly half way between New Zealand and Cape Horn, Loick Peyron (FRA) and his team on the 131-foot maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V are back up to 24 hour runs of 700+ nm and have a 1920.5 nm margin over the non-stop circumnavigation Jules Verne Trophy record of 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds set by Franck Cammas on the 103-foot Groupama 3 in 2010. They now have 10029 nm to the finish. -- http://tinyurl.com/BP-121111 * (December 15, 2011) - Sailing World magazine announced the winners of its 25th annual Boat of the Year awards, with this year's field of winners highlighted by the VX One from Bennett Yachting Technologies (Savannah, GA) as the Boat of the Year honoree. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/SW-121511 * Groups with environmental concerns about San Francisco's staging of the America's Cup regatta say they will slow down the development process, if the planning commission refuses to do so. The commission is scheduled to vote on the event's environmental impact report. The Environmental Council Coalition says more time is needed to review the environmental report. But, event organizers say swift approval is needed to make necessary improvements to the city's waterfront in time for the races to be held in 2013. -- AP, full report: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/sports&id=8468480 * A non-profit sailing group from North Carolina is suing America's Cup holder Golden Gate Yacht Club for denying its application to be a defense candidate. African Diaspora Maritime Corp. asked the Supreme Court of the State of New York to force GGYC to accept its application, hold a defender series, provide the group with at least two 45-foot catamarans and pay in excess of $1 million in damages. The group also wants GGYC removed as America's Cup trustee. A full review of the lawsuit in Scuttlebutt on Monday. -- ESPN/AP: http://tinyurl.com/ESPN-121511 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Started in 2008, the annual 'Yacht Racing Image of the Year' is presented during the World Yacht Racing Forum in December to the photographer whose image best portrays the essence and excitement of yacht racing as a sport during the year. The annual award for the best yacht racing photograph was presented to French photographer Thierry Martinez. The spectacular award-winning photograph features Nathan Outridge, Moth and 49er world champion, racing the Moth world championships in Belmont, Australia in January 2011. Thierry Martinez has been photographing yachts since 1987 and has covered almost every sailing discipline over the years from dinghies to the Volvo Ocean Race and the America's Cup. This is the second year running that Thierry has won the award. Here is the winning image and a sampling of the nominees: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/1216/ BONUS: The unofficial home away from home of the Etchells class during the winter is Biscayne Bay Yacht Club in Miami, where the four event Jaguar Cup series hosts big fleets in the best sailing conditions available during the winter. The party got started last weekend for 48 boats and their sunscreen. Thank you John Payne for these images: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/1215/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH NEW RIGGING Hall Spars wants you to sail safely in the New Year. We recommend a thorough check of your standing rigging, especially if it's more than five years old. If you're planning to race the Newport-Bermuda or Newport-Ensenada, this is especially critical - you can't win if you don't finish. Hall service techs can come to you, or rigging can be shipped to us for a full inspection and any needed repairs. Work received in January or February will be ready before the season starts, guaranteeing a safe and happy 2012. http://www.hallspars.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK In August 2002, a small group of people gathered to discuss how to take sailors with disabilities to an elite level of sailing in order to increase the talent pool of U.S. sailors vying for Paralympic competition. This discussion led to the formation of the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Regatta, first held in August 2003, with the help and support of Tom Clagett's daughter and granddaughter, Judy and Stephanie McLennan. Staged in Newport, RI, The Clagett has been a continuing success year after year. Best described by a recent combat veteran as his "Million Dollar Moment". Here is the just released terrific 2011 Clagett event video from the T2P Studios: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/11/1216/ BONUS: Here is the link to see the presentation video for the 2013 Optimist World Championship, produced by the Italian Optimist Class that is hoping to be selected to host the event on Lake Garda. Don't you wish you were young again: http://youtu.be/MhfBrB3NDk4 BONUS: This week on Episode 21 of 'America's Cup Uncovered' concludes the story of 2011 with a look back to the action from America's Cup World Series San Diego with dramatic finishes in both the Fleet and Match Racing Championships where ORACLE Racing Spithill came out with a double championship win. Then we tap into a private phone conversation with Emirates Team NZ's Managing Director Grant Dalton where he discusses sharing AC72 design information with Luna Rossa. But not before checking in with the LiveLine team. Stan Honey Director of Technology for America's Cup Event Authority tells us about the LiveLine evolution and the technology used to enhance the viewing experience for the fans. Tune in on Saturday December 17 approx 0800 PDT 1600 BST: http://www.youtube.com/americascup#p/c/915CDC8233C7B14E BONUS: "World on Water" Dec 16, Week 50, features the final Extreme Sailing Series Act 9 in Singapore, The Volvo Ocean Race Cape Town In-Port Race and the start of Leg 2, Cape Town to Abu Dhabi, The UIM Class One Powerboat World Championships Skydrive Dubai & Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix in Dubai, UAE, the first week of the ISAF Perth World Cup in Perth, West Australia, the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour, Australia and in "Fresh to Frightening", our "action" segment, see the big roll-over by Welmax in the 2010 Swedish Class One Powerboat Grand Prix. See it on http://www.boatson.tv today at approx 1200 GMT, 0700 EST. SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com 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 Mike Perry: Great news about the revival of Atlantic City Race Week. About 30 years ago I flew in to do my first AC Race Week and was somewhat surprised when a fist fight broke out in the after-race food line. As the line dodged the combatants, one of my fellow hungry yachtsmen noticed my shocked appearance. "Welcome to New Jersey," he said. Order was restored and the regatta became a yearly must do until it died from lack of casino support. Atlantic City is a great race location and there are still a few "characters" among the local racers. Should be a good time. * From Ned Hall: I see in reading the e-mails that have been posted that I am clearly in the minority in agreeing with Brad Dellenbaugh. I find it incredible that any sailor can support the outrageous and unsportsmanlike conduct Ben Ainslie displayed in physically attacking the photographer on the press boat, irrespective of his (their) proximity to him during the racing. They were overly eager, but made a mistake. And I am equally stunned by the numerous e-mails supporting his actions. Someone referred to the glorious Finn sailors as "gods" (who have acted this way for years). Not when I was sailing them in some very hotly contested regattas where tempers wore thin. Despite that, we maintained our respect of all despite what we felt were mistakes in regatta administration. You might have Ed Bennett and Chuck Miller weigh in on this. Peter Barrett - a class leader and strong proponent of good sportsmanship - if he would still alive - would be outraged. * From Rich Roberts: After years of shooting sailboat racing, following some small boat racing myself, I can understand both sides of the Ben Ainslie issue, although --- as he quickly realized--- his ultimate reaction was improper. Following a couple of similar incidents in the Congressional Cup at Long Beach a few years ago, I wrote these guidelines for photo boats, not only for match racing but sailboat racing in general. Without interfering with the racing, it is possible to get the same high quality of shots by paying attention, anticipating the action and positioning your boat properly. That said, it must be understood that most non-sailors driving power boats don't understand the concept of "wake." Here are the guidelines: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/1215/ * From David Branigan, Marine Photographer Journalist: The stream of ill-informed comment regarding the Ben Ainslie incident last week is starting to obscure the actual facts which need to be re-stated in the hope that some of the more hysterical commentators might take notice: FACT: It was the official event TV production company with special sanction to enter the course area, not a media boat involved in this incident. FACT: The majority of actual media boats respect the needs of the competitors while trying to capture great stories and imagery that are strengths of our sport. FACT: In fairness, the RIB driver in this case was an unpaid local volunteer acting in good faith even if it didn't work out on this occasion. He must be properly respected and thanked for this fact. FACT: The evidence that the RIB interfered with Ainslie on the run to the finishing-line did not include the aerial TV footage that has been withheld from public consumption (on legal advice to ISAF) until the Rule 69 process has concluded. However, it is available to the RYA and should definitively show whether or not the TV boat's wake obstructed Ainslie or even whether it altered the outcome of the race that Pieter-Jan Postma of The Netherlands won. It's already been suggested that 'mission-critical' roles should not rely on unproven personnel, voluntary or professional. This is clear: only by employing the latter can you retain some form of real sanction over the expertise, seamanship and sailing knowledge of, in this case a RIB driver. Events, sponsors and competitors gain great benefit from the efforts of genuine sailing media. Pillorying press with the same vituperation reserved for elements of tabloid media is simply unfair and will lead us towards 'worst case makes for bad law.' Ultimately, everyone will lose out. In comparison to the number of races sailed, how often do media boats actually interfere with a race? Rarely, I suggest. And while accidents can and will happen, professional sailing media stake their own reputations on ensuring this does not occur. COMMENT: I think the 'Ainslie Incident' has been sufficiently covered for the time being, but if there are additional comments to be made, please post them here in the Forum: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12994 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The greatest joy in life .............................. Giving! SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - APS - Ultimate Sailing - Point Loma Outfitting LaserPerformance - Atlantis WeatherGear - North Sails - Harken Ullman Sails - West Marine - North U - Hall Spars & Rigging Need stuff? 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