|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2675 - Friday, September 5, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, featuresand dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. WHAT DOES IT TAKE BEFORE YOU ABANDON YOUR BOAT? As reported in Scuttlebutt 2673, Skip Allan, who was on his way home from Hawaii after handily winning the Singlehanded TransPac aboard his custom Wylie 27 Wildflower, had to abandon his boat amid extreme weather, and was picked up by a freighter 250 miles west of San Francisco. Here is an excerpt from his log: "During the long night, my third in this particular gale, breaking crests would poop the boat about every five minutes, filling the cockpit and surging against the companionway hatch boards. Even though I had gone to lengths for many years to insure fire hose watertight integrity of the companionway hatch, I found the power of the breaking wave crests slamming the boat would cause water to forcefully spray around the edges of the hatchboards and into the cabin. "During the long wait for daylight, I had more than enough time to ponder what might happen if the autopilot was damaged or was washed off its mount. I had two spare tiller pilots. But it would take several minutes, exposed in the cockpit, on my knees, to hook up a replacement in the cockpit, on a dark night, when the boat was being periodically knocked down and the cockpit swept. "In addition, I pondered the fate of the DAISY that was lost in the spring's Lightship Race, when presumably a large breaking wave crushed and sank DAISY. I also reminded myself I was responsible for not only my own life, but was also a family care giver at home. "There was no doubt that if WILDFLOWER's tiller pilot was lost that we would round up and be at the mercy of these breaking waves, some of which I estimate to be in the vicinity of 25-35 feet, and as big as I hadn't seen since the '79 Fastnet Race storm on IMP. "The anxiety and stress of this night, with the whine of the wind in the rigging, the wave crests slamming into the hatch boards, and the 70 degree knockdowns that would launch me across the cabin, created serious doubts that we could continue this for another night, much less the 3-4 days the conditions were expected to continue. " Complete log report: Part 1: http://www.sfbaysss.net/showpost.php?p=1357&postcount=17 Part 2: http://www.sfbaysss.net/showpost.php?p=1358&postcount=18 BUILDING A BETTER MOUSETRAP There are so many different ways to enjoy the sport, from types of boats to the various jobs on each boat. Different types of racing too, from long distance to short course, team racing to model racing. Among all the choices are the events used in the Olympics, and while Olympic sailing is not the end all, it is a part of the sport where the cream can rise to. One of the prominent classes throughout the world for youth sailors to compete in, and what has proven to be a handy stepping stone for those on the Olympic path, is the International 420 class. The I-420 is hardly on the radar in North America. To suit the needs of institutional sailing, the sturdier Club 420 was developed and is nearly the standard for youth, high school, and college events. The Club 420 is a dumbed-down version of the I-420, and while it does a great job of fulfilling its intended purpose, it should come as no surprise that when top North American youths travel overseas to compete against their peers in I-420 events, they get hammered. There are no I-420 events in the states, but one group that has worked for years to improve the situation of youth development is the California International Sailing Association (CISA). The organization owns nine I-420s (soon to be 10), annually extends grants to train youth in the boats, and provides financial support for their overseas travel. The problem is that with so little expertise in the I-420, the training is without proper guidance. To address the situation, the United States I-420 One Design Class Association is seeking applications from coaches to be invited to its ADVANCED COACHES SEMINAR from 5th to 8th of December 2008 to be held at the United States Sailing Center, Long Beach, California. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/09/i-420-coaching-clinic.html PARALYMPIC GAMES COUNTDOWN: 3 DAYS TO GO * The Daily Sailing media website has published their form guide for the Paralympic Games, and the contenders they see in the SKUD 18 (11 entrants) are Nick Scandone and Maureen Tucker (USA), Niki Birrell and Alexandra Rickham (GBR), and John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit (CAN). In the 2.4Mr (16 entrants), they believe that Damien Seguin (FRA), Helena Lucas (GBR), and Paul Tingley (CAN) are the strongest, while they find in the Sonar (14 entrants) the best to be John Robertson, Stephen Thomas and Hannah Stodel (GBR), Dror Cohen, Benny Vexter and Arnon Efrati (ISR), and Jens Kroker, Siegmund Mainka and Tobias Schuetz (GER). -- Complete report: http://tinyurl.com/DailySail * A record 80 athletes sailing in 41 boats from 25 nations will compete for the medals in Qingdao, in what is sailing's third appearance at a Paralympics. Two races are scheduled to take place on Monday's opening day with 11 races scheduled in total for all three classes before the end of the regatta and medal ceremonies on Saturday, September 13th. There are no medal races for the Paralympics, with four races needed to constitute a series. There will be one drop race if 5 to 8 races are completed, and two drop races if 9 to 11 races are completed. -- http://www.sailing.org/paralympics * Background information on the U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/SButt0904a FREE GEAR FROM LASERPERFORMANCE! Fall is Free Gear time at LaserPerformance! Purchase and take delivery of a new LaserPerformance boat between September 1st - December 31st and receive your choice of a Seitech dolly, Storm boat covers or a Magic Marine gear package with your new boat, up to an $800 value! Take delivery before October 31st and get a Free Blade Bag. We've added new boats for 2008 and this is a great time to get the latest and greatest. For more details and to find your local dealer, visit http://www.laserperformance.com (Free Gear offers differ between boats, full details online) MUST-WIN MATCHES DECIDE QUARTERFINALS IN ST. MORITZ St Moritz, Switzerland (September 4, 2008) - Torrential rain all night did nothing to deter the competitors of St Moritz Match Race as they prepared for day two of the sixth event of the World Match Racing Tour. While the Round Robin schedule for Group A was completed on Wednesday, there remained two flights today in Round Robin B, and all six teams still had a chance to qualify directly for the Quarterfinals without having to sail in the repechage. In an 8-12 knot breeze, it was Adam Minoprio (4-1), Jes Gram Hansen (3-2), and Ian Williams (3-2) who succeeded in their must-win Group B matches, and now they will join Sebastien Col, Eric Monnin, and Mathieu Richard from Group A in the Quarterfinals. A dying breeze precluded further racing, so it will be on Friday when the remaining six teams proceed to the Repechage series to compete in one Round Robin series where the top two teams will fill the final spots in the Quarterfinals. Daily recap: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/da/87007 Results: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/da/86769 MAXI YACHT ROLEX CUP Porto Cervo, Italy (September 4, 2008) After three days of racing, the leaderboard at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup has changed for the Racing and Wally divisions which now see Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo (NZL) and Jean Charles Decaux's J One (FRA) leading respectively. Ernesto Bertarelli's Numbers (USA) retains his overall lead in the Mini Maxi Division as does George David's Rambler (USA) in the Racing division. After a one hour postponement to allow the wind to build, the mini-maxis completed two windward-leeward races while the remaining three divisions sailed 30 nautical miles through the islands of the La Maddalena archipelago in winds that reached 25 knots. The day was not without serious problems, as reported by Paul Cayard, "The sad news of the day was that a crew member was seriously injured on Alegra, a Mills 68 from Great Britain. It seems that he got a halyard around his leg just as the jammer that was holding the halyard broke. He is in surgery at the moment se we are all saying a prayer for him." Racing continues through Saturday, September 6th. Daily report: http://www.regattanews.com/pressrelease.asp?pid=1976&lang=1 Results: http://www.yccsresults.com/maxi08/results1.htm Audio interviews: http://tinyurl.com/Pro-Sight-Sailing Cayard Sailing: http://www.cayardsailing.com SAILING SHORTS * Olympic sailing medalists Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) and Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) are scheduled to appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Monday, September 8. The show's 23rd season premiere will feature more than 150 Olympic medal athletes of Team USA. Tunnicliffe, 25, brought home a gold medal in the Laser Radial class and entered the history books as the first American female sailor in 20 years to win gold at the Olympic Games. Railey, 24, won a silver medal in the Finn class, which was Team USA's first Finn medal since 1992. Local listings for air times of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" are posted at http://www.oprah.com/locallistings * The leaders from the sailing industry are once again convening to network and share ideas for promoting participation in sailing. After eight previous successful Summits, held all around the world, this is the first visit to Paris. This 9th ISS will be hosted by FIN, the French nautical federation and will be held on 4th December, 2008 as a lead-in to the Paris International Boat Show. Recently added to the speaker program is an America's Cup update by Bruno Troublé. -- Event site: http://www.iss2008.org * San Diego, CA -- San Diego's Challenged America program will hoist its sails for 100 recently injured veterans at the National Summer Sports Clinic hosted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Sept. 28 to Oct. 3, 2008, from the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. Program includes sailing, kayaking, surfing, Track & Field, and cycling. -- Complete details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6353 September 4, 2008 -- BoatUS says high winds, heavy rain, and rising water levels from Hanna have the potential to cause widespread damage as it crosses the Chesapeake Bay sometime this Saturday, then moves up the Atlantic coast to Long Island Sound and New England on Sunday. "Even though Hanna is likely to be downgraded to a tropical storm after its first landfall in the Carolinas, boaters further north along its path need to prepare their boats, or possibly face expensive repairs or an early end to the fall boating season," said BoatUS Technical Director Bob Adriance. BoatUS suggests that boaters make the following preparations. -- Read on: http://www.boatus.com/news/releases/2008/september/HannaAdvisory.asp * Newport, R.I. - Visions of Newport's sailing golden age will return to Narragansett Bay in September when a fleet of 12 Metre yachts vie for the title rights to the 2008 12 Metre North American Championship by Division. The three day weekend of racing will begin with a revival of the "Candy Store Cup", a "full fleet" 12 Metre distance race on Friday, September 19, followed by two days of racing for the North American Championship trophy. In all, more than a dozen boats will be competing. -- Full story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6354 PROFESSIONAL WIND FORECASTS: FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS! Want a competitive edge in your next regatta? Get a forecast from PredictWind.com - the worldwide specialists in high resolution weather modeling. For the first time ever, you can access a forecast using a model that calculates the wind at an incredible 1km resolution for your local area. High resolution equals better accuracy. The web based forecasts are easy to use, and available in maps, graphs and even a text format that is accessible on your mobile phone. It is the system that champion sailors rely upon, and until January 2009 the forecasts are free of charge: http://www.PredictWind.com A FRIENDLY COMPETITION BETWEEN FOREIGN COUNTRIES The fourth annual Nanny Cay Nations Cup will take place the weekend of November 15/16 off Nanny Cay Marina in the British Virgin Islands. The US Virgin Islands team of Peter and John Holmberg, winners of last year's event, will be returning to defend their title. The event uses the Tortola-based fleet of IC24s in a round-robin format. Teams representing any country, gathered from anywhere in the world, are welcome to compete as long as each team member satisfies ISAF nationality guidelines. Ideally the all-up crew weight should total around 800lbs with 850lbs being the upper limit. The entry fee of only $500 includes the charter of the IC24s equipped with evenly-matched custom event sails. The event will be capped at 20 teams. -- Complete details: http://www.caribbeanracing.com/artman/publish/article_1017.shtml VIDEO OF THE WEEK The Paralympic Games live in the long shadow of the Olympics, but when the racing begins on Monday, the heightened interest in the event will be largely due 2005 US Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Nick Scandone. Nick's courageous battle with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, has uncommonly gripped the sailing community, and while his health continues to deteriorate, his determination to fulfill a lifelong dream of representing his country remains strong. Nick, who along with Maureen McKinnon-Tucker, are among the favorites in the new SKUD 18 class. This week's video is a profile of Nick produced by MSNBC. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week's Video of the Week. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/08/0901 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include aerial TP52 windward mark action in Spain, Nick Scandone in China, Melges 20s and Express 27s in San Francisco, a wet cat in the Atlantic, spectators in Germany, a new Morris model in Maine, and... of course. the BMW Oracle Racing trimaran in Anacortes. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/0905 => Curmudgeon's Comment: A reminder that Scuttlebutt will be in Anacortes on Monday, September 8th, so if you have any questions for the BMW Oracle Racing team regarding their 90-foot triamaran (or anything else), post them here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6344 EIGHT BELLS Carl (Bunky) Helfrich (1937-2008) died on Wednesday in the afternoon, with family and friends present for the last few days after a long bout with leukemia. Trained as an architect with a love of sailing, Bunky grew up sailing in the Savannah area against the likes of the McIntoshes and Ted Turner, and designed many houses and buildings in the Low Country, later becoming the head of Turner Broadcasting Building projects for 25 years. He sailed with his father aboard the "Geechee" winning the Miami Nassau Race, sailed with Ted Turner on his many winning boats including American Eagle, Tenacious, and the Courageous, winning the 1977 Americas Cup. Bunky was the navigator aboard the Windward Passage when they won the 1982 SORC. Truly a great guy and dear friend to those that knew him. Sail on! - John Rumsey "THEY WOULDN'T PRINT IT IF IT WASN'T TRUE" In Joe Jackson's 1979 debut album 'Look Sharp' was the song 'Sunday Papers', which had the classic line, "They wouldn't print it if it wasn't true." In fairness to Jackson, he couldn't have anticipated the Internet. In editing Scuttlebutt 2674, we came across two ambushes, one that we narrowly avoided and one that we bit on hard. ISAF distributed their new Olympic event rankings update (dated Sept. 3rd), and as we were seeking to round out their story with some additional information, we went to the complete ranking list to see where some of the athletes now stood. Nearly done with our story, we suddenly discovered that ISAF had not updated the list, and all the standings were still two months old. What! Kind of like a regatta sending out a press release saying who the winners were after Thursday, but the results were still as of Wednesday. The trap we fell into had to do with this week's event on the World Match Racing Tour. After getting their update from the first day, we wanted to add some of the unique venue facts to our story, knowing that St. Moritz Match Race had in the past used trapeze boats and the venue is in the Swiss Alps. The information was available on the event summary page of the WMRT website. except that the information was wrong. We noted that event used the Streamline 7.15, a 24-foot, three-person, trapeze keelboat, except the event now uses a newly designed four person keelboat called the Blu26. Both the ISAF and WMRT websites are now updated, as is the information in Issue 2674 on the Scuttlebutt website. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." However, the company mistakenly thought the Spanish word "embarazar" meant embarrass. As a result, the ads said, "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant." Special thanks to LaserPerformance and PredictWind.com. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
