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SCUTTLEBUTT 2753 - Tuesday, January 6, 2009Scuttlebutt 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 U. A STUDY OF CONTRAST Here are two excerpts from a Sailing Magazine column by Chris Caswell: * I was sitting on the yacht club porch with my friend, Eric, when his two boys and a couple of other kids ran up, fresh from sailing in the junior program. They were full of themselves, telling us in a rush of words about how they'd gotten inside at the leeward mark or dumped bad air all over someone, laughing and reliving the races. At one point, they were chattering about a crowded start where several juniors, trying to barge the line, were pushed the wrong side of the committee boat. "Did you see Kevin?" asked one of the kids. "Man, I thought he was going to do a Brodie Cobb!" I looked at Eric and arched an eyebrow inquisitively. "Tell you later", he said, conspiratorially. When the kids had gone to put their boats away, I found that "doing a Brodie Cobb" is now the nautical equivalent of "going postal". And that was how I came to find that a really ugly moment in sailing has entered the lingo. --------------------------------------------------- * They won the Paralympic Trials and flew to China to represent the United States. At the start of the first race, both Nick Scandone and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker broke down and started crying, because they'd achieved the unachievable: the doctors had said he'd never last until the Games. Cut to the chase: with two races still remaining, they clinched the gold and jade medal to win the 2008 Paralympics. Scandone's wife, Mary-Kate, thanked the designer of the SKUD-18, "because he gave me four more years with my husband". Both Nick and Maureen returned to hero's welcomes in their hometowns, but they still have to face uncertain futures. Looking at the uphill battle that Nick Scandone fought to make his sailing dream come true, I hope that enough youngsters hear of his courage and dedication that they'll want to add his name to the lingo of sailing rather than that of some spoiled rich guy. I hope kids start telling their friends that they're going to "Nick Scandone" the next regatta. -- Complete story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6846#6846 => Curmudgeon's Comment: Nick lost his battle on Jan. 2, 2009. Brodie's two-year suspension by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) for a gross breach of good manners and sportsmanship was completed on December 31, 2008. -- http://www.sailing.org/suspended-sailors.php ERICSSON RACING TEAM UNDER FIRE The next event for the Volvo Ocean Race teams will be the Singapore In-Port Race on January 10, 2009. After that, the fleet will begin Leg 4, the 2,500 nm route from Singapore to Qingdao, China, on January 18, 2009. Here is the latest update since the fleet finished Leg 3 from Cochin, India to Singapore: * The Volvo Ocean Race measurement committee has submitted a report to the International Jury on January 4th concerning the crash box of Ericsson 4, which is a sacrificial bow section built of foam and designed to receive the force of impact, crumple or break off whilst leaving the structural integrity of the rest of the hull intact. Apparently the team had replaced the bow section prior to the race, but without informing the measurers. It is in this bow section that two of the key hull measurement references are held, and this modification may have affected the accuracy of the hull measurement data. The Jury will meet on Thursday in Singapore to consider the report and decide what actions, if any, are required. -- Full story: http://VOR010509a.notlong.com * On Thursday this week, Ericsson 3 will have to answer two protests stemming from leg three into Singapore. In the first, Telefonica Blue has protested the team for an incident where the Spanish team alleges the Nordic crew infringed Rule 10 of the Racing Rules of Sailing - the 'starboard-port' or opposite tack rule. The second protest is from the Race Committee, which believes that Ericsson 3 did not round the Sri Lanka 1 mark on the southern side as required in Leg Addendum 3. This refers to the first of two marks that defined an exclusion zone to the south of Sri Lanka. The fleet was required to stay to the south of a line defined by the two points. -- Full report: http://VOR010509b.notlong.com * Anders Lewander, skipper of Ericsson 3, will miss the fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race due to a serious knee injury that has required surgery during the Singapore stopover. The Swedish skipper injured the knee during a sail change a few days out of India when he was on the bow helping to move a sail bag. It slammed into his left knee, pushing it sideways causing agonizing pain and a weakening of the joint. Lewander, 45, is expected to return for the fifth leg, with watch leader Magnus Olsson acting as skipper until then. -- Full story: http://VOR010509c.notlong.com Current standings after Leg Three 1. Ericsson 4 (SWE), Torben Grael/BRA, 35 points 2. Telefónica Blue (ESP), Bouwe Bekking/NED, 30.5 points 3. PUMA (USA), Ken Read/USA, 27.5 points 4. Ericsson 3 (SWE), Anders Lewander/SWE, 23.5 points 5. Green Dragon (IRL/CHN), Ian Walker/GBR, 20.5 points 6. Telefonica Black (ESP), F. Echavarri/ESP, 19.5 points 7. Team Russia (RUS), Andreas Hanakamp/AUT, 10.5 points 8. Delta Lloyd (IRL), Roberto Bermudez/ESP, 9 points Race website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 Race replay and tracking: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com NEW AT MELGES The Melges 20 is new and will be at Key West sailing and on display for the racing crowd to check out. The boat recently won Sailing Worlds Boat Of The Year - Best One-Design. New is the 2009 Melges MC which has a brand new deck design and an overall brand new look, making this popular one-design appealing to many. New is the fact Melges has a strong turnout in Key West with the nearly 60 Melges Boats on the water. The boats are easy to trailer, rig and move around. Perfect for an event like Key West. Stay tuned to melges.com for more new announcements! -- http://www.melges.com FINALLY.BACK IN THE ATLANTIC (Jan. 5, 2009; Day 57) - Leader Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) this morning on rounding Cape Horn: "That's done. Foncia has just entered the Atlantic. It was 3h 10 GMT when I passed to the south of the Cape. Squally weather with 35-40 knot winds, gusting to 45 knots. Pitch black, so no photos, or videos of the rock at the bottom. Both lights are on - the Cape and the Eastern tip. The seas are finally calm and the wind reasonable: 23 knots, quiet weather if you like! Now off to some new adventures on the way back up." Prior to Yann Eliès being rescued on Dec. 20th from the Generali IMOCA Open 60, both Marc Guillemot (Safran) and Samantha Davies (Roxy) altered course to provide assistance. Based on the time spent aiding Eliès and the time required to return to a competitive course, race officials have awarded 82 hours for Guillemot and 32 hours for Davies. These times will be deducted from their finishing times. Solo, non-stop, around the world race in Open 60s. Standings as of 18:30 UTC (Top 5 plus of 30 entrants; 14 now competing): 1. Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA), Foncia, 6871.4 nm Distance to finish 2. Roland Jourdain (FRA), Veolia Environnement, 52.7 nm Distance to leader 3. Jean Le Cam (FRA), VM Matériaux, 439.8 nm DTL 4. Vincent Riou (FRA), PRB, 629.7 nm DTL 5. Armel Le Cléac´h (FRA), Brit Air, 648.0 nm DTL 6. Samantha Davies (GBR), Roxy, 2061.8 nm DTL 9. Dee Caffari (GBR), Aviva, 2944.5 nm DTL 12. Rich Wilson (USA), Great American III, 4816.2 nm DTL Event website: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en Complete standings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html Race tracking: http://tracking.vendeeglobe.org/en SO-CAL-IZ-ING AT THE ROSE BOWL REGATTA Southern Californians have perfected tailgate parties and winning football games during the first week of the year and the sailing community took a cue from Trojan and Chargers fans. While USC head coach Mike Segerblom and his volunteers from Alamitos Bay Yacht Club hosted 24 college sailing teams and over 40 high school sailing teams in the Rose Bowl Regatta, hundreds of parents and students lined the shore of Alamitos Bay for two days of so-cal-iz-ing. Light air, sunshine, plenty of FJ's, a beachhead and access to college coaches - that's part of what drew the crowd. For many high school sailors from California and their parents, the Rose Bowl Regatta is a chance to meet college coaches and get a flavor for various sailing teams. After years of shuttling their kids to sailing practice, Opti, Sabot, 420 and Laser regattas, some parents finally got to watch their sons and daughters compete in a collegiate regatta. and catch up with their friends. -- Lynn Fitzpatrick, read on: http://www.worldregattas.com/ViewInfo.php?ContentID=168 SAILING SHORTS * The Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) announced its 2009 suite of rating products and services is now available online. The rules and regulations of the ORC Rating Systems (ORC International and ORC Club), the International Measurement System (IMS) measurement standards and methodology, the GP 26, 33, and 42 Class rules, the Green Book criteria for ORC championship events, and the official minutes of the Annual General Meeting in Madrid last month are all posted at http://www.orc.org * America's Cup challengers Team French Spirit and Team Shosholoza presented an additional Amicus Curiae brief on 2 January 2009 countering a number of incorrect statements made in a recent New York Yacht Club brief submitted to the New York Court of Appeals. - Alinghi website, read on: http://www.alinghi.com/en/news/news/index.php?idIndex=664&idContent=18718 * Bill Koch, America's Cup winner in 1992, has filed his own Amicus Curiae brief against Société Nautique de Genève's acceptance of Club Nautico Espanol de Vela under the guise of a Deed valid yacht club, and criticizing Alinghi's rules structure as unfair. -- http://www.cupinfo.com/downloads/bill_koch_amicus-010109.pdf * The Dark Blue Book - the Who's Who of Yacht Racing is inviting sailing professionals to submit details for listing in the 2009 Directory. As well as listing top sailors, team owners, rights holders and sponsors, the book will also list suppliers to the industry. -- Read on: http://www.yachtsponsorship.com/2008/12/are-you-in-the-book/ * The six boats participating in the second leg of the Portimão Global Ocean Race - 7,900 nm voyage from Cape Town, South Africa to Wellington, New Zealand - have fallen prey to the power of the Southern Ocean. The field of two solo Open 40s and four doublehanded Class 40s lost solo skipper Nico Budel when he was forced to abandon Hayai on Dec. 30th after the lead bulb of his keel threatened to separate from the keel fin. With just over 2000 nm remaining, Boris Herrmann and co-skipper Felix Oehme maintain a narrow lead aboard their Akilaria Class 40 Beluga Racer. -- Event website: http://portimaorace.com NEW US SAILING RULES SEMINARS New Racing Rules took effect January 1. US Sailing Racing Rules Seminars are now underway. Presented by North U, the seminars cover all the rules - new and old - and include a Racing Rules Workbook created by Dave Perry. US Sailing members save $40. Check the schedule and sign up by visiting NorthU.com or by calling North U at 800-347-2457 or 203-245-0727. -- http://www.northu.com 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 Ken Legg: Interesting that big boats seem to come out ahead on both ToT and ToD ratings. The answer is simple- it's all about making fewer mistakes. The longer you're out there (little boats) the more mistakes. Try to rate that! * From Craig Yandow: It's been a few years since I sailed out of Tampa bay, but I fondly recall the scoring practice that was used there in the 70s and 80s. I sailed a wide range of boats. Some times I raced a little boat and other years got to sail the scratch boat. Races were scored TOT, up to the limit of TOD. In a fast race Time On Time was used, but if it turned into a 3 day drifter, all the time that a large boat had to give the little boat sitting next to her was the Time On Distance allowance for the race. Little boat or big boat, I always felt the scoring system was fair without being too complex. It was easy to know where you stood because a scratch sheet was passed out at roll call before each race. It had the TOT and TOD allowance for each boat. Now a days, it could be posted on the race web site. For the past 20 or so years, I've wondered why that good old idea has remained unused and unmentioned. * From Arne Ruse: I have been amazed at the number of "armchair racers" participating in the Vendee and Volvo Race "Games," said to be around 300,000 and over 100,000 respectively. There is said to be some controversy regarding the use of routing software among the competitors, with some decrying it as unfair, and others pointing out that the actual navigators in the race use software and have been doing so for a decade (at least). One valid objection is that good routing software is expensive, and so this gives the advantage to those who can afford it. Just recently, however, a website offers a very inexpensive "short-term" license (for $20 a leg) to those to who want to try out routing software and apply it to the Volvo Race Game. I found this at http://www.goflow.com/advolvo.htm. This would appear to meet that objection, and may be a good opportunity for those who would like to explore these programs in a semi-realistic setting at low cost. In any event, those of us following the games have no doubt that the top-ranked competitors are using such aids. I wonder what Scuttlebutt readers think? * From Paul Warren, Redington Beach, FL: Congratulations to San Diego Yacht Club and its attorney, Elizabeth Rotenberg-Schwartz, for summing up the crux of the current America's Cup dispute: SNG/Alinghi/CNEV are, blatantly, trying to turn the regatta into a "Defender's" event, not a "Challenge" cup. With its proposed protocol, the defender and its lackeys are stacking the deck for a successful defense, not a fair competition. The fact that other would-be challengers have "signed on" to support SNG/Alinghi is also, in my opinion, a sham. SNG/Alinghi have successfully, so far, turned these sailors ardent desire to "get on with the sailing" into a competitive weapon against GGYC and BMW-Oracle Racing. Fortunately, this weapon is loaded with blanks; I expect that the other challengers support is about as deep as a barge in a bathtub. Mr. Bertarelli, you've run the America's Cup aground and continue to drive it further up on this sandbar. Enough! I'm praying for another reversal from the NY courts. * From Russ Saunders, Martinez, CA: It should be noted that for a team to compete in the America's Cup as designed by Alinghi, according to the latest information, Ernesto Bertarelli has made it mandatory that the new competitors sign an agreement to join the Amicus Curiae Brief AGAINST Oracle. You do not join the Alinghi group or you do not compete...that is typical of the convoluted logic and criminal actions taken by Bertarelli to destroy the spirit of the America's Cup. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION New Year's Resolution for the tech world: Upon hearing a funny joke, reply with something other than, "LOL... LOL!" Special thanks to Melges Performance Sailboats and North U. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
