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SCUTTLEBUTT 2499 – December 19, 2007
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features
and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published
each weekday with the support of its sponsors.
BOURKE STEPS DOWN FROM VOLVO OCEAN RACE
Glenn Bourke has resigned from his position as CEO of the race, which is
scheduled to start October 4, 2008. He has held the position since November
2002 and helped establish the Volvo as the world’s leading offshore ocean
race. Bourke, 47, has taken the decision to step down for family reasons, and
will relocate from England back to his native Australia in the New Year,
where his family has remained during his VOR tenure.
Said Bourke, “It’s no secret to those people who know me well that being so
far away from my family for so many years has been stressful at times. My
children are now at an age where I feel I need to be spending more time with
them. Ultimately they come first on my list of priorities.” Prior to taking
the role of CEO, Bourke held a similar position with illbruck Challenge, the
winner of the 2001-02 race. As a sailor he won three Laser world
championships, has competed in the Olympics and the America’s Cup, and was
responsible for the sailing venue at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. --
Complete story: http://tinyurl.com/24d8yh
* Curmudgeon’s Comment: There will be a story posted Wednesday on the race
website that Glenn wrote for the event’s Life at the Extreme magazine
regarding the process of his decision. If you have ever shared Glenn’s
struggle with work and family, you might appreciate reading it. Look for the
link here: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/
BARCELONA WORLD RACE
Open 60 doublehanded round the world race (started Nov 11; 25,000-miles)
(Day 38 - December 18, 2007) Hugo Boss has put on a powerful and impressive
display of speed, significantly narrowing the lead of Paprec-Virbac 2 as the
two boats sail up to the Australian safety gate. Both were expected to pass
the gate late Tuesday before bearing off and heading for Cook Strait. Said
skipper Alex Thomson, “It’s a mixture of it being the right conditions for
this boat and Paprec in front of us have had less wind. But we haven’t really
been pushing very hard. It’s been pretty relaxed.”
It’s a different story on board the race leader, Paprec-Virbac 2, where
co-skipper Damian Foxall sounded tired and more than a little frustrated. “We
’re pushing water uphill,” he said. “For a couple of days now we have been
sailing along a very slow moving front and there’s nowhere we can go apart
from straight forward. There are light winds ahead and there’s fresh wind
coming in from behind with Hugo Boss…we’ve really got a race on our hands.”
For two of the recent dismastings, Delta Dore arrived in Cape Town Tuesday,
whereas Veolia Environnement has made a jury rig and is sailing at seven
knots towards the southwest tip of Australia, more than 1,500 nautical miles
away. -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com
Positions at 18:00 GMT - Distance to leader (+gain/-loss since previous day)
1-Paprec-Virbac 2, Jean-Pierre Dick/ Damian Foxall, 13,930 nm DTF (+338)
2-Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson/ Andrew Cape, 40 nm DTL (+75)
3-Temenos II, Dominique Wavre/ Michéle Paret, 1296 (-79)
4-Mutua Madrilena, Javier Sanso Windmann/ Pachi Rivero, 1936 (+13)
5-Educación sin Fronteras, Servane Escoffier/ Albert Bargues, 2392 (-62)
Retired - PRB, Vincent Riou / Sébastien Josse (broken mast)
Retired -Delta Dore, Jérémie Beyou/ Sidney Gavignet (broken mast)
Retired - Estrella Damm, Guillermo Altadill/ Jonathan McKee, (rudder damage)
Retired - Veolia Environnement, Roland Jourdain/ Jean-Luc Nélias (broken
mast)
* Correction: In Issue 2498, it was reported in the e-Newsletter that Veolia
Environnement was dismasted Monday afternoon. It actually occurred at 18:00
GMT on Monday.
* (Day 25 - December 18, 2007 - 16:26 UTC) In his effort to set a new solo
round the world record, Francis Joyon and the maxi trimaran IDEC crossed the
vertical South East Cape, Tasmania on Tuesday, officially departing the
Indian Ocean and beginning the Pacific Ocean span toward Cape Horn off the
tip of South America, and then the final stretch up the Atlantic Ocean toward
Brest, France. Joyon’s passage through the Indian Ocean was only 59 minutes
slower than when Bruno Peyron, aboard the maxi-catamaran Orange 2, set the
current fully crewed round the world record in March 2005. With 11,362
nautical miles remaining, Joyon’s most recent 24-hour data shows an average
speed of 19.9 knots and a distance covered of 478.4 nm. --
http://www.trimaran-idec.com
* (Day 1 - December 18, 2007) Another solo round the world record attempt
begun on Monday, and after less than 24 hours from leaving Ushant, the
maxi-trimaran Sodeb'O has already left Cape Finisterre in its wake and is
currently skirting around a depression to the West of Portugal. At 1530 hours
UTC, the trimaran had covered over 400 miles, at an average speed of 21.9
knots. The weather has kept its promise. After a bracing night and an
unscheduled 'lightning strike' at dawn, Thomas Coville is preparing to tackle
45-50 knots of wind in the coming hours, with waves of 5 to 6 metres. --
http://www.sodebo-voile.com/actu/news-eng.html
FROM THE OLYMPIC TRAIL
Sydney, Australia (December 18, 2007) The final day of Yachting NSW’s Sydney
International Regatta saw a bright sunny day with a shifty 10-12 knot
southerly breeze. The questions as to whether British Finn sailor Ben Ainslie
could return to his triple Olympic medallist form were answered, as he
rattled off wins in six of the nine race to lead that class by a whopping 17
points. As for the North American contingent, the Laser and Laser Radial
classes continue to be their most dominant events. Final positions for top
North American entrants:
Laser (Gold): Michael Leigh (CAN) 1st, Bernard Luttmer (CAN) 3rd, Michael
Kalin (CAN) 9th, and Andrew Campbell (USA) 10th of 43
Laser Radial: Tania Elias Calles (MEX) 2nd of 45
Tornado: Oskar Johansson/Kevin Stittle (CAN) 4th of 12
470 Women: Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler (USA) 4th of 19
49er: Gordon Cook/Ben Remocker (CAN) 5th of 27
470 Men: Stu McNay/Graham Biehl (USA) 8th of 36
Finn: Zach Railey (USA) 11th of 24
29er: Max Fraser and David Liebenberg (USA) 13th of 31
Complete results: http://www.nsw.yachting.org.au/?page=33890
MAKE 2008 YOUR ULTIMATE YEAR!
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DIARY OF A J/22 WORLDS SAILOR
(December 18, 2007) Welcome to the entirely unreliable and perhaps fictitious
diary of a J/22 Worlds sailor. The World Championships will be taking place
in Durban, South Africa, with racing to occur Monday through Friday, December
17-21. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the first official race to
take place! Over the past couple of days, the wind has been regularly gusting
up to 45 knots and this, along with the destruction of the moorings, mean
that we are unlikely to race until Wednesday. Crews are amusing themselves in
any way that they can. Boats have been fettled, beer has been drunk and
rubbish has been spoken - pretty much an average regatta then! Four races in
total need to be sailed in order for the regatta to be classed as official
and it is hoped that we will definitely get that. -- Event blog:
http://www.j22worlds.blogspot.com
Event site: http://www.j22.co.za/index.php
AMERICA’S CUP: TACKS AND GYBES
* Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth has quashed speculation he is about to the
leave the America's Cup defender Alinghi. While Scuttlebutt had avoided this
rumor, it was reported elsewhere last week that Butterworth was moving to
either Oracle or Team New Zealand, but Butterworth says these reports are
rubbish. He says he cannot believe such things would be written because they
are just lies. -- NZ Herald, full story:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10482558
* Uncertainty over the staging of the next America's Cup has forced two of
the challengers, Spain's Desafio and Britain's Team Origin, to modify their
plans for the race. The uncertainty has forced Spain's challenger Desafio to
reduce its personnel by 20 percent to around 80 people based in Valencia and
suspend the activities of the rest of team, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Britain's Team Origin also announced it is lowering its current level of
activity and re-focusing on planning for a 2011 event. The court is set to
meet to confirm the decision on January 14, and may also rule on the date of
the possible catamaran duel between Oracle and Alinghi. -- AFP, full story:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5glnv6eaBxYiBF33sJfX1CRJw2FJg
* Correction to Kimball Livingston’s story in Issue 2498, where he made
mention to the 1987 America’s Cup, when the reference was for the famous big
boat vs. catamaran match in 1988.
SAILING SHORTS
* A reminder that applications for the 2008 International Lightning Class
Boat Grant Program are due by December 31, 2007. The Lightning Class will
select individuals and provide the boat, trailer, sails, insurance, some
funding, and mentoring to help them get started in the class. For details,
visit the Lightning website at
http://www.lightningclass.org/Boat_Grant/GrantProgramIndex.htm
* The Bonnier Marine Group has appointed Andrew Macaulay as Associate
Publisher of the Cruising World and Sailing World magazines. Macaulay will
manage the sales effort for both marine and non-marine advertising. --
http://www.bonniercorp.com
* (December 18, 2007) A British Columbia couple sailing from Hawaii to
Victoria has vanished and Canadian and U.S. Coast Guards have suspended
searches after finding no trace of the nine-metre sailboat the pair was
traveling on. Chris Malchow, 31, of Victoria, and Courtenay Steele, 27, of
Saltspring Island, left Hawaii on Sept. 8 and were due to arrive in Victoria
on Oct. 16, but have not been heard from since Sept. 8. A major search was
launched in October and vessels in the area were given the boat's
description, but the Canadian and U.S. coast guards have now suspended their
searches. -- Complete story: http://tinyurl.com/yu3h9h
* The World Sailing Speed Record Council announces the ratification of two
new World Records. Alexandre Caizergues (FRA) set a new outright world kite
sailing speed record on October 9, 2007 when he hit 47.92 knots on the 501
metre course at Luderitz, Namibia (previous record: 41.79kts). Sjouke
Bredenkamp (RSA) set a new outright world women's kite sailing speed record
on October 9, 2007 when she hit 42.35 knots on the 501 metre course at
Luderitz, Namibia (previous record: 37.24kts). This was also the fastest
speed ever recorded by a woman sailor. -- http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/
* (December 18, 2007) US SAILING has selected eight athletes as sailing’s
2007 U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) Athletes of the Year for outstanding
performance and achievement. Laser sailor Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.)
and Laser Radial sailor Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) are SportsMan and
SportsWoman of the Year; Yngling sailors Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wisc.),
Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) and Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) have
captured the Team of the Year category; Sonar sailors Rick Doerr (Clifton,
N.J.), Tim Angle (Marblehead, Mass.), and Bill Donohue (Brick, N.J.) are the
Paralympians of the Year. – Complete release:
http://www.ussailing.org/pressreleases/2007/aoy07.asp
* In a letter to members, the Canadian Marine Manufacturers Association
(CMMA) has released more details about its potential merger with NMMA Canada.
The CMMA board on October 19 approved a plan to integrate CMMA operations
with NMMA Canada, subject to approval of CMMA members at its Annual General
Meeting during the Toronto International Boat Show in January. But the
integration of the two associations raised some questions among member
companies about its actual makeup. -- IBI Magazine, full story:
http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20071118153908ibinews.html
* A renewed effort for establishing a specific model year changeover date for
the US boating industry has been launched by the Marine Retailers Association
of America (MRAA). Last week, MRAA President Phil Keeter sent a letter to
NMMA president Thom Dammrich requesting that all NMMA boat manufacturers
recognize September 1 as the official model year changeover date, rather than
the commonly used, albeit unofficial, changeover date of July 1. -- IBI
Magazine, full story:
http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20071118163111ibinews.html
GIVE THE GIFT OF SAILING LESSONS
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itself on being known as "The performance sailing school". Give someone a
gift certificate toward an upcoming class in the Learn to Sail program,
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LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be
edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words).
You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine
if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.
As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the
Scuttlebutt Forum.
-- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com
-- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum
* From Mike Perry: The death of Senior Judge Jack Sheahan (as reported in
Issue 2498) will sadden thousands of sailors whose lives he has touched,
particularly those in the mid-Atlantic area and at his home yacht club in
Ocean City, New Jersey. In over half a century of race committee work, Jack
delighted generations of sailors with his ‘dry as powder’ sailing
instructions, delivered with a highly personalized lisp, that some of us
thought he exaggerated to increase the effect. An equal-opportunity judge,
Jack respected sailing talent, sportsmanship and knowledge of the rules and
had little time for those he thought had bought their way into the winner's
circle. You were a good bloke Jack and many of us will think of you fondly at
the warning signal of our next race.
* From Stephen A Van Dyck: (re High Tech Keel problems in Issue 2498) Another
high performance keel has failed. Luckily for those aboard it did not fall
off. And so yet another design post-mortem can be done. But what will the
sailors learn? Having raced my share on "state of the art" offshore boats
over the years, I certainly understand the thrills and chills that these
boats can provide. But the numerous keel design, engineering, and
construction failures should tell sailors how dangerously narrow the safety
margins are. Sadly it leads me to the inescapable conclusion that a big
memorial service is not that far in the future. Maybe it is time for the
sailors to be asking more questions.
* From Hugh Elliot, Alexandria, VA: So we have had a bunch of letters about
teaching sailing to minority and inner city kids. Where are they all? I don't
see them around the racecourse much so it seems that they are exposed to
sailing but are not sold on continuing. We should be able to do better.
* From Carisa Harris: Accessibility and diversity to sailing is definitely
the future of sailing and many organizations (and yachties) are doing their
part to make this happen. There are numerous community sailing centers across
the United States that are dedicated to removing barriers and providing
sailing opportunities to children from all backgrounds. Here in San
Francisco, our community sailing center - the Treasure Island Sailing Center
(www.tisailing.org ) - included over 1200 kids in their Sailing Classes and
racing programs last year alone. Over 65% of these kids were on partial and
full scholarships, most of which are made possible with donations from
sailors, local sailing organizations, and philanthropic companies through our
Corporate Challenge event, the Big Team Regatta. Yacht Clubs are starting to
play their role as well. In fact, St Francis Yacht Club supported 50 children
through the program this past year.
This is not to say that our responsibilities to diversify and share our sport
have been met. There are countless of children waiting for the opportunities
that come along with sailing, countless cities yet to build a full access
community sailing center, and countless individuals (including sailors) who
have yet to support these programs with their time, money, and/or
enthusiastic support. Let’s spread the word that sailing can be as popular,
diverse, and accessible as tennis or golf. Let’s support the organizations
that are already making this shift happen and encourage others we know to do
the same.
* From H. P. "Sandy" Purdon: (RE: Scuttlebutt #2498) Kimball Livingston
forgets one important fact regarding the Michael Fay "Big Boat" challenge in
1987. He had already started building his boat and knew that with the
challenge date set, we would be hard pressed to build a comparable "big
boat". The purpose of the Cat was to dispatch Mr. Fay as rapidly as possible
so we could get back to a multi-challenge event. We weren't happy with having
to resort to the "Cat". Fay was trying to win the America's Cup without
having to go through any other challengers. It was a pretty clever move on
his part only to be trumped by our move with the "Cat". And it all stood up
to the New York courts and the Deed of Gift. This current "Cat" event might
be interesting with both parties designing the same type of boat.
* From Jack Griffin: Thanks to Kimball Livingston in ‘Butt 2498 to help us
prepare emotionally for Cat vs Cat in the DoG Match. (or maybe Tri vs Tri).
But, Kimball, Fay’s was not a “sideways challenge” as you write. It fully
respected the Deed of Gift, just like GGYC's now. In spite of the 1988 "Read
the Deed" T-shirts, Fay apparently did not, or he would have seen the
loophole he left for DC and the cat. Now we will probably get the
match-that-could-have-been in 1988, just at higher speeds with more hulls.
The media and the general public will love it. Who's working on the
screenplay? I’d like to audition for the part of Dunraven in the historical
flashbacks.
* From Richard Hazelton, Editor 48 ° North Sailing Magazine: Among the ideas
for the "new" America's Cup is to limit the teams to two boats. They should
also have the same lawyer restriction along with a rectal surgeon in case
someone's head gets stuck up their arse.
=> Curmudgeon’s Comment: Photographer Gilles Martin-Raget has a crushing
story on his blog where his son, whom has seen much of the America’s Cup
action by tagging along with his famous father, declared, “Dad, I don't want
to become an America's Cup crewmember anymore, I want to become an America's
Cup lawyer; it looks much more fun!" -- Link:
http://martin-raget.blogspot.com
* From Baines Haines: (regarding comments in Issue 2498 about Ala Wai Harbor)
Good on ya, Matthew. I was over there during the 2007 Transpac. What a mess!
* From Bob Colpitts: I know he didn't mean me personally, but as an
ex-liveaboard I object to being characterized by Matthew Reid as "the
floating equivalent of a homeless squatter." During two years living aboard,
our family traveled 15,000 miles, visited 21 countries and consumed less than
100 gallons of oil. I do like his reference to a simplified lifestyle,
though. That's true enough and well worth pursuing, both for personal
enrichment and the health of our planet. I'd recommend it to anyone.
* From Doran Cushing, St. Petersburg, FL: Regarding the problems that face
Fawcett Boat Supply (as reported in Issue 2498), I'd like to express a
thought, a philosophy, that works well for everyone who appreciates service,
knowledge, and experience. Buy local. It doesn't matter if it's a local
marine chandlery, a hardware store, or a tire shop. They have always been our
best allies, not mega-stores and corporate buyouts. What's the price of
having a person with real world experience helping you solve the unusual
problem? Yes, it might cost a bit more. But after the locals are gone, the
mega-stores can set their own prices, and agendas. We can talk about how all
this foreign stuff could have been kept as American products (we did it to
ourselves), but that's another issue. Buy Fawcett Boat Supply. Buy local.
Invest in integrity.
CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION
The reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls
live.
Special thanks to Ultimate Sailing and J/World.
A complete list of Scuttlebutt’s preferred suppliers is at
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
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