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SCUTTLEBUTT 2668 - Tuesday, August 26, 2008Scuttlebutt 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. WHERE THE MEDALS LANDED The discussion began immediately after the 2004 Olympics… was Qingdao going to provide a fair regatta? The predominant conditions – light air and strong current – were already known then, and while the pull of the Olympic Games is strong, some top sailors were wondering if another four years of training for what could be a crapshoot event was worth it. So now we ask, with the Games completed, was it worth it? Were the Olympics standings a result of the progressive growth of each sailor? Or, were they an aberration, with some competing far above expectations, better handling the unique sailing conditions and event pressures than their competitors? Tough questions, and to provide some statistical answers, we went to the ISAF rankings (as of July 2, 2008). These rankings rate skippers based on their performances over the last two years, with more prominent events earning bonus points, and events which have taken place within the last twelve months holding an additional bonus. Each skipper can count a maximum of seven events. For the sailor who had made a late charge to the top of his class, we also looked at the 2008 World Championship standings. What did we learn? We learned that Gold Medalists Ben Ainslie was the fourth best British Finn sailor according to the ISAF rankings, that the Laser Radial and 49er top five standings were closest to form, and that Gold Medalist Jian Yin sailed in only six ranking events outside of China in the past two years (to improve on her Silver in 2004). Here are the stats: (Olympic standing - Country - Sailor - ISAF ranking - 2008 Worlds standing) Star 1. GBR, Iain Percy/Andrew Simpson, 12, 52 2. BRA, Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada, 6, 3 3. SWE, Fredrik Loof/Anders Ekstrom, 3, 11 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. POL, Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Dominik Zycki, 1, 1 5. SUI, Flavio Marazzi/Enrico De Maria, 2, 4 Tornado 1. ESP, Fernando Echavarri/Anton Paz Blanco, 2, 7 2. AUS, Darren Bundock/Glenn Ashby, 1, 1 3. ARG, Santiago Lange/Carlos Espínola, 18, 13 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. CAN, Oskar Johansson/Kevin Stittle, 7, 2 5. NED, Mitch Booth/Pim Nieuwenhuis, 3, 6 RS:X Men 1. NZL, Tom Ashley, 9, 1 2. FRA, Julien Bontemps, 4, 11 3. ISR, Shahar Zubari, 14, 3 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. GBR, Nick Dempsey, 8, 6 5. BRA, Ricardo Santos, 12, 25 RS:X Women 1. CHN, Jian Yin, 25, 24 2. ITA, Alessandra Sensini, 11, 1 3. GBR, Bryony Shaw, 10, 8 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. ESP, Marina Alabau, 1, 3 5. AUS, Jessica Crisp, 5, 14 Laser 1. GBR, Paul Goodison, 3, 7 2. SLO, Vasilij Zbogar, 13, 4 3. ITA, Diego Romero, 19, 31 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. POR, Gustavo Lima, 9, 24 5. NZL, Andrew Murdoch, 2, 13 Laser Radial 1. USA, Anna Tunnicliffe, 1, 6 2. LTU, Gintare Volungeviciute, 9, 4 3. CHN, Lijia Xu, 2, 2 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. AUS, Sarah Blanck, 3, 5 5. FRA, Sarah Steyaert, 8, 1 470 Men 1. AUS, Nathan Wilmot/Malcolm Page, 1, 8 2. GBR, Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield, 4, 9 3. FRA, Nicolas Charbonnier/Olivier Bausset, 7, 4 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. NED, Sven Coster/Kalle Coster, 2, 12 5. ESP, Onan Barreiros/Aaron Sarmiento, 12, 7 470 Women 1. AUS, Elise Rechichi/Tessa Parkinson, 8, 3 2. NED, Marcelien De Koning/Lobke Berkhout, 6, 4 3. BRA, Fernanda Oliveira/Isabel Swan, 20, 7** ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. ISR, Nike Kornecki/Vered Buskila, 10, 16 5. ITA, Giulia Conti/Giovanna Micol, 2, 2 ** Did not attend 2008 Worlds. Position was from 2007 Worlds. Finn 1. GBR, Ben Ainslie, 28, 1 2. USA, Zach Railey, 11, 28 3. FRA, Guillaume Florent, 23, 21 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. SWE, Daniel Birgmark, 7, 17 5. CAN, Christopher Cook, 10, 6 Yngling 1. GBR, Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson, 1, 1 2. NED, Mandy Mulder/Annemieke Bes/Merel Witteveen, 4, 13 3. GRE, Sofia Bekatorou/Sofia Papadopoulou/Virginia Kravarioti, 12, 14 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. GER,Ulrike Schuemann/Ute Hoepfner/Julia Bleck, 2, 3 5. FRA, Anne Le Helley/Catherine Lepesant/Julie Gerecht, 16, 12 49er 1. DEN, Jonas Warrer/Martin Kirketerp Ibsen, 3, 8 2. ESP, Iker Martinez de Lizarduy/Xabier Fernandez Gaztañaga, 1, 7 3. GER, Jan-Peter Peckolt/Hannes Peckolt, 7, 6 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. ITA, Pietro Sibello/Gianfranco Sibello, 2, 4 5. AUS, Nathan Outteridge/Ben Austin, 6, 1 => Curmudgeon’s Comment: One last thing we learned was that when the ISAF website was redesigned since the 2004 Games, all the links from past events are dead. The ISAF website lists medal winning countries and sailors from past Olympics, but we could not find a complete list of past competitors. From the information available, we saw that 8 of the 33 medals earned in 2008 were by sailors who had also medaled in 2004. Here is the link for the ISAF rankings: http://www.sailing.org/events&rankings.php 13 OLYMPIC MEDALS + J/22 WORLD CHAMPION = NORTH POWER Congratulations to the 13 medalists in Qingdao who were powered by North sails. We salute your hard work and dedication to get to the Games and are proud of your outstanding accomplishments. Congratulations also to North Sails' Greg Fisher on winning the J/22 Worlds this past weekend in Rochester, NY. Seven of the top ten boats were powered by North. When performance matters, head North: http://www.northsails.com GUEST COMMENTARY - THE OLYMPIC 49ER MEDAL RACE by Charley Cook, Principal Race Officer, 2008 Olympic sailing events Much has been written about the 49er Medal Race. A lot of what I've read is simply wrong. I'll address two issues: the conditions, and the arbitration brought by Italy and Spain. The conditions weren't nearly as extreme as has been reported. At the start the race committee measured 18 knots. We saw a maximum of 22 knots. The time weighted average was 19 knots. This is well within the limits publicly announced by ISAF in October 2007. The 49er class President was on venue. A former 49er class Race Manager was on the race management team for the Medal Race. Both agreed that the class would have conducted racing in those conditions at a class championship. Two boats failed to finish. One of those because it suffered a broken mast; a common occurrence in the class. Two teams requested redress, claiming that the race should not have been conducted in the conditions. One was Denmark (for reasons that will be clear as you read this). At the hearing virtually every team acknowledged that the conditions were challenging, but within reasonable limits. Many teams indicated that the problem was that they'd all lost weight for the expected light air conditions and hadn't practiced much in conditions like the Medal Race. One of the unhappy teams had been seen on the race course sitting on the bottom of their upside down boat. Two separate jury boats and one race committee boat offered assistance. The same response was given - the team was waiting for the time limit to expire and said it wanted a jury hearing. -- Read on, and post comments here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6288 ANNOUNCING NEW YORK YACHT CLUB WORLD INVITATIONAL CUP New York, NY – (August 25, 2008) – New York Yacht Club (NYYC) Commodore Charles H. Townsend announced today the inaugural New York Yacht Club World Invitational Cup, an invitational fleet-racing regatta. Its essence is to bring together amateur yacht-club teams to compete against teams from around the world. The sailing will be tough and demanding, allowing each club to demonstrate the skills of its top sailors. Commodore Townsend remarked, “This event will once again bring the Corinthian spirit to the forefront of the sport, and enable us to share the excitement of sailing on the waters of Rhode Island Sound.” Invitations have been sent to many of the world’s most prominent yacht clubs to compete in this first biennial event, to be held September 15-19, 2009 at Harbour Court, the NYYC’s on-the-water clubhouse in Newport, RI. Racing on Rhode Island Sound will utilize the newly developed NYYC Swan 42 fleet. “We expect the New York Yacht Club World Invitational Cup to be a friendly competition between the world’s most prominent yacht clubs,” said Commodore Townsend. Full details can be found at http://www.nyyc.org/worldinvitationalcup => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Among the 26 invited clubs, we noted that the defending America’s Cup club, Societe Nautique de Geneve, was on the list, but somehow their preferred Challenger of Record, Club Nautico Español de Vela (CNEV), did not make the cut. WHAT IS E-10 GASOLINE AND WHAT ARE THE ISSUES E10, Is a gasoline blended with up to 10 % ethanol alcohol and is now in widespread use in the U.S. Ethanol, ethyl alcohol, is made from corn, sugar and other grains. E-10's use in boats is State dependant. On the East Coast, MD and VA and points north use E-10 while NC uses pure gasoline. On the West Coast, Hawaii uses E-10 while the Midwest has been using E-10 for over a decade. The main issues with E-10 are: 1. The biggest concern is the level of Ethanol in your gas. Outboard motors and gas engines are now warranted by the engine manufacturers to use E-10. However, more than 10% can be dangerous to your engine. When you fill up ask what you are getting. 2. Ethanol attracts water. The water will drop out of the Fuel and settle at the bottom of the tank, taking the ethanol with it. If the water does not get to the height of the pickup you may not have problems. However when it gets rough, the water gets bounced around and gets sucked up into the engine, now you have a problem. 3. Ethanol is a excellent solvent, which means it will dissolve many particles and contaminants in your tank and even the tank itself if its fiberglass. These dissolved particles can find their way to your engine. The answer here is to use a 10 micron fuel filter and check with your engine manufacturer for recommendations. Older Fiberglass tanks can be a problem. If you suspect your old tanks you may be better off replacing them. 4, Due to its solvent nature Ethanol can eat away fuel system parts. However since the introduction of E-10, motor manufacturers have come to address these issues. The solvent issues have been addressed by making the fuel system alcohol proof. New engines are now E-10 ready. 5. In most states (not all) it’s required by law that pumps pumping E-10 must be labeled. Additional information on the subject can be found here: http://myboatsgear.com/newsletter/2007620.asp MELGES 20 SIGHTINGS The Melges 20 will be going through the paces in San Francisco Bay this upcoming weekend. The new and modern sportboat plans to jet around from Friday through Monday. The new Melges 20 will also be seen at the Newport, Rhode Island Boat Show and then again at the Annapolis Boat Show. Don't miss out on the first peek! – http://www.melges20.com FORMER MOUNTIE GEARING UP FOR GRUELLING SAILING RACE The first time he raced a sailboat around the planet, Derek Hatfield was nearly killed when a vicious storm sheared off his mast and tossed his boat, the Spirit of Canada, like a helpless cork in the lethal seas off Cape Horn. Hatfield survived the storm, repaired his boat in an Argentine port, and finished the Around Alone race against all odds in 2003. Now the former Mountie is back with a bigger, faster boat, preparing for an even greater challenge. He is the lone Canadian entrant in the 2008 Vendee Globe, competitive sailing's toughest race and arguably the most difficult sporting event in the world. While the 2003 Around Alone took place in stages - allowing sailors three rest-and-repair stops as they circumnavigated the globe -_the Vendee is a non-stop affair in which skippers must race single-handed around the world without pause or outside assistance. Starting in November from the French port of Sables d'Olonne, Hatfield and 29 other elite, somewhat zany skippers will race down the Atlantic, across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, around Cape Horn and back up the Atlantic to France. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/5kd76r SAILING SHORTS * San Francisco, CA (August 24, 2008) - The 2008 J/105 North Americans attracted thirty-six entrants for the four day, 10 race event on August 21-24. The California presence was dominant amid the fleet, with only three boats crossing state lines to see the dominant performance of Donkey Jack , where the team of Scott Sellers, Rolf Kaiser, Eric Ryan, Geoff McDonald, Cam Geer and Ted Conrads annihilated the rest of the fleet by eeking out a 23 point lead over Good Timin (Dave Wilson/Chris Perkins) on 45 points. -- Daily reports, results, and video at http://j105.org/NAC2008/commentary.php * Newport, RI (August 24, 2008) - After seven tight races in Rhode Island Sound and Narragansett Bay, Deneen Demourkas’ Groovederci showed superb speed and consistency in capturing the crown of M 30 North American Champion for 2008. The team from Santa Barbara, CA finished six points ahead of John Podmajersy’s Illusion in second, who was tied in points with third place Bodo & Nick von der Wense’s Turbo Duck. – Daily reports and results: http://mumm30.org/content/view/190/1 * The International 14 North American Championship was held Friday through Sunday in Newport, RI. Defending NA Champion Andrew Yates and current Pac-Rim champion Kris Bundy battled it out against 14 other boats from San Diego, Seattle, Toronto, and Ottawa, as well as CT, RI, and MA. Bundy, with crew Fritz Lanzinger, won by six points over Yates and crew John Curtis. -- Results: http://nsf.skiffsailing.us/regattas/results.html * Port Washington, NY (August 24, 2008) - Takumi Nakamura, Albatross Match Racing Team (JAP) has won the 2008 Knickebocker Cup and secured an invitation to the prestigious Bermuda Gold Cup, a grade 1 match racing event that is part of the World Match Racing Tour. Nakamura, with crew Norio Igea, Nathan Hollerbach and Tetsuya Sasaki, won every Cup match except for one on the first day of racing. Rounding out the top teams were Sergey Musikhin (RUS), followed by Keith Swinton, Black Swan match Racing (AUS), and Chris Van Tol, Van Tol Match Racing Team (USA). -- Daily reports: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6280 * Long Beach, CA - The Mercury class has held a National Championship every year since 1947, and last weekend there were 22 entrants at the annual event, hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. Chris Raab and Kenny Dair won the Nationals for the second year in a row, with Kevin and Cathy McCarthy earning Silver Fleet honors. Also notable among the entrants was the team of Tom Priest and Bob Burns in 17th place, proudly representing Scuttlebutt Sailing Club. -- Results: http://www.abyc.org/upload/2008-Mercury_Class_Championship.html * The iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series arrives in Kiel, Germany August 29-31 for the fourth event of the five regatta series. After 45 races there is just one point separating TEAMORIGIN (GBR), skippered by Rob Greenhalgh, from Ed Baird, skipper of Alinghi (SUI), who has won the past two events. Ten Extreme 40s will be racing at Kiel, including leg one winner double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson on JPMorgan Asset Management. The fifth and final event of the 2008 season will be held in Netherlands, Amsterdam on September 19-21. -- Event site: http://www.isharescup.com TAKING YOUR GAME TO A HIGHER LEVEL Owners in elite racing classes like the Farr 40, Melges 32, Mumm 30, NY 42 and others are learning the genuine value of engaging a team coach to help them reach their goals. Your program can grow with help from Shore Coaching. http://www.ShoreCoaching.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 T.J. Perrotti: As I read the 'butt 2667 story describing how Formula One wants "absolutely no 'contamination' of its product by associating with the America's Cup teams," the lyrics of the "Talking Heads" and their "Psycho Killer" song began ringing in my head, and likewise in the heads of many, many potential future Cup sponsors: "Run, run, run ... RUN AWAY!" Very telling... * From Eric A Sorensen: The new 90'x90' trimaran built in Anacortes is less than a mile from my slip while it is on the hard. As a result, everyone in the Anacortes area associated with sailing has an interest in the new boat. The photos reveal a boat unlike anything in the area. Yes, we do have 100'+ boats, and trimarans and cats but this boat is in a league of its own. Our little Fildago Bay, while 2+ miles across, is a bit smallish looking for a testing ground for Oracle's latest phenom. Likely, they will be dragging it or sailing it out to mess about in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Just where would this 'Darth Vader' looking boat end up if the AC cup stays with CNEV? Would someone buy it to vie for line honors on Puget Sound? Is there a fleet of this size somewhere? It seems a bit small for round the world racing and yet it is too big for most other venues. If looks count for speed, this thing will be in first place! Reality might rear its head when it goes looking for competition. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: If I was Alinghi, after taking a look at the slender hulls of the BMW Oracle Racing trimaran, I would oblige the Deed of Gift challenge, and set the race course in the Southern Ocean. Note the comparison with IDEC, the triamaran Francis Joyon sailed to gain the solo elapsed world record: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/08/trimaran-design.html * From Rob Brodsky, Houston, TX: I've read the tale. It is heartwarming that the Croatian 49er team offered their boat to the Danes to help them make the start of the medal race by 4 seconds. That's wonderful, but it's not sportsmanship. If the Croatian team had been IN the medal race or perhaps even in medal contention and given up their opportunity to race, then THAT would have been sportsmanship. Instead, the Danish team got a mulligan -- as in a free additional shot with no penalty. No other team got a mulligan. None of the teams that crashed and were unable to finish got to restart. If they had broken their mast before any other race they would not have been able to get a gift boat. It was unfortunate. They busted their boat right before the final race. That's sports. Nothing against the Danish team -- they obviously were very good and should have won the gold. But take a look at all of the other Olympic competitors that should have won gold but for a mishap -- such as the track teams that dropped the batons or the leading woman hurdler who hit the second to last hurdle and finished 7th. The Danes were handed a gift. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The reason I’m smiling is because I can’t hear a word you’re saying. Special thanks to North Sails, Melges Performance Sailboats, and Shore Coaching. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
