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SCUTTLEBUTT 2156 - August 10, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.HE'S FOUND HIS NICHE Newport Beach, Calif. -- In the 37 years he's been handcrafting miniature sailboats and powerboats, Ken Gardiner has never staked his name on promptness. Instead, he gambles that a quality product alone will keep his boat-building business afloat. "I've had a backlog my whole life. I've never caught up," says Gardiner, a 58-year-old Newport Beach resident with a salty-dog beard and leather sandals. "They order, they wait a couple years, and then they get their model," he says. "And they scream and yell the whole time." The customers may be loud, but they're also loyal. Gardiner has taken out just three ads during his entire career, but devotes half an office wall to storing some 100 backlogged orders. Many are repeat customers, Gardiner says. What keeps them coming back? Could be that Gardiner is the only game in town. His models are no $19.95 hobby-shop toys. These are custom sculptures mounted on varnished teak and displayed behind glass. These are precisely scaled replicas for which full models can run $15,000. "There's only about four of us that do it in the whole world," Gardiner says. What exactly is it that he does? "I build toys for the rich." The list of patrons includes Roy Disney, Donald Trump and publishing magnate Nelson Doubleday Jr. They have yachts docked in distant vacation spots and want to display mock-ups of their prized vessels in their homes or offices, Gardiner says. Oil tycoon Howard Keck ordered Gardiner's career crown jewel, a 4-foot-long, $58,000 model with a hand-laid teak deck and fiber-optic lights. Sailor Dennis Conner commissioned models of more than five dozen championship America's Cup boats, a collection now valued at $3 million. "His clientele is the Who's Who of the Forbes 400," says David Muller, executive director of the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, where several of Gardiner's models are displayed. -- Jeff Overley, Orange County Register, full story: http://tinyurl.com/h2cca INSTILLING PASSION Six years old, and the world is a gauzy fog -- that haze of new impressions and happy surprises, like snack time at summer sailing school, when quiet Kate Riley opens her Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox and shouts, "Look!" She's tearing the wrapper off a chocolate wafer. "There's two !" Six years old, and Katherine Bennett must bring to sailing school at one of Annapolis's most serious racing clubs her sleepy baby doll, complete with pacifier and rosebud nightgown. Six years old, and as the sailing instructor introduces the mainsheet, boom vang and sprit halyard, J.T. Dolan crouches three inches from the ground and interrupts, "I'm sitting like this because I don't want to get my bottom dirty." He enunciates "bottom" more than he pronounces it, giving it two precise syllables and a sharp "t." In theory, the 10 kids in this week-long Harbor Rookie class have come to learn about sailing -- the "safety position" and "irons" and how in an emergency it's "tiller toward trouble." But what the instructors really hope to instill is passion. And early on Day 1, as these 6- and 7-year-olds acclimate to this strange new experience, they certainly sound fired up. -- Brief excerpt from a story by Darragh Johnson, Washington Post. Full story: http://tinyurl.com/h5v35 SURPRISE Roy E. Disney joined the action in tryouts for his documentary film project Wednesday and got more than his feet wet. After riding along for a few keenly competitive races on one of the four Catalina 37s the 30 finalist are sailing this week, Disney was attempting to transfer from the sailboat to his powered chase boat in lumpy seas and 18 knots of breeze when the boats suddenly separated---and in he went. "I think it's a first," said the man who has been a racing and cruising sailor most of his life. "I was surprised how warm the water was." John Romanko, 19, of Vancouver, B.C., one of the candidates for the team that will sail the Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii next summer, saw Disney in the water and immediately leaped in to assist him. But Disney, 76, was in the water for no more than a minute and required no medical assistance later except for a cut on the palm of his right hand where he had grabbed a lifeline. Coincidentally, with cameras recording their every move, the young sailors had been practicing man-overboard rescue drills all week, including a surprise session a day earlier when the selection committee representative on each boat suddenly jumped overboard to see how the candidates would respond. They did well, but Wednesday's event caught one and all by surprise---and will likely to wind up on the cutting room floor. The finalists sail once more Thursday and learn Friday who made the cut. -- Rich Roberts, http://www.pacifichighproductions.com/ Curmudgeon's Comment: I'd be a bit surprised if today's hero, John Romanko, didn't make the cut. ULLMAN SAILS POWER 2006 CAL 25 NATIONAL CHAMPION Congratulations to Jane and Steve Horst, and crew on winning the 2006 Cal 25 National Championship on "Jane's Addition." Said Steve, "We raced with a fresh set of Ullman Sails, using FiberPath technology and a Spinnaker that was brand new, never flown till that Saturday." Jane deserves special mention for driving the Cal 25 with badly bruised ribs from a Wet Wednesday mishap!! Again, a National Champion chose Ullman Sails' speed advantage for the ultimate performance. If you and your crew are ready for the "Fastest Sails on the Planet," contact your nearest Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com GOING TO CHINA Exactly two years before the 2008 Olympic Games, thirty-four top-ranked members of the US Sailing Team (USST) will get a taste of Olympic competition at The Good Luck Beijing - 2006 Qingdao International Regatta, held from August 18-31. Ranked a Grade 2 event by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the 2006 Qingdao International Regatta is expected to draw more than 466 sailors and 302 boats from 41 countries and regions. The US Sailing Team members who will compete in the 2006 QingdaoInternational Regatta are: Finn (Heavyweight Dinghy): . Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) . Darrell Peck (Gresham, Ore.) 470 Men (Men's Two Person Dinghy): . Mikee Anderson-Mitterling (Coronado, Calif.) and David Hughes (San Diego, Calif.) . Stuart McNay (Boston, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.) 470 Women (Women's Two Person Dinghy): . Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (Harvey Cedars, N.J.) . Evan Brown and Caroline Young (Tampa, Fla.) 49er (Skiff): . Dalton Bergan (Seattle, Wash.) and Zachary Maxam (Coronado, Calif.) Laser (Men's One Person Dinghy): . Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) . Brad Funk (Clearwater, Fla.) Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy): . Anna Tunnicliffe (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) . Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) RS:X Men (Men's Windsurfer): . Benjamin Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.) . Seth Besse (Guilford, Conn.) RS:X Women (Women's Windsurfer): . Nancy Rios (Cocoa, Fla.) . Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) Tornado (Multihull): . John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, Tex.) . Robert Daniel (Clearwater, Fla.) and Enrique Rodriguez (Key Largo, Fla.) Star (Men's Keelboat): . Andy Horton (Newport, R.I.) and Brad Nichol (Lake Sunapee, N.H..) . George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and Eric Monroe (Corona Del Mar, Calif.) Yngling (Women's Keelboat): . Sally Barkow (Chenequa, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Deb Capozzi (Bayview, N.Y.) . Carol Cronin (Jamestown, R.I.), Kim Couranz (Annapolis, Md.), and Margaret Podlich (Annapolis, Md.) Joining the team in China are: Olympic Director and Team Leader Katie Kelly; Olympic Sailing Committee Chairman Dean Brenner; High Performance Director and Head Coach Gary Bodie; Coaches Luther Carpenter, Jay Glaser, Skip Whyte, Mike Wolfs, Kaj Glinkiewicz and James Lyne; Boatwright Donovan Brennan; Medical Staff Shawn Hunt, Mark Kenna and Scott Weiss; Weather Forecaster Jennifer Lilly; and U.S.-China Liaison Dr. David Pan. -- http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/qingdao.htm MORE SUN THAN WIND Marina del Rey, Calif. --- Because of light and shifty conditions on the Santa Monica Bay, only one race was completed on Wednesday in the Laser Radial Youth World Championship Regatta. The female leader - 15 year old Claire Dennis - seemed to revel in the conditions. She scored her third bullet in the five completed race. Her worst race, her throw-out, is only a seventh. The male leader, did less well, but after five races the discard kicked in so he could throw-out the 29th he got on Wednesday and held onto his lead. After five races with one discard, the leaders in the 134-boat youth male fleet are: 1. Guney Kaptan, (TUR) 18 points 2. Kyle Rogachenko, (USA) 20 points 3. Guilherme Barbosa Lima, (BRA) 25 points 4. Jesse Kirkland (BER) 30 points 5. Randy Hartranft (USA) 31 points Female leaders (39 boats): 1. Claire Dennis, (USA) 7 points 2. Susana Romero (ESP) 10 points 3. Allie Blecher, (USA) 14 points 4. Laura Maes, (BEL) 19 points 5. Bodenes, Marion (FRA) 23 points 6. Marit Bouwmeester, (NED) 25 points Complete standings: http://tinyurl.com/kj8ug AFFORDABLE WIRELESS CONTROL Introducing the new Lynx, an affordable wireless remote controller for the Ockam system. Each of the 5 control buttons is capable of being easily programmed to output any Ockam command. You can scroll through the pages on any display, operate the stopwatch or control the lighting to name a few. It's pre-programmed with a MOB function that switches the displays to back range and bearing to the point of activation. Like all Ockam components, the Lynx is designed to be compatible with any Ockam system. Just simply connect it to the existing bus, no additional wiring required. Contact mailto:lat@ockam.com SAILING SHORTS *Fred Strammer (Nokomis, Fla.), Katrina Salk (Miami, Fla.) and Zeke Horowitz (Sarasota, Fla.), have won the U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship and the Sears Cup by only one point over fourteen year old twin brothers Scott and Evan Hoffmann (Escondido, Calif.) and fifteen year old Eric Alamillo (Spring Valley, Calif.). This is the second win for Strammer. Third place went to Blake Griffin/ Kevin Ginnebaugh/ Nick Ridenour (Detroit, MI). Complete results and photos: http://www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/usjr/triple * The 70-boat Lightning Class Association's Atlantic Coast Championships on Barnegat Bay was one hot regatta! Mother Nature decided to do away the typical 10-15 knot South-Easterly sea breeze and replaced it with a very light and variable Westerly breeze. Not only was it hot -- it was buggy. Final results of the five race event: 1. Debbie Probst/ Monica Jones/ Cindy Kelly, 36pts; 2. Jim Crane/ Brenda Crane/ Kelly Crane, 41pts; 3. Allan Terhune/ Katie Terhune/ Dave Perkowski, 46pts; 4. Jody Lutz/ Jason Lutz/ Matt Schon, 62pts; 5, Jeff Linton/ Amy Smith Linton/ Mark Taylor, 64pts. -- http://tinyurl.com/h36dm * Barrett & Randy Sprout have won their fifth Coronado 15 North American Championship in five years at a regatta held at the Yaquina Bay YC in Newport, Oregon. With 15 boats racing 12 races over three days, the father & son team took nine first place finishes and three second place finishes and to score a four point win over David Rumbaugh and his crew Anne Jaeschke. -- Complete results: http://www.yaquinabayyachtclub.org/raceresults.htm * Mark Mendelblatt and Mark Strube's amazing run of consecutive race wins came to an end at Rolex Baltic Week's Star European championship with Hamish Pepper/ Carl Williams (NZL) and Andrew Horton/ Brad Nichol (USA) respectively scoring bullets in races four and five. However, by discarding their fourth race 17th and scoring their seventh place in the firth race, Mendelblatt and Strube still lead the event: 1. Mark Mendelblatt/ Mark Strube (USA) 10pts; 2. Robert Scheidt/ Bruno Prada (BRA) 25pts 3. Andrew Horton/ Brad Nichol (USA) 27pts; 4. Hamish Pepper/ Carl Williams (NZL) 27pts; 5. Diego Negri /Lugi Viale (ITA) 29pts. -- http://www.rolex-baltic-week.com/ * Hunter Marine was awarded a special commendation by the National Water Safety Congress for voluntarily placing carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in the cabins of all its keel boats 25' and larger. Since 2003 when the US Coast Guard began tracking CO as a cause of injury, 58 people have been injured and 10 people have been killed on boats by CO poisoning. It's speculated that many accidents and deaths before then may have actually been caused by CO, but previous were not accurately attributed because of a lack of knowledge regarding the dangers of the odorless and tasteless gas. -- http://www.huntermarine.com WHERE'S VANGUARD SAILBOATS? You can find Vanguard this week sponsoring the Youth Radial World Championship at California Yacht Club, Marina Del Rey, CA, the US Junior Singlehanded and US Junior Doublehanded Championships, sailed in Vanguard Lasers and C420s respectively at the Texas Corinthian YC, Kemah, TX. For results, updates and more visit http://www.teamvanguard.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thought at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Gary Bruner: The article on 'Boating under the Influence' at Seafair reminds me that, two summers ago, I was boarded in BC, Canada by a local law enforcement officer about 1/2 hour after crossing the border. He noticed an opened beer in the cockpit of my sailboat. He set forth to confiscate all the alcohol on the boat because of that "infraction". I pled ignorance (which was true) and swore that I had opened that beer just to accompany my lunch and that it was the ONLY alcohol I had consumed all day! Finally, after scaring the bejeezus out of me and my crew, he relented, let us keep our beer and booze with a stern reminder that the "open container" law is strictly enforced in Canada. Then he told us to enjoy a good Molson's or two while in Canada; just not while underway...... * From George Backhus: My Mt. Gay Rum cap is off to Glenn McCarthy. I think he's spot-on the mark with his idea of assembling a "Committee on Fun." Those of us who are not sufficiently rich, young, fit, talented or otherwise able to race for big bucks and glory in the grand prix circuit, must be content to race or cruise purely for the fun of it. By making our sport more fun and accessible, we will undoubtedly get more people involved. Here's one example: The Ponsonby Cruising Club in Auckland, NZ run a "Rum Race" virtually every Thursday of the year. Anyone who wishes to sail, experienced or not, can get a ride on a race boat by simply rocking up to the Club (It's even published in the NZ "Lonely Planet" under "things to do.") Podium finishing boats win bottles of rum. After the race, everyone is invited to share in the previous week's spoils with a rum or two on one of the boats. It is absolutely free, and I can assure you that it's great fun. Over the years I've watched guys and gals who showed up on a whim evolve into skilled sailors, competitive racers and even racing yacht owners. A few who started here will be racing in the next A-Cup. I can't understand why every yacht and sailing club on the planet isn't doing something like this in an effort to promote the sport and increase its membership. Let me be the first to sign up for the "Committee on Fun!" * From Daria Blackwell: Thank you for running Glenn McCarthy's treatise on putting the 'fun' back into sailing. My husband grew up in Ireland and talks about the great fun regattas were back then and there. Practically every one with a dinghy on up joined in. Every boat took novices along to introduce them to the sport and to create "stories." One visiting friend described it "like sailing in a regatta with the Marx brothers." Glenn's description of the dinghy regatta for keelboat racers had the same sort of flavor. I'm sure it took "big" men and women to take part in something like that. People seem to take themselves very seriously these days. Yet, those were the memorable days. Much like Sail4Kids was for us last weekend. * From Dennis Palmer: I support Glenn McCarthy's guest editorial calling for more fun in sailboat racing. Other communities may want to emulate what is happening is Seattle, where there are races that are just for fun three nights a week, all summer long. The infamous Duck Dodge is on Tuesday nights on Lake Union. No handicaps, no protests. There are theme nights for Duck Dodge: toga night, pirate night, tropical night, etc. The highlight of the race is when 30 to 40 boats raft up to the committee boat for a huge post-race party. On Thursday nights, fun seekers do the Elliott Bay Marina series. Again, no handicaps, no protests. The race starts at 7pm and ends at 8:30pm. If a boat does not finish by 8:30, it gets a DNF. If a boat needs to motor in order to finish on time, that is allowed. The object is to get to the party on time! Prizes are not awarded by finishing time - boat names are drawn out of a hat for some nice goodie bags. Friday nights, a brand new series just started at Shilshole Bay Marina. Again, no handicaps, no protests. Motoring is OK to meet the 8:30 finish time. The post race party features prizes randomly drawn not just for boat owners but for crew also. These races bring out boats and crew that would not normally enter a serious regatta, and some of them catch the bug and are seen in hard core races later. * From Peter T. Johns: Did someone say BBR was not "fun". I can dispel that rumor, I have son sailing a 420 who had a great time. (perhaps the company helped). I saw 120 or so Lasers sailors having a ball on Sunday when the SW finally blew in as advertised in the brochure. The volunteers were even having fun. I even had fun as a Mark boat for the Laser circle. Let's keep our perspective on sailboat racing. * From Bob Austin: One needs to remember that there is no "right of way" under either International Navigation rules or Inland rules (with one exception, Inland Rule 9 a (ii), which refers to downbound vessels on rivers). There are "Stand on" and "Give way" vessel. All vessels, racing or not, are subject to these rules. From the Coast Guard web site on the Navigation rules: "The International Navigation Rules do not confer upon any vessel the right of way however, certain vessels in sight of each other are responsible to keep out of the way of others. Navigation Rules should be regarded as a code of conduct and not a bill of rights. They do not bestow rights or privileges, but impose the duty to either give-way or stand-on, dependent on the circumstances. What is important is not so much what things are, i.e. sailing vessel, operational, etc., but how to avoid collisions, e.g. although under sail yet able to be propelled by machinery, obtaining an early warning by radar, etc. Understand, the Rules are in place to prevent collisions not to define nautical terms or to be subjected to strict interpretation." * From George Bailey: Before foils, some International Moths (Axeman) kept the hulls in the water by using a wing on the rudder. The hull speed was what you would expect planing, but the bottom was not on the surface, but a couple of inches below. The led to a discussion as to whether this was planing or not. It is analogous to what you have with a cat that is far exceeding hull speed but does not have the lewward hull skimming the surface but rather well below. Does this count as planing or what? With foils, one is flying, er foiling, and a whole new set of rules apply. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." -- The Boss Special thanks to Ullman Sails, Ockam Instruments, and Vanguard Sailboats |
