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SCUTTLEBUTT 2327 - April 20, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). WIND REMAINS ON SIESTA Valencia, 19 April, 2007 - Conditions on Day 4 proved unsuitable for racing again at the Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia. Four consecutive days of racing have now had to be postponed due to the wind never having been strong and stable enough to start a match. On Thursday, there were moments in the afternoon when it appeared as if the wind gods would smile on the competitors and provide enough of a sea breeze for racing. But conditions were never stable across the race areas for a long enough time to start a race. In fact, measurements from the race course areas rarely showed the wind breaking through the minimum required 7 knot barrier. Flights 1 to 8 of Round Robin One have now all been pushed onto reserve days or deeper into the schedule. On Friday, the first reserve day of Round Robin One, Flights 1 and 2, which were lost on Monday, are scheduled to be raced. -- http://www.americascup.com/en Flight 1 1. Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team vs. Emirates Team New Zealand 2. +39 Challenge vs. Areva Challenge 4. United Internet Team Germany vs. BMW Oracle Racing 5. Team Shosholoza vs. Victory Challenge 6. China Team vs. Luna Rossa Challenge Bye - Desafío Español 2007 Flight 2 1. Desafío Español 2007 vs. +39 Challenge 2. Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team vs. Areva Challenge 3. United Internet Team Germany vs. Team Shosholoza 4. China Team vs. BMW Oracle Racing 5. Victory Challenge vs. Luna Rossa Challenge Bye - Emirates Team New Zealand Complete race schedule: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php * Things are apparently pretty dire on BMW Oracle Racing's USA-98. "We have run out of stories," said BMW Oracle Racing sailing manager Craig Monk in a team e-mail. "We need new material. We might have to start rotating the crew if this goes on much longer." It's a little better onboard Emirates Team New Zealand. "Surprisingly enough there are still some stories coming up, it's a little bit more stretches of a version of something we heard a year ago or two years ago, but you would never let the truth get in the way of a good story," said ETNZ tactician Terry Hutchinson. -- Sailing World, http://tinyurl.com/yrpojc * The America's Cup, with its high-end fan demographics and its complicated system of preliminary fleet racing, round-robin duels and one-on-one finals, is trying to increase its appeal to broadcasters, whose nightmares are made of placid days like these. In one of the bigger television markets, German broadcasters have pulled the plug when all that was available were scenes of sailors sunbathing under blue parasols and race boat officials dancing in wigs and hula skirts to cheer up the crews. The Versus network in the United States was planning on airing nightly Cup coverage during breaks in the National Hockey League finals. But with the most exciting footage showing sailors munching sandwiches and tossing fishing lines overboard, the network is not showing anything, according to Katie Bradshaw, a spokeswoman for the channel. -- International Herald Tribune, http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/sports/SAIL.php * The weather outlook for Day 5 on Friday calls for light northerlies, sunny and dry skies at 19 degrees C. For those paying attention, this forecast is not significantly different from those of the previous 4 days. DONE WRONG After 4 days of postponements, and seeing countless photos of high-priced America’s Cup talent sitting all day under cockpit biminis, lounging in the stern cut out, or napping on the foredeck, it makes you wonder why it is done this way. How come these teams don’t side-tie to some sort of floating compound – like a sweet 100+ foot yacht – and wait there? Set-up some work stations, get indoors and away from the sun, maybe even a conference room with a projector. SAIL scribe Kimball Livingston posed this question to Johan Barne, navigator for Sweden's Victory Challenge, who replied, "There's no rule that requires the crew to stay on the raceboats while we're waiting for wind, but that's how we do it. We're a team. We can't afford to stop thinking about what we're there for, and everybody wants to be ready to go in minutes if something happens." There’s got to be a better way. How about when the postponement flag drops, you have the back-ups on the boat, they raise the sails while the first string finishes their final debrief? Now that’s a team! -- Scuttleblog, http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2007/04/done-wrong.html DISCOVER INNOVATION THAT NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE Discover the New Atlantis WeatherGear. http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com Curmudgeon’s Comment: The Sailing World website has a story on the resurrection of this brand, which was once very prominent sailing gear in the US, and now with new ownership and energy, is eager to become a leader again: http://tinyurl.com/yp46v9 A CIVILIZED RUN (April 19, 2007 - An update from the speed merchants in Walvis Bay, Namibia as they work to break the world speed record) Just got in from another session and am happy to report that SailRocket behaved herself quite nicely. I sailed a little more conservatively and gave her plenty of 'eased-out' time to warm up to speed. I felt under full control at all times. As we approached 30 knots she began to feel a little loose. The rudder was very neutral and the craft was super responsive to input in both directions. It was as if it had been raked forward too much. I didn't sheet in any more and decided to bail out of the run. I wanted to go back and do another one. For the second one I was going to focus on changing to the smaller rudder at around 25 knots. The wind had built by the time we got half way back up the course and we decided to hold on another run. It was over 20 knots and felt like building. We bumped home across a very choppy lagoon. the beam flap cops a hard time in choppy seas. So we hit 29. something knots but we were very stable and safe. We have made a few mods to the boat and need to check them out one by one. All the data is being downloaded as are the vids. Yep, it was nice to have such a civilised run. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/yoxobg NORTH AMERICA’S BIGGEST EVER The 2007 ISAF Youth Worlds is set to be the biggest-ever in North America, which will be held in Kingston, Ontario, Canada at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour July 12-21. Fifty nations coming from every continent will vie for medals in the seven events, including the boy’s one person Laser event with the largest fleet of 39 competitors, and the multihull open Hobie 16 fleet which features its biggest-ever entry, with 15 crews registered to take part. Countries will also compete for the Volvo Trophy, awarded annually to the top-performing nation at the Youth Worlds. Italy is the current holder, with France being the most successful nation through the 37 year history of the Championship, winning a record nine occasions and topping the medal table with 17 gold, 25 silver and 13 bronze medals. Through the funding support of the ISAF Athlete Participation Programme (APP), 17 sailors from nine nations have been assisted to compete at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. St Lucia and Paraguay will be represented for the first time ever at the Youth Worlds thanks to the support of the programme, whilst Barbados make only their second ever appearance, and the British Virgin Islands and Colombia, only their third ever. Past notable winners include American’s Cup skippers, Chris Dixon (NZL), Russell Coutts (NZL), Dean Barker (NZL); Olympic medallists, Robert Scheidt (BRA), Amelie Lux (GER), Ben Ainslie (GBR), Nick Rogers (GBR) and Siren Sundby (NOR); Volvo Ocean Race sailors Stuart Bannatyne (NZL). The most successful ISAF Youth World Champions are Great Britain’s Sally Cuthbert and Poland’s Zofia Klepacka having won four successive titles in the Laser II and Mistral respectively. -- http://youthworlds2007.org HIGH DRAMA – GOOD THEATRE Too bad the Velux 5 Oceans is such a long race, for if they could condense all the drama that has occurred, it would make for good television. Here is the latest: * The run of bad luck continues for Graham Dalton who has been forced to make another pit stop in the second leg of the Velux 5 Oceans, this time in Bermuda, where he has officially suspended racing at Thursday morning. Dalton not only has problems with his autopilot systems, but also ended up with a shredded genoa and a bruised body after battling through tough conditions with 35-45 knots of wind, gusting 50 knots. Dalton must respect a 48 hour time penalty in Bermuda for receiving assistance before continuing towards the finish in Norfolk, VA, meaning he can re-commence racing at 07:00 local time on Saturday April 21. Under race rules, Dalton must finish by 12:20 local time on Sunday April 22, as skippers are required to spend a mandatory 72 hours in a host port and then re-commence racing on the next leg within 7 days of the official re-start. * Along on Leg 3, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston has reported a mystery leak on Saga Insurance in the sail locker, which extends from the mast bulkhead - directly below the mast - to the crash bulkhead aft of the bow. Accessible via a small, round hatch on the foredeck and an equally small hatch in the mast bulkhead, it is a dark, airless compartment, short of hand holds and not a good place to linger when the boat is slamming through the ocean. Knox-Johnston now faces the arduous task of emptying water from the sail locker and he will spend long hours shifting sails stored below, tracing the leak and wedged in the foredeck hatch emptying buckets over the side. His decision to sail off the wind will at least mean he has limited the slamming motion of Saga Insurance to speed this operation. -- Event website: http://www.velux5oceans.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK With the lack of wind this week in Valencia, we will supplement our America's Cup diet by profiling the latest Virtual Skipper video game that will soon be released. The animation and graphics of VS5 are quite real, and if the actual racing is half as cool as this 1:40 minute preview, the wait for the real thing will be worth it. 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/07/0416 SAILING SHORTS * Jacksonville, FL - April 19, 2007 - Thirty-four teams from around the country enjoyed comfortable temperatures on Day 1 of the J/24 US National Championships, where conditions on the St. Johns River saw winds ranging from 8-10 knots during the first two races, later decreasing to between 2-3 knots and shifty conditions for the third and final race of the day. Preliminary results indicate that St. Augustine's Dan Borrer is in first place, with Connecticut's Doug Clark on Flying Squirrel in second place and Mark Hillman's Work in Progress from Maryland in third place. – Results: http://www.j24nationals.com/results.php * (April 19, 2007) OC Events have officially announced today that there will be a 2008 edition of The Transat, formerly the OSTAR, the first ever single-handed ocean race that began in 1960. The Transat 2008 is the 13th edition of the 2,800-mile race, and it will run in May from a UK port and finish at a North American port. A number of city bids are under consideration, and in particular in the UK the shortlist has been narrowed down to two - including Plymouth. The Notice of Race will be published next month, defining the invited classes, exact course, dates, and conditions. -- http://www.thetransat.com * This week on the Volvo Sailing Podcast they talk to one of the candidates for the title 'First Lady of Sailing' - Belgium's Carolijn Bouwer. They also chat with America's Cup website editor Peter Rusch about a wind-free Valencia for the start of the Louis Vuitton round robin series, and discuss how the Volvo Ocean Race ensured it will be stopping off in China for the 08/09 event. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org/podcast * Mick Cookson of Cookson Boats Ltd. has been awarded an Honorary Bachelor of Applied Technology from Unitec in New Zealand. Unitec Programme Director Laurie Richardson said Cookson was a worthy recipient because he has built an internationally renowned business that reflects his commitment to quality and innovation. -- IBI Magazine, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2xvxjo * Correction: This week’s Harken ad promoting an interview on their website with Howie Hamlin mistakenly called Howie an “ex-surfer,” which caused a good laugh amongst those that know him. Says Howie, “I typically surf every morning before work. And yes, my surfboard is always in the car.” If you missed the interview, here is the link: http://www.harken.com/sailing/howardhamlin.php SPRING IS UPON US! New sails & rigging, a refinished bottom? It’s that time again, to start thinking about improvements to enhance your boats’ performance for the 2007 sailing season. How about your instrument system? Imagine the advantage of upgrading your older Ockam system to take advantage of the latest and most advanced technology available. Since backward/ forward compatibility is a mainstay of Ockam’s design, it’s easy with our trade-up program. We are the only brand to offer trade-in credit for your existing components towards your upgrade. Ockam’s proven performance means your race winning decisions will be more reliable than ever! Contact Ockam: mailto:sales@ockam.com 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 Paul LaMarche: Having just retuned from Valencia and the final of Act 13, I found the city to be just fine. My wife, 13 year old son, and myself stayed at a small quaint hotel near the train station. We bussed to and from the Cup site and walk all over the area, including going out for tradition late night dining, as late as 10pm. We never experience any problems and yes there are some “smells” from the ground but I have experienced the same in American cities. I would encourage anyone considering going to not be put off by bad reports. Our contact with locals, including the police for directions, was all very positive. As anywhere, be it NYC, SF, LA, Seattle or Valencia cautions do apply. * From John Rousmaniere: The longest stretch of tedium in Cup history was the period off New York in October 1899 when J.P. and E.D. Morgan's Columbia and Sir Thomas Lipton's first Shamrock were unable to get a single finished race in seven tries over 13 days. Twice the fog was so thick that the boats never even left the harbor. The frustration finally ended on day 14, and Columbia won race 1. Shamrock dropped out of race 2 with a broken topmast. After another abandonment (number four) there came a crisp, fresh northeast wind. Charlie Barr and Columbia overtook Shamrock on the run and went on to win race 3 and the match on its 17th day. While such misery may seem unbearable at the time, people somehow get over it. Recall the name of the Cup's only five-time challenger -- Sir Thomas Lipton. * From Paul Jacobs, Saunderstown, RI: I find it interesting that the 11 IACC boats entered in the Louis Vuitton series, and manned by arguably many of the best sailors in the world, cannot race in less than 7 knots of breeze. Meanwhile, we 'ordinary' sailors often find ourselves bunched on the lee rail trying to coax some sail shape and a glimmer of boatspeed in local races where the wind speed is less than two knots! The argument is made that these races are too important to be sailed in conditions that amount to a crap shoot. Funny, I thought sailing was all about dealing with the wind and sea conditions that exist. Curmudgeon’s Comment: The competitors have picked a comfort level of around 7 to 23 knots, and that’s how they prefer to play “their” game. As one insider remarked to me, “I've learned over my involvement with the Cup that a lot of what goes on makes little sense to anyone, including those of us on the ‘inside’. It's part of the event's charm, in a warped kind of way.” * From Alfred Poor: Regarding Alex Arnold's question (in Issue 2326) about why we, U.S. taxpayers, should foot the bill for 1.2 million USD for slips in Clearwater, FL or any other locality for that matter. And why should any government agency give tax relief to factories, or pay other bonuses to bring business to an area? It's not to give a windfall to some huge corporation; ostensibly, it's to create jobs. I'm a long-time separated from my Economics 101 course and its ‘guns-and-butter’ curves, but I do recall something about a multiplier effect. A quick review (thanks to Wikipedia) reminds me that a dollar spent can turn into $4 in growth to the local economy. In the case of slips, the eventual growth will be even greater because there will be ongoing revenue from the slips, plus the slip holders will be buying meals, supplies, and services in the area, where each dollar can grow to $4 more. And everyone along the chain will also be paying taxes of all sorts, which eventually will pay back the government for the initial investment, and then some. My grasp of economics is too frail to defend the concepts, but I have to admit that they make good sense to me. * From Doran Cushing, St. Petersburg, FL: Alex, Alex, Alex...get a grip on reality. Our federal government, and state governments, and local governments, spend a kazillion dollars each day on stuff that doesn't work, doesn't matter except to a privileged few, and does nothing to improve the quality of life in America. The $1.2 million will work, will matter, and does much to sustain a lifestyle that has nothing to do with guns, drugs, racism, and a long list of ailments in our American society. In reality, the public access to waterfront (docks, beaches, ramps, parks, etc.) is vital to the economy and the proper/protected use of our environment. Massive condos and gated communities disrupt all elements of life except for a privileged minority. The Florida Keys may soon have a "no entry" gate at Homestead except for the mega-rich. An active waterfront creates jobs, creates stability, and enhances the overall value of the community. Look how Chicago has done just that on Lake Michigan...it's a living, public-friendly marvel. The marine industry brings in more money to Florida than citrus and cruise ships combined. It's your choice to feel good supporting war and greed. I prefer to support a more peaceful approach to life and living. * From Bill Pearson: Good comments from Elaine Bunting (in Issue 2325); I also have been thinking about this for some time now. It seems to me that entire sails should be radar reflectors. With the manufacturing techniques used for 3DL sails in particular, but I think modern "string sails" in general, we could put nearly any material into a sail during its manufacture. For instance, we could lay down yarn into the sail that had a metal coating on it, or sandwich in a metalized film. If someone led the charge on testing and evaluating reflectors, North might be willing to make up sail laminate samples with different materials to try and figure out what, if anything, might work inside a sail to increase a yachts radar footprint. CURMUDGEON’S COUNSEL Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is. Special thanks to Atlantis WeatherGear and Ockam Instruments. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
