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SCUTTLEBUTT 2135 - July 12, 2006
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,
features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
HE’S BAAAAACK
What if the Immediate Past President of International Sailing Federation,
Paul Henderson, wrote a blueprint on how to cure the ills of North American
yacht racing? Paul Henderson has proven himself more than capable of such a
challenge, and while as he states, he is “too old and carries too much
baggage to lead the charge,” he certainly has some strong ideas. Here are a
few of them:
North American Yacht Racing Union: (NAYRU)
I feel it is essential to revitalize the NAYRU. There are two main reasons:
1) The small boat, one-design, regatta circuit has fallen on difficult times
and must be revitalized if sailing is going to be healthy again. An
organization is needed to encourage clubs to run regattas.
2) All other continents have political structures set up to promote their
interests at ISAF which influences all major decisions, and North America is
not a cohesive lobby group.
Let me expand on the above. With regard to the regatta circuit, the example
to follow is Europe who have promoted one-design events for decades now with
the result that Canada, USA, Bermuda, Mexico, and our friends take our best
young sailors and send them to Europe to compete, which does nothing to
encourage the next generations here. In the 60’s and 70’s when Melges,
North, Ullman, Schoonmaker, the Buchan’s from Seattle, Bertrand, and Cayard
from St. Francis, Connors, Hoyt, Durward Knowles, Barrett, and others of
international prominence came along it was the other way around. Europe came
to North America.
The reason North America is in disarray politically is because of the USA.
The USA is being more and more isolationist because they are told nobody
loves them, which in my opinion is a left -wing conspiracy and not true. As
a Canadian I tell my Yankee friends, especially those in Buffalo and
Rochester, the USA has way more friends than they think. We agree with those
to the South of us in North America about 90% of the time, but 10% we do
not.
- There is plenty more where this came from: http://tinyurl.com/fcl63
SOMETHING NEW EVERY YEAR
The route is always the same -- Port Huron to Mackinac Island. Yet every
year there is something different about the Bacardi Bayview Mackinac race.
"This year we have a Max Z86 racing," said Lance Smotherman, chairman of the
race and a 25-year-veteran of Michigan's sailing community, referring to
this Saturday's race. "It's an 86-foot race boat with all the latest
technology. Everything about it, from its hull design to the composites it
was built from, and the electronics. It's just an awesome machine, an
absolute rocket ship." The sailors in the IRC Class A Division looking to
beat the amazing craft and its skipper -- Doug DeVos of the Macatawa Bay
Yacht Club -- know it will be a fast race. What sailors can't count on is
the weather.
A storm in 1945 wreaked havoc for sailors and only six of 40 boats finished
the race. Last year, during the 81st running of the race, crews enjoyed
sunny skies and strong winds and as a result some of the boats set record
times in their divisions. "Who knows what it will be like this year," said
Bill Wildner of Harrison Township, whose crew shattered a course record last
year with a time of 37 hours, 20 minutes and 34 seconds. "The lake has its
own weather base, and it can be a lot different than the land-based
weather."
What started out as a tradition for 12 boats in 1925 has grown to become the
largest freshwater sporting event in the world. Event organizers said this
year's race features more than 265 boats and 3,000 sailors from all over the
country. By this Wednesday, the Black River will be a sea of masts, sails
and flags. The boats will start leaving the docks around 9 a.m. Saturday for
the first of 16 starts. The race begins at 11:30 a.m., with boats heading
north on Lake Huron. Skippers have the choice of racing the 235-mile
Shoreline Course along Michigan's shoreline, or the 290-mile Southampton
Course, which directs sailors toward Southampton, Ontario, and then to the
finish line at Mackinac Island. - by Gina Joseph, Macomb Daily, full story:
http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/071106/loc_race001.shtml
OPTIMIST NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2006
Amongst the 189 competitors from a record 22 countries, Singapore’s Sean Lee
dominated the Optimist North American Championships in Ponce, Puerto Rico
from start to finish with a near flawless performance. In addition to the
North American countries in Puerto Rico, there was a strong contingent of
teams from South America, with the addition of a team each from Germany, New
Zealand and Singapore. Singapore’s 15 year old Lee proved the star of the
show, scoring eight bullet out of twelve races. With a maximum of two
discards, he finished the championship with a score of 16 points.
'Winning the IODA South American and North American Championships are good
indicators of our intentions to develop the World’s best optimist sailors,'
said Andrew Sanders, Executive Director of Singapore Sailing Federation.
'Optimist is the boat widely used internationally and is a good breeding
ground for future Olympians. It’s been a good week for SingaporeSailing
having won four championships in one week and now another continental
championship. July’s a busy month with our eight strong team about to
commence racing at the ISAF Youth World Championships this week.
Final Results
1. Sean Lee (Singapore)14 pts.
2. Victor Díaz de León (Venezuela) 23
3. Iván Aponte (Puerto Rico) 36
4. Taylor Lutz (USA) 37
5. URU Alejo Morales (Uruguay) 39
13. Diego Reyes (Mexico) 79
151. Tyler Meyrick (Canada) 436
Complete results: http://www.optiworld.org/06namresfinal.pdf
NOT JUST A ANOTHER PRETTY FACE...
What do you get when you cross Nike technology with Quiksilver style? The
answer is Olukai. Unlike any other sandal before it, the premium Olukai
brand footwear provides support like a shoe but with epic styling. Any
serious waterman (or woman) will appreciate the design and ergonomics these
sandals provide, and all with non-marking soles. The full 2006 line will
debut in two weeks, but you can get a sneak peek at the spring/summer 2006
line from these leading retailers: Annapolis-Performance-Sailing
(apsltd.com/sandals) and the Sailing Pro Shop
(sailingproshop.com/olukai.htm). Dealer inquiries invited: (562) 301-8334 or
mailto:OlukaiSandals@aol.com
2006 ICSA HALL OF FAME
Charleston, South Carolina (July 11, 2006) - The Inter-Collegiate Sailing
Association (ICSA) recently acknowledged the contributions of four
individuals to the sport of college sailing by inducting them into the ICSA
Hall of Fame. Karl Kleinschrodt (Mobile, Ala.) received the Student
Leadership Award; Lawrence A. White (Niantic, Conn.) was presented with the
Lifetime Service Award; and Brad Churchill (Boston, Mass.) and Ken Legler
(Redding, Mass.) were recognized for their professional contributions as
coaches. Churchill and Legler are recipients of the Graham Hall Coaching
Award, which was re-dedicated to honor the recently deceased Hall whose
coaching career had spanned four decades - including stints at the U.S.
Naval Academy, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and SUNY Maritime. Hall
coached teams and individuals to ICSA national titles, national and world
championship titles, as well as a number of Olympic and America's Cup
campaigns. In 1969 Hall was one of the inaugural inductees into the ICSA
Hall of Fame. He died in the fall of 2005, less than a year after being
diagnosed with skin cancer. – Complete report:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/0711
WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR
The 5th annual Locman Cup – Elba Island is the eighth and final stage of the
2005-’06 World Match Racing Tour season. Hosted in Porto Azzurro on the
southeast coast of Elba Island, racing is held in the Bay of Porto Azzurro,
which is surrounded by high cliffs to watch the racing. Elba Island is the
largest of the Tuscan Islands and third largest island in Italy after Sicily
and Sardinia. It is located 6.5 miles off Italy’s Western coast.
Peter Gilmour (AUS), skipper of PST, won all of his opening matches and
leads the standings with 4 points on a 4-0 record. Ian Williams (GBR),
Williams Sail Racing, Cameron Dunn (NZL), Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia
Team, are each are 1 point behind with 3-1 records, but Williams holds the
head-to-head tiebreaker against Dunn. Ian Ainslie (RSA), Team Shosholoza,
also has 3 points, but on a 3-2 record.
The day opened with light winds from the southeast, but as Elba Island
heated the wind swung around to the southwest and blew around 12 knots with
gusts topping 15 knots. The professional sailors gave the Solaris 36 ODs a
vigorous workout, with a few collisions resulting. The 100,000€
(approximately $125,000) event runs through Sunday. The winner will be
awarded the Locman Cup and the top team will be awarded the Elba Cup. -
http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/default.asp?m=da&id=38761
Provisional Standings
1. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 4-0
(Crew: Christian Scherrer, Rod Dawson, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Yasuhiro Yaji)
2. Ian Williams (GBR) Williams Sail Racing, 3-1
(Crew: Bill Hardesty, Mark Nicholls, Simon Shaw, Mark Williams)
3. Cameron Dunn (NZL) Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia, 3-1
(Crew: Matteo Auguadro, Maciel Chicchetti, Rasmus Kostner, Chresten Plinius)
4. Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Shosholoza, 3-2
(Crew: Mike Giles, Charles Nankin, David Rae, Mark Sadler)
5. Thierry Peponnet (FRA) Areva Challenge, 2-3
(Crew: Benoit Briand, Tanguy Cariou, Herve Cunningham, Thierry Douillard)
6. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, 1.5-3
(Crew: Johan Backman, Robert Skarp, Carl Uckelstam, Emil Wiberg)
7. Pierre Mas (FRA) China Team, 1-3
(Crew: Xavier Husson, Jeremy Koo, Charles Lim, Wearn Haw Tan)
8. Giovanni Segnini (ITA) Locman Sailing Team, 0-5
(Crew: Leonardo Chiarugi, Giuseppe Lallai, Cesare Landi, Enrico Menno)
SEEKING REPORTERS... AGAIN
In the Tuesday issue, we asked if anyone was interested in writing about the
upcoming Annual West Marine I-LYA Put-in-Bay Regatta in Ohio and the Whidbey
Island Race Week in Washington. We got some great replies, so look for these
scribes to bring home the flavor of these events in the coming weeks. Then
on Tuesday afternoon, Scuttlebutt received a very nice invitation to attend
the Buzzards Bay Regatta in early August. Rather than declining since we
couldn’t be there, we were wondering again if someone might want to be the
Scuttlebutt representative for this event. The regatta organizers promise a
nice ride to view the racing, and will provide lunch, snacks, and beverages
for the three-day event. It sounds like a sweet deal, and we have posted the
invite on Scuttleblog. If you are interested, follow the instructions on the
link and submit your “application”:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2006/07/good-gig.html
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW. . .
The newest boat in the Newport-Bermuda Race, Snow Lion (Ker 50), and one of
the older, Carina, carried Hall seamless carbon spars and both were winners.
Hall Spars & Rigging is the perfect matchmaker, wedding our seamless carbon
spars to your boat for perfect performance harmony. Hall customers won six
Bermuda Race class titles under IRC and ORR. And the honeymoon is just
beginning for the newly launched GP 42 Roma, the Club Swan 42, and the Wally
143. If you’re ready for a serious relationship with high performance, talk
to the experts at Hall. http://www.hallspars.com
SAILING SHORTS
* On Monday, 10 July 2006 at 01:58:00 PDT (23:58:00 GMT) with true wind
speed 32 knots and direction 065 degrees, Japanese sailing yacht, Beecom, a
Reichel-Pugh 72, made her start for a Honolulu – Yokohama record. The
starting line was at Diamond Head; the finishing line is at the Joshima
Lighthouse, Yokohama, Japan. The challenge is intended to set a new WSSRC
crewed monohull special category Transpac record. WSSRC timekeeper, Michael
Roth - a U.S. certified sailing judge - recorded Beecom’s start. -
http://www.superyachting.com
* Thomas Akin's Santa Cruz 52 Lightning has moved into the overall lead at
the halfway point of the 14th Biennial West Marine Pacific Cup, San
Francisco--Kaneohe Race, possibly finishing by early Saturday, July 15.
Leading the doublehanded fleet was Plus Sixteen, an Olsen 911S with Paul
Disario and Tony Porche, with Slim, the J/30 with father and son, Loren and
Mark Mollner, in second. The J/160 JAM reported narrowly avoided a metal
ball that had stubs sticking out of it, looking very much like a floating
mine. They have reported its position to help the fleet avoid it. -
http://www.pacificcup.org/
* The first sail trial of the Club Swan 42 was on June 28-29, sailing from
the Nautor yard in Pietarsaari, Finland. The Club Swan 42 was formed through
a partnership between the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) and Nautor’s Swan,
wherein the New York Yacht Club selected Nautor’s Swan in July 2005 to
produce an international one-design racing class for Corinthian sailing.
* US Sailing Team-member Zach Railey (Clearwater, FL) launches the US
Sailing initiative, with daily audio reports from the Finn Gold Cup in
Split, Croatia, starting July 11. This event is a crucial and competitive
event for Railey, 22, who has been intensely training. "All of the top
sailors will be at the Finn Gold Cup, so it will be a good event to measure
myself," said Railey. "I will be quite disappointed with a finish outside of
my target." To listen to Zach's experiences from the Finn Gold Cup, visit:
http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/audioreports
* North Sails has partnered with Chris Bedford and his talented
meteorological team at Sailing Weather Services to provide one free weather
forecast for the Bayview to Port Huron Mackinac Race (to be sent out on July
14) and daily forecasts for New York Yacht Club Race Week (from July 15-23.)
To sign up, visit North Sails' online weather center:
http://na.northsails.com/ew/ew_main.taf
EXPERIENCED PARENTS REPLY
In the Tuesday Issue of Scuttlebutt (#2135), we sought out advice
“Challenged Father,” who had a 13 year old daughter who had stopped sailing,
but was looking to get back into it this summer for the Nationals. The
problem was that he had given her good sail to her younger sister, who had
made more of a commitment to the sport, and also was planning on sailing in
the Nationals. Worried that the older daughter would not keep sailing after
the Nationals, he wasn’t sure if buying a new sail for her made the most
sense. Here is what the Scuttlebutt community said:
* From Tom Miller: Challenged Father should give Lucy her old sail back and
buy Lisa a new sail. If Lucy becomes inactive again after the Nationals,
Lisa can use the old sail as her training sail to prolong the life of the
new sail.
* From Peter Johnstone: Buy both your young sailors new sails, and let them
know how their interest in sailing makes you the happiest person in the
world.
* From Larry Law: Suggestion – older daughter stood aside while younger
jumped right in. Reward both, younger keeps the sail she’s been with all
year (earned the right – built confidence – possibly not prudent to get the
new race sail - yet). As for the older daughter – keep her in the game. Tell
her you will pay for the value of a slightly new sail and she can earn the
difference to buy the new sail. You finance it up front (unless her trust
fund is in place), have her sign a note (loan) and she pays it off with
interest doing chores over 6 months (fair and not punitive). She gets the
race sail (which will probably end up with the younger daughter if the older
one bails on sailing) she feels competitive, she has a stake in the game,
shows independence, tenacity and responsibility getting it paid off, and it
may spark her back into the game with more dedication. Either outcome and
you’re ahead – you’ve rolled the dice to keep the two of them sailing. You’
ve financed the spread – cheap bet. Worked with mine! Good luck!
Read all the comments and post your own at: http://tinyurl.com/jggjj
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 Charlie McLaughlin: Thanks to Damien Craig for the excellent reminder
on melanoma. I am sorry that the reminder comes at such a dear price, but
isn't that the way it always is. Having just been diagnosed with my fifth
melanoma in 20 years, I can only attest the virtues of visiting your board
certified dermatologist every three to four months, without fail, if you or
your family has a history, and every six months at a minimum if neither you
nor your family have any history. And if you have had melanoma, get your
kids and siblings checked; insist on it, as my then-17 year old was caught
early. And insist that your dentist check your mouth and your
ophthalmologist check your eyes on every visit! Better to be shot by an
enraged husband when you're eighty-five than to wish you could be when you
are forty!
* From David Redfern: (Re 'British' Challenge for the America's Cup) Welcome
as it is to see a new interest from England, it would be a help if the event
next year could be shown on television here in-depth and not just as news.
Going back to Perth, when commercial rights were given to broadcast
agencies, unless a station paid for the signal, it didn't get shown. Because
there were in following years no entries from the UK, then the broadcasters
here were not interested in paying for the signal on the grounds of minimal
interest. I think they were wrong, nut there you are.
Having just watched a major programme on Saturday on the Volvo Race on
national television, I wonder of that cost £500,000 ($637,588 USD) to the
broadcaster, or was it offered free of charge? I'll bet it was the latter.
To encourage public interest in the UK for the America's Cup and to provide
support and a show-case for new sponsors, I hope the signal is offered to
the networks here at an attractive rate as a means of promoting interest for
the future.
I put British in parentheses, since it is a challenge between nations, and
Scotland could enter its own challenge. I remember Royal Findhorn as a
potential Challenger under the Scottish flag for the San Diego AC.
* From Bob Smith: (re the lead boat in the West Marine Pacific Cup) "Elyxir"
and the rest of the Santa Cruz 52's are the farthest thing in the world from
what Ray Sweeney describes as a "downwind racer"; conjuring images of
porta-potties, trampoline berths and backpacker's stoves. Far from it: Two
fully appointed staterooms, showers and oiled teak work everywhere. She's a
luxurious cruising yacht.
CURMUDGEON’S CONUNDRUM
Why is a bra singular and panties plural?
Special thanks to Olukai Sandals and Hall Spars & Rigging.
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