|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2972 - Friday, November 13, 2009Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors,providing a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/facebook Today's sponsors are Team One Newport and Doyle. THE DECISION TO WING IT During the course of boat development in an America's Cup campaign, there is constant refinement, with countless successes and failures. Some of these changes we notice; some we don't. When BMW Oracle Racing decided to test a hard sail wing rig this week, we noticed. Campaigns like this create long idea lists from the designers. The wing had been on the list for some time, but not taken too seriously until later in 2008 when initial design detail began. The decision to build the wing occurred during this past summer while the team tested its second mast - a step longer than the first version. When the team broke their third mast - the longest one yet - the wing was nearly ready for deployment. Timing is everything! But with the Match under three months away, and with a chunk of that needed for travel, time is short. Design coordinator Ian Burns admitted the decision to build the wing was risky, as the comparative data between soft and hard sails is minimal. However, the data his team will now gain from the wing will be immense, with sensors up and down the rig providing complete wind and wing angle information. The performance of the boat is already established with the previous rigs, so it is up to the wing now to raise the bar. As for trimming the wing, tactician John Kostecki acknowledges that the sailing team has a user manual and little else, with computational analysis providing them the theoretical performance settings for the wing. The benefits of the hard sail wing are its superior lift to drag ratio over soft sails, allowing for narrower upwind angles with less rig loading. The rigidity of the rig offers a more constant sail shape too, making it easier to trim, and allowing the boat to sail at more constant heal angles. But so far it is only good on paper, with the sailing team on short notice to fulfill the wing's potential. When asked about the weight of the wing rig, design director Mike Drummond provides the typical non-answer for a man in his position. However, it is believed to be light, particularly since the team will no longer need a headsail upwind, though will continue to use the gennaker downwind. Overall, boat handling maneuvers should be smoother. If the wing is a success, it will be a benchmark moment. But if it fails to live up to its perceived potential, there is a very long soft sail replacement mast now being built to be available if needed. -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt THE FRONT IN THEIR SIGHTS (November 12, 2009; 18:16 UTC) - Off Salvador de Bahia Thursday afternoon, Groupama 3 is continuing her southward descent in search of a stormy depression system forming over Brazil, and continues to hold a significant advantage in seeking to set a new fully crewed round the world record. Skipper Franck Cammas explains, “It’s fine weather with a few cumulus reminiscent of the good conditions, with slightly shifty tradewinds on the beam. We’re having to maneuver fairly frequently, switching between the staysail and solent as the wind varies from 14 to 22 knots... We’re being forced to sail right around the outside of the Saint Helena High: we’re going to sail along the Brazilian coast for two days to gain southing in order to hook onto a depression, which is currently forming over the South American continent. This will then quickly push us eastwards. “However, it’s important we don’t miss the ride as there aren’t any more after that! The encounter is scheduled for lunchtime on Saturday: after that we’re going to power away… For the time being, the weather sequence is pretty favourable with an anticyclone ahead of us, which the depression will push along. We’re going to have flat seas with downwind conditions!” -- Team website: http://www.cammas-groupama.com/en Current position as of November 12, 2009 (23:00 UTC): Ahead/behind record: +723.50 nm Speed over past 24 hours: 25.6 knots Distance over past 24 hours: 613.4 nm Tracking: http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne2009/?lg=en * Groupama 3 must cross finish line off Ushant, France before December 26th at 08:09:26 (UT) to set new record. CHECK OUT TEAM ONE’S PRE-HOLIDAY SALE!! * Featuring Henri Lloyd’s $99.00 pant and jacket promo. * Introducing Douglas Gill’s free gift with purchase program. It’s not too early to start gearing up for Key West Race Week. Let Team One outfit you and your crew for all your foul weather and cruising gear needs. Don’t forget we have in-house embroidery, screen printing, and sublimation available for all your custom orders. Find us at http://www.team1newport.com or (800) VIP-GEAR (800.847.4327). Direct link to HL promo: http://www.team1newport.com/departments.asp?dept=177 TUNNICLIFFE LEADS U.S. WOMEN'S MATCH RACING CHAMPS St. Thomas, USVI (November 12, 2009) - There were challenging conditions for the eight elite teams competing on the first day of racing in US SAILING's 2009 U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship (USWMRC), hosted by the St. Thomas Yacht Club and sailed in Cowpet Bay. Sailors dealt with dead calm conditions to gusty squalls and numerous wind shifts throughout the day. In spite of nearly three hours of delay due to weather, seven races (one round robin) was completed on Thursday. US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) member, Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Laser Radial, took a decisive step towards defending her title by winning all of seven matches. Tunnicliffe is joined by teammates Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.), Liz Bower (Rochester, N.Y.), and Alice Manard (Charleston, S.C.). Manard and Vandemoer are both members of USSTAG. Tunnicliffe admitted feeling the effects of jet lag having flown to the Caribbean after receiving the female ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year award in Busan, Korea. However it didn't seem to slow her down on the scoreboard. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/ybho5qx PRESIDENT SETS OUT THE CHALLENGES (November 12, 2009) - ISAF President Goran Petersson delivered his President's Report during the first day of meetings for the Council of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) held in Busan, Korea today at the ISAF Annual Conference. During his report the President highlighted key areas of athlete representation on Council, governance, the environment, universality, training and development, and the need for strategic planning and decision making in relation to the Olympic Games and the ISAF Sailing World Cup. The President referred to the recent IOC Session and Congress held in Copenhagen, where he was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He congratulated Rio de Janeiro on their successful bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, and as a member of the IOC Evaluation Committee which assessed the bidding cities said Rio 2016 was “a fantastic choice for sailing”. He continued, “I think this provides us with a great opportunity for sailing in Brazil, in South America, and it will give us the ability to showcase our sport against a spectacular back drop.” -- Read on: http://www.sailing.org/30270.php ROUND ROBIN DRAWS TO CLOSE AT LV TROPHY Nice, France (November 12, 2009) - While today’s matches will determine placings for the first round, Thursday was a case of one match, one win for three of the top four teams at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d’Azur. Emirates Team New Zealand, Azzurra and Artemis each won their lone match of the day, which was shortened to two flights as light winds in the afternoon turned the Baie des Anges off Nice into a virtual millpond. After day six, Emirates Team New Zealand still leads the event with 6 points on a perfect 6-0 record. Skipper Dean Barker and mates defeated BMW ORACLE Racing by 48 seconds in their lone match and have one remaining in the round against TEAMORIGIN. Based on the standings tonight the Kiwis need to win that match to win the round. “We’re happy with how it’s been going,” said Barker. “We’ve been sailing with the same crew. You run the risk of injury or illness, but we’ve had the same crew throughout.” Italy’s Azzurra moved into second place today after winning its match over the French/German team ALL4ONE. Azzurra and skipper Francesco Bruni lost the lead on the first leg and then regained it on the second, finding more pressure on their side of the course, to win by 1 minute, 56 seconds. Read on: http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/news/news.php Current Standings Competing teams - Country - Skipper - Record Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) - Dean Barker, 6-0 Azzurra (ITA) - Francesco Bruni, 5-1 TeamOrigin (GBR) - Ben Ainslie, 4-1 Artemis (SWE) - Paul Cayard, 3-3 BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) - Russell Coutts, 2-3 Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) - Karol Jablonski, 2-4 ALL4ONE (FRA/GER) - Jochen Schuemann, 2-5 Team French Spirit (FRA) - Bertrand Pacé, 0-7 BACKGROUND: The Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d’Azur is the inaugural event of the World Sailing Teams Association. The WSTA event is designed to be a cost-effective format for the teams, with the four America’s Cup class boats being used in Nice on loan from three teams: ALL4ONE (FRA-93), Mascalzone Latino (ITA-90, ITA-99) and TeamOrigin (GBR-75). The boats have been equalised as much as possible to create a level playing field. Event website: http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/home/ Video interviews: http://www.youtube.com/user/btsbroadcast Virtual Eye race viewer: http://tinyurl.com/yd32eor ALINGHI - A LONG WAY FROM VENDEE Vendée Globe winner Alain Gautier and Orma 60 champion Loïck Peyron are both relishing the technical experimentation that is perhaps only really possible within an America's Cup team. Gautier and Peyron are two of the high-profile French skippers who have made the switch to America's Cup sailing for AC33. Here is an interview from Seahorse: * How are you adapting to inshore sailing? ALAIN GAUTIER: “When we first sailed the Orma 60s we also did a lot of grand prix racing as well as the more famous offshore events. Sure, it was only on 60-footers and 60 is quite different from a 90-footer, but not that much. It's not difficult; though we have to be careful because some manoeuvres are harder. But we have experience of inshore racing. The biggest difference would be match racing. We will not see the same sort of races as on monohulls because multihulls lose so much speed through the tack. It will be more exciting, though, because we go much faster upwind and downwind than on monohulls, with some big angles... “The style is more aggressive: if you have a boat to overtake, you really push hard and you could be battling it out at over 35kt to stay with the other competitor. It will be an incredible sight. A Cup in multihulls will be more exciting for sailors and spectators. The only risk, of course, is if one boat is much faster than the other, especially with the DoG races being very long. But that said, this is not exclusive to multihulls, we see big leads on AC monohulls too! Plenty of monohull Cup races have been less than exciting.” LOICK PEYRON: “I have also spent a lot of time doing inshore regattas, be it on multihulls or monohulls. What is really new for me is just to fit into the habits of one of the biggest sailing teams in the world! My biggest moment as of today was when I took the helm of Alinghi 5 for the first time off Genoa, magnificent!! To me it's like a bicycle... I have been lucky to do this for a very long time. But I'm still amazed every time I sail one of these machines.” * At its heart why are multihulls more exciting than monohulls? LOICK PEYRON: “You never get bored of these fabulous wind machines. It's everything, speed, big loads, pressure, the potential danger.” Complete interview: http://seahorsemagazine.com/2009-December/alinghi.php NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER? Make your sailing easier and more enjoyable without breaking the bank. Convert to a Doyle StackPack. It can be added to any mainsail, of any make. 15% savings for any Stackpack retrofit ordered today through December 31st. To upgrade to the original, patented Doyle StackPack call your local Doyle Loft or for more information visit: http://www.doylesails.com/stackpack NUMBERS TELL THE VOR STORY The media results announced for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 show a significant increase over the 2005-06 event. The cumulative broadcast audience was 1.3 billion. Over 3,300 hours of coverage was generated through 11,000 broadcasts in 46 different territories. Coverage was shown on 217 channels globally. China led the way in new territories, by delivering an audience of 600 million, 45 per cent of the race total. Programming and news, produced and distributed by Sunset+Vine/APP, reached Western, Central and Eastern Europe, North and South America, Africa and the Middle East, Central Asia, the Far East and the Pacific Rim. There was also coverage in countries as diverse as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Iran, Iraq, Latvia, Slovakia and South Korea. Stories that chronicled the crews' ongoing battle against the forces of nature were featured in publications ranging from mass-circulation newspapers and lifestyle magazines to specialist titles with niche readerships. The event generated 13,038 press cuttings in 15 monitored territories, providing a cumulative circulation of 606 million, a 104% increase on the previous race. The combination of TV and print provided Volvo with a media value of US$116.5million, an increase of 34.6% over 2005-06, and a syndicate media value of US$279.4million, a rise of 52%. Port stopovers attracted over 2,600 media accreditations from 47 countries and provided an unparalleled experiential programme for journalists. Additionally, 412 executive media guests hosted by teams and sponsors from 29 countries. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/ye8jmvl SAILING SHORTS * l'Hydroptere's record campaign in the Mediterranean ended in great style last Sunday as Alain Thebault and his ten crew smashed the record over one nautical mile, exceeding 50 knots. An average speed of 50.17 knots (92.91km/h) over one nautical mile (1.852 km) is the new record to beat over this distance (pending ratification). Alain Thébault and his crew members now have the speed records on both distances over 50 knots, that is 51.36 knots over 500 meters and 50.17 knots over one nautical mile. -- Sail-World, read on: http://tinyurl.com/yd92t2s *(November 12, 2009) New Zealand’s Phil Robertson and his WAKA Racing Team beat Australian Michael Dunstan and his SLAM Racing Team to win the Asian Match Racing Championship this afternoon. As a result, Robertson will be sailing in the final round of the 2009 World Match Racing Tour, the Monsoon Cup, to be held in Terengganu, Malaysia, from December 1st to 6th 2009. -- http://www.monsooncup.com.my/news.php * Cape Town, South Africa (November 12, 2009) - The jubilant crew of Cork, Ireland, has arrived in Cape Town after taking victory in Race 3, the South Atlantic leg, of the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. They crossed the finish line in Table Bay at 1638 local time (1438 GMT), accompanied by a pod of dolphins surfing down the face of the waves. The rest of the ten strong fleet is due to finish in the next few days and are all expected in Cape Town by Sunday afternoon. -- http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com * 203 boats have already reserved places to sail around Australia in the 2011 Around Australia Ocean Race and the 2011 Around Australia Ocean Rally, says event organiser Bob Williams. A key feature responsible for the rapid take up in slot reservations is that participants can start and finish from a principle port of choice. Crew changes are permitted at stop-over ports. These features are responsible for the rapid take up of Race and Rally event Slot Reservation. The Race event spans over five months and 12 months for the Rally. The entrant list is now available on the event website: http://www.sailaroundaustralia.com.au PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include nice guy dangers, season ending sadness, multihull failure, multihull victory, RIB launching, grass roots match racing, and the sequence of the America’s Cup wing rig getting raised. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/1113/ * Here is a selection the latest images of both America's Cup multihulls: http://tinyurl.com/ycud6xm VIDEO OF THE WEEK What we have this week is a guy singlehanding his boat while flying a kite, with a camera on the kite filming the guy fly the kite while singlehanding his boat. As cool as the technology is to have a video camera on a kite, can we figure out a better use for this technology? How about flying a kite near an America’s Cup team base? Or positioning it over a crowded start line? Nautical voyeurism… just in time for the holidays. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/09/1113/ * Welcome to t2p.tv - the online network for Sailing On Demand covering sailing around the world and a whole lot more. Each week T2P adds an entertaining reel of the highs and lows in the sport, with 41 videos now online: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/09/t2p/ * If you have a video you like, please send your suggestion for next week’s Video of the Week to mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). 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 Bill Sandberg: (Re: next Cup match in Valencia) What am I missing here? I thought the NY Supreme Court judge ruled against the last location because the deed of gift required it to be in the Southern hemisphere? Last time I looked Valencia was north of the equator. But then again, who cares? * From Bill Gladstone: (re, story BRING BACK THE GRINDERS in SBUTT 2971) Motors in lieu of grinders is lousy, but it was a strategic move on Alinghi's part. What edge did Alinghi get when they added a motor? They included the motor as part of their original design (and built a cat). BMW Oracle opted for a tri perhaps in part to accommodate the grinders and gear needed to trim the enormous rig. They have since reconfigured, but who knows how different their original design might have been had they not needed to include grinders and related gear (a cat perhaps?). The motor was part of a clever design strategy on Alinghi's part. Hopefully once we get past this travesty motors will be prohibited in the AC going forward. * From Tim Patterson (re, whale story in Scuttlebutt 2962): I am sure that many of us who have made passages have spent time trying to find the annoying squeak or rattle. I have often thought that those same noises might be annoying to mammals who communicate by making noises that travel long distances in the water. I know that when I was doing my first transatlantic on Skyjack, a 45' Spronk cat, we spent time trying to decide if the music we were listening to was interesting to dolphins who would play with the hulls. There were four of us on the boat and we had varying musical tastes. It turned out that there really did seem to be a preference for several Boy George tunes over jazz, classical, or country music. This I found odd, but interesting. I still try to eliminate all extraneous noises whenever I am offshore. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Progress is made on alternative Fridays. This isn’t one of them. Special thanks to Team One Newport and Doyle. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
