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SCUTTLEBUTT 3150 - Friday, August 6, 2010Scuttlebutt 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. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: Quantum Sails and Lewmar. USSTAG GEARS UP TO SAIL FOR GOLD AT WEYMOUTH Weymouth, England (August 4, 2010) - Almost 50 members of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and US Sailing Development Team (USSDT) have descended on Weymouth/Portland, England for the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, the final stop on the 2009-2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit. The regatta is especially important for 2012 Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls because it is held at the venue of the 2012 Games, so this is a crucial opportunity to test the conditions and the world-class competition. Team USA will compete in all 10 Olympic classes and two Paralympic classes. Event organizers are expecting a record number of athletes to compete: to date, 975 athletes have registered from 57 nations. At the end of this event, in addition to the awards for the regatta, ISAF will award medals for the overall Sailing World Cup standings. Sailors have accumulated points at each World Cup event, which count toward their final standings in each class. Racing starts Monday for all classes, weather depending. Athlete Quotes: Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), Finn: "The Finn class will have every top sailor in the world attending. For us as athletes, competing at the Olympic venue is really an asset to see where we stand and what improvements need to be made in preparation for our Olympic trials and also the Games in 2012." Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) Laser Radial: " Besides the fact that it's the Olympic site, this event will be important because of the World Cup Standings. The points are very close in the Laser Radials and I would really like to win them. Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) 49er: "We've made some huge strides since racing here last year, and we look forward to showing our improvement at the last World Cup stop for 2010, and in Weymouth." -- Full story: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/News/2010/Sail_for_Gold_preview.htm * For full list of team members competing: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Events/World_Cup/SFG2010.htm. BMW ORACLE RACING UPHOLDS TRADITIONS AROUND ISLE OF WIGHT Cowes, England (August 5, 2010) - In a race today marked with penalties, blown sails and broken equipment, BMW ORACLE Racing (BOR) defeated TEAMORIGIN around the Isle of Wight by 1 minute and 55 seconds to win the Trafalgar Cup. The race re-enacted the famous race of 1851 that gave rise to the legend of the America's Cup. Instead of a wooden schooner from America racing 14 British yachts, two America's Cup Class sloops constructed of carbon fiber sailed the 53-nautical-mile course. But the outcome was similar: an American yacht won, this time a trophy by the name of the Trafalgar Cup, offered up by the Royal Thames Yacht Club, TEAMORIGIN's sponsoring yacht club. "It was a fantastic day to go around the island. It was a lot more exciting than I thought it would be," said James Spithill, skipper of BMW ORACLE Racing. "Thanks to TEAMORIGIN. They put up a good battle on the water and we enjoyed every minute of it." TEAMORIGIN skipper Ben Ainslie said, "We started battling about 10 minutes before the start gun and then were overlapped for about an hour and a half. They sailed a great race, congratulations." Friday sees the two teams back on the water for three more races on the final day of The 1851 Cup. -- Read on: http://bmworacleracingblog.blogspot.com/ * Trivia provided by BMW ORACLE Racing: In 1851 they were racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron's "Hundred Pound Cup." So why, you may ask, is the trophy engraved as the Hundred Guinea Cup and known as "The America's Cup"? We are informed by Cup historians on both sides of the Atlantic - Bob Fisher (GBR) and John Rousmaniere (USA) - that the RYS purchased the Cup in 1948 from the Queen's jewelers, Garrards of London, for the then tidy sum of one hundred pounds Sterling. Indeed, the handbills printed in 1851 to advertise the race called it the "£100 Cup." However, after winning and taking the Cup back to NYC, the owners of the yacht America had it engraved as the Hundred Guinea Cup, apparently not realizing that a guinea was not the same thing as a pound, but equivalent to one pound and five shillings. . It was only some years later that the media, realizing the mistake, began calling it the "America Cup" after the name of the yacht - not necessarily the country - that won it, and eventually it became popularly known as "The America's Cup." Nowhere on the Cup is it so engraved. QUANTUM DOMINATING ACROSS ALL CLASSES AND CONTINENTS Quantum Sails powered Vela Volce to 1st place at the 2010 Rolex IRC National Championships in Newport. Owner, Richard Oland, skippered his Reichel Pugh 52 past 35 other boats to take the top prize. Over in Thailand, Quantum Sails dominated Phuket Race Week taking 1st place in 4 of the 6 divisions. In Finland at the 2010 Optimist Nordic Championships, Quantum Sails powered Pontus Dahl to 1st place overall for the boys and Andrea Dubois to 1st place overall for the girls. Meanwhile in Ireland, Quantum Sails took 1st and 2nd at the Irish Dragon Championships. No matter what your boat size or sailing venue, find your speed at http://www.quantumsails.com YOUNGEST SKIPPER WINS UK ROUND / EXTREME SAILING SERIES Cowes, England, (August 5, 2010) - Paul Campbell-James on The Wave, Muscat has won the UK Round of the Extreme Sailing Series at Cowes Week, the first ever regatta win for the youngest skipper on the circuit. Thirty-six races over six days in front of 60,000+ spectators, the UK round of the five-stop circuit has delivered everything that the Extreme Sailing Series is about - spectacular, adrenalin-pumping action on the water, enthralling the thousands of spectators who packed into the Extreme Race Village at Egypt Point and along The Esplanade at Cowes. The conditions throughout the event have demanded the utmost focus and physical effort from the nine competing teams and today was no exception with 20-25 knots of south-westerly breeze across the short race course and a choppy sea state. Classic conditions for a potential pitch-pole or capsize and the crews knew it, racing with one reef in the mainsail and an extra fifth pro crew to add a bit of extra weight. The top mark proved a dangerous turning mark as they hoisted their giant gennakers to head downwind at full pelt - the crews ready in a second to ease the sails if the bows dug into the waves too deep. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/2ffpaw7 * If you haven't yet checked out the fabulous footage taken at Cowes Week 2010, especially the Extreme Sailing Series, do it! All video reports can be found at Cowes Online http://www.cowes.co.uk, as can the live streaming cameras. Next stop for the Extreme Sailing Series is Kiel, Germany on August 26-29. UMPIRING THE XTREME XCLUSION ZONE (August 4, 2010) - Jos Spijkerman became an International Umpire in 2007. This week he's been busy on the water in Cowes, and below, writes about the challenges of umpiring the racing that's been on fire at Cowes this week, the Extreme Sailing Series: -------------------------------------------------------------- With Addendum Q (like in the Medal Race) we follow the big cats and try to keep up. Sometimes it's neigh impossible in the bumpy Solent, even at full speed in our small umpire ribs. But then we go to zone system and hope to catch all the infringements._The biggest problem we have is not so much the rules of Part 2, but something called "the exclusion zone". Because of Cowes week the Solent is filled with fleets racing and they all have to pass the race area of the extreme forties to the finish. The solution the organisers and the Cowes harbour authorities have come up with, was to create a box where the extreme forties have to stay within to race and all the Cowes week's sailors have to stay out. Marked by orange cylindrical buoys parallel to the shore from Gurnard North Cardinal buoy, the box was to keep everybody separated. Now add 20 knots of wind, high flying cats, a tidal current of 3 knots and lots and lots of seaweed gathering on the ground tackle. The first day the buoys completely disappeared below the water - No more zone._The second day the orange cylinders where tied to bigger marks hoping that that would keep them afloat. But now the seaweed gathering on the ground tackle started to drag the marks - fist more north and then effectively far outside any reasonable position. No more Zone again. Hoping that this would eliminate the shifting marks, the next day the outside line was defined by the line between and extension off, two points. The race committee boat would anchor below Gurnard and those would be the two starting points. _In comes the tide and the committee boat starts swinging on its line. Changing the angle considerably. One moment a boat is sailing legally inside and the next it is outside. Not good either. -- Read on: http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/ FAST DANES WIN FINAL BATTLE OF 505 WORLDS Aarhus, Denmark (August 5, 2010) - If you can't win the regatta then perhaps winning the final race is the next best thing. That's what Jan Saugmann and Morten Ramsbaek did today in the final heat of the SAP 505 World Chamionships in Aarhus, Denmark. While new World Champions Wolfgang Hunger and Julien Kleiner had the luxury of packing up their boat a day early, the rest of the 126 competitors ventured out into light air on the Bay of Aarhus for one last gate start, one final opportunity to move themselves up the rankings. Early leaders of today's race were the Americans who had led the regatta after day one, 1999 World Champion Howie Hamlin and Andy Zinn. Defending in such tricky conditions was tough, however, as Jorgen and Jacob Bojsen-Moller took over the lead for a while. But it was Saugmann and Ramsbaek who took the lead when it mattered, beating the Bojsen-Moller brothers by a few meters. -- Full story: http://www.505sapworldchampionship2010.com/ Final results / top ten: 1. Dr. Wolfgang Hunger / Julian Kleiner, GER, 14 points 2. Jorgen Bojsen-Moller / Jacob Bojsen-Moller, DEN, 16 3. Ian Pinnell / Ian Mitchell, GBR, 31 4. Howard Hamlin / Andy Zinn, USA, 43 5. Meike Schomaeker / Holger Jess, GER, 51 6. Jan Saugmann/ Morten Ramsbaek, DEN, 61 7. Stefan Bohm / Gerald Roos, GER, 75 8. Ebbe Rosen/ Olle Wenrup, SWE, 84 9. Claas Lehmann / Leon Oehme, GER, 92 10. Martin Goerge / Rainer Goerge, GER, 93 OPTI EVENT ONE FOR THE RECORD Newport, RI (August 5, 2010) - If there was ever a perfect Opti Regatta, it was this week in Newport with stellar racing conditions, an expert race committee team with a four-boat starting line, eleven superb races and not one general recall, run by PRO Ken Legler. With the exception of a one-hour delay this morning due to thunderstorms, the Ernst & Young 2010 USODA New England Championships Newport delivered nearly perfect racing weather with all south/southwesterly seas breezes ranging from 15-20 knots on day one, 10-15 knots on day two and 5-10 knots building to 15 knots by the end of the last race today. "We could not have asked for better weather," Leger said. Jack Parkin, a Blue Fleet sailor from Riverside Yacht Club was on fire throughout the entire three-day series. Parkin posted 4 first places finishes in a line-up of great races (5-2-1-1-1-2-1-3-6) and 24 final points. Two Lauderdale Red Fleet sailors tied for second place. Wade Waddell and Duncan Williford, picked up second and third place third place respectively. The Toppa twins Alie and Liza of Newport, from the Brenton Cove Racing Team, emerged as the top two girl sailors. The Blue Fleet sisters finished with 74 and 82 points for the first and second place on the podium. Meredith Megarry, Red Fleet sailors and the current Canadian Optimist Champion finishes as the top third girl in the regatta. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/2g9kfgs ROBIN LEE GRAHAM TALKS TEEN CIRCUMNAVIGATIONS By Michael E. Petrie, August 2010 SAIL Magazine In July 1965, at the tender age of 16, Robin Lee Graham set out on a 33,000 mile, five year circumnavigation as the youngest solo sailor in the smallest boat: a Bill Lapworth designed 24 foot sloop named Dove. His voyage was famously covered by National Geographic Magazine, spawned two best selling books, Dove and Home Is The Sailor, a children's book, The Boy Who Sailed Around The World Alone and a 1974 major Hollywood movie, The Dove, which won a Golden Globe Award. Not surprisingly, the race to be the youngest has sparked enough controversy that the World Sailing Speed Record Council no longer recognizes these age-related records. To get some perspective on the phenomenon, who better to ask than the "teenager" who started it all, Robin Lee Graham? So, I contacted the now 61 year old Robin and his wife, Patti, at their home in Montana. ------------------------------------------------------------------ SAIL: What are your thoughts about this trend of teens climbing mountains and sailing solo around the world? GRAHAM: In general? How can this be a bad thing? The American spirit of adventure is apparently alive and well. America is a place where anyone of any age can try to capture whatever goal they set for themselves. SAIL: Yet, your own mother was against you voyaging solo. In your book you discuss how she actually hired a lawyer to try and stop you from setting sail. GRAHAM: As a parent myself, I have empathy. But, even though we cruised extensively as a family when I was growing up, my mother was never really a sailor. Sailing was my father's passion, and mine. Mom never really understood the whole "lure of the sea" thing. So when I wanted to sail around the world, she just didn't understand. But once I actually was on my way, she became very supportive. I'd call her on a ham radio rig from various ports, and she was always very encouraging. But it's a parent's job to worry. My mom is 88 and still worries about me. -- Full story: http://www.calwriter.net/sm/sm201008-1.html WORRY-FREE WINCHING With the sailing season now in full swing, deck hardware specialist Lewmar has taken the initiative to produce a video to provide less-experienced sailors with some top tips on safe winching. Whether you're sailing with guests this summer or would like some expert advice yourself, transatlantic sailor Lia Ditton provides a guide to worry-free winching in this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaC8V8ecdpw SAILING SHORTS * The Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Canadian Optimist Dinghy Association (CODA) will be held in conjunction with Canadian Championships. The meeting will be held on Wednesday August 25th, 2010 at 1900 at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club. Plan to attend the AGM at the CODC, RHYC for more accomplishments, speak to the sailors and parents as well as plan for the upcoming year. -- CODA website: http://www.sail123.com/coda/ * (August 4, 2010) - Drexel University's Sailing Team is looking for a head coach. Drexel University is located in the City of Philadelphia. The Team sails out of Corinthian Yacht Club located on the Delaware River in Essington, Pennsylvania. Currently the team has about 17 members and its own fleet of eight FJ's, all new as of 2007. The Team is seeking an experienced sailor who is not only knowledgeable in the fundamentals of racing, but who also has a great passion and enthusiasm for the sport. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/24vf42g * Washington DC (August 3, 2010) - The U.S. Coast Guard's Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety released its Recreational Boating Statistics 2009 report revealing a 3.81% increase in boating accident deaths and a 0.81% increase in related injuries, even though the number of boating accidents decreased 1.23%. The CG recorded 736 deaths, 3,358 injuries and approximately $36 million in property damage, stemming from 4,730 recreational boating accidents in 2009. The fatality rate, a measure of the number of deaths against the number of registered recreational boats, increased from 5.6 in 2008 to 5.8 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational boats in 2009. -- Full report: http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/786/836471/ * Discover Boating, the non-profit awareness program for the U.S. recreational boating industry, has affordable tips to help introduce people to the sport of sailing. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/254wglq * With a professional web presence being now considered almost mandatory for International and Olympic classes, the International Finn Association is delighted to announce the launch of its new website, just in time to focus on the 2010 Silver Cup (Junior World Championship) and Finn Gold Cup (World Championship) which starts in San Francisco in just over a month. Designed and developed by the International Finn Association with technical assistance from David McCreary (Scuttlebutt Europe), the new site is a massive step forward in functionality and content display, using the versatile and powerful Joomla! content management system. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/28hv6ax 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 Tim Patterson (re, Scuttlebutt 3149): What a great read about what is obviously a fun project for Adam May. In reading further on the blog, I loved hearing Adam praise his builder, Kevin Driver. So often people talk about themselves and leave out the people who make it all happen. Adam clearly wanted to do it himself but realizing his time constraints and recognizing the brilliance in others, he gave Kevin his head, the results are beautiful and fun to see. I look forward to the videos. * From Andy Vare, San Francisco, Calif. (re, Scuttlebutt 3144): Re Al Johnson's comments, "I wonder if we've collectively lost our minds. How over the top is it to send our 10 or 12 year old kids, their boats, and their coaches thousands of miles so that they can spend a week racing against other 10 or 12 year olds?" I know of two such families that do an extensive amount of traveling for Opti programs, and frankly I am impressed with their approaches. Both dads treat the sailing as a serious character building exercise, with international exposure adding a dimension that is irreplaceable in terms of cultural education. Certainly it's possible to burn the kids out, but these guys are very sensitive to that. What happens when your kids get really, really into it and there are resources available that support such an approach? You gotta go for it. Would I have done the same for my daughter? Probably, if she had taken to the sport the same way. She did not, but she has developed beautifully in other ways that were a priority for her, and which I recognize and support independent of my own direction. Of course, her upbringing has included a lot of travel and broad cross-cultural exposure, albeit not through sailing. It's great life preparation. There is nothing wrong with taking youngsters traveling to pursue their passions, as long as it's done with good judgment and the right set of priorities. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION An Old Farmer's Advice: Meanness don't jes' happen overnight. Special thanks to Quantum Sails and Lewmar. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
