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SCUTTLEBUTT 3647 - Friday, August 3, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: Allen Insurance and Financial and Summit Yachts. 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES - SAILING EVENTS Weymouth and Portland, U.K. (August 2, 2012; Day 5) - The 2012 Olympic Sailing Regatta continued in Weymouth and Portland, U.K. with racing in the Finn, Star, Women's Match Racing, Men's 470, 49er, and the Men's and Women's RS:X. Extreme weather prevailed with high wind, waves and unpredictable conditions. A minor collision today upset Nathan Outteridge/Iain Jensen's game allowing their British rivals back into contention in the 49er. The Australian world champions clipped another boat's tiller during Thursday's opening race and were forced to perform a penalty turn which sent them to the back of the 20-boat fleet. They eventually clawed their way back to finish 10th. The Australians remain in the lead with 24 pts after 8 races, Stephen Morrison/Ben Rhodes (GBR) are second with 35 pts, and Peter Burling/Blair Tuke (NZL) in third with 41 pts. After a rough start earlier in the week, Ben Ainslie (GBR) pulled it out today to beat Dane Jonas Hogh-Christensen in two races, narrowing the gap between the two to just three points. Ainslie sits in second overall with 21 pts after 8 races, with Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) in third with 34 pts. Australia's Women's Match Racing skipper Olivia Price took another two wins, as Price, Nina Curtis and Lucinda Whitty guaranteed themselves top seeding for the quarterfinal with one race left in the round robin. The Australians made it 10 wins from 10 starts in the Women's Match Racing competition following victories against Spain and Denmark to be three wins clear of second place. Tamara Echegoyen (ESP) is second in the round robin followed by Ekaterina Skudina (RUS) and Anna Tunnicliffe (USA). After 8 races in the Star class, Iain Percy/Andrew Simpson (GBR) are leading with 13 pts, Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada is in second with 22 pts, and Fredrik Loof/Max Salminen are in third with 22 pts. Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED) still dominates the Men's RS:X Windsurfing with 6 pts after six races. Toni Wilhelm (GER) is in second with 17 pts and Przemyslaw Miarczynski in third with 18. A similar pattern is emerging in the Women's RS:X as Marina Alabau controls the lead with 7 pts over Zofia Noceti-Klepacka (POL) in second with 12 pts. Lee-El Korzits (ISR) is third with 15 pts. Klepacka dominated the day winning both of the races. The clear leaders in the first races for the 470 Men's were Luke Patience/Stuart Bithell (GBR) ending the day in first with 3 pts. Matthias Schmidt/Florian Reichsteaedter (AUT) is in second with 5pts, and Anton Dahlberg/Sebastian Ostling (SWE) third with 10 pts. Current results for the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team: Erik Storck/Trevor Moore 13th in the 49er; Zach Railey 12th in Finn; Mark Mendelblatt/Brian Fatih 6th in Star; Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl 21st in Men's 470; Farrah Hall 20th in Women's RS:X Windsurfing; and Bob Willis 18th in RS:X Men's Windsurfing. Another win for Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly O'Bryan Vandemoer and Debbie Capozzi increased their round robin record to 6 wins, 3 losses. Today was a scheduled reserve day for Laser and Laser Radial fleets. Canadian Finn sailor Gregory Douglas is in 15th, Zachary Plavsic is 8th in the Men's RS:X, Nikola Girke remains in 9th in the Women's RS:X, and in the 49er Gordon Cook/Hunter Louden are in 15th. Luke Ramsay/Michael Lee are 25th in the Men's 470. Richard Clark/Tyler Bjorn racing in the Star are in 13th. August 3 will see racing continue in the Finn, Star, Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, and Men's 470. Women's 470 will begin competition with two scheduled races. It is a reserve day for Women's Match Racing and Men's and Women's RS:X fleets. Full report: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/london2012/news/31917.php Canada report: http://tinyurl.com/CST-072912 USA report: http://tinyurl.com/USA-072912 Results/schedule: http://tinyurl.com/2012-Olympics-Results-Schedule Canada broadcast: http://tinyurl.com/bs5wqoj USA broadcast: http://www.nbcolympics.com/sailing/index.html * Canadians will see live on-line coverage of all the sailing medal races, starting Sunday, August 5 through to final medal contest on Saturday, August. 11. On CTVolympics.ca, under Viewer schedule; the medal races are listed at ATN or World Feed. * The weekend weather outlook for Olympic sailing off Weymouth calls for a moderate southwest to west wind near southern coasts with temperatures 18 to 21C in the sunshine, but quite a few degrees lower where there are heavy showers. -- Details at: http://www.weather.com/news/uk-olympics-forecast-20120716 AINSLIE GETS TOUGH (August 2, 2012) - Ben Ainslie warned his rivals they had "made him angry" as he reignited his quest for a fourth Olympic gold medal. Ainslie hit back with a first and a third to narrow the gap to leader Jonas Hogh-Christensen to three points with two races and the medal race left. The Briton claimed Hogh-Christensen and Dutchman Pieter-Jan Postma teamed up on him on the water, forcing him to do a penalty turn in race two. "They've made a big mistake," said three-time Olympic champion Ainslie. "They've made me angry and you don't want to make me angry." The 35-year-old resumed after the rest day with his pursuit of a fourth Olympic title in the balance. Ainslie had not managed to beat surprise leader Hogh-Christensen in any of the first six races and was 10 points behind the Dane. But he made an aggressive statement of intent in the first race in big waves and strong winds out in Weymouth Bay. Ainslie led off the start line leaving Hogh-Christensen in his wake, but the Dane fought back from eighth to fourth on the first downwind leg before capsizing and losing 30 seconds as he righted his boat. Postma overhauled Ainslie briefly but the Briton regained the lead to cross the finish line with a substantial gap and pumped his fists in delight. Hogh-Christensen came home in eighth to see his overall lead narrow to four points. -- Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19102904 COVERAGE THE WORLD OVER Professional sailors, coaches, instructors, Olympic team members, collegiate sailing athletes, international cruisers who are members of US SAILING can take advantage of a creditable health insurance plan with worldwide coverage. 24/7 assistance in your language. Rates 25 to 70 percent lower than standard U.S.-only plans. Immediate, unlimited coverage, no pre-existing conditions. Benefits at home and abroad. Flexibility and security for the demands of today's sailing professional. http://www.AllenInsuranceAndFinancial.com/ussailing RS:X CLASS ISSUES CLAIM FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW AGAINST ISAF Eymet, France (August 2, 2012) - Since the ISAF Mid Year Meeting and the narrow vote to deselect windsurfing and the RS:X for the 2016 Olympic Regatta in Rio de Janeiro, the class has been working on many levels to get this decision reversed under the direction of its crisis management group within the Executive Committee. The opinion of the RS:X legal team is that the decision was perverse and unfair and so accordingly we have issued a claim for Judicial Review (dated August 1st 2012) in the High Court in London which had to be lodged within 3 months of the date of the decision on May 5th 28,385 people from around the world have signed the on-line petition against the ISAF decision. 18,812 have joined the 'Appeal against kitesurfing in the Olympics' Facebook Group. 13,209 are following the 'Vote Windsurfing' Facebook page. The tone of the discussions in these forums has been one of disbelief that two colorful, dynamic, media friendly global events could be so easily discarded. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/d5vx9pu * Statement from IKCA: (August 2, 2012) - We have been informed that the International RS:X Class Association Ltd is taking legal action against the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), based on the fact that ISAF has selected Kiteboarding and not Windsurfing as Olympic sailing event for the Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. We feel shocked that an international class, being bound by ISAF constitution, rules and regulations, is even considering legal action against the world governing body because of a decision that has been taken in a democratic process and in full accordance with the defined decision making processes of ISAF. The International Kiteboarding Association is fully aware of the ongoing discussions about Olympic Events and Equipment and is respecting ISAF's internal processes. -- Markus Schwendtner, IKA Executive Secretary. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/4pkgwb8 AMERICA'S CUP 2013 PROGRAM RELEASED San Francisco, Calif. (August 2, 2012) - The program for the 2013 America's Cup season in San Francisco will include up to 55 days of racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup, America's Cup Finals and Red Bull Youth America's Cup as four teams take up the challenge against ORACLE TEAM USA, the defender. With the passing of the challenge deadline at midnight on August 1, the team line-up for the Louis Vuitton Cup is set. The challenging teams for the 34th America's Cup are a formidable foursome and collectively as strong a group as any Defender has faced since the beginning of the multi-challenger era of the Cup in 1970. Artemis Racing (SWE), Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) and Team Korea (KOR) will battle each other in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America's Cup Challenger Series, for the right to face ORACLE TEAM USA in the America's Cup Finals. Running from July 4 through September 1, the Louis Vuitton Cup will provide two full months of racing on San Francisco Bay. In parallel to the challenger series, ORACLE TEAM USA will hold Defender Trials to strengthen its bid to defend the Cup. Jimmy Spithill, the skipper of ORACLE TEAM USA when it won the Cup in 2010, will helm one of the boats, while Ben Ainslie, multiple Olympic Gold Medalist from the UK will helm the other. They will go head to head on the same racetrack and on the same days as the Louis Vuitton Cup challengers. The America's Cup Finals, with ORACLE TEAM USA against the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup, will run from September 7 to September 22 and features a new format with nearly twice as much racing. Previous Cup Finals have seen the teams race in a 'first to five' format, where the winning team needed to collect five victories. In 2013, there will be two races per day, with nine victories required to win the America's Cup. In between the Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup Finals the future stars of the sport will take to the water in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/co7etrx * Download AC34 2013 program: http://tinyurl.com/cqgqdc8 ENERGY TEAM OUT FOR AC34 (August 1, 2012) - Energy Team (FRA) have announced that while they are pleased with the progress that has been made with the team this past year, that they do not have sufficient resources to continue with their AC34 program and the construction of an AC72. Energy Team will, however, entering a youth team, comprising a number of young talented sailors, the selection of which is underway, in order to compete in the Youth America's Cup in September 2013 in San Francisco. Energy Team CEO Bruno Peyron said, "We have always said that we would not be competing just for the sake of it. Our fine results this season should prove useful in the future and allow us to continue to build a real Challenger for the America's Cup. We can all be proud of the work that has been accomplished in such a short space of time, but we must not take a big gamble with the risk of losing everything." He continued, "We're already working on a new commercial proposal, which is better suited to the current economic situation. There is a certain consensus amongst the Challengers to see changes made to the economic model of the America's Cup in order to be more realistic and move towards sensible budgets that can be kept under control. With annual budgets of around 10 million Euros, the proposal will begin to look much more interesting, including in the French market, and it is with this latest idea in mind that we will be preparing for the 35th America's Cup". -- Full story: http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=106853 * Energy Team will continue to compete in the next America's Cup World Series, which begins in San Francisco on August 21. PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include working, towing, training, crashing, crushing, struggling, cheering, and prepping. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0803/ Bonus photos: * Photographer Leighton O'Connor, who has been racking up the air miles this year to cover the sport, was eager to stay home and shoot the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta in Marblehead, MA. Enjoy: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0801/ * With the Melges 32 World Championship to be held next month in Newport, the fleet was keen to compete on the same race track for the U.S. Nationals. And wherever there is a Melges 32 event, shooter Sara Proctor can't be far away. Here are some of her images from the Nationals: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0802/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK Here's a video of Ronnie Simpson on the Moore 24 "Hope for the Warriors" aka "US 101" competing in the 2012 Singlehanded Transpac. That's right ... Ronnie crossed the biggest ocean in the world on one of the first ultralight displacement sailboat designs dating back to 1972. The race from San Francisco to Kauai took 14 days and 12 hours, which was good enough to win class. Ronnie was sailing on behalf of wounded-veteran non-profit "Hope for the Warriors" to raise money and awareness for teaching wounded-veterans to sail. Curious what it's like to cross an ocean on a boat that is rooted in the surfing culture of Santa Cruz? Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/12/0803/ Bonus Videos: * While Dennis Conner loves to win, his drive comes from his love of sailing and the people he does it with. A hallmark of racing with DC is his pre-race speech, where he often presents a very specific description of what will occur. In this video, courtesy of SD Boatworks, DC is racing his 102 year old Schooner "Fame" in a Southern California classic yacht race. And the video captures one of his classic forecasts: http://youtu.be/qFSlkzHNB6c * This week on America's Cup Discovered Episode 50, we catch up with Ben Ainslie as he aims to becoming the most decorated Olympic sailor in history. After London 2012, Ben will fly directly to San Francisco to launch his team as the skipper of 'Ben Ainslie Racing' in the AC World Series in San Francisco. We also get the inside scoop on sailor nicknames, including: Cheese, Cat Flap, T-Hutch, Avatar to list a few. Tune in on Saturday August 4 at approx 0800 PDT 1600 BST: http://www.youtube.com/americascup * Recent productions by T2PTV include the 2012 Governor's Cup international junior match racing championships in California, racing in Rhode Island at the NYYC Race Week at Newport presented by ROLEX, coverage of how Jim Richardson and crew aboard Barking Mad captured the Farr 40 North Americans, and a return to T2PTV's home waters for the Annapolis Yacht Club's Wednesday Night Races on the Chesapeake Bay. -- http://www.t2p.tv/cms/ * CYCA, NYYC, RORC and Worlds' Races in the August 3.12 "World on Water" Global Sailing Weekly News Show. CYCA Audi Sydney Gold Coast Race Start, Australia, RORC Commodores Cup, England, SAP 505 Worlds, France, NYYC Race Week Newport, USA, Opti Worlds Dominican Republic and in "Fresh to Frightening" the RNLI launch their rescue boat in HUGE seas, England. See it on http://www.boatson.tv or download our "boatsontv" app and watch it on your iPhone, iPad or Google Android devices anywhere anytime. (Boat, Plane, Car, Bed, Head.....) SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com SAILING SHORTS * Torbole, Italy (August 2, 2012) - With six races complete the discard came into play on Day 4 Melges 24 Worlds and the Gold/Silver fleets were decided. Reigning 2011 European Champion Gullisara stands at the top of the ranking. American Bora Gulari, aboard West Marine Rigging New England Ropes, claimed victory in the fifth race followed by a fourth to claim the final place on the podium. Disqualification from the third race has clearly not dented the determination of the American who may be nine points behind the leaders but is still definitely in play. -- Full report: http://www.melges24worldchampionship.com/?p=1024 * Bastad, Sweden (August 2, 2012) - Day one of four in the 2012 BMW Farr 30 World Championship got underway today, with conditions forecasted at 12-18 knots of southerly wind with sunny skies and warm temperatures. In preliminary results, Groovederci (USA) helmed by Deneed Demourkas is in first with 6 points, followed by Barking Mad (USA) helmed by James Richardson. In third is Triple P (NED), helmed by F. Khaleghi Yazdi. -- Event website: http://www.farr30.org/ * August 1, 2012 is a significant date in environmental terms, marking a momentous step in the efforts to reduce pollution on the world's oceans. The 200-mile Emission Control Area comes into force around the US and Canada, inside which ships have to burn 1 percent sulfur fuel, and 0.1 percent from 2015 (although that purity has not yet been achieved.) The worst news for owners and masters is that the availability of compliant fuel on the West Coast and parts of Asia is patchy, which translates to expensive. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/csgoygg BOATS THAT MEET YOUR NEEDS Whether your focus is racing at the ultimate level, club racing with some light cruising thrown in, or anything in between, the Summit Yachts line of sail boats can meet your needs. The Summit 35 and 40 has won international events throughout the world in both distance and around the buoys events. The new Summit 45 will compete at the highest level against production and custom designs. All of our models are built in the USA, and are designed by Mark Mills. Check out all of our models at http://www.summit-yachts.com Choose the best. Choose Summit GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Justin Scott, US Sailing ODCC: Re Martin Adams' statement in 'Butt 3646, the Damnably quick Dane did take his 360 and overtake Ben......but he didn't win the race. I will be on hand to watch the penultimate race and the medal race and it promises to be one exciting show down. * From Alex Arnold: Following up on yesterday's sportsmanship theme, what do we feel about the disqualification of the 4 badminton teams for gaming the draws by not playing their best to enable them to manage positioning in the draw? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION An original idea can never emerge from committee in its original form. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Dieball Sailing - Melges Performance Sailboats - Doyle Sails Atlantis WeatherGear - Allen Insurance and Financial - North Sails Southern Spars - Gladstone's Long Beach - Ullman Sails - Summit Yachts Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
