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SCUTTLEBUTT 2779 - Wednesday, February 11, 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.Today's sponsors are North Sails and Annapolis Yacht Sales. MARKETING THE SPORT THROUGH THE USE OF MEDIA by Goran Petersson, President of International Sailing Federation “We understand that the key element that will draw [people to] the sport is exposure through media publicity and a planned broadcast production and distribution of attractive events. The Olympic Games is without doubt one of the key shop windows for the sport of sailing as the Games enter into the homes of 4.7 billion people across the world through TV and online. The Olympic Games is therefore fundamental to the profile of our sport aside from the media exposure our status as a sport on the Olympic program results in sailing being a regular sport to invest in particularly for a country with Olympic champions. One example being our recent discussion with Iran who is developing a new sailing program with an Olympic focus. “To be on the Olympic program, however, is not an easy task to achieve and maintain, and sailing has been on the program since the very first games. We can by no means be complacent about our Olympic future. The exposure generated by the Olympic Games highlights one of our main challenges to present the sport in such a way that we engage our audience the spectators and the media. This year has seen the successful new format of the easier-to-follow medal race, but sailing still remains one of the most difficult sports to schedule and capture for television and on line. We are working on a strategy to standardise the technology used for track and trace reviewing tools such as on board cameras and recommending best practice for TV crews working with event organisers.” -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7030#7030 * Goran Petersson’s comments are part of a transcript for the 2008 World Yacht Racing Forum that is now available. This event took place in December in Monte Carlo and was a never-before-seen gathering of those involved with the business of yachting as a sport. Details here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7006#7006 CONFESSIONS OF AN ICEBOAT ADDICT By Aaron Freeman Once the leaves start turning and that first chilly day arrives, I start thinking about my addiction. For the next several months I am glued to weather.com looking for low temps and nlmoc.navy.mil willing the sea surface temps to drop. My addiction is very serious; it has affected my relationships with others, cost me hundreds of dollars, countless hours, and has even caused me to miss work on occasion. Hello, my name is Aaron and I’m addicted to iceboating. My home club, The North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club in Red Bank, NJ, has been blessed with a beautiful 5-6” plate of salt water ice covered by, “balls hard” frozen freshwater on top. As a result, I have been giving the old Jetta a workout on my now weekly pilgrimage (from Annapolis) to New Jersey to sail on my DN. -- Read on: http://blog.apsltd.com/2009/02/confessions-of-iceboat-addict.html * The 2009 DN World Championship just finished at Torch Lake, Michigan, with American Matt Struble defending his title. -- Results: http://www.idniyra.org/results/results09_worlds.html GUILLEMOT CONTINUES WITHOUT KEEL (Feb. 10, 2009; Day 93) - Despite Marc Guillemot losing his keel on Monday, he is doing a decent job of keeping close to Sam Davies Tuesday afternoon, making a steady 11 knots while Roxy has slowed a little, between 10 and 11 knots. Although Davies said again today that she is pushing hard to stay ahead of the tentacles of the high pressure system for as long as possible, she and Guillemot are living on borrowed time as far as the wind is concerned, and a slow finish is expected. Sam Davies’s world may be turned upside down after her finish in Les Sables d’Olonne, such has been the positive and enthusiastic response to her remarkable Vendée Globe race, but presently her desire is to make it back to the finish by Valentine’s Day, although she believes she is more likely to arrive Sunday given the current weather forecast. The relatively benign offwind conditions are ideal for Safran, contrasting very sharply with the gales which hit the Vendee coast Monday night, severely damaging parts of the regatta village which was closed all day today. Solo, non-stop, around the world race in Open 60s. Standings as of 18:30 UTC (30 entrants; 11 now competing): 1. Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA), Foncia, Finished Feb. 1, 15:11 GMT (84:03:09:08) 2. Armel Le Cléac´h (FRA), Brit Air, Finished Feb. 7, 08:41 GMT (89:09:39:35) 3. Samantha Davies (GBR), Roxy, 675.0 nm Distance to Finish 3. Vincent Riou (FRA), PRB, Dismasted - Redress Given 4. Marc Guillemot (FRA), Safran, 767.7 nm DTF 5. Brian Thompson (GBR), Bahrain Team, 1282.6 nm DTF Event website: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en Complete standings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html Race tracking: http://tracking.vendeeglobe.org/en * Samantha Davies (Roxy) and Marc Guillemot (Safran) were awarded 32 hours and 82 hours respectively, as a result of the assistance provided during Yann Eliès’ rescue (broken leg) on Dec. 20th. These times will be deducted from their final finishing times, meaning that Sam will need to finish at least 50 hours ahead of Marc to beat him. TRAIN LIKE THE PROS! With six more weeks of Winter according to Punxsutawney Phil, it's the perfect time to curl up with a good sailing video or book and think Spring! North Sails Gear has a great selection of reading material and videos that will entertain and instruct - all in the comfort of your living room. Not a couch potato? Check out the NEW Sailing Fitness video and train like the Pros! When performance (and fitness) count, head North! http://www.northsailsgear.com/store/?c=37 PUMA STILL HAS EYE ON THE PRIZE Qingdao, China (Feb. 10, 2009) - The irritation was clear in Ken Read’s tone. “You’re kidding me, right? You’re not serious. A race for second?” The suggestion that his PUMA team are out of the running to win the Volvo Ocean Race seemed to hit a nerve at a bad time. “Race for second,” he repeated. “I don’t agree with that statement at all.” I made my argument. “You’ve not won a single leg and you’re eight points back on the table.” Ken looked ready to perform one of the heavy tackles that Jerry Kirby, his long-time ice hockey team-mate, raved about. He continued to helm the boat back to port and did not speak for another minute. It had been a difficult day for Ken, with il mostro finishing third of four boats in each of the two Qingdao in-port races. He blamed himself for the poor starts that allowed the fleet to get ahead and his frustration was close to the surface. “Listen,” Ken eventually said. “Of course we’re still in this. There’s still well over half the points available. We are two for two with Ericsson 4 on the last two legs: they took us twice and we beat them the last two. We had one bad leg (they finished fifth into India.” He paused and then continued. “Don’t discount the fact that we have been on the podium more than anyone else. If we get a bunch of seconds we are going to be hard to beat overall. This is a boat race for sure.” -- Read on: http://linkbee.com/EKP2 Leg Five from Qingdao, China to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will start February 14th, is 12,300 nm in length, with the finish estimated on March 20th. -- Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 HOW TO MAKE FUN OF A SAILOR Sailors take themselves pretty seriously. The more pretentious out there call it "yachting"; some even wear "yachting" gear when not on the boat. In short, as a subculture, sailors are ripe to be made fun of. But you have to pick your moments, you need to know when they're doing something that even their own compatriots will laugh at. Here's a short list. When to make fun of a sailor: 1. When they're "baylining". This is the condition that many find their boats in when they're lazy; they left the slip with, egads, their fenders still dangling overboard. If you see this, the appropriate reaction is to point and laugh. I sometimes take pictures. -- Read on: http://linkbee.com/EKP3 CLARITY ARRIVES AS TEAMS GET ELIMINATED Auckland, NZL (Feb. 10, 2009) - If you have been confused by the format of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series (or simply annoyed by the horrific music on the event website), there is some good news now (and sorry, it is not about the music). Like all tournaments, clarity comes as competitors fail to advance. The Greeks and South African were the first teams gone, and then the French and the Chinese teams fell today due to their single match loss against the British and Italian (Luna Rosa) teams, respectively. This is now the ‘one and done’ stage of the event, which pits the Americans against the Italians (Luna Rosa), and the Brits against the other Italians (Damiani Italia Challenge). Whoever wins in these two Quarter-Final matches will advance to verse each other in the single match Semi-Finals. Clear as mud, right? What happened to the Alinghi team? They are on the sidelines, waiting to verse the winner of the Semis, where there will be a best of five match to see who advances to the final against the host team… Emirates Team New Zealand. -- Daily report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7021#7021 Event website: http://www.louisvuitton-pacificseries.com Video coverage: http://linkbee.com/CQO6 Audio coverage: http://linkbee.com/CQO7 => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Forgive the use of country names instead of team names above. I know there aren’t too many Chinese people on the Chinese team, Americans on the American team, etc. Let me live with my illusion. * The outcome of what should be the final appeal hearing in the long and bitter dispute between the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) regarding the 33rd America’s Cup took place on Tuesday 10 Feb. Shortly after the appeal hearing had been completed both sides issued statements. -- Yachting World, read on: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20090110225640ywperformance.html * Look for a report by Cory Friedman in the Thursday edition of Scuttlebutt regarding the proceedings on Tuesday at the State of New York, Court of Appeals. As for a judgment, the early indicators say a decision won’t come for at least a month. An archived webcast of the entire proceeding is to be posted by Wednesday and is expected to remain available for several months. Link: http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps TURN-KEY RACING OPPORTUNITY Annapolis Yacht Sales needs to sell their race winning 2006 Beneteau 10R package to make room for a new Beneteau First 40 project. This package was professionally commissioned by AYS for Key West 2006 where it won the PHRF National Championship, and has since gone on to win over 70% of its races and is in near perfect condition. Package includes 2006 Beneteau 10R, Custom Triad 5th wheel road trailer, and 2003 Ford F350 diesel crew cab. Special Incentive for Scuttlebutt Readers: AYS will deliver FREE anywhere in the USA! Contact Garth Hichens, 410-267-8181 or garth@annapolisyachtsales.com. Click link for Full Specifications: http://linkbee.com/EKP4 SAILING SHORTS * Informa Yacht Group, organisers of the World Yacht Racing Forum, have announced the dates of the 2009 edition, which will be held from December 9-10 at Monaco’s Grimaldi Forum. The announcement follows the inaugural event last December which brought together 350 participants from 37 countries to the two-day conference. Delegates included America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race team principals, yacht racing events and clubs, major yachting sponsors, industry suppliers, cities and venues. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7022#7022 * Jim Bishop of the New York Yacht Club took first place in the IRC division of the Miami Nassau Ocean Race 2009 to win the historic Nassau Cup for a record breaking fourth time in his J/44 yacht Gold Digger. In its 76th year, the race is co-hosted by the Nassau Yacht Club and Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7023 * The National Class E-Scow Association recently voted on whether to prohibit the use of electronic equipment which displays or computes mark positions or course thereto, true or relative boat speed, or other GPS or computed parameters. This item failed to achieve the two thirds majority needed to pass, collecting 75 votes in favor of the prohibition and 41 votes opposed. It needed 77.3 Regular member votes to prohibit this type of equipment. -- http://e-scow.org/2009files/2009BallotInfoPacket.pdf * John Burnham, former editor in chief of Sailing World and Cruising World magazines, has been named editorial director of YachtWorld.com and Boats.com. The websites are both business units of Dominion Enterprises. -- IBI Magazine, read on: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20090110154440ibinews.html * (Annapolis, MD) - Fawcett Boat Supplies, a landmark firm on City Dock that emerged from bankruptcy last year, has bought the assets of an online maritime business in Eastport called Pyacht.com. Officials from Fawcett did not disclose terms of the deal. Pyacht.com, which supplies everything from anchors to spinnaker poles, moved out of its Severn Avenue headquarters and began doing business under the Fawcett umbrella last month. -- The Capital, read on: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2009/02_10-21/BUS LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get 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 Paul V. Oliva: After years of grousing about the poor coverage of on-the-water activities in our local newspapers, the sailing community here can now count on a regular column in the San Francisco Chronicle. With the blessing of the editor of the Chronicle's new Outdoors section, I'll be writing a short column covering local happenings on the water, along the waterfront, and occasionally further afield. It's only monthly, but it's ours (perhaps we can convince SFGate.com, the Chron's online arm, to do something weekly). The column is planned to launch on February 20 and will extend to windsurfing, kiteboarding, kayaking, bay swimming, and other watersports. Kimball Livingston notes how advertiser enthusiasm for such a column in the 80s never materialized, so we'll see how it goes and hope that things have changed. In the meantime, I'd appreciate getting any story ideas from 'buttheads ongoing, including any fun anecdotes involving SF Bay or sailors from here. Just send to paul@olivaglobal.com * From Steve Brown, Newport Beach CA: (re, Max Bulger’s comments in Issue 2778) Max’s letter is right on. I too have watched organized sailing milk toast along, pathetically trying to keep junior sailors coming back to such low performance boats. Our club also suffers from a lack of eighteen year old sailors. Our solution is to build a fleet of older 505s that fit larger juniors, and return the challenge of teamwork and excitement to sailing. We also host an annual Green Star regatta where juniors are encouraged to skipper a Star for a weekend, with an owner crewing. Introducing these larger serious boats has sparked excitement in an empty segment of our junior program. -- Additional comments posted here: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7007 * From Paula Kaminsky Davis: It is a very sad day here in Port Washington, NY for those of us who were/are members of the venerable Knickerbocker Yacht Club. The members and board tried hard to come up with solutions to keep the club open, however, with the loss of interest in yachting, rising costs, the poor economy, and members defecting to other interests such as golf; there was no way we could sustain the expenses of running the club. Our membership had dwindled to less than 60 active members from a high of over 200. As co-chair of the Knickerbocker Cup for the last five years, I assure you we will be able to continue the event. Many sailors know that this event, while held at Knickerbocker Yacht Club, was assisted by two other yacht clubs in the bay - Manhasset Bay Yacht Club and Port Yacht Club. Without their involvement and several other clubs from Long Island Sound, the event could not have succeeded. Both MBYC and PYC have indicated their willingness to help us continue the KCUP, which is a separate Foundation with its own board. We will be meeting to discuss the details and let the sailing world know soon how we will proceed. Anyone with questions can contact me at pkdactive@msn.com * From Bob Colpitts: I'd love to see a Butthead poll on the LV Pacific Cup website. After three tries to make sense of it I give up. It takes forever to load, and the first thing you learn is that you can watch the races only if you are in New Zealand. Oh, goodie, that sure is welcome news to the other 6 billion people on the planet. But it gets worse. The results tables have cute icons that reveal nothing, which makes it impossible to check comparative performance. On top of that, the race tracker, if you can find it, requires you to download more software; and once installed, it crashed my browser. Surely Louis Vuitton can do better. Maybe they should have a look at the Vendee Globe web site. * From Antonio Alonso, Jr: Eleven years after being runned over by a motorboat, in an accident that cost him one of his legs, Lars Grael is back to the Brazilian Olympic Team. Alongside with crewman Renato Moura, Lars Grael has won the Brazilian Pre-Olympic Regatta 2009 in the Star class. This means that he will enjoy have proprietary support to run events outside Brazil and some financial aid on his Olympic programme. This for 2009 only, because in 2010 he will have to face world ranking leaders Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada and possibly 2 time Olympic champions Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira. During this year's pre-olympic, Scheidt was at the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series (Luna Rossa) and Torben at the Volvo Ocean Race (Ericsson 4). I dont have English-speaking links for that, just the Portuguese: http://linkbee.com/EKP5 CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION "If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate." - Nikka, age 6 (Hint: Valentine’s Day is Feb. 14th) Special thanks to North Sails and Annapolis Yacht Sales. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
