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SCUTTLEBUTT 2931 - Thursday, September 17, 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. Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Today's sponsors are Holmatro and Ullman Sails THE AGREEMENT IS NO LONGER 'SECRET' The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) today asked the New York Supreme Court for permission to file an Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) brief in the litigation between the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and the Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG) regarding the 33rd America's Cup. A copy of the brief was submitted with the request. The purpose of the brief is to advise the Court concerning ISAF's role in the administration of the sport of sailing world-wide and its relevant rules, regulations and practices. ISAF also stated to the Court it takes no position in the matters presently pending. ISAF has also advised the Court that it has no objections to release of the agreement between ISAF and SNG, which was summarized in a press release of 17 July 2009 on the ISAF website: "The International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the world governing body of the sport, and the Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG), the trustee and holder of the America's Cup, are pleased to announce that the 33rd America's Cup Match will be conducted under the Deed of Gift provisions, the SNG rules, the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing and ISAF Regulations as required by the Deed of Gift. "Any changes to the ISAF Rules and Regulations not already covered by provisions within the ISAF Rules and Regulations will require sanction from ISAF. The Principal Race Officer, International Jury members and International Umpires (if Appendix C is used), will be suitably qualified personnel and will be independently appointed by ISAF. The process of which has already begun." SNG has subsequently executed a letter acknowledging and clarifying its understanding concerning several matters referenced in the agreement and accepting its publication Links to the relevant documents below: ISAF-SNG Agreement: http://www.sailing.org/downloads/officials/33AC_SNG_ISAF_Agreement.pdf SNG Clarification Letter: http://www.sailing.org/downloads/officials/33AC_LetterSNG_ISAF.pdf FAIRNESS DOCTRINE Yesterday, we published a letter on our Forum from Cory Friedman to Justice Kornreich about the ISAF agreement. SNG's lawyer Barry R. Ostrager has since responded to Friedman's letter with a letter of his own to Justice Kornreich. It only seems fair that we give Ostrager's argument's equal space, so here's a link to the forum where that letter is posted as an attachment: http://tinyurl.com/rdgfua ANOTHER PLAYER After a weekend of conference calls between England, France and the United States, agreement has been reached on Team Origin, led by LOCOG deputy chairman Sir Keith Mills, becoming one of the 10 preferential shareholders in the recently formed World Sailing Team Association, which will contest the first Louis Vuitton World Series event starting in Nice in November. The second regatta is scheduled for February/March in Auckland next year - the Origin team took part in the inaugural Louis Pacific Series there early this year - and then on to a third regatta in Maddaleina, Sicily, in May. At the same time the team, skippered by triple Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie, will be putting together a campaign to take part in the Audi MedCup series next year. There will again be five regattas - the last of this year's events is currently being staged in Cartagena, Spain - but a decision has yet to be taken on whether to buy an existing TP52 boat or design and built new. - Stuart Alexander, The Independent, full story: http://tinyurl.com/p8nkle ANOTHER DELAY Damage to (Australian) schoolgirl Jessica Watson's yacht is worse than expected but she remains confident of heading to Sydney next weekend to prepare for her attempt to break an around-the-world sailing record. The yacht Ella's Pink Lady was damaged in a collision with the 63,000 tonne cargo vessel Silver Yang, off North Stradbroke Island, in the early hours of September 9. The 16-year-old Queensland schoolgirl was heading to Sydney on a test run before attempting to break the record for the youngest person to sail solo around the world. While it was initially believed the yacht suffered only minor damage to the rigging, repairers discovered the internal structure of the yacht was stressed. As a result, repairers at the Gold Coast City Marina have cut a hole in the side of the fiberglass structure to make internal repairs. Ms Watson's media spokesman Scott Young said that thanks to the "outstanding" repair efforts, it was expected work on the yacht's internal structure would be completed in the next few days. "Work on the mast and sail will then be conducted and Jessica is confident she will be heading to Sydney again next weekend," Mr Young said. Before setting sail to Sydney, however, Mr Young said Ms Watson would be taking the yacht on several test sails. - http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26081393-421,00.html HOLMATRO OPENS NEW INNOVATIVE BUSINESS PREMISES Friday 11th September was a milestone in the history of Holmatro, which spans back over 40 years. On that day the official opening was held of the new business premises of Holmatro, alongside the A27 in Raamsdonksveer. The divisions Marine and Industrial Equipment as well as the Holding will be residing at the new premises. Due to enormous growth over the past years, the new location at the Lissenveld was added, thus freeing up additional space at the Zalmweg for the Rescue Equipment division to grow even further. Holmatro already is the largest manufacturer of high-pressure hydraulic rescue equipment in the world. ABBREVIATED DAY Newport, R.I., USA (Sept. 16, 2009) - The Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) won today's opening race in the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup and was pre-empted from showing its prowess in a second race when sailing had to be abandoned due to wind and technical difficulties. The race, sailed in lumpy seas and an 18-knot easterly on Rhode Island Sound, started the regatta off with lots of action, as the Canadian boat, helmed by Terry McLaughlin, battled most closely with the New York Yacht Club, Royal Cork Yacht Club (IRL) and Japan Sailing Federation for best position between the start and the first mark two miles to windward. The Yacht Club Italiano's skipper Carlo Puri Negri could have been happier at the end of the day. As it was, shortly after the start, the stitching at the head of his jib failed, causing the webbing to pull from the sail and render it useless. He was sitting in fourth, he said, at the time of the mishap. "We sailed the rest of the race with just a mainsail," said Puri Negri. The same thing happened to the Nylandska Jaktklubben team (FIN), with Leonardo Ferragamo at the helm. "While the fleet waited for the second race to start, the wind increased to 22 knots," said Swan 42 Class President Paul Zabetakis, explaining that this is the limit for constant winds in this regatta in accordance with the NOR, "Another jib had failed in the meantime, and that, coupled with the sustained wind strength, made it clear the racing needed to be abandoned. "To North's credit, they jumped right on the situation to fix the first two jibs, and tonight they will rework all the jibs so that racing can get underway again tomorrow," said Zabetakis. Standings after one race: 1. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, CAN ,Terry McLaughlin; 2. New York Yacht Club, USA, Phil Lotz; 3. Royal Cork Yacht Club, IRL, Anthony O'Leary; 4. Japan Sailing Federation, JPN, Makoto Uematsu; 5. Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, BER, Mark Watson. - Nightly reports, blogs, daily video and results are available at http://www.nyyc.org/eventnews ANOTHER BATTERING It was a "blowing dogs off chains day" at the 2009 Sail for Gold event in Weymouth, England, the venue of the 2012 Olympic Sailing Regatta. Winds of up to 30 knots postponed racing for all but two classes today. Winds dipped to 15-20 knots in the afternoon, long enough for the 49ers and Men's RS:X to get a few races in inside the port. Outside the sea wall, the conditions were unmanageable. In addition to the offshore breeze, the waves were coming in from two directions, like a washing machine, according to Team Meteorologist Doug Charko. The rest of the classes waited on-shore monitoring the notice board for race postponements. Tomorrow's predictions are more promising, and the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics athletes are ready to race. This is a critical fact-finding mission for the 2012 Olympic Regatta venue's varying conditions, and the last opportunity to solidify or move up in the ISAF Sailing World Cup standings. Three USSTAG sailors/teams are currently leading the ISAF SWC standings in their respective classes: Tunnicliffe in the Laser Radial, Stu McNay (Lincoln, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.) in the Men's 470 and Scott Whitman (Brick, N.J.) and Julia Dorsett (Westchester, Pa./Boca Raton, Fla.) in the SKUD-18. Four additional USSTAG teams are ranked in the top 10. Following are the North American teams who are currently in the top ten at the Sail for Gold event in the respective classes: * Finn: Zack Railey (USA) 6th of 37 * 2.4mR: Paul Tingley (CAN) 5th of 14 and Mark Le Blanc (USA) 7th of 14 * Sonar: Doerr/ Freund/ McKinnon-Tucker (USA), 1st of 9 * SKUD 18: Scott Whitman/ Julia Dorsett (USA), 1st of 6 John McRoberts/ Brenda Hopkin (CAN) 3rd of 6 Preview and photos: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/ For the latest results: http://www.sailracer.co.uk/events/18401/results.htm ANOTHER POSTPONEMENT Racing at the Audi Medcup Circuit was thwarted again on Wednesday by inconsistent winds today off Cartagena where the final regatta of the 2009 Audi MedCup Circuit is still waiting to get under way. For the second successive day uncooperative winds meant that no racing was possible off Cartagena where the Caja Mediterraneo Region of Murcia Trophy regatta, the final event of the 2009 Audi MedCup Circuit, has yet to get fully under way. Even though there was no racing on Wednesday, Paul Cayard reports that the day was not a total loss: "Pretty frustrating for everyone. We did something nice though. There was a RIB out there with about 8 opti kids in it watching us. We invited them onboard and gave them all a chance to steer Artemis and get their photo taken. They were really cute, happy, smiling and enthusiastic. We even asked them which way we should go on the race course and they unanimously said 'right'. And they were correct." Thursday's schedule has been changed with the coastal race replaced meantime by windward-leeward races. This situation increasingly favors Emirates Team New Zealand who leads 2009 Audi MedCup TP52 Series by 52 points as the clock counts down towards the end of the regatta Saturday. The pressure on second place increases proportionately. Matador (ARG) holds second with a five points lead over Quantum Racing (USA) and Artemis (SWE). - Event website: http://2009.medcup.org CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CONDITIONS Malletts Bay Boat Club, Colchester, Vermont. - Matt Fisher, Dan Moriarty, and Tobi Moriarty had a remarkably consistent day with finishes of 6 and 1 in the very competitive 60 boat Lighting World Championship fleet. Two races were held today under chamber of commerce conditions with 10 to 15 knots and sunny skies. A win in the last race moved Fisher, from Westerville, Ohio, into first place with 33 points. Yesterday's leader, David Starck, is in second place with 38 points and four time past Lightning World champion Tito Gonzales from Santiago, Chile moved up to third place with finishes of 1 and 5 in today's races, giving him a total of 43 points through the first 8 races. The nine race series wraps up on Friday, September 18th. - Alan Ouellette, event details: http://tinyurl.com/mylyfj VELOS TAKES A BIG WIN AT BIG BOAT SERIES At last week's Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco, the largest boat at the regatta had an equally big win. Kjeld Hestehave's Tanton 73 "Velos" won the IRC B division with a convincing six straight bullets. A ten-point gap between first and second place highlighted the win, giving "Velos" the largest margin of victory at the regatta! Long-time customer Kjeld and his team competed with 100% Ullman inventory, showing dominant upwind speed throughout the event. With performance like this, there's no reason to change. Ullman Sails - Invest in your performance. Contact a local Ullman loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com SURFING CONDITIONS Westport, CT (September 16, 2009) - Reigning Star World Champions Georg Szabo and Rick Peter scored a very solid 4-2 for the two races on Wednesday at the Star North American Championships to build a nine point lead over the 47-boat field. However, Wednesday's real story may well have been Richard Clarke and Tyler Bjorn. The Canadian team surfed their way to two bullets in an easterly that swept swells and saturated rain clouds down Long Island Sound. According to Bjorn, "Richard is a magician downwind." According to Clarke, "I owe it all to Tyler and the P Star. The P Star is an awesome platform. Tyler tells me what to pull, and there isn't a lot for me to pull back there. The P Stars are fast downwind and we had a great time." There were a number of casualties. A handful of teams returned to shore shortly after peaking their bows outside of the cover of Saugatuck Island and the channel. Slam jibes and stressed parts took down masts and disabled boats. More than one crew went overboard. Preliminary Results 1. Szabo/ Peters - 2, 4, 4, 2 -12 2. Clarke/ Bjorn - 16, 3, 1, 1 - 21 3. Horton/ Erickson - 5, 13, 2, 3 - 23 4. MacCausland/ Murphy - 11, 7, 5, 4 - 27 5. McChesney/ Zwigelberg - 12, 1, 3, 17 - 33 Complete story and results: http://tinyurl.com/rckvto SAILING SHORTS * The National Class E Scow Association completed their Championship Regatta on Lake Winnebago at Oshkosh, Wisconsin under very trying weather conditions. A stable high over the upper Middlewest kept the winds too light and unstable for racing all week except for a local "sea breeze," which would build to as much as 12 knots, in the late afternoon through sunset. Final results: 1. Tom Burton, Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota (8 pts), 2. Sam Rogers, Minnetonka (16 pts), 3. Vincent Porter, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (19 pts), 4. Jeff Bonanni, Little Egg Harbor, NJ (20 pts), 5. Brian Porter, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (23 pts). - Complete results: www.e-scow.org *In order to focus attention on the need for action to combat climate change, the UK's Team Origin announced that it will make its bid for the America's Cup under the banner Race for Change. Race for Change will create opportunities for up to four main commercial partners to support the sporting bid. They have joined forces with the Carbon Trust as its environmental partner to provide practical advice on how to reduce carbon emissions. This will be the first major sports team to put its weight behind a climate change platform in this way to inspire positive action on cutting carbon. - Full story: http://tinyurl.com/prlzd7 * New Zealand's Adam Minoprio and French skipper Claire Leroy both hold on to the top spot in the latest release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings on 16 September. - http://www.sailing.org/mrrankings * The 12 Metre World Championships is expected to be the largest gathering of these vintage yachts in the 26 years since Newport last hosted the America's Cup (in 1983). Scheduled for September 22-27, the accompanying reunion of sailing personalities will be a homecoming for many sailing legends. Of particular interest will be the 12 Metre Legends Forums, sponsored by North Sails, on September 23, 24 and 25 with moderators Tom Whidden, Gary Jobson and Jan Slee. The North Sails Legends Forum Finale will take place before the awards presentation on Sunday, September 27, at New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court. - www.goldenyear2009.com EIGHT BELLS Commander Hugh A. Moore, a resident of Middletown, RI and a native of Chocowinity, NC, died suddenly at the age of 88 on September 11, 2009 at Newport, RI. Moore captained the Sloop Providence, a "small" tall ship. In his leisure time he commanded the racer-cruiser "Blue Fox", with his First Mate, Barbara. He served on the Race Committee for the New York Yacht Club for many years, including the 2009 Six Metre World Cup last week. He is survived by his devoted wife of 63 years Barbara Mae Lovell Moore formerly of Norwich, CT, son Richard Bruce Moore and daughter-in-law Kathleen O'Donnell of Middletown, RI, daughter Barbara Beth Moore of New York City, NY and his son Hugh Aubert Moore and daughter-in-law Katherine Plautz Moore of Barrington, RI. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Lucy's Hearth, 913 West Main Road in Middletown, RI. 02842 Funeral services will be held on Friday, September 18, 2009, 10:00 AM at Saint Columba's Chapel, 55 Vaucluse Avenue in Middletown, RI. - http://www.onhfh.com/ LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Please submit 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 Tom O'Brien Perhaps you have a few words planned for 9/17/09 about the 35th anniversary of the 1974 America's Cup. In light of the storylines of the current America's Cup circus, it is a treat for some of us to reflect on how things were "back in the day". The rule interpretations may not have been perfect, relationships between syndicates occasionally acrimonious, but it was such a seemingly different environment. The competition was plenty intense. Sportsmanship was part of the culture on each of the teams. My memory has occasionally been described as "selective". Probably accurate here too, but Reg Pierce and I (and perhaps others on the '74 Courageous crew) will raise a glass to the lads of 12 KA 4 when we gather upstairs in Newport at The Candy Store next week for the 12 Metre Worlds. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Trouble in marriage often starts when a man gets so busy earning his salt, that he forgets his sugar. Special thanks to Holmatro and Ullman Sails Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
