|
SCUTTLEBUTT 3559 - Friday, March 30, 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: New England Ropes and Summit Yachts. IN THE CARIBBEAN... LIKE A VIRGIN By Michelle Slade, SailBlast As the saying goes, there's a first time for everything. However, it blows me away to be in the British Virgin Islands with the likes of Dee Smith and Eric Arndt, two well known American sailors who have raced all over the world, to find out that neither of them have EVER been here before. If Smith's wife Jocelyn has her way, it won't be the last. "I was talking to a bunch of the guys and we're like, 'why have we not done this before'?!!", she said. A very relaxed-looking Smith concurs, "It's beautiful here..." He's working with a new Farr 400 program - Blade - chartered by Michael and Marlene Schlens (Los Angeles). They're just off the St Thomas Rolex Regatta where they placed fourth. Smith's working with Schlen and his mostly local Los Angeles, CA. amateur crew, helping get them up to speed on the 400. "We were pretty happy with that result and the racing was fantastic," Smith said. "We had a nice match race with the other 400 - Magnitude (chartered by Doug Baker also from Los Angeles) - they could have won easily except they made a mistake on the last finish line." The BVI is proving an ideal environment for Smith and Co., to work Blade through its paces. Nonetheless, I had to ask the question, "Why do you think sailors keep coming back here?" Simultaneous crack up around the table. "Well duh! Just look around! What do you think - gee - there's wind, the water is warm, it's clear, you don't have to wear anything ... it's like ... beautiful!" Smith laughed. Racing got underway for the BVI Sailing Festival on Wednesday, with a 26-mile race around the island of Virgin Gorda - a perfect combo of downwind and upwind racing, with some challenging tactics involved (reef, rocks...). The Blade team took 3rd overall on Wednesday and look good for the BVI Spring regatta 3-day festival starting Friday. While it's hard to imagine anyone working up a competitive sweat racing in Paradise, Smith countered, "It's always competitive when the competitive people go sailing. Doug Baker and his guys are all very competitive boys - they're a bit above where we are so they beat us pretty hard. The 52s that sail these (Caribbean) races charge pretty hard - they're race boats, they don't know how to stop them. Even some of the charter cruising boats are being sailed by some pretty good people. It's just the performance. Our boat is really performance oriented and it goes really well in these conditions - it gets up and planes." -- Read on: http://sailblast.blogspot.com/2012/03/like-virgin.html * Tortola, British Virgin Islands (March 29, 2012) - Big breeze and ocean swell were on tap for the Nanny Cay Cup, a 22-mile blast reach from Virgin Gorda to Nanny Cay Marina in Tortola. In the Racing Class, the Farr 400s led the way, with Michael Shlens Blade and Doug Baker's Magnitude finishing 1-2. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/BVI-032912 Schedule of Events March 27-28 - BVI Sailing Festival March 28-29 - GILL BVI National Match Racing Championships! March 29-April 1 - BVI Spring Regatta Details: http://www.bvispringregatta.org/bvi/SCHEDULE/Events.aspx THE FUTURE OF YACHT RACING The 3rd International Yacht Forum in Hamburg, Germany on March 24-25 was presented by moderator Dobbs Davis, sailing expert and editor of the Seahorse Magazine, who was joined by 13 international specialists to discuss "The Future of Yacht Racing". Here is an excerpt... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Most noticeable was the growing importance of computers in all areas of the sailing sport. Nick White, developer of the powerful navigation software Expedition, impressively demonstrated the immense advantages of navigation and tactics software. If courses are evaluated, taking weather and flow data as Grib files and performance data of the yacht into account, chances of winning are significantly bigger. Weather expert Meeno Schrader later pointed out the influence of the data quality for the planning. In general, there is an - international - trend to boats providing more fun sailing and not mainly fit well into a rating rule. More fun comes along with less weight, more ballast and a bigger sail area - all of that being punished in the rating rules. Today you can easily build a boat of 12m with a total weight of less than 4t without suffering seaworthiness. But the popular boats in Northern Europe weigh 6t - 8t or more. Even a brand new XP38 of X-Yachts' Performance Series weighs 6.4t at a length of 11.58m. Yacht designer Jason Ker showed a diagram illustrating the trend for the weight of racing yachts, in case a new rating rule for high performance yachts would be developed: 3.5t to 4t for a 12m yacht, less than 6t for a 15m yacht. The sailing performance of these boats would be remarkable - a reason for some sailors, designers and measurers in the USA to develop a rating rule for forceful racing yachts, without concern for the cruiser racers. All speakers agreed on one point: the new light yachts would be extremely demanding for the crew. Everyone must be aware, that you need a lot of practice to manage such a high performance racer to win a race on corrected time. Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/0329/ THE ROBSHIP HAS LANDED! New England Ropes has expanded its product offerings to include Robship, a product line consisting of rope bags, sleeves, and covers that protect your boat and its rigging from the elements as well as provide convenient storage options for personal belongings! Like our cordage products, Robship products are comprised of the highest quality materials that are meticulously inspected and equipped with extra weather protection. Robship is now exclusively available at West Marine! Come see Robship for yourself at the New England Ropes booth #410 at Strictly Sail Pacific or online at either http://www.neropes.com or http://www.westmarine.com ARE THE OLYMPICS READY FOR KITEBOARDING? The International Kiteboarding Class Association (IKA) is eager to prove that kiteboarding is ready for the Olympics 2016, and they got their chance last week to showcase who and what they are in front of an ISAF evaluation panel. ISAF has already confirmed that there will be a 'Board' event at the 2016 Games, and the IKA would like it to be kiteboards. Here is the IKA report... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The ISAF kiteboarding format trials wrapped up last Sunday in Santander, Spain, which will be host to the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championship. The original task - finding a racing and event format that shows kiteboarding at its best - was completed quickly with a great outcome that will give the sport another boost. The new format is made for fleets of any size, but adds spectacular elements and a medal race series in elimination, which will add all the drama that other sports have - this is the way how heroes are made. The even more important task - to showcase that kiteboarding is mature and ready for the 2016 games - was also handled with bravery. The ISAF evaluation panel as well as ISAF president Goran Petersson and vice president Teresa Lara were impressed by performance and professionalism - and well noticed the excitement that kiteboarding is able to create to bring a completely new audience into the sailing family. This is especially true for all the kids in the emerging nations - kiteboarding equipment is the most affordable one of all Olympic classes equipment, it can be bought in every shop on every beach in the world, and it does not require expensive infrastructure, neither harbors nor in terms of travelling as it can be taken as normal luggage on any plane. The ISAF equipment committee representatives had a detailed look at the equipment and class rules - many boards were measured and weighted, and it was definitely a surprise that such high performance can be achieved with equipment that has a total weight of slightly more than 10 kilogram - ready to sail, including board, kite, fins, bars, and wetsuit. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/0329a/ WILL THE LEADERS MAKE IT UNSCATHED? (March 29, 2012; Day 12) - As Volvo Ocean Race leaders Groupama and PUMA were closing on Cape Horn, it will be touch and go as to whether they both escape the punchy weather still due in the region of Cape Horn on Friday when the leading pair will be in the vicinity. The teams will not be sorry to leave the Southern Ocean behind. Cammas said that it was only yesterday that the waves dropped below seven metres, and admitted to broaching Groupama twice during the heaviest of conditions. "We haven't been really frightened at any point, but it was stressful for a long time," he said. Groupama is expected to enter Drake's Passage, the expanse of water that separates Cape Horn from the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica, tomorrow. Cape Horn marks the northern boundary of Drake's Passage, the area notorious for shipwrecks and known as the 'sailor's graveyard'. "It's not a deciding factor that we will still be leading on exiting Drake's Passage," Cammas explained. "However, it is not a deciding factor to be leader. What matters is to make it back into the Atlantic with a boat in her absolute prime and with a crew which is great shape." Other than the leading pair, the only team to seem healthy was Abu Dhabi, with media crew Nick Dana reporting a new top speed of 41.5 knots. "It was not really our intention to be hitting speeds like this, we have at least another four days of this weather and we certainly do not want to damage the boat or people right now," said helm Rob Greenhalgh. Unfortunately, a report that followed announced that Abu Dhabi had slowed down to give themselves an opportunity to assess some delamination to the hull. No further update was provided at press time. -- Event media INFIRMARY: Team Sanya has arrived in New Zealand to repair their rudder, and will rejoin the fleet in Miami. Camper is bound for Puerto Montt in Chile to repair bow damage, and then continue to Itajai. Team Telefonica will make a stop at the Argentine port of Ushuaia to repair bow damage and then continue to Itajai. Leg 5 - Auckland, NZL to Itajai, Brazil (6,705 nm) Standings as of Friday, 30 March 2012, 1:02:41 UTC 1. Groupama 4 (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA), 2121.9 nm Distance to Finish 2. PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA), 23.5 nm Distance to Lead 3. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP), 317.9 nm DTL 4. CAMPER (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), 1273.1 nm DTL 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR), 1546.6 DTL 6. Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL), Retired Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain (Oct. 29) and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles around the world via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com SAILING SHORTS * Long Beach, CA (March 29, 2012) - The third day of the ISAF Grade 1 48th Congressional Cup match racing championship rolled through four flights today, which saw defending champion Ian Williams (GBR) go undefeated and come within one win of the lead that four-tme winner Gavin Brady (NZL) has held since day one. Currently holding third is Taylor Canfield of the USVI. The ten teams need to complete four more flights to determine the top four teams that will advance to the semi-finals and finals on Saturday. -- Event website: http://www.thecongressionalcup.com * The lead boat in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race and its nine competitors are near completion of their race leg from Qingdao, China to San Francisco Bay, with the lead boat tracking to arrive at Jack London Square in Oakland sometime on Saturday, March 31. The fleet will be joining the Strictly Sail Pacific boat show, also at Jack London Square, with show dates on April 12-15. Activities for show attendees include the awards ceremony on April 12, climbing onboard the boats on April 12-13, and the race re-start on April 14. -- Details: http://www.strictlysailpacific.com/shows/clipper-round-the-world.asp * Live announcers, on the water umpiring, Kattack GPS tracking devices and a large audience are planned for the 2012 Baldwin Cup Team Race in Newport, Beach, CA. Hosted by Newport Harbor Yacht Club on March 30-April 1, 11 teams from across the U.S. will compete in this 4 on 4 event sailed in Harbor 20s. Competition will be held off the NHYC Main Dock for prime spectator viewing, with 25¢ beer served all weekend. -- Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13519 * Cascais, Portugal (March 29, 2012) - A full on day of fleet racing saw four different winners from four races and a very compact 15-boat fleet competing at the Cascais RC44 Cup 2012. Igor Lah (SLO) along with tactician Michele Ivaldi (ITA) and the team of CEEREF were the most consistent to lead after day one. Katusha (RUS) helmed this week by Steve Howe (USA) with Russell Coutts (NZL) calling the shots is one point off the lead with a 3,7,1,4 score-line. Racing concludes on 1st April. -- Full report: http://www.rc44.com/news/view/compact_racing_for_the_rc44_fleet * The Sail1Design College Sailing Team Race Rankings as of March 29th considers Georgetown as the best team with Charleston, Hobart and Smith College, Boston College, and Stanford following in that order. -- Full rankings: http://www.sail1design.com/rankings/icsa-rankings * CORRECTION: Carol Cronin, who authored 'My Family of Snipe' in Scuttlebutt 3558, was listed as a 2008 Olympian. In fact, Carol skippered for the U.S. in the women's keelboat event at the 2004 Games. NEWEST SUMMIT 35 SHIPS OUT The latest Summit 35 to be built has just been shipped to Germany; the first of our 35's to go to that part of the world. The new owner is enthusiastic about racing what is considered the ultimate racer/cruiser in its class. Mark Mills has designed this as well as the other models in the Summit Lineup to rate well in IRC, ORC as well as PHRF. Check out the Summit 35, and Summit 40 Racer/Cruisers and the all-new Summit 45 carbon Racer at http://www.summit-yachts.com PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include guard dog, Midwest bound, before and after, sweet ride, bagpipe, J boats, tacking, and hot tub boats. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/0330/ 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 The growth of kitesailing appears limitless as course world champion Johnny Heineken (USA) enjoys his rig on the water and the snow while his sister Erika provides video of the outings. Erika Heineken presents play-by-play insight during The Lord of the Wind Showdown in Los Barriles, Baja Mexico, and then produces footage from a snowkiting adventure at Skyline Ridge in Utah. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/12/0330/ Bonus Videos: * This week on Episode 32 of 'America's Cup Uncovered' we are undercover in the Land of the Dragon, revealing China Team's new recruits as two world-class sailors, Fred Le Peutrec and Phil Robertson, go head to head competing for the vacant skipper position. Back in San Francisco we catch up with ORACLE Racing design team to chat about the AC72 timeline. Then we head to Naples, Italy where four-time America's Cup Challenger Lars Borgstrom talks about the passion the Italians have for the sport of sailing, and reliable wind conditions that the teams should see during the AC World Series races in Naples April 11-15. Tune in on Saturday March 31 approx 0800 PDT 1600 BST: http://www.youtube.com/americascup#p/c/915CDC8233C7B14E * In the March 30 "World on Water" Global Boating Weekly News Report we feature the magnificent yachts in the 2012 Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta & Rendezvous at the new YCCS Virgin Gorda facility, the Volvo "bad day" moments for Abu Dhabi Racing and Telefonica in "Fresh to Frightening", the Finn Europeans in Scarlino, the UIM Class One Pearl Qatar Grand Prix Race 1, the RS:X Worlds in Cadiz and the 2012 International Rolex Regatta in St Thomas. See it on http://www.boatson.tv at approx 1000 GMT, 0500 EDT. * The "crown jewel" of Caribbean yacht racing is the International ROLEX Regatta with three days of world-class racing on the warm, clear waters surrounding St. Thomas Yacht Club USVI. Daily reports by T2P.tv: http://www.t2p.tv/guide/irr12.php * Long Beach Yacht Club presents the Congressional Cup, the most famous match race regatta in the United States with an international list of renowned skippers and crews battling it out to see who will wear the crimson blazer. Daily reports by T2P.tv: http://www.t2p.tv/guide/cc12.php 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 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 Paul Newell, Isle of Wight: I read with great interest the article which basically states that some owners and crews don't want to do these bloody awful sausage courses any more (in Scuttlebutt 3558). I did the Half Ton Cup in Cowes last year and, apart from three races, we did the upwind/downwind courses. Boring!! After the event (I should have raised the objection at the first briefing), I spoke to several of the owners who all said more or less the same thing "We came to Cowes to sail Cowes" i.e. there are a huge number of both racing and navigation marks in the Solent which could have, and should have, been used to create some really interesting courses. And the shape of the Solent lends itself to interesting courses in its own right too. The navigational skills of the crew can be exercised. It's not just about catching the wind shifts, there is so much more to racing than boring sausage courses. But no, we sailed in the tidal slack spot day after day on courses that were too short and as a result no real challenge to boat or crew apart from making the windward and leeward turning marks a bunched up and dangerous place to be. I have felt this way for many years now but I also feel that I am a very small minority pushing against a very large immovable rock. I wonder how many more owners and crew out there feel the same as me. * From Bob Johnstone: No question that pursuit races bring out the numbers of all sizes and types of boats and participants, including those who hardly race at all and never had PHRF certificates. Over the past 7 years at the Northeast Harbor Fleet and Boston Harbor Islands Regatta, a Sailing Instruction solved the only problem a pursuit race has ...the wind dies and race is shortened, causing a "recalculate" demand. Start time intervals are usually based on time-on-distance PHRF ratings. But, since the crossover point between TOD and the PHRF time-on-time (TOT) conversion is about 3 hours in a 12 mile race (14 miles is a bit long), the SI's stated that the race stood (without recalculation of times) if shortened after 3 hours from the start of the slowest boat. That calculation could be made for a pursuit race of any length ... and more post race parties enjoyed. * From Steve Gregory: The debate about the prevalence of windward-leeward courses is a worthy topic. There should be no question that this race course is the best for elite events - nationals, worlds, continentals, etc. But the overwhelming majority of sailors are in it for the recreation and not competing for the Holy Grail. They want some fun. What if a golfer was to play a round of 18, but used only two holes, and went back and forth 18 times? A round of golf would be an utter bore. A golf course has 18 different holes for a reason... diversity! For the same reason, sailing courses should be diverse too. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If you cannot get your work done in a 24-hour day, then work nights! SPONSORS THIS WEEK Dieball Sailing - Camet - New York Yacht Club - North U North Sails - Soft Deck - US Sailing - Doyle Sailmakers - Henri Lloyd Point Loma Outfitters - Ullman Sails - New England Ropes - Summit Yachts Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
