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SCUTTLEBUTT 2165 - August 23, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.“CHALLENGING” CONDITIONS Qingdao Olympic Sailing Centre -- Racing at day two of the Qingdao International Regatta, the first Olympic Test Event for sailing in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, concluded with many of the overnight fleet leaders maintaining their pecking order in the fleet. However, as a nation France is currently dominating, and holds the top slot in three of the nine events for whom racing has commenced. Racing took place for the Tornado, Laser Radial, Laser, 49er, 470 Women and Yngling today. The scheduled races for the Star and RS:X Men did not take place due to the decreasing wind. The opening races for the Finn and RS:X Women will get underway tomorrow, with racing for the 470 Men resuming after a day off today. The eleven Olympic events are being rotated through the four course areas, with eight events scheduled to race on any one day. Racing got underway in between 6-8 knots of wind from the east, before veering to south easterly, with a light fog over the race courses. The lights winds, combined with the currents in Fushan Bay, proved challenging for many of the sailors. Racing their first (and only race so far) USA Tornado sailors John Lovell and Charles Ogletree took a fifth place with the other USA multihull -- Robert Daniel/ Enrique Rodriguez taking ninth in this 17-boat fleet. Canadian Bernard Luttmer continues to be the top North American in the 36-boat Laser class. He is presently in 14th place with the USA’s Brad Funk in 17th. In the Laser Radial class, Paige Railey (USA) is tied for second place - just two points, behind the leader, while Mexico’s Tania Elias Calles Wolf has moved up to fifth place with Lisa Ross (CAN) in 16th. Amanda Clark/ Sara Mergenthaler (USA) move up into ninth place in the 470 Female class (37-boats) with Jennifer Provan/ Carol Luttmer (CAN) in 21st. With another single digit finish, the USA’s Dalton Bergan/ Zachary Maxam remain in eighth place, ahead of Rob Dale/ Hunter Lowden (CAN) who slipped to 12th. Sally Barkow and her crew of Debra Capozzi and Carolyn Howe (USA) are now in fourth place in the 16-boat Yngling class, while Carol Cronin/ Kimberly Couranz/ Margaret Podlich moved up to 10th. -- http://www.2006qdregatta.com/ AS SEEN BY THE USA SAILORS * From Star sailors Andy Horton and Brad Nichols: Well, there is not much to say about today other then I am alive. With some help from the guys on the US Sailing Team PET (Performance Enhancement Team) and a much-needed IV to get some fluids back in my body I was ready to race today. Unfortunately, the wind was not ready and we concluded the day with one abandoned race. Highlights of the day included the two US star boats rounding one-two at the first and only weather mark, most likely due to the great coaching job by Katie Kelly who was filling in for Mike Wolfs (still battling the China Syndrome). Also on my high list was the bowl of white rice I just had for dinner, the first solid food that has stayed down in 36 hours. * From Team Cronin -- Carol, Kim, and Margaret, Yngling sailors: While you were all sleeping last night (we hope), we were out racing in 2-5 knots of breeze and almost a full knot of current. Challenging indeed! The forecast is a bit grim for the next few days with little wind expected. EXACTLY 100 YEARS AGO (Excerpts from an interesting historical post on the BWW Oracle Racing blog) It all began on August 22, 1851. The schooner yacht America defeated Aurora and 13 others of the Royal Yacht Squadron fleet in a race around the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England. For their efforts the syndicate of New York Yacht Club members was awarded a bottomless pitcher ("ewer" to be more precise) crafted of 134 ounces of silver plate in 1948 by Garrards of Londons, the royal jewelers. The trophy was bought "off-the-shelf" -- it was not unique nor purchased for the occasion -- by the Marquess of Anglesey, who had donated it to the Royal Yacht Squadron. To great acclaim, the syndicate returned with the Cup (and the tidy sum of $25,000 for which they sold America before leaving England) to pre-civil war USA. In 1852, 45 years before the French aristocrat Pierre, baron de Coubertin founded the modern Olympics (1896), America syndicate members drafted a "Deed of Gift" donating the trophy to the New York Yacht Club "upon the conditions that it shall be preserved as a perpetual Challenge Cup for friendly competition between foreign countries" -- a rather radical idea in those days. Needless to say, August 22 ,1851 turned out to be an important day for the sport of yacht racing, indeed for international sport. No doubt the Cup's historical significance is a large part of why today, 155 years later, so many us here in Valencia, and around the world, are pursuing it with such passion. -- Tom Ehman, full story: http://bmworacleracing.twoday.net/stories/2561072/ HARKEN AT QINGDAO OLYMPIC TEST EVENT The hundreds of Olympic class sailors competing at the Qingdao Test Event are receiving on-site technical support from Harken’s Global Tech Team. Mitja Margon, managing director of Harken Adriatik, and his team are providing equipment and rigging advice to the athletes. Margon, a former Slovenian 470 sailor and coach, specializes in the Olympic Classes. Many competitors are “flying the Harken colors” including powerhouses like Yngling class racers Sally Barkow and Helena Lucas, top five Star class leaders, Diego Negri, George Szabo, Andy Horton, Iain Percy and Iain Murray, and Finn star Ben Ainslie If It’s Hot, it’s Got Harken. -- http://www.harken.com PRODUCING A MODERN CLASSIC Sparkman & Stephens has mined its storied past for the creation of a modern classic cruising yacht, now under construction at Maine¹s Brooklin Boat Yard. The 56-foot, cold-molded Anna borrows generously from one of S&S’s most famous and beloved designs, Stormy Weather, which sprang from the boards of the company in the mid-1930s under the watchful eye of S&S co-founder Olin J. Stephens II. “With some notable exceptions, Anna is a scaled-up version of Stormy Weather,” says S&S chief naval architect Greg Matzat. “We¹ve maintained most of the aesthetic elements of the older boat -- her sheerline, her tumblehome, the shape of her house, the configuration of her cockpit, her overhangs and transom -- and placed them on a modern, efficient underbody. In her day, Stormy Weather represented the latest thinking in racing yacht technology. In 1935, a year after her launch, she won both the transatlantic race and the Fastnet with Olin¹s brother Rod at the helm. She was an evolution of Stephens¹s seminal Dorade. Stephens has identified Stormy Weather as one of his favorite designs. Anna¹s owner wanted a modern yacht with contemporary sailing characteristics, but one with the aesthetics of a classic. Her hull is a cold-molded combination of mahogany, western red cedar and Port Orford cedar. She utilizes West System epoxy in her construction, which minimizes weight while maintaining the look and feel of a wooden boat. Unlike Stormy Weather¹s wine-glass-shaped hull, which has a full keel and attached rudder, Anna has a slightly V’d canoe body with a fin keel and bulb and a carbon spade rudder. Matzat says her hull shape will make her exceptionally seakindly offshore and will provide excellent sailing performance. The V’d hull also integrates aesthetically with her classic lines above the water and helps maximize headroom, while keeping the freeboard low. For improved performance, Anna will be rigged as a sloop rather than a yawl. Her mast will be carbon fiber, painted a cream color. She will have rod-standing rigging. Like Stormy Weather, Anna will be steered by a tiller -- unusual for a yacht her size, but true to the spirit of her predecessor. She will retain numerous deck details of her famous predecessor large and small, including the style of her Dorade vents, her mainsheet foundations, her winch bases and her unusual off-center, mid-ship second companionway. In order to not spoil her classic look, her anchor hides below decks on a retractable arm. -- http://www.sparkmanstephens.com VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN The Women’s Sports Foundation has named Yngling skipper Sally Barkow as a finalist for the 2006 Sportswoman of the Year Award in the team sport category. Each year, the Women’s Sports Foundation honors two exceptional athletes — one individual and one team sport athlete — for extraordinary performances. Athletes were considered for their athletic achievements between August 1, 2005, and July 31, 2006. Previous recipients of this award include athletes Sue Bird, Bonnie Blair, Natalie Coughlin, Chris Evert, Mia Hamm, Sarah Hughes, Juli Inkster, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michelle Kwan, Lisa Leslie, Martina Navratilova, Sheryl Swoopes, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. In addition to the Women’s Sports Foundation Awards Committee, the general public has the opportunity to vote until August 31 at www.sportswomanvote.com. In addition to the Women’s Sports Foundation Awards Committee, the general public has the opportunity to vote until August 31. Vote early and often: http://www.sportswomanvote.com CAPSIZES APLENTY SAN FRANCISCO---This is how the 18' Skiff International Regatta got rolling Tuesday: Seven boats started and six capsized, including the leader, 17-year-old Samuel (Shark) Kahn of nearby Santa Cruz. If the Golden Gate wind tunnel keeps howling at 20 knots this chaos is likely to continue through Saturday, or until the local marine hardware stores run out of parts. Four boats didn't finish the first race and three didn't start the second, retiring to the Crissy Field staging area adjacent to the host St. Francis Yacht Club with a variety of broken gear. The only boat that stayed upright through two races was John Winning's Yandoo from Australia, which sits in second place, one point behind Kahn and one point ahead of defending champion Howard Hamlin. Nobody who sails these boats could be called conservative, but Winning, 54, in the wisdom of his years that include a world championship and a victory here may have throttled back just a tad to stay under control. "Yeah, probably," he said. "You look at the hard angles and pick your spots. But you can get too conservative. If you're not going fast when you jibe you can get into trouble." Jibes were trouble for Kahn and Hamlin. After finishing second in the first race, Hamlin, sailing Pegasus White with Mike Martin and Trent Barnabas as crew, was leading the second at the first leeward mark when they took their dip. "We got the main [sail] out by accident in mid-jibe and just stuck it in a wave," Hamlin said. By the time they righted their skiff Kahn, sailing Pegasus Black with Cameron MacDonald and Paul Allen, and Winning, with Andrew Hay and Geoff Bauchop, had blown by, but not for long. At the next windward mark it was Kahn's turn to swim. "We had a little miscommunication on the boat," Kahn said. "We were going to do a jibe set and the main didn't get let out. That loaded up the boat." -- Rich Roberts STANDINGS (after 2 of 10 races): 1. Pegasus Black, Samuel (Shark) Kahn, 1-2, 3 points. 2. Yandoo, John Winning, 3-1, 4. 3. Pegasus White, Howard Hamlin, 2-3, 5. 4. Skiff Sailing Foundation White, Chad Freitas, 8-4, 12. 5. Tie among DeLonghi, Grant Rollerson; Skiff Sailing Foundation Blue, Patrick Whitmarsh, and West Marine, Peter Barton, 16 points. Complete results and photos: http://www.stfyc.com (Click successively on Regatta Information/ 2006 Racing Calendar/ August) VICTORY IN THE VERVE CUP The new Beneteau 10R has hit the scene, and two Doyle-powered Beneteau 10R’s have gone straight to the top with wins in the 2006 Chicago Verve Cup and the Jimmy Fund Regatta. Both boats carried full inventories of Doyle’s new STRATIS load-path sails. The lesson is clear: If you race a Beneteau, you should be buying Doyle sails. 1-800-94-DOYLE; http://www.doylesails.com SAILING SHORTS * By winning the final race of the Schock 35 Nationals, and by getting another boat between his ‘Ripple’ and ‘Whiplash’ sailed by regatta leader Ray Godwin, Jeff Janov was able to throw the championship into a tie - a tie that ‘Ripple’ won at the second level tie breaker. This was Janov’s second consecutive Schock 35 National title. Steve Murphy’s ‘JoAnn’ won the final spot on the podium in this nine boat event at the Newport Harbor YC, by winning a tie-breaker with Fred Young’s ‘Perfect Circle.’ -- http://tinyurl.com/obr4h * Vermillion Ohio -- The 36-boat T10 North American Championship came down to a dramatic jibing duel to the finish line between the two top contenders. Chris Carroll’s Twins won that duel to score a one point victory over Troll sailed by Tim Britton … and win the T10 NA championship. Third place in this nine race, no discard event was taken by Looking For LaFonda, sailed Jeff Sampson. Carroll and Britton have sailed against each other for more than 25 years from junior club events to national championships. -- http://www.tten.com/2006_Nationals.htm * Racing begins on Sunday August 27 at the Melges 24 World Championship with a record-breaking 126 teams from 14 nations racing on Hyeres Bay in the South of France. The first of six round robin races will decide the gold and silver fleets. Six additional races are scheduled to complete the championship which concludes on September 1. The US contingent includes Dave Ullman, sailing for Philippe Kahn’s Team Pegasus and North American Champion Brian Porter, whose Full Throttle crew includes 2002 World Champion Harry Melges. America’s Cup commitments prevent James Spithill from defending his World Championship. -- http://www.m24world2006.com * Did you have a good time? That’s what the organizers of Cowes Week want to know, and they’ve put a questionnaire online to find out from their ‘customers’ how they can do it better next time: http://www.corkweek.ie/ * By noon Monday the South-West winds built to 20 knots with gusts as high as 25 knots providing the 370 sailors competing on the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour in Kingston in CORK with extremely challenging sailing conditions. Many of the Laser, Byte, 420 and 29er racers had not sailed in the heavy conditions experienced in Lake Ontario but all were saying what a wonderful opportunity it is to be able to train in such fabulous conditions with the best sailors from around the world. For all of the class results check the CORK web site at http://www.cork.org * Newport Harbor YC expects to have 50 boats on its March, 2006 race to Cabo San Lucas on the tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. The race is open to all monohull yachts, from cruising boats to maxi sleds. Division and class breaks will be determined after the close of entries, and will compete within a division as well as against the overall fleet. Special classes can be formed as well by the owners or by Newport Harbor YC. In addition, the Race will host a Salsa class, open to cruising-type boats. -- http://www.07caborace.org * Newport, RI – Ken Read scored a one point victory over John Mollicone in the Melges 24 Gold Cup Regatta hosted by Sail Newport. Fifteen boats sailed the nine race, one discard series. The team of Mike Buckley/ D. Ford finished third while Sean Scarborough, who finished fourth overall, was the top Corinthian. -- http://208.106.141.167/npt/m/_general/M24results.asp * The points from the 84 mile long coastal race may have been shared equally between Peter de Ridder’s Mutua Madrilena and Steve and Fred Howe’s Warpath, but the relief was almost universal among the 16 strong TP52 Breitling MedCup that the ‘offshore’ finished just before the breeze collapsed. The course proved a feast for those boats strong on all varieties of reaching, and a famine for those seeking upwind and downwind passing opportunities. After four races the leaders are: 1. Mutua Madrilena, 9pts; 2. Cristabella, 11pts; 3. Warpath, 20pts; 4. Caixa Galicia, 20pts; 5. Bribon, 24pts. -- http://www.medcup.org LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thought at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Carter Utzig: Ever wonder how strong a class is? Well in our case, it isn’t a class but a family built around the Lightning. We are all different - some cruise, some restore and build wood boats, and others race to their heart’s content. We visited our cousins on the west coast these last two weeks to sail our North American Championships in San Diego, CA. 75 degrees, sun, wind, lots of seals and starts at noon. After wonderful Women’s, Junior’s and Master’s championships, we held the North American Championships with over 200 other Lightning sailors – many of these teams racing with their children and family members. With a large portion of the sailors less than 20 years old, we have become a young class with a long heritage. I only hope that I can sail the foredeck as well Dick Brewer at 83 with the enthusiasm of all the 11 & 12 year olds sailing such as Gillian Francis. Teams from South America are currently flying over the large number of teams that are driving across the country to get back to their home waters – may we find them all safe in their travels. Thanks to Mission Bay and Southwestern Yacht Clubs for making the time on and off the water a great experience. I guess I will have to figure out how to take some time off next year to sail in the Lightning California Circuit. * From Tom George: Could you please discontinue dashing my hopes of making an A-Cup team by telling me I have to pole vault my way to the afterguard? I mean, could we please fast forward to the stories about the lazy sometimes misdirected naerdowell who is called by some Euro/Techo Billionaire and gets invited to join up and do some leisurely "technical/tactical analysis." I'm sure Jean Galfione (Aveve Challenge) is a good guy and I am glad he has crossed over to the best sport in the world, but a few articles about a heroic roll of duct tape and its triumph over a carbon fibre contact sheet or the human equivalent would be most appreciated. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATIONS “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” -- P.J. O'Rourke Special thanks to Harken Yacht Equipment and Doyle Sails. |
