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SCUTTLEBUTT 3320 - Thursday, April 14, 2011Scuttlebutt 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: Ullman Sails, Atlantis WeatherGear, and LaserPerformance. SAILING WITH YOUR SPOUSE By Jefferson Hall, married man This article is about the ins and outs of sailing with your partner or spouse. Based upon my experience as well as some stories I have heard it is clear that racing as a couple is not for everyone. However, I also know that it can be a rewarding pursuit if you have the right chemistry and personalities. The key is all in setting expectations, respecting one another and communication which can also be applied to most any pairing. Perhaps it is best to preface the article with some background information. Early in our relationship it became clear to Tracy and her family that I have an addiction to sailing. Initially I think they believed that I was sailing on cold weekends and driving to places like Miami, Annapolis & Houston to avoid family dinners and quality time. If there was a race, practice or cruise I wanted to be there, rigging & tweaking the boat, out on the water, and analyzing it afterwards. In time they came to understand that it was in my blood and something that I needed to do. I used to race on a five person team which was rewarding but became too much of a time commitment and logistical nightmare trying to make it mesh with family life. Enter the Albacore. I had been looking at the Albacore since I heard it was an active class in Toronto and 'easily' sailed by husband/wife teams. For a couple of years I considered entering the class and was searching high and low for a boat that I could afford. One week before we were to be married I found one in Burke, Virginia. Since I am a guy and was not overly involved in the wedding logistics I wanted to retrieve the boat the weekend before our wedding as the seller was moving to Texas. The answer was NO. Fair enough, provided something could have gone wrong causing me to miss the nuptials or perhaps my input would be needed on some last minute plans. Wedding bells, honeymoon and a road/shopping/Albacore retrieval trip later we were set to go for the following season. After one Harbour Master and Friday night we were hooked and excited to compete in the 2006 North Americans. The first day dawned with some impressive breeze which left nearly half of the fleet ashore. Tracy was a bit daunted but we launched and planed out to the race course barely able to breathe due to the spray and were tired but having a blast! Rounding the committee boat we capsized but she managed to pull the board down as we went over so we righted quickly and struggled up the first beat. By the top we figured out how to depower a bit and launched in pursuit of the fleet. Gybing inside of four or five boats in the graveyard we were excited until my knee gave out and we had to retire. The season was over, and two kids later, this husband wife duo had spent three sailing seasons apart. But last year we were finally able to realize our initial goal of racing as a husband/wife team. As the season approached some people at my club told me I was crazy. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0413/ TOGETHER TIME: Before I began dating my wife, she likes to remind me how she won the only Snipe race that we ever skippered against each other. She soon sailed with me while dating, which proved to be a good opportunity to get to know each other. And the night before we won the 1989 Snipe North Americans, I proposed. While sailing with my spouse would soon complicate child care issues, having the time together made it worth it. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor GO STOP - THE SHUT DOWN OF SF BAY By Kimball Livingston, Blue Planet Times Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts have surprised me a few times already. But shutting down San Francisco Bay? Now, that's a trick. And that's the plan for America's Cup 34. According to John Craig, Principal Race Officer of America's Cup Race Management, the TV-pleasing 45-minute races they envision will have the bay all to themselves. Well, themselves and a spectator fleet, however that gets worked out. South shipping lane. North shipping lane. The Golden Gate Strait beyond the big red bridge. All for a boat race that could well include a big lap of the entire West Bay. A 45-minute race, with some talking-head time before and after, fits broadcast priorities to a T(V). Then, between races, the shipping channels will re-open for traffic. And then, on multiple race days, the bay will close again, for the next race. And so on. That's the plan. I've heard that money talks, and a (conservatively) projected revenue drive of $1.4 billion to the region apparently talks real good. Inbound heavies can be slowed at sea. Outbound heavies can be held at the dock with departures timed accordingly. North-south traffic in the East Bay should not be affected. Ferries can end-around the racecourse where it approaches the San Francisco cityfront at Piers 27-29. And when we get beyond the eliminations rounds to the Cup Finals, a race might go longer than 45 minutes. That groove in the sidewalk is dug by my jaw, dragging... read on: http://blueplanettimes.com/?p=6776 VICTORY IN THE MAD DASH FOR THE BORDER Ullman Sails customers claimed trophies in several classes of the 2011 Border Run last Saturday. Racing south along California's West Coast, Brack Duker's Santa Cruz 70 "Holua" finished first overall in ORR and first in class for ORR & PHRF. Alec Oberschmidt's R/P 50 "Staghound" along with John Staff's Viper 830 "Plankton" also took first in their respective PHRF classes on the 91nm long course. And James Conner on his Holder 20 won his class on the 14nm short sprint course. The 232 entries were treated to sunny skies and reaching conditions throughout the race. Invest in your performance. http://www.ullmansails.com UMPIRES' EXPECTATIONS FOR TEAM RACERS By Peter Wilson, US Sailing Umpire Team racing is one of the best racing formats in our sport of sailing, and good sportsmanship by everyone can keep it that way. Team race umpires expect competitors to adhere to good sportsmanship principles as well as to 'self regulate', calling on the umpires to rule only when the competitors cannot resolve the incident themselves. At the highest level of adult team racing, some of the best sailors have such good reputations and respect for each other that they prefer to race without umpires. Why, because they have enough respect for each other that they can resolve 95% of the incidents themselves during the race. If they break a rule, they spin. They only hail 'protest' to let the other sailor know that they think they were fouled. They follow a simple principle: rules in team racing are best used to control the other team, not to 'keep them spinning'. What a great way to sail... and that is what umpires prefer to see. However, team racing has become very competitive at all levels and umpired team racing is becoming more and more prevalent. So, what kinds of behavior and good sportsmanship in team racing do umpires expect? This list is short, and pretty simple. - When you break a rule, you not only take your penalty turn, but you acknowledge the foul so the other competitors and the umpires know. - You never acknowledge a foul (for example, 'I'll spin'), and then not take your penalty turn (waiting to see if the umpire will rule in your favor). - You don't break rules intentionally to gain competitive advantage - for example body pumping on starboard so port can no longer cross. - You don't protest to intimidate competitors, especially younger and less experienced sailors. - You don't yell 'protest' and not display your protest flag, just to see if your opponent will spin. - You don't cause contact to prove you are the right-of-way boat. - You respect borrowed boats and treat them as your own. - You treat all competitors, coaches, race committee members, and umpires with respect. - You treat your teammates with respect, and don't berate them for their mistakes, instead reinforce what they are doing well. - You congratulate the winners, whether or not you begrudge them their victory. Courtesy of CleverPig: http://www.cleverpig.org THE GLOVES ARE OFF IN QINGDAO Qingdao, China (April 13, 2011) - The horseshoe shaped Fushan Bay hosted six 'open water' races today to commence the second stop of the Extreme Sailing series tour. In a good easterly breeze between 10-15 knots, the gloves were off from the beginning, resulting in two minor crashes which saw Groupe Edmond de Rothschild collide with Alinghi and Red Bull Extreme Sailing barrel into the back of team Niceforyou's port hull. It was Dean Barker's Emirates Team New Zealand who had the better day to lead among the 11 teams with a 7-4-4-1-2-5. "It was testing today as we haven't had the ideal preparation and I've been a little bit crook with food poisoning but it was good to get out there," Barker said. "The racing is really tight but it is the reason we are here, we want to test ourselves as much as we can against the best multihull sailors in the world, and this is the place to be." Artemis Racing, which posted a 3-2-3-6-3-8, is among four teams tied for second. Argentinean Santiago Lange, who is skippering in place of Terry Hutchinson (USA), earned his second Tornado Olympic bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Qingdao. "I think we have had great wind conditions for Qingdao," observed Lange. "We have only practiced the day before and yesterday for a couple of hours so I felt that I was not going to perform 100%. It's the first time we sailed together and it was a challenge as I have some issues with the language especially in the heat of the battle!" Results after Day 1 - Top 5 of 11 1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker (NZL) - 49 points 2. The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Torvar Mirsky (AUS) - 47 points 3. Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara (AUT) - 47 points 4. Artemis Racing (SWE), Santiago Lange (ARG) - 47 points 5. Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou (FRA) - 44 points Full report/scores: http://tinyurl.com/ESS-041311 Day 1 video highlights: http://youtu.be/hc-vlyjwCTA BACKGROUND: The Extreme Sailing Season is embarking on its fifth season, with Qingdao as the second stop for the nine event tour that will travel through Asia, Europe, and North America this year. The platform used is the one design Extreme 40 catamaran, with each five day event combining 'open-water' racing with 'stadium' short-course racing in front of the public. The 2011 ESS has grown in part due to the multihull format planned for the 34th America's Cup in 2013. -- http://www.extremesailingseries.com/ MAKING HISTORY (April 13, 2011) - Dee Caffari (GBR) and Anna Corbella (ESP) onboard the Open 60 GAES Centros Auditivos crossed the finish line of the doublehanded Barcelona World Race at 0917hrs (local time) to take sixth place into an overcast Barcelona this Wednesday morning. Their finish sees Corbella enter the record books as the first Spanish woman to sail around the world non-stop, while Dee Caffari now has sailed non-stop around the world four times, including three non-stop voyages, an unequalled record as a female skipper. "I was really hoping for a top five," admitted Dee Caffari, "but four boats didn't make it and we did make it, and we did it non-stop which is what we wanted to do. I think overall performance-wise we've got to be happy, we've achieved something that's quite special and we can't forget that not everybody gets to sail around the world non-stop. But it's still in me; I've still got to get a top five place!" "I hope I am encouraging lots of females to take on sailing," explained Anna Corbella, on whether her achievement will have repercussions for female and Spanish sport. "For me personally my effort is the same whether I'm the first, the third or the fifth. But I realize I am opening a door for many other girls, many females who are going to see that if I did it they can do it as well. I encourage all girls to take on ocean sailing, I think this is a great experience for all of us." -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en DISCOVER: WORLD-CLASS PERFORMANCE THAT FITS YOUR STYLE If you're dealing with the kind of weather we are, you need the Aegis gear from Atlantis - designed and tested here in Marblehead, and engineered to keep you dry whether you're sailing dinghies, keelboats or TP52s. The jacket, spray top, hybrid bib pant and brand new Ocean Smock are loaded with features and designed with the kind of attention to the smallest details that only happens when gear is designed by sailors for sailors. Visit http://www/AtlantisWeatherGear.com/Aegis to see the Aegis line and to find a dealer near you. Discover life on the water. Discover your Atlantis. SAILING SHORTS * The International Lightning Class Association has announced the 2011 Boat Grant Teams. Going into its fifth season, the innovative Boat Grant Program puts race-ready Lightnings into the hands of young teams who might otherwise not be able to campaign a Lightning. Caroline Patten, a senior at Hobart/William Smith College who lives in Barnegat Light, New Jersey, and Will Tyner of the Charleston, SC area, were selected. Both of these teams will be sailing nearly new boats that are owned by the ILCA. -- Full report: http://www.lightningclass.org/racing/boatGrant/2011/pressrelease.asp * US SAILING has awarded Hanson Rescue Medals to two crews who saved three lives in an incident on Huntington Lake near Fresno, Calif. on July 23, 2010. A day before the 2010 Huntington Lake Yacht Club's Annual Regatta, Don Whelan (Bonita, Calif.) and his crew, Alan Johnson (Seal Beach, Calif.) in their 18-foot Mercury Class racing sailboat were practicing against another boat skippered by Richard Whiteley (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and crewed by Kate Wall (Long Beach, Calif.). Their tune-up exercises ended when the four sailors heard shouts for help from the water in the distance. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/USS-041311 * A total of 385 sailors from 185 clubs and associations attended US SAILING's inaugural Yacht Club Summit in Chicago on April 2-3. A recap of the presentations is now online: http://media.ussailing.org/Special_Events/YC_Summit/Summit_Recaps.htm * The National Boating Safety Advisory Council recently approved a resolution for life jacket wear, asking the Coast Guard to pursue requirements for life jacket wear for recreational boaters in certain circumstances, the Marine Retailers Association of America reported. The resolution asks the Coast Guard to consider requiring life jackets for boaters on personal watercraft; human-powered vessels, such as canoes or kayaks; any vessel less than 18 feet in length; and any person being towed while engaging in water sports. The federal government has been pushing for mandatory adult life jacket wear for several years, according to the MRAA. -- Soundings, full story: http://tinyurl.com/TOT-041311 * (April 13, 2011; Day 18; 18:13 UTC) - While Polish skipper Zbnigniew 'Gutek' Gutkowski remains in port in Fortaleza, Brazil, to make repairs to his Eco 60 yacht Operon Racing as well as recover from a broken rib, Velux 5 Oceans leader Brad Van Liew (USA) is looking over his shoulder in his final approach to the finish in his hometown of Charleston, USA. His southerly routing has separated him from the fleet, which now have better winds. Van Liew currently holds a 155 nm margin over second place Derek Hatfield (CAN) with 1813 nm to the finish. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com/ CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Is your event listed on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar? This free, self-serve tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. These are some of the events listed on the calendar for this weekend: Apr 14-15 - Ahmanson Cup - Newport Beach, CA, USA Apr 14-19 - Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta - Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, WI Apr 15-17 - Texoma LAKEFEST Regatta - Denison, TX, USA Apr 15-22 - Mead Madness Sail - Las Vegas, NV, USA Apr 16-17 - Interclub Dinghy National Championship - Winthrop, MA, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Marine Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. Here are some of recent postings: * The Complete Sailor, by David Seidman * Sailboat Service for New York Harbor * Lewmar Extends EVO Sport Winch Range * Noble Awards - Yacht Club trophies * Jeremy Wilmot joins Zhik USA * NEW! RIB designed especially for coaching/ sailor support View and/or post Industry News updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news CALLING ALL LASER SAILORS Sailing season is here. Are you ready? LaserPerformance and your local dealer are stocked and ready to supply all your class approved equipment. Upgrade to the new GRP foils, Harken ball bearing boom/traveler blocks or the new friction pad. Visit LaserPerformance at http://www.laserperformance.com/ or locate your local authorized dealer here: http://www.laserperformance.com/dealer-locator 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 Richard Clark: Quoted from Scuttlebutt 3319: "Two coaches were asked to leave and/or not return on the second day, per a sailing instruction that has been on the books at MIT for some time." I could never understand why coaches were allowed in sailing regattas. I never had a coach follow me around the cross country course on a quad bike. Dunno, maybe I would have done better; they could have mowed down all those around me :) In the words of 'The Donald' "your Fired!" * From Roger Vaughan: I know nothing about this incident of coaches being banned from the course. The Butt #3319 item is the first I've heard about it. But in the gaming of sports, the confrontation between managers/coaches and umpires falls into two categories. In the first, the coach/manager is incensed about what he feels is a terrible call. He's outraged, and flies off the handle about it. In the second instance, the coach/manager is trying to do something -- anything -- as a leader, to change the dynamic of the game. He needs to wake his team up in other words, alter the rhythm of the contest. So that public confrontation with the umpire, that he knows he will lose, could go something like this: - C/M (shouting, veins standing out in neck and forehead): "I can't believe my team is playing like a bunch of idiots!" - Ump: "Want me to eject you?" - C/M (flinging his hat to ground): "You're damn right I do!" So the coach puts himself on the line, the team rallies 'round and maybe starts paying attention. Either way it is a tactic meant to focus attention on the task at hand, which is winning, or at least playing (sailing) better. Such a confrontation also has an inescapable effect on the authority, causing him or her to do a little soul searching about how he or she has been calling the game, running the event. So altogether, the C/M's ability to voice his unhappiness with the way things are going, and the authority's option to send the C/M to the showers, is a scenario that needs to be preserved. Not only is it a useful drama, a long-time sports tradition, but these days it is a rare example of democracy in action that we need to maintain. * From SailGroove comments: (re, Coaches Ejected From Regatta - SBUTT 3319) Umpires good, bad or indifferent make team racing and match racing better by making calls on the water. Having a hearing after the race wastes time and isn't fun. And, more important, the outcome of the hearing is not likely to be any more accurate than a call made immediately following the incident. If we accept that umpires make the game better than they need the full authority to do what they believe is needed within the rules - in this case by ejecting coaches. By empowering umpires they will improve their skills over time. By empowering umpires, more people will want to help officiate our game improving the pool of available umpires. Allowing coaches or sailors to question umpire calls will undermine the role so important to making our game more fun. More comments here: http://tinyurl.com/SG-041311 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION People will believe anything if you whisper it. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Summit Yachts - Kaenon Polarized - North Sails Atlantis WeatherGear - The Pirates Lair - Doyle Sails - Samson Rope Ullman Sails - LaserPerformance - Mount Gay Rum - Team One Newport Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
