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SCUTTLEBUTT 3157 - Tuesday, August 17, 2010Scuttlebutt 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: North Sails, APS, and Landfall. HOW TO ELIMINATE GENERAL RECALLS AND BLACK FLAGS By Ken Legler, NRO Long before there was a Black Flag rule I had the honor and challenge to PRO the 470 class World Championship with 75 boats. Former Olympian Gardner Cox came along one day as an on-board observer. So I asked him "What to you do if you set square lines and too many boats keep starting over early?" "My son, at some point you have to start sending them home." I didn't want to do that. Every entry in that event traveled a long way, some from halfway around the planet. We were using a mid-line boat and discovered two tricks that solved the problem. By dropping the mid-line boat back just two to four feet, competitors arriving in the front row could see two flags lined up and stopped moving forward. They could see the line! They also knew they would be caught if they went any further because we used the one-minute, round-the-ends-rule. For the last two Optimist New England championships as PRO I employed a four-boat line. In 2009 we had a strong ebb tide and many boats over. We racked up as many as two dozen OCS's per race on the ebb but none on the flood. However, there were no general recalls and no black flags. All 36 starts went right on schedule and no boat with a good start ever had a do-over because of all the other boats breaking a rule (RRS 29.1 and definition of Start). In 2010 with a gentle flood tide for most of the time there were only 12 OCS's recorded in 44 starts. Some 30 starts were "All clear!" Using four line boats properly and flag I for prep signal virtually eliminates recall problems. In these Opti regattas we dropped both start boats "B" and "C" (Signal boat was "A" and Port-line was "D") back about three feet. Once again when competitors first arrived on the line they knew to go no further because they could see the line flags lining up. More important the race committee had not one or two, but six sets of eyes watching different parts of the line, one spotter on each end and two spotters in the middle boats looking both ways. Almost every start had three feet of line sag. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/2wstt2w THE DIAZ TEAM DOES IT AGAIN Augie Diaz and his dad, Gonzalo Diaz, Sr. (affectionately known as "Old Man Diaz") came to the rescue at the U.S. Snipe Junior Nationals hosted by Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, MD. This regatta preceded the 2010 U.S. National Championships which are taking place this week in Annapolis. All year long, Coral Reef Yacht Club's (Miami, FL) 420 youth teams has had the benefit of also sailing in Snipes. This opportunity came through two-time World Champion and CRYC member Augie Diaz and his dad, "Old Man" Diaz of Coconut Grove Sailing Club. With the Junior Nationals coming up in Annapolis, they wanted to make sure that the young (ages 14-18) South Florida sailors could show off their sailing skills. In order to do that, they supplied and transported seven boats, paid the entry fees for six teams, and bought three sets of new sails for the teams to share. Prior to the regatta, Augie arranged for Kathleen Tocke to run a clinic for all of the junior Snipe sailors. The Diaz team's efforts paid off. Not only did all of the sailors have a great time and gain valuable experience in the 18 boat regatta, but one of the South Florida junior teams, Taylor Scheuermann and her crew Jackson Fadley, took second and qualified for the Snipe Junior Worlds next year in Denmark. Augie showed again why he was named Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in 2003. They simply love Snipe sailing and want to share that passion with young sailors. Thanks, Augie and Old Man - the Snipe class is stronger because of you. -- Connie Bischoff, http://sailingscuttlebutt.blogspot.com/2010/08/thanks-augie-and-old-man.html WINNING the Junior Nationals was Nick Voss and Nicole Popp of Miami, FL. The U.S. National Championships are being held August 16-20. Event website: http://www.snipenationals.com THINK GREEN, BUY BLUE, SAVE ON NORTH SAILS & NORTH CANVAS As part of North's 10+ year commitment to recycling/repurposing sails, it's time to THINK GREEN and BUY BLUE. Buy a new North sail through September 3rd, 2010 (in NA only, restrictions apply) and recycle your old sail to receive 25% off the purchase price of a new North sail. We'll send you a pre-paid UPS label with your new sail so you can return your old sail free of charge and as an added bonus, you'll also qualify for 20% off new North Canvas products! A tote bag made from recycled sailcloth by Sea Bags, Inc. will also be sent to you. For complete details, click here: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/14647/Default.aspx GOOGLE EARTH CREATES BOAT RACING REPLAYS A press of sailors drinking beer and swapping race stories eyes a big screen TV, watching five sailboats jockey for position before the San Francisco skyline. Each boat displays a name and leaves a colored track, looking for all the world like an ESPN race broadcast. It's not. It's the latest Google Earth application, and a demonstration at a San Francisco yacht club Aug. 6 showed how the Mountain View company is set to transform water sports - and any other movement around a city or around the globe. For boaters, swimmers, and anyone else racing on the water, there hasn't been an accurate way to replay what happened without specialized devices and software. Now, the track from any GPS device that can connect to a computer can be played back over Google Earth's rich water, terrain and structure detail. For free. Peter Birch, product manager for Google Earth, is a regular race crew member aboard a modestly sized but immodestly named Catalina 30 sailboat called Huge. "This track technology is something we've been working on a long time" at Google, says Birch. Launched June 14, Birch jumped on bringing Google Earth tracking to the sailing community. During the recent demo race, Birch on Huge and crew on four other Catalina 30s recorded their tracks using standard GPS devices. After the finish, it took Birch less than a minute to connect each GPS to his laptop and copy a file - called a GPX file - holding the precise path each boat sailed. With all the GPX files in a single folder, Birch simply opened them in Google Earth and typed in the boat name for each. That's enough to replay the race as if floating in a balloon over the course. -- SF Chronicle, read on: http://tinyurl.com/39sp5d7 ETCHELLS WORLDS TEASER Dublin, Ireland (August 14, 2010) - Lack of wind reduced the planned 3-race programme on the second day of the Irish Etchells Championships at Howth to a single race of just two legs - and after some legal wrangling over whether discards came into force after four or five races - Peter McNeill of Australia was declared the winner, narrowly ahead of the UK's Julia Bailey, the winner of the fourth and final race. The event provided an interesting look at form before the World Championships that starts here on Monday 23rd August. If the 29-boat Irish Nationals fleet looked impressive on the water, the 43-boat Worlds' entry will be some sight. Each race in the Nationals had a different winner so consistency, as always, will be the biggest factor in deciding the next World Champion on Saturday 28th August. -- Complete report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10283 * As of July 30th, entrants for the Etchells Worlds included Gary Gilbert (BAH), Tim Patton (BER), and Americans Kjeld Hestehave, Jud Smith/Kurt Winkelmann, Argyle Campbell, Marvin Beckmann, Jim Gregory, and Peter Duncan. Event website: http://www.etchellsworlds2010.org/etchells/Main/Home.asp OLD BUT STILL KICKING HARD Long Beach, CA (August 15, 2010) - Sixty boats were on the water for the 2010 Laser Masters North American Championships, completing 10 races during the three day event for full rig and radial sailors 35 years and older. Noted competitor Scott Young, "I think we all feel pretty blessed to be able to still be out there competing hard in a boat that is not that easy to sail well." Kevin Taugher from the host yacht club led the way in the full rig 40-boat fleet, putting to good use the several weeks of training leading up to the event. In second was Vann Wilson, whose mast broke before the start of the 9th race and he had to take a DNC. Having already wrapped up the regatta, Taugher gave Wilson his boat and he went on to win the last race to wrap up second place. Commented Young, "That story just exemplifies the camaraderie and sportsmanship that you find at these master events." In nearly as dominant a performance, Dave Leuck from San Diego, CA won 8 of the 10 races to take the 20 boat Laser Radial title, beating out fellow San Diegoan Nils Andersson in second. Event story: http://tinyurl.com/3xbp8oj Complete results: http://www.abyc.org/upload/laser15.htm THE PERFORMANCE SAILOR'S HELP LINE Ever notice how Kaenon, Sailing Angles, Camet and others mention that their great products are available at APS? That should be of no surprise. APS, "The World Leader in Outfitting Performance Sailors" stocks these brands and everything else sailors need. We're not just foulies, not just hardware, and not just rigging. Smocks to blocks, APS is the most comprehensive performance sailing store yet. So when sourcing the gear you need is a bigger drag than going shrimping with your kite, call the sailor's helpline at 800-729-9767. At APS we stock it all and we're all sailors here to help. http://www.APSLTD.com TEAM BUILDING: They're all sailors at APS and often all sail on the same nights but last week they made history. Thirteen of them went sailing together for the first time. But, that wasn't the only first. For all but one it was the first time they had gotten to sail the two historical reproduction Sandbaggers, Bull and Bear, that have taken up residence at the National Sailing Hall of Fame located on City Dock in downtown Annapolis. What is a Sandbagger, you say? Read on: http://blog.apsltd.com/2010/08/no-bullsandbagger-sailing-is-f-u-n.html THE MORNING ROUTINE Australians Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page are clearly at the lead in the Olympic men's doublehanded event, the 470. Their collection of Olympic medals and World Championship titles is stunning. This past weekend their second place in the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta (Weymouth, England) locked up the 2009-10 ISAF Sailing World Cup title. Here Lynn Fitzpatrick provides a look at their morning routine from last week: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mal doesn't require much sleep. Mat does. Mal is up early in the morning, partially because it takes him a while to get organized. During the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, Mal is staying in a house in Portland with a bunch of Australian Sailing Team members. Waking up early gives him a chance to beat the rush on the bathrooms and showers and to get in his first physio session in for the day. His second session takes place after sailing. Rising early also gives Malcolm the chance to glance at his e-mails and chat with his Missus. Mat is still a growing boy and requires a lot of sleep. Mat's staying out on the tip of Portland where a lot of the judges and regatta organizers are housed. He gets a great view of the sunsets over the Jurassic Coast, the bay and the mainland. Following work on the website, e-mails and dinner, Mat crashes. Victor (coach Victor Kovalenko) is in yet another house near Malcolm. I am on the mainland and in the other direction in Weymouth, about an hour and ten minute hike along a coastal path by foot or a fifteen minute car ride. Everyone descends on the venue at about the same time for a rendez vous around 9:15 am. They dash to scoring office to pick up sail stickers and trackers, a quick stop at the concession stand for a hot chocolate or latte and then to the boat. Their boat, Nicole, is in the middle of a boatyard filled with about 600 Olympic Class dinghies, mostly Lasers, Laser Radials, 470's and 49'ers. Mat and Mal check the rig, adjust the tension settings, apply stickers, check all lines, check and replace blocks, talk to Victor, arrange a time to meet Victor in the basin for the tow, realize that the boatyard is emptying and that it's time to pick up the pace and change into wet wetsuits. (The sky has usually clouded over and the temperature has dropped by the time that Mat and Mal return each day, that there is little opportunity for their wetsuits to dry.) Apply sunscreen. -- Read on: http://www.worldregattas.com/ViewInfo.php?ContentID=487 SAILING SHORTS * San Diego, CA (August 16, 2010) - After the first day of US SAILING's 2010 Chubb U.S. Junior Sailing Championship, Southern California sailors dominate the top of the standings. The early leaders are Kieran Chung in the Singlehanded (Laser), Jack Jorgensen/ Samantha Gebb in the Doublehanded (Club 420), and Scott Hoffmann/ Evan Hoffmann/ Reece Bernet in the Triplehanded (Lightning). Racing concludes Wednesday. -- Current results: http://tinyurl.com/33tuca3 * Chris Raab and crew Kenny Dair have won the Mercury Class Championship in breezy conditions over the weekend at Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club in San Pedro, California. Sailing inside the protection of the Los Angeles Breakwater was little consolation as two boats lost their rigs and several had other equipment failures. Raab and Dair's win is their fourth consecutive title, a feat unprecedented in the sixty-plus year history of this West Coast class. -- Full report: http://www.merc583.addr.com/sail/merc_pages/mcyrayb3.html#Anchor2000TIChamps * Zac Sunderland, once the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world, was recently arrested in his hometown of Thousand Oaks, CA. Sunderland, 18, was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, unlawful entry of a house and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. -- Read more: http://tinyurl.com/35jkjox * (August 16, 2010) - The Velux 5 Oceans today announced the final element of the cutting edge onboard communications support package for skippers in the 2010/11 race. Each yacht in the race will not only be kitted out with a state-of-the-art camera set-up as previously announced, but will now feature the latest satellite broadband equipment with a dedicated airtime provision per team to ensure no action goes unmissed during the grueling 30,000-mile race. The Velux 5 Oceans is the longest running solo round the world race, and has 28 years of rich heritage as the BOC Challenge and then the Around Alone. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/32qeph3 * More than 60 teams from across the United States and Canada will compete August 18-22 on the waters of Lake Erie in the Mercedes-Benz of Buffalo 2010 J/22 North American Championship, hosted by the Buffalo Yacht Club in Buffalo, NY. The event, which is attracting J/22 racing boats from as far away as Texas, Louisiana, Michigan and Quebec, is part of the Buffalo Yacht Club's sesquicentennial anniversary celebration. -- Event website: http://www.j22na.com * CORRECTION: A story in Scuttlebutt 3156 stated how Mike Perham (GBR) circumnavigated the world around all the Capes, but in fact he skirted Cape Horn and went through the Panama Canal instead. Why did he do this? Among his reasons was that the timing of his passage had him in the Southern Ocean during the winter season when the daylight was reduced and the storms were at their strongest. SPINLOCK HYDROSTATIC DECKVEST IS @ LANDFALL - GET ONE! 10% off Spinlock Hydrostatic Deck Vest! Get it from Landfall before the Vineyard Race and minimize rearm replacement, maximize safety! 15% off foul weather gear from Musto, Gill, Henri Lloyd, Atlantis, Patagonia & more. Visit: 151 Harvard Ave, Stamford (I-95 Ex 6), call: 800-941-2219, or shop: http://bit.ly/bsrDhi. Offers expire 8/31/10. LETTERS AND FORUM Please email 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 Doran Cushing: (re, Latitude 38) To remark that "Latitude 38 is a northern California publication" is akin to saying "some oil was spilled in the Gulf of Mexico." Both are absolutely true and grossly understate the reality and the impact. Latitude 38 is in my opinion the best sailing publication in North America, bar none. The fact that it is free only makes the quality of the mag even more astounding year in and year out. And it has been hugely financially successful while coving sailing in their neighborhood and around the world without compromise to neither political correctness nor advertiser influence. Southwinds Magazine was launched in 1993 in the spirit of Lat 38 and survived my weak business skills based on passion not profit. The current owner has done well in the business sense and with a voice for the boater issues like live-aboards, anchoring rights, and unwarranted nazi inspections. But with all respect to Spinsheet, Southwinds, and the other regional rags which fill a priceless need, Latitude 38 set the gold standard from its origins and continues to do same. * From Daniel Forster, yachting photographer: Concerning Laura Dekker wanting to break the record for the youngest world solo sail set in May by Australian teenager Jessica Watson. When are we, the sailors, media etc, finally agreeing that there is NO such record called: the youngest world solo sail? Sorry parents, no more bumper stickers saying: "Our child tried to be the youngest solo circumnavigator". Just the casual conversation at the club bar: "Did you hear so-and-so finished the solo circumnavigation? She/he was pretty young. What a great achievement, good for her/him." * From Michael Rosenauer: (re: America's Cup in San Francisco) The principle is simple: What you are seeing is the difference between private business and government. The former grasps an incredible opportunity and will work night and day for a competitive edge and success. It works with purpose. A governmental agency, on the other hand, is not so focused and remains distracted. The latter's measure of success is not a bottom line or return to shareholders but to play to the mediocre and be the least offensive as possible. It is an emphasis upon the "public good". It is difficult to watch such an opportunity slip away. It is even more difficult to note that the general population of San Francisco will not even note its passing. * From David Redfern: I remember being in San Diego for the first defense with Dennis Conner et al. The city couldn't have cared a fig. It was more of a private yacht club event. The Mayor of San Diego said the money would have been better spent on soup kitchens. Outside of the waterfront, no one seemed to know of the event or what it was. That went down to taxis and information offices. The city was very cool to the participants. * From Gregory Scott: I agree with the Latitude 38 sarcastic comments - these governments have lost all understanding of two things. They, as the article points out, have time to piss ant around with more bylaws about bike helmets, etc. and none to generate or get out of the way of those that will generate real revenues. Taxes are a drug that needs to be well managed. It is way too easy to raise taxes rather than raise the bar. There is a great story about how courage in Indianapolis changed the fate of that city. SF will be doomed if they miss this chance. Kingston (ONT) messed up a development deal 30 years ago and it took 30 years to recover. Once you scare money away, it takes decades for it to come back. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "There cannot be forgotten the great possibilities of mass media in promoting dialogue, becoming vehicles for reciprocal knowledge, of solidarity and of peace. They become a powerful resource for good if used to foster understanding between peoples, but a destructive 'weapon' if used to foster injustice and conflicts." -- Pope John Paul II Special thanks to North Sails, APS, and Landfall. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
