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SCUTTLEBUTT 2897 - Thursday, July 30, 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 Annapolis Performance Sailing and Ullman Sails. DAVE IRISH: MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION (Harbor Springs, MI) - People who love the water often say they feel connected to it, as if the lake has somehow seeped into their very being. If ever this was true—if ever there was a person so tied to the area’s cold waves and protected harbors that water itself runs in his veins— it would be Dave Irish. Listening to his stories of growing up sailing on Lake Michigan and Little Traverse Bay, it is clear his world is colored with the harbor’s blue hues, his life shaped by wind and boats. “I’m told that my first boat ride was in a basket, tucked under the bow of an outboard,” chuckled Irish as he looked out over the harbor from his office desk at Irish Boat Shop in downtown Harbor Springs. “I remember when the Irish family moved north, by way of sailboat, with three kids ages six to nine. I have always had a sailboat of one kind or another,” he added with a smile. Irish, vice-president of the International Sailing Federation, is a well known name in the racing world, both for his skills and his dedication to the sport. From his earliest days on the water, Irish has always approached sailing with a tenacity that is nothing short of contagious. -- Harbor Light, read on: http://www.harborlightnews.com/atf.php?sid=8377¤t_edition=2009-07-29 LASER RADIAL WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Karatsu, JPN (July 29, 2009; Day 2) - Karatsu, JPN (July 29, 2009; Day 2) - It was a tough day on the water today for the 87 sailors at the 2009 Women s Laser Radial World Championship. After being kept ashore because of concerns about thunder storms, a clearance was given to head to the water and racing started at 1205 in 11 to 12 knots. Large wind shifts led to further postponement, with conditions deteriorating with a building two metre sea and a decreasing breeze of only 6 to 7 knots, which later built back up to 20 knots. After a 6th and a 30th on Tuesday, Lijia Xu, bronze medalist from Qingdao, moved up the standings with a second and first today to now lead the competition with Anna Tunnicliffe, 2008 Olympic gold medallist, whose 3-5 now has these two tied with 9 points after a drop race. Good winds are forecasted for the final two qualifying races on Thursday, which will be the last day of the qualifying series before the fleet is split into gold and silver division. -- Full report: http://events.laserinternational.org/en/events/reports/100z33 * Anna Tunnicliffe daily report: http://www.annatunnicliffe.com/content/view/271/1/ WOMEN'S MATCH RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Lysekil, SWE (July 29, 2009; Day 2) - For the twelve teams competing in the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship, the round robin series is nearly completed, with teams needing to finish only two or three more races to determine the top four that will advance to the quarterfinals. Anna Kjellberg (SWE), Claire Leroy (FRA), Marie Björling (SWE) are assured to advance, but five other teams remain in contention for the fourth and final slot. Best positioned to advance are the two Danish teams led by Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen and Camille Ulrikkeholm, with Australian skippers Katie Spithill and Nicole Sauter still in contention, while American Sally Barkow will need to win her two remaining races and have others crumble for a chance to advance. -- Standings: http://www.lysekilwomensmatch.se/page/227/page.htm * Concerning coaching at the Worlds, the Notice of Race states that each team is permitted no more than one coach, each coach had to pay an accreditation fee of EUR 500 ($700 US), only accredited coaches could attend any of the official meetings, and that coaches would not be permitted on the water in individual boats (but possibly on a group boat if the organizing authority provided it). -- http://en.lysekilwomensmatch.se/page/509/noticeofrace.htm IT’S HIGH TIME Feeling cool and comfortable is expected with today’s crop of technical sailing shirts, but did you know using traditional methods of decoration like screen printing can negate breathability and comfort. If not it’s high time you recognize the technical shift. At APS, “The World Leader in Outfitting Performance Sailors”, we use the latest decoration technologies like dye sublimation to keep you feeling and looking cool. For a video look at what makes sublimated tech shirts the top choice for team shirts and to hear about an unbeatable custom team gear deal exclusively from APS click… http://www.apsltd.com/teamgearspecial FOR THE RECORD (July 29, 2009) - On Tuesday, solo skipper Thomas Coville of Sodeb'O was envisaging a departure for his transatlantic record crossing, even though the weather conditions weren’t optimal for a solo sailor. Prior to getting back together with his 105-foot maxi trimaran in New York, Thomas and his routing team wanted to wait for the evening grib files before making a final decision. The weather analysis on Tuesday night confirmed violent winds and big seas, particularly in the zone off Newfoundland. Such conditions wouldn’t have favoured speed and failed to correspond with an entirely favourable weather pattern for enabling Sodeb'O to improve on her own solo North Atlantic crossing record of less than 5 days, 19 hours, 25 minutes and 20 seconds. “Though this weather window is a good one for Groupama 3 and Banque Populaire V who are in crewed configuration with a potential average speed of around 30 knots over four days, it isn’t favourable for me as my aim is to sail single-handed at a speed of 22/23 knots over five days” explains the skipper of Sodeb'O. “This low is too fast and its winds are too strong. It would pass right over the top of me and the chance of a new record would be gone.” Sodeb'O continues on stand-by until August 14th. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/lg42nj * Where there is no official notice yet on whether Pascal Bidégorry and the 131-foot maxi-trimaran Banque Populaire V have begun their record attempt, Franck Cammas and his crew on the 103-foot maxi-trimaran Groupama 3 began their North Atlantic crossing on July 29th at 20h12’16’’UT when they passed the Ambrose Light on her way out of New York harbour in a 20 to 25 knot S’ly wind. As such the race against the clock begins with 2,925 miles ahead of the trimaranm with the time to beat being 4 days, 3 hours, 57 minutes, and 54 seconds. To stand a chance of beating her own reference time set on July 24, 2007, Groupama 3 will have to cross the finish line off Lizard Point, the South-West tip of Britain, prior to August 3rd at 00h 09’ 10’’ UT. STAY WITH THE WIND YOU HAVE Following the Stuart Walker profile in Scuttlebutt 2896, his editors at Sailing World are sharing this column from their July/August 2009 issue, where Walker explains how not to get hung out to dry when the breeze fights the gradient: “In one race of the Spring Soling Bowl off Annapolis in a dying northwesterly, we led up the second beat until nipped at the mark by Manfred Kantor, of Canada, who had come in from the right corner. After rounding, instead of recognizing that Kantor's success might have indicated something good off to the east, we both headed west, in very light air, high on starboard jibe, toward the dark line of the sea breeze advancing up the Severn River about 30 feet to the right of our rhumbline. We were both convinced that getting away from the dying northwesterly and into the approaching sea breeze was essential to winning the race. “Although our spinnakers were barely lifting, the fleet astern, some of whom had jibed to port a quarter-mile back, looked to be in even less wind and, at first, the gap between us widened. But then we noticed the sea breeze line was not advancing. It was no longer as dark as it had been. When we were about halfway down the run, the last boats, on port jibe, a half mile astern and to our left, started to move. The fleet rapidly turned inside out.” -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/m3zra5 SAILING SHORTS * One hundred fifty-one teams competed in the 2009 Club 420 U.S. National Championship hosted by the Conanicut Yacht Club and the Jamestown Yacht Club on July 27-29. Despite not finishing the second race, the winning team of Nick Johnstone and Katia DaSilva (Conanicut Yacht Club/ FAST) were able to stay in the top four for the rest of the 10 race series, building a six point margin over runner-up Markus Edegran and Teddy Mark (Larchmont Yacht Club). -- Results: http://tinyurl.com/mq4prd * San Francisco, CA (July 29, 2009) - Hosted by St Francis Yacht Club, the Techno 293 North American Championship wrapped up the first day with five races sailed in the Gold fleet and four races in the silver fleet. The famous San Francisco winds started light and steadily built to moderate white capping conditions and a flood tide. Currently leading the event is Austin Emser from Largo, FL. -- Results: http://tinyurl.com/kjhhby * (July 29, 2009) - The BoatU.S. Foundation continues its mission of helping boating communities across the country by awarding its 2009 Clean Water and boating safetygrants to 19 local non-profit groups. Combined, nearly $50,000 was awarded to these groups to develop creative projects that address environmental problems on local waterways and promote safe boating. -- Read on: http://www.boatus.com/news/PR_Full.asp?ID=428 * The ISAF World Sailing Rankings for July 29th have been released, with the next release of the rankings to be on August 19th and will include the Star World Championship in Sweden and the Laser Radial World Championship in Japan. Rankings posted here: http://www.sailing.org/29008.php * The Detroit Yacht Club on Belle Isle, assisted by the Crescent Sail Yacht Club of Grosse Pointe Farms, MI will host the 2009 U.S. Singlehanded Championship (USSC) on July 31-August 2. The Laser event on the waters of Lake St. Clair is part of US SAILING’s National Championship series, and sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. and LaserPerformance. Representing 13 states, the field of 20 sailors from 16 to 58 years will include three previous USSC winners. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/ml7fqq CLAY & BURCH CLINCH CAL 20 NATIONALS Ullman Sails customers crowded the podium last weekend at the Cal 20 Nationals as Chuck Clay and Mike Burch on “Venteseis” were crowned the 2009 class champions. The “Venteseis” team and second-place finishers Chris Raab and Kenny Dair both competed with 100% Ullman inventory. Keith Ives, who switched to full Ullman inventory after the first day of racing and proceeded to win two races, clinched the third spot. Said Chris Raab, “The main I got from Ullman Sails was the easiest to trim by far and the smoothest sail I have ever raced with!” Invest in your performance. http://www.ullmansails.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: July 29-Aug 2 - Santana 20 Class Championships - San Diego, CA, USA July 31-Aug 2 - Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy - San Francisco, CA, USA July 29-Aug 2 - Dillon Open Regatta - Dillon, CO, USA July 31-Aug 3 - North American Challenge Cup - Chicago, IL, USA Aug 1-6 - CYA Canadian Youth Sailing Championships - Victoria, BC, CAN View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 Richard Ewing: In response to Robert Truss’ comments about the Round Long Island race (Scuttlebutt 2896), if you cannot handle a big breeze at the start what is going to happen to you when a big breeze happens off the southern coast of Long Island where there is no place to run or hide? I applaud the RC for starting the race. Distance and ocean races are not to be taken as lightly as some of the racers take it. As he said, the RC cannot control the weather, and neither can we, so be prepared or don’t go. * From Roger Vaughan: About Stuart Walker (Scuttlebutt 2896), when I was sailing for Brown University back when, we were in Annapolis competing for the MacMillan Cup (now the Kennedy Cup) in the Naval Academy's 40-foot yawls. After taking the mandatory tour of Annapolis bars one evening, one of our team decided he had to have a sign promoting a band that was playing inside a club. We had only driven a few blocks with the sign hanging out of the back of the station wagon when we were stopped by a famous town cop of that day named Officer Strength. He prodded us in the chest with his billy club and took us straight to jail for the night. This caused a problem, because there was an early start the next day. Luckily one of our guys (you know who you are, Charlie) knew Stuart Walker, and gave him a call. In his wisdom, Dr. Walker decided to let us spend the night where we were. But he showed up bright and early the next day, bailed us out with good nature, and we made the start. * From Paul Gingras, Palm Beach, FL: I enjoyed the story about Stuart Walker [Scuttlebutt 2896] and I have been reading his articles and books for over 30 years. The usual Walker story has him leading a race or series and then he makes a mistake and loses the race or championship. We all learn best from our mistakes and Stu analyzes his every wrong move so he can do better next time. We also know Stu is a great sailor and a champion in different classes over the years and I have always wanted him to write an article [ heck, even a book] where he wins the race and the series because of brilliant moves that we can all relish. Come on Stu, do it for us.. * From John Garth: In Scuttlebutt 2894, I couldn't help but note your comment regarding the sailors' hiking / bailing technique at the Opti Nationals: "...and using his long reach to constantly bail. Here are two other competitors showing their bailing technique:" Did you happen to notice that some of the top competitors had no water coming out of their bailers when employing this technique? And that these competitors continue to "bail" long after their boats are dry? Sadly this is a disguised method of "enhanced propulsion" that is being taught to these kids by their coaches. It's cheating, and it should be stopped. Why parents seem to condone it, and judges don't catch it, is mystifying to me. * From Gerard Koeppel: I have some answers to Tony Nunes' questions (in the forum portion of his letter) and the string of letters flowing from 'butt 2895. I'm not a judge but have run a number of Opti events and closely observed many more, around the US and Europe. Opti starts, especially in large fleets, are often a free-for-all. My own son (a top Opti sailor) learned about international competition at Garda last year when, in a starting scrum, his gunwale was grabbed by a competitor (a non-American who shall go nameless) to propel himself forward. Talk about a 42! I later instructed my son on a secondary use of tiller extensions. Contact, egregious or not, will begin to stop when these kids move on to Lasers or 420s and will pretty much stop for good when they start paying for their own boats, especially larger ones that are costly and time-consuming to repair. At this year's Nationals, the RC could have made the pin boat and weather mark favored by 15 degrees and the top kids would still have crowded the signal boat to get right early because of wind and current considerations. -- Scuttlebutt Forum, read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7947#7947 * From Chris Welsh: Being an acquaintance of Steve Fossett’s (Scuttlebutt 2895), I followed the search for Steve with concern and was deeply disturbed when the conclusion came that he was lost, and again later when the wreckage was found and the loss was confirmed. I'm a pilot and familiar with the area, having flown it many times; furthermore by coincidence I flew the engine in the accident airplane down from the Flying M Ranch to LA in my plane when it needed to be replaced some months before, as a favor for a mechanic friend. I also have survived a night time crash in a single engine plane after the loss of the engine, so I have some understanding of both the NTSB process and challenging moments in an airplane. In reading the NTSB report, I am troubled by the cause determined. The downdraft verdict unquestionably is possible, but to me, does not square with the velocity of the crash, which seems more consistent with a medical event and loss of pilot capacity. In a downdraft scenario, the nose is high and groundspeed tends to be low as the pilot tries to contend with the loss of climb capability by pulling back more and more on the yoke. As a back country aircraft, nose high and fighting for altitude in that scenario, the accident plane would have had a very low groundspeed and might have touched down at 20-25 knots groundspeed. Steve's plane was shattered horribly and the engine half a football field away; this is not a 25 knot impact, but more inline with 100 knots plus. -- Scuttlebutt Forum, read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7946#7946 CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The hair products company, Clairol, introduced their curling iron ‘Mist Stick’ into Germany only to find out that ‘mist’ is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the manure stick. Special thanks to Annapolis Performance Sailing and Ullman Sails. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
