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SCUTTLEBUTT 3236 - Thursday, December 9, 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: APS and Ullman Sails. FOCUS ON HEROES AND STOP PROSTITUTING THE SPORT By Paul Henderson, former ISAF President The big problem that Mark Reynolds touches on in his three part interview this week (Olympic Sailing - Is the Men's Keelboat Era Over?) is that in sailing the media focus is always on the equipment and not the sailors. The media focus in skiing is not on the skis, or in golf on the clubs, but on the personalities. In Olympic sailing, we argue whether it should be a Star or a Soling or an FD or a 49er or the format whether it be Match or Fleet racing or the courses to be windward leewards or triangles, all with some convoluted idea that we will get more TV ratings and therefore more money. Whether a boat goes 12kts or 18 kts, or has two hulls or one... who cares? The media wants heroes and stories, and also nationalism sells. At the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, the great media stories was when the Canadian snowboarder won a gold, but it was his CP brother in the stands cheering that tore our hearts out. Or the Canadian figure skating bronze medallist doing so well when her mother had just died prior to the Games. It will shock all the sailors who focus on classes that the Star is the most followed Olympic media event. This is because the heroes who have made their name in the Finn or Laser gravitate to the Star, so the journalists already know them. By the way, the boardsailors usually end up sailing catamarans. Thinking that we need to prostitute the sport so as to get more TV is nonsense in the utmost. We will not get more TV as there are 28 Olympic sports and only about 6 get good ratings and at least 14 get minimal. There is nothing Sailing can do to erode basketball, swimming, or athletics coverage except if a few sailors drown... and then we may get five minutes in prime time (but that would be a drastic maneuver). Sailing gets very good internet coverage, ranking fifth as it is a niche market as are 20 of the other sports. Focus on the personalities and pick the types of events that are for all sizes and shapes of sailors, or the Olympics will become an irrelevant Junior Regatta. ISAF got $8 million out of Beijing, which is up from $50,000 in Montreal (1976 Games) and $2.5 million in Sydney (2000 Games). How much money does the Federation need? Put the sailors and the integrity of the sport first and stop prostituting the game for some unattainable TV coverage. Several years ago, Rowing had an idea to get rid of the Eight event so as to get more events for the limited number of athletes involved, and therefore get more TV. The IOC and FISA said: "That is Rowing's premier event - you got to be kidding." The rebuttal is that sailing will get kicked out of the Olympics which is utter nonsense. The IOC must vote 50% +1 to eliminate any sport and Sailing has always got 75% in all such votes and, by the way, the IOC President is a sailor. Story link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/1208a/ WHO WILL BE DEEMED AMERICA'S TOP SAILOR? (December 8, 2010) - With the record books shortly to close for 2010, US SAILING has released its shortlist of nominees for the 2010 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards. The nominees will be reviewed by a panel of noted sailing journalists who discuss the merits of each nominee and vote to determine US SAILING's 2010 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. The ultimate winners will be announced in mid-January and honored on February 25, 2011, during a luncheon at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan, when they will be presented with Rolex timepieces. -- Full report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2010_Y_of_Y_Shortlist.htm NOMINEES - US SAILING's 2010 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award: Bill Brangiforte (Weymouth, MA); Sunfish North American Champion Adam Burns (North Tonawanda, NY.); Melges 24 North American Champion Augie Diaz (Miami, FL); 505 North American Champion Robert Douglas (Nantucket, MA); Outright World Speed Record Holder Tim Healy (Newport, RI); J/24 World Champion Stan Honey (Palo Alto, CA); Jules Verne Circumnavigation Record Winner Jonathan McKee (Seattle, WA); Melges 24 World Champion Rives Potts (Essex, CT); Newport to Bermuda Race Winner David Starck (Buffalo, NY); Lightning North American Champion George Szabo (San Diego, CA); Star North American Champion Nominee resumes: http://about.ussailing.org/Awards/Rolex/Nominees/Male_Nominees.htm NOMINEES - US SAILING's 2010 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award: Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, NY); 470 Women's North American Champion Claire Dennis (Saratoga, CA); College Women's Singlehanded National Champion Paige Railey (Clearwater, FL); Kieler Woche Laser Radial Champion Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, FL); Laser Radial Youth Women's World Champion Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, CA); Women's Match Racing National Champion Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, FL); Miami OCR Women's Match Racing Champion Nominee resumes: http://about.ussailing.org/Awards/Rolex/Nominees/Female_Nominees.htm START TO FINISH Looking for a place to get your holiday shopping done start to finish? With great gifts for sailors like the new Gill Regatta Master II watch, Carbon Money Clips, the new Night Vision LED Cap, or the ever popular Musto Washbags APS, "The World Leader in Outfitting Performance Sailors", is poised to throw you a life ring and save you from holiday shopping hassles. What's more, this year we're offering Free Ground Shipping on qualifying orders! What could be easier? Shopping for your favorite sailor is not only fun and easy at APS but Free Shipping also awaits you. http://bit.ly/gzmcH3 SKUNKED OFF MIAMI BEACH Miami, FL (December 8, 2010) - After yesterday's wet and wild start to the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami, the regatta ground to a virtual halt today with a lack of wind. After waiting all day for the wind to build, Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio was forced to abandon the day's schedule at 1520 hours with insufficient breeze on the racecourse. The loss of the semifinal round today sees the event advance to the match racing final Thursday morning where Chris Bake's Team Aqua, led by Cameron Appleton, will square off against Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis Racing, with Terry Hutchinson as skipper. The two crews won Group A and B, respectively, with 5-1 records. Additional racing will take place as follows: 3rd and 4th place: Synergy Russian Sailing Team vs. Mascalzone Latino 5th and 6th place: BMW ORACLE Racing vs. Team Sea Dubai 7th and 8th place: 17 vs. No Way Back 9th and 10th place: Katusha vs. Ceeref 11th and 12th place: Ironbound vs. Peninsula Petroleum 13th and 14th place: Puerto Calero Islas Canarias vs. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team Each match is a one race sudden death, winner take all. Event organizers have moved the start time forward by an hour to 1100 with the hopes of completing each match. No racing will be conducted after 1300 as the afternoon is set aside for practice for the owner/driver fleet racing portion of the regatta, Friday through Sunday. The ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami is the final event of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2010, where the ranking are currently led by Larry Ellison's BMW ORACLE Racing (USA), with Pieter Heerema's No Way Back (NED), James Spithill's "17" (USA) and Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis (SWE) within reach of the title. -- http://www.rc44.com/en/regattas/news/index.php?idContent=2707 POPCORN: Moviegoers can follow the racing with Live Ticker and Virtual Eye: http://www.rc44.com/en/live/index.php HIGH END RACING ON TOUR To learn more about the RC44 class that is racing this week in Miami, and will be heading to Key West in January and San Diego in March, Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck contacted professional sailor and project manager Dee Smith, who is the RC44 Agent for North America: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * What is the motivation for the RC44 class, which is nearly all European based, to make the U.S. trip? DEE SMITH: There are two reasons to bring the fleet over. First, it gives the fleet a good chance to keep sailing in the winter. As you know the Euro season runs from late May to October. The second is to give the U.S. a chance to see how great these boats are. You look at pictures and video but that really does not paint the whole story. * Racing a RC44 appears to be a very high end program. Is it? DEE SMITH: What is high end is the RC44! Just like any other competitive class, you have to be good to win. You see it in Farr 40, Melges 32's and everywhere. This fleet is very strong from top to bottom. There are teams that don't have the top names and still compete just fine. But while it is very high end, it is a good value. The running costs of an RC44 are pretty far under a Farr 40 that travels because it is so easy to ship. Most of the other alternatives have hidden costs that are included in the RC44. * The RC44 events are unique in that their venues typically pay the class a hosting fee. Is North America ready for this? DEE SMITH: This is what happens in Europe when the class can attract good media. Here in the states it is much harder. San Diego has been very aggressive on getting a regatta there. When we get our fleet going here, we most likely will run first on existing regattas and then move to stand alone races. We want more people to see the boats racing to start off. * What are the classification rules for crew? DEE SMITH: Four Group 3 crew (professional sailors) are allowed, or about half the crew. The regatta format had been that half the schedule was match racing with a pro driver, and the other half with an owner driver for the fleet racing. But the format has been changed for next year, with all owner driver fleet races for the season. * How does this type of class fit into the current racing landscape in North America? DEE SMITH: For the person that wants to race an all carbon F 1 boat, this is it. Yet the costs are kept under control with the easy way to ship. The boat fits in a box and has a similar running cost of a Melges 32 with only one more Group 3 sailor and bigger sails. Everything else is really close to the same. But it also can be the big fish boat in the local arena. The RC44 has a good PHRF rating that the boat can sail to. I believe it is the most fun Wednesday night boat you can have. It is so fast in the light air and easy to sail fast. You don't have to travel to have fun with an RC44. * Anything I forgot? DEE SMITH: All I can say is it is the best balanced boat I have sailed. It is fun from 3 knots to 30. Hard to find this in any other boat. Story link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/1208/ J/111 CLASS RULES ESTABLISHED The latest offering from J Boats is the J/111, and this 36 footer has busted out of the gate with the kind of enthusiasm that quickly sells boats. With the benefit now of three months of sailing the J/111 in varied conditions, as well as valuable input from several sailmakers and dealers, the provisional J/111 Class Rules have been established, which includes the all-important numbers for the sail sizes and inventory. Don Finkle of RCR Yachts provides a quick summary of the key discussion points: 1. Base sail inventory of main, two jibs and two spinnakers with allowance for a heavy weather jib. One of the two spinnakers has to be 3/4oz material. 2. Owner or Group 1 Driver rule like other J classes (J/80 J/105, J/109, J/122) 3. Up to one Group 3 aboard (not counting 100% owner). 4. J Boats dealers are considered Group 1 and not restricted. 5. Crew weight - the scale weight is TBA for now but the intent is to sail with a J/105 size crew plus 1 - or on average 7 people. 6. Boat weight - all boats are being factory weighed and will receive a weight certificate. We will later pick a minimum class weight based on these weights. Source: http://psndealer.com/dealersite/images/rcryachts/racersnews120810.pdf WYLIE RABBIT CAPTURES "RABBIT SYLE" SERIES "Little Crazy", a 24' Wylie Wabbit and one of the smallest boats in San Diego Yacht Club's Annual Hot Rum Series, finished 1st in Class 5 and 1st Overall. The 135 boat fleet started in reverse order of rating in the "catch-me-if-you-can" format. For perspective, 2nd Overall was Dennis Conner's Farr 60 "Stars & Stripes". "Little Crazy" is owned by Robert Plant, Daniel Geissmann & Jamie Gregory. 1st in Class 3 and 3rd Overall was the J/105 "Wings" owned by Dennis & Sharon Case. Ullman Sails powers "Little Crazy" & "Wings". No matter your goals, invest in your performance. www.ullmansails.com SAD STORY An 88-foot sailing ship designed for wheelchair-bound sailors sank Wednesday morning off the coast of Massachusetts, a day after two men were rescued in a dramatic scene straight out of Hollywood, a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer told FoxNews.com. The vessel, Raw Faith, sank 166 miles southeast of Nantucket, Petty Officer Connie Terrell told FoxNews.com. She said the water there is 6,000-feet deep and the ship is not considered to be a hazard. Coast Guard officials received an emergency position-locating beacon signal from the vessel on Monday after the Raw Faith departed Salem, Mass., en route to Bermuda. A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued two men from the ship on Tuesday afternoon and brought them back to Air Station Cape Cod in Bourne, Mass., officials said. Two Coast Guard cutters were diverted to assist the vessel, which encountered waves up to 15 feet and winds of up to 30 knots. After weather conditions prevented the Coast Guard from delivering additional safety gear, both members of the crew abandoned the vessel and were later hoisted aboard an MH-60 helicopter. Randall Rice, a 17-year Coast Guard veteran, said waves up to 25 feet and wind gusts reaching 50 mph contributed to precarious and potentially life-threatening conditions as he saved the ship's captain, George McKay, and another man who was not immediately identified. "She was getting hit by some pretty hard waves, like 25-footers," Rice said. "I just went, 'Wow.' I was pretty impressed by it. If you've ever seen the 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' that's exactly what it looked like. It was a really rough ride." Rice said the ship had taken on about two feet of water by the time the Coast Guard arrived. Following the rescue, Rice said he immediately saw the "uncertainty" in McKay's face. "It's like he lost his house, it's pretty much the same thing," Rice said. "Emotionally, as we were flying back, I could definitely see it in his face. It's just uncertainty." According to the ship's website, Raw Faith, which was launched in 2003, was designed and built by McKay to be wheelchair accessible. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/FN-120810 SAILING SHORTS * The World Sailing Speed Record Council has ratified a new Outright World Sailing Speed Record. On October 28th, Rob Douglas (USA) set a new speed of 55.65 knots on the 500 meter course at Luderitz, Namibia on a kite board. The previous record of 55.49 knots was held by Sebastien Cattalan (FRA). -- http://tinyurl.com/WSSRC-120810 * (December 8, 2010) - The new ISAF Match Racing World Champion and 2010 World Match Race Tour winner Ben Ainslie (GBR) has today claimed the top position in the open rankings for the first time in his career. Nicky Souter (AUS) maintains her position at the top of the women's rankings. -- Read on: http://www.sailing.org/34835.php * The 2012 Blokart World Championships will be sailed at Ivanpah dry lake bed situated near the California/Nevada border town of Primm, Nevada. This is the same site where the world land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle was set by the Greenbird, clocked at 126.1 mph (202.9 km/h) on March 26, 2009. As a tune-up event, the 2011 North American Blokart Sailing Championship will be held at Ivanpah on March 25-30, 2011. -- http://www.blokartworlds2012.org/ EIGHT BELLS Richard W. (Dick) Kempe - Past Commodore Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, International Judge, International Umpire - passed away on Monday, December 6th after battling cancer for the past four months. Dick will be remembered as a dedicated contributor to the sport of sailing. He became an International Judge in 1989 and one of the first International Umpires in 1991. Sailing was his passion from the moment he joined the Youth Sailing programme at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in the 1950's to his final sailing days on board his beloved "Katimavic' - a classic C&C 40. No doubt many a sailor will have faced Dick in a protest hearing and remember his stern but fair personality and his keen sense of humour. Past Commodore Kempe will be sadly missed by his family, many friends at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and from the sailing fraternity around the world. -- Commodore Peter Shrubb, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10957 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: Dec 11-12 - Jaguar Cup Series, Piana Cup Regatta - Miami, FL, USA Dec 11-12 - Melges 20 Winter Series, Event No. 1 - Miami, FL, USA Dec 12 - Velux 5 Oceans, Sprint 2 - Cape Town, South Africa View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. View and/or post Industry News updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news 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 Michael Koster: Correction to Kimball Livingston's Bermuda article in Scuttlebutt 3235. Sinn Fein won consecutive St. David's Lighthouse trophies, not Gibb's Hill, which is awarded to corrected professional yacht winner. * From Peter Bowker: As a voice from the "Mysterious East Coast" perhaps I should be permitted to correct some misconceptions regarding the Cal 40 expressed in Scuttlebutt recently by Kimball Livingston (in Issue 3235). There is of course no doubt that George Griffith "imagineered" the CAL 40. The prototype was his PSYCHE, but the first production model, COQUISTADOR, owned by Fuller Callaway, won the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit (SORC) in Florida and the Bahamas in March 1964 some 16 months before PSYCHE won the Honolulu Race. CONQUISTADOR's crew in the last three races included Bill Lapworth, her designer and Jack Jensen, her builder. (Was that the beginning of factory crews?) Furthermore a year later a young upstart from Atlanta showed up at the SORC with a new CAL40 (VAMPX ??) and although not the overall winner gave a good account of himself, winning a couple of races. Before the start of the series he approached me enquiring as to what I might know of any handling idiosyncrasies of his new boat. From that brief meeting grew a friendship that led to me racing thousands of miles with him. That upstarts name?----Ted Turner. It should also be noted that the 1966 Bermuda Race was won by a CAL40, THUNDERBIRD. Dare I suggest that the East Coast recognized the merits of the CAL 40 before our brethren to the West?!! * From Brad Read, Executive Director, Sail Newport: As a follow-up to the story in Scuttlebutt 3235 "Why Sailing Lessons Make A Great Gift", we had just put up a "Give the Gift of Sailing" section on the Sail Newport website. What better place to send your "soon to be sailor" but Newport, RI. Enjoy our fabulous sailing conditions, amazing restaurants and wonderful accommodations, while Sail Newport - Rhode Island's Public Sailing Center - provides award winning instruction in our fleet of J/22's. Enjoy historic Fort Adams State park and learn to sail in one of the greatest sailing venues in America... Narragansett Bay. Details here: http://www.sailnewport.org/adultSailing.html CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Famous Last Words..." What does this button do?" SPONSORS THIS WEEK Ultimate Sailing - West Marine - Henri Lloyd Melges Performance Sailboats - North U - Camet - North Sails LaserPerformance - APS - Ullman Sails - Harken - The Pirates Lair Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
