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SCUTTLEBUTT 2235 – December 4, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). MONSOON CUP Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia (Dec. 3, 2006) In one year the Monsoon Cup will conclude the 2006-’07 World Match Racing Tour schedule. But it’ll be hard-pressed to deliver a more exciting final than today’s series between Peter Holmberg and Mathieu Richard. Holmberg (ISV), the 46-year-old helmsman candidate for America’s Cup defense syndicate Alinghi, was on the verge of getting eliminated early in the event, scrapping together a couple wins late in the round robin series to earn the seventh seed (of eight seeds). From there, he had to beat out Jesper Bank (second seed) in the quarter-finals, then defending champion Peter Gilmour (third seed) in the semi-finals, before earning a chance at the 30-year-old French match-racer in the finals of the 2nd annual Monsoon Cup. The final series was a sea-saw affair, with each crew landing and absorbing repeated blows. Holmberg, however, pulled out the championship 3-2 despite being on the verge of elimination just 36 hours earlier. They finished with a 14-9 record and won MYR250,000 (approx. $69,500) of the MYR 1 million (approx. $278,000) prize purse. In the Petite Final, Ian Williams solidified his position atop the Match Racing World Championship standings when he defeated Peter Gilmour 2-1. Williams now leads the series with 62 points, 12 points ahead of Richard who leaped into second with his runner-up finish. The events of the World Tour serve to determine the ISAF Match Racing World Champion. Next year the Monsoon Cup will be the final event of the 2006-’07 season, and will crown the 2007 World Champion. -- Full report with final standings: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/default.asp?m=da&id=47691 MUMM 30 WORLDS (Miami Beach, FL – Dec 2, 2006) It was a picture perfect day for sailboat racing off South Beach for the final race of the Mumm 30 World Championship. Erik Maris and his crew on Twins are the new World Champions, won in convincing style. It is his first ever World Championship title, and the team “convinced” him to take the obligatory victory swim in the harbor after getting doused with Champagne Mumm on the dock. His strategy going into the day was to, “do what we know how to do, and we’ll be ok. The race that won it for us was Friday when we were OCS and came back to 11th. Our tactician was awesome, he’s a 470 sailor, and the whole crew did a great job, they deserve this.” -- Full report: http://www.mumm30.org/content/view/114/18 Final Results 1. (FRA) Twins, Erik Maris, 5-2-3-7-9-1-2-9-11-1, 50 pts 2. (AUS) Foreign Affair, Richard Perini, 4-12-9-1-2-4-5-10-7-7, 61 3. (USA) Sixx, Tom Lihan, 2-4-6-23-1-15-4-1-1-8, 65 4. (NED) Mean Machine, Peter deRidder, 1-3-10-11-6-10-8-12-2-12, 75 5. (ITA) Cheyenne, Frederico Strocchi, 3-10-8.5(avg)-14-11-6-17-3-4-4, 80.5 6. (USA) Groovederci, Deneen Demourkas, 7-8-2-5-16-8-1-5-3-31(ocs), 86 -- Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/ybz4k2 * Big breeze provided great action for photographers Walter Cooper and Amory Ross, with an updated sampling of their images now on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/1130 IT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING (Dec 4, 2006) A successful America's Cup challenge by Emirates Team New Zealand next year will prompt a scramble to balance the demands of playing host for a cup regatta and opening the western waterfront area to the public. Since the cup was lost in Auckland in 2003, the land owners of the western reclamation and Wynyard Pt Tank Farm have hatched a redevelopment plan which includes Syndicate Row - where the former Team New Zealand and their challengers had their bases. The team's building is one of only six bases left from the heady days of 2000 and 2003 when Viaduct Harbour sparkled with superyachts and Aucklanders and international visitors flocked to the Cup Village to cheer the racing boat crews. Four bases were cleared away for a luxury apartment development in the Lighter Basin. -- by Wayne Thompson, NZ Herald, full story: http://tinyurl.com/yk5kmk ULTIMATE GIFTS Ultimate Sailing celebrates 25 years of startling sailing imagery with gifts for the holidays! Sharon Green presents 24 new and spectacular images in her 2007 calendar. Three dazzling photos from Sharon Green's collection of sailing photos adorn the latest Ultimate t-shirt - Navy, 100% cotton, long-sleeved Hanes Beefy-T. The Ultimate cap enjoys a "tether" to attach to your shirt for high winds, which then retracts smoothly into the cap when not needed. Books, notecards, and many other items at http://www.ultimatesailing.com HOLIDAY WISH If Dubois Naval Architects, Marten Spars, and North Sails were to climb up on SantaButt’s lap, we bet their holiday wish would be that the luxury cruising market continues to flourish in 2007. These groups are all now in the midst of the build for ‘Mondango’, a 52m (170ft) ketch under construction at Alloy Yachts in Auckland, New Zealand. With a beam of 10.2m (33.5ft), draft of 4.9m (16.1ft) and displacement of 350 tonnes, this design intends to be a high performance aluminum ketch with the ability to stay operational for extended voyages without shore-based support. The Reymond Langton designed interior includes a large saloon with formal dining area for up to 10 guests. The modern style presents a light clean timber interior in Oak and Macassar ebony. Guest accommodation provides for an owner’s suite and four guest suites, two including a Pullman berth. The crew layout has 5 cabins all with en-suites for up to ten crew. Mondango will be flagged in the Cayman Islands and is scheduled for delivery towards the end of 2008. -- Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/1201 BEHIND THE SCENES * Here are links to the US Sailing Board of Directors Meeting Minutes, with two entries from the recent annual meeting held two weeks ago in Newport, RI: http://www.ussailing.org/bod/minutes.htm#Annual_General_Meeting_Minutes * Also presented at the Newport meeting, the US Sailing Annual Report is now online. It’s pretty long (66 pages), and it is missing the narration and/or music that might have been playing over it in person, but if you make it to Page 23 you can get a glimpse of the Curmudgeon orating away: http://www.ussailing.org/events/Documents/06AGMOverallFinal.pdf CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar WHEN OLD IS NEW 2007 marks the centenary of the International Rule so it is perhaps appropriate that a Twelve Metre to the First Rule - that is the rule as it first came out in 1907 - has been built by Metre boat fan, Philip Walwyn, in St. Kitts, West Indies. The last First Rule boat to come out would appear to be “Le” from 1919 (by Christian Jensen out of Jorgensen & Vik in Norway), with four known restored First Rule boats to be in existence: “Erne Signe” (but with Bermudan rig), “Cintra”, “Heti” and “Varuna”, the last three as gaff cuters. These boats are quite small by later day “12” standards, displacing 20 tons on a 40 foot (12 metre) waterline and a ballast ratio of 60%. Newer boats might be six foot longer on the waterline and displace 30 tons. The lighter, smaller, older boats set 2500 square foot of sail to windward against less than 2000 square foot for their newer cousins. One says newer even though no “12” has been built since 1986. The current 12 Metre rule is a dream and encourages you to build. “Kate”, the new boat, has laminated mahogany frames and centerline structure. The hull is strip-planked Oregon pine, bronze fastened, epoxy glued with glass over. The deck uses two layers of Bruynzeel ply over laminated fir deck beams. Spars are Sitka spruce from that great Eight Metre enthusiast, John Lammerts van Bueren, with hardware in mild steel and bronze made by Classic Marine in Suffolk. Bronze winches are by Meissner and the 12 ton keel was cast on site using old keels from wrecked yachts. The launching of the International Twelve Metre yacht, “Kate” will occur December 10, 2006 in St. Kitts, West Indies. -- http://www.1906-TwelveMetre.com WISH BIG JK3 Nautical Enterprises, Inc. and Sail California-San Diego have the ultimate holiday gift. Who wouldn’t love to have the flagship of J boats… the J/65 hull #2 in their slip with a bow awaiting them? The J/65 #2 is exquisite and available for the person that has everything. For more information or an appointment, call Jeff Brown at 619-709-0697 or check out the listing online at http://tinyurl.com/y3sath VELUX 5 OCEANS (Dec 3, 2006) Clipper Ventures PLC, organisers of the around the world yacht race the Velux 5 Oceans, announced that the start of Leg 2 is now set for Sunday January 14, a change from the original schedule of January 7. The one-week postponement has been introduced by organisers as a safety precaution for the skippers, following a grueling first leg from Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain) to Fremantle (Western Australia). The skippers, who race single-handed through the world’s toughest oceans, will be preparing in Fremantle for one of the most difficult and longest challenges in solo ocean racing, a 14,200 mile run from Western Australia to Norfolk, (Virginia, USA). * The defending champion, Swiss, solo round the world skipper and sailing hero, Bernard Stamm is expected to arrive into the port of Fremantle, Monday 4th December, ETA currently at midnight. When he gets to Fremantle he will be the first boat to cross the finish line in the 1st leg of the Velux 5 Oceans solo circumnavigation. * One week after Alex Thomson and Mike Golding’s dramatic ordeal in the Southern Ocean (where Thomson abandoned his boat, was rescued by Golding, and then together were dismasted), the British solo skippers finally arrived into Cape Town, South Africa last Friday night, docking around 18.30 GMT. Golding will soon make a decision about Ecover’s future in the Velux 5 Oceans race, while Alex returns home to England. * Sir Robin Knox-Johnston is currently seeking solutions for a fuel shortage. “Currently I have been at sea 34 days since Corunna, about 10 days longer than expected thanks to adverse wind conditions,” said RKJ. “If these conditions continue I am not going to get to Fremantle before I run out, and that means no electricity, which means no autopilot.” He is several days away from Kergeulen Island, which is the likeliest place to refill, but the stop would involve the obligatory 48-hour race penalty before continuing. -- Velux 5 Oceans race website: http://www.velux5oceans.com SAILING SHORTS * In the second part of ISAF’s ‘Ask the President’ series, ISAF President Göran Petersson (SWE) answers more of the questions that were submitted by sailors around the world following the 2006 ISAF Annual Conference. Questions discuss increasing the inclusion of skiffs and foiling Moths in Olympic events, and standardizing penalty scoring within the rules. Complete questions and answers are here: http://tinyurl.com/yl939d * Teams scheduled to attend the Sugar Bowl Regatta in 420’s at Southern YC/Tulane on December 30-31 are South Alabama, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Navy, Fordham, Notre Dame, Ohio Univ, Wisconsin (coed and women), Stanford (coed and women), NC State, Florida, (coed and women), and Georgia Tech. -- http://www.collegesailing.org * The 5th Caribbean Laser Midwinter Regatta will be held in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, January 12-14, 2007. With $5000.00 in cash prizes the drama will reach new levels. Going after the cash in the Masters class are sailors such as Peter Seidenberg, and Mark Bear from the USA. The senior's fleet is headed by Bernard Luttmer from Canada and Marc Dehaas from Holland. To make sure self-policing is in tact, Eric Mehlbaum from Holland will be the International Judge. Cabarete, long known for Windsurfing and Kiteboarding, is becoming a Laser mecca. -- http://www.caribwind.com/ltc * The third winner of Scuttlebutt’s “What is on your gift list” forum thread is ‘nssailor’, whose list of “must have” items have earned himself/herself a $50 gift certificate. The items on nssailor’s list included a complete Tacktick Micronet package, a new #1 for my J/92, and a two-week bareboat charter in Belize. There are still three more weeks left, and three more $50 gift certificates to be handed out. Post your list here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/2006/gifts REPLYING TO ‘BUTT Each issue of Scuttlebutt begins with an explanation of how it “is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.” Scuttlebutt is as much about our readers as it is the editors, and at times we are not sure who is steering the ship. We do know that if there is anything you ever have an opinion on or comment about, you will either hit the reply button to the e-Newsletter, or click on the LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEONng of the Letters to the Curmudgeon section. And now, an increasing number of readers are using the Scuttlebutt Forum. We do occasionally mess up at Scuttlebutt, like we did last Friday, and when we do we expect to hear from you too. This letter came from W. Andrew Loe III, Dartmouth 07': “As a Dartmouth sailor, I'm happy to see our wonderful college in the literature ( 'butt 2234), however the link in your trivia question is not true. Jay Cutler is a graduate of Vanderbuilt University (I am an SEC football fan, growing up in Louisiana) and has no ties to Dartmouth. Jay Fiedler, on the other hand, was a graduate of Dartmouth College. He still holds most of the passing records and has recently played for the Miami Dolphins and is now on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.” PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR LASER SAILORS Vanguard has the new ISAF approved Laser clew sleeve. The clew sleeve will be in Vanguard dealerships by mid December. The system offers easy clew rigging, quick outhaul adjustment, smooth easing, and keeps the sail flush to the boom. It's the perfect gift for Laser sailors on your list. http://www.teamvanguard.com Curmudgeon’s Comment: We noticed that the aforementioned clew sleeve is among a very short list of rules changes that are now permitted for the Laser: http://www.laserinternational.org/rules/rules07_explained.pdf LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Barry Demak, San Jose, CA: In Issue 2234, the Curmudgeon wrote how he didn't realize how sailing and deer hunting had much in common, nor that anything about deer hunting would ever be in Scuttlebutt. Well, another bizarre commonality was highlighted in the subsequent paragraphs NOT in 'butt: "A surprising number of hunters don't seem to understand how uncomfortable it is for a deer to move around with a thick layer of fat and its winter coat...If you want some idea of what a deer experiences, put on a snowmobile suit or winter parka and try running a mile on an 80-degree day." Now THIS is familiar to sailing. This must be why I've seen so many Farr 40 sailors with a thick layer of fat and foulies running in yacht club parking lots on 80-degree days before weigh-in. I had no idea they were simply trying to better understand how Michigan deer felt on mild fall days! * From Darrell Blomberg: (re, whether a corpse qualifies a driver for the car pool lane) Taken from a case heard in the Arizona courts - “…the HOV lane was created under federal guidelines, which say that one of the main concepts of the lane is to increase the number of occupants in a car.” I guess that makes it OK. -- http://tinyurl.com/ybwoyj * From Cressida Robson: (edited to the 250-word limit) Great photos of the Mumm 30 Worlds. I was searching for my sister Genevieve (sailing on Adrenalin), but found that there was ONLY one woman among the photos. Have we considered what professional sailing is doing to the number of women in the sport? Has the rise of professionalism eliminated the chance for a Women's America's Cup entry or a Volvo entry? With male professionals sailing so much, and amateur women not getting rides, is the skill gap getting wider and wider? To grow the sport, we need to be (amongst other things) encouraging more girls into the sport at the Junior/Youth level. But why would females sail when there is only solo sailing heroes to watch like Ellen MacArthur, who raise all the money themselves. We don't have examples of working professional female sailors. Do we look to youth/university sailing in France where every entry requires 2 female sailors, since it seems the only way women will get the top level experience they need to compete for work in sailing? Don't whine to me that it’s unfair to encourage one sex over another; it’s as simple as playground politics. If you’re the smallest and lightest all your life, you don't get picked for football, so you will never learn the skills. But, get a leg up in training early on and you might end up being the one that kicks the winning field goal. Sometimes it’s not the most obvious player who wins the game for you. * From Jon Alvord: While its pretty cool to see the open 60 towing two wake boarders (as in Issue 2234), what would be more impressive would be to see them starting in the water with ski's. Wakeboards have a huge area and don't require a great deal of speed to get them onto a plane so starting should be rather simple. Starting with waterskiers would be much more difficult. I know this because I have waterskied behind my 31ft tri without the use of a dinghy to start me off. Simply tack around the skier and hang on! * From Peter Shumar: While driving your own boat is a joy and should not be missed, especially in close quarters racing, I also advocate handing the reigns over to others from time to time. Not only do you gain experience in other positions (try bow) but you gain appreciation for your crew and you will become a better skipper with realistic expectations. I let the previous owner of one of my first boats skipper for a season while I filled in wherever someone was missing and I took the opportunity to learn all I could, now I’ve helmed and skippered for a host of other owners and also gained offshore single-handing experience but I wouldn’t have had that confidence if I hadn’t let others drive my boat. * From Pat Healy: Part of our sport is a management competition that uses sailing. Like their successful businesses, these men and women win by putting together the best team of naval architects, boat builders, sail makers, and sailors to compete on a high profile stage. Thank God they choose sailing rather than car racing or horses. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION You know you have grown up when you go to the drugstore for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests. Special thanks to Ultimate Sailing, Sail California-San Diego, and Vanguard. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
