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SCUTTLEBUTT 3716 - Friday, November 9, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: The Pirate's Lair and Doyle Sails. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION (November 8, 2012) - The 2012 ISAF Annual Conference is this week in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland (Nov 1-11). The various committees have been meeting, reviewing the submissions that seek to shape the sport. The committee decisions have now been submitted to the ISAF Council, which is the governing body of ISAF that is responsible for final decisions. The Council began their session today, which will continue through Saturday. ISAF President Goran Petersson delivered the President's Report today to the ISAF Council members during their first day of meetings. Here is the transcript: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- After 8 years being the ISAF President, I now present my report to you for the last time. It is said you should go on a 'high'. Given that you actually can't really choose the moment of leaving the position of ISAF President I feel that we, as an organisation, have done pretty well this year and the Olympic Games in Weymouth were extremely successful for ISAF. I think three aspects made these Games stand out from past ones. The first and probably the most important was the success of the ticketed spectator area. More than 60,000 tickets were sold and customer surveys indicated that the people were very happy being there and enjoying the spectator venue. The big screen and expert commentary really made it a great experience. After an initially slow start for the number of non-ticketed visitors, word got out that you could have an enjoyable day out in Weymouth and the numbers of spectators lining the shores grew day by day. The second important point was that management of the venue and the race was excellent. ISAF Race officials blended in with the local organisers ensuring a smooth running of the event. Thirdly the TV production meant that there was a very good product for the viewers at home and, as we all know, TV is very important for our position as a sport in the Olympic Games. From my own personal experience of Olympic Family members travelling down from London, they all had a terrific experience. Even those who were not able to come to Weymouth were aware of how successful our Games were from the stories that came back that Weymouth was great. It will be interesting to see how a good Olympic Games for ISAF will be reflected in the Sports Evaluation Report from the IOC. As you know this is very important as we need to stay in the list of core sports for the Games programme when the IOC makes their decision next year. There is one achievement in the Games that I like to single out and mention: the island of Cyprus has a new sporting hero - Pavlos Kontides who became the first Cypriot ever to win an Olympic medal after his sterling silver performance in the Laser class. The Olympic Games was followed by a very well-run Paralympic Sailing Competition. IFDS President Linda Merkle once said to me that the Olympic Sailing Regatta was only a test event for the Paralympics and I think she was probably right. The success of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and in particular the increase in public interest and awareness has really moved the importance of that event to a higher level. -- Read on: http://www.sailing.org/news/32849.php MORE: Here are the lists of recent renewals and appointments that were announced on Thursday at the ISAF Annual Conference: International Race Officer: http://tinyurl.com/RO-110812 International Judge: http://tinyurl.com/J-110812 International Measurer: http://tinyurl.com/M-110812 International Umpire: http://tinyurl.com/U-110812 HELPING RECOVERY EFFORTS Since its landfall on Monday evening October 29, Hurricane Sandy has left a wake of destruction throughout the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. To help recovery efforts, Scuttlebutt seeks to share information from those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Here is an update: ---------------------------------------- Emergency responders and members of the public can now get a birds-eye view of some of the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy. Through NOAA's National Geodetic Survey website, visitors can view a map of the region and click on an icon to view a thumbnail or high-definition image of a specific area. Images are now available for some of the Northeast's hardest-hit areas, including: Atlantic City, NJ., Seaside Heights, N.J., Ocean City, Md., and parts of Delaware: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/weeklynews/nov12/ngs-sandy-imagery.html ---------------------------------------- Please send your report to: Email: info@sailingscuttlebutt.com Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/SBUTT-FBOOK-Sandy Forum: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14705 END OF SUMMER WEB SALE AT PIRATES LAIR DOT COM! Or maybe it's just a Pre-Christmas sale? Log on to http://pirateslair.com/store/index.html for discounts on just about everything we have! Call (888) 724-5286 if you have a regatta to plan. BRITAIN'S SAM DAVIES WINS HEARTS By Elaine Bunting, Yachting World (November 8, 2012) - As crowds swarm along the pontoons in Les Sables d'Olonne to see the fleet gathered for the Vendee Globe race, you begin to see a picture of which are the public's greatest heroes. Outside France, we tend to think in strictly competitive terms - who may win, who may not - but here people put a higher value on the sailors' whole backstory. The appreciation is as much, and maybe more, qualitative than quantitative. My preamble is by way of explaining why, while in the UK we tend to concentrate on the prospects of Mike Golding and Alex Thomson, in France the Brit who seems to stand out is Samantha Davies. Today, as Sam gave interviews on board her boat Saveol, the largest crowds gathered around her, a tight knot that formed and reformed throughout the morning in the hope of a photo opportunity, a glimpse, a chance to wish her well. "Bon courage!" people called to her. "Bravo!" Every time she looked over there was an excited cheer. Ironically Sam is much better known here than in the UK. People know that she grew up sailing and that her parents live aboard a schooner. She conjures an agreeable image, the modest, blonde girl-next-door who finished 4th in the last Vendee Globe, and who lives in France with her French partner. She is hugely admired, partly because she's a great sailor with a well understood professional track record in solo Figaro and IMOCA sailing, but also because she's the only woman in a race with a habit of minting some colourful, ironclad heroines. When the French magazine Voiles et Voiliers ran a poll and invited readers to vote on their favourite Vendee skipper, thousands did, and the two who topped it were Sam and Jean Le Cam. Between them they claimed over 60% of the vote. Fewer people know that she became a mother last year and has a year-old son she's leaving behind with her partner (French sailor Romain Attanasio). That information is only sinking in and it's adding to the sheen of admiration - as well as the routine of questions now always asked in interviews. -- Read on: http://www.yachtingworld.com/news/533038/britain-s-sam-davies-wins-hearts BACKGROUND: Twenty skippers will compete in the 7th edition of the Vendee Globe, a solo, non-stop around the world race in the IMOCA Open 60 class. Starting in Les Sables d'Olonne, France on November 10, the west to east course passes the three major capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn before returning to Les Sables d'Olonne. In the 2008-9 edition, Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) smashed the race record by completing the race in 84 days. -- http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ A LONG TIME COMING Among the storied college programs in the northeast is Tufts University, which has produced four College Sailors of the Year (Sam Altreuter, Stu Johnstone, Pede Dickey, and Senet Bischoff) and three Rolex US Sailors of the Year (Betsy Allison, Susan Dierdorf Taylor, and Dave Curtis). The Tufts sailing team is located on Upper Mystic Lake in West Medford (MA), two and one half miles from campus. The fleet is comprised of 24 Larks, six Lasers, two coach boats... and one rickety boathouse. The original Tufts sailing boathouse was an antique in every sense of the word. Built in 1948 and featuring three rooms for storing boats, the old boathouse wasn't given a bathroom until 1960 or proper plumbing until the 1990s. This week, construction workers are breaking ground on the new Larry Bacow Boathouse. The first thing to go is the bathroom. From there, two levels will be added to the preexisting boathouse, which will triple the area athletes, coaches and spectators have at their disposal. The second floor will have a locker room and additional repair space. The top floor will have a main room for the team to gather together after practice, an office, a kitchen, a conference room and a library, not to mention an outdoor deck area that will stretch the length of the boathouse. For coach Ken Legler, who came to Tufts to coach over 30 years ago, the boathouse has been a long time in the making. "It took kind of forever," he said. "I came here in the fall of 1980 and the undergrads were already working on fundraising to make this happen." Last week, Thursday's practice started out normally for junior tri-captain Will Haegar. That is, it was normal until Legler motored up in the middle of practice from a meeting and blasted on his whistle to bring the boats together. All Legler had to do was throw his arms in the air, a piece of paper clutched in his fist, for the team to know that the permits for the boathouse had finally come through. "We all started clapping and couldn't help but smile," Haeger said. "It was a really cool moment for us." But the project's approval was the result of decades of hard work and frustration.... read on: http://tinyurl.com/Tufts-110812 QUOTE / UNQUOTE In 2012, Chinese singlehanded sailor Lijia Xu became the first Chinese sailor to win an Olympic Gold medal in a dinghy sailing boat, and the first sailor from China to be named ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. On winning the award, sailing, and English: "I hope this award can inspire more children in China to take up the sport. Sailing has given me the chance to chase my dreams and the stage to show my potential. It has provided me with the opportunity to see, feel and explore the world. Sailing leads me to a path of a better life, a life full of vitality, excitement and joyful experiences." -- http://www.sailing.org/news/32843.php "Yao Ming (basketball) is the most famous athlete in China, but my English is much better than his. I just learned it myself watching American movies [and TV] like Prison Break and Desperate Housewives. It's a good way to learn English." -- Xu, after winning the 2006 Women's Laser Radial World Championship, http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=3457 18 KNOTS & OVER 1 TON OF SAILS Built by Fitzroy Yachts and designed by Dubois Naval Architects, Superyacht Ohana is a breathtaking 50-metre Flybridge Sloop, currently undergoing sea trials before her delivery in December. With a total sail area of 4,085m2 including her main sail of 636m2 and a gennaker of 1,600m2, Ohana will achieve a maximum speed of 18 knots and average 12 knots under sail. Superyacht Ohana will have over 1 ton of Doyle sails on board. Catch a glimpse: http://bit.ly/syohana SAILING SHORTS * The 2012-13 U.S. High School sailing season will hold the first of its three national championships in Long Beach, CA on November 9-11. The Interscholastic Yacht Racing Association High School Singlehanded Championship includes Laser and Laser Radial divisions for the entrants that have qualified from the seven national districts. Doublehanded fleet and team race nationals are held in the spring. Event website: http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/5892 * Information sessions to prepare for the June 2013 Marion Bermuda Race will be held at locations throughout New England in January. Details here: http://www.marionbermuda.com/archive/2013/PrepOffshoreRacing.pdf * Adam Minoprio and Taylor Canfield have been confirmed as the wildcard entries for the 2012 Monsoon Cup and will join David Gilmour, eight Tour Card Holders and a qualifier from the Malaysian Match Racing Cup (Nov 23-26), at the finale event of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. The 2012 finale event is expected to attract over 100,000 spectators to the Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort & Spa in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia between December 3-8. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/WMRT-110812 * The first ever VX ONE North American Championship launches from the Pensacola Yacht Club (Pensacola, FL) on Friday, November 9. The three-day event will feature 16 VX ONE's competing to become the inaugural North American Champion. Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14767 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include the Pope, the Crowd, the Kid, the Mist, the Clear, the Trace, the Month, and the Storm. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/1109/ Bonus Photos: * Twenty-four of the best photographs from 2012, chosen by the public, will be scrutinized by a professional and independent jury to select the Yacht Racing Image of the Year 2012 on December 11. You can view images and make your preferences known here: http://www.yachtracingimageoftheyear.com/ * A collection of historic competitors that included Malin Burnham, Don Trask, Bruce Munro, Hans Fogh, Ron Holland, and Jon Andron gathered in San Diego, CA to compete in the International Masters Regatta. Photos by Bob Grieser: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/1108/ * One hundred racers from 14 countries and 5 continents were in Miami for the World O'Pen Cup. Unique courses and required moves characteristic of O'Pen BIC events prevailed, which begs the question: Is the winner the person who has the most fun? Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/1107/ * The 2012-13 college sailing season hosted its singlehanded nationals in Long Beach for the top 18 men and women qualifiers throughout the U.S. Photos by Glennon Stratton: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/12/1105/ SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK When the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season ends on November 30, 2012, the Caribbean will get busier as crusiers flock to the tropical climate. For the bareboat charter companies, this is money season, but not everyone that charters a boat is qualified to operate it. This week's video captures an extreme incident in a BVI anchorage which ultimately damaged six boats. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/12/1109/ Bonus Videos: * This week on America's Cup Discovered we bring you the latest developments with the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. From Stockholm to San Francisco, six young sailors go behind the scenes with Artemis Racing, including vigorous workouts with the team. Then we meet the "Waste Busters" team who aim to deliver a model sustainable sporting event. Followed by a chat with Luna Rossa's latest recruit, helmsman Iker Martinez. Tune in on Saturday November 10 approx 0800 PT/1100 ET: http://www.youtube.com/americascup * For an update on college sailing, Chalk Talk this week and find out the details behind the cancellation of Atlantic Coast Championship. Also revisit the Singlehanded Champs, Sailing World Rankings, and a full preview of Women's ACCs. http://www.youtu.be/zTGDfMIgqYc SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com 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 Keith Taylor, Auckland, NZ: "The America's Cup is match racing," says the Curmudgeon in Scuttlebutt 3715. Actually the America's Cup is about boat-on-boat racing, about design and construction innovation, about bulging wallets and outstanding crew work and tactics. The match racing comes as design parameters narrow with familiarity with a new rule. Be patient. Enjoy the show and wait a few cycles. * From Will Baillieu: I say a pox on those that foisted the AC45 and AC72 cats on America's Cup. America's Cup is supposed to be the very pinnacle of sailing. The event has a history and a legacy that is deserving of competition of the highest order. Instead, what's being dished up is a TVcentric demolition derby, in boats that are quite simply unseaworthy, and potentially lethal. I'm sure these boats have a place in sailing, but that place isn't America's Cup. When I was on the handles in 1983 when Australia II won the America's Cup, I was very fortunate to have played a small part in America's Cup history. But right now I'm feeling betrayed by the custodians of the Cup. Watching these featherweight AC45s capsizing, cartwheeling and pitch poling all over the place, on relatively flat water, is just awful. If this is what has to be done to boost television audiences then honestly, we'd be better off with smaller audiences. America's Cup should be about the very best of sailing, not TV ratings. It should never have been allowed to become a smash 'em up show, in an effort to gain audiences of people who know little about sailing. It's a bit like sticking nitro fuelled dragsters in a Formula One car race, for couch surfers who want to see crashes. -- Forum, read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14765#14765 * From Thomas O'Brien: You can't know the half of the fun of sailing with Tony Parker (Scuttlebutt 3715)! He was my coach when I was a midshipman and mentor as I tried to learn about representing our institution in serious offshore racing. No one is his better as a competitor. Match racing, team racing.... one should choose to be on his team. A bit of a twisted sense of humor, but all his friends would likely say "oh, yea!" * From Ronnie R McCracken: In his post (in Scuttlebutt 3715), Mr. Simmons assumes ISAF, or their selection party, chose the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year male and female winners. That is not the case: 1) First nominees are nominated by the Member National Authorities and then those with the highest nominations go through to the voting procedure 2) Thereafter the list of these candidates are circulated to ALL MNA's, the only bodies who can vote It is solely the MNAs who make the final decision and ISAF have no influence on this. * From Peter Isler: During the "qualifying period", Ben Ainslie not only won the Olympic Gold Medal in what has historically been considered the most physically demanding Olympic class, but also broke a legendary and long standing Olympic record by winning his fifth Olympic sailing medal. For all of us who love this sport, you have to admit, this latter accomplishment is incredibly significant. Picking our sport's national or international "MVP's" is always challenging in an Olympic Year.... an Olympic Gold Medal is near impossible to trump - but thankfully our sport gets more than one awarded per quadrennium - creating a sticky wicket for the judges. But in my mind, they got this one right. Congratulations to Ben. In 2012 you have set a standard of pure sailing excellence (in a singlehanded dinghy!) that will inspire sailors (just as Elvstrom's record has) for many years to come - you earned that Rolex! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Every time I close the door on reality, it comes in through the windows. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Summit Yachts - IYRS - Team One Newport - North Sails Soft Deck - Doyle Sails - Ribcraft - Ultimate Sailing Ullman Sails - The Pirates Lair - Harken - Point Loma Outfitting Camet - Dieball Sailing - Key West Race Week Need stuff? 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