|
SCUTTLEBUTT 3379 - Friday, July 8, 2011Scuttlebutt 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: Team One Newport and Doyle Sails. DUMB ENOUGH TO TRY IT Since being selected as College Sailor of the Year at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1995, Southern Californian Ryan Cox continues to build his yachting resume. In 2007 he travelled south to Nuevo Vallarta in Mexico for the J/24 World Championship, finishing in the top ten while also winning their Nationals. And now, Cox is riding a high speed jet ski. Cox has been serving as an on-the-water umpire for the America's Cup program. Cox said the umpire team and race management have been learning new systems designed around the speedy catamarans being used for the America’s Cup. "The umpiring system is set up with a team on land watching monitors and an on-the-water group feeding them information," said Cox. "My primary role is on the water as a jet ski umpire." Apparently they feel that Cox, a former Navy Seal, is one of the few people that is fit enough to handle a jet ski in rough seas, knows racing, has an excellent understanding of the rules and, as Cox describes, "is dumb enough to try it. We have to go 30-plus knots bouncing over - sometimes through - steep waves while paying close attention to racing." San Francisco is a very windy, rough area to sail and far from ideal for jet skis. So why use them? Traditional umpiring boats (small powerboats or inflatables) aren't designed for the conditions either. There isn't really anything fast enough with the maneuverability needed that is more capable than a jet ski. "We still aren't sure jet skis will be used all the way through the America's Cup in 2013," Cox said, "but we'll keep doing it as long as it lasts. We have been able to keep up with the 45-footers but the 72s may be too quick," Cox said. "The jet skis are capable of going 70 knots in flat water, but with the wind and waves on San Francisco Bay, 40 knots will be a challenge." The first official event of the America's Cup World Series is set for next month in Portugal, followed by England in September, then San Diego in November. Cox won't be in Portugal, but will be going to England and San Diego. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/AC-070711 HOLY CYBERSPACE, BATMAN! Sail-World understands that the International Jury for the 34th America's Cup has upheld the position advanced by the Defender, Golden Gate Yacht Club, over the transition of the original Challenger of Record role (held by Club Nautico do Roma) to Sweden's KSSS (Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskapet). In late May 2011, following the surprise resignation of Mascalzone Latino (Vicenzo Onorato) from the 34th America's Cup, followed soon after by the team's club, Club Nautico do Roma, and the substitution of KSSS (club for Artemis Racing) as Challenger of Record, Emirates Team New Zealand lodged a complaint with the International Jury. The basis of that complaint was that Emirates Team NZ (via their club, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron) had in fact beaten KSSS to the punch, when entries opened for the 34th America's Cup on 1 November 2010. Later it was disclosed that the two teams had attempted to lodge their entry by email. The Entry from Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron was claimed to be a few seconds too early, and was claimed to have been lodged after KSSS. Emirates Team NZ challenged the accuracy of the mail server logs - a situation well removed from the ambit of George Schuyler who drafted the 19th century Deed of Gift which governs the America's Cup. The Notice of Challenge from Kungliga Svenska Segel Sallskapet was, the first out of cyberspace, after the GGYC's clock had ticked over midnight on 1 November - and was accepted. It was also claimed that processing of the entry fee from KSSS happened more quickly than that of RNZYS, and that GGYC had accepted the first clean Challenge. Emirates Team NZ/RNZYS took the matter to the International Jury, and won the first round. Then the Jury found there was indeed a case to answer, and GGYC was then required to make formal submissions on the validity of their acceptance of the Swedish club as the replacement for the Italian Challenger of Record. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/SailWorld-070711 EITHER ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OR ACROSS YOUR POND Team One Newport has the gear that you need! The Transatlantic Race is on, the Newport Regatta at Sail Newport is this weekend and there are a lot of people just enjoying the fine summer weather. Team One Newport has great foul weather gear to keep you dry and comfortable, technical clothing to protect you from the sun, the best sunglasses to protect your eyes, dependable footwear to save your feet and even waterproof cases to protect your cell phone! Visit http://www.team1newport.com or call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) for customer service. And for all you locals (or anyone else who wants to visit Newport, the TENT SALE is coming on July 23-24 at our store! This replaces the famous warehouse sale...see ya there. PEEKING UNDER THE DICE CUPS (July 7, 2011) - "Interesting" is a yawn word, but it is nonetheless interesting to observe that the pure-race boats of Division 6, from their Transpac start last Monday, have all worked north of rhumb line on a course that historically favors the south. Cruiser-types in the Aloha division of the Transpacific Yacht Race, meanwhile, have favored the southerly track of the measured 2,225-mile course from Los Angeles to Honolulu. All 19 boats struggled with light winds at night in the inner coastal waters - with helmsmen accepting any course that kept the boat moving - and the big question hanging over the 34 larger, faster boats that enter the course on Friday is: Us too? Or can we get out of town in a hurry? Even with a strategically built-in six-hour delay, the boat tracks as displayed on Transpac's Yellowbrick transponders tell a visual story. From the squiggly tracks of night one, with boats short-tacking in barely a breath of breeze, the tracks are now "straight." However, the leaders are passing through yet another band of relatively light wind, with the big breeze still out front. Yesterday (Wednesday) we said they could smell it. Today we can honestly say, they can still smell it, and man do they want it. The northerly boats are closer to it and making decent speed. The SC37, Celerity, northern-most in the fleet, needs another 3 degrees of longitude west to really get cranked up. Today should be the day. The dice are down. Now can we peek under the cups? We will dutifully report that Charles Browning of Santa Barbara, California took over the first-place handicap position at Thursday morning roll call with his J/130, BeBe, but the fleet is at least 500 miles short of where handicap standings begin to mean something. For now, it's a race to the breeze. Larry Malmberg's Hassle continues to lead the Aloha fleet of eight boats. Friday's starters include potential first-to-finish boats such as Doug Baker's 80-foot Magnitude 80 and Chicagoan Hap Fauth on a Left Coast tour with his 69-foot Bella Mente. There is also a group in the 50-foot range that should produce very tight competition. They will rally for a start off Point Fermin, San Pedro, with a warning signal at 12:55 pm and a starting gun at 1 pm. One start for all, for the sake of the spectacle, "and we hope not too much spectacle," as Principal Race Officer Dave Cort puts it. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/TP-070711 Race website: http://www.transpacrace.com Tracking/Standings: http://live.adventuretracking.com/transpac2011 WINDY, WET, AND BLIND (July 7, 2011) - Conditions in the North Atlantic for the 26 yachts competing in the Transatlantic Race 2011 have offered high wind reaching, extreme dampness with limited visibility due to fog. Three of the more remarkable boats competing are Rambler 100 and PUMA's VO70 Mar Mostro, both designed by Juan K, and the Custom Perini Navi 289 foot Maltese Falcon. Here are reports from each: * Ramber 100 navigator Peter Isler: “We've had some awesome sailing and in the end came just 12 miles shy of the 596 nautical mile (nm) 24-hour record set by the Volvo 70 Ericsson 4. Our 24-hour run from 1400 EDT yesterday (Wednesday) to today was 582 miles. Each hour we kept calculating, hoping for an increase, but the best we could do was 584 nm between the 1500 hours and the same for the 1600 hours. The breeze has backed off a bit now, so the numbers are starting to decrease a bit.” -- http://tinyurl.com/TA1-070711 * Mar Mostro skipper Ken Read: “Tactically, there hasn’t been much in it so far, and it’s kind of a flat-out boat speed contest. With conditions that really suit our boat, there is already talk on board that maybe we should have done a couple easy things to improve our IRC rating...ahhh hindsight is a beautiful thing. Hakan Svensson, the CEO of BERG Propulsion (a team sponsor), is with us on his first Atlantic crossing. It has been priceless to see his face at times during this trip. As we careen down the waves going 30 knots, and you see a wall of water about to crash over the deck, at first Hakan's eyes would get pretty big.” -- http://tinyurl.com/TA2-070711 * Aboard the Maltese Falcon: “Despite comfortable bunks, a pile of pillows and climate control it was a horrible sleep off watch, but that boded well for us, or translates into the seas have picked up and that means the winds have picked up. When the bird crosses the 14kt speed line she takes on a new tune as the water goes barreling down her side, particularly at the stern around our barn door semi balanced rudder. She makes a deep throaty growl. It makes us smile a broad smile. ‘We made 19.8 kts,’ says Graham from behind the helm with a grin from ear to ear. Just to clarify, the helm for us consists of a small grey dial easily missed.” -- http://tinyurl.com/TA3-070711 DOING THE SWEDISH SHUFFLE Marstrand, Sweden (July 7, 2011) - With the qualifying round robin at the midpoint for the Stena Match Cup Sweden, the story among the 14 teams isn’t so much about who is doing well but about who isn’t. Peter Gilmour (AUS), currently second in the 2011 World Match Racing Tour standings, is still looking for a win after getting shut out in his first five races. At the top of the leader board is Ian Williams (GBR), who remains hot from his win at the Portimao Portugal Match Cup two weeks ago. With Gilmour and Tour leader Francesco Bruni (ITA) struggling, the opportunity exists for Williams to improve on his Tour ranking of third. Also at the top is past winner of this event Bjorn Hansen (SWE), who would dearly like to prove that his Tour win in early June at the Korea Match Cup was not a fluke. LIVE: Tune in Friday for The Morning Show for a preview of the third Qualifying Session with live streaming on the WMRT website from 1400 to 1600: http://www.wmrt.com/live.html Results after the second day of Qualifying: Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar, 6-1 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team, 5-1 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat, 5-3 Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing, 4-2 Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners, 4-3 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team, 4-2 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing, 3-2 Phil Robertson (NZL) Waka Racing, 3-3 Alvaro Marinho (POR) Seth Sailing Team, 3-4 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, 2-4 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team, 2-5 Rasmus Viltoft (DEN) Team Viltoft, 1-4 Mattias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team, 1-4 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing, 0-5 BACKGROUND: The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) is the leading professional sailing series, with Stena Match Cup Sweden as the fifth stage of the eight event circuit sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with "Special Event" status. Prize money is awarded for each event, with event points culminating in the crowning of the "ISAF Match Racing World Champion". -- http://www.wmrt.com 2,975 NAUTICAL MILES TO ENGLAND With yachts ranging in size from 40’ to the 289’ Perini Navi clipper sailing yacht Maltese Falcon, the Transatlantic Race 2011 fleet is diverse, encompassing traditional and modern cruising and racing designs. The Maltese Falcon, with her newly installed inventory of 15 Doyle sails (25,792 square feet of sail area) on her three free standing masts, is the flagship of the fleet. Follow the 2,975 nautical mile race from Newport, RI to Lizard Point in England at http://www.transatlanticrace.com/tracker DOUBLEHANDED TITLE DETERMINED Weymouth, UK (July 7, 2011) - Britain’s Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell have been crowned SKUD World champions for the third consecutive year on the penultimate day of the IFDS Disabled Sailing Combined World Championships today. But the race for the Sonar and 2.4mR titles are still in the balance as the 155 sailors that have done battle on the 2012 Paralympic Waters of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy this week prepare for one final race on Friday. In the Sonar, Skandia Team GBR’s John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas currently hold a seven-point advantage over the second-placed Norwegian team of Alex Wang-Hansen, Per Eugen Kristiansen and Marie Solberg, who themselves are tied on 44 points with Bruno Jourdren, Eric Flageul and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary (FRA). Meanwhile it is double Dutch at the top of the 2.4mR standings with defending champion Thierry Schmitter (NED) holding a 12 point lead over his national teammate and training partner Andre Rademaker. Schmitter, who is carrying a discarded 16th, has to make sure he doesn’t post a letter score, with Rademaker finishing in the top three, to wrap up his hat-trick of IFDS World crowns. For the North American contingent, opportunities remain to land on podium. In the 2.4mR, John Ruf (USA) is in fourth but only one point from third with teammate Mark LeBlanc just one point further. In the Skud, Jennifer French/ Jean-Paul Creignou (USA) has moved up to second, now just seven points from gold. Prospects in the Sonar are less hopeful, as Paul Callahan/ Thomas Brown/ Bradley Johnson (USA) are in fifth but twelve points from bronze. -- Full story: http://www.ifdsworlds2011.com/eventsites/content.asp?id=5519&eventid=69387 SAILING SHORTS * LaPorte, TX (July 8, 2011) - Dinghy Planet, LLC today announced the acquisition of KO Sailing, a leading provider of recreational and performance sailboats, kayaks, windsurfers and accessories. KO Sailing’s new owner and president, Mark J. McNamara, is a world-class sailor and recreational boating expert. McNamara succeeds the current owner, John Kolius, and plans to continue KO Sailing’s longstanding support of boat enthusiasts with a retail store in Texas and an online store at kosailing.com. Current employees will remain with the company and John Kolius will take on an advisory role as a member of the Board. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12188 * Copenhagen, Denmark (July 7, 2011) - After a slow start for the third day of the J/80 World Championship, the 68 boat fleet fit in two more races to now have seven of the 11 races completed. After leading the event through the first two days of racing, Glenn Darden's American team on LE TIGRE plummeted today with a 15-30 to now sit seventh overall. Past World Champion Ignacio Camino (ESP) moved up to first after rolling a 1-5. -- Daily reports: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12189#12189 * As part of the Host City Agreement (HCA) with the City of San Francisco, the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) has a responsibility to develop a Youth Involvement Plan to that will provide opportunities for the City’s children to participate in activities surrounding the America’s Cup competitions. Ariel Ungerleider, ACEA’s community outreach manager, is in the early stages of defining the mission, but is hoping to have a solid plan in place later this fall, perhaps early November. -- SailBlast, full story: http://sailblast.blogspot.com/2011/07/americas-cup-in-community.html PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include supermodels, major moisture, Canadian Lightningers, Islander 36 convention, American kiters, Club 420 capsize, Open 5.70 North Americans, and major mistake. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0708/ 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 This year will be the 25th Anniversary of the Bitter End Yacht Club Pro Am Regatta, to be held October 30th to November 5th on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. Picture yourself teamed with Serena Williams or Roger Federer in the doubles final at the U.S. Open. Few, if any, sporting events in the world offer the fan an opportunity to participate at such lofty levels. But for the 25th year, the Pro Am is opening the door to participating amateurs and first time sailors to compete side by side with America's Cup skippers, Olympic Medalists, and World Champions. For long time Pro Am enthusiasts, Ed Baird will be the headlining professional. He was at the very first Pro Am (finished 3rd--Scott MacLeod won, Morgan Reeser was 2nd), and is the event's most successful skipper with six wins in 24 years. In addition to welcoming back Baird, confirmed skippers are Dave Ullman, Peter Holmberg, Olympians Anna Tunnicliffe and Zach Railey, and America's Cup skippers Paul Cayard and Russell Coutts (and more to be announced soon). Very few regattas can claim to have that kind of talent attending over the years, much less offering "mere mortals" the opportunity to sail with them. After Baird's six wins, Peter Holmberg and Keith Musto each have four wins, and Paul Cayard, Ken Read, and Russell Coutts each have three. One time winners and podium finishers include John Bertrand (AUS), John Bertrand (USA), Tom Blackaller, Jim Brady, Andy Burdick, Harold Cudmore, J.J. Feter, Glen Foster, Robbie Haines, Ted Hood, Terry Hutchinson, Peter Isler, Rod Johnstone, Bruce Kirby, Larry Klein, John Kostecki, Chris Larson, Morgan Larson, Tom Leweck, Paula Lewin, Cam Lewis, Lowell North, Zach Railey, Dawn Riley, Dave Ullman, and Butch Ulmer. This week's video is from the 2010 edition... enjoy: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/MEDIA/11/0708/ BONUS: Puma’s Volvo Ocean Race skipper Ken Read got together with his boat’s designer Juan Kouyoumdjian to discuss the latest generation of Volvo Open 70s, monohulls versus multihulls, and the importance of pushing the limits of sailboat racing: http://www.sailmagazine.com/racing/ken_read_interviews_juan_k/ BONUS: The July 8, Week 27 “World on Water” Global Sailing Video News Report features the great pictures of the Second and Final Starts of the Transatlantic 2001 Race USA, the Block Island Race Week USA, Rolex Baltic Week Germany, Bosphorus Cup Turkey, Extreme Sailing Series Act 4 USA and in our regular “action” segment is the TP52 Quantum Racing at top speed downwind in the Audi MedCup. Hang on! See it at http://www.boatson.tv 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 ARE YOU A TWEETER? Some advancements in technology simplify our lives, while others add to it. We are not certain where Twitter fits in, but there are a lot people doing it, and they include the staff at Scuttlebutt World Headquarters. Our tweets fill the gaps between newsletters, and often include stories that can’t fit into the newsletter. If you ever want to comment about something you saw in Scuttlebutt, send a tweet and include @scuttbutt. - http://twitter.com/scuttbutt CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “If you follow all the rules, you miss all the fun.” - Katharine Hepburn SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - Morris Yachts - West Marine Melges Performance Sailboats - North Sails - Lewmar Ullman Sails - Point Loma Outfitting - Team One Newport - Doyle Sails Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
