|
SCUTTLEBUTT 2124 - June 27, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.THE REST OF THE STORY Earlier this month it was announced that Alex Jones (Poulsbo, Wash.), a University of Washington (UW) graduating senior, was the recipient of the Robert H. Hobbs Trophy as ICSA’s Sportsman of the Year. Aside from being one of the top skippers on the UW Sailing Team, Jones held key positions on both his team and in his district and recently received the Northwest Intercollegiate Sailing Association Leadership Award in recognition of his work as district secretary. Since sophomore year, he has been Captain of the UW Sailing Team, during which time he is credited with raising (almost singlehandedly) close to $30,000 for the team which, as a non-varsity sport, does not receive University funding; and negotiating use of a new sailing center for the team to practice out of (including the use of brand new boats). Jones also fulfilled the role of coach -- running practices, organizing travel and regattas, and deciding who sails -- taking responsibility for difficult decisions that affected the entire team. Those familiar with Jones’ contributions to the UW sailing program consider him an inspiration as well. He was born with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, an incurable and non-correctable vision disorder that has rendered him legally and almost functionally blind. To sail he relies on input from his crew, the feel of the boat and other factors that sighted sailors need never consider: in steady conditions he counts how long he’s been on each tack to determine laylines and distances; in shifty conditions he uses the sun and shadows to tell when he’s headed and lifted. According to his teammates, Jones’ ability to sail competitively is a testament to not only his skill, but also his courage. “You will never hear Alex talk about his disability or let it be a factor in the outcome of any race. It is just something that he quietly deals with,” they wrote collectively in nominating him for the award. And now you know the rest of the story. -- http://www.collegesailing.org A DAY OF REST With Principal Race Officers Peter Reggio and Harold Bennett completing all eight scheduled flights of races on time, Monday’s Louis Vuitton ACT 12 scheduled reserve day became an ‘off’ day for all of the syndicates in Valencia. When racing resumes on Tuesday, the pressure to perform will continue to build. At stake is what division each team will find itself in when the fleet divides for the semi-finals, final and petit final portion of the regatta. -- http://www.americascup.com/en/ NO SECOND BOAT The decision is made. United Internet Team Germany announced to the press: “We will not build another boat.” He gave the reason: “For us it is more important to put all our capacities in the improvement of Germany I.” The new boat, which is currently in Kiel for further tests, will be brought to Valencia by the beginning of August. There the hot training-phase will start when skipper Jesper Bank and his team start to optimize the cupper in order to sail the boat in time to the starting line of Louis Vuitton Act 13 in April 2007. The United Internet Team Germany management enunciated a decision on which speculations had revolved before. But the facts are clear: Another building would not be very promising in this early stage of the team. The main focus and the whole power has to be on Germany I only. As soon as the team has sailed the new cupper in Valencia a couple of times, they will know which part of the yacht has to be optimized. But building another boat would be a show of strength which is hardly possible. -- http://www.ui-team-germany.de/ THE SEARCH IS ON! I lost my favorite pair of Camet Sailing Shorts somewhere in Bermuda. They have been the best pair of shorts I have ever owned! Two years old and still in great shape. They dry so quickly and work so well! Plus they are my lucky shorts - just won the Newport Bermuda Race in them! If found, please call 619-224-6737 or go to the new Camet website to see the Rio shorts, Pants, Code Zero shirts, etc. http://www.camet.com IRISH TEAMS LAY CLAIM TO DAY ONE (The three Irish teams lead after the opening day of the Rolex Commodores' Cup reports James Boyd in Cowes for thedailysail subscription website. Here’s an excerpt.) The two first inshore races of the Rolex Commodores' Cup were held not just in a summer shower but persistent rain causing the wind to drop from a promising 15 knots as the boats motored out from Cowes Yacht Haven to a more pedestrian 8 for the first windward-leeward, the wind dying off further for the second held on a longer Cowes Week-style course around the Solent. The light winds combined with a strong tide turning at around lunchtime, made the tacticians on board the 39 yachts competing earn their money today. Leading the field after the first day of racing are the three Irish teams. That they are winning comes as no surprise. As mover and shaker Peter Morton, tactician on David Dwyer's new Mills 39 marinerscove.ie 2 puts it: "The Irish have put more effort into it than anybody. They have put more resources into it. The Commodores’ Cup isn’t a huge priority for yachtsman in the UK but it is in Ireland. They have organized the teams, the boats and the preparation." What perhaps is surprising is just how decisively the Irish teams have taken control of this event even after just one day: The leaderboard at present has the top team as being Ireland Green comprising the Mills 40 Tiamat, the Corby 37 Blondie and the J/109 No Naked Flames. They are on 10 points followed by Ireland Orange on 11 and Ireland White on 11.75. -- http://www.thedailysail.com Standings: 1. Ireland Green, 10 points; 2. Ireland Orange, 11 points; 3. Ireland White, 11.75 points; 4. France Blue, 13.5 points; 5. GBR Red, 19.75 points; 6. GBR White, 20 points; 7. GBR Black, 21.75 points; 8. France Red, 23.5 points; 9. France White, 24.5 points; 10. Russia, 25.75 points; 11.Holland, 28 points; 12. Belgium, 28.5 points; 13.GBR Scotland, 35 points. -- http://www.rorc.org/comcup/index.php ACCORDING TO RUSSELL Three-time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts thinks Italy's Luna Rossa will beat Team New Zealand to win the challenger series final in next year's cup regatta. His remarks, made to Swiss newspaper La Tribune de Geneva, gave added spice to the overnight (NZT) meeting between Team New Zealand, in their new boat NZL84, and Luna Rossa in the last match-racing regatta in Valencia before the challenger series. Luna Rossa's sails are among the best on show - which could possibly be a Kiwi factor, as the celebrated Tom Schnackenberg, whose expertise is in sails, joined the side after he was ousted from Team New Zealand in 2004. Coutts said: 'Luna Rossa can rely on very good sailors and especially on [highly rated Australian] James Spithill, one of the most talented helmsmen of his generation. It's a team which retained the lessons learned during the last cup in New Zealand.' However, Coutts predicted the cup would be successfully defended by his former syndicate Alinghi in exactly one year. 'It's a very strong syndicate with a design team combining the best in every field. It must be remembered that the final is a best of nine race series,' he added. 'Do you really think Alinghi will lose five races?' -- Excerpts from a story on the Sail-World website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/klfeb OTHER POINTS OF VIEW (Following is an excerpt from a story posted by Julie Ash posted on the NZ Herald website.) Yachting commentator Peter Lester said NZL84 had always looked good upwind, but since last month's regattas it seems to be going even faster upwind and notably better downwind. "It is almost the benchmark upwind," he said. "For me, the really pleasing aspect after they sailed around Luna Rossa was the way they held them off and extended downwind [which] was pretty significant." Team New Zealand appear fractionally faster than Luna Rossa but it could be a different story against Alinghi and Oracle. "It looks like they are very close to, if not the fastest in the fleet ... but the gap between the teams is just metres a mile, not boat lengths." Yachting World journalist Matthew Sheahan said NZL84 appeared to be a good all-round yacht which did not have any weak points. "It doesn't seem to accelerate off the line amazingly quickly but it is a quick boat." However, Oracle's USA87 impressed Sheahan the most. "It just seems to have the ability to accelerate and squirt out of situations but it also has the ability to stop like it has amazing brakes on it," he said. "There has been all sort of talk about what they might have underneath but I think now everyone accepts that it is a conventional configuration - it has a keel and a rudder. But the rudder does seem to be a long way forward and it has been rumoured that maybe they can rotate it all the way around - which might explain why it can stop so quickly." However, Lester said while USA87 could accelerate and turn quickly, at times it looked difficult to sail. Alinghi's SUI75, which was built for the last cup, is still remarkably competitive. The yacht, which had a hull appendage fitted to it leading up to the last cup, has been transformed significantly. The syndicate has continued to make gains, with the boat giving them an ideal starting point for their new boats. Sheahan said it would be interesting to see if teams tried something different with their second new boats. -- Julie Ash, full story: http://tinyurl.com/khcxw AVIVA 18:1 COCKPIT CONTROL The project: eliminate 17 crew and convert the 72-foot Global Challenge Yacht Aviva into a singlehander. The solution: add key hardware systems spec’d by Harken UK’s Sam Bourne to provide solo sailor Dee Caffari with the power she needs to keep the yacht driving and control its enormous sails from the safety of the central cockpit. For a look at Aviva’s deck layout and why Sam chose these systems for Dee’s historic westward circumnavigation: http://www.harken.com/sailing/DeeCaffari_Aviva_decklayout.php SAILING SHORTS * The U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention informed sponsoring legislators -- U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) -- that the American Sail Training Association (ASTA) of Newport will receive $246,807 to expand its programs for at-risk youth. ASTA is a nonprofit organization that represents nearly 300 tall ships, sail training organizations, and schools in more than 25 states. ASTA offers programs to urban and disadvantaged youth to build character, foster teamwork, and develop leadership qualities, by connecting students' academic lessons to real life experiences while learning how to sail. * Gary Jobson appeared on the Today show on Monday -- promoting the America's Cup and sailing radio-controlled model boats. Scuttlebutt readers probably won’t learn much from the feature, but might enjoy it. The feature is online (preceded by a 15-second ad; MSNBC's gotta pay for the bandwith somehow). -- http://tinyurl.com/eur37 * Mark Mendelblatt and Mark Strube have won gold medals in the 49-boat Star Class at the 2006 Kiel Week in Kiel, Germany -- beating Brazil’s Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada, by less than a single point. The two other North American teams at the event, George Szabo/ Eric Monroe and Andy MacDonald/ Brian Faith, finished ninth and 13th respectively. -- http://tinyurl.com/gv7gb * When the fleet of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race stops in New York later this week the public will be welcome to tour the boats. The fleet of 68-foot boats is expected to arrive on June 28, where they will be berthing at North Cove Marina in Lower Manhattan before leaving again on July 5 to complete their circumnavigation. -- http://www.clipper-ventures.com * The largest ever team racing regatta in the US with 32 teams just concluded at the MIT Sailing Pavilion in Cambridge, MA. Silver Panda dominated the event with a 19 -1 record including six wins over rival and defending World Champions WHishbone. Silver Panda's team included Colin Merrick/ Amanda Callahan; Pete Levesque/ Liz Hall and Clay Bischoff/ Ruth Schlitz. Team Xtreme, led by Stu McNay finished second, one point ahead of WHishbone captained by Tim Fallon and Tim Wadlow. A modified Swiss League format allowed 255 races on the digital "N" course, which has become the standard for team racing. -- http://sailing.mit.edu/Calendar/Events/CROTR-2006.shtml * The racing in the 2006 U.S. Youth Sailing Championship at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club began on Monday after two and a half days of an Advanced Clinic. The classes this year are Laser, Radials, Club 420 and 29er. For up to the minute results: http://www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/youthchamp/ * On Sunday, the Japanese sailing yacht Beecom - a 72’ Reichel Pugh designed sloop - made her start in an attempt to set a new WSSRC crewed monohull special category Transpac record from an Francisco, United States to Yokohama, Japan. With an estimated 3-week challenge at hand, Beecom will issue communications every few days to keep the sailing community apprised of her progress. For enthusiasts of moment-to-moment tracking to see where and how the yacht is doing, SARS well be available on both Beecom and SuperYachting web sites within 48 hours: http://www.teambeecom.jp and http://www.superyachting.com * Paul Foerster from the hosting Rush Creek YC has won the Sunfish North American Championship with a seven point margin over Greg Gust from the same club. Both of these skippers finished all nine races in the 62-boat championship in single digits. Tom Whitehurst from the Pensacola Beach YC took third place. --http://www.rcyc.org/results/ * Correction: Doug McLean and Gary Mozer won the 20-boat J/105 class at Long Beach Race Week - not the J/120 class as reported in issue 2123. It was Chuck Nichols’ CC Rider that won the J/120 class. -- http://www.lbrw.org/results.html TEAM RACING ROCKS Team racing is hot. Vanguard is in the thick of it with the Nomad Team Race Tour. Six Nomads touring the clubs and providing more racing in one afternoon than any other regatta. The capable and forgiving Nomad is perfect for this popular format. To find out more, visit http://www.teamvanguard.com PHOTO GALLERIES The Scuttlebutt website has just added some new photo galleries from the racing this past weekend: * Where’s Dr. Crash when we need him? Rich Roberts’ photos of an upside-down catamaran, a spinnaker under the bow and the US Coast Guard challenging the Race Committee are all included in the new photo gallery posted from Long Beach Race Week. -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/lbrw/ * A gathering of Optimists from Mexico, Canada, and the US competed in typical big breeze in San Francisco, with photos provided by Chris Ray: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0626 * The Archipelago Raid has thirty-one Formula 18 catamarans competing in the beautiful Stockholm, Åland and Finnish Archipelagos. Photos by Thierry Martinez: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/ar * Sixty-two Sunfish sailors came to Texas for their North Americans, and Sue Bodycomb was there to capture the images: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/sunfishna LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thought at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Diane Swintal: If the sailing world is going to continued to lament the lack of media support for sailing in the US, then someone needs to grab the opportunities that are just sitting out there. For example - Kiel Week just ended, with the US team of Mark Mendelblatt and Mark Strube beating powerhouse Robert Sheidt for the gold medal in the Star. How do I know this? The ISAF website. Go searching for it on the US Sailing website. Good luck. Wouldn't it be great if someone was working with some of the sailors on a blog, or even a website diary, as Sail World is doing with Kiwi Finn sailor Dan Slater. Our potential Olympians are out there now, and no one is sending out the word. Then this morning, my local morning news, covering the Pirates movie opening live from Disneyland, wondered why Volvo was sponsoring a tie in with the movie. They have no idea what the Volvo Ocean Race is, never mind that there was a boat out there with Pirates backing - apparently this info got left out of the 300 item press junket packet. Huge missed opportunities... * From Chris Ericksen: I share the disappointment of Jim Whitmore at the alleged use of a carbon tiller in the Etchells British National and European Championships ('Butt 2123). As a die-hard one-design sailor, I think the use of a banned piece of equipment to be beyond the pale; as an Etchells owner, however, I'll watching with great interest how this is handled by the class and ISAF. In my nearly twenty years' of sailing this tremendous boat, I have seen the Etchells go from one that could be owned and campaigned by "a man of modest means" to one where rule-bending and a money-spending "arms race" by men of more-than-modest means has become the norm. Sic transit gloria. * From John Horsch: Man, it was sad to read about the fire at Abbott Boat Works. In 1995, the Abbotts built us a new Soling, and I had the unique and memorable opportunity to witness the boat shop in all its glory. Among the highlights were hockey games on the radio, breaks in production so that the employees could put the finishing touches on Chief's new fiberglass ice-fishing hut, and constant stories about Bill's kids' exploits on the rink. The topper was when we got set to leave, new boat in tow, Bill gave us a license plate for the new trailer, saying: "Now this is the license plate off of the moose hunting trailer. And moose hunting season is coming up. So make sure you mail this back right away when you get home." The Abbotts are great people and they build fast boats. Here's hoping we'll see a phoenix rise from those ashes. * From Ron McLean: Could anybody not involved in the event interpret the daily results on the Onion Patch web site? I have been involved in competitive sailboat racing for 40 years and I have no idea how my favorite local boat scored in the races. What is becoming of a racing that we have scores broken down to four decimal places for a single race? Does it have to be this tough? * From Janice P. Nuckols: I agree with Rick Bernstein's remarks about the America's Cup being just a business with great sailors but totally missing national interest. I too would like it to be nation against nation as originally intended. Back in the 80s I bought my first VCR so I could tape during the night and ended up watching in the early morning hours anyway it was so exciting. Now I'll check Scuttlebutt for an update but it's not interesting enough to lose sleep over. CURMUDGEON’S COUNSEL “You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." -- Jessica, age 8 Special thanks to Camet International, Harken, and Vanguard Sailboats. |
