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SCUTTLEBUTT 2732 - Tuesday, November 25, 2008Scuttlebutt 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. Today's sponsors are North Sails Gear and Onne van der Wal Gallery. A LIVE OCEAN ADVENTURE Rich Wilson is the only American entrant in the Vendee Globe 2008. At 58 years old, he is also the oldest skipper in the fleet, and his boat is far from the latest Open 60 design. He’s already sailed solo across the Atlantic once and twice between San Francisco and Boston by rounding Cape Horn. The simple question is why would he sail this tortuous solo non-stop event? Said Wilson, “We thought we could create this great school program. That's hard for people to believe. But if we didn't have that program, there's no way I'd do this race. The program is Ocean Challenge Live!, which will allow more than a quarter-million kids around the world to follow your journey online (sitesalive.com) and in newspapers. You hope to hook kids into learning about geography, science, sailing and more. They don't know anything about spinnakers, autopilots, or carbon fiber. What they are interested in is a live ocean adventure.” -- Boston Globe, full story: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/11/23/come_sail_away NO DOZE AND CRUISE CONTROL (Nov. 24, 2008) - So it is the continued, droning monotony of motorway driving, as the Vendee Globe fleet proceeds on the lone route south with the foot to the floor. There is scope to change lanes as the breeze backs, gaining a little to the east, or easing the sails and staying west and gaining a couple of knots of speed, but everyone knows there is a roadblock up ahead. But while the boats are driven by autopilot hour after hour, day after day on this long close winded port tack, it is vital the skipper does not fall into autopilot mode. Weighing heavily on each skipper’s mind is the South Atlantic High, which is refusing to go back to its usual position. Regardless, this freeway has no offramps, so a pile-up of meteorological proportions may cause to condense the fleet before the Roaring Forties will punch the ticket aboard the bullet train past Cape Town. For now, sliding along in the right lane is top Anglo Mike Golding (GBR), who has skirted traffic to move up to sixth in the standings. -- Event website: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ Solo, non-stop, around the world race in Open 60s. Standings as of 18:30 UTC (Top 5 plus of 30 entrants): 1. Loïck Peyron (FRA), Gitana Eighty, 20509.7 nm Distance to finish 2. Sébastien Josse (FRA), BT, 24.4 nm Distance to leader 3. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA), Paprec-Virbac 2, 40.2 nm DTL 4. Armel Le Cléac´h (FRA), Brit Air, 49.4 nm DTL 5. Vincent Riou (FRA), PRB, 50.6 nm DTL 13. Samantha Davies (GBR), Roxy, 293.3 nm DTL 16. Dee Caffari (GBR), Aviva, 489.8 nm DTL 21. Rich Wilson (USA), Great American III, 745.1 nm DTL 25. Derek Hatfield (CAN), Algimouss Spirit of Canada, 1471.4 nm DTL Complete standings: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html * From Samantha Davies: “Now Roxy and I, like the rest of the fleet, are bouncing along upwind in the South Atlantic Ocean trade winds. Life is now all at a 30 degree angle, on port tack, meaning that my right leg will soon be longer than my left one. It is pretty bumpy too, which makes it feel like you are driving off-road 24 hours a day. Any movement requires care, and I have been likening this to my skiing trips in Avoriaz, when I frequently find myself prostrate across a steep incline! The top tip is to remember what Bruno says: "bend the knees", "stand across the slope" and "always keep the weight on the downhill ski". It seems to work here too!” -- http:// www.roxysailing.com FREE SHIPPING ON ALL NORTH SAILS GEAR Are you traveling this holiday season? North Sails has a complete line of travel gear and accessories including Duffels, Totes, Backpacks, Toiletry Bags, and much more! Our pre-holiday gift to you - free surface shipping within the US on all North Sails Gear orders through November 30. Simply mention "Scuttlebutt" in the comments box during check-out and shipping will be deducted from your order. Travel safely & in style...! http://www.NorthSailsGear.com A MISSING DAGGERBOARD TRUMPS A BROKEN BOOM (Nov. 24, 2008; Day 10) - It’s the walking wounded chasing Team Ericsson - all three of the closest yachts have damage - Green Dragon has no boom; PUMA has structural issues and now Telefonica Blue has only one daggerboard. GD’s boom broke so long ago that it seems such old news, with the wider sailing angles allowing them to remain competitive. However, as the east wind is now forward of the beam, boats lacking booms and boards should suffer, but with Telefónica Blue having passed GD, perhaps a missing daggerboard trumps a broken boom. How this plays out will depend on the conditions we see between here and Cochin to the north - suffice to say that if the fleet have to go upwind in any breeze, no one is going to be getting any closer to the Ericsson boats. For now, with winds about to get seriously squirrelly by Tuesday night, it is Happy Hour at the Doldrums Saloon, with teams on final approach for that special bar stool offering the friendliest ladies and the fastest refills. The length of Leg Two from Cape Town to Cochin, India is 4,450 nm, with the leader expected to finish by November 28th. Current positions (as of Nov. 25, 1:00am GMT): 1. Ericsson 4 (SWE), Torben Grael/BRA, 1230 nm Distance to Finish 2. Ericsson 3 (SWE), Anders Lewander/SWE, 3 nm Distance to Leader 3. PUMA (USA), Ken Read/USA, 27 nm DTL 4. Telefónica Blue (ESP), Bouwe Bekking/NED, 35 nm DTL 5. Green Dragon (IRL/CHN), Ian Walker/GBR, 36 nm DTL 6. Telefonica Black (ESP), Fernando Echavarri/ESP, 94 nm DTL 7. Delta Lloyd (IRL), Roberto Bermudez/ESP, 149 nm DTL 8. Team Russia (RUS), Andreas Hanakamp/AUT, 180 nm DTL Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 Race website: http://volvooceanrace.org LET THE (12 METRE) PARTY BEGIN A yearlong calendar of racing and events will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the classic and elegant 12 Metre Class of boats in the America’s Cup Competition, with the highlight being the 2009 12 Metre World Competition in Newport on September 22-27 chaired by Gary Jobson, W. H. Dyer Jones, and Jan D. Slee, 12 Metre Class President. In 1958, the elegant 12 Metre Class made its debut in the America’s Cup as the victorious Columbia (US16) defeated the British challenger, Sceptre (K17). In the 2009 Worlds, not only will Columbia again compete, but as many as 35 boats including 14 from Europe and Australia are anticipated. Not since the America’s Cup competitions have the waters and winds of Rhode Island Sound hosted such a collection of 12 Metres. Event schedule May 15-17 - Boston, MA July 25-26 - Newport, RI Aug 8-9 - Edgartown, MA Aug 13-14 - Nantucket, MA Sep 22-27 - Newport, RI Oct 2-3 - New York, NY Full details: http://SButt112408a.notlong.com MATCH RACING QUESTION If you were an umpire, which boat - Yellow or Blue - is obligated to keep clear in this situation? Yellow is given two penalties during the pre-start. Blue starts early and is recalled. Blue realizes the recall a bit late, and as a result there is an incident between Blue sailing towards the pre-start side of the starting line (on proper course) and Yellow taking the penalty just after starting, as she is required to do. The funny thing is that rule 20.1 says that Blue must keep clear of Yellow, whilst rule 20.2, as modified by C2.8, says the opposite. I haven't been able to find any rule, call or case which states the prevalence of either rule on the other. A common sense solution could be to have the two conflicting rules offsetting each other, and to go back to the basic rules (10, 11 and so on). BTW: the new rulebook (2009-2012) doesn't solve the issue. * Said Jos Spijkerman, International Judge: “ I did some research and could not find a call or case answering this either. But I do know that the rules in part A do not apply. The preamble of section D specifically states that they do not, when rule 20 or 21 applies between two boats. For now, both have to keep clear. I would think the boat taking a penalty has a greater obligation to do so, but I cannot back that up with the rules.” Who has to keep clear? Read comments and post your own here: http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/2008/11/who-has-to-keep-clear.html HOLIDAY DISCOUNT AT ONNE VAN DER WAL GALLERY Invest in an Onne van der Wal photograph this holiday season! Everything is 15% off again this Christmas season - shop on line at http://www.vanderwal.com or in the gallery in Newport. You will receive years of pleasure from hanging one of our limited edition prints on your wall! SAILING SHORTS * (Nov. 24, 2008) - Frenchman Thomas Coville and his attempt to set a new solo round the world record aboard the 105-foot maxi-trimaran Sodeb’O endured a rough weekend of squalls and rain storms in the northern Atlantic, but today has returned to steadier reaching conditions with winds in the upper teens. Forecasts see that the Doldrums to be very far north, well before the equator and fairly narrow, with the expectation for Coville to get south to the equator by Tuesday. The unfavorable conditions of the past several days have put Coville 150 nm behind Francis Joyon’s record of 57:13:34:06. -- http://www.sodebo-voile.com * Not sure how many regattas last weekend had a Thanksgiving Day theme, complete with turkeys awarded to the winners, but it is likely none were as big as the Turkey Day Regatta hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club with 319 boats in 19 one design classes, which is believed to be a record for the event launched in 1948. -- Full report: http://www.abyc.org/event.cfm?id=308 * The Canadian Yachting Association has announced that it will recognize 10 of Canada’s top Optimist Dinghy Sailors as they are named to the CYA National Optimist Dinghy Team. This initiative is in keeping with competitive stream development in the Long Term Sailor Development Framework. The Optimist Dinghy is acclaimed as the primary class to start a sailor on the road to high performance racing. -- Read on: http://SButt112408b.notlong.com EIGHT BELLS 87-year old Fred Schenck passed away last Sunday in Newport Beach, CA. Known affectionately as "Deaf Fred" for the hearing loss he suffered while aboard a US Navy Destroyer in WW II, Fred went on to numerous World and National Championships in the Snipe Class where he served as class Commodore. Fred also sailed offshore races to Mexico and Honolulu with the likes of Howard Ahmanson. In his later years he was the terror of the radio controlled model sailing world. -- Jeffrey Littell VIDEO OF THE WEEK For the American ‘buttheads, this week leads to the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, and all but six of us should give thanks that we were not involved in this two boat collision last weekend. While November frostbiting in Essex, CT with Etchells appears to be much more civil approach to this winter past time when compared to the dinghy option, the goal still should be to enjoy some outdoor activity but then ultimately retreat indoors for warm drinkies ... and not somewhere to file insurance claims. Perhaps the changes in 2009 to Rule 18 from a two to a three length zone around marks will help to alleviate incidents like this in the future. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/08/1126/ * If you have a video you like, please send your suggestion for next week’s Video of the Week to mailto:craig@sailingscuttlebutt.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get one letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Tom Dailey: When the Volvo stories were about dodging icebergs, that was good spectacle. But griping about lack of sleep, boat noises, and carbon dust is boring - it has the tone of a log from a standard business trip. When sailing becomes business rather than sport, it is just not interesting. * From Markus Schwendtner, class manager, International Kiteboarding Association: The International Speed Windsurfing Class (ISWC) and the International Kiteboarding Class Associstion (IKA) both officially acknowledge kiteboarders as rightful speed sailing outright world record holders. Kiteboards fully qualify under the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Equipment Rules of Sailing and the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) rulebook for the outright record. Although the WSSRC feels to be bound by an ISAF policy from former years, when kiteboarding was neither compliant with the Equipment Rules of Sailing nor being an ISAF international class, the only possible conclusion under the actual rule situation and in the spirit of true sportsmanship is to acknowledge the performances of Alexandre Caizergues, Robert Douglas and Sebastien Cattelan, all with runs of more than 50 knots during this year’s Luderitz Speed Challenge as the speed sailing outright record. We have been consulted by WSSRC and ISAF to help and try to resolve the issue and to ensure good sportsmanship is upheld. * From Chris B. McKesson, Naval Architect: (Regarding the issue of high sailing speeds when in shallow water) Yes, this is one of the basic hydrodynamics issues of high speed naval architecture - indeed I slapped myself with a Homer Simpson "Doh" for not having thought of it in regard to kiteboarding before reading Scuttlebutt 2731. But 50cm is far too shallow for 50 knots. The factor that we use for deciding when water is "shallow" versus "deep" is called a 'Depth Froude Number.' When the Depth Froude Number is less than 1.0 the water is 'shallow', when greater than 1.0 it's 'deep.' Think of this as kind of like Mach number for supersonic airplanes. I will spare you the math, but briefly put the Depth Froude Number of 1.0 for a speed of 50 knots is about 60 meters or 200 feet. ANY vessel going 50 knots in water less than 200 feet deep will experience a change in wave pattern, most likely a reduction in resistance, and thus an increased speed. The critical depth changes rapidly with speed: At 20 knots the critical depth is only 30 feet. So we 'lead mine' sailors never need worry about this. * From Bill Artuzzi: So goes our economy: 1) The recently completed 2008 Farr 40 North Americans in Miami with 8 (!) boats; 2) Last January's Key West Race Week had 25 Farr 40s - just 10 signed up, to date, for this coming race week; 3) Last January's KWRW had 34 J/105s - only 10 registered, so far, for the 2009 event, with 3 weeks to entry deadline; 4) More and more sailing pros now peddling their play for pay resumes (thanks in part to AC madness); 5) Industry pros reverting to the 1980's model - buy my stuff and I'll sail with you. The moral: Now's a good time to focus on our local racing programs - get the kids out sailing, consider rolling back entry fees, and don't forget the fun factor. * From Gregory Scott, Kingston Canada (edited to our 250-word limit): So the decision has been made to keep women in the 470 designed in 1963. And in so doing they may have done serious damage to the sport. I did read Jobson's 49er race comments before I wrote and say this; F1 car racing has a huge world wide audience and sometimes it rains creating absolute mayhem. So does rain evoked mayhem end the interest in F1? No - because it's the best drivers wrestling with extreme vehicles literally days old. The decision made by the ISAF in many ways relegates the gals back to the kitchen ("nice safe boats") and in many ways is reflective of why the "Big Three" are on the brink. Old thinking unaware of a changing world around them. Sailors I believe, applaud the efforts of V70 racing - Melges type boats and wild rides on TP52's . We have to accept the fact that through technology, sailing has expanded. If we want to race old boats there are many venues to do so. Including classic wooden yacht regattas in traditional attire. But if we want all Olympic sailors to be seen as contemporary athletes (in all forms that expression means), then it's time to let the ladies play as well. Choosing to give men access to the future and keeping women in the past is as old as an Oldsmobile. CURMUDGEON’S COUNSEL Always take a good look at what you're about to eat. It's not so important to know what it is, but it's critical to know what it was. Special thanks to North Sails Gear and Onne van der Wal Gallery. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
