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SCUTTLEBUTT 3495 - Thursday, December 22, 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: Southern Spars and Ullman Sails. CANDIDLY CAYARD, EYE ON THE PRIZE By Michelle Slade, SailBlast As CEO of a Swedish America's Cup team that's currently based in Valencia, Spain, because that's where its critical mass of designers live along with primary designer Juan K., Paul Cayard isn't spending too much time on his home shores of San Francisco Bay. He cites having a team scattered around the world as just one challenge of the next America's Cup, but probably less so than the ultimate challenge - racing AC72s on San Francisco Bay: "It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that the handle-ability of this seriously over-powered boat which is under-crewed on an extremely short course in the windiest venue in the world - you multiply all that together and you have a sh#tfight on your hands." Meanwhile, he's upbeat after the first of the America's Cup World Series events. * What was your take home after these past three events? "If you look at the skill level and the speed, Artemis Racing has it - they just need to work on the consistency a little bit. What separates Oracle and Team NZ right now is that they're a little more consistent with their performances and we need to strive to attain that level of consistency. To be fair to Terry and the guys, strategically as a team we decided to rotate the crew and that's something ETNZ absolutely doesn't do and Oracle hadn't much but for example, in San Diego when Darren Bundock steered - he's a very accomplished multi hull sailor - and had trouble also. It's not that easy to move people around. That maybe something we don't do as much of next year. We do now have a second AC45, which is a different way to get the crew the exposure so we can have 10 guys sailing without having to rotate crew and we'll start doing that in January. But we now have eight people with experience and in some ways we'll be a little wealthier for that experience." (Artemis has 13 sailors on the Team, including new hire Chris Brittle who came over from Team Korea. Cayard plans to steer their new AC45 for a bit in February before turning it over to alternate helmsman Santiago Lange. They're on schedule to launch an AC72 July 1, 2012, with molds built and soon ready for lamination.) * Has the investment in the World Series been worthwhile? "The events are very useful for promoting the America's Cup. The teams need a road show - what's the road to the America's Cup? Where are the teams? What's the visibility? How do they get the sponsors? So, having a circuit that's identified that the teams and sponsors can count on and that the public can watch on the internet, on TV or in person, all that is part of building the fan base and creating a bigger value in 2013. "To walk into 2013 cold especially after the 33rd America's Cup which wasn't particularly glorious in our history, I'm not sure spending any amount of money on the finals would have done as good a job as the World Series will do. It's a difficult time. The economy is what it is but the America's Cup was handed over in a pretty difficult state between the lawsuit and the boats racing two races - that was fairly pitiful - it was a low point in our sport and this event. To build on that and to create a product that can really win the fans back to sailing is a big challenge." Read on: http://www.sailblast.blogspot.com/2011/12/candidly-cayard.html CONTROLLING WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL The distance racing game has changed. The improved tools for navigation, routing, and tracking allow for better decisions to be made. So while the impact of fate has decreased, it hasn't completely gone away. The 628 nautical mile Rolex Sydney Hobart, which begins December 26th, is among the highly contested offshore prizes. But when the overall corrected time winner hoists the Tattersall's Cup next week, they must sheepishly admit that luck had a hand in their victory. The old Hobart adage is: 'to win the race you have to win your division', and then hope that the particular weather patterns will favour your division, because this is a marathon and different sized boats sail at markedly different speeds. Each division will likely race in a weather pattern that is completely different from the other divisions. You win your division by sailing to your rating, to your boat's full potential, for more of the race than your rivals, though even that may not be enough. "A third of winning the race is pre-race preparation, a third is sailing the boat well, and a third is weather," AFR Midnight Rambler's co-owner Michael Bencsik explains: "The first two you can control. The rest is a punt. "AFR Midnight Rambler (Ker 40) is designed to go upwind okay, and really take off when the wind shifts around to the beam or astern. She is a bit faster upwind than Bruce Taylor's Chutzpah (IRC 40), but cannot match the Victorian sled downwind." Bencsik is gambling on a race that will have enough upwind time to cancel out Chutzpah's downwind advantage. Sean Kirkjian has chosen a Beneteau 45 as the platform for a campaign to win the 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart that has been in the making for two years. The Beneteau Victoire is good upwind, but will not see AFR Midnight Rambler and Chutzpah for dust, or spray at least, when the wind blows from the north. "It's a bit like the tortoise and the hare," Kirkjian says. "We're like the tortoise. We lumber along and keep going at a certain speed all the time. These guys tend to stay with us upwind and when the wind turns they take off. But they are handicapped accordingly. "Fronts come from the south and we are sailing into them, so you might hit one or even two fronts in a typical Hobart. Sailing north is a different story." On top of all this, navigators and tacticians have to make the right choices. Sometimes the weather suits a straight line to Hobart, but sometimes a longer route further out to sea turns out to be fastest. Make the wrong choice and you can blow your race. "With all the information about the weather you get these days, and the yacht tracker (which shows where your competitors are in real time) it's like a constantly moving chess game," says Crafoord. -- Full story: http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news.asp?key=5523 SOUTHERN SPARS IN THE ROLEX SYDNEY TO HOBART: 6 WINS IN 6 YEARS For the past six years Southern Spars rigs have claimed line honours victory in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart; finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd for the past two years and in 2005. Southern Spars have had a long affiliation with the Sydney to Hobart and we are confident that this success will continue. Southern Spars will be launching a new website in late January with many new features like our victories timeline, team profiles, newsletter downloads, latest Southern news, upcoming projects, Google maps and full previous project profiles. Go to http://www.southernspars.com early in the New Year to find out more... CONFIDENCE + CAMMAS = TROUBLE (December 21, 2011; Day 11) - Less than 400 miles from the stealth zone set up by the Volvo Ocean Race organisers to avoid pirates, Groupama 4 has consolidated her lead over her three most dangerous rivals, reaching over the top to a position now ahead. There is no quirky trajectory in prospect: the aim is simply to make headway North as far as the Doldrums in an easing easterly breeze. It's been three days that the whole fleet has been sailing along the edge of the Mascareignes High, in an easterly breeze of just twenty knots or so, which isn't always very stable either in strength or direction. "These aren't easy conditions because we're beam onto the wind with a rather messy sea state: the boat's very wet," notes skipper Franck Cammas. "Fortunately the water and air temperatures are good: it's hot but we're all soaked. The trimmers have their eyes more on the wake than up ahead because it's impossible to keep your eyes open in the constant spray." A little unsettled by the conservative attitude of his rivals (with the exception of the Chinese boat), Franck Cammas has been able to back up his sailing method by favouring major strategic options so as to play the wind variations rather than going for small tactical coups targeted at gaining a better position as regards the fleet. Their unfortunate experience of the first leg has done nothing to dampen the vision of the crew of Groupama 4. "I think that the other crews focus more on a short term strategy because we couldn't understand why nobody followed us when we set off towards the South-East for the third time," observed Cammas. "Now we're gradually going to latch onto light airs and it's likely that the whole fleet will bunch up again on crossing the equator. It's true that we're beginning to get a bit of a complex by way of constantly doing our own thing. However, our confidence has been boosted now as regards the way we're tackling the strategy, and that's re-motivated the crew!" -- Read on: http://www.cammas-groupama.com/en/news/VORnews/actu_equipe_270.jsp FINISH: Due to piracy concerns, the fleet is aiming for a mid leg finish location that is being kept secret. The fleet will be transported by ship to a restart location for a sprint leg to Abu Dhabi. So where is the secret finish location? Currently the fleet is aiming for the tip of India, which could be a likely choice. The options to the left are toward the heart of piracy, and the options to the right of India add miles and uncertain weather to the leg. However, there is an even closer location between the fleet and India... a 17-square-mile atoll called Diego Garcia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Garcia MADAGASCAR: Following the discovery of their damaged shroud, Team Sanya arrived safely in the island of Madagascar on Tuesday and removed their rig on Wednesday: http://www.teamsanya.com/en/news/madagascar-day-two Course details: http://tinyurl.com/Piracy-121111 Leg 2 - Cape Town, SA to Abu Dhabi, UAE Standings as of Wednesday, 21 December 2011, 22:12:03 UTC 1. Groupama (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA) 2. PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA), 84.4 nm Distance to Lead 3. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP), 97.0 nm DTL 4. CAMPER (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), 119.4 nm DTL 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR), 236.9 nm DTL Suspended - Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL) Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos Race Schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles of the world's most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com THE RECORD BREAKING GAME (December 21, 2011; Day 29 - 23:00:00 UTC) - If it was easy, anybody could do it. That's the reality facing Loick Peyron (FRA) and his team on the 131-foot maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V in their quest to lower the non-stop circumnavigation Jules Verne Trophy record (48 days 7 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds). They are still ahead of the record, though their lead has shrunk now to 593.7 nm. Helmsman/trimmer Brian Thompson describes their situation as they struggle eastward in the south Pacific toward Cape Horn: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- When we were storming across the Indian Ocean 10 days ago, 2000 miles ahead of the record, we had dreamed of being at Cape Horn today, but the large detour around the ice zone, and then this roadblock of a ridge have shattered that pleasant dream... So back in reality, for the last 2 days we have been downwind sailing, trying to find a way through this ridge that is moving east slowly. In the middle of it there is no wind, we have so nearly gotten through it several times, but the wind dies on us, the ridge moves on, and we are still left on the west side, the door slammed in our face. Fortunately this ridge of no wind will finally start to migrate north tomorrow (Thursday), with westerly winds coming in below it. So we have sailed far south, into the 'screaming' 60s latitudes, to be ready to go through when the door finally lets us past. You have to be an optimist in this record breaking game, so there is always some good news. Today's good news is that there is currently no wind at the Horn or going up the S. Atlantic, so we are not missing out on a fantastic ride north. In fact, we are looking quite fortunate that a low is going to hold off forming, till our delayed arrival, and then it should help us up to 40S in the Atlantic. So we have lost loads of miles on Groupama 3 lately, though we hope to be still ahead at Cape Horn... now 900 nm ahead. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/BP-122111 Tracking: http://tinyurl.com/BP-JV-Tracking-2011-12 WISHING YOU A BREEZY HOLIDAY The Ullman Sails group would like to wish you, your family and your crew a very happy and safe holiday season. No matter where you are in the world, our sail lofts work hard to deliver the best customer service and the highest quality sails all year long. As we say goodbye to 2011 and look towards a new year, we want to thank all of our customers for an excellent year! We are lucky enough to share our passion with you and help you maximize your enjoyment on the water. Happy holidays! Invest in your investment. http://www.ullmansails.com U.S. TEAM ANNOUNCED In nine of the ten Olympic sailing events, the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team - Sailing has been selected, and will be officially nominated pending approval from the U.S. Olympic Committee. The only event not yet selected is the Women's Match Racing, which will host it second and final qualifying event May 4-9 in Weymouth, England. The U.S. team representatives are: - 49er (Men's Two Person Dinghy High Performance): Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) Trevor Moore (Pomfret, Vt./Naples, Fla.) - Men's 470 (Men's Two Person Dinghy): Stuart McNay (Boston, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.) - Women's 470 (Women's Two Person Dinghy): Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Lihan (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) - Finn (Men's One Person Dinghy Heavy): Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) - Laser (Men's One Person Dinghy): Rob Crane (Darien, Conn.) - Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy): Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) - Men's RS:X (Men's Windsurfer): Bob Willis (Chicago, Ill.) - Star (Men's Keelboat): Mark Mendelblatt (Miami, Fla.), Brian Fatih (Miami, Fla.), - Women's RS:X (Women's Windsurfer): Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) earned a nomination in the women's windsurfer (RS:X), pending both US Olympic Committee approval and qualification of the USA in the RS:X. As the USA did not qualify at the ISAF Worlds, the final opportunity will be the 2012 RS:X World Championship, March 20-29 in Cadiz, Spain. The full US Olympic Team - Sailing will compete at the 2012 Olympic Games, scheduled for July 27- August 12, 2012 in Weymouth/Portland, England. Trials Tracker: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Games/Olympics/Track.htm BRITAIN'S ATHLETES COULD CASH IN AFTER OLYMPIC GLORY Britain's biggest stars stand to make 2 million pounds each or more in endorsements if they strike gold at next summer's Olympic Games in London. And with high-profile athletes on average signing four major sponsorship deals each, TV commercials paying 100,000+ pounds and afterdinner speaking engagements at 10,000+ pounds a time, the pot of gold awaiting our 2012 Olympic champions will be unprecedented. There is a huge range of incomes for Olympic gold medallists, with those in the lowest-profile events earning only 'handfuls of thousands' in medal-related cash. But the household names can expect to cash in - and others in that bracket include athletes Paula Radcliffe and Phillips Idowu, cyclists Victoria Pendleton and Mark Cavendish, sailor Ben Ainslie and teenage diving sensation Tom Daley. Marketing expert Keith Impey, chief executive of sports communications company Havas Sports, has negotiated confidential deals for several of Britain's successful athletes from the Beijing Olympics, including Ben Ainslie. "After Beijing, we found a wide range in demand from clients for sports stars' services," he said. "Demand and values are based on image, how recognisable they are, the sport they play and their potential to generate press coverage. The core sports stars will do better than those from the so-called secondary sports and can command between 50,000- 150,000 pounds per endorsement, per year. "On the other hand, Team GB won lots of sailing gold medals in Beijing, but nobody would recognise the winners if they walked down the street. They may have benefited financially from winning, but they can probably generate only a few thousand pounds for each public appearance or endorsement.' Read more: http://tinyurl.com/Bank-122111 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Is your event listed on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar? This free, self-serve tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. These are some of the events listed on the calendar for this weekend: Dec 26-30 - Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta - Miami, FL, USA Dec 30-31 - Vanguard 15 Midwinters (Fleet Racing) - Jensen Beach, FL, USA Jan 1-3 - Vanguard 15 Team Race Midwinters - Jensen Beach, FL, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. Here are some of recent postings: * Jeremy Wilmot Joins North Sails * JK3 to represent Hanse Yachts * Morris Yachts Welcomes Its First CEO View updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Nobody has ever come up with a great idea after a second bottle of water. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Team One Newport - Interlux - North Sails - New England Ropes US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics - US SAILING Southern Spars - Ullman Sails Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
