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SCUTTLEBUTT 2152 - August 4, 2006
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,
features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
TO ENRICH A LIFE….
On July 30, 26 children from Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, their
parents, and healthcare providers signed up for an afternoon of sailing,
gutter boat racing, and a BBQ at American Yacht Club on Long Island Sound.
Children with diabetes, heart conditions, kidney disorders, metabolic
disorders and autoimmune diseases went out on the water, most for their
first sail ever. “For these kids and their parents, who have normal dreams
and aspirations but health challenges that sometimes get in the way, it was
a chance for a day of new experiences – memories of which will linger for a
long time to come,” said Daria Blackwell, co-chair for the event. -
http://www.sail4kids.org
Here is a story by one the hosts from the event:
“This past Sunday, July 30, my good friend had The Pinnacle Yacht “Cherish
The Day”, a Jeanneau 40.3 booked for the day. He intended to participate in
a local, grassroots annual sailing event, Sail4Kids, hosted by the American
Yacht Club in Rye, NY. The event’s purpose is to “Make A Memory” for kids
from the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital (Valhalla, NY) with significant
health problems. But Chris was double-booked, so it became our good fortune
to stand in and represent him.
“My friend and first mate, Joyce Fabian and I shoved off from our Stamford
slip at 11:00 am, in time for a perfect-day 1 1/2 hour sail west down Long
Island Sound to the American Yacht Club. We were unfamiliar with both Milton
Harbor and our roles, but by 1 PM we were in safe harbor on a guest mooring
and being chauffeured to the staging area via the Club’s elegant launch.
Shortly thereafter we were introduced to the parents and their two children
who were to sail with us.
“We departed our mooring at 2:30 amidst a small flotilla of sloops and
ketches, each with one or two families with a child with a significant
health problem. We headed out toward Execution Rock in 5 to 8 knots of wind,
just enough to turn off the iron genny and give the family the experience of
running silent under bright sails, full sun and flat water.” - Complete
story: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/0803
VHF RADIO STARTS
The virtues of race committees using VHF radio to warn starters of their OCS
position has frequently been floated in the pages of Scuttlebutt, but we
have learned that there are a couple sailing areas that have been
confronting one of the few downsides to the system: sticky transmit buttons.
As reported in the RCR Yachts Racer’s News, the race committee in Newport,
RI during the recently held New York YC Race Week kept advising the fleet
that one of the boats had their VHF mike keyed and it was blocking
communication with the racers. Additionally, local racing in the Buffalo, NY
area is finding that someone is inadvertently depressing the transmit button
on their VHF radio for the better part of the entire time that the fleets
are racing. They suspect that the problem is either due to a handheld radio
in someone's pocket or a ram microphone (cordless or hard wired), and with
the button stuck down, it locks out the VHF radio to the entire fleet. - RCR
Yachts Racer’s News, http://www.rcryachts.com/newsform.htm
THE NEXT OLYMPIC CLASS?
(Following is an excerpt from a posting on the subscription website of
thedailysail.)
A class still fully in ascendancy is the International Moth. The
introduction of twin T-foils to the boat giving it the ability literally to
fly has resulted in the Moth consistently getting on magazine front covers
more than any other dinghy class. While a handful of sailors still make up
the forefront of the class, at last week's World Championship in Horsens,
Denmark, an impressive 24 of the 32 boats competing were foilers and the top
15 finishers were all 'high riders'. The class is set to get a further shot
in the arm with the arrival of the Bladerider, a mass-produced foiling Moth
built in China (the prototype was sailing at Horsens - see pages two and
three for pics) and it will be interesting to see how the degree of take-up
of this boat.
What would make the most significant difference to the future of the class
is if foiler Moths are adopted as an Olympic discipline. As if to lend
credence to these rumours ISAF President Goran Pedersson visited Horsens to
check out the class first hand last week. Under the current scheme there is
no obvious boat for the Moth to replace and it seems equally unlikely that
the International Olympic Committee would allow sailing to add a further
class. What seems more possible is that after a wind-less regatta in
Qingdao, the sailing side of the Games proving about as interesting as
watching paint dry, the IOC will put pressure on ISAF to get their house in
order. --http://www.thedailysail.com
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
If you haven't yet seen a Moth sail, you might want to reconsider your cave
dwelling habits. The Scuttlebutt website had images last week from their
Worlds, and this week's video provides further evidence that this foil-aided
craft is an amazing feat of boat design. The video footage makes it
painfully clear how fast they are, and how easy it appears as the Moth sails
through a fleet of Lasers. Also, if you have a video you like, please send
us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this
week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/#media
UK-HALSEY CLEANS UP IN CHICAGO-MAC
Without UK-Halsey, the odds were against you. ‘Eagle’, Jerry and Shawn O’
Neill’s Sydney 38 (UK-Ultra sails), won IRC and ORR overall to win the
Mackinac Cup. Tom Neill’s SC70 ‘Nitemare’ (2nd finisher) won GL70, just
ahead of ‘Mirage’. UK-Halsey sails swept both T-Ten’s (Temerity, Cheap
Thrill, Wild Norwegian) and J/120’s (Carinthia, Hot Tricks, Night Moves);
1,3 in J/105’s (Junto, Gigi); 1,3 in Section 5 (Thunderbolt, Captain Blood);
winning Section 7 was the Soverel 33 ‘ZOT’, finishing an hour faster than
her nearest sistership. In Section 9, UKH went 1,2 (Wings, Encore).
Congratulations to all, especially our customers. 800-253-2002,
http://www.ukhalsey.com
VOR REFLECTION: GRANT WHARINGTON
(Aussie Grant Wharington reflects on the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race and his
Premier Challenge/ Brunel campaign)
It is no secret that we had difficulty getting our funding in place and I am
sure most other teams would have called it a day, but we said “never say
die” and we stuck it out ’til the end. The project brought us its share of
successes and I am glad that we kept going. We ended up with about half the
budget of the second lowest team, and less than a third of the other teams,
which gives you some idea why our campaign was somewhat unorthodox.
We completed legs one and two, then withdrew and re-entered for legs six to
nine. This was the only way forward for us as we had real upwind speed
problems, which could only be fixed by replacing our single fixed dagger
board with twin retractable ones which all other teams had. This change was
scheduled to happen three months prior to the start in Spain, but lack of
funds precluded us from carrying out the work.
The Volvo Open 70s are fantastic boats to sail, very challenging with the
limited crew numbers, and exhilarating performance. The next race will be a
much different game with the speeds of the different boats much closer as
the designers find the right corner of the box to be in. Our designer, Don
Jones, for his first attempt at these boats, did a wonderful job and our
boat is very strong. Some may say that our keel rams were heavy, but no
structural failures in the six legs we completed is to be commended. Our
upwind speed in the end was at least mid-fleet, however we did suffer
downwind. – VOR website, full story:
http://www.volvooceanrace.org
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine)
Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar
LASER RADIAL WORLDS
Marina del Rey, CA - A 19-year-old girl was the favorite to win the Laser
Radial Women's Worlds this week, but it won't be America's Paige Railey, the
defending champion and No. 1-ranked competitor in the new Olympic class.
Instead, it appears the title is Lijia Xu's to lose. After an 11th-place
finish followed by her first win of the week Thursday, the tall and slender
lesser known teenager from Shanghai has a 12-point lead over Germany's Petra
Niemann with two of 12 races remaining Friday. The other four top five
contenders---Florida's No. 2-ranked Anna Tunnicliffe, France's Sarah
Steyaert, Poland's three-time world champion Katarzyna Szotynska and
France's Solenne Brain---all fell out of contention on a tricky day when
going the wrong way cost a painful price. Railey is in the rare territory of
ninth overall, 47 points off the pace, after a 29th and a fourth. The best
results of the day were posted by Belgium's No, 8-ranked Evi Van Acker with
a 1-3, Niemann (2-5) and Mexico's Tania Elias Calles Wolf (6-2). Class
leaders (provisional; after 10 of 12 races):
Women's Radial Worlds - Gold Fleet
1. Lijia Xu, China, 6-4-6-(33)-3-2-3-3-(11)-1, 28 points.
2. Petra Niemann, Germany, 5-1-4-(25)-1-(16)-16-6-2-5, 40.
3. Evi Van Acker, Belgium, 2-3-(25)-20-10-5-(23)-9, 53.
4. Tania Elias Calles Wolf, Mexico, 8-8-8-3-9-(23)-1-(26)-6, 55.
5. Sarah Steyaert, France, 1-24-(32)-1-6-1-2-2-19-(36), 56.
Men's Radial Worlds
1. Steven Le Fevre, The Netherlands, 4-4-1-(41)-15-2-4-(31)-17-1, 48.
2. Fabio Pillar, Brazil, 16-12-5-1-4-9-(30)-(27)-2-4, 53.
3. Jon Emmett, Great Britain, 18-2-(25)-16-6-1-5-7-11-(23), 67.
4. Steven Krol, The Netherlands, 2-1-(20)-15-3-(19)-7-20-14-7, 68.
5. Ryan Seaton, Ireland, 5-(25)-9-(46)-13-7-2-10-16-12, 74.
Complete results and information:
http://www.calyachtclub.com/cms/index.cfm?mainid=10&vNavID=18&vSubNavID=0
SAILING SHORTS
* So what does an America’s Cup navigator do once the day on the water has
ended, and the debrief is complete? How about a little rock n’ roll? When
BMW Oracle Racing navigator Peter Isler is home in San Diego, CA, you might
find him playing with his band called ‘The Water Brothers.’ Now in Valencia,
Isler recently played a couple of gigs at a bar just up the street from the
Port America's Cup, enjoyed by many Cup colleagues and friends. Enjoy the
photos and comments on the BOR team blog:
http://bmworacleracing.twoday.net/topics/Time+Out
* Don’t miss the Build a Beer Can Boat Regatta this Saturday, August 5 in
Annapolis, MD. Combining the arts of boatbuilding and beer drinking,
competitors will use provided materials, including at least one beer can, to
construct a model boat, which will be raced across a 25-foot pool. Entries
are divided into Rookie, Kids (eight to 12), Grand Prix and Maritime
Industry classes. Spectators will enjoy an afternoon of racing, live music,
food and beverages. Space is limited. The third annual Regatta, sponsored by
Chesapeake Outdoor Group, raises funds for the Annapolis Maritime Museum.
http://www.chesapeakeoutdoor.org/beercan.html (thanks to
CruisingCompass.com)
* Scoring a first and a fourth over the two offshore races, Ian Walker’s
team aboard Siemens have had a productive, if slightly long 92.5 mile day
afloat, which took them to the top of the leaderboard of the 20 boat
Breitling MedCup TP52 fleet at the 25th Copa del Rey here in Palma. Siemens
now leads by five points over Tom Stark’s American boat Rush Valle Romano.
Peter de Ridder’s Mutua Madrilena were on the ascendancy when they briefly
lost crewman Tom Dodson overboard, with an eighth and a twelfth for these
offshore races now leaving them third overall. http://www.medcup.org
* Sandy Point, Hayling Island, Hampshire, England - After a long delay
waiting for the wind to moderate on Thursday for the sixth race at the CSC
505 World Championship, the German pair of Jens Findel and Johannes Tellen
won the only race on the day. Overall, Britons Mark Upton Brown and Ian
Mitchell hold a narrow three-point lead over the Americans Howard Hamlin and
Jeff Nelson. For full results and the sixth race report:
http://www.505worlds2006.com/news/default.asp
* Correction: In the “WORLD RANKINGS” story in Issue 2151, we missed
mentioning that Jenn Provan and Carol Luttmer from Canada were ranked 4th in
the Women's 470. - http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j8~Fh`AA2
PAYING FOR SCUTTLEBUTT
No, we have no plans to charge for Scuttlebutt, your source for daily
sailing news since 1997. However, we do have bills to pay, and we are very
thankful for the advertisers that support the newsletter and website, and we
hope that you can reciprocate their support by shopping with them (note the
UK-Halsey ad in this issue). Another way to support Scuttlebutt is to direct
any of your Amazon.com shopping through the banner ad on the Scuttlebutt
website, wherein Scuttlebutt receives a referral fee for any purchases you
make. For a full listing of Scuttlebutt advertisers:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
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 Tom Donlan: Here's a question for the author of the Laser Radial
World's story: Why was it an "ill wind" that forced a sailor to withdraw
from a race after being flagged for sculling for the second time in the
regatta? (Story in Scuttlebutt 2151). An ill wind is something you can't
control and the sailor had control over her behavior. "The only thing broken
was her heart?" How about the rules? If the author wants us to feel sorry
for the sailor, he might try telling us why this was unfair (if it was).
Maybe everybody was doing it and she was the only one flagged? Absent
extenuating circumstances, the author should be cheering the judges for
doing their job and scolding the sailor. Just because there were judges on
the water does not mean the rules changed to the prevailing standard in
football, where anything is legal as long as you aren't caught, and being
caught is just a matter of bad luck.
* From Bertie Werley: I'm a little confused by your focus on Paige Railey,
and near-silence on Anna Tunicliffe, in the reporting on the Laser Radial
Women's Worlds. While the story on Paige is interesting, Anna seems to be
havng a much better time of it, and it would be interesting to hear
something about her or from her perspective. I met her a few times when she
was a Junior sailor from North Cape Yacht Club in Michigan, and found her to
be a modest, unassuming sailor who has gone on to accomplish a great deal.
Doesn't seem like she should be relegated to a footnote.
* From Chuck Barrett: (regarding story in Issue 2151, ‘LITIGATION’) So we
have another case where I get a check for $28.17 from a sunscreen company,
and a lawyer gets 12 million or more in his pocket. Yes, being out in the
sun is dangerous, but I'm not going to hide indoors. In the meantime,
because some lawyer thinks he can shakedown the company for cash, money that
could otherwise be spent on R&D for a better sunscreen instead goes to the
lawyers and a bunch of people for whom it may cover the cost of a movie and
popcorn. Stick to sailing, I don't want to hear "class action" ever again!
* From the Forums (msherman): Picking up on the letter to editor (Issue 2148
by Gordon Murphy), I can't help but think the rules actually are much
simpler than people make them out to be. Yes, there are many situations that
require lots of thought, but in general the rules are pretty simple and you
only do need to know a few. Unfortunately, sea-lawyerly introspective books
like Dave Perry's 200 pages on "Understanding the Rules" make the whole
thing seem so intimidating that they get in the way of people just learning
the basics! Learn port-starboard, windward-leeward, proper course, rounding
marks; now go racing! Link:
http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2853#2853
* From Wes Kroeze: I'm enjoying reading Skip Dieball's comments on Bay Week.
He mentioned a couple of additional championships occurring soon in Lake
Erie - I'd like to add the Ensign Nationals, and the first-ever Ensign
Women's Invitational Championship regatta, being held at Edgewater Yacht
Club in Cleveland from August 13-17th - It's going to be a great event! -
check out the web page: http://www.ensign2006.net
Curmudgeon’s Comments: Nice job promoting the Ensign Nationals, but since it
was posted in the Scuttlebutt Calendar, we will let you get away with it.
Also, if you missed Skip’s Bay Week reports, here is the link:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/pib
* From Ralph Taylor: Thank you, Malcolm McKeag, for laying out the facts and
judgments leading to the abandonment for the SB3 class at the 2006 Skandia
Cowes Week. (‘Butt # 2150.) I applaud your courage in “going public” and
hope it helps promote understanding of race committees’ decision processes.
The information supplied convinces one that this was a very reasonable
decision to avoid unfairness to the classes waiting to start. I am reminded,
however, of the saying “There is no problem so simple that it cannot be
complicated beyond all hope of solution.”
* From Mark Grosby: Mr. Chamberlain asks of etiquette not legality because
the cruisers have the right of way (letter in Issue 2150). As a long time
racer, I have at times tried to get a non-racer to sail a different course.
Being friendly and asking politely for a course change usually works the
best, but in the heat of a Nationals that mode may be tough to access.
I have recently become a cruiser in the Newport area, where crossing paths
with sailboat races is often unavoidable. I actively try to minimize the
effect my boat has any of the racers. But doing so is not easy. It requires
knowledge about where your wind shadow falls, knowledge about the race
course. Knowledge that a lot of cruisers don't have or don't observe until
the crossing arrives. How many times have you waved or shouted to a boat to
avoid you only to have it luff up or tack into the perfect slamdunk.
It is well established that racers don't have priority over commercial
traffic on the race course. And they shouldn't expect priority on the race
course over cruisers and should treat them like any other obstacle. But
cruisers should show some common curtsey to racers and avoid start and
finish areas, duck a port tacker or two, and swing wide of government marks
being used as a turning mark, if good seamanship allows.
* From Nicole Weaver: I don't disagree with the spirit of Mr Huston's
comments (Letter in Issue 2151) regarding measurement (i.e. let's simplify
as much as possible), however I was somewhat surprised by his statement that
he had never known a single recreational sailor who went out of his way to
cheat through illegal equipment. I must be moving in different circles! I
know of plenty of sailors who routinely bend PHRF rules by taking off
required equipment (cabin tables, doors, stoves, cushions etc) under the
assumption that "nobody will know" or "it doesn't really matter". I am sure
that it's precisely because one-design racers and their sailmakers know the
boats and sails will be measured for any major championship that they are
all so close. If we eliminate the policing the laws will be bent for sure.
* From Ted Jones: The 29erXX is surely breaking new ground as stated in
Scuttlebutt 2151: “Although the 29erXX is aimed to be the first women's
Olympic skiff, the inaugural event was open to all sexes....”
All these years I was under the (apparently mistaken) impression that there
were only two sexes. Please tell me about the other sexes, or at my age (76)
is it too late for me to learn about the others? (I know I'm too old for the 29er, XX or otherwise.)
Curmudgeon’s Comment: On another note, the 29er class may want to rethink
their XX reference, as email spam filters often see that designation meaning
something more sordid.
CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION
Anyone who can think of only one way to spell a word obviously lacks
imagination.
This issue of Scuttlebutt presented by UK-Halsey Sailmakers.
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