|
SCUTTLEBUTT 3441 - Wednesday, October 5, 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: Atlantis WeatherGear, North Sails, and International Rolex Regatta. IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME Professional sports are played in stadiums. Boundaries intensify the action. Rules govern the game, and referees insure the rules are followed. While each sport is different, they all agree the referee is to be respected. Any player disputing a call risks being removed from the game and/or financially penalized. Now that professional sailing has brought its sport into the stadium, it was only a matter of time before the pressure to perform and the decisions of an umpire resulted in ugliness. Here is a report by International Umpire Jos Spijkerman, who was working at the Extreme Sailing Series Act 7 event last week in France: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- It was in Nice, but it wasn't nice anymore. I'm usually quit capable to find the positive side of and event and write about that. The last couple of days I wasn't able to do that, so to avoid writing something I would regret later, I skipped posting altogether. The wind in Nice was a deciding factor - or better said the lack of wind. It frustrated sailors who felt it was "pot luck" on the short courses. It frustrated the RC as they struggled to find reason in starting. It frustrated the Organisers as they wanted to have some races for all the VIP's that were invited. In the morning we did some fairly decent races a little way from shore. In the afternoon in front of the spectators and VIP tent it was bad. The Extreme 40s struggled to get some speed, were very slow manoeuvrable and we had multiple boat rounding's (and incidents) at marks. That cumulated in a couple of very dubious manoeuvres by several boats. Almost as if they deliberately were breaking the rules - something that is very hard to prove. And when we gave a penalty all their frustration came out - you guessed it - against the umpires. I'm well aware that people need to vent their emotions sometimes, but being called an idiot in a five minute rant is un-acceptable. We were very close to getting out the black flag and disqualifying boats. It didn't get any better in the next races. It feels like all the effort we have spent to build up a relationship with the sailors has been wiped away by this behaviour. The CU spoke with several skippers but found them uncooperative and emotional. We will let things cool off and pick this up in Almeria (Act 8) next week. But the border has been reached. If this happens again, it will have consequences. -- http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/2011/10/ess-act-7-nice-france.html BACKGROUND: The Extreme Sailing Season is in its fifth season, with this year's nine event tour travelling through Asia, Europe, and North America. The platform used is the one design Extreme 40 catamaran, with the format for event including 'stadium' short-course racing in front of the public. The 2011 ESS has grown in part due to the multihull format planned for the 34th America's Cup in 2013. -- http://www.extremesailingseries.com/ TACTICAL TROUBLES (October 4, 2011; Day 10) - By Tuesday morning in the Global Ocean Race, Ross and Campbell Field had cleared the African coast, taking their Class40 BSL 100 miles offshore as they preceded toward the leg 1 finish in Cape Town. More importantly, however, the second placed team was now away from the threat of fishing boats and entrapment in lines and nets. "We've had a few more visits from inquisitive fishermen asking for cigarettes," Campbell Field reports. "One of them was rather persistent, so we readied ourselves for some potential evasive action, turning the phones on and getting a couple of parachute flares at the ready." As the father-and-son duo prepared to repel boarders, the fishermen reconsidered: "Once they saw me below deck shuffling through bags, they cleared off, much to our relief." "We (also) ran into a long line," he explains. "We were both on deck and had seen some lights going and thought that we were clear of the end of the net, when all of a sudden our speed started slowly dropping. It was pitch black so couldn't really see what was going on, but a torch over the side showed a line towards the bottom of the keel." BSL suddenly slewed through 180 degrees, head to wind, and the spinnaker was quickly dropped. "Over the horizon came the fishing boat flashing lights at us, so we yet again readied ourselves for some action," Campbell recalls. "They made their way down their line inspecting the floats, then came to us and although we were expecting a pretty hostile reception, they spoke fantastic English, cut their own line and cleared us." Dressed in jeans and leather jackets, the three fishermen politely enquired where the two white sailors were from and a relaxed dialogue, 35 miles off the coast of Africa, began: "I asked them if they had caught any fish tonight: 'only one big one' was the response with a smile," says Campbell. "They asked if we had any whisky for them, I could only apologise, and they said 'no worries,' and wished us a safe journey before they puttered off into the night." BSL continued south-west throughout Monday night and Tuesday morning in north-easterly breeze, skirting the intensely busy area of shipping around Mauritania's main port, Nouadhibo; a notorious graveyard of rotting hulks, cannibalised ships and a staging post for international fishing vessels. "Observations today were of large areas of oil slicks," noted Campbell Field on Tuesday morning as BSL sailed through an international fishing fleet of ships flagged in Panama, Poland, Lithuania, Belize and Japan. "It's heavy oil I can only assume comes from the huge Russian fishing boats clearing the oceans up this coast," he predicts. "We passed eight of them today ploughing up and down the depth contours." -- Full story: http://globaloceanrace.com/?page=news&news_id=528&lang=en BACKGROUND: Six double-handed Class40's are competing in the Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR), which started in Palma, Mallorca on September 25th with an expected finish in Mallorca by May 2012. There are five legs to the 30,000 nm course with stops in Cape Town, South Africa; Wellington, New Zealand; Punta del Este, Uruguay and Charleston, USA. -- http://globaloceanrace.com DISCOVER: THAT SAILORS HAVE STRONG OPINIONS Shocking, we know, but sailors' opinions drive our product development process, so whether they are positive or negative, we need to hear them. We've heard our fair share of both, and they are all on the product pages of our website at www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com. Sure, we may have edited a couple for family viewing, but for the most part, we let them stand unvarnished so that you can make an informed decision about whether a particular piece of Atlantis gear suits your needs - or not. Because at the end of the day, you buy what works. Discover Your Atlantis SCUTTLEBUTT TRIVIA Who is the only person to skipper an entry in five Whitbread Round the World Races? BERMUDA BEGINS WITH A WHIMPER Hamilton, Bermuda (October 4, 2011) - ISAF Match Racing World Championship contenders Jesper Radich, Bjorn Hansen and Francesco Bruni all won their first matches of the 2011 Argo Group Gold Cup on what proved to be a frustrating opening day of racing in Bermuda. Despite the promise of wind in Hamilton Harbour, the breeze failed to arrive and settle. If there was already increased pressure to qualify for the knock-out stages here in Bermuda, the light winds could yet add to it. With a tight schedule involving 24 teams, every postponement brings the increased chance of a shortened schedule when tie-break situations become more probable - suddenly every race has an even greater significance. Jordan Reece (AUS) True Blue Racing, who lost his opening match against Bjorn Hansen (DEN) Mekonomen Sailing Team, said: "It gets a bit frustrating not being able to race and it's especially hard for the teams in group one as we don't have the chance to watch the others and see how they're performing. With such little racing happening today, it puts a lot more emphasis on doing well in each of your early races." The prospect of a shortened schedule is a long way off and with winds expected to build over the course of the week to over 30 knots by Friday, the fleet of IODs will soon be in action. The top eight teams amid the three groups advance to the quarterfinals. Current Tour leader Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar sponsored by Argo Group, knows only too well that there is the very real prospect of a Championship challenger being eliminated altogether before the knock-out stages. In 2010, Williams himself was eliminated after a three way tie-break with Adam Minoprio and eventual winner Ben Ainslie. This year though, he feels the pressure is off his shoulders as his consistently strong performances this season means he will have five high points scores to calculate his overall Championship total going into the Monsoon Cup regardless of his performance in Bermuda. "We are looking forward to seeing the results from here as it's an easy event to get sent home from after the first stage," said Williams. "We are in the enviable position that if we bomb out we are still in good shape on the Tour but our closest rivals need good results so the pressure is really on them." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/WMRT-100411 BACKGROUND: The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) is the leading professional sailing series, with Argo Group Gold Cup as the seventh 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 LASER CLASS GETTING READY TO COME OUT By Clay Johnson, U.S. Olympic campaigner I've just returned home after three fantastic weeks of training in San Francisco. While out there, I was also able to meet up with Tracy Usher, the President of the North American Laser Class Association. For those who don't know, the Laser class is currently in the process of coming out with a new sail and composite top section. Tracy had prototypes of both at his disposal and allowed us to try them out for a few days. In my opinion, both the sail and the new top section are "no brainers" for the long-term success of the Laser. The sail is made from 4.5 ounce cloth (an upgrade from the 3.8 ounce cloth that we currently have) and is radial cut. It has a bigger window at the bottom to make vision on the course easier. It's also much more aesthetically pleasing (ie, there are no ugly wrinkles between the joint of the top/bottom section and the end of the boom). We tested two sails while out there: one new one and one that had over 150 days of sailing on it! It was incredible to see that the new sail and the old one both looked and performed similarly. Most importantly, though, I think the sail was very comparable speed wise to the old one. It'd be interesting to try it more in a variety of conditions, but in general it was pretty even in the conditions we were training in. The top section is amazing. It weighs the same as a current top section and has the same bend characteristics, but is made of carbon fiber instead of aluminum. Everything is the same except that it does not stay bent at the end of the day! When this top section becomes approved, you will no longer see people trying to straighten their mast after a windy day; people won't have to twist their spars precisely to line up the rivets (there are no rivets with the carbon fiber spar because the collar is epoxied on), and you won't have to purchase a new top section every other regatta! During our training, we rotated the spar around to a few different sailors to try out, and they all said that they didn't notice any difference in performance. More importantly, our coach said that he couldn't even tell who had the spar and who didn't when looking at our rigs on the water. This thing is LEGIT! -- Full report: http://www.claysails.com/node/392 FREE AD SPACE The Marine Industry News section of the Scuttlebutt website provides companies with free online exposure of their personnel, product and service updates. Plus each week the Scuttlebutt newsletter selects a sampling of updates to feature in the Thursday edition. Are you in the marine industry? Post your updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news SAILING SHORTS * (October 4, 2011) - Britain's Tony Langley and his core crew of Gladiator, complemented this week by American tactician Chris Larson and Spanish navigator Nacho Postigo, bolted together two excellent races in very light, streaky winds to lead the Audi TP52 World Championship off Porto Cervo's Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Sardinia on after the first day of racing. In second is defending world champion Quantum Racing (USA), tied on points with Gladiator. -- Full story: http://tp52worldchampionship.org/news/?id=1468 * Yachting World magazine is asking for their active readers attending the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis (Oct. 6-10) to participate in one of several reader feedback sessions they are conducting at the show. This would take about an hour and a half of your time and they will provide refreshments and two complimentary tickets to the show for each participant. If you are a regular purchaser of Yachting World magazine and would like to sign up or learn more, contact Richard Shead at richard_shead@ipcmedia.com * The number of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia has increased, and NATO is warning that pirates are once again ready to attack ships traveling through the Indian Ocean. "In the last few years it has been the case that, come October, when the South West monsoon weakens, the pirates have been able to put to sea and we have seen the number of attacks on merchant vessels increase," Rear Adm. Hank Ort said in a statement. -- Soundings, read on: http://tinyurl.com/TOT-100411 FREE SAIL CARE & REPAIR FROM NORTH SAILS North Sails provides free sail care & repair for one year on all new North sails. Honored anywhere in North's worldwide network of sail care locations, you will be in good hands no matter where your travels take you. Free sail care & repair is available on North cruising, racing, and one-design sails. Sails MUST be registered online & some restrictions apply. For performance and peace of mind, head North: http://www.na.northsails.com/tabid/17678/Default.aspx TRIVIA ANSWER Swiss sailor Pierre Fehlmann is the only person to skipper an entry in five Whitbread Round the World Races. A co-founder of the Swiss Ocean Racing Club, in each of his five races his crew was made up entirely of Swiss nationals. He established the Swiss shipyard Decision SA in order to build UBS Switzerland, the first maxi yacht to be built in composite in the country. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-100411 GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Dennis Toews Oakville, ONT: When the Rotary Mobility Cup was being held at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, Hamilton, Ontario. I visited as a spectator every day. It was my good fortune that a longtime sailing friend John Muir introduced me to Nichole (who was featured in Scuttlebutt 3440). In my sailing career around the world and at four Olympics, I must say that Nichole's attitude and her quick study of our sport "blew me away". With the ready smile, the joyous laugh, the thrill of competition, she epitomized everything that should be at the core of our being... not only in sailing but in our everyday lives! The culture of our sport has changed; I leave it to the reader to render their opinion on its direction. For myself I hope that the spirit Nichole exudes will have a prominent place. * From David Sprague, Toronto, Ontario: Regarding the Seahorse column and Scuttlebutt editor's comments on the "Medal Race" Venue in Issue 3438, the Olympics are "THE SHOW" for sailing once every four years. The IOC pays ISAF about $7-8 million every quad to manage the Sailing part of the Olympics, the Government and or sponsors in most Countries give money to their sailors directly or indirectly to promote their agenda. The money keeps flowing (and it is never enough for those involved). What the IOC wants is eyeballs to watch the events so their media rights are worth more. That means upsets, stories of courage, heartbreak and joy, live and on TV. What better way to showcase that than take the top 10 in the world after the fleet racing, where the chance element is very reduced, and see how they do in a different location where people are close and fate intervenes? It is not what most of us do or want for our own racing, but it does reflect the interests of the people paying for the regatta. Athletes and MNA's have to accept when they take the money, they take the conditions imposed to meet the sponsors' needs. Look at beach volleyball or the 4 snow boarders racing together at the Olympics, that is not how those basic sports started out but they do attract audiences for the IOC. * From D.D. McNicoll, Australia: Should Larry Ellison, Russell Coutts and their friends want to see just what is missing from their Grand Prix-style America's Cup, they should find a television network screening the Rugby World Cup now being played in New Zealand. Countries from around the world (Italy, Argentina, Samoa, Scotland, USA -- just to name a few) played a series of elimination matches before sell-out stadiums. Because it was country versus country, the stands were full of screaming fans bedecked in the colours and outfits of their nations. The cheering never stopped. The USA team, The Eagles, was eliminated in the opening rounds but that was hardly surprising as it was a team of mostly amateurs playing against hardened professionals from countries such as England, South Africa, France and New Zealand. Every time they played the stands were full of people draped in the Stars and Stripes and dressed in Uncle Sam outfits of every kind. Television showed fans openly weeping as The Star Spangled Banner was played before the games started. The Eagles may have lost; but they played with a passion that can only come from representing your country. They were given standing ovations, by fans from both sides, as they left the field after every game. What a pity this passion has been removed from The America's Cup and replaced with a lust for money. 2012 INTERNATIONAL ROLEX REGATTA MARCH 23-25 Perfect Atmosphere: No Jacket, No Foul Weather Gear Required. CSA, IRC, One-design & Multi-hull classes. Tactical races on picturesque courses. Crew opportunity: Le Pingouin. Early Entry Deadline: January 13. St. Thomas Yacht Club: offering the Caribbean's finest racing and shore-side entertainment for 39 years and counting. Regatta Site: http://www.rolexcupregatta.com. Entry: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=517 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION You're getting old when you enjoy remembering things more than doing them. SPONSORS THIS WEEK APS - Quantum Sails - West Marine - Atlantis WeatherGear Lewmar - North Sails - International Rolex Regatta - Ullman Sails Melges Performance Sailboats - Point Loma Outfitting Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
