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SCUTTLEBUTT 2170 - August 30, 2006
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary,
opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
LADIES OF THE LAKES
What began with a few women shooting the breeze turned into Bayview
Yacht Club Women's Invitational Regatta; an annual event attracting
experienced racers from across the country. Not to mention a fleet of
newcomers interested in joining the sport.
Sharing a birthplace with many great ideas, the Women's Invitational
Regatta was first discussed over beverages after a race in 2004. "A
small group of Bayview women and their friends had sailed in the South
Port Sail Club Woman's Challenge regatta on the Canadian side of Lake
St. Clair that summer and came back to say, 'Hey, why can't we do that
here?'" said Daniel Padilla, commodore of BYC. A couple of weeks later a
handful of boats sailed and skippered by women, competed in three
classes. The following year, 17 boats competed, some with a man/owner on
board for support in case of an emergency.
This year organizers added a Saturday clinic before the Sunday race for
sailors who wanted to learn more about boat handling, crew work, and
racing tactics and exclusively for women. There were no men on the deck
except for the principal race officer, who spent 40 minutes going over
the racing rules before a visual demonstration of boating flags and how
the racing committee uses them to communicate to the sailors.
The classroom portion of the clinic lasted most of the morning and up to
lunch, which wasn't a problem for most of the sailors since it was
raining and there was absolutely no wind. When the rain subsided and the
wind picked up, however, everyone headed for the dock where event
organizers had readied a fleet of Ultimate 20s owned by BYC, for racing.
These smaller club boats, which are crewed by three or four people and
have asymmetrical spinnakers, are available for members to pleasure
sail, race and charter for a nominal fee.
Each person attending the clinic was assigned to a boat and a crew. Also
on each boat was an experienced sailor or one of three clinic
instructors including Deneen Demourkas of Santa Barbara, Calif., Sandy
Hayes of Scituate, Mass., and Dana Riley of San Francisco. The
on-the-water session gave the ladies a chance to put their newfound
knowledge to the test. "That's what this was all about," said Lynn
Kotwicki, club member and co-chair of the regatta. "Getting women to do
the things that they normally don't get to do. It's been awesome,"
Kotwicki said. "I've had tears in my eyes. Three years ago, eight of us
said let's do this and here we are. Our original goal was 30. We had 58
for the clinic and about 175 women for the races." -- Excerpts from a
story by Gina Joseph, Macomb Daily. Full story: http://tinyurl.com/oqbew
KEEPING IT FUN
(Here is a posting from the Forums that is inline with the recent
Scuttlebutt thread about keeping the sport fun)
The J/105 North Americans took place over the weekend, with Thomas
Coates and his crew aboard Masquerade took the championship going away.
But the best story of the championship may have taken place at the back
of the fleet, where a boat hosting a family reunion showed everyone how
much fun sailing can really be. The entire Scouler family decided to
make this regatta a family reunion, swapping family members in and out
of the race crew and enjoying racing together as a family, and
redefining the term North Americans" in the process. - Read on:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/2006/0829
ONLY THE TOP TEN CONTINUE
Qingdao Olympic Sailing Centre -- Wind gusting over 20 knots and huge
rolling waves made for a spectacular day of racing as the opening series
races concluded at the Olympic Test Event in Qingdao, China. After an
action packed day on Fushan Bay, just the eleven Medal Races remain to
decide to winners of the ISAF Grade 2 Qingdao International Regatta.
Tuesday Ben Ainslie (GBR) joined Paige Railey (USA) as an assured winner
in tomorrow's Medal Races, and the British team continues to hold top
spot on four other leader-boards. Elsewhere, the hosts China lead in the
Men's RS:X, whilst the Netherlands hold the top spot in the Yngling and
Slovenia tie for the lead in the Laser.
After a week of racing in predominantly light conditions, the forecasted
seven to nine knots became an 18 knot north easterly as the fleets left
the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Centre for the scheduled 13:00 starts. With
the wind gusting well over 20 knots and whipping up a big swell as the
rain hammered down, it was not a day for the fainthearted. The heavy
weather gave a perfect opportunity for some of the big wind specialists
to shine, and particularly in the windsurfer fleets, there were some new
names regularly rounding the marks first. Across the fleets just two of
the top spots changed hands, but several fleets have tightened up
considerably, promising plenty of excitement in tomorrow's 'Medal
Races.'
In the Laser Radial class, Paige Railey (USA) is guaranteed the gold
medal, and fifth place Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) has a good shot at fourth
place, but has been mathematically eliminated from a spot on the podium.
Andy Horton/ Brad Nichol (USA) are in second place in the Star fleet and
need to beat the Brits -- Iain Percy/ Steve Mitchell -- to win the Gold.
George Szabo/ Eric Monroe are just two points behind their American
teammates, and very much in medal contention. USA Tornado sailors John
Lovell/ Charlie Ogletree enter the medal race in fifth place and still
have a shot at the silver medal. The same is true for fifth place USA
Yngling sailors Sally Barkow/ Debbie Capozzi/ Carolyn Howe. While Carol
Cronin/Kimberly Couranz/ Margaret Podlich (USA) will also sail in the
Yngling medal race, they are mathematically out of medal contention.
Currently in eighth place, USA 49er sailors Dalton Bergan/ Zachary Maxam
are still very much alive in the medal race. In the 470 Men's fleet,
Stuart McNay/ Graham Biehl are also in eighth place, but for them a
medal is out of reach. Medal hopes have also vanished for USA Finn
sailor Zach Railey who will enter the medal race in seventh place. No
North Americans finished in the top ten to qualify for Wednesday's medal
race in the RS:X Women's class, the RS:X Men's class, the 470 Women's
class or the Laser class. -- Complete standings:
http://www.2006qdregatta.com/
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HISTORY LESSON
Newport, R.I., USA (30 August 2006) - If history is anything to go by,
then an American team should stand the best chance of winning the Rolex
Farr 40 World Championship in Newport, Rhode Island. The past three
World titles have gone to teams from the host nation, so the question is
whether this run of home form will continue into 2006. The fleet -
currently 38 strong - will get an indicator with this week's Pre-Worlds
(September 1-2), a tune-up for the world championship scheduled the
following week, September 6-9.
The Australian teams certainly did well on the lumpy Pacific Ocean just
outside Sydney Harbour last year, when local Richard Perini sailed
Evolution to victory ahead of another Sydney-based team, Neville
Crichton's Alfa Romeo. Perini, who was named Australia's 2005 Sailor of
the Year for his accomplishments, has a tough job of defending his
title, however, as he faces a star-studded fleet of almost 40 yachts,
which includes the World Champions from the four preceding years: Jim
Richardson and Barking Mad (2004), Massimo Mezzaroma /Antonio Sodo
Migliori and Nerone (2003), Steve Phillips and Le Renard (2002), and
Ernesto Bertarelli and Alinghi (2001). Asked whether he thought history
would repeat itself with another host nation victory, Perini laughed. "I
hope not," said the defending champion. "We're comfortable with
Newport."
SAILING SHORTS
* Jan Dekker, 39, well known French/South African bowman, joins Alinghi,
the Swiss Defender of the 32nd America's Cup, as foredeck crew to
strengthen the sailing squad at a time when the emphasis will be
switching from testing to more racing. He has a wealth of offshore
racing experience having just stepped off the winning Volvo Ocean Racing
yacht ABN Amro One -- his fourth round the world race. With America's
Cup experience on the 1995 French challenger in San Diego, with Alinghi
crew mates Yann Gouniot, Christian Karcher and Bernard Labro, he is no
stranger to inshore racing either. -- http://www.alinghi.com
* They both have previous experience of the America's Cup. Additionally,
they won the most recent round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race with ABN Amro
ONE. The New Zealanders, David Endean, 27, and Tony Mutter, 37, are two
of Victory Challenge's new sailors as the team begin their two-boat
training. Also, they both have important specialist skills for our
continuing development work, David as boat builder and Tony as
sailmaker," says Magnus Holmberg, skipper and helmsman. --
http://www.victorychallenge.com
* Strong winds at the Melges 24 World Championship in Hyeres forced the
119 boats from 14 nations to remain firmly tied to the dock today. The
race committee initially announced a postponement until 1600 but the
wind increased during the day with a steady 35 knots plus through the
afternoon. Around 1500 the COYCH race committee went afloat to inspect
conditions prior to making a decision, however when the deadline came
they had no option but to cancel all racing for today. --
http://www.m24world2006.com.
* The Silver Panda team, with skippers Clay Bischoff, Colin Merrick and
Pete Levesque, and crews Lisa Keith, Amanda Callahan and Liz Hall,
dominated the competition (30-1) at the New York Yacht Club Vanguard 15
Team Race Regatta held August 26-27. Two hundred and forty-one races
were run over the weekend with 18 three-boat teams competing in the
head-to-head team race format. WHishbone was second (26-5) and the old
men (and their not so old crews) on NYYC Amateur Hour took third (23-8).
Silver Panda was undefeated in the two Gold round robins. --
http://tinyurl.com/g6p7l
* Navtec Z-System fiber rigging is now in full production, housed in a
3,000-square-foot expansion to company headquarters in Guilford,
Connecticut. Using fiber for some rigging applications, as opposed to
Dyform wire or Nitronic 50 rod, enables sailors to drastically reduce
weight aloft while maximizing performance. Customers who opt for
Z-System rigging will now be able to have fiber cables custom-produced
for the exact tolerances of their rig. They can also opt to have one end
of the continuously wound cable modified with a wide variety of bi-conic
end fittings. -- http://www.navtec.net
* The J/105 North Americans took place over the weekend, with Thomas
Coates crew aboard Masquerade took the championship going away. But the
best story of the championship may have taken place at the back of the
fleet, where a boat hosting a family reunion showed everyone how much
fun sailing can really be. The entire Scouler family decided to make
this regatta a family reunion, swapping family members in and out of the
race crew and enjoying racing together as a family, and redefining the
term North Americans" in the process. - Read on:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/2006/0829
BACK TO SCHOOL: NORTH STYLE!
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http://na.northsails.com/an/AN_catalog.taf
SCUTTLEBUTT CLASSIFIEDS HAVE MOVED
The Scuttlebutt Classifieds have moved to a new section of the
Scuttlebutt website, providing both buyers and sellers with a much more
flexible advertising tool (that is also spam and scam-free). Now
advertisers can post their own ads, edit them when needed, and delete
them when done. Photos can be included too. Oh yea, and all ads posted
on the Scuttlebutt Classifieds are free. Enjoy:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/classifieds
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com)
(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/forum)
* From Guy Brierre: It is difficult to respond to Mr. Pinkel's letter
with any measure of reserve. Anyone that would suggest that any sailor,
sponsor or team would trade a life for a point in a race score is almost
beyond help. To suggest that imposing a DSQ to any boat losing a life
onboard would cause a change in their actions is so far removed from
reality that I wonder what touch Mr. Pinkel has with today's offshore
sailors.
While most likely a futile wish, I hope that none of the sailors onboard
ABN 1 or 2, or even the other VOR racers, somehow miss Mr. Pinkel's note
as they will undoubtedly feel the pain again of the loss of one of their
own and rage at the misunderstanding of what is hopefully a very small
minority.
* From Woodie Cobb: Cudos to Rob Pinkel's response to Mr. Bourke's
letter, you lose a sailor, you are DSQ. That should send a message to
everyone envolved. Loss of human life is not exceptable.
* From David Brayshaw: What the Qingdao racers are reporting are
"rotary" currents, which change direction without going through zero.
This is well-known in US waters, although less common than currents that
simply go to zero and do a 180. My current model of San Francisco Bay
includes a number of points that do this, some rotate clockwise and
others counterclockwise (www.goflow.com/sanfran.htm). This effect is,
however, typically ignored in "tide and current" programs and even
tactical programs designed in Europe where this occurs less frequently.
* From Adrian Morgan (Re Qingdao tidal currents): "In past days we have
observed the current actually clock around from flood to ebb." The tidal
streams in our neck of the woods, the channel they call The Minch,
Hebrides, clock around, gathering in strength. It's quite normal in many
places. You'd be lucky to find any place where the streams run, say,
east for a while, then west. Maybe it's because the UK team sail in
tidal waters that they can cope better than some. As for
unpredictability, I am sure someone's working on a Qingdao tidal stream
atlas right now. They'll make a fortune.
* From Fried Elliott, photographer: I've worn Aigle boots forever. In
the dinghy sailing thing, the fact they have zero arch support is no big
deal; however, in the photography thing it is a major beating. It
reminds me of the many days of standing around on RC duty. Anyway, I
contact APS to see about getting some boots that have arch support and
they pointed out the no boots have arch support. Only way to get any is
to go to an engineered deck shoe, but they aren't waterproof. So when I
was in REI recently, I thought to get a pair of the Superfeet inserts to
try with the Aigles. I put in a set of the blue inserts and WOW. They
feel great. Perhaps this is something you could promote via Scuttlebutt.
I'm sure there are tons of sailors who need better arch support in their
boots.
Curmudgeon's Comments: Sounds like a good tip. If interested, here is a
link to the Superfeet website:
http://www.superfeet.com/content/blue.html
* From Jamie Leopold: What Happened to the Dragons? I grew up sailing
Dragons in the late 1950s and 60s at the Youngstown (NY) Yacht Club on
Lake Ontario. At that time there were active Dragon fleets in Rochester,
Toronto, Youngstown, Cleveland, New Orleans, a few West Coast fleets,
and some more that I don't remember. By 1970 U.S. Dragon numbers were up
to about 230 boats, all wooden. Today's numbers are up to about 270. In
1968 the IYRU (now the ISAF) held selection trials for a new 3 man keel
boat, in which the Soling, Etchells 22, and a few other boats
participated. The Soling was eventually selected, and in 1972 both the
Dragon and Soling participated in the Olympics, which was the Dragon's
final Olympic appearance.
So, what happened to the Dragons in North America? Two devastating
blows: First, the boat was scheduled to loose it's Olympic status after
the '72 games; Second, the class didn't approve fiberglass construction
until sometime after 1972 when the first glass boats became available.
These two factors basically killed the class in the U.S. The only boat
that I know that has survived loosing Olympic status is the Star, (and
Star boats later regained Olympic status). And how many people bought
new wooden boats (of any class) after about 1965? Not many! As a side
note, there are still Dragon fleets in Cleveland and Toronto. If anyone
knows of a wooden Dragon in decent shape for sale, please contact me at
Jamie@AbleAdvertising.com
* From Jon Amtrup (from the Forums): It was a relief to open Scuttlebutt
and finally see that Glenn Bourke, VOR boss, has joined the debate about
the event he is in control over. That is: He hasn't been in control of
the debate since he launched the new VOR in Gothenburg just before the
boats arrived early this summer. After that day the Volvo Ocean Race
Management has let the sailors and armchair curmudgeons rule the news
with misinformation, misunderstanding and opinions.
Bourke & Co could definitely have been better at informing all the
stakeholders directly about the change of format. Stakeholders in this
event is very clearly described by Bourke himself: "Sailors, designers,
sponsors, shore crew, team managers, the press, sports fans, non sports
fans, industry leaders, billionaires, clubs, classes, ISAF and even my
mother."
If you listen to them before you make the decisions, you should do your
utmost to let them understand that their decisions has been taken in
consideration and been the basis for the new VOR. Pick out the reporters
you know have a potential of being skeptical and give them special
attention and enough information so that they at least get the facts
straight.
Bourke and his PR-staff should also have had a contingency plan ready so
that all the commentaries after the launch of the 2008 event would have
been answered ASAP by a positive voice with a standing in the
international sailing community. But maybe in the future. (Comments on
this letter should be posted on the Forums: http://tinyurl.com/j3ls4)
* From Jon Alvord: Some say it's the cost of sailing , some say it is
PHRF, some say it's family that is causing the decline. Well I have to
agree with all of them. This year has been very light racing and it just
isn't the same when you go to regatta that once had 40-100 boats and
there are 4-10 boats. There have even been races that have the best
social atmospheres yet no turnout. I've heard many people state that
they can't get the time away from their family. Take them with! I've
been racing for the last 8 years with my now 8 year old, and 11 year old
kids. If the boats aren't safe, get one that is! Let the kids jump off
the boat and get wet when you're going full speed.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called
witchcraft. Today, it's called Golf.
Today's Scuttlebutt provided by JK3 Yacht Sales and North Sails.
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