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SCUTTLEBUTT 2257 – January 11, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). SUSPENSION OF ELIGIBILITY Brodie Cobb has been suspended from participating as either skipper or crew member in any sailing competition in the United States during the period from January 15, 2007 through December 31, 2008 as recommended by the US Sailing Review Board. In addition to the above suspension and in accordance with The Racing Rules of Sailing Rule 69.2(b), US Sailing has also suspended Mr. Cobb's ISAF eligibility for the same period of time. US Sailing is also reporting this suspension of eligibility to ISAF. Under ISAF Regulation 19, the events requiring ISAF eligibility are: 1. The sailing regatta of the Olympic Games; 2. The sailing regattas of Regional Games recognized by the International Olympic Committee; 3. Events including “ISAF” in their titles; 4. World and continental championships of ISAF classes and world championships of the IMS, Major Events and other events approved by ISAF as a World Championship; 5. Any event at which the Organizing Authority, Member National Authority or ISAF has appointed an International Jury or International Umpires, International Race Officers, International Measurers or ISAF Technical Delegates to serve in their capacity for which they hold a Certificate of Appointment issued by ISAF; 6. Any event approved by a Member National Authority of the ISAF as an Olympic qualifying event; and any event designated by a Member National Authority within its jurisdiction as requiring ISAF eligibility. Summary of the Case At the 2006 Pacific Coast Laser Championships, held on July 21-23, 2006, the jury collected all available information pursuant to Rule 69.1(d) after receiving a report that a competitor may have committed a gross breach of good manners and sportsmanship. The competitor, Brodie Cobb, after being given notice of the hearing, failed to appear for the hearing. Pursuant to the provisions of Rule 69.1(d), the jury collected all available information and determined that the allegations seemed justified and made a report to US Sailing. The US Sailing Review Board appointed a Hearing Panel to review the matter. Contact occurred at one of the leeward marks during one of the races of the 2006 Pacific Coast Laser Championship. Right after finishing, the two boats came together and an incident involving physical contact occurred between the two sailors. US Sailing Review Board Decision Having found that Mr. Cobb violated Rule 69 by actions, which constituted gross breaches of good manners and sportsmanship, the Hearing Panel imposed a sanction and suspended him for two years. -- US Sailing website: http://www.ussailing.org/art14/suspensions.htm -- Curmudgeon’s Comment: The Scuttlebutt Forum has been maintaining a dialogue on this topic, wherein any additional comments should be posted within that forum thread: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2901 2006 ROLEX YACHTSMAN AND YACHTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR Portsmouth, R.I. (January 10, 2007) – Jud Smith (Marblehead, Mass.) and Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) today were named, respectively, US Sailing’s 2006 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. From a shortlist of nominees determined by the membership of US Sailing, a panel of noted sailing journalists selected the two sailors for the distinction. Nominated for the first time, 2006 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Jud Smith (Marblehead, Mass.) was recognized for his victory at the Audi Etchells World Championship in Australia. The five-time North American champion of the class had previously been a four-time runner up at the worlds. Going into the final day of racing, Smith once again held the all-too-familiar position of second overall – after having led the standings in the 69-boat fleet for the first six races of the series. Fulfilling his prediction that the regatta champion would be determined by whoever got the best start in the seventh and final race, Smith powered across the starting line as the breeze climbed into the 20s and ultimately clinched his first world championship as he led the fleet across the finish line. Since her first nomination in 2002, 2006 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) has been short-listed for this award five years in a row. This is a testament to not only the early rise to the top of the sport by this young sailor who will turn 20 years old in May but also her remarkable staying power over the subsequent years in the Laser Radial. (The Laser Radial will make its Olympic debut in 2008 as the chosen equipment for the women’s single-handed event.) She also rewrites the history books upon becoming the youngest woman ever to receive the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award – breaking the 12-year record held by Danielle Brennan, who also was 19 when she received the award (in 1994). -- US Sailing website, full story: http://www.ussailing.org/pressreleases/2007/yofywinners.htm MARION BERMUDA RACE 30TH ANNIVERSARY 30 years ago this June, the Marion Bermuda Race started with 110 boats on the line. Much has changed since that first race in 1977…GPS, laminate sails, asymmetrical spinnakers, routing and weather programs, and lighter, faster cruising boats. The race continues to embrace changes to our sport. Multihulls were included for the first time in 2005 and in 2007, an IRC Class is being added. For those skippers that raced in the 2006 Newport Bermuda Race Cruiser Division, you qualify to win the Bermuda Ocean Cruising Yacht Trophy, presented by Sail Magazine. Registration is now open on-line… http://www.marionbermuda.com VOLVO RACE UP TO SIX ENTRIES There are some signs that the field for the next Volvo Ocean Race could be larger than last time, with quite a different international mix. Besides the two teams already confirmed for the round the world series in 2008 - the Ericsson team skippered by John Kostecki, and Peter de Ridder's Mean Machine - four more entries are "done and dusted" confirms racing director Andy Hindley. Besides these there are four other promising prospects from Brazil, India and China. But the most likely of the next crop of national entries to happen is from Ireland, a country with a rich tradition of offshore yacht racing newly awash with the wealth to help it along. There hasn't been an Irish round the world race boat since NCB Ireland (unkindly nicknamed 'Nice Cruising Boat') in the 1989/90 Whitbread Race. An Irish entry, like the others, would likely come with a stopover as part of the terms. "You can imagine what that would be like!" enthuses Hindley. Yes, I think I can. -- Elaine Bunting, Yachting World's Features Editor, http://tinyurl.com/y6qqg9 NEWS, NEWS, NEWS (Not only are the British masters at organizing a supremely talented Olympic team, they are also expert in managing the media. Littered throughout the Internet on Wednesday was the latest occurrence of this highly refined national team) After five successful years on the Olympic campaign trail together, the British Star sailing duo of Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell have decided to pursue new challenges. Consistently one of the world’s top performing boats in the oldest Olympic sailing class, Team Percy-Mitchell’s “Skandia Star” became the first ever British boat to win the Star World Championships in 2002 and subsequently medalled at the next three World Championships. However, Olympic glory eluded them at Athens in 2004, where they finished sixth overall. Mitchell is now moving on to concentrate on further boats and coaching in the Olympic classes as one of the most highly respected British sailors, while Iain Percy will continue on the Olympic campaign trail with Skandia Team GBR in the Star, where he will be joined by two-time world and European Finn medallist and America’s Cup strategist Andrew Simpson in a bid for Olympic gold at Qingdao in 2008. Simpson has consistently been one of Britain’s best sailors, only managing to stay out of the spotlight due to narrow defeats to Percy in 2000 and Ben Ainslie in 2004 in the Finn class. -- Complete report available at http://www.skandiateamgbr.com/news/detail/newstarcrew.htm WOMEN'S BOATING SURVEY A recent online survey of over 400 women by BoatU.S. shows that parents play an important role in teaching their daughters recreational boating skills. But when girls grow up, many women believe there aren't enough boating educational opportunities, especially those that are tailored for women. The newly released results of the BoatU.S. "Boating Learning and Education Survey for Women" showed that nearly half of all women respondents (47%) said it was a parent who they first remember teaching them boating skills, and 47% also said they had first gone boating before age 10. "What the survey essentially tells us is that families play an important part in introducing boating to young girls, but as adults they want to learn more in relaxed settings, perhaps away from a well-meaning spouse," said Elaine Dickinson, Executive Editor of DIY Boat Owner magazine (a BoatU.S. publication for do-it-yourself boaters) and the leader of the BoatU.S. Women in Boating initiative. Over two-thirds (67%) of women said they had taken some type of formal classroom boating training and 73% had some hands-on instruction, but there was clear support for more all-women courses (59%). Forty-two percent said that there aren't enough opportunities for girls and women to learn how to operate a boat, and when asked what kind of learning opportunities are needed, 80% said more hands-on events for women. -- Full report: http://www.boatus.com/news/releases/2007/january/survey.asp SAILING SHORTS * Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America’s Cup, has been allocated sail number 100, becoming the first America’s Cup Class yacht to have a three digit sail number in the history of the class. SUI100, the second of two new builds permitted for this campaign, is under construction at Décision Boatyard in Vevey, Switzerland, together with a team of Alinghi boatbuilders and monitored closely by Alinghi shore crew coordinator Michel Marie and yard director Bertrand Cardis. Several members of the design team led by Chief Engineer Dirk Kramers are commuting between the yard in Vevey, the base in Valencia and Dubai, where Alinghi is carrying out a winter training camp. * For those considering entering Block Island Race Week 2007, the ability to make your ferry reservations and book rental houses on the island began earlier this week. This is the "high" year as the Storm Trysail Club is sponsoring the event. Regatta dates are June 17-22. -- http://www.blockislandraceweek.com * On Sunday January 14, the five entries of the Velux 5 Oceans race will depart Fremantle (Western Australia) on the second leg of this singlehanded event. Lasting 14,200 miles, the fleet will experience the extreme conditions of the Southern Ocean, round Cape Horn, negotiate the Doldrums, and finally finish in Norfolk, Virginia (USA) in March. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com * Correction: ‘Butthead Greg Felton wrote in about the story in Scuttlebutt yesterday, which reported that Mark Strube had sailed with the Abracadabra ACUP team in 1999-2000. Strube has just joined the Victory Challenge team – which provided Scuttlebutt with the information – and they apparently didn’t realize that Strube (and Felton) had not sailed with Abracadabra, but rather with the America True team for that campaign. DO YOU "ONE DESIGN?" WE DO! Tornado, Melges 24, Sabot, Martin 242, Yngling, 470, J/105, Beneteau 40.7, Etchells, Acat, Farr 40, 505, Cal 20, Coronado 15, Fireball, J/24, CFJ, 420, Europe Dinghy, Harbor 20, International 14, J/22, Holder 20, Flying Scot, Lido 14, Lehman 12, Lightning, Optimist, Snipe, Thistle, Cal 25, Soling, Sonar, Santana 20, Santana 30/30, Capri 14.2, Melges 32, El Toro, Ultimate 20, Flying Junior, J/80, Hobie 21, San Juan 24, Nacra, Prindle, J/120, Antrim 27, Olson 30, Mumm 30, J/109. Ullman Sails has been one designing 35+ years, give your local loft a call, or visit us at http://www.ullmansails.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Matt Marion: There is no question that the transition of 12-15 year old sailors from Optis to double handed training boats is challenging, both for the sailors and their instructors. Many capable sailors in this age group are susceptible to competing interests off the water. Others struggle to adapt to boats they may not be suited to sail, at least in the short term. In response to this challenge, the Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound selected the Pixel sailboat as its intermediate double-handed trainer commencing with the 2005 season. To date, the boat has worked well and, even in its infancy, is proving to be a worthy successor to the Blue Jay. Almost 100 Pixels have been sold to sailors on Long Island Sound and elsewhere. The boats are fast, stable, and useful as a teaching platform for a wide range of junior sailors, and they are simply fun to sail. Speaking as a junior program chair (rather than as Pixel Class President), I am convinced that the Pixel is helping to keep kids in our junior program who are graduating from Optis and are not quite ready to jump into 420s. In the case of the Pixel, fun is definitely fast, and vice versa. * From Eric Sorenson: (edited to the 250-word limit) Dennis Palmer's notice (in Issue 2256) of the Sydney Hobart results with 5/10 top boats built in the '70s is telling. There was a 1970 Palmer Johnson built 57' SS design, Charisma, which was redone in 1995 and was a major force in her class up here in northwest US. She went to Big Boat, and won her class (second overall) in the Vic Maui. This was done with an owner, Dick Robbins, who was supportive of the racing program, a professional skipper, Jim Roser, and an old boat that was prepared perfectly with a fine and consistent crew. In club racing you’ll see boats that consistently dominate, like the Catalina 27, Handyman, that won the short course at Swiftsure this year from Anacortes Yacht Club. Nothing fancy but good sails and great crew work. Local racing areas occasionally have a hot boat come and thump their chest, but the older boats are the mainstay of club racing. The PHRF group in the Seattle area had everyone measure their sails and submit data this year in an effort to keep things on an equal footing. I applaud that effort of equalizing and think the system works up here. If you have decent sails, gear, and crew, you’ll be at the top of most club races. That’s why there are different classes, so we don't have to compete directly against the 'big boys' with all the toys. Anyway, those fancy schmancy boats are too serious about racing; got to have fun too! * From Richard Clark: Bugger me, NASCAR is noisy, smelly, polluting and all on a boring oval track, and so I ask myself, what does any of that have in common with sailing? Isn't it time that Scuttlebutt killed any reference to NASCAR. I am sure NASCAR stopped comparing itself to sailing quite some time ago. * From Doran Cushing: (regarding ad in Issue 2256) Hey, Team Newport...I go south every day - from Raymond NH to Amesbury MA. I only have to get prepared for another bleak day in the frozen tundra. I'd rather dream of not needing foulies. -- Curmudgeon’s Comment: Easy Doran…T1N’s Martha Parker just wants to make sure everyone is prepared for the fun. A comfortable day on the water makes the Mount Gay drinkies taste much better. * From Tim Patton, Bermuda: I must make comment on the recent letter from Chris Ericksen (in Issue 2256), whom I would like to add is a very fine chap. Chris's assertion that pre 1990 Etchells keels are obsolete is erroneous. There are plenty of competitive boats with unaltered keels from the period prior to that rule which requires that if any work is done to a keel, it must then fit into the new tighter tolerances. These tolerances are some of the tightest in any one-design keelboat. Second, on the subject of sail acquisition, six sails (permitted each year) might seem like a lot to Chris, who sadly says he won't do any more international regattas. However, to the owner who wants to be competitive at say the Florida Jaguar Series (65 boats), the North American Championships (50 plus boats), the World's (75 boats) - all sailed in different locations with different conditions, not to mention the qualifiers and regular weekend club racing - six sails will seem stingy. Six seemed to be what the general membership is happy with as they supported this in a worldwide vote. As for racing against the pros, I like the idea of teeing off with the Tiger Woods of the sailing world. Every time I do, I get better. * From Suzi Beatie: (In regard to comments about "a bunch of high school kids alone in the Pacific" in Issue 2253) From what I read about The Morning Light Project, these young men and women participating may be more far more prepared than most for the Trans Pac. They are being trained by the very best and experienced sailing coaches, well in advance of the trip. They are on a quality yacht, that will be scrutinized from stem to stern They are learning all the safety precautions and how to deal with medical emergency situations. They will know how to sail and navigate safely and they are young with bright and creative minds will retain this information. It is an experience of a lifetime; to be in control of your destiny in the center of the Pacific, as far away from a point of land as you can be is an awesome experience. Stuff can happen, but I believe, that for them, it will be less dangerous than playing football or for that matter, driving to the grocery store. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Confucius says "Wife who put husband in doghouse soon find him in cathouse." Special thanks to the Marion Bermuda Race and Ullman Sails. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
