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SCUTTLEBUTT 2980 - Wednesday, November 25, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/facebook Today's sponsors are Ultimate Sailing and Ullman Sails. SAIL'S BEST BOATS AWARDS There was a buzz around the docks at the Annapolis and Newport shows, and it wasn't the sound of the plague of locusts we were half expecting, given the disasters of recent months and years. No, the sun shone, the water sparkled, the brightwork gleamed, and you all came to the show. Well, it sure seemed that way. On the opening day at Annapolis it seemed the docks might sink beneath the throngs of visitors; boats were being sold, business was being done, and the retail outlets did brisk trade. It's too soon to tell if consumer confidence has truly returned, but the signs were good as the judging team for SAIL's Best Boats awards trolled the docks. There were fewer new boats than in previous years, but the fleet lacked for nothing in variety and quality. From entry-level dinghies to fully kitted-out global cruisers, every sailing niche was represented. Here are our choices for SAIL's Best Boats Awards: - Cruising Monohull Under 50 feet: Catalina 445 - Performance Boat: J/95 - Cruising Multihull: Leopard 38/Sunsail 384 - Small Boat Under 25 feet: K650 - Dinghy: Topaz - Systems: Passport 615 - Deck and Cockpit Plan: Morris M52 - Accommodations: Island Packet Estero - NEW Green Award: Eko 6.5 Full details: http://sailmagazine.com/boat-reviews/best-boats/best_boats_2010/ CHANGING THE RULES The current edition of the Racing Rules of Sailing is not yet one year old, yet some unintended situations have arisen that the International Sailing Federation needed to address. Matt Knowles, US SAILING Racing Rules Committee, explains, "ISAF recently made some emergency changes to the Racing Rules of Sailing. Generally ISAF tries to keep the rules stable during the four year period in which they apply, so for the current rules it would be 2009-2012. But when there is a serious problem that they decide is urgent, they have the power to make changes in the middle of that period, which is what they did during their annual meeting a couple of weeks ago in Korea. These changes are not ground breaking things but they are important in different aspects of the game so it is worth taking a look through." Matt provides a video explanation on SailGroove concerning the four changes: http://tinyurl.com/ye2qwc5 HOLIDAY SHOPPING. IT'S IN THE BAG! Fill-up our new recycled shopping bag, designed for the environment by Sharon Green, with great gifts from Ultimate Sailing. The new 2010 Ultimate Sailing Calendar, new comfy pullovers for men and women, moisture wicking hydro-zip T's, caps with built in retractable tether, and cotton T's. Check out all Ultimate Sailing merchandise at: http://www.ultimatesailing.com HOW INSTANTANEOUS IS MARK-ROOM? By Jos M Spijkerman (NED), ISAF International Judge/Umpire During an iShares Cup event I had a discussion about mark-room. Particularly about how fast an outside boat has to act when she has the obligation to give mark-room. Here's how I see this: One of the basic changes in this rules cycle is the deletion of 'about to round the mark' principle. Rule 18 now has a very sharp on/off switch. Provided they are approaching a mark they are required to leave on the same side, rule 18 is applicable if one of the boats is in the zone. The moment the hull of one of them passes the three-lengths circle, rule 18 is on. You can compare it with passing head to wind. As soon as a boat is one degree passed head to wind, rule 13 is on. She is the tacking boat and must keep clear. No ifs, buts or maybees. No 'beginning to keep clear' or 'must start acting to keep clear'. Instantaneous. If you pass head to wind and a row boat must change course, you've broken rule 13. Even if - for instance in a dial-up in a match race - a gust of wind makes you pass head to wind involuntary. The same is true for rule 18. -- Read on: http://rrsstudy.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-instantaneous-is-mark-room.html MOTH MADNESS: Q&A WITH AMERICAN MOTHIST CHARLIE MCKEE By David Schmidt, SAIL The Moth class has a storied tradition dating back decades, but what's kept it thriving is that it's a development class, freeing designers to experiment with sailplans, rigs, hull shapes, and, recently foils. You've likely seen the amazing images of these tiny craft zooming around at astonishing speeds, with a wetted surface area that's smaller than a Laser's rudder. This August, American Bora Gulari raised eyebrows by winning the Moth World Championships, held at Cascade Locks on Oregon's Columbia River Gorge, a venue renowned for its flat waters and ripping winds. What's interesting about this win is that a mere two years ago American Moth sailing was fledgling at best. According to Gulari, fellow American and Olympian and AC sailor Charlie McKee has been the quiet, friendly driving force behind American Moth sailing. McKee himself is a top-flight Moth sailor who finished a respectable 11th (despite racing the last 3 races with a broken hand). I recently caught up with McKee to find out what it's like to sail one of these speedsters, and what's been happening in American Moth-sailing circles. * Is it hard to get the boats up on the foils? MCKEE: "In moderate wind - say 8-15 knots and flat waters - it's easy, provided that you're willing to go for a few swims while you learn [laughs]. Most sailors can get up on the foils in a day or 2, and can be gybing on their foils in a week or so - then you're hooked!" * What kind of speeds are you seeing? MCKEE: "You're fully powered up in 10-11 knots of air, doing 11 knots upwind and 17 knots downwind; in 15 knots of wind you do about 15 knots upwind and over 20 downwind. Wind angles and speeds downwind are similar to high-performance boats like Volvo Open 70's; the boats are incredibly efficient." Read on: http://sailmagazine.com/racing/charlie_mckee_interview => Curmudgeon's Comment: Not too many one designs in North America flourish without a local builder. A recent Forum call seeking to fix this caught the attention of Andrew Pimental, whose company Jibetech in Portsmouth, RI builds Snipes and Finns. This could be just what the local market needs: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8594 ISAF CONTROL OF KITEBOARDING CHALLENGED Recent events in kiteboarding appear to pose the latest threat to the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and its efforts to manage the sport of sailing. A new organization, the International Kiteboard Federation (IKF), distributed the news that they were the world governing body for kiteboarding, and their mission was to develop kiteboarding into a structured, well-governed sport. which would include a world championship in 2010. This announcement came as a shot over the bow of the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA), which is the only organization recognized by ISAF to manage the global administration of kiteboarding. The IKA has issued this statement: "Last week the newly formed IKF, which is closely related to KPWT (Kiteboard Pro World Tour), has published a press release, claiming to be the new governing body for kiteboarding. While the backgrounds of this formation are quite obvious, this changes nothing on the fact that the only worldwide governing body for any kind of sailing, including kiteboarding, is the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), as such recognized by the International Olympic Committee. "The IKA as an ISAF international class is managing the affairs of the kiteboarding class, which makes another organisation unnecessary and divisive. "The International Kiteboarding Association is representing national kiteboarding associations from almost 20 countries worldwide, covering 5 continents, of which each is recognized by their national government, olympic committee or sailing association. IKA has sanctioned worldwide tours like Professional Kiteboard Riders Association (PKRA) as well as regional tours in Asia and Europe, all of them contributing towards the world wide unified rankings." IKA: http://www.internationalkiteboarding.org/ IKF: http://kiteboardfederation.com/ MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF QUALITY SAILS & SERVICE No matter your sailing goals, Ullman Sails has been dedicated to building performance sails for over 40 years. Our group is a strong collection of international sail lofts that specialize in serving their local markets. With a rich combination of experienced designers and skilled sailmakers, we ensure every Ullman Sails customer benefits from our international collaboration. We're ready to answer your questions and customize a plan to fit your budget. So whether you're contemplating an addition to this year's Key West racing wardrobe or the most durable cruising product for the cruising season, invest in your performance. Visit http://www.ullmansails.com TOUR LEADERS TO CLASH AT SUNSEEKER AUSTRALIA CUP The final and most crucial round of the 2009 World Match Racing Tour, the Monsoon Cup, is being sailed in Terengganu, eastern Malaysia from December 1-6. Once, the weeks before this major event provided time for the match racing crews to recharge their batteries, but not any more. In 2008 young Perth match racer Torvar Mirsky cheekily issued personal invitations to the World Match Racing Tour Champion Ian Williams and the then third placed Mathieu Richard, to come to Perth to train with him on the Swan River, in Foundation 36 match racing boats. The issued invitation was for practice racing before the Monsoon Cup, which is also sailed in the Foundation 36's. The pre-event preparation yielded results with Mirsky making it to the Monsoon Cup Semi Finals. Williams also made it through, giving Williams the points to take the overall 2008 World Match Racing Tour crown. A year later and 23 year Mirsky and his New Zealand rival 24 year old year old Adam Minoprio are the top two on the World Match Racing Tour leader board. This year, just a week before the Monsoon Cup, they will be two of the crews participating in the premier international match racing event on the Australian calendar, the Sunseeker Australia Cup, on November 26-29, 2009. -- Read on: http://www.australiacup.net/newsfeed_show.cfm?nfid=30&nid=63572 SAILING SHORTS * The 24th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) started in spectacular style on Sunday, November 22nd as 209 yachts from 32 nations sailed across the start line off Las Palmas de Gran Canaria headed for their final destination, 2,700 nautical miles away in Rodney Bay, St Lucia. However, on Monday skipper Christian Potthoff-Sewing and his crew were forced to abandon their yacht Auliana II following the loss of her rudder in the early hours of the morning. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/yz9297e * The Melges 24 Atlantic Coast Championships were held last weekend in Tampa, Florida by the Davis Island Yacht Club. The ACC's were the last stop on a busy 2009 SLAM US National Championship Series. This event was also the last event on the IMCA's North American Ranking calendar and the last stop on the 2009 Quantum Southeast District Championship circuit. Scott Nixon sailing with George Peet, Chris Rast, Zack Mason and Cate Gundlach on the Quantum Racing/Gill Race Team won the event with all firsts. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8651 * The debut of the Maxam Family Trophy perpetual was presented at the closing ceremony of ABYC's Turkey Day Regatta, the final regatta of the year long 29er class Pacific Coast Championship Series. The new perpetual honors Bill, Lois, Zack, and Lauren Maxam's efforts in supporting the class since its U.S. introduction in 1998. Max Fraser is the 2009 Champion Skipper and Brian Bolton is the 2009 Champion Crew. The top female skipper was Paris Henken and top female crew honors went to CC Childers. The top "Under 18" skipper was JP Barnes and the top crew was Brian Bolton. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8650 * Marc Guillemot along with co-skipper Charles Caudrelier won the hard fought Transat Jacques Vabre IMOCA Open 60 doublehanded class when they brought Safran across the finish line in the early hours of Tuesday morning (local time) to complete the 4800 mile transatlantic race from Le Havre to Costa Rica. Winning the Multi 50 class was Franck Yves Escoffier and Erwan Le Roux onboard Crepes Whaou! -- Event website: http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en * The start of this year's 65th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race anticipates a fleet of 112 yachts for the start of the annual 628 nm summer blue water classic on December 26th. The fleet size is a substantial increase on last year's 100 starters and just four shy of the 60th anniversary fleet when entries spiked considerably. International entries are again strong with 11 yachts sailing for Spain, the UK, Netherlands, USA, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. The smallest and oldest boat in this year's fleet is James Connell and Alex Brandon's 34 footer, Zephyr, while the largest will be the five 100 footers. -- Full report: http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news.asp?key=4505 * Oman Sail's Masirah continued their winning form by winning the first leg of the inaugural Extreme Sailing Series Asia in Hong Kong's spectacular Victoria Harbour. The champions of this year's European Series, skippered by Pete Cumming of Great Britain, beat out BT in second place, followed by the China Team and Shirley Robertson's Rumbo Almeira. The Wave, Muscat and Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team rounded out the six-boat field. The Extreme Sailing Series Asia now moves on to Singapore for the second leg (December 11-15) before the inaugural series concludes in Muscat, Oman, from February 1-5. -- Complete story: http://www.extremesailingseriesasia.com/container.asp?id=22753 * The RC 44 Championship Tour final event finds ten teams representing nine nations competing this week for the Sea Dubai RC 44 Gold Cup and the season's overall trophies. Organised by Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), the event has a full match race round robin on Wednesday and Thursday and carries on through Sunday with the fleet regatta. After five events, Team Aqua led by Chris Bake and Cameron Appleton, are the overall leaders. -- Event website: http://www.rc44.com/en/ PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include U.S. and Swiss technology, refitting boats and people, snowbirds of a different kind, high school sailors you want to hate, and five reasons why multihulls should be in the Olympics. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/1127/ VIDEO OF THE WEEK The Luderitz Speed Challenge annually attracts the world's top kitesurfers to the remote Namibian town of Luderitz during the month of November to compete against each other and the clock. While there are an abundance of record sub-categories, the big prize is to be the worlds fastest sail craft over a 500 meter course. This week we have five videos showing why the Luderitz Speed Challenge is the most radical and exciting speed sailing event in the world -- kitesurfers pushing 50 knots right on the edge of the hard shore of a lagoon with winds blowing over 40 knots. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/09/1127/ LETTERS AND FORUM Please email your comments to the Scuttlebutt editor (aka, 'The Curmudgeon'). Published letters must include writer's name and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). One letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Ken Guyer: Bruce Brown was very incorrect by stating (in Scuttlebutt 2979) I am the producer or promoter of the new boat show at Sunroad Marina. I am very familiar with all of the shows here in San Diego though. I was sales manager for the San Diego Boat Show and co-producer of that show for the NMMA for 6 years. I was consultant for that show for an additional 2 years and manager of the venue for the in water portion of the show an additional 3 years. I am not in any way connected with the Sunroad San Diego Boat Show and was just giving my experienced opinion in light of the recent actions by NMMA and the statement the shows in each area need to be reduced. I also did not say "the area was not served by an outstanding boat show that produces results". San Diego is served by a great fishing show, Fred Hall, Yachtfest, and the SCMA summer show. The first two produced by other than trade associations. I completely disagree the assertion that the winter show was plagued with bad weather. It was never a problem for the show and attendance and revenue were growing every year until 2006. There is a good reason January starts the boat show season; that is the time boaters are looking before the summer season. * From the Forum (IL1270): Our club is in need of a new website. Looking for content management that allows fleet captains and committee chairs to make their own updates. Also, member management (directory, event registration, etc.). What recommendations do you have? Likely looking for product rather than customized service. Recommendations on who not to use just as important as who to use. -- http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8643 * From the Forum (usa1971): In Bill Gladstone's NorthU Tactics book, there is a chapter on match racing written by Peter Isler. In it, he describes something called reversing on port (or a port jibe reversal). It is something that the starboard boat does when the port boat crosses it initially and the starboard boat does not want to commence circling. Peter describes this, but there are no illustrations, and I can't get my head around it. Can anyone explain this move to me? -- http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8639 HAPPY THANKSGIVING! While the Thanksgiving holiday is recognized in several countries, it is celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. Scuttlebutt World Headquarters will dim the lights for the rest of the week to spend time with family and friends, so there will be no Thursday or Friday issue of the newsletter. Look for regular distribution to begin again next week on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving! -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION What is a vampire's favorite holiday? Fangsgiving! Special thanks to Ultimate Sailing and Ullman Sails. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
