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SCUTTLEBUTT 3507 - Tuesday, January 17, 2012Scuttlebutt 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: North U. and Dieball Sailing. PAYING IT FORWARD American Mark Rudiger died too early. Mark had been battling lymphoma for four years before he lost his battle on July 17, 2008. He was 53 years old. Mark's reputation as a premier sailing navigator was legendary. He had navigated 14 Transpacs, but it was the 'Mt. Everest' of long distance racing, the Volvo Ocean Race, where he indelibly made his mark. "He was one of the heroes of the race and meant a lot to all of us," noted CEO Knut Frostad. On short notice, he guided Paul Cayard's EF Language to victory in 1997-98 and Assa Abloy to second place as co-skipper in 2001-02, and in 2005-06 he was called in again to work Legs 6 and 7 for a struggling Ericsson team. "I remember how tough he was when we had some rough times in the Southern Ocean," recalled Paul Cayard. "I remember being on the bow with him one night struggling to hold onto the number 4 in 40 true and asking each other how the skipper and navigator got on the bow for this one." During Mark's illness, the economic and personal stress on him and his family was immense, but in the midst of all that pressure came the outstretched hands and hearts of the beloved sailing community. People from all over the world stepped forward, providing emotional, practical and monetary support. The assistance he received had a significant impact on Mark, and with his wife Lori, they made the decision how they would someday pay it forward. This was the genesis of Rudi's Mates: The Mark Rudiger Sailing Family Fund. Here Lori explains: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * What was the motivation to create this fund? LORI RUDIGER: Throughout our struggle we had incredibly generous support from people from within the sailing community; the love we experienced from the sport's people was truly awe inspiring, and Mark and I would have conversations on how we could repay the sailing community at large for their unyielding care and assistance, but we just didn't know how at the time. Having lived through it and having time to reflect, the perfect way to pay it forward was to establish a standing fund to help all those working in the sailing industry, worldwide, who come up against trying times so friends and colleagues don't have to scramble to setup donation vehicles when a crisis hits. We must also remember Mark was very well known around the sailing world so word spread easily and the support came in quickly, yet the vast majority of working people within the sport who labor behind the scenes - the seamstress, boatyard worker, rigger, delivery crew, etc. - do not have the connections Mark was fortunate to have, but need the same kind of assistance Mark received. Rudi's Mates, as an established fund provides that financial assistance access. Mark's greatest legacy to the sport of sailing was not his navigating prowess, but his willingness to share his expertise with anybody who asked for it, and the integrity in which he carried himself with to all he came across within the sport. That legacy is embodied in Rudi's Mates objectives. Complete interview: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/0116 Rudi's Mates: http://rudismates.org ARABIAN DETOUR As with Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, Leg 3 from Abu Dhabi (UAE) to Sanya (CHN) is split into two stages to prevent the boats from sailing through dangerous waters off the coast of Africa. The 106 nm first stage from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah started and finished on Jan. 14th, after which the fleet was loaded onto a ship in Sharjah and began transport to a safe haven port in the Indian Ocean. Once the boats are unloaded, racing to the finish port of Sanya will resume around January 23, and the first boats could reach Sanya by February 4. Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos Course details: http://tinyurl.com/Piracy-121111 Race schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles of the world's most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com MINNESOTA, TEXAS, CONNECTICUT AND CALIFORNIA... ... are the first of over 30 stops on the 2012 North U Seminar Tour. Or keep your slippers on and attend a North U Webinar. Topics range from Racing Trim, Cruising, and Weather to Performance Software. Sign up early to receive a Free North U Long Sleeve T! Special rates for Crew and Students. US Sailing member discounts. Learn More. Visit http://www.northu.com CLASSIC CONDITIONS IN THE CONCH REPUBLIC (January 16, 2012) - Quantum Key West 2012 got off to a roaring start as strong breeze and sunny skies greeted the fleet of 112 boats in 12 classes. Northeast winds that started off at 15 knots and built to 20-plus challenged crews on the opening day of the 25th anniversary regatta, organized by Premiere Racing. "It was a classic Key West day - beautiful weather with breeze on," said John Kilroy, skipper of the Melges 32 Samba Pa Ti. "These are the type of sailing conditions we all come down here for. We'd love to have a few more days like this." That's because Kilroy and the Samba Pa Ti team performed extremely well in the heavy air, winning both races in the talent-laden 19-boat fleet. The California entry got a great start and led wire-to-wire in Race 1 then won a great battle with Hedgehog and Pisces in Race 2. "We seem to have real good speed and our crew is sailing the boat well," said Kilroy, who has Italian Lorenzo Bressani aboard as tactician. "The second race was a real fight and we had a kite wrap that cost us some boats, but we were able to use our speed to come back." Samba Pa Ti was among eight boats that posted a pair of bullets on Monday. Quantum Racing began the regatta in impressive fashion by topping the eight-boat IRC class, comprised entirely of state-of-the-art 52-foot racing machines. Skipper Doug DeVos did a superb job of driving the Botin Partners design while veteran professional Terry Hutchinson called tactics. "You can't win the regatta on the first day, but you can certainly lose it. We're happy to have put up some good results to start off," Hutchinson said. "We have a great group of guys sailing the boat and they were spot-on today. We sailed really well in both races." Quantum beat Vesper in Race 1 and PowerPlay in Race 2. Vesper, which won the 2009 Audi Med Cup while owned by Quantum Racing, has been optimized to the IRC rule by owner Jim Swartz and tactician Gavin Brady and showed great downwind speed. However, Vesper was unable to hoist a genoa in Race 2 and finished sixth. "We've got a huge advantage on Quantum downwind so hopefully we can maximize that moving forward," said Brady, adding that shore crew had already fixed the headsail issue. Breakages were common in the 52-foot class as Interlodge did not start the second race while Highland Fling did not finish it. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/KWRW-D1/ Here are some links to help follow the event: Event website: http://tinyurl.com/KWRW-2012 Results: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=547 Quantum Sails: http://www.quantumsails.com/News/index.php/category/keywest SAIL: http://tinyurl.com/SAIL-KWRW-2012 Sailing World: http://www.sailingworld.com/racing/quantum-key-west-2012 QUOTE / UNQUOTE "The other day we were talking about the health of the sport and what can be done to grow it. Well for me, I've been convinced for many years that sailboat racing's greatest asset (after the beautiful experience of getting out on the water on a wind powered craft) is the social side of the sport. Sailing is more fun when you can hang out with family, good friends, and interesting new acquaintances on shore before and after the racing. The competitive side of it is not the main draw." - Peter Isler, Sailing World: http://www.sailingworld.com/blogs/racing/what-s-key-west-race-week-about SAILING FITNESS FOR WHEN YOU PASS 50 We have more time to get fit as we get older, but Andrew Verdon warns that balance is the key. From our late twenties up to our late thirties, we spend most of our time on our careers, partners and the responsibilities and priorities that come with them. But as we reach our 50's and beyond, we generally have fewer work responsibilities, the kids leave home and we may find we have more time for exercise. But our bodies are not the same as they were when we turned 30. The main areas that people find deteriorate as they age are a loss of strength, poor balance and reduced flexibility and stamina. Everyone can maximise their health and fitness as they mature by taking time for age-appropriate exercises - on top of adapting a healthier diet. (Remember, a walk around the golf course twice a week is activity, not exercise!) Pleasingly, the Laser class sees more and more entries each year in its Great Grand Master division (65 year plus) at major championships and my clients often find they are much fitter when they turn 50 than when they were 40. So my focus here when I develop a program for over-50s is "bang for your buck" - maximum results for minimum time spent to help slow the aging process. - MySailiing.com, read on: http://www.mysailing.com.au/news/sailing-fitness-for-when-you-pass-50 MORE: Andrew Verdon explains the importance of "eating to recover" after every sail or gym session: http://www.mysailing.com.au/news/recovery-nutrition-for-sailors DIEBALL SAILING. WHAT GOOD IS ANY OF THIS IF YOU'RE NOT GOING FAST? Who's out in the garage slowly unzipping the boat cover to gaze inside with a goal of finishing in the top half? Does anyone sneak out of work early to assume their spot in some fleet pecking order? What's the point, if you can't.point? We're DIEBALL SAILING. We get it. We're sailmakers. We're sailors first. We just think sailing should be more fun. Let us show you how to get there faster...and if you act now, cheaper too. Visit booth 384 at Strictly Sail Chicago. Or call/surf 419.726.2933 to get show discounts now! http://www.dieballsailing.com/scuttlebutt SAILING SHORTS * (January 16, 2012) - The Italian America's Cup team Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 launched and sailed its AC45 for the first time in Auckland on Monday. Max Sirena, the skipper of the team, introduced Chris Draper (previously with Team Korea), Francesco Bruni (a Luna Rossa stalwart), Matteo Plazzi (with Luna Rossa for three campaigns as well as with BMW ORACLE Racing for the last Cup on the giant trimaran) and Paul Campbell-James who has been with the team during its winning season on the Extreme Sailing Series. -- SF Chronicle, full story: http://tinyurl.com/SFC-011612 * The definition within ISAF Offshore Special Regulations of Heavy Weather Jib has changed for 2012 by deletion of the final phrase and without reef points. By omission, these words have not been deleted from the IRC definition. The IRC definition of Heavy Weather Jib is therefore amended with immediate effect to "A headsail of area not greater than 13.5% foretriangle height squared." -- http://tinyurl.com/IRC-011612 * The entry process for the 2012 Newport Bermuda Race is now open, with applications for entry accepted online through April 15. The Cruising Club of America Newport Bermuda Race Safety at Sea Seminar will be held at Newport on March 16-17 with a new curriculum option, a new schedule, and a new seminar attendance rule, plus special hotel room rates for attendees. Details also online to assist first time skippers. The race starts on June 15. -- http://www.BermudaRace.com * The second of seven ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas, the Rolex Miami OCR (Jan. 22-28), will bring together some of the world's best sailors in all of the Olympic events for the first time since the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships. -- Read on: http://www.sailing.org/news/37706.php FREE CLASSIFIED ADS The Scuttlebutt Classified Ads provide a marketplace for private parties to buy and sell, or for businesses to post job openings. Here are recent ads: SAIL is seeking a new Web Editor Dockmaster position available Lightly used sails and hardware for sale Would you like your free ad to appear in Scuttlebutt? View/post ads here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/classified_ads WELCOME TO THE COFFEE CLUB Start each day with your new Scuttlebutt coffee mug. Limited supply. Available now at the Scuttlebutt store: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/store/ DISCONNECTED One thing is for sure about social media... it has given us more to do. When Scuttlebutt launched its Twitter and Facebook pages, we connected them so a single post would go to both sites. While this helped us manage the work load, we've come to realize that these two animals eat different food. We have now disconnected them, and will now strive to serve each with the kind of content that Twitter and Facebook users seek. Want to follow Scuttlebutt? Here are the links: Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt 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 Molly Winans, SpinSheet Magazine: It was a pleasure interviewing Jahn Tihansky, head coach of the U.S. Naval Academy offshore sailing team, for the article you featured in Scuttlebutt 3506 (SpinSheet December 2011 via the APS Stern Scoop). I wish I had had more space to fit in all of his intriguing tidbits about life at USNA. The Midshipmen must train onboard intensively and rapidly enough to make mere mortals' heads spin. Coach T told me that among the five or six USNA boats that will compete in the Newport to Bermuda Race, 40 of those Mids on the crews will have only been sailing for nine months of their lives. During serious preparation for such offshore events - USNA is serious about serious - he tells them: "You're not in the backseat going to Grandma's house. You're navigating. You need to figure out how to get there." Thank you for featuring the interview. * From Keith Taylor, Auckland, NZ: Mike Brown (Scuttlebutt 3506) does sailing a disservice with his view, presumably oft expressed, that the bleeding edge of sailing is too expensive, too exotic, too beyond-reach. He's wrong! Millions of golfers cheerfully hack around the local municipal links, with no hope or expectation of partnering Tiger at Greenbriar. Tennis players marvel at the Williams sisters at Wimbledon and it doesn't stop them knocking a few balls over the net at the nearest available court, be damned about its playing surface. Knowing full well that a Ferrari is beyond reach, motoring fans follow the exploits of Filipe Massa and then drive to work the next day in the family minivan. Sailing is no different. Bank Populaire V, the America's Cup boats, Volvo 70s or Olympic 49ers are all testament to the magic of sailing. We can celebrate their accomplishments while going down to the local beach or sailing club to get under sail on a Sunfish, Soling or Hobie Cat. * From Skip Weston: Reynald Neron (Scutt 3505) has obviously missed the points made by Elaine Bunting, John Harwood-Bee etc regarding the FACTS surrounding the Fossett RTW record and the Jules Verne trophy. As I read it, Harwood-Bee accepts that the trophy WAS at one time a prestigious marketing tool. It WAS originally to be awarded for the fastest circumnavigation. It lost its lustre when it was awarded to a significantly slower vessel captained by one the originators of the trophy in what many viewed as a fit of pique. The minute that happened it could no longer be regarded as the ultimate trophy for the RTW record. It would have been much better had the trophy not been awarded at all. As for the comment "someone's word against someone else's," It is my understanding that Harwood-Bee worked with Steve Fossett on his sailing sponsorships and record programmes. Elaine Bunting is a highly respected journalist who interviewed Fossett on more than one occasion. It is highly unlikely that they would get the facts wrong. COMMENT: With the Jules Verne Trophy deeply rooted in French culture, it is my understanding there was resistance for a wealthy American and his Kiwi-built boat to take this Franco prize. While Fossett could clearly afford the JV entry fee regardless the amount, he was not willing to be treated unfairly. -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CURMUDGEON'S OXYMORON Genuine naugahyde. SPONSORS THIS WEEK New York Yacht Club - New England Ropes - North U. Dieball Sailing - J Boats - US Sailing - North Sails - Ullman Sails JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Doyle Sailmakers - The Pirates Lair Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
