|
SCUTTLEBUTT 3677 - Monday, September 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: Quantum Sails and New England Ropes. THE DARK CLOUDS BEHIND THE SILVER LINING By Ryan O'Grady, Sailing World With the recent announcement that an all-female team has placed a deposit for the first VO 65 One Design, the decision to move to a one-design boat appears to have been vindicated for the next Volvo Ocean Race. "I reckon that with the old boat, the Volvo Open 70, we would not even have thought about this," says Richard Brisius, head of Atlant Ocean Racing, the management team behind the female SCA team. "The new 65-foot design is still a monster--still a huge boat--but it's now at least possible, even though you could never say it's going to be easy." The move to a one-design boat is a bold attempt by Volvo Ocean Race management to ensure the viability of the event in these tough economic times. With the average Volvo campaign costing upwards of $30 million in 2012, the Race's CEO Knut Frostad hopes the new boat will slash the average campaign to $12-15 million for the 2014 race. Frostad has put his money where his mouth is; the Race is financing the construction of the first eight boats. But will a new boat and a $15 million budget be enough to bring eight quality teams to the line in 2014? As of right now, the answer appears to be no. The reality of the Volvo Ocean Race is that there are two separate events occurring at the same time. There is the sailing race, and the hospitality race. We all know the sailing side, but for the large international corporations the Race is courting as sponsors, it's the hospitality race that matters most. In the 2009 race, Ericsson was widely believed to have spent almost $30 million on the corporate hospitality side alone. That spending is not included in the campaign costs being thrown around by event management. Granted, Ericsson did outspend other sponsors, but any company looking to use the race as a marketing tool on shore needs to add about $1 million per stopover to cover logistics, hospitality, and staffing. Further, while the costs of the sailing campaign can be diluted over 2.5 years, the spend for hospitality is heavily weighted to a company's 2014 marketing budget, and a $8-10 million sponsorship for 2014 is a big number for most companies to swallow in this economy. The dark clouds are already building. Before the 2012 race ended, Groupama suggested that they will be prematurely ending their sponsorship with Franck Cammas. Veolia then pulled its sponsorship for Roland Jourdain, and just recently, Foncia terminated the MOD 70 funding to Michel Desjoyeaux after the 2012 season. When worries over the global economy can sideline the heroes of French sailing, heroes who have had some of the longest relationships in the history of the sport with their sponsors, where does that leave potential Volvo entrants? -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/SW-091612 SHARING THE PAST TO IMPROVE THE FUTURE Though the start of the next Volvo Ocean Race is over two years off, there is an urgency to finalize decisions for the new VO65 one design boat to be raced in the 2014-15 and 2017-18 editions of the race. To insure the deck layout evolves from what has been learned in the past, race organizers are involving the people that have been in the trenches. Among the group are Chris Nicholson and Neil Cox, skipper and shore manager of the CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, who are applying their experience of preparing boats for the past two races. They worked on PUMA's campaign for the 2008-09 edition and as skipper and shore crew manager did the same for the CAMPER project in 2011-12. Both have been part of working groups around the new boat project since even before the announcement of the new one-design. Now consulting for the project, they confess that the exercise is rather different from their previous experiences. "It's not an easy one because in the past, we had only 10 other people in the crew and one sponsor," Nicholson says. "Here, we've got to consider several teams, including a women's boat, who will have their different views. It won't suit everybody perfectly but as an overall package, I think it will deliver nicely." They recently visited the Multiplast boatyard at Vannes, France, where a group of sailors, shore crew, designers and engineers met to assess a plywood mock-up of the deck. Also in the group were sailor Phil Harmer and shore manager Ben Wright of Groupama, Sanya's Richard Mason and female navigator Sam Davies. Also taking part were project manager James Dadd, Pat Shaughnessy for Farr Yacht Design and Jean-Baptiste Mouton for Multiplast. Rick Deppe, attending the workshop for the Volvo Ocean Race. describes the process: "With Neil in charge of the master list, Chris takes control of getting everyone in position to make manoeuvres." "They think of everything. The day started with them getting the boat off the dock. Can the helmsman see the guy on the bow, etc, etc? Next they hoisted the main and at every stage of the manoeuvre anyone can stop the process and throw out ideas. It may seem strange, but doing it this way can lead to tiny but important changes of position." After a week-long deck mock-up workshop in Multiplast, one of the four boatyards of the consortium responsible for the construction of the new boat, they are advocates for the one-design project. Nicholson: "One design will be great racing. The hull shape itself is safer, which makes the deck safer. Above that, the bigger jump is that sponsors know than they can get a fast boat on the water. That was the sponsors' bigger concern in the past. Now that problem is taken away. That alone will be a success." Source: http://tinyurl.com/ETNZ-blog-091612 SCORE BIG SAVINGS ON A NEW QUANTUM SAIL Quantum is offering the best prices of the year on all cruising, racing, and one design sails. And when you request a quote, you're automatically entered in our 12-week Giveaway with three weekly and three grand prizes including a new Quantum sail with Bainbridge sailcloth. More great prizes provided by Antal, Atlantis, ATN, Cruising World, Sailing World, Forespar, Gill, Harken, J/World Annapolis, Layline, Lopolight, Marlow, Mobri, Nautica, Nautilus Lifeline, Premiere Racing, Ronstan, SAIL, Sailing, Seahorse, Sebago, Selden, Tides Marine, Velocitek, Zhik, and more. Request a quote online or call your local loft. http://www.quantumsails.com/promos/fall-sale-2012 FRENCH PREVAIL AS WIND ABANDONS F18 WORLDS Long Beach, CA (September 15, 2012) - France's Olivier Backes and crew Matthieu Vandame figured they needed to sail only two of the last three races to pocket first place in the GLOBALTECH Formula 18 World Championship Saturday. Wrong. They needed only one as a light southwest breeze gasped its last against warm desert Santa Ana winds---a local autumn phenomenon---blowing offshore from the opposite direction, leaving the fleet of 114 Gold and Silver flight boats from 16 countries drifting helplessly in the event hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. The regatta was caught in the middle. The single race was delayed 1 1/4 hours by racers' early starts and course changes required with shifting light winds of 3 to 7 knots. Later, as the stragglers crept in from the mile-square trapezoid course, principal race officer Mark Townsend debated for an hour whether to continue. At one point he even studied smoke from the oil refinery fire west of Long Beach for clues to what the wind might do. Then at 3:30 he called it a regatta, and Backes and Vandame's coach, Alex Udin, jumped aboard their cat to provide the winners a champagne shower. "When I put up the [abandonment] flags, all the boats cheered," Townsend said later. As far as the championship was concerned, ending two short of the 15 scheduled races made no difference. Backes/Vandame finished 15th in Saturday's only race, but none of their challengers finished better than sixth---not nearly enough to threaten their lead, especially with a second throwout to play. Even with the subdued climax, Olivier said the victory was better than his first win of the F18 Worlds two years ago in France. "The first time I won there was a big fight for the win at the end with three boats," he said. "This was much better." -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14520#14520 Final Results - Top 5 of 114 (13 races, 1 throwout) 1. Olivier Backes/ Matthieu Vandame (FRA), 34 points 2. Oscar Zeekant/ Karel Begemann (NED), 52 3. Billy Besson/ Jeremie Laguarrigue (SUI), 53 4. Mischa Heemskerk/ Bastiaan Tentij (NED), 57 5. Gunnar Larsen/ Gerhard van Geest (NED), 57 10. Michael Easton/ Tripp Burd (USA), 95 Results: http://www.abyc.org/upload/F18_World_Championship1.html COMMENT: I'm not sure what it means, but I find it worth emphasizing how this World Championship just occurred in the U.S. that drew over 100 boats. This doesn't happen too often, particularly in a class that's rooted in Europe. Congrats to the multihull planet, we salute you! - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt THE TRAINING CONUNDRUM While it was a goal of the 34th America's Cup to control the cost to compete, the fact that only four challengers (which may become three) have stepped up infers the budget is still quite high. Among the tools to control costs was to control the costs associated with training. This was done with these rules: - First AC72 not to be launched before July 1 2012 - Maximum of 30 days from July 1 2012 to January 31 2013 - Second AC72 Yacht not to be launched before February 1 2013 - Maximum of 45 days per AC72 from February 1 to May 1 2013 - No restrictions after May 1 2013 It is disputed whether these rules have helped to limit costs, but one thing is for certain. With a limit on training days, each day is highly valuable. The days will be long, and the conditions must be perfect. Few places on the planet offer perfect conditions year round. While winds on San Francisco Bay are near perfect during the summer, they are anything but from November through March. Add in the strong currents and it could become a challenge to maximize the value of these limited training days. This is the situation the defender of the America's Cup, Oracle Team USA, faces. They initially solved the problem when they announced their relocation to New Zealand during the winter, but those plans were scuttled when the launch of their AC72 was delayed. So what might be their Plan B? How about a move to Hawaii? This is the latest rumor, and not too farfetched considering that team owner Larry Ellison bought the island of Lanai in June. Sources tell Hawaii News Now that Ellison's representatives are seeking state and county approvals to upgrade boating facilities to accommodate Oracle Team USA so that they can practice off of Lanai. The team, which will defend the America's Cup title in San Francisco next summer, could spend several months training there. Full story: http://tinyurl.com/HNN-091612 NOTE: The challengers are preparing for the Louis Vuitton Cup on July 4 - September 1, which determines which team faces the defender in the 34th America's Cup on September 7-22. MAKING A FRESH WATER SPLASH Since the launch of the first Farr 40 in 1997, this high-octane grand-prix class has grown to 160 boats sailed in 20 countries. The well-organized class is run like a business, and the ensuing international competition has led the fleet around the globe to race in many of the sailing world's most iconic venues: San Francisco, Miami, Porto Cervo, Newport and Sydney. From September 17-20, 2012, the 40' high-performance one-design yachts will contest the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in Chicago, notable as an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, telecommunications and transportation. The 20 yachts, representing eight nations (Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Turkey and the U.S.A.), will compete on fast-paced and technically demanding courses, with the first starting signal scheduled to be given daily at 11:00 a.m. This marriage of business and sport extends from the class organization to the collaboration between the amateur owners and their semi-professional crew that more often than not includes a world-renowned tactician who brings his particular expertise to the contest. The tacticians competing in Chicago boast impressive credentials: no less than seven are Olympians, while at least that many are world champions in other classes. Bill Hardesty (San Diego, Calif.), the 2011 Etchells World Champion and winner of the 2011 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award, is the tactician aboard Flash Gordon 6 whose owner, Chicago architect Helmut Jahn, was the primary force behind the 15th edition of the world championships being held for the first time on Lake Michigan. "The Farr 40 is one of the best one design classes in the world," said Hardesty who explained that sailing on Lake Michigan will be different than at other venues. "In fresh water, believe it or not, the boat actually feels a little bit different and we've made a few small changes with the instruments. But even bigger, way more weather patterns come through and the wind is all dependent on what the weather system is at the time. Here, anything can happen on any day and so you have to be prepared for whatever you get thrown." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/RN-091612 * Chicago, IL (September 15, 2012) - On the strength of day one's 1-2-1 scores and top-ten finishes in today's two final races, Jim Richardson from Newport, RI and his Barking Mad team have won the 20-boat 2012 Farr 40 Pre-Worlds, held at Chicago YC. A feature of the event was for each team to include a CYC junior sailor. Being the last of five-event 2012 Farr 40 North American Circuit, the Pre-Worlds win also gives Richardson the overall series title. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/Farr-40-091612 INTRODUCING STS-WR˛ FROM NEW ENGLAND ROPES STS-WR˛ is made of 100% HMPE fiber that is comprised of Dyneema. It is extremely lightweight and very high strength. It's the perfect wire rope replacement for lifelines and selected standing rigging. STS-WR˛ is lighter, more flexible, and has a much longer service life than wire. STS-WR˛ made its debut at our booth at the Newport Boat Show this month but if you didn't get to see it there, come see it next month in Annapolis at Landspace 58B or online at http://www.neropes.com SAILING SHORTS * San Francisco, CA (September 16, 2012) - For the third time in four years, Genny Tulloch has won the U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship. Tulloch and her crew were dominant this week by winning all 21 matches they raced. They put the finishing touches on this fantastic four-day event by winning 3-0 over Nicole Breault in today's Finals. Tulloch sailed this week with Margaret Shea (Wilmette, Ill.), Jennifer Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.) and Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.). Breault's crew consisted of Evan Brown (San Francisco, Calif.), Casey Williams (Belmont, Mass.), and Julie Servais (San Diego, Calif.). -- Full report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2012/USWMRC_Final_Recap_2012.htm * Hamilton, ONT (September 14, 2012) - There was just one race on the fourth and final day of the Star North American Championship, and light winds would provide a climatic setting for the 33-boat fleet. John MacCausland/ Guy Avelon held a four point lead over Arthur Anosov/ David Ceasar entering the race, but after the teams posted a 17 and 14 respectively, they tied for the title. Additionally, Jud Smith/ David Timberlake won the final race, which also put them even on points with the leaders. Courtesy of tiebreakers, John MacCausland/ Guy Avelon were deemed the winners. -- Full report: http://www.starclass.org/search.cgi?Action=view&Event_id=2499 * Yacht Xiamen, crewed with eight Chinese sailors has just completed the first circumnavigation by a Chinese flagged modern yacht. Xiamen returned triumphantly on Friday after more than 10 months' voyage of 23,000nm, making it a remarkable record for China's sailboat sport history. The yacht, which set off on November 3, 2011, is named after 'Xiamen', a coastal city in Southeast China, also the start and finish point of the voyage. -- Sail-World, read on: http://tinyurl.com/China-091612 * Ninety-six teams from 12 countries have converged on Rochester, New York for the 2012 J/24 World Championship. Represented at the championship are Argentina, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Peru and the United States. Racing begins on Monday, September 17 and continues through Friday, September 21. Ten races are planned, and live updates will be available all week the event website. -- Full report: http://www.2012j24worlds.com/press/practiceDay.shtml * Nautor's Swan together with historic partners Rolex and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) announced the creation of the Rolex Swan Cup - Caribbean. Taking place March 11-15 2013 at the YCCS Virgin Gorda, the Rolex Swan Cup - Caribbean will include four days of racing under IRC rules, as well as a range of social events. The regatta is open to all Swan yachts built by the Finnish shipyard and is based on the concept of the highly successful Rolex Swan Cup, which has been held biennially in Porto Cervo since 1980. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/YCCS-091612 * The 2012 Canadian Yachting Association Annual General Meeting and Conference is in Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 26-28. Details here: http://tinyurl.com/CYA-091612 SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 Scott Whitworth: As much as I like the qualifying format that the 49er Europeans was trialing (Scuttlebutt 3676), which I recall was also suggested after the Olympics in Scuttlebutt, I see the problems too. Yes, an elimination format is how many other events are managed, but those events don't deal with the variables that occur in sailing. The pool is always the same size, the track is always flat. In sports like swimming and track and field, the best prepared athlete tends to win. But in sailing, the best athlete can only be determined by averaging. To negate the influence of the variables that occur on the race course, a number of races are run. The best athlete might not be determined in one race, but the cream will rise to the top after a series of races. It would be great to have a 'winner take all' format, but it is not the fairest format for sailing. * From Kristin Tyther: Considering that 200-300 million dollars will possibly be spent to find the elusive speed edge to win the America's Cup, it is hopeful that the small group behind Vestas Sailrocket can take their ideas to Namibia and try to push the speed bar higher than anyone has before (Scuttlebutt 3676). These are people who are doing it for the right reasons. They are not doing it for a paycheck; they are doing it for the love of the game. If Larry Ellison wanted to set the Outright World Speed Sailing Record, he could likely put it out of reach, but that would screw up an area of our sport where the dreamers can rule. * From Bill Laverty: I was stunned when I read in Scuttlebutt 3676 how the Australian rower thought she could become an Olympic caliber skiff crew in 3+ years. More amazing was how a Gold Medal winning skipper was willing to partner with this novice. It is one thing for Sarah Lihan to transition from the Laser Radial to Olympic 470 crew, but she probably had 15+ years of sailing experience to help learn the new skills. With that said, it would be awesome if this experiment worked, as it would open up sailing to a whole lot of people tired of going backwards. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Alcohol is not the answer; it just makes you forget the question. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Quantum Sails - New England Ropes - US Sailing - North Sails Allen Insurance and Financial - BIC Sport North America Southern Spars - Dieball Sailing - Ullman Sails - APS Beneteau America - Melges Performance Sailboats Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
