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SCUTTLEBUTT 3151 - Monday, August 9, 2010
Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors,
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dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
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Today's sponsors: Lewmar and Summit Yachts.
THREE SIMPLE GO-FAST RULES
by Steve Hunt, Sailing World
Write these three easy-to-follow rules on your deck before your next race.
Stick to them, and I guarantee they'll never steer you wrong.
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It's easy to overcomplicate sailing, because it can be a pretty complex
sport if you want it to be. That's why, come race day, I stick to a few
simple rules that keep me focused on the things that really matter. I have
three rules that have never failed me, and I continually drill them into the
young minds of the Point Loma High School sailing team. And if the rules can
work for a bunch of fast-sailing teenagers, then they ought to work for you,
too, right? Let's review them one at time.
1. Sail in more wind
If you ask someone who has never been on a sailboat, how to make one go
faster, they could probably tell you without much thought, "sail in more
wind." That's true, and it amazes me how many racing sailors do not give
this one fact utmost priority. If you gain nothing else from this article,
please make "sailing in more wind" your top priority this year.
How do you do it? Remember this basic tenet: dark patches on the water
represent more wind. Wearing polarized sunglasses really help you see the
distinction between puffs and lulls on the water. Before a race, I like to
stand on the boom and scan the course for the most wind - if you're dinghy
sailing, simply stand up to get a higher vantage point. Ben Ainslie looks
for wind when he's at his highest point during a roll tack in his Finn. Just
as he hits the hiking straps and is fully extended in the air, he gives the
course a quick scan.
The key here is to be constantly asking your self, "Am I sailing in the most
wind available?" If not, make a change.
Having an open lane (with no other boats disturbing the wind in which you're
sailing) gives you more wind as well, probably more than you can imagine.
Wind follows the path of least resistance; it will flow over and around
groups of boats, just as it does around a building or a mountain. The key
point to remember is: the bigger the group, the greater the effect, so avoid
packs of boats, and you'll have more wind. That's pretty simple, right?
If someone tacks or jibes on you and closes down your lane, don't sit there
going slow; do something about it and find a better lane. Often, people
sailing in open lanes appear faster and you wonder whether it's their sail
trim or sailing technique that's giving the edge. It's not - they have more
speed because of their lane. (Think of it like driving on the freeway: when
you're stuck in a cluster of cars you can only go so fast, while the guy in
the open passing lane is blazing past.) The only time I consider sailing in
a bad lane is when the wind is very shifty and the potential gain from the
next shift outweighs the loss of speed from sailing in bad air. A 20- to
30-degree shift with pressure may justify sailing in bad air briefly. The
other 98 percent of the time, make sure you're sailing in a big lane.
Read on for Rules 2, 3 and the bonus Pro Tip:
http://www.sailingworld.com/experts/three-simple-go-fast-rules
RACING AT SAIL FOR GOLD IN WEYMOUTH STARTS MONDAY
(August 8, 2010) - Erik Storck and Trevor Moore are in Weymouth, England for
the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, the final stop on the 2009-2010 ISAF
Sailing World Cup circuit. Storck and Moore are campaigning for the 2012
Olympics in the 49er. In their blog, the team gives an update on Weymouth:
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We've had four great days of training followed by two days of recovery, and
we are ready for the Sail for Gold Regatta to begin. This is the last stop
on the World Cup, and our final chance to race on the Olympic waters before
the first portion of our trials next June! We are very excited to take this
opportunity to put forth a good result, but more importantly to learn as
much as we can about this ever-changing venue. We've seen a bit of
everything in our training since being here.
We've had breeze in excess of 25 knots on more than one occasion, and the
lightest we've sailed in was around 8 knots. We truly must prepare ourselves
for anything! The forecast predicts the typical southwesterly seabreeze of
around 15 knots dominating the week, with the chance of a front moving
through with some more breeze on Tuesday. No matter what, the racing on the
49er course will be exciting.
All the best in the world are here for this regatta held at the same time of
year as the Olympics are scheduled for in August of 2012. Sixty boats are
registered. The fleet will be split in two qualifying divisions for three
days, reseeded each night, and then there will be a final series for two
days before the medal race on Saturday. As usual, gold fleet will be the top
25 after the first three days of qualifying series racing. We aim to sail as
many races against the best as possible! -- http://tinyurl.com/2cvc4ef
* Full list of US sailors competing at Skandia Sail for Gold:
http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Events/World_Cup/SFG2010.htm
INTRODUCING LEWMAR'S NEW EVO WINCH
If you'd like to take a peek at Lewmar's new Evo winch range, look no
further. Offshore yachtswoman Lia Ditton explains some of the Evo's neat
features in a short informative video on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRuoklkHD24. Click on the link to find out
why everyone from leading boat builders to round-the-world racers choose to
install quality winches from Lewmar. Now with a 7-year warranty, isn't it
time to find out more about Lewmar's Evo winch?
STEVE CLARK HOPEFUL TO WIN BACK LITTLE AMERICA'S CUP
Newport, RI (August 5, 2010) - Steve Clark has been dreaming of winning back
the Little America's Cup for the USA ever since he lost it to Canada in
2007. In 1996, Clark's 25- foot C-Class Catamaran Cogito (pronounced with a
soft g) had blown away designers and engineers with its mammoth wing sail
and unmatchable speed, and with helmsman Duncan MacLane and crew Erich Chase
it handily defeated Australia's defender Edge IV on Port Phillip Bay to win
the International C-Class Catamaran Championship, fondly referred to as the
Little America's Cup.
Cogito became and remained the gold standard of C-Class Catamarans for the
next eleven years, a place in C-Class cat history to which Clark wishes to
return by entering his new boat, Aethon, launched earlier this year, in the
2010 Little America's Cup, set for August 22-28 off Newport.
Clark's goals for this Cup are oddly reminiscent of what they were for the
1996 event. Clark's first experience in the C-Class had been in 1985 when he
was involved in Patient Lady VI's unsuccessful defense of the Cup, losing to
Australia's Victoria 150. It was largely this defeat that drove Clark to
develop Cogito. Now, his "Cogito Project" is back where it started: testing
a new boat and taking aim at winning the Cup back again - at the
International C-Class Catamaran Championship, six days of fleet and match
racing at NYYC's Harbour Court, August 22-18. -- Full story:
http://www.nyyc.org/home/article_813/
1851 TROPHY GOES TO BRITAIN'S TEAMORIGIN
Cowes, England (August 6, 2010) - BMW ORACLE Racing may have won the war in
a race around the Isle of Wight, but today it dropped a battle on the
Solent. BMW ORACLE Racing awoke today trailing the match race regatta
against TEAMORIGIN 4-1. But with wins worth 3 points, the American yacht
quickly tied the series by winning the first race.
The British crew rebounded by winning the next two heats with excellent
performances in the pre-start and won the series with a 6-point advantage,
10-4. The five-day regatta saw the two crews complete four days of match
racing on the Solent. Yesterday they sailed a race around the Isle of Wight
in a recreation of the famous race from 1851 that gave rise to the America's
Cup, sailing's most revered event.
BMW ORACLE Racing won the 53-nautical-mile race by 1 minute and 22 seconds.
Coupled with its 2-0 win in the 33rd America's Cup Match last February, the
American crew has sailed 132 nautical miles of original America's Cup racing
in the past six months.
"I think just because of the history behind it, yesterday's race meant a lot
to both teams," said Spithill. "There was no pulling any punches. Both teams
wanted it pretty badly." -- Full story:
http://bmworacleracingblog.blogspot.com/
NO WIND DAY 2 MELGES 24 WORLDS
Tallinn, Estonia (August 8, 2010) - Despite the best efforts of a determined
Race Committee, an almost total absence of any meaningful wind meant that no
racing was possible today at the 2010 Marinepool Melges 24 World
Championship in Tallinn, Estonia. By way of a first and a second in
yesterday's opening two races, Italy's Lorenzo Bressani on Uka Uka Racing
leads the Championship by four points from the Norwegian Corinthian Oyvind
Peder Jahre on Storm Capital Sail Racing Team. Another Italian, Carlo
Fracassoli on Gullisara, holds the remaining podium position at this stage,
just points behind Jahre's.
Jahre's impressive performance yesterday means that he also leads the
Corinthian Division by six points from Estonian Tiit Vihul on Rock City,
with Austrian Christoph Skolaut on Franz Rocks a further two points adrift
in third.
Even Melges 24 World Championships have to abide by the fundamental rule
that if the wind doesn't blow, the boats won't go. Despite the Race
Committee assembling the seventy-nine boat fleet out on the Baltic this
morning in readiness for an on time start at midday, after several
frustrating hours of chasing zephyrs around, they were eventually forced to
send the fleet ashore just after two o'clock, to await further instructions.
-- Full story: http://www.melges24.com/?p=news/&id=2348
COUTTS TAKES UP MONO / MULTI DIALOGUE AT COWES
Cowes, England (August 6, 2010) - Russell Coutts, CEO of BMW Oracle Racing,
came to Cowes, birthplace of the America's Cup, to update potential teams
about plans for the 34th America's Cup, scheduled for 2013 or 2014. He met
skippers, sponsors, and team owners competing in the Extreme Sailing Series
for 40-foot catamarans.
"Since winning the 33rd America's Cup in February we have had ongoing
dialogue with interested parties," commented Coutts.
Independent rule writers are currently simultaneously creating a new class
of monohull and multihull boats. Though different in type, the two concepts
share common characteristics; high speed and capability across the wind
range, 22 metres overall length, logistical simplicity, and designed from
the outset to incorporate innovative camera, audio, and data systems to
generate the best-ever television of America's Cup racing.
Asked if the monohull or multihull choice would affect the number of teams
in the next Cup, Coutts said, "I think there are solid potential teams who
are intent on excelling no matter what type of boat is raced. The question
is which choice will result in the best America's Cup? That is why we are
holding these workshops with both monohull and multihull stakeholders." --
Full story: http://www.cowes.co.uk/zonexml/story?story_id=9997;cp=0-163-29
SUMMIT WINS AROUND THE WORLD
Summit 40's continue their winning ways in both the US and Japan. The Summit
40 "Soozal" recently won the Aldo Alessio Regatta in San Francisco, while
another successful Summit 40 sailing in Japan, "Karasu", just won the KYC
Point Race - a lead-in to the Japan Cup. These Mark Mills designed racer
/cruisers have been on the podium of every major race that they have
entered. Check out the details of the new for 2011 Summit 40 at
http://www.summit-yachts.com
SLEEP COMES SECOND IN PAC CUP
By Michelle Slade, Marin Independent Journal
Try this on for sheer exhaustion: helming a boat 24/7, double-handed in a
nasty cross swell without autopilot in winds blowing in the mid-20s that
don't give up for 11 days. Skip and Jody McCormack, owners of the Farr 30
Trunk Monkey, have just been through that very experience in the recent Pac
Cup. Now back at home in Corte Madera, they think it's possibly the most
difficult mental and physical challenge either of them have experienced.
"I saw 20.1 knots, which turned out to be our top speed, dead in the middle
of the race," Skip said. "It was blowing in the low 30s. We sustained 14
knots for 4 hours and I was done, I couldn't drive any longer after that.
... It is the hardest thing I have ever done in my whole life."
The Pac Cup, run by the San Francisco organization known as the Pacific Cup
Yacht Club, is a 2,070-mile run from San Francisco to Kaneohe Yacht Club in
Hawaii. This year 56 boats entered, with some 300 sailors participating,
including five Marin boats. The McCormacks (both 33) made the race two years
ago aboard the TP52 Flash. Both have done the crossing a number of times
previously.
The couple first conceived of the idea to double hand the race after they
raced the 2008 Pac Cup. They had to first buy a boat and wanted something
that would seriously push their physical limits. They flirted with the idea
of the Farr 30, a high performance boat usually crews with 5-7. Skip had
sailed the Farr 30 before. "I knew what they were about but no idea just by
how much it would exceed our expectations," he said. -- Read on:
http://www.marinij.com/sports/ci_15678907
SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR
Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar
SAILING SHORTS
* The U17 Sailing Championships at the Canadian Yachting Association (CYA)
Youth Nationals ended Saturday August 7th. 4 Provinces sent sailors in the
Laser Radial and the Club 420. The results show close scores in a few cases,
demonstrating that the young competitors from neighbouring provinces really
pushed each other. Ontario's Kingston Yacht Club produced double gold
winners in the Single Handed Female and Open Double handed fleets. -- Full
story: http://tinyurl.com/26po4vu
* The Syz & Co 2010 Moth European Championships will start on August 15 and
run through August 21, on Silvaplana Lake, in the Swiss Alps near St-Moritz.
More than 80 competitors coming from 20 different countries have already
registered and the best Moth sailors of the world will be there. British
sailor Adam May could create a sensation by using, for the first time in an
official competition, the rigid wing mast he has developed. Spectacular
racing and adrenaline shots will be on the menu. -- Event website:
http://www.syzmotheuro2010.ch/
* (August 5, 2010) - The World Sailing Teams Association, together with
Louis Vuitton and the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, will not develop the
proposed Louis Vuitton Trophy Hong Kong any further. The proposed world
class sailing event, featuring some of the top racing teams in the world
competing in Version 5 America's Cup class boats, would have been scheduled
for Victoria Harbour in January 2011. It has become clear however, that many
of the teams involved are focusing their resources on their preparations for
the 34th America's Cup. -- Read on:
http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/newsletter/?id=204
* Sioux Falls, SD (August 6, 2010) - New boat sales were down by 4.2 percent
for the first half of 2010 for the average dealer tracked by Spader Business
Management, but total dealership sales were up by 3.2 percent over total
dealership sales at this point in 2009, according to Spader's latest
financial report. Pre-owned boat sales for the average dealer brought in
$559,973 compared to $539,749 in 2009, an increase of 3.7 percent. The
average dealer reported a net operating profit of 3.3 percent of sales in
2010 compared to 0.8 percent of sales for the same six months of 2009. --
Full report: http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?id=2587501
* London, England (August 4, 2010) - The world's leading professional
sailing series, the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), has appointed
sports marketing and communications specialist, Capitalize - the BrandFan
agency - to manage its global PR series for the remaining 5 races of this
year's Tour. With the World Match Racing Tour embarking on an exciting
development period which hopes to see the 10 race series double its size in
the next five years, Capitalize will work alongside WMRT Communications
Director, Audrey Lakai, to focus on increasing the Tour's profile across key
global markets by targeting international news, business, lifestyle,
specialist and broadcast media. -- Event website: http://www.wmrt.com
* Correction, Scuttlebutt 3150 - re America's Cup trivia: The RYS purchased
the Cup in 1848 from the Queen's jewelers, Garrards of London, not 1948 as
incorrectly stated, and as many 'Buttheads acknowledged, one guinea was one
pound and one shilling, not one pound and five shillings as stated.
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
* John Ross (re, Scuttlebutt 3110):
Re John Bonds, It is certainly true that John was always sailing! Who else
took his Laser to Vietnam and would lower it over the side of his ship at
night for a sail. What a truly great American.
* From David Bleakney:
The America's Cup isn't just a sailboat race, it's a long event that starts
when the challenge is issued and ends when one boat wins best of three. The
event includes designers, builders, crews and don't forget the lawyers.
Please don't let the Cup be just another race, or a F1 style motor racing
series. We have plenty of them.
Let the big wallets challenge and defend, the spin offs are showing up all
over the place. Ask the wing builders. The last defense was what the "Cup"
is all about...big money, big ego's and big ideas. The AC is a big dogs club
and has been since the first races in Newport. The Lipton boats were state
of the art and cost a bundle. Challenge with your boat and let the defender
name the place. May the best organization prevail. We will all benefit.
Thanks for your coverage of the sailing scene...Sailingscuttlebutt is the
first site on my list.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Special thanks to Lewmar and Summit Yachts.
Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers
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