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SCUTTLEBUTT 3310 - Thursday, March 31, 2011Scuttlebutt 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: Ullman Sails and Mount Gay Rum. THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY US Sailing President Gary Jobson discusses the origin of the Leukemia Cup Regattas, and his personal battle with the disease: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * How did you get started in Leukemia Cup Regatta? GARY JOBSON: "In around 1992 or 1993, I was at ESPN at a production meeting, and one of the big cheeses came in and went around asking everyone in the meeting what charities they were involved in. It was kind of a real eye-opener for me. And I thought about what charities I was involved with. I was involved with junior sailing and the Olympic team, but I wasn't really sure I was involved with a charity. "Ironically, a couple of weeks later, I got a phone call about a sailing regatta where they were going to try and raise money for Leukemia research. They asked me to help out, and I thought. 'Oh perfect, I'll help out a charity.' "So, we had this regatta, and we held a press conference where a whopping eight people showed up: one writer, and the rest of us. But the darnedest thing happened; 100 boats showed up for this regatta, and we raised $30,000. So, I thought, there was actually something to this. "A couple of months later, I got invited to a Leukemia Society meeting, where they were talking about fundraising -- and they wanted to know more about this sailing regatta, So, I put my hand up and spoke about how sailing goes all across the country, and maybe we could do this in some other places. "The next year, in 1994, we had eight events -- and we raised $200,000. This got me thinking, 'OK, forget about being honorary chair, let me do this for a while (and become national chairman). I'll give it about five years, and lets see what we can do.' Funny thing was, after five years, I would say, 'OK, I'll give you one more year -- then you have to find someone else.' And then, a year would go by, and I would say, 'OK, I'll give you another year.' "We've built it up pretty well, and we're bringing in over $2 million a year." * You went from helping Leukemia and Lymphoma victims to becoming a victim yourself in 2003. What was that like? GARY JOBSON: "It was the shock of my life. About 10 years after the first Leukemia Cup, things were going well, and then I got really sick. I was tired -- with big blotches all over, losing weight and coughing like crazy." -- The Log, read on: http://www.thelog.com/news/logNewsArticle.aspx?x=12256 TRAVELING WITH THE TEAM Dave Johnson, the Olympic Programs Coordinator for the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics, is in Palma de Mallorca, Spain to support the team at the Princess Sofia Trophy, the third stop on the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2010-2011 series. Here are some of Dave's observations: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For some, traveling can be a chore. Do laundry, sort through items to take and decide if it is too much or too little. Yet, each of the athletes and many coaches that are at this level do it every week, seemingly effortless. When the team participates at large events, I travel with them as a jack-of-all-trades. My role intertwines between logistical & administrative support, promotion and social networking. So while I may not have all of the sailing gear, my bags are filled with branding materials, cameras, computers and any other device that may come in handy to help promote the team. The effort and commitment is overwhelming to witness and be around. The thrill to be a part of US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics and the effort put forth by everyone, on and off the water is palpable. The end game is the same - to win medals. While we promote many of the activities and results of our athletes, you may not understand some of the things we take for granted. It really is amazing to see what it takes to get from one event to the next. Full time campaigns involve a near 12-month calendar of regatta travel. Many non-professional sailors, like me, enjoy the 2-3 regattas we travel to every year. As it approaches we feel as if it's a goal, a carrot, or even a vacation. The steps are pretty basic. You get to prep your equipment, pack, travel, setup, race, and then pack up and go home. Now, imagine doing this every week, for sometimes 6 weeks straight in a foreign country, before finally returning home. Many of us are prepping for the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma, Majorca, Spain. This is the first European stop in ISAF's Sailing World Cup. While I am starting my check list for items to take and not to take, it made me stop and think: "If I had to do this every week, I don't know how I could possibly sail." So when you see our sailors continue to perform at the highest levels in 2011, think about what they are overcoming to achieve their goals. For me, I am looking forward to seeing our athletes in Spain and helping to send the message of their success back "Home." -- http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150143528061044&comments SCHEDULE: Racing starts Monday, April 4 and concludes with the medal race on Saturday, April 9 in nine of the 10 Olympic Classes. Women's Match Racing consist of an opening series, a knockout series, and a sail-off for boats not advancing to the knockout series, with the final matches scheduled on Saturday, April 9. Event website: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/ ULLMAN SAILS CUSTOMERS SWEEP UP IN MEXICO Congratulations to Jack Taylor's Santa Cruz 50 "Horizon" who claimed top honors last week in the 2011 Newport Harbor YC Cabo Race. After his clean sweep of the 2010 Pacific Cup, Taylor won this race in similar fashion by claiming first in class and first overall! Ed Feo's "Locomotion" was the first boat in the fleet to cross the finish line and corrected to 4th in Class C behind "Horizon". And Per Petersen's Andrews 70 "Alchemy" survived the storm that plagued the Saturday starters to finish 2nd in Class B. All three boats were powered by Ullman Sails. http://www.ullmansails.com VIDEO: The 2011 Newport to Cabo Race was battered by heavy weather, but surviving the storm was Jack Taylor's Santa Cruz 50 Horizon that went on to win class and overall honors. UllmanSailsTV has produced an onboard video which shows just why downwind races make sense, edited to 'The Rock Show' by Blink-182: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DismTYX43TU WELCOME TO RACING 101 Whether we've done one race or 1,000, it never hurts to brush up on the fundamentals. In an ongoing "Around the Racecourse" series in Sailing World magazine, sailing coach and professional sailor Steve Hunt takes us from the pre-start to the post-race debrief, covering the essentials every step of the way. Part 1, "Start Before the Start," Hunt shares an easy-to-follow formula for ensuring you're up to speed and ready to race: http://tinyurl.com/SW-Part-1 Part 2, "Plan to Plan," we learn how to take the information we learned during our pre-start routine and turn it into an effective game plan: http://tinyurl.com/SW-Part-2 Part 3, "Starting Made Simple," helps us consistently arrive on the line, with speed, at the gun. Look for the story in the April issue of Sailing World: http://tinyurl.com/SW-April-2011 MELLOW: Not only is Steve brilliant on the boat, but he's one of the mellowest people I have ever sailed with. The two of us, along with Mandee Markee, have teamed with Bill Hardesty for the 2011 Etchells Worlds this June. In a regatta we sailed in February, we were on starboard, on final approach to the start, when Steve casually said how we were about to get rammed. Kind of like, "Heh, are there anymore sandwiches?" We were spun hard to port, but Steve still found a lane for us to escape on. Guess what... we were top five at the first mark, and went on to win the regatta. Like Stuart Scott says, "He's as cool as the underside of the pillow." -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor TOUGH JOB The U.S. National Sailing Center & Hall of Fame will honor its first class of inductees this year. Information on how to make a formal nomination will be available later this week, but Scuttlebutt had asked for some advance brainstorming to see who should be considered for a nomination. Thus far, 141 individuals have been submitted on either the Scuttlebutt Forum or Facebook page. While they might not all fit into the formal nomination guidelines, there is no doubt that each of them have contributed to the sport in some way. What this long list also demonstrates is how difficult the judging will be for this class of inductees. Thanks to everyone who helped in this brainstorming session. All submitters qualified for a random drawing to win an Optimum Time 121/122 sailing watch, courtesy of Ocean Racing. The winner was Doug Lord. Here is the list of the 141 suggestions: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11618#11618 INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. Here are some of recent postings: - NGA Charts Available Again at Landfall - RegattaTech.com: The Way Forward in Online Regatta Management - Announcing SailQuest Mystic Boat Show at Mystic Seaport - Blast Performance Sailing launches Performance Sailing Centre in Vancouver View and/or post Industry News updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news SAILING SHORTS * Hamilton Island, AUS (March 30, 2011) - After severe conditions postponed racing for three of the past four days, the 2011 SAP 505 World Championship finally got on track Wednesday with two races completed in 15-20 knot winds. Overall scores have tightened at the top, with Wolfgang Hunger/Julien Kleiner (GER) leading Mike Holt/Carl Smit (USA) by two points, with Sandy Higgins/Paul Marsh (AUS) just one point further back in third. The race schedule for the 85 boat fleet continues on through Friday. -- http://www.505sapworldchampionship2011.com * Some sailors tied in the standings while others solidified their scores on the leaderboard in the 2011 Cape Air Caribbean Ocean Racing Circuit (C.O.R.C.) after competing in the third leg, the International Rolex Regatta, held March 25-28, out of the St. Thomas Yacht Club, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Next up is the final leg of the circuit at the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival, April 1 to 3, where winners will ultimately be named. Details: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11615 * The captain of a 26-foot MacGregor sailboat that capsized Sunday in San Diego Bay, where a father and son drowned, said a gust of wind into the jib sail caused the vessel to overturn, but Harbor Police investigators have not determined the cause of the accident. The president of the Heart of Sailing Foundation, which offers short sailing trips for people with disabilities, said Tuesday that George Saidah, founder of the nonprofit and the boat's operator, told him that he followed all safety precautions before launching the boat with nine passengers. -- Union-Tribune, read on: http://tinyurl.com/UT-033011 * (March 30, 2011) - In the Open Match Race Rankings there has been plenty of movement in the top 25 following a busy few weeks of match racing. The sailors competing in the 2011 Congressional Cup have seen the most movement but Ben Ainslie (GBR) retains a strong lead. The Women's Match Racing Rankings have seen little change since the start of February with Claire Leroy (FRA) maintaining her lead for the second month in a row. The top North Americans are from the U.S., with Bill Hardesty in 22nd and Anna Tunnicliffe in 4th. Full report: http://www.sailing.org/35734.php * The Atlantic Cup, a new professional Class40 race showcasing the top short-handed sailors in the U.S., has gained two more entries for its May event. As of now, five doublehanded teams will start from New York Harbor on May 7th, 2011. From there, competitors will sprint double-handed the 240 nautical mile course to Newport, Rhode Island. Once in Newport, skippers will race a two-day, inshore series with a crew of six on May 14 and 15. The combined overall winner of both stages becomes the first Atlantic Cup Champion and receives the $15,000 prize purse. Full story: http://www.atlanticcup.org/archives/1038 * When US SAILING's Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship (IWKC) returns to Rochester Yacht Club for its 14th edition, August 29-September 1, 2011, it will be the sixth time in the event's history that racing has been conducted in J/22s. Easing the way for women sailors new to the J/22, US SAILING has organized a series of Road to Rolex clinics to help develop teams and encourage their participation in US SAILING's Rolex IWKC. Details: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2011/2011_R_to_R_Clinics.htm * (March 30, 2011; Day 4; 18:28 UTC) - Fast reaching conditions blast the VELUX 5 OCEANS fleet north along the Brazilian coast. Brad Van Liew (USA) continued to lead the fleet, with his Eco 60 Le Pingouin covering 332 nm in the last 24 hours and averaging over 14 knots for the last six hours. Van Liew has already covered over 1000nm of the four leg from Uruguay to Charleston, and holds a margin of 23nm over second place Derek Hatfield (CAN). -- http://www.velux5oceans.com/ * (March 30, 2011, Day 88; 21:01 UTC) - The leaders of the Barcelona World Race continue their upwind route along the Moroccan coast, with Jean Pierre Dick/Loick Peyron (FRA/FRA) on Virbac-Paprec 3 getting to within 800 meters of the beach at one point early this morning. They expect their ETA to Gibraltar at around midnight Thursday. With 760 nm remaining to the finish, their lead over Iker Martinez/Xabi Fernandez (ESP/ESP) on MAPFRE has decreased slightly to 302.5 nm. -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en * Operators of power boats and sail boats on Iowa waters will face the same standard for "drunken boating" as drivers of motor vehicles on Iowa highways under legislation heading to Gov. Terry Branstad's desk for his expected signature. The new law will lower the blood alcohol content threshold from .10 percent to .08 effective July 1 to determine whether a person operating a power boat with the motor running or a sail boat with the sail up on Iowa waterways is above the legal limit for intoxication. Iowa has had the .08 percent BAC standard for drunken driving on Iowa highways since 2003. Full story: http://tinyurl.com/Iowa-033011 SAILING SPOKEN HERE. THE CONVERSATION HAS BEGUN! For sailors like you, Mount Gay Rum has launched Sailing Spoken Here. With thousands of members today, sailors have connected to discuss their technical challenges, share their most treasured sailing photos, discover sponsored Mount Gay Rum regattas where they can obtain their legendary red cap, and to find their favorite sailing bars to celebrate the completion of a day at sea. If you haven't already jumped into the conversation, you're missing out. Luckily, today's a new day: http://www.sailingspokenhere.com 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: * Wanted - Lehman 12 to Charter * Hiring - Volunteer Licensed Captains * Hiring - Prepreg Boatbuilding * Selling - Wavelength 24 FS View/post ads here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/classified_ads PROMOTE YOUR EVENT The Scuttlebutt Event Calendar is a free, self-serve tool that is powered by the most utilized database in the sport. Are you doing enough to promote your event? To view all the events, or to post your own event, visit the calendar 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 Zvi Ziblat, IJ - ISR: May I try and offer a different view on the racing rules than 'Food For Thought' by Roger Vaughan in Scuttlebutt 3309 the comments by Russell Coutts that were in Scuttlebutt 3308. I put it to you that maybe 2-5% of the competing racing sailors need to know in depth the rules, as everyone can do the math by reading the statistic of how many members of any class attend their worlds or continental championship. The rest of the "Corinthian" sailors can go by with 4 rules only, i.e, port/starboard, windward/leeward, clear ahead/clear astern and rule 18 (mark room). All on two pages. * From S. Carter Gowrie, President, Gowrie Group: (re, rules simplification) I am sounding curmudgeonly myself, but I sail at the Frostbite Yacht Club in Essex, Connecticut, a club that was established in 1933. For the 50th anniversary regatta (28 years ago, so I may be a bit fuzzy on the details), someone came up with the idea to race under the sailing rules as they were in 1933. I believe (someone can check the history) there were three rules: overtaking vessel must keep clear, starboard tack over port, leeward boat over windward. The regatta was a big success and there were no protests. I am not advocating simplifying the rules at the top level of the sport, but for local sailing it may be worth considering a major simplification. * From Mike Rose: I have to agree with David Fuller (when he said the idea that sailing needs to be simplified is a lazy alternative to making the effort to teach the rules to a new audience - Scuttlebutt 3308). While I'm sure that some simplification of the rules might be a good idea, all sports have both seemingly hard-to-understand rules and "strange" terms. It is a big part of their appeal. To attract wider audiences, what is needed is a go-between, a commentator who understands these rules and terms and can explain them clearly and succinctly to the general public. My colleague - Peter (PJ) Montgomery - is superb at this. In 1986-87 he grabbed the attention of almost the entire country as KZ-7 battled in the waters off Fremantle. He did this, as he says, by imagining he was describing the racing to "a little old lady from Ekatahuna", in other words, to someone who knew nothing about yachting but enjoyed watching the unfolding drama and simply needed someone to make sense of it. The addition of virtual technology has also made it easier for the uninitiated to understand what is happening as has the inclusion in the commentary teams of good-communicating, clear speaking ex-sailors (such as Peter Lester). I would suggest that instead of looking to over-simplify the sport of sailing, Russell Coutts and his team work to ensure they have the best communicators in their commentary teams. As PJ showed some 25 years ago, a great commentator will make even an esoteric sport like sailing seem exciting to people who have never even set foot on a boat. * From George Morris: (re, simplifying the sport - Scuttlebutt 3308) 'Can sailing be more complicated than rugby?' There are two forms of rugby. In Rugby League the rules are simple and the referee has to make very few interventions. Rugby Union, on the other hand, is almost incomprehensible to non cogniscenti and it sometimes seems that referees are allowed to invent two entirely new rules per game. Games are usually won on penalties and commentators will often say that the penalty 'could easily have gone the other way'. Why then do we persevere with it? The reason is that it is a better game than Rugby League. In Rugby League the ball carrier does not have to release the ball after a tackle and play stops when he goes to ground. He retains the ball for the next play. Passages of play are often short and there are no rucks, mauls or lineouts and few contested scrums. Like rugby, sailing could, perhaps, be made simpler - but would it be a better game? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION You know you're getting old when yellow becomes the big color -- walls, hair, teeth. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Gowrie Group - Summit Yachts - Team One Newport Melges Performance Sailboats - Southern Spars Point Loma Outfitting - North Sails - LaserPerformance Ullman Sails - Mount Gay Rum - Doyle Sails - APS Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
