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SCUTTLEBUTT 2473 – November 12, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, featuresand dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. SAILING EVENTS DECIDED FOR 2012 OLYMPIC (November 9, 2007) The ten sailing events for the 2012 Olympic Games have been decided by the ISAF Council during the 2007 ISAF Annual Conference. ISAF President Göran Petersson led the ISAF Council in over two hours of debate and discussion before the ten events were decided. The final slate of events was voted on by the members of the ISAF Council, which is formed of the ISAF Executive Committee (elected for a four-year term in November 2004), 28 appointed members (representing each of the regional groups of sailing nations), and representatives of the Offshore Committee, ISAF Classes Committee and a Women's Representative. The selection of the ten events is subject to final confirmation from the International Olympic Committee, with the equipment to then be selected by the ISAF Council in November 2008. The ten events selected for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition are: One person dinghy – Men (Laser) One person dinghy heavy – Men (Finn) Two person dinghy – Men (470) Two person dinghy high performance – Men (49er) Windsurfer - Men Keelboat - Men One person dinghy - Women Two person dinghy - Women Keelboat match racing - Women Windsurfer - Women THE VOTE To determine the ten sailing events for the 2012 Olympic Games, 36 ballot papers were submitted (two Council members did not vote after declaring a conflict of interest, and the President saved his vote in the case of a tie). The results of the vote were: Men – top six events selected One person dinghy – Men (36 votes) Windsurfer – Men (35 votes) Two person dinghy – Men (34 votes) Two person dinghy high performance – Men (34 votes) One person dinghy heavy – Men (33 votes) Keelboat – Men (23 votes) Multihull – Men or Open (21 votes) Women – top four events selected One person dinghy – Women (35 votes) Windsurfer – Women (34 votes) Two person dinghy – Women (31 votes) Keelboat match racing – Women (21 votes) Two person dinghy high performance – Women (20 votes) Multihull – Women (3 votes) Of the ten events selected, keelboat match racing for women is the only not featured on the programme for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition, with the multihull event being eliminated for 2012. It will be the first time women’s match racing has been on the Olympic programme, with the multihull event having been part of the Olympics continuously since 1976. -- Complete report: http://www.sailing.org/21257.php * (November 10, 2007) On its final day of ISAF Council meetings at the ISAF Annual Conference in Estoril, Portugal, the Council approved two new member nations, Kyrgyzstan and Oman, increasing the number of ISAF MNAs to 125. The number of ISAF Classes has also increased. The Musto Skiff had its status upgraded from Recognized to an ISAF International Class. The RS Tera, O’pen Bic Sport, Ultimate 20, Laser SB3 and TP52 all become ISAF Recognized Classes. -- Complete report: http://www.sailing.org/21260.php?PHPSESSID=5fa6cec2c8c8eb358d70149ff68c0cd6 NEW VPP-BASED RULE ANNOUNCED Estoril, Portugal (November 11, 2007) -- At the conclusion of its 38th Annual General Meeting, the Offshore Racing Congress has announcd the formation of a new VPP-based rating rule known as ORC International. This new rule will be ready for use starting in January 2008 and will replace the existing use of the International Measurement System for rating purposes. “ORC International will be simpler, easier to handle, more accurate and will be better at evaluating performance of different kinds of yachts,” said Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC. “Our goal is to maintain and expand our immense database of yacht data and use the current measurement procedures of the International Measurement System (IMS) to continue to provide accurate definitions and measurements.” ORC International will use the IMS platform of multiple modules from measurement to scoring. However, the software for the most important part - the Velocity Prediction Program (VPP) - has been completely rewritten, with major functions reviewed and recent submissions and research results implemented to produce a more powerful and flexible software package. – Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/1111a MAKE IT PERSONAL Thinking about gifting a sailcloth bag for the holidays this year? Why not make it that much more special by having the recipient's name or initials monogrammed on the bag. True Wind can monogram up to ten characters, in five different type styles, on any of its premium duffel, tote or accessory bags. Individually handcrafted in the U.S.A., True Wind bags feature new Hood sailcloth, solid brass hardware, and a nautical design that is truly original. Perfect for the boat or travel anywhere, a monogrammed True Wind bag is sure to be treasured. View the collection at http://www.truewindusa.com US-IRC GULF STREAM SERIES The 2008 Notice of Series is now online for the 3rd Annual US-IRC Gulf Stream Series, which invites the best yachts racing in the world to compete for individual and team trophies. The 2008 Racing Series begins with the 2008 Ft. Lauderdale to Key West and Acura Key West Race Week in January, and includes a list of events on the east coast of America, Bermuda and in the Caribbean before concluding with the Storm Trysail Club’s US-IRC East Coast Championship sailed the first weekend of November in Annapolis. Details at http://www.us-irc.org/2008_gulf_stream_series.cfm * It was a battle down to the wire for 1st place in the 2007 Gulf Stream Series. "Something is right," Michael Brennan said. "When a year-long series comes down to three boats neck and neck going into the last regatta of the series and the season." Brennan of Potomac, MD had just sailed his RP45 Sjambok to 3rd in the highly competitive Class 1 of the US-IRC East Coast Championship Series, and to 1st in the 2007 Gulf Stream Series. -- Complete story: http://www.us-irc.org/newsfull.cfm?ID=58 * The changes to IRC Rules For 2008 are now posted on the RORC website. Most of the changes to IRC Rules for 2008 are related to detail ‘administrative’ issues which at a day to day level will have little or no immediate effect, but there are also some more substantive changes included. Link: http://www.rorcrating.com/ir2000/IRC/2008/irc_rule_changes_2008.htm CELEBRATING AN ENDURING ISLAND BOY The International Star Class Yacht Racing Association and the Bahamas are celebrating the 90th birthday of Class Commodore, Sir Durward Knowles, which took place on November 10, 2007. Sir Durward was the Star World Champion in 1947 and had an Olympic career that spanned forty years from 1948 through 1988, a record he shares with Magnus Konow, Ivan Osuer, and Paul Elvstrom. At his Olympic debut in 1948 in Torquay, England, in which he represented England, he placed fourth. He won his first Olympic medal, a bronze, in 1956 at the Melbourne Olympics and in 1964 at the Tokyo Games he won the Bahamas first ever Olympic Gold medal sailing with Cecil Cooke as his crew. Following his seventh Olympic appearance, in 1972, everyone thought his Olympic career was over, but he returned in 1988, at the age of 70. It was his seventh time representing the Bahamas and his eighth and final Olympic appearance in the Star. In the history of the Olympic Games, Sir Durward was the third oldest competitor. Sir Durward has steered an enriching course of community service in the Bahamas where he has been Honorary Vice President of Charity Guide No. 37, Co-Chairman of One Bahamas, Vice President of the Bahamas Olympic Association, President of Bahamas Association for the Physically Disabled and Director of Sir Durward Knowles Cheshire Home, to name a few. Forever a champion of the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association, Sir Durward reflected on his accomplishments as a Bahamian sailor, “Any sailor who has won an Olympic Medal or won a World Championship in the Star Class is considered the best in the world. I had the distinction of winning a Bronze and a Gold, therefore it shows that an Island Boy from a population of 300,000, has the same chance to win a medal in the Olympics as a top notch sailor from anywhere in the world.” -- by Lynn Fitzpatrick TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE Reporting on the Transat Jacques Vabre, a 4,300-mile doublehanded ocean race from Le Harve, France to Salvador, Brazil, that started November 2-3: (November 11, 2007) By Monday, Groupama 2 (ORMA) should pass under the 1,000 miles to race before crossing the line in Bahia, Brazil. In comparison, after 7 days at sea, Ecover (IMOCA) will still have 2,000 miles to sail as will Crèpe Whaou! (Class 50), while Telecom Italia (Class 40) will be 2,600 miles away from the line. The only lead change is in the IMOCA Open 60 class, where Mike Golding and Bruno Dubois (Ecover 3) took the lead off Safran after 7 days at sea, crossing 50 meters in front of Groupe Bel Saturday night, with Safran now in third. -- Daily update: http://tinyurl.com/23rdjp Current Standings - Monohulls * IMOCA Open 60 (17 entered): Ecover III, Mike Golding/ Bruno Dubois * Class 40 (30 entered): Télécom Italia, Giovanni Soldini/Pietro D'ali Current Standings - Multihulls * ORMA 60 (5 entered): Groupama, Franck Cammas/Steve Ravussin * Class 50 (8 entered):Crèpes Whaou!,Franck Yves Escoffier/Karine Fauconnier Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/2jvkt4 Event website: http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en “THE FASTER YOU GO, THE EASIER THE TACTICS.” Art Silcox’s KA’IO just won the Beneteau 36.7 Mid-Atlantics (run concurrently with the IRC East Coast Championship) against a fleet which included the reigning North American champion. Tactician Jordan Smith reported: “Our key to success was simply speed. We always had the choice of sailing higher or faster than the nearest boats.” As with any one-design, great crew and great sails spell the difference. Congratulations to KA’IO who claimed this victory with an all UK-Halsey inventory. Summer is coming; what will you be sailing with? Call 800-253-2002 to reach the nearest UK-Halsey loft or go to http://www.ukhalsey.com BARCELONA WORLD RACE The Barcelona World Race double-handed round the world race got off with a clean start Sunday afternoon, under bright, sunny skies with the wind building to a Southerly of near 10 knots, just ahead of the 13:00 start time (12:00 GMT). Over 500 spectator boats were on hand to view the fleet of nine entries, with many thousands more crowded along the shoreline. Although the Barcelona World Race is a 25,000-mile marathon around the world, the start was more akin to a sprint with a hairpin turn mandated by the race organizers. Following the start, the fleet headed for a turning mark 2.5 nautical miles away. Leaving the mark to starboard, the fleet returned to pass through the starting line, and then followed the course around another two marks about five miles from the starting line (to keep them away from a commercial shipping mooring area), rounded another mark some 25 miles from the starting line before finally choosing their own route around the three capes before returning to Spain in approximately three months. Positions as of November 11, 2007 - 18:00 (GMT) 1. PRB - Vincent Riou (FRA) & Sébastien Josse (FRA) 2. Delta Dore - Jérémie Beyou (FRA) & Sidney Gavignet (FRA), 2 miles DTL 3. Veolia Environnement - Roland Jourdain (FRA) & Jean-Luc Nélias (FRA), 3 4. Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson (GBR) & Andrew Cape (AUS), 4 4. Paprec-Virbac 2 - Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA) & Damian Foxall (IRE), 4 4. Estrella Damm - Guillermo Altadill (ESP) & Jonathan McKee (USA), 4 7. Mutua Madrilena - Javier Sanso Windmann (ESP) & Pachi Rivero (ESP), 5 8. Temenos II - Dominique Wavre (SUI) & Michéle Paret (FRA), 6 9. Educación sin Fronteras - Albert Bargués (ESP)/Servanne Escoffier (FRA),18 Race website: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com Photos from the start by Jürg Kaufmann and Thierry Martinez: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/1110/ * Curmudgeon’s Comment: “Early indicators are that the information coming from the race website is going to be excellent. However, this should come as no surprise as the race is managed by OC Events, which also owns The Transat (ex-OSTAR), and is part of the OC Group established in 1997 by Mark Turner and Dame Ellen MacArthur. We have seen how well the OC Group marketed MacArthur’s races and record attempts, including her successful solo, non-stop round the world record, and so far it looks like they are on their game with the Barcelona World Race as well.” * Comments Jonathan McKee, “This race is something new and is exciting for me and this style of racing certainly captured my imagination. Right from the very beginning I’ve always enjoyed doing different kinds of sailing. I’ve dabbled a lot. I’ve continued to do that throughout my career rather than specialize in one kind of racing. Ocean racing and sailing on big boats is something I have always done but on this scale, never anything as big as a round the world race. It’s a big challenge. Over the last few years I’ve spent some time sailing on Open 60’s, enough to know what I am getting myself into as far as the boat is concerned. Being at sea for three months, will be an entirely new experience. The longest I’ve been at sea is 20 days so we’ll have to see how around 80 days goes.” -- Complete text of interview: http://tinyurl.com/2dtgfe SAILING SHORTS * Baltimore, MD (November 10, 2007) -- In an impressive display of sailing talent in conditions that ranged from drifting to breeze-on, former Team New Zealand tactician Terry Hutchinson bested a field of five other America's Cup helmsmen and tacticians to win the 2007 MASN Senator's Cup. Sailing in J/105's donated for the event, Hutchinson defeated former Aloha Challenge tactician Chris Larson 2-0 in the Finals following a 2-1 win against former Stars and Stripes helmsman John Bertrand in the Semi-Finals and winning the light-air single round robin in a tie-break. -- Complete story: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/1111 * Last week, the 810-ft container ship Cosco Busan was leaving San Francisco Bay for Pusan, South Korea in dense fog when it sideswiped the Bay Bridge, tearing an enormous 160-ft-long gash in its side. Initially, the owners of the ship reported that only 140 gallons of bunker fuel had spilled, a claim the Coast Guard officially supported. It was clear early on, though, that significantly more fuel had escaped the ship's holds, causing the Coast Guard and clean-up agencies to scramble to contain what's now estimated to be 58,000 gallons of oil. -- Lectronic Latitude, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2w3ofd * Sixty-six entries competed in the 5-race tune-up event for the A-Class World Championship, which begins in earnest on November 12th. If past World Champion Glenn Ashby (AUS) was hiding any of his cards, he didn’t too good a job at it, as he rolled to a 3-2-1-1-1 scorecard to win the pre-worlds event. 100 entries are expected to compete in the Words, with racing concluding on Friday, November 16th. -- http://www.acatworlds.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar EIGHT BELLS We lost Drew Gaulden Reed a week ago last Monday at age 91. Drew was a waterman, surfer, sailor, diver, marina builder and the man to whom Mickey Munoz, Phil Edwards, and Hobie Alter brought the first Hobie cat to present on the east coast all those years ago. Drew owned Hobie Cat #2. He continued his love for sailing promoting Hobie Cat Racing and competing in every venue of that sport for over 50 years. Born in New Smyrna Beach, Florida in 1916 and raised in Daytona Beach, Florida, Drew inspired all of us with his kindness and guidance throughout his wonderful life. "Captain" for Dr. Jim Edwards on his boats, "Constellation" and "Abracadabra", he even named his Hobie 18 Magnum "Abracadabra", but it was better known as the "Baby Ab". A member of the Hei Nalu, an elite club of Hawaiian Watermen, he was instrumental in the campaign for the America’s Cup based out of Hawaii. A friend of Kama Aina, Hawaiian and Samoan Chiefs, and Haoli alike, he will be missed by us all. A raging beach party has been preplanned by him on the Friday following Thanksgiving. It will be held on the beach in front of The Silver Sands Hotel, Daytona Beach, Florida. Parking and access to the beach will be free! A mission he championed since charging of access commenced in the '70's. Anyone caught crying will be asked to leave. God Bless you Gaulden! -- D. Randy West “MAN OVERBOARD” Preparing for next year’s Bermuda Race? A race to Mexico? Or do you just want the very best man-overboard gear for your crew? SeaMarshall’s personal Alerting Units and SarFinder homing receiver are the accepted standard in overboard recovery gear. What is peace of mind worth? Contact Chip Barber: mailto:admin@chbarber.com or http://www.chbarber.com/seamarshall.html LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Dick Enersen: Not only does Ernesto Bertarelli want to run the America's Cup the way Bernie Ecclestone runs Formula One Racing, he seems to think he is Bernie Ecclestone and that the AC is F1. Maybe it's because they have the same initials, albeit in reverse order. While we may agree that the Cup might benefit from better organization, it can't be imposed unilaterally, and the Deed of Gift simply can't be ignored. Judge Cahn is contemplating the principal issue right now, and we have reason to hope he will opine before Thanksgiving. In the meantime, I find it interesting to contemplate the bigger picture of Ernesto's scheme. My guess is that he really wants to abandon match racing in favor of fleet racing. A clue to this can be found in the design parameters of the new class he has proposed, which is a box rule 90 foot sport boat with "as big as you dare make them" a-sails. Match racing in such boats would be ridiculous. One of the good things about the AC Class, or 12 Meters, for that matter, is that their downwind VMG isn't much greater than their upwind VMG. Unless the 90 footers are overlapped at the first weather mark, the race will be over at that point, since as soon as the lead boat bears away, the speed difference will put it so far ahead that it will be nearly impossible for the trailing boat to use the blanketing advantage to catch up. To have a chance at victory, a designer will have to emphasize upwind performance and thereby compromise the boat's downwind ability. – Read on, and post comments at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5506 * From Phil and Jeanne Marriner: (regarding the Eight Bells announcement in Issue 2471) We knew Dick for many years. In the 1940's and 50's Dick, Don Street, and we raced Comets on L.I. Sound. When he wanted to start Frostbiting, we helped him find a good Penguin. In the late 1960's, when Outdoor Sports Industries bought Hard Sails and asked me to run the company, I brought Dick in as Sales Manager. He joined a great group of young sailors including Ben Hall and Steve Sprole. We all had fun expanding Hard Sails. When I left to work with Bob Bainbridge in Boston, Steve Sprole and Dick took over running Hard Sails. In the summers we all raced on Peconic Bay. We spoke with Dick in Florida this past summer, where he was looking forward to seeing Gary Jobson at a Sayville, L.I. regatta. We have many memories of Dick and were sad to hear of his passing. * From Chris Boome: Hats off to Scuttlebutt for promoting the US Sailing fund raiser...I had never heard of it before and was embarrassed to see they only raised $53000 last year and that their goal was only $75000 for this year. Does anybody else cringe when they hear how much money the other countries (Can you say England?) are giving to promote sailing? Something is wrong that this is such a secret; I can't believe the sailors in the USA will not pony up more than that to give our young sailors a little help. I think they will now that they know about it...just in case you missed it yesterday, go to http://www.ussailing.org/donations and give them something, nobody has to give a lot, but we should all give something. * From Thomas Hubbell, Vice President, US SAILING: Recent commentaries have addressed the idea of Homeland Security getting excited about sailboats as a possible threat. Generally “under the radar” is the fact that US SAILING has representation in Washington with years of work invested to develop personal, effective relationships with decision-makers on the hill and in agencies. Cause and effect are difficult to measure but without that effort, things would be worse now. With that, we can be optimistic about this excessive notion getting its due. (Reason #42 to support US SAILING with your membership.) * From John Harwood-Bee: (Re: ISAF choice of 2012 Olympic events) Well that makes good sense then.... have a committee to review classes and make recommendations.... have them make some inexplicable decisions... totally ignore them... make your own completely irrational choices and drop the one class of vessel (multihull) that is rapidly growing in popularity both in racing and cruising. What planet are some of these people on? Why so many men's events? It would have been much easier to have dropped one of the men's classes and had an 'open' multihull event. Oh well, I suppose it will be back to boredom, lack of TV coverage, and eventually the dropping of sailing altogether, especially if, as is being forecast, the sailing in China next year is becalmed. Couple this with the latest AC nonsense released in Issue 2472 (sailing the old boats in the ACTS series, what is that about?) and one must question what will be next. It does beg the question 'are any of these people actually in touch with the REAL sailing fraternity?’ * From Bob Billingham: Many thanks to the Curmudgeon for the detailed coverage of the ISAF Olympic Events selection process. It's a complicated, political process that impacts many dedicated sailors. Spreading a little light on the process is beneficial to the sailing community. * From Andi Robertson: It is all as clear as mud since the cat could live on if voted in as men's high performance dinghy. VETERAN’S DAY The Veteran’s Day holiday is being observed throughout the United States on Monday, November 12, 2007 to honor military veterans. This issue of Scuttlebutt is dedicated to all military veterans of the United States and its allies. CURMUDGEON’S CONUNDRUM Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto is on all fours? They are both dogs. Special thanks to True Wind, UK-Halsey Sailmakers, and C.H. Barber. |
