|
SCUTTLEBUTT 3428 - Friday, September 16, 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: Southern Spars and West Marine. THE (LOST) ART OF SETTING REACH LEGS By Ken Legler "We want occasional reach legs" and "Reaches are parades" are two often heard phrases on Scuttlebutt. Most reach legs have become parades with few strategical options and as a result most big regattas are all windward-leewards. It didn't used to be that way. Here is what happened. In the 1960's many, if not most, one-design races were long modified triangles. The reaches were so long you couldn't see the reach mark. They were physically demanding in breeze and very strategical in variable winds. In the 1970's US Sailing (NAYRU then) began emphasizing better race management. Gold Medalist Bill Bentsen was the race management mentor/guru at the US Sailing Center at Association Island, NY (Lake Ontario) where race management was greatly refined. Using a combination of Inland Lakes (ILYA) methodology and Bentsen's creativity, sailing instructions were standardized, starting lines were mobile for wind shifts, and windward legs were optimized. With the leeward mark a tenth of a mile up from the start, the reach legs became short. After ten or fifteen years of this reach legs became eliminated as W-L's became standard. Gates were introduced (by Paul Elvstrom), improving upon the W-L course. Gary Bodie, former US Olympic head coach, once said that the demise of one-design racing is partly a result of better race management. With courses away from land set square to the wind, the fastest win and the slowest give up and disappear. Reach legs are attempted now and then and indeed too often are parades. Bring back the big modified triangle especially in heavy air and while we're at it, how about a longer point to point race such as the "Round the Island Race." Let's do the math.If we have a one mile beat with a right triangle (45-90-45 degree angles) and the leeward mark is at the start, then the reaches are only .7 miles long. Now, let's set the course with the same windward mark but the leeward mark is one mile downwind. Increase the reaching angle with an equilateral triangle (60-60-60 angles) and voila, two mile reaches which are no longer parades. Instead reaches become a test of sailing skill that, like RC's setting the best angle and length reach legs, is a lost art. My next regatta is the Snow and Satisfaction at Yale in 420s. Some of my best memories in the sport are the long high speed surfing and planning reaches on the widest part of Long Island Sound during one of the windiest times of year, November. It's been awhile because in recent years the RC has attempted reaches by dragging a gate mark out for short broad reaches instead of the epic modified triangle reaches. I don't ski, don't surf, don't skate board, but I can still plane a club 420 in the right conditions. NOTE: Ken is a highly sought out Principal Race Officer, and has been a fixture at Key West Race Week since 1994. He has also been the head coach at Tufts University since 1980, where he worked with such notables as Josh Adams, Betsy Allison, Pete Levesque, Bill Lynn, Mark Mendelblatt, and Nevin Sayre. EIGHT RACES - EIGHT WINNERS Newport, RI (September 15, 2011) - A lack of breeze and fog contributed to a brief postponement ashore this morning to push back the start of the third day of racing at the 2011 New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex. By noon, however, the 22 competing yacht club teams had returned to now-familiar territory north of Newport's Pell Bridge and, with two winners in the two races held today, continued the established pattern that has now seen eight different teams win the eight races sailed thus far in the series. A key mover for the day was the Newport Harbor Yacht Club (NHYC) team from Newport Beach, California, who moved into third overall with 61 points after finishes of 4-2. "We were getting off the starting line a lot better today, that was a big part of it" said Payson Infelise, NHYC tactician, explaining that NHYC had struggled with that. "We feel like we've been sailing pretty well and we're happy to be here learning, especially for our first time around. "Putting time in on the boat is huge. There are a couple of teams that own their own boat, and the North American teams [Annapolis, Eastern and Royal Canadian Yacht Clubs] who have been here sailing this summer certainly have an advantage. But, at the same time, we've already seen a huge improvement. People are learning the boats and I think any advantage is almost gone and everyone is up to speed. Its all about getting off the line, getting that first shift, a clean lane and going fast." There are three races left in the planned 11-race series and racing resumes Friday and concludes Saturday. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/MNYYC-IC-091511 Results after Day Three - Top 5 of 22 1. Royal Canadian Yacht Club (CAN), 2-1-4-2-4-2-8-6, 29 pts 2. New York Yacht Club (USA), 4-2-8-10-3-1-4-2, 34 3. Newport Harbor Yacht Club (USA), 8-3-7-1-17-12-10-3, 61 4. Annapolis Yacht Club (USA), 11-10-12-6-1-3-3-14, 63 5. Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (HKG), 3-8-2-19-2-18-13-5, 70 Full results: http://www.invitationalcup.org/results-and-tracking BACKGROUND: The New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex is an amateur fleet racing regatta held in Swan 42 Class yachts. The regatta is hosted by the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) in Newport, Rhode Island, in alternate years and was first held in 2009. SUCCESS FOR SOUTHERN SPARS AT THE 2011 MAXI YACHT ROLEX CUP Southern Spars-rigged yachts achieved impressive results across all four divisions in the 2011 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. Ran's second successive triumph in the Mini Maxi Rolex Worlds was in the bag after a convincing start to the week, when she won three of her four bullets. Three weeks earlier Niklas Zennstrom's Ran also claimed a second straight overall victory at the Rolex Fastnet Race. Sir Irvine Laidlaw's 82-ft Highland Fling scored overall victory in the Maxi Racing division, closely followed by Igor Simic's bigger and faster 100-ft Esimit Europa 2 (SLO). For more information on Southern Spars' maxi rig technology, visit http://www.southernspars.com NATIONS CUP GRAND FINAL Sheboygan, WI (September 15, 2011) - In a brisk northerly wind which made for good but chilly conditions, Mads Ebler (DEN, crew Soeren Toender, Chris Keene Boye) continued his domination of the open division in the Nations Cup Grand Final Thursday as Olivia Price (AUS, crew Lucinda Whitty, Nina Curtis) won all of her Thursday matches to top the women's division at the end of the round robin sailed on Lake Michigan. In the nine-team open division, Laurie Jury (NZL, crew Logan Fraser, Mike Edmonds) and Lucy Macgregor (GBR, crew Annie Lush, Kate Macgregor) tied with six wins each, securing their places in the semifinals with Ebler. In the 10-team women's division, 2009 Nations Cup winner Claire Leroy (FRA, crew Elodie Bertrand, Marie Riou) and Mandy Mulder (NED, crew Merel Witteveen, Shannen Marck) each finished the round robin with seven wins. Price, who also moves to the semifinals, lost only to Mulder during the round robin. A repechage round on Friday determine the fourth semi-finalist in both division. Light wind is forecast early but expected to increase toward afternoon. Full report: http://tinyurl.com/NC-091511 Results after Day 2: http://tinyurl.com/NC-results-091511 BACKGROUND: The Grand Final of the ISAF Nations Cup on September 14-18 is the culmination of a series of eight match racing regattas that started in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on March 24th. -- http://www.sailing.org/nations-cup.php NOTHING GREEK ABOUT ARTEMIS' SUCCESS Plymouth, UK (September 15, 2011) - For the second day running, Artemis Racing won two of the three fleet race heats in the seeding series for the Plymouth Match Racing Championship. With a second place to add to the two bullets, Terry Hutchinson's team will enter the Match Racing Championship as the top ranked team. "The trimmers had us going as well as the boat has ever gone," said skipper Terry Hutchinson." The breeze was steadier and slightly stronger than the previous day, making it easier for the leaders to stay ahead once they were in front. This put a lot of emphasis on the need for a good start, and time after time some crews pushed it too hard, being forced to go back and restart. In the first race ORACLE Racing Coutts was over early, next heat it was Team Korea, and in the final heat Green Comm Racing and ORACLE Racing Spithill. The Plymouth Match Racing Championship continues on Friday, with match racing quarter and semi finals scheduled. As top seed, Artemis Racing has a bye into the semi finals, and will not race on Friday. The other eight teams will fight to advance in head to head match races. Full story: http://tinyurl.com/ACUP-091511 Video highlights: http://youtu.be/fFsCve_diBk Current results: http://tinyurl.com/ACWS-Plymouth-results ACWS-Plymouth website: http://tinyurl.com/ACWS-Plymouth Race schedule: http://tinyurl.com/ACWS-Plymouth-rev-schedule LIVESTREAM: Racing begins on Friday at 14:10 local time (09:10 EDT). There will also be a post race press conference streamed at 18:00 local time (13:00 EDT). Viewing online at www.youtube.com/americascup TELEVISION: A reminder for U.S. viewers that the Versus cable channel will be broadcast a one hour highlights show on Sunday, September 18 at 7:00 P.M. ET. TECHNOLOGY: Since the replacement of the damaged port hull two days ago, telemetry onboard the Green Comm Racing yacht has been malfunctioning. It is the onboard electronics that provide input on the coarse boundaries, and for the past two days the team has received what they believe are unjust penalties for sailing outside the race area. According to the team, the display of the distance to the border can freeze at 100 meters and then suddenly show a penalty. "It is very hard to have a competitive start since we don't know where the borders are," explained helmsman Vasilij Zbogar. "I was actually more worried about the borders than about nailing the start and positioning the boat." -- http://www.americascup.com/en/Teams/Green-Comm-Racing/Latest/ CONSPIRACY THEORY: Documents have been uncovered that are raising serious questions about why San Francisco recently declared a pier unsafe and told all the tenants to leave. As KTVU first reported last week, city building inspectors have declared Pier 38 in San Francisco unsafe. On Wednesday, Mayor Ed Lee emphatically stated the sudden red tagging and upcoming evictions of the tenants was not done so the organizers of America's Cup can take it over. "We don't have any plans to use Pier 38," said Mayor Lee. "It's not been part of draft plans or permanent plans." But Aaron Peskin, the former president of the Board of Supervisors, isn't convinced. -- Read on: http://www.ktvu.com/news/29189566/detail.html BANKABLE: An America's Cup regatta being held in Rhode Island next summer will give the state's economy a $72 million boost and create 400 jobs, state officials said Thursday. Keith Stokes, the executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, held up the nine-day America's Cup World Series event - to be hosted in the seaside city of Newport - as a jump-starter for the economy that will have a positive "ripple effect" for years to come. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/Chron-091511 QUALITY OVER QUANTITY Since its launch in 2005, the Audi MedCup has grown to become the world's leading keelboat fleet racing circuit. No other series has as much money, effort, and talent committed to winning the season championship. For the professional sailor, this gig can pay the bills. But an evolving TP52 design rule and a retracting economy has whittled the fleet size down from its high of 21 boats in 2008 to just 7 teams this year for three of the five events. While the level of racing remains ridiculously high, can these numbers provide enough panache to keep the commercial interests involved? Nacho Postigo, Technical Director of the Audi MedCup Circuit, likes what he has seen this year. "The potential of all campaigns has been getting higher and closer every year. There are no more favourites or outsiders. Every team can beat the others. We had four different winners in four events in the 52 Series, and the boats often finished within seconds." Regarding the fleet size, Postigo believes quality should rule over quantity. "We prefer to have these eight truly competitive 52 Series campaigns to just having higher numbers of boats that can't match the pace on the race course. We are aiming for attractive regattas and want to inspire new owners. The TP 52 is the de facto top monohull class for grand prix racing in the world on the world's leading regatta circuit. It's dynamic, challenging and telegenic." Keeping the circuit vibrant relies on fulfilling multiple interests. "First of all, a new regatta venue needs to provide good sailing conditions," explains Postigo. "But any venue should also appeal to the criteria desirable to owners and crews, and it must represent an important market to the title sponsor. And last every event has serious logistical requirements, and it needs to fit into the budget." Looking forward to 2012, Postigo anticipates some changes. "Right now we're looking into a different route for the 2012 circuit. There might be a regatta in Northern Europe next time. We plan to announce the route of the upcoming Audi MedCup Circuit by the end of this year. This will still give us enough time to build up the tension in all countries. I'm a hundred percent sure that we'll have another great season with dramatic racing in 2012." Source: http://www.medcup.org/interviews/new_venues_possible_for_2012_5308 * Barcelona, Spain (September 15, 2011) - The race for the 2011 TP52 Audi MedCup Circuit title stepped ever higher in intensity after the Spanish crew on Bribon finished today's lone light air race in second to take the lead of the Conde de Godo City of Barcelona Trophy, and to close the gap on overall leader Quantum Racing. Less than 13 points separate Quantum Racing from fourth placed Audi Azzurra (ITA) with up to four races of the season left. The American flagged team, which won the overall title in 2008, lead Spain's Bribon by just seven points. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/MedCup-091511 WEST MARINE SPECIAL OFFER FOR SCUTTLEBUTT READERS Shop online and get FREE Ground Shipping, no minimum purchase, now through Sunday, Sept 18, at 11:59pm PT. Use coupon code SCUTTLE at checkout. Free Shipping valid within 48 contiguous states only. Offer excludes hazardous, oversized, truck freight and special order items. http://bit.ly/WMSB080411 SAILING SHORTS * Trapani, Sicily (September 15, 2011) - The second day of Act 6 in Trapani delivered fantastic sailing conditions for the Extreme 40 fleet - sunshine and a breeze that built to over 20 knots. While Alinghi managed to hold on at the top of the leaderboard, Max Siren's team on Luna Rossa pushed hard today scoring two 1st places and three 2nd places to climb from 5th place to 2nd overall. The format now shifts from the ocean course to the 'stadium' where the 10 Extreme 40s will be racing inside the harbour of Trapani for the next three days. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/ESS-091511 * In Sailing World's College Rankings as of September 15, 2011, Yale edges out Boston College to claim the top spot in both the coed and women's rankings after their third place finish at the Harry Anderson this past weekend. Full rankings here: http://tinyurl.com/SW-091511 * Sail magazine announced the 2012 Best Boats fleet in its September issue. This year's lineup of more than 40 newcomers is made up of monohulls and catamarans of all sizes making their debut at the fall boat shows. There are five Best Boats categories: small boats, cruising monohulls, cruising multihulls, performance boats and flagships, plus awards for excellence in systems, deck and cockpit plan and accommodations. -- Soundings, read on: http://tinyurl.com/TOT-091511 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include crash, fresh, friendly, hockey, carnival, national, eventual, soaking, and broken. Here are this week's photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0916/ BONUS: Photographer Fried Elliott shares this gallery from the Star Centennial Celebration at Larchmont Yacht Club: http://photos.friedbits.com/2011starcentennialusa SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: If you have images to share for the Photos of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK Featuring a race of the 2011 Sydney Flying Squadron's Historic Australian 18ft Skiff Championship, this clip profiles the offwind sail plan and crack crew work on this classic design. We also get to see the skill of internationally famous yacht racing skipper and match racer Harold Cudmore, who wiggled the tiller just enough to cause a trailing boat to make a mistake they shall hope to never repeat. Commentary by Robert Killick. Click here for this week's video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/11/0916/ BONUS: This video captures what we believe to be the worst spinnaker drop of the year... maybe the decade. Thanks to T2P.tv for being in the helicopter at the Rolex Big Boat Series to film it: http://youtu.be/UgbXOPO1BlM SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: If you have clips to share for the Video of the Week, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com 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 Rodger Martin: Hear bloody hear! I design fast boats and racing boats, but rarely race because of the inanity of windward/leeward courses. I used to enjoy the odd race with a friend at a local club that raced around islands or navigational marks. That club's capitulation to W/L races in family evening races has done it for me. * From Russ Chapman, President Mass Bay Sailing Assn: I am somewhat bemused by Gary Shaver's comment in Scuttlebutt 3427. While I don't dispute that reaching requires thinking, I propose that any racing requires thinking. The issue is that reaching requires LESS thinking than a true downwind leg does. Just like an upwind leg requires anticipating, recognizing and executing a strategy based on wind shifts, pressure and current, why should the off the wind leg be any different? Should we stop having upwind legs as well and simply reach back and forth? I would posit that it is the reaching legs that "simplify" the racing by taking away more of the strategic decision making. As far as spinnaker handling goes, a typical downwind leg can have many gibes - not just one at a wing mark. I will agree that doing a few reaches as in Gold Cup or Olympic format courses can be a nice change of pace occasionally, but I would wholeheartedly disagree that W/L courses are boring and reducing participation. I can't tell you how many times I have heard that reaching legs are the boring ones that mostly only provide a "parade" and are not as mentally challenging. NOTE: Russ is also a PHRF Marblehead Governor and a Director for the New England Yacht Racing Council. * From Giovanni Iannucci: I read with much interest on Scuttlebutt 3426 'Tragedy Hits Home' and the full story on the website. I was surprised the report by Peter Isler and Gary Jobson did not mention at all safety harnesses. I think they are at least as important as PFDs and in most cases they can prevent a man overboard emergency. Here is the link to the story: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12587#12587 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION I'm not driving fast - just flying low. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Summit Yachts - IYRS - North Sails - Gowrie Group Team One Newport - Doyle Sails - J Boats - Ullman Sails JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Southern Spars - West Marine Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
