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SCUTTLEBUTT 3385 - Monday, July 18, 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: Summit Yachts and Kaenon Polarized. A GRAND ILLUSION AND MORE (July 17, 2011) - There's one thing, well, more than one but one great thing the Transpacific Yacht Race has going for it. The big finish. The Molokai Channel. Maybe you got stuck in the fog off Catalina and spent years, yes, years getting out of town. Maybe the Pacific High Pressure Zone pulled a gotcha and reached down and swallowed the lane that you thought was going to sweep you to glory, but instead you watched the little transponder blips that represent the competition just walk away on a different latitude line. Maybe you swore off this madness once and for all a thousand miles out as you crawled through the drips into your alleged bed for a couple of hours sleep, if you're lucky. And then you get here. The islands rise on the horizon, clear and lovely. The breeze rises behind you and funnels down the Molokai Channel and there you are on the ride of a lifetime, and the water is whitecapped and tropical blue, and the sky is tropical blue with puffy tradewind clouds, and ahead lies that iconic Diamond Head finish line that has beckoned racing sailors for over a century, generation after generation. This is the ride of the legends. So go ahead, "Dr. Laura" Schlessinger, first-time Transpac finisher as of Sunday morning at 1036. Go ahead and joke about how you're "joining Transpac Anonymous." Welcome to the club. I signed up after my first Transpac, about three Transpacs ago. About your finish on Katana I also heard: "What can you say when the wind is 30 knots and the waves are boiling eight feet high, and I'm driving? The water was coming down the deck, and sometimes I couldn't even see out. And I didn't lose the boat. I.did.not.lose.the.boat!" Heh. Through the night and into the day (and continuing overnight) there are finishers arriving at Transpac Row with that peculiar thousand-yard-stare of fatigue on top of a crazed grin of thrills and accomplishment. But the leaderboard stabilized for most divisions hundreds of miles ago. Representing the Waikiki Yacht Club, James McDowell's SC70, Grand Illusion, ran 1-1 most of the way across, 2,225 miles, Los Angeles to Honolulu, and finished at 02:59 a.m. Sunday from a July 8 start. (results are not official, but Grand Illusion has no obvious threats) -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0717a/ COMMENT: It was a busy weekend in Transpac land, with Hap Fauth earning first to finish honors when his 74 foot mini maxi Bella Mente finished on Friday at 05:44:28, edging Doug Baker's Magnitude 80 by a margin of 2 hours, 51 minutes. To get caught up, here are the daily race reports: http://www.transpacrace.com/medianews/features Sharon Green photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0717/ Race website: http://www.transpacrace.com Tracking/Standings: http://live.adventuretracking.com/transpac2011 CAPSIZE ON THE HUDSON RIVER Here are the pictures from the evening race at the Manhattan Sailing Club on July 14, 2011. During the race, a brief but vicious thunderstorm came through New York Harbor, with winds of 45-50 knots and driving rain. One of the boats, a J/24 named Great Republic, capsized, almost righted itself, and then went over for good, sinking just northeast of Ellis Island. There were no injuries. The skipper and crew were calm and professional, organizing themselves at the safest positions on the overturned boat. Help from the Manhattan Sailing Club support boats came quickly, and the crew was pulled out of the water. Other sailing boats from the race that were close by came to assist as well. And then, of course, after the storm... a beautiful rainbow. View the pictures and additional details here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0715/ AN IDEAL FAMILY DAY BOAT Looking for a beautiful, fast, easily handled daysailer? Look no further than this stunning Mark Mills design, the md35 from Summit Yachts. The standard teak deck, electric main sheet winch, and retractable sprit make this an ideal family day boat. The md35 makes a great PHRF and one design race boat as well. Easily transported and stored with its available custom trailer, this boat ticks off just about anyone's wish list for the ideal family boat. Check this out as well as the complete line of Summit Yachts at http://www.summit-yachts.com WHAT IS THE 'CLEAN REGATTAS' PROGRAM? The America's Cup Event Authority (ACEA), which is responsible for marketing, communications, and realizing the full commercial potential of the event, has partnered with Sailors for the Sea, an organization that was founded to educate and engage the boating community in the worldwide protection of the oceans. "Sailors for the Sea is proud to work with the America's Cup Event Authority to implement our Clean Regattas program that supports a clean and healthy ocean ecosystem while reducing the environmental footprint of the America's Cup World Series, the Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup Finals," said Sailors for the Sea CEO Daniel Pingaro. So what is the 'Clean Regattas' program? To become a part of the Clean Regattas Program, follow these steps: 1. Register online for Clean Regattas. 2. Complete the administrative tasks and engage on at least one best practice (see below). 3. Regattas that wish to be certified at the Bronze, Silver or Gold Level must engage on enough practices to be certified at that level (5 for Bronze, 10 for Silver, 15 for Gold). 4. Fill out online post-regatta feedback form. BEST PRACTICES 1. Water Bottle Reduction - Reduce single-use, disposable water bottles at the event site by providing Water Stations and Reusable Bottles to participants (participants can also be expected to provide their own reusable bottles). SfS has several proven strategies for carrying this out. 2. Green Team - Assemble a team to work on shore and sea cleanup, oversee recycling operations and communicate the goals and agenda of the program throughout the event. 3. Trash Free Regatta - Keep your shores and waters clear of debris. Overboard discharge of trash and littering at shore facilities (e.g., rigging tape, cigarette butts, bottles and cans) should be prevented completely 4. No Discharge - Prevent discharge of untreated sewage or blackwater in harbor areas and on race courses throughout the event. 5. Recycling - Provide recycling services at shore facilities for participants to deposit separated recyclable materials (e.g. bottles, cans, paper). The more that can be separated and hauled away the better Read on for Best Practices 6 through 19: http://sailorsforthesea.org/programs-and-projects/clean-regattas.aspx PUMA'S SUMMER TRAINING HEADQUARTERS When the PUMA Ocean Racing team crossed the finish line for the Transatlantic Race last Monday at Lizard Point in the U.K., they knew they had secured the provisional win in both IRC Class 1 and IRC Overall on corrected time. After PUMA's Mar Mostro and crew had completed the 2,975 nautical mile course in 7 days, 11 hours and 40 minutes, one would think they would drop sails and celebrate. But that was never the plan for this team preparing for the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race. After the finish, skipper Ken Read continued on south to Lanzarote, Spain, in the Canary Islands, arriving last Friday. "The shore team met us at the dock, and there was a really nice celebration from the team, marina and the locals here in Lanzarote," said skipper Ken Read. "After a well-earned shower, the first steps are always to eat as much as you can possibly stuff down, have a few beers and relax. Then, the next couple days we'll go back to work hard." With the PUMA shore base set up, the Puerto Calero Marina in Lanzarote is now the team's summer training headquarters. The crew will use the next two months to test the boat, sails, people and systems. "Lanzarote was selected for a few reasons," Read said. "First of all, the guys on our team who sailed with Ericsson 4 last time trained here and had a fantastic experience - from the community to the sailing. And, it is the sailing conditions that we need now in this next phase. This amount of breeze will allow us to test things that we weren't able to check in Newport. That's the beauty of training in two different places - two completely different areas, different weather patterns, different water temperatures - there are all kinds of variables that are critical to preparation. "Now that we've had almost four days to reflect upon the race, we're all really pleased with not only the result, but also with the boat and the people. We talked about what we can do better and how we can improve. So, our work list is that much better because of the last four days we've spent together." -- Full report: http://www.puma.com/sailing/news/were-not-in-newport-anymore ALONE IN FRANCE The 2011 Mini Transat starts on September 25 off of La Rochelle, France. From there, the 84 registered boats will race 1,100 miles across the Bay of Biscay, then down the coast of Portugal to Madeira, where the fleet rests and makes repairs before re-starting and racing the final 3,100 miles to the finishing line in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. All told, the 2011 Mini Transat represents 4,200 miles of racing, a 1,000-mile qualifier and many, many months of preparation, planning and training. In the world of European offshore sailing, having a dialed-in shore team and plenty of sponsorship is rapidly becoming the norm, making it much harder for "regular" sailors to participate. Amongst her fellow skippers participating in the 2011 Mini Transat Race, American Emma Creighton stands out for several important reasons. If successful, she will become the second American female skipper to complete the 4,200-mile ocean race that starts in La Rochelle, France and ends in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. But unlike her fully sponsored rivals, Creighton is also preparing USA 574 - her 21-foot carbon-fiber Classe Mini raceboat - alone in France, without a title sponsor and without speaking French. She is also one of just four women competing in the 2011 Mini Transat, and the only female skipper racing in the prestigious Prototype class. Despite these hurdles, Creighton remains steadfast and confident in her goal. "Running this campaign has been the most complex challenge of my life," said Creighton. "I grew up on a small island in Maine - I was around boats my whole life, but I didn't start racing until I got to college. This is on a whole new level." Like all sane singlehanded skippers, Creighton built up to her Mini Transat campaign. After graduating from Tufts University in 2007, Creighton worked delivering boats up and down the east coast, before relocating to San Francisco in early 2009 to take advantage of its big-breeze and high-seas training conditions. In 2010 Creighton raced in the Pacific Cup, sailing USA 574 from Los Angeles to Hawaii with co-skipper Andy Hamilton. "Racing to Hawaii was a great time, but I had Andy with me," said Creighton. "For the Mini Transat, I'll be facing every sail change and gear failure myself. That's a lot of responsibility, but I'm confident that I have the miles and the experience to safely get myself - and USA 574 - to Brazil." -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0717/ PROTECTION AND PERFORMANCE We call it FUNction. Kaenon Polarized delivers maximum protection from the elements with pure, top-shelf performance. Today, nothing rivals Kaenon's patented SR-91 polarized lenses for visual clarity, color definition and detail, along with the safety of impact resistance, all in one extremely lightweight lens package. Combine visual superiority and protection with comfortable, performance-engineered frame designs that outperform on the job, uniquely and originally styled, and you have Kaenon Polarized. Designed for both men and women (boys and girls, too!). Available in prescription. Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. http://www.kaenon.com WINDSURFING SPOTLIGHT SWINGS TO SAN FRANCISCO The 2011 Bic Techno 293 (T293) Windsurfing World Championships is set to take San Francisco Bay by storm this upcoming July 19th through the 24th. There will be 200+ competitors taking it to the water all vying for the World Championship Title. It has been nearly two decades since the infamous waters of San Francisco Bay hosted a World Championship level windsurfing regatta and the world's biggest One Design windsurfing fleet looks to change that in a big way. This year's event will see competitors representing 26 countries from five continents including: Argentina, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, United Kingdom, Russia, and Mexico coming to do battle with the top American windsurfers with the World titles on the line. The event features divisions segregated by age with the biggest fleet comprised of the Under 17 (U17) age division. Sailing right alongside U17 fleet will be the Under 15 (U15) division and the increasingly popular Open Age division that allows for competitors 17 years old and older to still get in on the racing. All the competitors, in both Girls and Boys fleets, will be riding the Bic Techno 293 One Design Windsurfing race board. The T293 platform offers up all the exciting action of high speed windsurfing while still maintaining the integrity of One Design racing - ensuring that it's the best sailors who reach the podium. Luckily for racers and spectators alike, the venue for racing will be in the heart of San Francisco Bay centered on the hosting St. Francis Yacht Club. Spectators will enjoy front row seats for all the racing action at Crissy Field's East Beach while competitors will be treated to all the trappings of an America's Cup style regatta by the prestigious St. Francis Yacht Club. The schedule for racing is somewhat dependent on the wind but given the exceptional performance of the T293 and Raceboard classes in light winds, in concert with the incredibly dependable San Francisco sea breeze and world class St. Francis Race Committee team, expect racing to run like clockwork. Here is the planned schedule: http://tinyurl.com/T293-071711 Preview video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7RTVNoRazI THE NEW OLD FASHIONED WAY Believe it or not, there was a day - not so long ago - when the Internet did not rule people's lives. True, information moved slower, but the pace of life was also a bit slower then as well (example: horses, not cars). For distance-racing sailors, this offered a beautiful respite from life ashore. The problem, of course, was that family and friends couldn't track their loved ones as they raced to Mackinac Island. Flash forward to 2011: The Internet rules the airwaves and distance racers have nowhere to hide, thanks to the magical little boxes that upload all sorts of germane information to satellites, which in turn update race-tracking web pages. Problem solved.mostly. As anyone who has ever stepped foot aboard a racing sailboat knows, electronics work great until they stop working. Due to technical troubles, the race-tracking system for the 103rd Race to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot, stopped working some ten hours after the 361 entrants started on Saturday for this 333-mile classic race, presenting a 'new-old problem': How to determine where boats are, and how far they are from the finishing line. -- Read on: http://www.event-systems.org/newsfeed_show.cfm?nfid=49&nid=86057 COMMENT: Here is the link if you are curious about the tracking system being used by Chicago Yacht Club: http://race.ionearth.com/2011/cycracetomackinac/ SAILING SHORTS * Zadar, Croatia (July 15, 2011) - The final day of the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship saw a surge upwards for the North American contingent. Americans Morgan Kiss/ Christina Lewis finished tied for the win in the doublehanded Girls 420 event, finishing second with Nikole Barnes/ Agustina Barbuto of the USVI getting third. Laser Radial sailor Erika Reineke (USA) raised her final position from fourth to second, as did the 29er team of Antoine Screve/ Mac Agnese (USA) moving from third to second overall. For the third consecutive year France won the ISAF Nations Trophy, followed by Spain, Poland, Italy, and USA. Event website: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/editions/2011/index.php * Newport, RI (July 17, 2011) - As Sunday dawned a full 18 points separated Ken Colburn and Apparition from Phil Lotz and Arethusa at the Swan 42 US Nationals, sailed July 14-17 at the New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court. But when Phil Lotz's Arethusa won the last two races today, the two teams were tied after 11 races. But on the strength of Colburn's five first-place finishes to Lotz's two, Colburn was named the winner of the US Nationals. A total of 19 yachts sailed. -- Full report: http://nyyc.org/archives_public/article_1070/ * Brant Beach, NJ (July 14, 2011) - The Laser/Radial North American Championships were held at the Brant Beach Yacht Club with over 210 boats participating from July 12-14. Ten races were completed with conditions ranging from light air upwards to 30 knots. Leading the Laser fleet from the beginning of the regatta was local sailor and Olympic hopeful Clay Johnson (Little Egg Harbor, NJ), followed by Chris Dodd of the Royal Canadian YC and Rob Crane of Noroton, CT. In the Radial Gold Fleet the lead switched several times with Avery Fanning of Charleston/Lauderdale YC winning, followed by Ian Barrows of Pleon/St. Thomas and Max Lopez of Raritan YC. Event website: http://bbyc.net/LaserNAC/ * Westport, CT (July 15, 2011) - While on paper there were 74 teams competing in the Flying Scot North American Championships, hosted by Cedar Point Yacht Club, on the water there were two teams that dominated the rankings. Tied for the lead during qualifiers, Andrew Eagan/ Jackson Benvenutti of New Orleans (LA) and Allan Terhune Jr./ Katie Terhune of Annapolis (MD) competed as closely during the five race championship series. Winning the final race, Team Terhune needed to overcome a three point deficit on Eagan, but came up just short when the southerner finished third to take the title by a point. -- Results: http://www.fssa.com/ht/race/race-results-nac-11.htm * More than 1150 sailors representing 77 nations are registered to compete at the Perth2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships. The Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships will take place in Fremantle, Western Australia on December 3-18f or the ten events of the Olympic Sailing Competition. The next deadline in the entries process is 31 July, after which the accreditation system will be formally opened and the competing athletes confirmed. -- Full report: http://www.sailing.org/36328.php * CORRECTION: The Friday edition of Scuttlebutt carries the Photos of the Week feature, and last week we stumbled geographically in our caption referring to Helsinki as being in Poland. Thanks to our readers for pointing out we had the wrong 'land' and that Helsinki was further north in Finland. 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 Peter Commette: The ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship last week had Lauderdale Yacht Club (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) members on each of the three silver medal winning teams: Christina Lewis in the Girls 420, Erika Reineke in the Laser Radial, and Mac Agnese in the 29er. But even more amazing is that Mac Agnese did it on the wire with a broken hand. * From Hiro Nakajima: Torben's commentary is right on (in Scuttlebutt 3382). I thought I was being overly old school and not open to modernization of our sport. I am relieved to see that one of our sport's great icon shares the same observations and comments to the current state of our sport. We need to look at possibly rolling back some of the complicated and unnecessary aspects that has permeated into our sport today. It certainly has not attracted any more people to our sport so it is hard to argue it was the right thing to do. * From Tom Arthur NZ: I have been reading all the letters backing Torben's views. When I read the original article by him my first impression was," this sounds like a great sailor becoming tired of his sport". Am I the only one to think this way? Some of his points I think are valid, but regarding the RRS, I think they get better with each revision. After all the revisers are getting rid of the problem areas that arise, I'm sure they aren't doing it just to make life difficult for us. * From Craig Fletcher: Is a competitor using a sat phone in the Transpac to check on a rudder bearing considered to be illegal outside assistance? Would this not be the same as a coach boat speaking to a competitor during a race? COMMENT: We had a feeling this was more than just a hypothetical question, and learned that the R/P 45 Criminal Mischief had used their satellite phone to problem solve a grinding noise with their JP3 bearings. We didn't check the sailing instructions, but assume the rules allowed this. Right? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Summit Yachts - Kaenon Polarized - BIC Sport - North Sails US SAILING - Doyle Sails - Team One Newport - LaserPerformance Ullman Sails - West Marine - Camet - JK3 Nautical Enterprises Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
