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SCUTTLEBUTT 2979 - Tuesday, November 24, 2009Scuttlebutt 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. Scuttlebutt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Scuttlebutt on Facebook: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/facebook Today’s sponsors are Melges Performance Sailboats, North Sails, and West Marine. MOVING ON They came for six weeks and stayed 16 months. But it is time for the BMW Oracle Racing team to leave San Diego in its quest for the America's Cup. After one more week on the water off Point Loma, the San Francisco-based challengers will close their San Diego Bay training base to the west of the Convention Center and head to the site of the actual races. The actual site of the defense won't be decided until after Wednesday when the NY Supreme Court Appellate Division will hear the appeal by Société Nautique De Genève of the lower court’s decision to invalidate Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) as the America’s Cup venue. For now the site appears to be Valencia, Spain, with the first race scheduled for Feb. 8 - although that, too, could change. The sides are talking, finally, about mutually delaying the start of the one-on-one Deed of Gift match and extending the required best 2-of-3 series to a best 4-of-7. Whenever, the next America's Cup will match the winged, 90-foot BOR trimaran against the Alinghi soft-sail catamaran - which is currently back in the shed to be modified to meet the maximum 90-foot waterline length or add a second mast to comply with its present overall length of around 110 feet. -- Union-Tribune, full story: http://tinyurl.com/y9y65bb => Curmudgeon’s Comment: The BOR team has not yet confirmed whether their final day will be Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. However, once they begin breaking camp, they say it will take about one month before they can be sailing again in Valencia. As for the Cup defender Alinghi team, spokesman Paco Latorre says their plan for now is to be training in Ras al Khaimah until the end of the year. IRC YEAR-END REPORT IN LONG ISLAND SOUND Over 100 boats raced under IRC in 2009 in Western Long Island Sound, during which a number of new developments occurred including the founding of an owners group, establishing IRC Classes and course suggestions that were adopted by Race Committees of different clubs, establishing a season trophy... and announcing a new Championship event for 2010! Inspired by a similar example in San Francisco, early in the 2009 13 owners of IRC-rated racing sailboats and 5 advisors formed an owners group, called “Sound IRC” for short (www.sound-irc.org). The owners represent boats large and small, new and old, from various areas within Western Long Island Sound. Sound IRC’s mission is to both improve the quality of IRC sailboat racing and to increase participation. To do this, Sound IRC is coordinating among owners and sailors, the local yacht racing association (YRALIS), Race Committees of local yacht clubs, and US IRC in order to: - Help local owners obtain a Standard or Endorsed IRC certificate - Establish classes for the over 100 local boats already racing IRC locally - Work with our local Race Committees to introduce IRC-friendly courses to existing regattas - Foster close competition and fun! Said Rich du Moulin, US-IRC Chairman of the Owners’ Association, "IRC is founded on the principle that it is an owners’ rule administered by professionals. With Sound IRC we are taking this to the local level where owners directly work with yacht clubs and race committees to make the racing more fun and attract more competitors." “PHRF and IRC are very different,” du Moulin explained. “PHRF is a grass-roots, very simple and subjective system that’s at its best getting people out racing with a minimal fuss and expense - that’s why there are over 20,000 boats with PHRF certificates in the U.S. It’s highly local and not very rigorous in terms of determining a rating based on a boat’s description. In principle any boat - no matter how slow or poorly designed - can be given the right PHRF number and be reasonably competitive. However, that makes it very difficult when PHRF committees in several areas with different conditions come up with different ratings for the same boat. Under a more rigorous international rule like IRC, a boat has the same rating anywhere in the world. Both rules are compatible and necessary for our sport. Serious racers should have both certificates and pick their events.” -- Complete report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/1104/ SAVE THE DATES: AUDI MELGES 20 MIAMI WINTER SERIES The International Audi Melges 20 Class is excited to announce the upcoming Inaugural Miami Winter Series, hosted by Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Shake-A-Leg and supported by Melges Performance Sailboats. The series, comprised of three regattas spanning December through March, offers Audi Melges 20 sailors a great escape from the cold and snow to enjoy the Florida sunshine, top flight competition, the very best in sportboat sailing conditions and high level race management. The Inaugural Miami Winter Series leads off the eight high-powered events on the 2010 Audi Melges 20 USA Sailing Series schedule. Additional information at http://www.melges20.com and Coconut Grove Sailing Club at http://www.cgsc.org FLORENCE WINS CYA ROLEX SAILOR OF THE YEAR AWARD At the Canadian Yachting Association Annual General Meeting last weekend, Curtis Florence was appointed CYA’s Rolex Sailor of the Year Award during the Awards Dinner hosted by the Royal Canadian Yachting Club. Curtis’ two sons, Trey (16) and Jordan (12), were present to accept the award on behalf of their father. Curtis was able to make his gracious acceptance speech via SKYPE. Curtis was born in Kingston, Ontario on September 14, 1969 and grew up in Kingsville, Ontario. At the age of 9, he started sailing at Cedar Island Yacht Club and through the years strived to be a great bowman. At high school, Curtis joined the Canadian military. With the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, he served a UN tour in Croatia in 1993. After the military, Curtis went on to work for Casino Windsor for 13 years while continuing his dream of sailing on everything from a Shark to an 80’ Maxi boat. Curtis’ sailing achievements are numerous. One of his first big victories was the 2004 Mumm 30 World Championships in Toronto, Ontario. He went on to win the Swan 45 World Championships in 2007 and currently holds World Championship titles in the Farr 30, Farr 40 and Melges 24 classes. Along with his three World Championship titles this year, he also holds the S2 7.9 North American Championship title for the 11th consecutive year. -- Sail-World, full story: http://tinyurl.com/yaysaaw => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Please email me if you have information on all the other athlete awards. KITE SURFERS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE PIER-JUMPING STUNT Jake Scrace and Lewis Crathern are men of ambition. That's why the pair, a pro surfer and a carpenter who makes boards, hit the waves over in England in wind that was gusting up to 40 mph -- to see if it was possible to fly over a pier. The result is a slow, seemingly insignificant buildup in (what on video, at least) looks totally unremarkable until out of nowhere Scrace gets picked up out of the water and sails clear from one side of the pier to the other at a height of around 100 feet in the air. Crathern and Scrace have been at the sport for a combined 16 years and waited three years for the perfect weather to try the stunt out. The final verdict on the whole thing? "Epic," according to Crathern. And even though it should go without saying, the men warn that this was a very dangerous move, and best not to be attempted by amateurs. -- Video: http://tinyurl.com/yad7wdg TURKEYS INSTEAD OF TROPHIES Long Beach, CA (November 22, 2009) - In the spirit of the holidays, the winners collected turkeys instead of trophies, but most who competed in Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's annual two-day Turkey Day Regatta Sunday went away in the mood for a happy Thanksgiving. That would include Barney Flam and son Steve, who despite the loss of their wife and mother Evelyn only eight days earlier won the 19-boat Cal 20 class. The good vibes prevailed all weekend. With 120 races for 247 boats in 20 classes from San Diego to San Francisco, there were only two protests all weekend, and one of those was withdrawn and the other settled by arbitration. Winners of the larger classes included Evan Hoffman, 17, of Escondido and Nevin Snow of San Diego in the full-rig Lasers and Laser Radials, respectively; Sterling and Hans Henken in 29ers, Carolyn Smith, Newport Beach, in Sabot A class, with no finish worse than second while boys filled out the rest of the top 10. Bruce Golison and crew Becky Nygren won in Lido 14s. Bruce Golison? The guy who ran the largest keelboat regatta on the West Coast for 20 years until opting to do some serious sailing of his own? He had never even raced a commonplace Lido 14 dinghy while growing up in Long Beach. "When you're a kid you just want to go out on the ocean where the big racing is," he said. "Then when you get as old as I am [53], the [inside] bay is better." Actually, he successfully campaigns an Etchells on the class's pro-level circuit. He bought a used Lido 14 the day before the regatta and raced it for the first time. "It's a tactical boat that puts the importance on starting and tacking," he said, "totally back to the basics." -- Complete report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8644#8644 FREE SHIPPING - NORTH SAILS’ GIFT TO YOU! Start your holiday shopping at NorthSailsGear.com and enjoy free shipping** on all North Gear orders through November 30th. We’ve got a great selection of sailor-tested clothing, bags - including 3DL duffels and totes, office essentials and boat gear certain to please everyone on your shopping list. **Surface shipping within the USA only. Mention S-Butt in comments box during check-out and shipping will be deducted when your order is processed. When only the best gifts will do, head to http://www.NorthSailsGear.com ACCIDENT REPORT - CLIPPER 09-10 During the start on Sunday to Race 4 in Cape Town of the Clipper 09-10 round the world yacht race, eight of the boats cleanly began the 4,700-mile leg to Geraldton, Western Australia, while a collision between Hull & Humber and Cork, Ireland resulted in the two teams returning to harbour. Piers Dudin, skipper of Hull & Humber, explained: “So, not quite the blog I was hoping to write on this leg. We should be out there bashing round the Cape of Good Hope with the others but instead we're waking up in the calm waters of the Royal Cape Yacht Club. “Our approach to the start line was looking good. We were next to Uniquely Singapore at the 'pin end', the opposite end of the line from the Committee Boat and on starboard tack. California pulled off a great start, Cork were a little behind them, and so had to duck around behind us as we approached the line in diagonally opposite directions. As they ducked us they were hit by a gust which prevented them turning away and they ended up colliding with us, spinning us round on the spot and causing up a rather large crack just to the side of the helm station. “After assessing that everyone was ok, the first priority became getting Hull & Humber back to calm water and minimising any water intake as the crack went down to six inches above the water line. We jumped into action to set up the emergency pumps we have on board, although didn't need them as we were already on the correct tack to make it back to the wind shadow of Table Mountain from where we could motor back to port in flat seas. “So what happens now? Well the surveyor came round to inspect our new opening, and recommended who could do the fix and the size of job. We'll apply for redress once we get to Oz, which will hopefully mean we'll get a few points for completing the leg as it wasn't our fault we have been prevented from racing.” -- Read on: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/index.php/race_news/?item=1105 SAILING SHORTS * The 260 images Scuttlebutt received from the professional shooters at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d’Azur have been converted into a video. Among the shooters was Ingrid Abery whose black and white images were also used for a photo gallery. Find it all here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/1123/ * (November 23, 2009) - Since 1100 hrs this morning, the final miles of the 4800-mile doublehanded Transat Jacques Vabre from France to Costa Rica find the leading Open 60s Safran and Groupe Bel switched to stealth mode. Their finish is estimated to be between midnight and 0400 hrs CET (2300 hrs - 0300 hrs GMT). -- Event website: http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en * Puerto Rico’s premier yacht racing regatta will move to Palmas del Mar for 2010 and become the Puerto Rico Heineken International Regatta (PRHIR). Known as the Culebra Heineken International Regatta for the past five years, the venue change will welcome sailors to a brand new facility and re-introduce three days of top-notch racing from March 19 to 21, all in the beautiful waters off Puerto Rico’s southeast shores. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=8640#8640 * U.S. Sailing and the US-IRC Foundation are joining forces to organize a three-boat U.S. team for the 2010 Rolex Commodore's Cup in England next August. The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), in association with Rolex, has announced the 2010 Rolex Commodore's Cup to be held in Cowes from August 15 to 21, 2010. This is one of the most prestigious international yachting events with a mix of inshore and offshore races over a 7 day schedule. The Commodore's Cup specifies mainly amateur crews and IRC rating bands that cover popular mid-sized cruiser-racer yachts. -- Read on: http://www.us-irc.org/newsfull.cfm?ID=195 * Britain’s sailors celebrated their bumper year in style at the fourth annual Skandia Team GBR Awards Dinner with Laser star Paul Goodison collecting the top prize of the evening. The 31-year-old picked up the British Olympic Association’s Athlete of the Year Award for sailing after adding the World and European titles this year to his Olympic gold from Beijing, and remaining unbeaten in five of the six regattas he sailed in during 2009. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/yams9nv * AYRE Challenge has announced its intention to participate in the next three editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. The presentation of this 10-year-long project and milestone in Spanish yacht racing took place in Denia, a city that has strong ties with AYRE Challenge. Two years ago, the Spanish team presented its challenge for the 33rd America’s Cup representing the Real Club Náutico de Denia (Royal Yacht Club of Denia). The city of Denia belongs to the province of Alicante, starting point of the next three editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. -- http://www.ayrechallenge.net/en/default.asp * Two of international sailing's leading institutions, The Real Club Nautico Barcelona (Barcelona's royal yacht club) and the New York Yacht Club, will work together on the NY-BCN Transoceanic Sailing Record, a recently announced international sailing race aimed at setting a world record between New York and Barcelona in April 2010. Both yacht clubs will bring their extensive knowledge and logistic capabilities to the project, aiming to strengthen the cultural, sporting and educational ties between New York City and Barcelona. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/yehvlmz A FEAST OF SAVINGS - 15% OFF THANKSGIVING DAY Have a heaping helping of Holiday savings at westmarine.com! On Thanksgiving Day take 15% off site-wide. Then come back for seconds Friday through Monday for 10% off online. Plus, shop our hand-picked selection of gifts for sailors - from PLBs to PFDs, Foul Weather Gear, Racing watches & more. Start shopping now at http://www.westmarine.com/holiday/sailing 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 * From Bruce Brown, President - SCMA: (regarding letter in Scuttlebutt 2978) The San Diego Marine Industry has been well served with a boat show in summer, produced by the Southern California Marine Association - the regional Marine Industry Trade Association. The San Diego Yacht and Boat Show serves the entire marine market, from trailer boats to large yachts along with new boat dealers to brokers, marine accessory installers and retailers. To say that the market is not served by an outstanding boat show that produces results is self serving by the promoter of a new winter show that will attempt to combine a group of auto dealer promotions with a local boat show. As the President of the SCMA, I hope to set the record straight: The representatives of the SCMA and National Marine Manufacturer's Association had many long discussions regarding the continued operations of the NMMA San Diego Boat Show. The elements discussed were venue, weather (rain during the show is a regular visitor in January affecting attendance at the outdoor part of the show), cost and "right size" show experience for the visitor to the show. After many conversations, SCMA and NMMA decided together that a winter show in San Diego was not productive to the exhibitors or promoters. These trade associations are trying to satisfy both the industry desire to sell product and producing "right sized" events for the consumer to enjoy. Ken is correct in the need for a reduction in the number of boat shows. If "right sizing" the number of shows is the aim, based on the size of our industry now (and comparing to the last time the industry was this size), this region should only have 5 shows - instead of the 13 that are currently produced here alone! I would advocate that the industry get behind shows that are promoted by their trade associations as the added value that a Marine Trade Association provides is significant. * From Stanton Murray: (Regarding the story ‘Seeking To Change the Sailing Culture in Canada’ in Scuttlebutt 2978), Some of these “focused” parents and certainly all coaches should read Saving Sailing by Nick Hayes. How many highly trained 12 year olds enjoy sailing as adults? “Training camp in Florida over the Family Day weekend” seems to discard the value of “Family” in the process. I wonder, if the stated goal is reached, how many hours of family time will be lost to get a Canadian in the top 100 at the Optimist Worlds in the next five years. * From Will Baillieu, Grinder (non-diesel variety), KA6 1983: We shared a dock with the original Azzurra in Newport R.I. back in 1983. I will always remember we had a particularly friendly relationship with them. I even turned up at their crew house one night during the LV Series, and was treated to a fabulous Italian pasta dinner. But they were feisty competitors on the water and of course won all the female hearts back on shore. Nobody wore their sailing gear quite as well as the Italians. Prior to that, the old match racing joke had been “How do you know when the Italians are going to tack? When you see them flick their cigarettes over the side.” Mauro Pelaschier and his crew changed all that. They were highly competitive and managed to beat us one time, which was quite a feat considering we only lost five races all summer, three of those to Liberty in the AC Final. Of course having the Aga Khan zooming about in his massive powerboat Shabbaz only added to their stylish reputation. Some big teams were in Nice for the Louis Vuitton Trophy, including BMW Oracle’s predominantly New Zealand crew, but Alinghi, defenders of America's Cup were absent, which seems a pity. Now Azzurra has gone right to the top. It is an exciting development in the world of America’s Cup competition. I think everyone should be excited by that. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION "Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night." - Rodney Dangerfield Special thanks to Melges Performance Sailboats, North Sails, and West Marine. Preferred supplier list: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
