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SCUTTLEBUTT 2664 - Wednesday, August 20, 2008Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. OLYMPIC GAMES – AMERICAN WINS GOLD Qingdao, China (August 19, 2008; Day Eleven) The Laser and Laser Radial completed their medal races, and despite the light winds, the race leaders that entered the finale were able to retain their grasp on the gold. In the Laser Radial, ISAF #1 ranked American Anna Tunnicliffe rallied after a decision to re-start, climbed back into gold on the second (and final) beat, and held her advantage on the run. Paul Goodison (GBR), whose credentials include being 4-time European champion, a training partner for the Sydney Games, and then finishing fourth in Athens, he assured his position by match racing his closest rival into last for the race… and ultimately out of the medal picture. Read below “HOW THE MEDAL WAS WON” for their medal race story. The RS:X Men and Women completed their final race of the opening series, and now proceed to their medal race on Wednesday. The weather forecast (read below) is calling for very light winds, which will mean their finale will either be an “Air Rowing” contest with non-stop pumping, or will be delayed for the better conditions predicted for Thursday. The Star and Tornado failed to complete any races today, and now have three on the schedule for Wednesday. Regardless of how many races these fleets complete, the top ten at the close of Wednesday will advance to their medal race on Thursday. The remaining protests in the 49er medal race have been dismissed, and the final results stand as published. However, rumors persist that the Spanish and Italian sailing federations may push the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. With the RS:X Men and Women proceeding to their medal race, the windsurfers will be the featured events for television coverage on Wednesday, August 20th. > ISAF reports: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/Olympicshome.php > US reports: http://olympics.ussailing.org/Olympics.htm > Canadian reports: http://www.sailing.ca/home.asp > NBC sailing microsite: http://www.nbcolympics.com/sailing Final Results ** Laser (43 entrants) 1. GBR, Paul Goodison, (15)-2-15-1-9-7-1-4-6-9/18, 63 2. SLO, Vasilij Zbogar, (24)-4-14-6-2-11-18-1-11-2/4, 71 3. ITA, Diego Romero, 6-3-5-(36)-10-15-11-9-10-3/6, 75 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. POR, Gustavo Lima, 5-8-3-(27)-17-6-16-8-3-5/10, 76 5. NZL, Andrew Murdoch, 2-5-(40)-20-24-5-5-17-1-2, 81 9. CAN, Michael Leigh, 13-23-26-5-4-3-(28)-2-19-14, 109 21. ISV, Thomas Barrows, III, 20-28-20-24-26-(31)-15-10-21, 164 25. USA, Andrew Campbell, 14-18-1-26-32-(BFD/44)-8-DSQ/44-31, 174 Laser Radial (28 entrants) 1. USA, Anna Tunnicliffe, 4-5-6-5-6-3-(15)-2-2-2/4, 37 2. LTU, Gintare Volungeviciute, 3-13-8-1-1-4-(21)-6-4-1/2, 42 3. CHN, Lijia Xu, (24)-3-10-6-5-2-1-11-6-3/6, 50 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. AUS, Sarah Blanck, 6-11-7-(19)-4-12-8-1-5-4/8, 54 5. FRA, Sarah Steyaert, 11-1-21-3-(BFD/29)-1-3-10-11-8/16, 77 13. MEX, Tania Elias Calles Wolf, 27-25-(DNF/29)-13-15-16-7-3-1, 107 17. CAN, Lisa Ross, 16-23-13-11-7-9-(OCS/29)-25-7, 111 470 Men (29 entrants) 1. AUS, Nathan Wilmot/Malcolm Page, 4-7-3-3-3-4-5-(16)-3-10-1/2, 44 2. GBR, Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield, 19-5-1-4-9-6-20-(OCS/30)-2-3-3/6, 75 3. FRA, Nicolas Charbonnier/Olivier Bausset,6-3-8-1-6-18-3-14-7-(20)-6/12,78 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. NED, Sven Coster/Kalle Coster, 11-(15)-12-2-8-15-2-8-4-2-7/14, 78 5. ESP, Onan Barreiros/Aaron Sarmiento, 8-2-6-9-13-13-13-4-11-(18)-4/8, 79 13. USA, Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl, 26-12-(OCS/30)-17-15-1-4-1-6-23, 105 29. CAN, Locas/Bone, 25-25-(OCS/30)-20-23-22-(OCS/30)-18-26-16, 205 470 Women (19 entrants) 1. AUS, Elise Rechichi/Tessa Parkinson, 2-2-4-1-(9)-4-2-5-3-2-9/18, 43 2. NED, Marcelien De Koning/Lobke Berkhout,3-1-9-5-2-2-10-7-4-(16)-5/10,53 3. BRA, Fernanda Oliveira/Isabel Swan, 11-(16)-5-10-7-6-6-2-7-4-1/2, 60 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. ISR, Nike Kornecki/Vered Buskila, 8-13-1-2-8-(19)-3-1-11-15-2/4, 66 5. ITA, Giulia Conti/Giovanna Micol, 14-7-6-3-6-11-4-(19)-12-6-3/6, 75 12. USA, Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler, 12-12-10-14-4-(17)-7-6-17-7, 89 Finn (26 entrants) 1. GBR, Ben Ainslie, (10)-1-4-1-1-10-2-1/2, 23 2. USA, Zach Railey, 2-5-2-2-7-8-7-(19)-6/12, 45 3. FRA, Guillaume Florent, 5-8-20-3-4-6-4-(21)-4/8, 58 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. SWE, Daniel Birgmark, 14-(17)-1-6-12-3-3-5-7/14, 58 5. CAN, Christopher Cook, 8-3-7-10-(23)-5-15-3-8/16, 67 Yngling (15 entrants) 1. GBR, Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson, 2-3-4-(7)-4-2-2-5-1/2, 24 2. NED, Mandy Mulder/Annemieke Bes/Merel Witteveen,9-1-2-(13)-1-5-4-1-4/8,31 3. GRE, Bekatorou/Papadopoulou/Kravarioti, 10-12-9-3-2-(16/OCS)-3-3-3/6, 48 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. GER,Ulrike Schuemann/Ute Hoepfner/Julia Bleck,8-7-7-11-11-3-5-(13)-2/4,56 5. FRA, Anne Le Helley/ Lepesant/ Gerecht, 4-(15)-1-14-5-10-10-2-5/10, 56 7.USA,Sally Barkow/Carolyn Howe/Deborah Capozzi,(14)-2-8-5-6-11-1-10-9/18,61 13. CAN, Jennifer Provan/Henderson/Abbott, 5-4-10-(15)-9-12-11-15, 66 49er (19 entrants) 1. DEN, Jonas Warrer/Martin Kirketerp Ibsen, 2-4-(10)-4-2-3-4-2-9-2-7-8-7/14, 61 2. ESP, Lizarduy/Gaztañaga, 1-10-17-2-(OCS/20)-5-7-10-3-4-1-2-1/2, 64 3. GER, Jan-Peter Peckolt/Hannes Peckolt,(15)-6-11-6-3-2-2-12-4-5-4-7-2/4,66 ----------------------------------------------------------- 4. ITA, Pietro Sibello/Gianfranco Sibello,3-9-1-1-6-9-3-8-12-(17)-3-3-4/8,66 5.AUS, Nathan Outteridge/Ben Austin,(DSQ/20)-1-7-3-1-1-6-4-6-12-2-18-6/12,73 6. USA, Tim Wadlow/Christopher Rast, 5-14-15-(16)-5-10-1-1-1-3-8-4-DNF/22,89 14. CAN, Gordon Cook/Ben Remocker, 13-12-13-10-7-6-16-16-10-(18)-15-16, 134 ** Final results include a medal race for entrants in the top ten. Both medal race position and points are shown (position/points). Current Results RS:X Men (35 entrants) 1. FRA, Julien Bontemps, (13)-1-5-4-10-8-2-10-2-3, 45 2. GBR, Nick Dempsey, 11-9-3-2-1-7-(17)-5-3-5, 46 3. NZL, Tom Ashley, 4-7-7-1-5-5-3-6-8-(32), 46 4. ISR, Shahar Zubari, 1-3-1-3-17-6-(19)-18-1-4, 54 5. BRA, Ricardo Santos, 12-6-13-7-6-3-6-7-5-(33), 65 ----------------------------------------------------------- 17. MEX, David Mier y Teran, 16-5-17-6-12-(29)-23-21-4-25, 129 23. CAN, Zachary Plavsic, 23-25-22-21-(30)-12-26-12-29-11, 181 26. USA, Ben Barger, 21-22-24-26-26-(32)-25-17-25-31. 217 RS:X Women (27 entrants) 1. CHN, Jian Yin, 1-1-1-3-3-(13)-7-8-8-1, 33 2. ITA, Alessandra Sensini, 6-2-9-1-(DSQ/28)-3-2-2-5-8, 38 3. GBR, Bryony Shaw, 4-3-11-6-(OCS/28)-6-5-3-1-2, 41 4. AUS, Jessica Crisp, 2-4-3-8-1-8-9-(14)-6-5, 46 5. ESP, Marina Alabau, 3-5-5-2-5-(11)-8-5-4-9, 46 ----------------------------------------------------------- 17. CAN, Nikola Girke, 11-14-13-14-12-15-13-(DNF/28)-18-15, 125 23. MEX, Demita Vega, 23-21-25-25-17-21-20-19-19-(26), 190 26. USA, Nancy Rios, 25-24-22-26-24-27-(DNF/28)-DNF/28-26-22, 224 Star (16 entrants) 1. SWE, Fredrik Loof/Anders Ekstrom, 1-4-(15)-3-6-1-8, 23 2. GBR, Iain Percy/Andrew Simpson, 7-(13)-3-5-8-2-1, 26 3. FRA, Xavier Rohart/Pascal Rambeau, 12-1-5-4-7-6-9, 32 4. POL, Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Dominik Zycki, 5-6-8-2-(10)-9-3, 33 5. GER, Marc Pickel/Ingo Borkowski, 2-(14)-1-8-3-8-14, 36 12. USA, John Dane/Austin Sperry, 8-2-4-12-15-15-(16), 56 Tornado (15 entrants) 1. ESP, Fernando Echavarri/Anton Paz Blanco, 1-6-1-4-7-(13)-1, 20 2. AUS, Darren Bundock/Glenn Ashby, 5-4-3-1-5-(9)-2, 20 3. GRE, Iordanis Paschalidis/Konstantinos Trigonis, 2-5-(12)-7-2-12-4, 32 4. ARG, Santiago Lange/Carlos Espínola, (13)-1-1-12-4-6-9, 33 5. ITA, Francesco Marcolini/Edoardo Bianchi, (15)-9-4-2-8-4-6, 33 8. CAN, Oskar Johansson/Kevin Stittle, 8-3-9-9-1-(15)-11, 41 14. USA, John Lovell/Charles Ogletree, 14-12-7-11-12-14-(15), 70 Complete results: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/resultscentre.php OLYMPIC GAMES - DEALING WITH THE DETAILS * RACE SCHEDULE: The Star and Tornado events were unable to complete any races on Tuesday, and now have three races scheduled on Wednesday in an attempt to complete their full allotment of ten open races before advancing to their medal race on Thursday. Here is the plan for Wednesday, August 20th: Course A: 1300 - RS:X men and women (medal race) Course E: 1100 - Star and Tornado (3 races each) * WEATHER FORECAST - Qingdao Olympic Venue: For Wednesday, August 20th, both weather models are in agreement, calling for around 5 knots from the SE all day. The outlook for Thursday is 15 knots, and if needed, Friday is 20 knots! An archive of the maps/graphs from each day are at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/olyweather - to get the animated hour by hour forecast map images, sign up for free worldwide forecasts at www.predictwind.com * RACE WATCHING: For television and online viewers, the event has advanced to the medal races, and it is only these races that will compete on Course A, which is the featured course for coverage. The RS:X Men and Women will have their medal race on Wednesday. Racing is scheduled to be completed on Thursday, August 21st, though Friday and Saturday are available as reserve days if needed. > U.S. viewing schedule: http://tinyurl.com/NBCsked > Canadian viewing schedule: http://www.sailing.ca/feature/2008/07/bold.html ANTI-SIPHON DEVICES STOP YOU SINKING Do you know how Anti-siphon devices work? Also called vented loops, they are an essential part of any boats water system. Read this week’s newsletter at http://myboatsgear.com/featured_product/vented%20loops.asp to find out what maintenance requirements are necessary and how to stop from sinking! MyBoatsGear.com will help you find the best gear, by reviewing hundreds of boating products and bringing the best ones to you. MyBoatsGear.com stores product information for access anytime, anywhere, and organize them into 200 plus easily-accessible categories. Come visit the site at http://myboatsgear.com/mbg/index.asp HOW THE MEDAL WAS WON * LASER RADIAL - by Gold medalist Anna Tunnicliffe: My race today wasn’t easy and I’m sure I caused some heart-stopping moments for all the American supporters who crowded the breakwater along the right hand side of the course. Overall, it was a pretty stressful race. The breeze was light and shifty, from the northwest. I got out there early to watch the Men’s Laser Medal Race and see what I could learn. “For our race, the fleet crowded the weather end of the line and I heard at least one boat called over early as we started. I was right next to her and I wasn’t going to take any chances so I went back too, along with a couple of other boats. After that I had a tough first beat and when I rounded the weather mark there were only two boats behind me. Then I lost another boat on the run which put me in ninth place. At this point, the third-placed boat was winning the Gold and all I could expect was the Bronze Medal.” -- Read on: http://www.annatunnicliffe.com/content/view/198/113/ * LASER - by Andy Rice, SailJuice: Today Paul Goodison won his gold medal from the back of the fleet, finishing in 9th place having pegged back his only threat - Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren - to 10th and last place. Having gone into the Medal Race in silver medal position, Myrgren came out with nothing. 6th place was no consolation. It was a cruel, cruel ending for Sweden, who need every medal they can get. Goodison felt sorry for Myrgren, but not sorry for what he had done. "I feel sorry for him, but that's just sport. You have to do what you have to do." Having missed bronze by a single point in Athens four years ago, Goodison has personal experience of the pain Myrgren must be feeling tonight. Asked by a national newspaper journalist if it was really necessary to have been so ruthless, Goodison shrugged: "If you don't understand about sailing it's a bit tricky, but I'm sure anyone who knows about sailing will understand." As to whether the Medal Race format should change to prevent such injustices? "It's not really for me to decide, it's down to ISAF, they introduced the Medal Race to try to solve that, but I don't think it's worked out quite as they wished." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/goody-goody => Curmudgeon’s Comment: This medal race tactic is getting familiar, as the 470 Women Elise Rechichi/Tessa Parkinson (AUS) used it to secure their gold, and Finn gold medalist Ben Ainslie was using it against American Zach Railey in their medal race that was abandoned. The irony is that if Myrgren was a point further back going into the medal race, Goodison would have been guaranteed the gold, and would have left Myrgren alone to compete for the silver medal that he held going into the finale. POSITIONED FOR THE PODIUM Here are the countries that currently have entrants in the top three: Great Britain - 7 France - 4 Australia - 3 China - 2 Greece - 2 Netherlands - 2 Italy - 2 Spain - 2 United States - 2 Brazil - 1 Denmark - 1 Germany - 1 Lithuania - 1 New Zealand - 1 Slovenia - 1 Sweden - 1 Looking back through Olympic history, the 1996 Olympics is when parity kicked in. For that event, 22 countries medaled in sailing, where prior to that the high was 14. The British invasion kicked in for the next quad when they won five medals in 2000, a feat repeated in 2004. Prior to that, they had typically come away with one or two medals. What is the all-time high medal haul from the Olympics? The USA gathered nine medals at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Spain, with the previous mark also set by the Americans in 1984 when they received seven medals in Los Angeles. If the British are to pull seven medals in China, what can we expect from them in 2012 when the Olympic sailing event is held at their home base? Here are some links from the 2004 Olympic Games: > Medal Count: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/04/medals > Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/olympics OLYMPIC GAMES – NEWS AND NOTES * What do today's two Laser gold medallists - Paul Goodison and Anna Tunnicliffe - have in common, other than the obvious point that they sail the same type of boat with different sized sails? They were born less than 13 miles apart, in the centre of England, about as far from the sea as you can get. Britain's Goodison is a Rotherham lad, and the USA's Tunnicliffe was born in Doncaster. The other singlehanded dinghy gold medallist from Qingdao, Ben Ainslie, was born less than 50 miles away in Macclesfield. Even now, pushy Optimist parents are planning on relocating from the south coast to make sure their children grow up in the golden triangle in this landlocked part of northern England. -- Andy Rice, SailJuice, http://tinyurl.com/its-in-the-water * When the Danish 49er team broke their mast before the medal race, they borrowed the boat of the Croatians, which was in the boat park as they had not qualified. By the time the Danes returned to the course area, the fleet had already started, and the rules require that all boats complete their start within four minutes of the actual start time. How close were the Danes from missing the start, and ultimately the gold medal? Three seconds. * The US Flying Dutchman representative in the 1960 Olympics, Harry Sindle, was recently honored as a new lifetime member of the Buccaneer Class Association. Sindle, who was six time Flying Dutchman National Champion and gold medalist at the 1959 Pan Am Games, was hailed for his contributions to the class. Sindle is a three time Buccaneer National Champion, four time chairman of the Buccaneer National Championships, former builder of the Buccaneer sail boat and author of the Buccaneer rigging and handling guide. -- Complete report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=6263 MONEY, MONEY, MONEY by Bob Fisher, Sail World There are moans to be heard throughout the Olympic Village concerning the unfairness of the funding of the sailors by their national authorities, and those complaints are not restricted to the sailors themselves but a groundswell of antagonism against those who receive reasonable funding and produce the results has begun on the outside. It has to be realised that the Olympics are no longer an amateur endeavour but a career path in sport. For example, one finds Steve Van Dyck, a former America’s Cup tactician from the days when involvement in a Cup campaign was viewed as: 'an act on which a lifetime may be judged,' according to a former Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, writing to Scuttlebutt (Issue 2663) about Zach Railey, a member of his club, Clearwater YC in Florida. He says: 'Zach beat every Finn sailor save four time Olympic medal winner Ainslie, a world-class professional who gets paid to sail.' He goes on: 'Zach embodies the finest of what we celebrate in American sports, start as a boy in an Optimist program, come to dream of an Olympic medal, and arrive as a man on the Olympic medal podium.' One must point out to Van Dyck that Ainslie did all of those things and that in this day and age, when all sports are becoming professional, Ainslie has been able to go through the pain barriers associated with no money and simply parental help, to the stage where his efforts are recognised in a squad that ensures that its members have the worries removed in order that they can concentrate on the job of winning. Maybe US SAILING should take a leaf out of the Royal Yachting Association’s book and develop an Olympic squad. OK, the British team receives funding from the national lottery, but there are many ways, in the land of the green back, where funds can be raised for the support of sport. Just how many of the US Basketball team are amateurs? Most are multi-millionaires. Stop moaning and start working towards a better team for 2012. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/fishrant => Curmudgeon’s Comment: Could it be that the esteemed British yachting correspondent Bob Fisher is raising his hand to assist US Team Leader Dean Brenner for the next quad? MAYBE GOING 90 IS FAST It sure is when 90-year old Ernie Rideout is sailing his Santana 22 “Maybe”. He just won the 2008 National Championship by a mile (3 firsts, 2 thirds, no one close). Ernie’s Tape-Drive inventory plus crewmembers Phil Worthen and Ray Pingree (“We love the UK-Halsey sails!”) have been a big part of his winning formula for years (he came second last year). We can’t make you or your boat younger, but UK-Halsey sails can make you both faster. Give us a call: our sailmaker-run lofts are all over the world. UK-Halsey 800-253-2002, http://www.ukhalsey.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE Charlie Ogletree, USA Tornado crew: “After three years of training here in China we embraced the almost universal belief that this would be a light air venue. The big negative is that we simply made the wrong choice in choosing to race with our light-air Chupacabra gennaker, based on a weather forecast that never happened. Today we learned over and over and over again, a lesson that we’ve already learned a million times - no two regattas are ever the same and it’s never like you think it’s going to be.” -- http://www.t-squaredracing.com/content/view/103/25 THE MEDAL RACE IS DOING ITS JOB by Andy Rice, SailJuice I haven't heard the sailors complain one bit about the Medal Race here. That's not to say everyone's happy with it. The sailors here are so locked into the task at hand that they don't stop to question the Medal Race. It's something they have to get on with and make the best of. The discussions about its merits or otherwise can be dealt with afterwards. From the media's perspective, I would say the Medal Race has been a massive success. The 470 Men's race was fantastic. OK, the Aussies had wrapped up the gold anyway, and it was nice to see Nathan and Malcolm sign off their remarkable career with a Medal Race victory. But the battle for the minor placings was extraordinary, and nailbiting. The Brits thrived under the pressure, and the Dutch made a hash of it. The Medal Race format magnifies the sailors' strengths and weaknesses, and creates a package that the TV producers might just understand. It's not fashionable to praise ISAF for such things, but I think this is one innovation that has worked. -- http://tinyurl.com/medalrace WELCOME TO PLANET MOTH - WE'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU by Charlie McKee It is hard to put into words the positive energy and enthusiasm in the US Moth fleet right now. 18 boats gathered at Cascade Locks, OR, 16 of them racing in the 2008 US Int Moth Nationals, held at the site of the 2009 Moth World Championships. Considering that the first moth regatta in the US in many years happened only 5 months ago and had 6 boats, the growth has been explosive and shows no signs of abating. Many of the competitors have only had their Moth's for a few weeks or months, and the learning curve was steep. While the regatta itself was sailed in predominantly light to moderate conditions, the pre (and post) regatta sailing featured some "classic Gorge" sailing in flat water and 15-22 knots winds from both the west and east. The US fleet was graced with the presence of former World Champ Simon Payne from the UK, who flew in and sailed a brand new Prowler loaned to him by Tom Driscoll, and also by former World Champ and Bladerider guru Rohan Veal, who stopped by for a few days to lend a hand and check out the scene. But the star of the show was Detroit's Bora Gulari, who put on a truly dominating performance to win the regatta with 9 straight 1st place finishes. Sometimes behind, sometimes under pressure after a few miscues or when Rohan stepped into a boat for a race, Bora always came through in the end. His boat was flying high, perfectly tuned, and smoothly sailed in all conditions. While some competitors could keep up with Bora downwind or upwind in the light, his upwind speed when overpowered was crushing. It was an eye-opening and awe inspiring reminder to the fleet just how there is to go still. -- Read on: http://www.int-moth.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=9 Final Results (top 10 of 16) 1. Bora Gulari, 8 points 2. Simon Payne, 29 3. Hans Henken, 33 4. George Peet, 38 5. Dalton Bergan, 39 6. Morgan Larson, 40 7. Charlie McKee, 52 8. Chris Williams, 56 9. Sean 'Doogie' Couvreaux, 59 10. Nigel Oswald, 67 SAILING SHORTS * The 2008 Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) Annual Rolex Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at the Kingston Yacht Club in Kingston, Ontario. The CYA is currently seeking nominations as to who were the outstanding coaches, athletes, race officials and volunteers that have contributed to the sport over the past year. All nomination forms are due at the CYA office by September 15th, 2008; additional details at http://www.sailing.ca/feature/2008/08/awards.html * Green Bay, WI. - A sailor rescued after he fell into Lake Michigan says one of the worst moments of the 12-hour ordeal came near the end, when a Coast Guard helicopter seemed to have its spotlight on him, only to turn away. James Nelson, 56, had fallen into Lake Michigan's Green Bay on Sunday afternoon while sailing in his 23-foot sailboat. A gust of wind caused the boom to swing and knock him into the water -- without his life jacket, which he had left on the seat next to him. -- Complete story: http://tinyurl.com/wear-lifejackets FREE PRODUCT ADVERTISING The Scuttlebutt staff regularly receives email press releases that are dressed up as news, but most are only trying to promote someone’s products are services. Since each newsletter only has room for a minimal amount of paid advertising, these releases tend to get deleted. However, the Scuttlebutt Forum has a section dedicated for these announcements, allowing the ‘buttheads to view the latest updates from the marine industry. If your job is to contact the media for free product promotion, we strongly suggest you post your information in the ‘New Product Announcements’ section of the Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get 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 Paul Kelly (former Thistle class skipper): I don't know what the official acceptable sailing conditions for 49er racing are, but it seems to me that if they cannot race their boats safely in conditions in which Finns can race, then maybe that class doesn't belong in the Olympics. I can understand Mrs. Rast concern about the safety of her son, but I would like to remind her that the decision of a skipper to race in any weather conditions is always up to the skipper of the boat. If a skipper chooses to race in what he considers unsafe conditions, then don't blame the race committee. A DNS is much better than putting your own and crew's life in danger, even in the Olympics. * From Ted Beier, NCESA Jury Chair: I will miss Faye Bennet when the E Scow Nationals next come to Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. She has served on our Jury several times at that venue, and was always a great asset as a knowledgeable judge, and a great companion on a Jury Boat and at the social events during the event. She always insisted that the "right" thing be done, and refused to leave an unfair situation hanging. After one protest hearing, when a local sailor became somewhat belligerent over the decision, Faye commented, “You used to act like that when you were in my junior program, but I thought that you had grown up since then." The subject individual did not say one additional word. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION "Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake." - Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956) Special thanks to MyBoatsGear.com and UK-Halsey. A complete list of preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
