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SCUTTLEBUTT 3467 - Thursday, November 10, 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: Ultimate Sailing and Ullman Sails. 2011 ISAF ROLEX WORLD SAILORS OF THE YEAR The highly anticipated announcement of the recipients of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards was made Tuesday 8 November, in a ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The winners, selected from an impressive and star-studded gathering of nominees, were Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), who claimed the female award for the second time, and the two-man crew of Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez (ESP), awarded the male prize. Second success for Tunnicliffe Anna Tunnicliffe has become only the third female nominee in the 18-year history of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards to be awarded the honour for a second time, following in the footsteps of Ellen MacArthur (GBR) in 2001 and 2005 as well as Sofia Bekatorou and Emilia Tsoulfa (GRE) in 2002 and 2004. Tunnicliffe's triumph arrives on the back of another year of achievement in which she became the ISAF Sailing World Cup champion in Women's Match Racing. It marks only the third time an American female has won the Award since its inception in 1994, although each victory has come in the past six years, marking a significant shift following a period of dominance by European athletes. Tunnicliffe claimed the honour for the first time two years ago in Busan, South Korea, following in the footsteps of her great rival Paige Railey, the first United States female to receive the Award back in 2006. Joy at last for Spanish pair It is a case of third time lucky for Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez. The world's greatest sailing duo have twice been nominated for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards. In 2002, they missed out to three-time winner Ben Ainslie, before Brazilian Robert Scheidt took the plaudits in 2004. Eleven years on from their first nomination, these sailing legends may now, deservedly, see their name inscribed in the list of the sport's greats. It is the second time a Spanish crew has won the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award following Tornado World Champions Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz back in 2005. The Spanish duo were unable to attend the Award ceremony as, fittingly, they are currently at sea competing for Team Telefonica in the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa. Through a video feed recorded on the Team Telefonica boat, the pair confirmed that they will be celebrating this prestigious achievement despite the immediate distractions of an ocean race, commenting, "The Award is recognition for all the sacrifices and hard work not only throughout the last 12 months, but also during the last 12 years. It's a prize for our families, who have been suffering because of our absences for such a long time without complaining. This is for them." Full report: http://www.sailing.org/worldsailor/37372.php CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ON THE RACETRACK (November 9, 2011; Day 5) - It is clear that this is not your usual first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. In fact, Stu Bannatyne (NZL) co-skipper of CAMPER says, "The traditional first half of the first leg of this race is nothing like we are experiencing now." Having done this race five times previously, Bannatyne would have a good idea of what 'normal' is, and it seems that the weather the fleet is contending with is anything but. Still alone offshore of Agadir, Groupama 4 is benefiting from a gentle downwind breeze of barely ten knots trickling down from the North. However, the situation is set to improve the further down the coast of Morocco they get, becoming more favourable once they reach the Canaries, at around noon on Thursday if all goes to plan. To the North of Madeira, their three rivals are upwind sailing at quite a lick but they're at 60 degrees to the direct route towards the equator. On the one side then, you have a French yacht, heading down the Moroccan coast all alone. On the other, you have three VO 70s sailing in contact with each other to the North of Madeira. The upshot of this is a lateral separation stretching some 350 miles! A veritable gulf has opened up between them then after just four days at sea and 750 miles on the clock since setting out from Alicante last Saturday. Most significantly of all though, conditions are radically different, as the one boat is sailing in light downwind airs whilst the group are contending with steadier headwinds. So what's happened? On exiting the Strait of Gibraltar, a ridge of high pressure has filled in the `void' left between the depression which shook the VO 70s up in the Alboran Sea, and a vast disturbed zone which is stagnating off Ireland and is set to be reactivated by a secondary depression to the North of the Azores. As such a long yet narrow band of high pressure is making the transition between these two weather systems, stretching virtually right the way across from Sicily to the area surrounding the West Indies! Franck Cammas and his men decided very early on to slip along the Moroccan coast and crawl down the length of the southern edge of this ridge of high pressure, whilst the other three competitors opted to link onto the fronts associated with the Atlantic low by trucking down the northern edge of this band of high pressure. Between the two, in the area to the North of the Canaries, calm reigns. Though it's unusual in an event like the Volvo Ocean Race to break away from the bulk of the fleet (especially from the second day out!), Franck Cammas and his crew are certainly stamping their cultural differences on the racetrack. Indeed, on a round the world, and particularly so on this Atlantic stage which the French are very familiar with (Transat Jacques Vabre, Jules Verne Trophy...), tactics are always secondary to strategy! -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/Groupama-110911 Standings as of Wednesday, 09 November 2011, 22:01:48 UTC 1. Groupama Sailing Team, 5652.4 nm Distance to Finish 2. Team Telefonica, 21.0 nm Distance to Lead 3. PUMA Ocean Racing by BERG, 22.2 nm DTL 4. CAMPER with Emirates Team NZ, 105.0 nm DTL 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, ? DTL 6. Team Sanya - Retired, hull damage Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Video report: http://youtu.be/R51Sg6Nq2xA PIT ROW: Here are updates from November 9th: * After breaking their mast just six hours after the start on November 5th, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing departed Alicante tonight, sailing cautiously to the location of her dismasting where she will resume racing. With the hull repair completed, the team stepped their replacement spar after they conducted a final ultrasound test to ensure the mast was safe. Abu Dhabi has a chance to close the gap as the fleet is sailing in unusually light winds since entering the Atlantic. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/AD-110911 * After enduring hull damage within the first day of racing, Team Sanya has confirmed that their VO 70 will board a Maersk Line ship in Gibraltar and depart on Sunday evening or Monday morning for Cape Town. The boat is expected to arrive in Cape Town around November 27 or 28 where a newly constructed replacement bow section will be fitted in a rebuild operation that will take place around the clock. The team will have to achieve what is typically a two to three week rebuilt in just one week in order to meet the leg start deadline. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/TS-110911 BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles of the world's most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com IT'S BAAAACK! THE ULTIMATE T-SHIRT You spoke and we listened. Your favorite t-shirt is back, with a vivid new graphic leaping off the ComfortSoft cotton jersey. Durable but snuggly-soft cotton with quality construction features that guarantee it looks good and stays true to size - no matter how many servings of stuffing you have. The ULTIMATE gift for the rock star or armchair sailor; racing or après sail. Men & women's sizes; short or long sleeve. $25.95-$29.95... http://www.ultimatesailing.com YES AND NO The million dollar question leading up to the America's Cup World Series in San Diego has been whether the races can be watched by spectator boats. The answer, according to the information titled 'Course Marshal Instructions for Spectator Boats', is clearly yes and no. Jeff Brown, director with the event host Sailing Events Association San Diego, shares that people are welcome to join and watch the racing from the water, but the extreme nature of the AC45 catamarans requires speed limits and exclusion zones. And given the layout of the bay, at times these zones include the entire bay. In reality the entire area will never be used and the length and location of the race course depends on wind direction and strength. Once the Race Committee feels confident in wind direction and course configuration the Stake Boats will move in closer to actual race course. That will be the green light for spectator boats to move in as well, but expect a buffer between the edge of the course and the edge of the spectator limit. Full details here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/1109/ UPDATE: A hot tip for spectators will be to tune into the live streaming broadcast on their iOS mobile devices. Other hot tips here: http://tinyurl.com/ACWS-SD-tips ISAF SAILING WORLD CUP Melbourne, Australia (November 9, 2011) - Heavy winds have brought day three of Sail Melbourne, the opening round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, to a premature end, with gusts above 30 knots recorded on Port Phillip Bay. After light winds kept sailors on shore for much of Tuesday it was the complete opposite on Wednesday, with the conditions testing those crews that did go racing. The 470 classes, along with the Paralympic crews managed to complete one race while the RS:X got in two before the breeze picked up. Top North Americans from the USA are Stu McNay/ Graham Biehl (2nd - Mens 470) and Amanda Clark/ Sarah Lihan (3rd - Womens 470) and Canadians Zac Plavsic (1st - RS:X Men) and Lee Parkhill (4th - Laser Men). Day three may test the crews even further if the threatened thunderstorms and 20 to 30 knot winds eventuate. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/Sail-Melbourne-110911 COLLEGE BIG BOAT NATIONALS Eight midshipmen from the Naval Academy's Varsity Offshore Sailing Team won the prestigious John F. Kennedy Cup Regatta, a national sailing championship that took place Nov. 4-6 in Annapolis, Md. The Kennedy Cup is a three day, 10-race series regatta against the best intercollegiate big boat squads in the nation. This year's competitors included Navy, the University of Michigan, the California Maritime Academy, SUNY Maritime, the Coast Guard Academy, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, St. Mary's College, Maine Maritime Academy and the U.S. Military Academy. The Midshipmen crew included skipper/tactician Dillon Rossiter, helmsman Chris Paulson, main trim Eric More, upwind trim Ben Rowe, downwind trim Phil Reynolds, pit Jon Driesslein, mast Schyler Widman and bow Adam Albrecht. The event qualified Navy to represent the USA in next year's Student Yachting World Cup, an event endorsed by ISAF title as the Student Yachting World Championship. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12863 PLEASE 'LIKE' US If use Facebook, please 'LIKE' Scuttlebutt. Not only will it make us seem universally popular, it will connect you with breaking news, reports that aren't published in the newsletter, and special deals... like the one that will posted this Friday. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES The Industry News category of the Scuttlebutt Forum provides an opportunity for companies to announce new products and services. Here are some of recent postings: * Glow in the dark rope * Coastal Wreaths Help Restore The Oceans * Mackay Boats now building the International 420 View updates here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news SAILING SHORTS * Ft. Walton Beach, FL (November 9, 2011) - Very light winds combined with large waves created challenging sailing for the third day of the Hobie 16 & Hobie 20 North American Championships. Three races were completed. Francisco Figueroa/Jolliam Berrios (PUR) dominated in these conditions with three bullets in the Hobie 16 class, while Kevin Smith/Rundell Curtis (USA) continues to lead in the Hobie 20 class. A strong cold front is expected to cross the area tonight dropping temperatures and strong winds are forecast for Thursday. Racing continues through Friday. Full Results http://tinyurl.com/Hobe-110911 * A wet and windy forecast will greet the 78 sailors who are competing in the 2011 Optimist Bermuda Open and National Championships on November 11-13. The effects of Tropical Storm Sean could deliver southerly winds in excess of 30 knots on Friday. Thirty-eight visiting sailors from the USA, Canada, Dominican Republic and Europe will be joining the local sailors to create the record fleet. Included in the entry list is the US Team Trial Champion along with the National Champions from Finland and the Dominican Republic. -- Full report: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=12861 * Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi (TX) suspended five searches in October suspected of being hoaxes. Under federal law, knowingly and willfully making a false distress call is a felony. Even if a child makes the distress call, the parents are ultimately responsible. The maximum penalty for making hoax distress calls is five to 10 years in prison, a $5,000 civil fine, a $250,000 criminal fine and reimbursement to the Coast Guard for the costs incurred responding to the false call. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/Coasties-110911 MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF QUALITY SAILS & SERVICE Ullman Sails has been dedicated to building performance sails for over 40 years. Our group is a strong collection of international lofts that specialize in serving their local markets. With a rich combination of experienced designers and skilled sailmakers worldwide, we ensure every Ullman Sails customer benefits from our international collaboration. No matter your sailing goals, we can answer your questions and customize a plan to fit your budget. So whether you're contemplating an addition to next season's race wardrobe or need the most durable cruising inventory for your upcoming voyage, make sure to invest in your performance. http://www.ullmansails.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 Caleb Paine, USTAG team member: If you do not have the good fortune to be born wealthy (as most of us are so situated), and you are obsessed with an Olympic dream, you need support from the sailing community. This past Tuesday night at a fundraiser at Southwestern Yacht Club in San Diego, I was privileged to see how supportive the community can be. John Craig (PRO for all of the Americas Cup events) and Terry Hutchinson (Skipper of the AC45 Artemis) surely have a good many things to do as they prepare for the racing later this week, but both were amazing and gave their valuable time to make presentations at the event, and Artemis Racing contributed a once in a lifetime chance to be the 6th man for Sunday's race. Bill and Jackie Kreysler made the event possible and Jana Odou promoted and looked after the details. Many businesses, yacht clubs, and members of the media were willing to promote the event. Sailors from all levels (Catalina 22's to AC45's) and from a multitude of yacht clubs attended. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the kindness and support that exists on all levels in our 'village' of sailing, and to express my gratitude to all those who allow me to be a part of it. It does take a village, and sailing has some pretty cool villagers. * From Craig K Yandow: Concerning the criticism of the two boats being damaged so early in the Volvo Ocean Race, sailors have been going around the world in fragile vessels for centuries. Making it there and back isn't about having a boat that can't be broken. It is about exercising good judgment to keep the boat you are sailing sound. Every vessel has limits. I recall following the CO and Engineering Officer around the deck of a Destroyer in a typhoon as they measured the ships flex and then watching them back off the throttles to stay within the design limits. We had already turned into the seas after the roll got too close to the limit. *From Bruce Thompson: Amongst all the bloviating about the WingNuts report, I'd like to interject a few facts. Below I include a link to the 1997 LMSRF Area III Modifications to the 1996-97 O.R.C. Special Regulations. Pay particular attention to the two issues at the bottom of the page, Man-Overboard and Vangs, Preventers and Topping Lifts! At the time I was the Safety Committee Chairman of the LMSRF Area III Race Management Committee and wrote that page. These are the variations adopted to localize the ORC Regs to the Chicago/Great Lakes for a racing series that was mostly held in daylight, near shore (i.e. Category 4). We modified the regs so as to preculde the possibility that any owner making a good faith effort to comply could be protested out of a race by a competitor on some chickenbleep issue, such as having his store bought heaving line being 2 feet too short (48 feet instead of 50 feet) and 3/16" in diameter instead of 1/4". These modifications stood me in good stead on the day I was PRO when a non-conforming competitor fell overboard and subsequently died, although we were successful in rescuing his fellow crew member who jumped overboard in 2-4 foot seas to save him. Link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/LMSRF_AIII.tif * From Ken Katz: I write to not merely defend Cory Friedman's piece in Scuttlebutt 3465 on principle. When I went to the web to find a picture (of the Bethwaite Trapeze Harness that Cory described), I found the motivation for Julian Bethwaite's innovation haunting in the truest sense of that word. Here are Julian's words from 2002: "Five years ago, I flew into Helsinki, Finland for a meeting which coincided with the running of the 49er European Championship. On my arrival at the airport, I was met by an utterly distraught young woman named Lotta. We drove straight to the hospital to find my friend, Magnus, on oxygen. Miraculously, he was OK given the ordeal he had just been through. "Lotta and Magnus had been sailing my boat in the European's; the wind was very fluky but they were having fun. One particular gust seemed to disappear but then hit them unexpectedly. After almost rolling to windward and re-gaining their footing, they capsized to leeward. Lotta was thrown beyond the jib and Magnus found himself lying across the shrouds. Apparently they laughed a bit about it as the boat did what most boats do when there is a large weight on the shrouds and started to 'turn turtle'. This was nothing out of the ordinary but what neither of them knew was that Magnus's hook was around the shrouds and as the boat rolled very slowly, the hook slid down the wire until it was too late. Magnus could not get un-hooked and was pulled under the water." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/Cat-Sailor-110911 COMMENT: I spoke with Julian Bethwaite on Tuesday as he attended the ISAF Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico. As a former champion in the 18-footer class, and the skiff designer of the 49er, 29er and 29erXX, Julian had many enlightening observations about harnesses. Look for his comments soon in Scuttlebutt. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION New Old Sayings: You can't teach a new mouse old clicks. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Doyle Sails - Team One Newport - Harken - Summit Yachts - North Sails New England Ropes - JK3 Nautical Enterprises - LaserPerformance Ultimate Sailing - Ullman Sails - Camet - The Pirates Lair Need stuff? 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