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SCUTTLEBUTT 2500 – December 20, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, featuresand dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. COUNTDOWN TO AN AUSSIE CLASSIC by Herb McCormick, Sailing World In what has mostly been a drab, dreary start to the Australian summer, the sun made a brief cameo appearance last week, and the lunchtime scene at Sydney's Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) was hopping. As barmen poured "middies" and "schooners" of Victoria Bitter, the business crowd in their natty attire lounged like lizards beneath the rays on the back patio. On the docks, however, there was an entirely different sort of buzz. There, crewmen in T-shirts and sailing shorts tended to sails, hardware, and other matters on the gathering fleet of race boats in preparation for an annual Aussie holiday rite: the Boxing Day (December 26) start of the 628-mile Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race. In the lead-up to the event, every sailor on every yacht--there are 84 entries for this year's race, down from 87 for 2006--has their own specific set of concerns, yet each has one question nestling in the back of their mind: What will the weather bring? This may be especially vexing given the strange days of late 2007. -- Read on: http://forums.sailingworld.com/blogs/?q=node/113 FINAL 2007 WORLD RANKINGS In this year’s final release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, there is just one change amongst the leaders and Spain move clear at the top of the national standings. Mexico’s Tania Elias Calles moves to the top of the Laser Radial Rankings after an impressive performance in at the ISAF Grade 1 Sydney International Regatta in Australia (2nd place). Elias Calles is the first Mexican to hold the world #1 spot, and next year will be aiming to become the first-ever Mexican to win an Olympic medal in the sailing events. Across the other ten Olympic events, the leaders hold on to their world #1 spots, so Australia retain their three Ranking leaders. However it is Spain who tops the national standings. For the North American contingent, here are those in the top ten rankings: Laser Radial: 1 Tania Elias Calles (MEX), 1st; Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), 2nd Yngling: Sally Barkow/ Deborah Capozzi/ Carolyn Howe (USA), 2nd 470 Women: Amanda Clark/ Sarah Mergenthaler (USA), 5th Laser: Michael Leigh (CAN), 5th 49er: Tim Wadlow, Christopher Rast (USA), 7th; Morgan Larson/ Peter Spaulding (USA), 9th Tornado: Oskar Johansson Kevin Stittle (CAN), 7th Star: John Dane/ Austin Sperry (USA), 10th * Complete story and rankings: http://www.sailing.org/21783.php WALKING THE NEW VOLVO OCEAN RACE COURSE by The Daily Sail subscription website While the next Volvo Ocean Race represents a significant break with tradition when it comes to the route, many are coming round to the idea of a new-look race with most of the Southern Ocean component removed in favour of a massive detour up through the Middle East, India and the Far East. While we still believe that taking the Volvo Ocean Race out of the Southern Ocean removes part of the heart and soul of the event, there is no doubt looking at the course that Volvo have set themselves and the race teams an ambitious course. For starters it will be far in away the longest ever round the world race - potentially more than 40,000 miles of racing for the crews. Plus this time there are substantially faster turn-around times in port. One hopes these two factors has instilled in teams the understanding that the latest race will be a whole lot more demanding than previous races and it is therefore imperative that their race boats are robust enough to make it around the course in one piece. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/23hr6m SEASONS GREETINGS FROM ULLMAN SAILS Everyone from the worldwide Ullman network would like to wish you, your family, and your crew a happy and safe holiday season. It’s been a big year for sailing and next season is already heating up. Rest assured that once the holidays are over, Ullman Sails is ready to provide you with the highest quality sails and service. So make your New Year’s resolution to get a hold of the “Fastest Sails on the Planet.” For more information on our services and Fiberpath technology, contact a local Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com BARCELONA WORLD RACE Open 60 doublehanded round the world race (started Nov 11; 25,000-miles) (Day 39 - December 19, 2007) Hugo Boss closed to within 12 miles of race leader Paprec-Virbac 2 on Wednesday, before slightly falling back again over the afternoon at the Barcelona World Race. At the 18:00 position report, Hugo Boss was 26 miles behind to account for an 14 mile gain over the past day. Said HB skipper Alex Thomson, "At one stage we were 400+ miles behind the leader, so we're feeling pretty happy about where we are now. It's taken a long time since we left the Mediterranean in eighth place.” On board the race leading Paprec-Virbac 2, with the safety gate now in their wake, skipper Jean-Pierre Dick commented, "We are finally getting the wind that we have been waiting for. Hugo Boss came back on us again last night, which is normal, as there is more wind behind. But now, we are sailing further south than them, let's see what will happen." -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com Positions at 18:00 GMT - Distance to leader (+gain/-loss since previous day) 1-Paprec-Virbac 2, Jean-Pierre Dick/ Damian Foxall, 13,623 nm DTF (+307) 2-Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson/ Andrew Cape, 26 nm DTL (+14) 3-Temenos II, Dominique Wavre/ Michéle Paret, 1353 (-57) 4-Mutua Madrilena, Javier Sanso Windmann/ Pachi Rivero, 1875 (+61) 5-Educación sin Fronteras, Servane Escoffier/ Albert Bargues, 2645 (-253) Retired - PRB, Vincent Riou / Sébastien Josse (broken mast) Retired -Delta Dore, Jérémie Beyou/ Sidney Gavignet (broken mast) Retired - Estrella Damm, Guillermo Altadill/ Jonathan McKee, (rudder damage) Retired - Veolia Environnement, Roland Jourdain/ Jean-Luc Nélias (broken mast) * The Scuttlebutt website is taking a weekly snapshot of the Barcelona World Race fleet, and this week we find the lead Open 60’s passing below Cape Leeuwin, the most south-westerly mainland point of the Australian Continent. They will soon be leaving the Indian Ocean, and entering the South Pacific Ocean route toward Cape Horn at the tip of the South American continent. Race tracker: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/bwr * (Day 26 - December 19, 2007 - 16:38 UTC) By Wednesday evening, Francis Joyon and the maxi-trimaran IDEC will be at the half way point in his attempt to set a new solo round the world record. Now in the Pacific Ocean span toward Cape Horn off the tip of South America, he presently has 10,919 nautical miles remaining, with his most recent 24-hour data shows an average speed of 22.3 knots and a distance covered of 534.9 nm. -- http://www.trimaran-idec.com * (Day 2 - December 19, 2007) Since leaving Ushant, France on his solo round the world record attempt, Thomas Coville and his maxi-trimaran Sodeb'O have survived a first day that included a lightning strike to their masthead, and are now abreast of Gibralter and heading down the African continent toward the Canary Islands. At 2200 TU, he estimated his advance over current record holder Ellen MacArthur as just over eight hours, with his recent 24-hour data showing an average speed of 19.1 knots and a distance covered of 458.4 nm. -- http://www.sodebo-voile.com/actu/news-eng.html * (December 19, 2007 - 06:00 UTC) Among the remaining entries still competing in the 4,200-mile Open 60 Transat Ecover BtoB from Salvador de Bahia, Brasil to Port-La-Forêt, France, Dee Caffari and Aviva were dismasted about 160 miles off Cape Finisterre in Northern Spain. Caffari is now drifting west at about 2 knots and is in contact with her shore team who are arranging a tow into Northern Spain. -- http://www.transatecoverbtob.com SAILING SHORTS * Auckland, NZL (December 19, 2007) Listed marine company Sealegs Corporation Chairman John Robertson announced the appointment of Kiwi yachting ace Chris Dickson and businessman James Hill to its board of directors. Sealegs recently announced that its worldwide recreational sales continue to grow with orders for 90 amphibious boats taken in the last six months with a value of $8.1million. -- Complete story: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0712/S00333.htm * The Swan 45 Class Association has announced the appointment of Trim Sailing to manage the Class worldwide. Trim Sailing will oversee all communication, sponsorship, and event management for the Swan 45 owners. Trim Sailing is an indepedent, international marketing agency based in Florence, Italy. The team at Trim Sailing has more than a decade of experience in the sport, having worked with the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006, Cayard Sailing, Nautor’s Swan, as well as international teams such as Mean Machine and ES Bankers. -- http://www.trimsailing.com * The Canada Games Council has released the results of its sport selection process for the 2013 Canada Summer Games, to be hosted in Quebec, with sailing among the 18 events announced. -- http://www.sailing.ca/feature/2007/12/cangames.html * Durban, South Africa (December 19, 2007) -- The Royal Cape Yacht Club's (RCYC) Orion Express with Shosholoza skipper, Mark Sadler, at the helm is the provisional leader of the Eikos J22 World Championships at the end of the first day of racing offshore Durban. The event, hosted by Point Yacht Club (PYC), finally got the go-ahead in ideal light north-easterly 8-10 knot wind conditions with a full programme of four races completed by the end of the day, much to the satisfaction of the race management committee following the cancellation of all racing on Monday and Tuesday. -- http://www.j22.co.za/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=73 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar VIDEO OF THE WEEK With all the ocean racing and record attempts that have been occurring lately, this week’s video reminds us how quickly the ocean can change, and how manageable waves can suddenly become very unmanageable. Warning: Be careful what you eat before watching. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/07/1217 A VERY SPECIAL OFFER This is your opportunity to purchase from Thierry Martinez his exceptional photographs with a 15% discount. Hurray as the offer ends January 15, 2008. To make your selection, visit the website http://www.thmartinez.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Olaf Harken: Two of the most influential magazine groups to the sailors and industry are SAIL and Sailing World/ Cruising World. An icon in the publishing field is Don Macaulay, who was at the helm of SAIL for twenty-nine years starting two years after we started Harken in 1967. It is great to see that his son Andrew Macaulay will now be the Associate Publisher of Sailing World/ Cruising World under group publisher Sally Helme. Even though they are competitors, I am sure my old friend Don is busting at the seams to see his son achieving this position. I look forward to seeing the energy, knowledge, experience, and sailing enthusiasm that I know Andrew has. It is in his blood and bodes well for the magazine. * From Tim Patterson: To expand on Mr. Purdon's comment (in Issue 2499), was it not true that Fay's boat was in the water and testing when he challenged for the race to be sailed in one year? There was not really time for the defender to build and test a 130' boat. Fay refused to give them time to build and test. At that point, as I remember it there were several alternatives considered [an already sailing, proven Maxi as defender, sailing in the Molokai channel, thought to be a disadvantage for the Fay boat, and the cat scenario]. It was only when Fay heard that the cat was happening that he went to court. The rest is history. Thanks to Mr. Purdon for the clarification. * From Jim Champ: (regarding a letter in Issue 2499) Does Mr. Purdon have any evidence that construction of Fay's big boat had commenced when the challenge was issued? Information from New Zealand contradicts that - indeed what I have seen states that only enough design work had been done to issue principal dimensions, and of course they could not know that the US didn't have a secret challenge, which would have rendered construction a complete waste of money. The dates are also tricky for that. However with the complete organizational disarray evident from San Diego, it may well be he thought “you” as opposed to an organized defender might have trouble, which is a bit different. There does seem to be a fair bit of history “re-interpreted” from the US about 1988 in order to make the guilty party in a disgraceful episode look better. After all, I guess no one believes that they are the bad guys. Isn't that right EB? => Curmudgeon’s Comment: As our rules allow each contributor only one letter per subject, Mr. Purdon will not get a chance to rebut Mr. Champ’s claim. However, after doing a little digging, here are a few of the facts: The US was the defender, not the challenger, with the later able to use the Deed to dictate the size of boat to be used; The Fay challenge came in August 1987, and when SDYC refused it, Fay went to the NY Supreme Court, which ruled the challenge was legitimate in November 1987; The big boat was already under construction in November, and was later launched in March 1988; SDYC was convinced that the court would rule in their favor, so they hadn’t begun building a boat to equal Fay’s challenge; With ten months to get it done, SDYC chose the catamaran route; racing for the 27th America’s Cup was in September 1988. * Mike Sharpe: (edited to the 250-word limit) In Issue 2499, Stephen A. Van Dyck comments on the sad shore-side events that will follow a serious keel failure, and the sadness that will follow for family and friends. He’s right, and it will all be very sad, no doubt. But, as with a well remembered, fairly recent Sydney-Hobart Race, after tragedy struck, the courts and lawyers took over and it was mayhem. The keel designers, fabricators, boat-builders, Owner's, race officials, Club bar staff, yachting journalists, the Curmudgeon et al, had better start putting some serious funds into good Insurance policies, 'cause just wait and see what happens in the courts around the world when those first 15-20 lives are lost. If you’ve even stepped on an offshore yacht you’ll probably get subpoenaed. The 'Ernesto and Larry Show' in the N.Y Courts will be a footnote in history in comparison to the disruption and costs that will be the results of that first serious keel loss. ‘Here come the regulators’, and we just sit here and wait for it to happen! CNN will run this story for a year and love it. High drama without a doubt. Steroids; O.J. Simpson; the Ernesto Fiasco; the Berlin Wall; naked women; New Zealander men and sheep; all back page stuff. They’ll probably start investigating the poor old DRUM incident; it’ll be a runaway train in the media. They’ll lap it up. Guy's, let's get back to reality with keels a.s.a.p. What's going on now is about playing Russian roulette, in offshore racing. * From Kyle Assad: (In response to Hugh Elliot on Minority Sailing in Issue 2499) As a former undergraduate president of the New England Interscholastic Conference, I'd like to say that while there are still great strides to be made in involving everyone in the sport of sailing, small steps are being made in the collegiate level. Hampton University in Hampton, VA is a historically black university that has been competing in college sailing for over 5 years. They are achieving success, finishing respectably at Intersectionals, and beating some teams that are nationally ranked. This is not to say that it is an accomplishment because they are black, but rather because they were a brand new team a few short years ago, and they have started making a statement in college sailing. The important thing is that it takes time, but more importantly initiative to get programs going, which is exactly what happened at Hampton. People are sailing after they learn, College Sailing is working hard to be a very inclusive sport, which I personally recognized at my school having personally sailed with a girl from Albania who saw boats sailing and wanted to learn. The point being the people that are being sown as children now are going through college, sailing, and then working their ways onto the race course later. CELEBRATING 2500 NEWSLETTERS Back in 1997, there was no master plan for Scuttlebutt. There was no intention to be doing this for ten years, and no goal of publishing 2500 newsletters. Regardless, that is where we are, with this being Issue 2500. We have been enjoying a celebration of sorts on the Forum, but somebody slipped the software a mickey, and we are still working out the details. In the mean time, we greatly appreciate those that rely on Scuttlebutt for their sailing news, and for our sponsors that make it all possible. If you ever have a story to share, or a tip to offer, please don’t hesitate to check in with us. We are all members of the Scuttlebutt community, and it is together that we can roll through another 2500 newsletters. -- The Curmudgeon CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” -- Bobby, age 7 Special thanks to Ullman Sails and Thierry Martinez. A complete list of Scuttlebutt’s preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
