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SCUTTLEBUTT 3408 - Thursday, August 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 Ullman Sails. OBSERVATIONS FROM THE IRC NORTH AMERICANS By Don Finkle, RCR Yachts One thing that struck me was the wide variety of boats that took part in the event (Toronto, Aug. 11-14). Apparently almost anything that floats can get an IRC rating. I don’t mean that in a negative way; just an observation that you don’t need any certain type, age or style of boat to compete. For example, on one end of the spectrum we had a Farr 30 and Melges 32, very light high performance sportboats. You could throw the canting-keel Shock 40 in there too. On the other end there was the vintage “Red Jacket”, the 39 foot custom ocean racer that first put C&C on the map by winning the SORC overall back about 1969 or ‘70. Of course RJ has been heavily updated and optimized, yet she is still over 40 years old. There was also a Hunter Legend 37 that you would not think of as a racer but that does very well, lots of boats from the 1980s such as C&C 34s and J/35s, an assortment that you need to scan the scratch sheet to truly appreciate. The in the middle, so to speak, were more recent but not extreme designs such as the Beneteau First 36.7s, 10Rs and 40.7s and C&C 115s. The amazing thing is that the top five overall boats at the end of the regatta came from across the board and included boats from the fastest (John Odenbach’s Farr 47 Rampage) and slowest (Winston Beckett’s Santana 30-30 Fortitude) divisions and those in between as well. And the overall champion is the mid 1980’s designed J/35 Buckaroo Banzai owned by David Ogden. We had a ring side seat of BB’s dominating performance because they were in our division, and we owed them time (on our Beneteau 36.7). Examples of other boats that did well included the Beneteau 40.7s, of which there were 7, and the First 10Rs, of which there were 6. Go to the event results to see the whole story, we don’t want to leave anyone out here: http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=456 The bottom line is that boats of various vintages and types seem to be able to compete, and for sure older designs are still very much alive in IRC. -- http://tinyurl.com/RCR-081711 OVERCOMING OURSELVES If you travel away from your local water to compete, there will inevitably be a venue that just doesn’t click for you. But when you are training for the Olympics, and the problem venue is the site of the 2012 Games, then you have a problem. Enter Paige Railey, who the U.S. is counting on to medal in the women’s singlehanded event at London Olympics. Here is her report from the Pre-Olympic regatta last week in Weymouth: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I, along with my coach, family and team are soooooo excited about getting a bronze at this event. It's not just the medal that means a lot, it's the fact that I finally had my breakthrough in Weymouth. I have had many mental challenges with this sailing area. I was facing many setbacks and constantly fighting the feeling of being disheartened. I felt like I would make progress in one area then find out I was weak in another. It seemed that it was just one thing after another. I kept telling myself to keep strong because I was so close to crossing the line from unlucky to knowing/understanding how to sail here. This is one area where my coach Luther (Carpenter) has made a huge impact on me. When he noticed I was feeling a little down he would keep encouraging me, put me back to work, do the task again until I understood, or state the positive out of the situation. This has definitely been a team success because I couldn't have done it without him. I started the week off just okay. I had many opportunities to have good results, but I would make a tactical error. The tactics are completely different compared to North America. I have had to make some major adjustments with the way I see things and how I would react to them. These types of conditions have always been a weak area of my sailing, so I am really happy to see I am finally conquering them. I believe this Olympics is a huge test for me. It is pushing me both physically and mentally, so if I were to win a Gold next year then it would mean so much more. Anyways, I did a lot of analyzing of the area, races, my decisions and forced myself to admit and face my mistakes. If I want to learn then I can't run or make excuses for myself. Towards the end of the week I started to feel more and more confident on how to get upwind and in the last few races we saw a major improvement in my tactics. -- Read on: http://paigesailor.blogspot.com/2011/08/conclusion-pre-olympics.html SUMMIT 40, BACK IN THE NEWS The Summit 40, TOKOLOSHE, owned by Mike Bartholomew, took the overall win at Cowes Race Week, winning against tough competition in the IRC 1 Class. Cowes Race Week, as one of the premier regattas worldwide, draws from the best teams in Europe, and this Mark Mills design has again proven that it has what it takes to continue as one of the most successful 40 ft. racer/cruisers available. Check out the entire Summit Line, including the Summit 35 and 40 at http://www.summit-yachts.com BOATS ARE LIKE GUYS AND GUYS ARE LIKE BOATS By Dawn Riley, ED, Oakcliff Sailing Center My favorite boat is … I have no idea. They are kind of like guys I’ve dated: each one has something sexy and special. Firefly, a beautiful mahogany bright red and varnished Great Lakes Cutter, was the boat on which I discovered sailing. Probably culminating in the relatively short trip where us three kids delivered her through a significant squall and up the St. Clair River, holding our own under sail against a 3-knot current and pulling into port due to a split in the engine exhaust tube. I was 13, my sister Dana was 11, and brother Todd was 8 and we handled it all just fine. Talk about a self-confidence boost. A J/22 is at the other end of the spectrum and a great little boat on which I discovered my groove - match racing at the Santa Maria Cup. And then there were the boats that you just step on and it is a perfect match. Like that first time your eyes meet across the bar. USA 18, Defiance, was one of those boats. The moment I stepped aboard I could feel the electricity. She was a huge step up from USA 9 (aka the lab rat) and USA 2 (aka the Scud). And you could feel it just in the way she floated, and then sails up and we were off. Buddy Melges would cock his head and get her “talking to the waves’” up the backside and down the front. -- Sailing, read on: http://www.sailingmagazine.net/news/features/1115-my-favorite-boat QUOTE / UNQUOTE “The decision to take a more conservative approach came with experience. Having 18 races with no throwouts gives you little room for error. Throughout my college sailing career, I learned that being conservative is the best way to avoid bad scores.” -- Charlie Buckingham, College Sailor of the Year 2011, http://tinyurl.com/Sailing-World-081711 INQUIRY UNDER WAY (August 17, 2011) - The Marine Casualty Investigation Board has begun a preliminary inquiry into the capsizing of the maxi yacht Rambler 100 with 21 crew on board south of the Fastnet Rock on Monday. A marine surveyor from the board was assigned yesterday to ascertain why the keel snapped off the 100ft yacht while it was leading the mono-hull fleet in the Fastnet yacht race. The hull of the yacht - worth at least $10 million before its capsize - was towed overnight to Barley Cove on the Cork coast by Castletownbere-based tug Ocean Bank , with a view to recovery once rigging is removed. The Naval Service patrol ship LE Aoife stayed alongside the floating hull some three miles south of Fastnet throughout yesterday. Owner and US businessman George David was taken out to the location to assess the state of the yacht and check if passports and other personal belongings could be retrieved. All 21 crew are recovering from their ordeal, including Mr David’s partner, Wendy Touton, who was flown by Irish Coast Guard helicopter to Tralee General Hospital suffering from severe hypothermia on Monday night. She was treated by Irish Coast Guard helicopter paramedics Ciarán McHugh and Colm Hillary en route. Ms Touton, Mr David and three other crew had spent more than two hours in the sea after they were thrown off the yacht. They were located by a dive vessel, Wave Chieftain , with guidance from Valentia Coast Guard.The 16 other crew managed to cling to the hull when it turned turtle, and were rescued by Baltimore lifeboat. The first four yachts were finishing the race in Plymouth on Monday night even as the rescue was under way. The Fastnet race’s main organiser is the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Race manager Ian Lofhagen said he was aware that several competing yachts had passed close to the Rambler 100 after its capsize. However, he said it appeared that conditions were such that the other yachts would not have known what happened. The racing club had first heard of a problem with Rambler 100 from its close rival, ICAP Leopard , he said. ICAP Leopard owner and property developer Mike Slade told the racing club that his boat “knew there was an issue with Rambler” but was not aware of “the full extent of what had happened [of its keel loss and subsequent capsize]” as there had been thick fog. The Marine Casualty Investigation Board will interview all the Rambler 100 crew and rescue personnel. It has been liaising with authorities on the Cayman Islands, where the maxi yacht is registered. The racing club says it will also co-operate with the investigation. Mr Lofhagen said it would conduct its own review, with a view to “lessons being learned”. -- Irish Times, read on: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0817/breaking11.html UPDATE: Rambler is now righted: http://yfrog.com/kl6vtsdj LIGHTWEIGHT STRENGTH FROM ULLMAN SAILS The Ullman Sails FiberPath series combines the latest in production technology and design expertise to deliver the lightest, strongest string sails on the market. The Ullman Sails Design Team understands how to address the loads in your sail using fiber selection and layout. And with years of experience designing fast, efficient sail shape, you get optimized performance sails for racers and cruisers alike. So whether you’re rethinking your cruising inventory or preparing for this racing season, Ullman Sails will build sails to match your goals. For more information on FiberPath technology, contact a local Ullman Sails lofts and visit http://www.ullmansails.com SAILING SHORTS * Newport, RI (August 17, 2011) - The 2011 U.S. Youth Championships will hold the final day of racing on Thursday for the 87 entrants competing amid the four events. The largest lead is in the Club 420 fleet where Lily Katz/ Fiona Walsh of New York have a 22 point cushion. Californians lead the 29er and Laser fleets, with an 11 point edge for Paris Henken/ Connor Kelter and an 8 point lead for Olin Paine. The closest fleet is in the Laser Radial, where Floridian Erika Reineke must manage a narrow 6 point lead among the top four sailors. -- Full report: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2011/USYSC_D3_Report.htm * Detroit’s waterfront will be on display Aug. 17-21 as one of the most prestigious match racing events, the fourth annual Bayview Yacht Club’s Detroit Cup, launches on the Detroit River. The regatta is part of the 2011 North American Grand Slam Match Racing Series, which is made up of four events - the Chicago Match Cup Aug. 12-14, the BYC’s Detroit Cup Aug. 17-21, the Knickerbocker Cup Aug. 24-28 and the Oakcliff International Aug. 30-Sept. 3. The team with the best combined scores from match-racing events raced at each venue will receive an invitation to the 2012 Congressional Cup in Long Beach, CA. -- Full report: http://www.detroitcup.com/detroitcup/fullnews.cfm?NewsID=19 * (August 17, 2011) - Marstrand, Sweden marks the halfway stage of the RC44 Championships Tour and with three events completed, the Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton combo on Team Aqua (GBR) leads both the match and fleet racing rankings. After matching today at the RC44 Sweden Cup, Thursday will see the start of four days of fleet racing and with sixteen boats on the start line it will be easy to rack up some big scores, with no discards allowed in the series.-- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/RC44-081711 * (August 17, 2011) - The Honourable Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport), today confirmed the Government of Canada's contribution to the Canadian Yachting Association in support of the 2011 CORK OCR and International Regatta, being held in Kingston, Ont. from August 14 to 24. Since the 1976 Olympics, the CORK regattas have offered excellent training for sailors, coaches, and officials and have become a fixture on the international calendar. The event attracts 750 sailors from 9 countries. A contribution of $50,000 was provided to the Canadian Yachting Association for the 2011 CORK OCR and International Regatta through Sport Canada's Hosting Program. -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/CY-081711 CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Is your event listed on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar? This free, self-serve tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. These are some of the events listed on the calendar for this weekend: Aug 18-21 - J/24 North American Championship - Halifax, Nova Scotia, CAN Aug 18-21 - Penobscot Bay Rendezvous - Camden, ME, USA Aug 19-21 - 2011 Verve Cup Offshore Regatta - Chicago, IL, USA Aug 19-21 - Ida Lewis Distance Race - Newport, RI, USA Aug 20-24 - CORK OCR - Kingston, Ontario, CAN View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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: * West Marine’s Green Product of the Year Contest * SAILING Magazine celebrates 45 years * Kos Pictures announces new dynamic website * Team Sanya Chooses Future Fibres View and/or post Industry News updates at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/industry_news 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 Brian Bracken, Cowes: In Peter Isler's graphic article (Scuttlebutt 3407) he was not certain of the correct name of the organisation who picked him up. I guess with the fright he had had he would be pushed to remember his own name. I know I would be more than a little shook up and go cold when I think of their experience. The organisation that came along to Rambler and picked them up was The Royal National Lifeboat Institution, better known as the RNLI and is indeed manned by Volunteers and funded entirely by public donations. They are nationwide with stations all around the coast of Great Britain and Ireland. As well as the RNLI boat, a Fishing vessel was diverted and plucked the crew from the water. Well done to them all and thank god no casualties In Cowes, where the Fastnet race started, the local RNLI Guild is busy trying to raise a million pounds to convert the old Custom House into a new inshore Lifeboat station to better cover the central Solent - a well used historic yacht race area. - http://www.rnli.org.uk COMMENT: It should be noted that Peter’s actions during this incident were heroic. Despite the keel breaking off of the 100-foot Rambler, he stayed down below to make the emergency calls as it turtled on top of him. His delay in exiting the boat nearly cost him his life. Peter’s report has now been updated to note the assistance of the RNLI: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0816/ -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor * From Manfred Schreiber: In Scuttlebutt 3407 editor Craig Leweck noted of the America’s Cup coverage, “When the choppers are grounded, so is the broadcast.” I would say, when the choppers are grounded the AC Alphabet comes closer to their motto: "Save the Oceans". Big noise and heavy fuel consumption just to deliver a few different pictures are not environmental friendly at all. Long lenses from the shore and maybe that special camera boat would do it even for the most interested spectator/fan/ACup enthusiast. What the delivered live pictures needed in my eyes was a much better broadcast coordinator as being said here on the Valencia Sailing website: http://www.vsail.info/2011/08/17/where-is-the-americas-cup-tv-revolution/ * From Simon Gasston, Kent, UK: For me, all the talk about the changes to the AC being bad for the sport and for the challengers, and only good for the defender, misses the point. Sailing is a recreation, which we do for fun, and watching the videos of the Cascais events it is clear that all the sailors are really enjoying the boats, and the racing, and they would rather not be anywhere else. These are the top sailors in the world, and are good in anything that sails, so putting them in these great new boats can only be a Good Thing. Bring it on in Plymouth- I will be there! * From Hugh Evans: In my latest Seahorse magazine (Sept. 2011), I note a comment attributed to Chris Caswell that competitors in the 2011 Etchells Worlds in San Diego were paying $300 per day for a tow to and from the race course. Is this true? As an enthusiastic Corinthian Etchells sailor based in the UK where attracting new fleet members is imperative and the lure of World Championships is an attraction, seeing this is not good news; it sounds madness. Surely the race organisers should have this covered? COMMENT: This was indeed true, though $300 was on the higher end of the scale for a simple tow. The cost to compete at the Worlds for many teams included paid crews and coaches and/or tow boat drivers. The costs for some teams were well over $1000/day...before sandwiches. The event tried to limit the impact of the coaches by creating course boundaries and contact restrictions (no comms from 30 min before start to until last boat finishes). Interestingly, it was pointed out to me (by a coach) that the effect of coaching limitations is that some skippers will then hire pro crew to coach them around the course. And the daily rate tends to be higher for a pro crew than a coach. -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor (and Group 1 sailor) * From Tim Patterson: What a great piece by Tim Zimmerman in Scuttlebutt 3407. I have always been thankful that my parents were able to see their way clear to allow me to concentrate on sailing at age 12. I really did not care about racing, but just loved being on the water. I came from a family that played golf with a passion, but had given me lessons in golf, tennis, swimming and sailing from 7 on. When I asked to be allowed to sail more and do the others less, they gave me a Sailfish kit for my twelfth Christmas. If there was ever a happier kid, I do not know. That summer I built the Sailfish with the help of a great carpenter named Charlie and I never looked back. Sailing offshore is one of the most wonderful enjoyments I have ever known. In St. Kitts, where Skyjack was built by Philip Walwyn and a wonderfully talented boatyard crew, I am known as the guy who said that sailing Skyjack offshore was the most fun I ever had with my clothes on. Thanks for the great work you are doing at Scuttlebutt. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Any horizontal surface is soon piled up. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Harken - Kaenon Polarized - Team One Newport - North Sails LaserPerformance - Doyle Sails - Atlantis WeatherGear - Lewmar Summit Yachts - Ullman Sails - The Pirates Lair - JK3 Nautical Enterprises Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
