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SCUTTLEBUTT 3480 - Thursday, December 1, 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: Ullman Sails and Point Loma Outfitting. WINGS, THE NEXT GENERATION By Kimball Livingston, SAIL Wanna have some fun? Set Paul Cayard loose on the subject of America's Cup 34, some re-imagined and surprising wing-control mechanisms, and the terrors of San Francisco Bay in full cry. The custom AC72 catamarans of 2013, he says, will be 30 percent more powerful but "much less stable" than the AC45s that sailed three events this year on the America's Cup World Series circuit. And occasionally failed to maintain verticality. Cayard's home waters, where the Cup will be sailed, are known to be a windy spot, and when the ebb tide works against the seabreeze - one sixth of all the water in San Francisco Bay goes out, and in, twice a day - then she be lumpy, mon. Sea state, even more than wind strength, is something to fear once the breeze is up, funneling through the Golden Gate and peaking on many days at 18-22 knots. Unless it peaks at 30, and shucks, that's just home for the home folks. But what does it mean to racing an AC72 with 38 hydraulic cylinders in the wing? Until the first AC72s are launched in July, 2012, it's all theory, but, "If you're making 25 knots upwind and 40 knots downwind, tacking on someone and gassing them just isn't happening," Cayard says. "In seriously-overpowered boats, the match will be about who can actually get the boat around the course and figure out how to avoid that extra gybe that costs you maybe 20 seconds, maybe 250 meters." As CEO of the Swedish challenger, Artemis Racing, Cayard is not shy about telling you that his Challenger of Record team has gone its own course in engineering an AC72 wing. The box rule governing the AC72 is one big sandbox, so the engineers get to play. Oracle Racing Team Coordinator Ian Burns explains: "I was involved in writing the rule for the AC72s, and when we addressed the wing, we started with a complicated rule, to limit what a designer could do. We added more and more pieces as we thought of more and more outcomes, and we came to a point where it was so complicated - and it was still going to be hard to control, because the more rules you write the more loopholes you create - that we reverted to a simple principle. Limit the area very accurately, and make it a game of efficiency." The Artemis approach to efficiency, Cayard says, uses a three-element, two-slot wing. No surprise. Any wing is much more efficient than a mast and soft sail - for many reasons, not the least of which is that mid-leech tension becomes a non-issue - and C Class catamarans long ago demonstrated that three elements, two slots, are faster than two elements, one slot. I expect every AC72 to have a three-element wing. Unless, or until, someone develops a fully-warpable single-element wing, but that's for another day . . . read on: http://www.sailmagazine.com/cup-watch/wings-next-generation PLAN B The race within a race stepped up a gear on Wednesday as Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Team Sanya both welcomed their boats safely to Cape Town. The two teams were forced to retire from the first leg and shipped their boats from, respectively, Portugal and Spain. They hope to be back ready to sail on December 6, in time for the in-port race in Cape Town on December 10. Abu Dhabi's striking black racing yacht Azzam, dismasted on the first night, arrived by container ship at Cape Town's commercial port first thing on Wednesday. Cocooned among containers on the ship, she came in safe and sound and was lifted by crane straight off the ship and into the water. From there, she motored round to the Abu Dhabi base and the sailors and shore crew set to work unloading a boat that lost her rig on the first leg. "It's great, even though it isn't quite how we wanted to arrive in Cape Town," said skipper Ian Walker before joining in with the unloading. "It's taken a lot of work to get organised and get her here safely. "There is one more stage to go -- to cure the new rigging. It's another step on the journey. We're really in the hands of Future Fibres. It will take five days to cure the new set of rigging and it should be ready by December 6, to be back in the water by December 7. "It's really one long chapter. We're taking it quite positively. Things could have been a lot worse as we've seen with what happened to PUMA and the terrible things they have had to deal with. Every team is going to have setbacks in this race and it's all about how well you deal with them. So far we've dealt with this one well." Team Sanya, who suffered damage to the boat's hull inside the first 24 hours, got their second-generation Volvo Open 70 back in Cape Town at 1300 local, around seven hours after Abu Dhabi. At 1800 on Wednesday, the boat was lifted off the barge and onto the dock at the team base, much to the delight of the watching crowd. There will be no let up in the work schedule from there, with the repair team due to start cutting out the damaged area of the boat this evening. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG are still waiting on Tristan da Cunha, with a container ship on the way to meet them and take them back to Cape Town, with an ETA of December 6. -- Photos/Video: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-113011 Leg 1 - Final positions 1. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP), Finished Nov. 26, 21:05:14:25 GMT 2. CAMPER (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), Finished Nov. 27, 21:21:48:04 GMT 3. Groupama (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA), Finished Nov. 29, 24:04:28:31 GMT Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR) - Retired from Leg 1 PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA) - Retired from Leg 1 Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL) - Retired from Leg 1 Overall Standings 1. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP), 31 pts 2. CAMPER (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), 29 3. Groupama (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA), 22 4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR), 6 5. PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA), 5 6. Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL), 3 Tracking/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos PROTEST: Groupama sailing team have lodged a protest with the International Jury against CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand over the forestay and rigging on their boat during Leg 1. The French team had previously protested the forestay set-up on CAMPER after finishing the Iberdrola In-Port Race, but the protest was rejected by the International Jury. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, and Team Telefonica had also contested CAMPER's forestay set-up. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/Protest-113011 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 THE OPTI-MAL GIFT Ullman Sails has this year's perfect gift for junior sailors - an Opti sail! When our new Optimist Series debuted this summer, they were FAST straight off the start line. Our Optimini design scored 2nd overall in the 2011 UK Opti Nationals Regatta division in August and the new line-up has been impressing racers and coaches ever since. Choose from three different high performance race designs, designed and tested to meet the demands of a top racer, but easy for a beginner to trim. Ullman Sails will get you the smiles you're looking for! Find out more at http://www.ullmansails.com/optimist THE TOP 10 HOTTEST SAILING COMPETITORS After years of training, elite athletes with Olympic rings in their dreams are assembled this week in Perth, Australia to compete in the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships. Over 1,100 sailors from 78 nations will be seeking to both qualify their nations for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition, and to prove to their countries that they deserve to be its representative at the Games. In short, it's all on. Few events decide so much. The highs and lows will be clear, for some, painfully clear. With so much on the line, and before the racing begins this weekend, local publication WAtoday.com.au sought to find a more palatable angle. And thus, they have compiled the top sailors in the style stakes who will call Perth home for the next 16 days. Here is their list of the top 10 hottest sailing competitors: http://tinyurl.com/WAToday-113011 ISAF Worlds website: http://www.perth2011.com/ LIKE DRIVING A CADILLAC ELDORADO (November 30, 2011; Day 9 - 22:45:00 UTC) - After a 24 hour run of 669.9 nm, Loick Peyron (FRA) and his team on the 131-foot maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V are now 389.8 nm ahead of the current Jules Verne Trophy - the non-stop circumnavigation record - of 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds set by Franck Cammas on the 103-foot Groupama 3 in 2010. BP V has crossed the equator and is descending the south Atlantic... at a 27.9 knot average over the past 24 hours. Brian Thompson, helmsman/trimmer, describes the challenges that lie ahead: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Heading down the endless coast of Brasil today, going fast in good conditions, though with occasional squalls. Not yet heading towards the direction of the Cape of Good Hope, as we still have the St Helena high to pass to the west of. If we took the direct route we would be stuck in light airs. The analogy would be of choosing to take the M25 motorway around London over sitting in traffic in the centre of the city - in the end we will get there much quicker. It does seem odd when looking at our route on the map though, and we are all itching to head SE. After the doldrums we started sailing nearly upwind at 55TWA but the wind has progressively shifted left as we have sailed southwards, so we are now sailing at 120TWA, with one reef in the mainsail and either the Solent or staysail at the front. Perfect sailing, with low stress on the boat, and relatively high and consistent speeds.. It's always a pleasure to steer this boat, but in conditions like this Yvon and I call it 'driving a Cadillac Eldorado '78' down the highway - straight and smooth. There is still max concentration at these high speeds from the driver and the trimmers, but the boat just wants to run - we just have to gently guide it down that straight highway in the desert. -- http://brianthompsonsailing.blogspot.com/2011/11/day-7.html Tracking: http://tinyurl.com/PB-Tracking-2011-12 SAILING SHORTS * (November 30, 2011; Day 2) - After 14 hours of racing in Leg 2 of the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR), the Dutch father-and-son team of Nico and Frans Budel dismasted shortly before rounding the Cape of Good Hope and entering the Indian Ocean. Both the Budels are uninjured and have returned to Cape Town unassisted with their Class40 Sec. Hayai while plans are already in place to rejoin the GOR. The remaining five Class40s rounded the Cape of Good Hope at midnight and continue on to the finish in Wellington, New Zealand. -- Full report: http://globaloceanrace.com/?page=news&news_id=576&lang=en * Virgin Gorda, BVI (November 30, 2011) - The 2011-launched, 66 metre Baltic Yachts ketch Hetairos was the first superyacht to complete the Transatlantic Superyacht Regatta - Transatlantic Maxi Yacht Cup 2011 at 00.03 a.m. GMT on 30th November. After 8 days, 10 hours, 58 minutes and 30 seconds of navigation, the yacht crossed the finish line located off Saba Rock. Hetairos, launched in July of this year and featuring design and engineering by Dykstra & Partners & Reichel Pugh Yacht Design, covered the 3069 mile trip from Santa Cruz in Tenerife at an average speed of 15.12 knots. -- Read on: http://www.internationalmaxiassociation.com/anteprima_news_.php?newsID=289 * The 30th biennial San Diego - Puerto Vallarta race will be held March 1-10, 2012. The biennial event is hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club, taking racers 1000nm to the finish line off Punta Mita in Banderas Bay, Mexico. Racers arrive in time for the 22nd edition of the Mexican Ocean Racing Circuit (MEXORC) regatta and the "Regatta Copa Mexico" which takes place on Banderas Bay beginning on March 11th. -- Contact: Laura Neale at mexorc.staff@gmail.com or MEXORC website http://www.mexorc.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS 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: Dec 2 - Wirth Munroe Ft. Lauderdale to Palm Beach Race - Palm Beach, FL, USA Dec 8-10 - 2.4mR Pre-Worlds - Charlotte Harbor, Florida, USA Dec 8-11 - Melges 20 Gold Cup - Miami, FL, USA View all the events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar TIS THE SEASON OF CHANGE This is the time of year when most of us have put the boats away and start thinking about winter activities. This Fall Patagonia has come out with a whole new line of ski/snowboarding gear constructed of GoreTex! The combination of these two great brands has produced a line of gear that is without a doubt some of the best out there. Check it out at: www.pointlomaoutfitting.com/scuttlebutt.html. Don't forget that while we normally offer free shipping within the continental USA for all orders over $150; we now offer it for all orders over $100.00 during this holiday season. PARTY: If you are in San Diego on Thursday, come by the Point Loma Outfitting holiday party for the eats and drinks at 6:00pm. Location: http://www.pointlomaoutfitting.com/retail.php 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 Bruce Munro: Unfortunately, Michael Schaumburg's story (in Scuttlebutt 3479) about Leading Lady is not credible. Leading Lady always had a tiller and not a wheel, so the story about Tom Blackaller holding up a wheel that came off cannot be true. Also, during the years that I owned LL, Tom sailed with us around the buoys in San Francisco Bay a few times, but he never did any of our off shore racing. I think Mr. Schaumburg must be thinking about some other boat. * From Frank Lawson, Port Ludlow WA: There seems to be strong evidence that the Volvo fleet is not well enough designed, engineered, built....whatever....to race around the world. Let's call the whole thing off, tighten up the scantlings to which the boats are designed and built to and try again in 2-3 years with real tigers as opposed to the 2011 paper tigers that have demonstrated a distinct propensity to dissolve in seawater. BACKGROUND: The 2005-6 edition was the first year for the VO70, where a similar call to halt the event followed a number of keel failures on the first leg. The keel problem was resolved during the 2008-9 race, but hull construction problems affected a few of the entries in that edition. Team Sanya is the only boat from the last edition, so perhaps her hull problem is a result of being built to that rule. The dominant problem thus far for the 2010-11 race has been rigs, with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and PUMA breaking their masts and CAMPER nearly losing their rig just prior to the finish. When loads increase, they tend to find the weakest link. * From Chris Upton: Mr. Gregory's concern for the environmental impact of sailing is misguided. The problem is not the VOR transportation footprint, but the aggregate foot print of sailing as a sport. Carbon fiber requires a great deal of chemistry and furnaces to fabricate. Sail cloth, cordage and all other aspects of boat building are not environmentally friendly. Sailing looks good because the engines are off. But in reality, there is a significant impact. Just look at the regulations that are put on local boatyards. By comparison, this past season my owner spent $10,000 on fuel for his powerboat. We used the boat 4-5 days a week. I know many sailors with smaller boats that spend much more than that on sails each year. Sailors pay up front while power boaters pay on an ongoing basis. Is the environmental impact any different? COMMENT: It's safe to say there are few recreations that 'leave only footprints, take only memories'. It is also safe to say that discussion on global warming, carbon footprints, etc. are best held outside of the Scuttlebutt newsletter. This thread is now closed. SCUTTLEBUTT ADVERTISING IN 2012 Scuttlebutt provides a limited amount of text ad slots in each newsletter, and these are often sold out well in advance. Most of these ad slots for 2012 will be booked in the next two weeks, so if you are interested in advertising, contact us for details: 619-299-5678 or advertising@sailingscuttlebutt.com CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons." - James Thurber, American author/cartoonist SPONSORS THIS WEEK Kaenon Polarized - West Marine - APS - North Sails North U - Melges Performance Sailboats - Ultimate Sailing LaserPerformance - Ullman Sails - Point Loma Outfitting J Boats - Doyle Sails - Quantum Sails Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
