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SCUTTLEBUTT 2496 – December 14, 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. CRUISING RALLY MARKED BY TRAGEDY The Directors of World Cruising Club express their deep sorrow at the death of John Thompson, 54, the skipper of the Oyster 41 Avocet that was participating in the 2007 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). John Thompson, a lawyer from Bangor, Northern Ireland, sustained serious head injuries in an accident onboard his yacht late on December 7th, later dying on Thursday, December 13, 2007. The incident occurred mid-Atlantic, 980 nautical miles East of St.Lucia and 1090 nautical miles West of the Cape Verde Islands, well beyond the range of any land based assistance. This annual transatlantic rally starting each November in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has now become the most popular way to cross the Atlantic. The largest transocean sailing event in the world, this year the ARC brought together 236 yachts from all over the world. The Caribbean destination is Rodney Bay in St.Lucia, with the 2700 nautical mile passage on the NE tradewind route taking on average between 14 and 21 days. -- http://www.worldcruising.com/arc BOAT OF THE YEAR AWARDS (December 13, 2007) Sailing World magazine announced today the winners of the biggest annual honors in sailboat building, the Boat of the Year awards. Topping the list for 2008, the Laser SB3 was named overall winner. The Laser SB3, a 20-foot high-performance sportboat, was selected over 17 other new designs. The 2008 contest marked the 24th time the top magazine for racing has honored the best in boat design and building. The Laser SB3 is Europe’s fastest growing one-design raceboat. Vanguard Sailboats (Portsmouth, R.I.) and its parent company, Performance Sailcraft Europe (England), introduced the SB3 to U.S. sailors for the first time this fall. Sailing World awarded honors for Best One-Design Dinghy to the Laser Vago XD, another product of Vanguard and Performance Sailcraft Europe. The Best Daysailer award went to the Sabre Spirit, built by Sabre Yachts (South Casco, Maine). The Danish-built X-41 One-Design took the Best Crossover title, and the Club Swan 42, built by Finland’s Nautor’s Swan, was selected as the Best Offshore One-Design. All the winners will be featured in the January/February issue of Sailing World, due to hit newsstands in mid-December. -- Read on and post comments here: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=5686 TO CHANGE, OR NOT TO CHANGE The members of the National Class E Scow Association are in the midst of a vote to decide whether they will convert their 28-foot one design from a symmetrical spinnaker, to an asymmetrical design. This ballot was first put to the membership two years ago, and though the majority approved the measure, the vote fell short of the two-thirds required. Change is a challenge for existing one-design classes, as the cost of the conversion will surely result in the loss of some members. However, the idea to make the change was borne out of the benefits that the conversion provides, and the hope to increase the appeal and performance of the class. Several fleets have already made the move to convert their boats, regardless of the decision of the national class. As a result, there is sufficient information on how the boat, which has been competing since 1959, will respond to the change, and all indications are that the membership will approve the measure this time. The only aspect of the change that appears uncertain is whether the class will implement the new configuration for the 2008 or 2009 season. The closing date for the vote is Sunday, December 16, 2007. -- http://www.e-scow.org FREE UPGRADE TO EXPRESS SHIPPING Are you a holiday shopping procrastinator? If you are, North Sails Gear is the place to shop! For just five days (through December 18), North Sails will upgrade all US orders from standard to EXPRESS shipping at no additional charge! We have also added several new items to our online store, including the Ultimate Opti Racing DVD - perfect for any Opti sailor you know! Write the word "Scuttlebutt" in the comments box during check-out for upgraded express shipping -- http://www.northsailsgear.com/store AMERICA’S CUP: TACKS AND GYBES * The drama that has become the 33rd America’s Cup has seemingly gone on forever, as the past five months have been full of debate and rumors played out in the media. For those who are a bit fuzzy on the details, here is a handy timeline that might provides some clarity: http://twelvemeterupdate.blogspot.com/2007/12/timeline.html * Perhaps it was the announcement this week on Wednesday from Alinghi’s ally, the Spanish team Desafío Español, which has worried the Swiss on who they can rely on. With the Spanish frustrated at defender Alinghi’s resistance to plan the next America’s Cup, the Swiss have retained a new legal firm in New York (Simpson Thacher & Bartlett), and are now threatening to appeal Justice Cahn's decision. This information would contradict earlier statements by the Ernesto Bertarelli-led team, which had said that they would not appeal the judgment (and that they already had the “best lawyers.”) * A reminder that the America’s Cup world remains on standby until the settlement order is finalized by the NY Supreme Court. This was to occur this week, and it is on the basis of this order, and the decision from November 27th, that either the Swiss or Spanish can submit an appeal within 30 days of the settlement order date. BARCELONA WORLD RACE Open 60 doublehanded round the world race (started Nov 11; 25,000-miles) (Day 33 - December 13, 2007) It’s been another cold, difficult day for the race leaders in the Barcelona World Race as they battle the elements deep in the southern ocean. Commenting race leading skipper Jean-Pierre Dick, “It’s very difficult to be out there for so long – you have to have all the gear because it’s so cold. It’s freezing…the sky is very gray and the waves quite chaotic, seas coming from everywhere…” Shoreside, Estrella Damm is in Cape Town after arriving late Wednesday night and the shore team is working feverishly to make the repairs necessary to get the boat back on the racecourse. However, much will depend on the team’s certainty of the repairs and their distance behind the leaders as to whether they will join the race again (UPDATE: The Estrella Damm team has quit the race. Full report on Monday). Meanwhile, the Delta Dore shore team has dispatched a motor vessel to rendezvous with the race boat. The boats should meet in about 48-hours and Delta Dore will either take on more fuel, or if the conditions are suitable, be towed back to South Africa. -- 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, DTF not available 2-Veolia Environnement, Roland Jourdain/ Jean-Luc Nélias, 144 mi DTL (-19) 3-Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson/ Andrew Cape, 222 (-16) 4-Temenos II, Dominique Wavre/ Michéle Paret, 1018 (-91) 5-Mutua Madrilena, Javier Sanso Windmann/ Pachi Rivero, 1739 (-98) 6-Estrella Damm, Guillermo Altadill/ Jonathan McKee, 2430 (-371)* 7-Educación sin Fronteras, Servane Escoffier/ Albert Bargues, 2496 (-123) Retired - PRB, Vincent Riou / Sébastien Josse (broken mast) Retired -Delta Dore, Jérémie Beyou/ Sidney Gavignet (broken mast) * In Cape Town for rudder repair * Correction: In Issue 2495, it was reported that the 24-hour record set by Hugo Boss had been ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. This information came from the race website, but it proved to be premature, as no such ratification has yet occurred. * (Day 20 - December 13, 2007 - 16:42 UTC) A day after Francis Joyon had broken the singlehanded 24-hour distance record (616.07 miles) onboard the 97-foot IDEC trimaran, his pace of 549 nm seemed pedestrian as he continues in his attempt to establish a new singlehanded round the world record. Now more than halfway across the Southern Ocean span between the African and Australasian continents, his advance over Ellen Macarthur’s record pace in 2005 is up another 32 miles to 1,996. -- http://www.trimaran-idec.com * (Day 14 - December 13, 2007) Loïck Peyron is expected to win the 4,200-mile Open 60 Transat Ecover BtoB from Salvador de Bahia, Brasil to Port-La-Forêt, France on Thursday, probably after midnight UTC. The victory of the skipper of Gitana Eighty no longer seems to be in any doubt, but Kito de Pavant and Michel Desjoyeaux will finish very close together, with second place still up for grabs. -- http://www.transatecoverbtob.com FROM THE OLYMPIC TRAIL * Zach Railey, US Finn representative: “I am currently in Sydney, Australia getting ready to compete in the ISAF Grade 1 Sydney International Regatta. We will be racing on the same race areas that the 2000 Olympic Games were held, so that is going to be very exciting. Before coming to Sydney, I was in Melbourne at the Australian National Championship where I finished 6th against some very tough competition. I was pleased with this result, as I had taken a full 6 weeks out of the boat after the trials to recharge the battery. It felt great to be back in the boat and competing. I have started a great training relationship with a good friend of mine, Jonas Hoegh-Christensen, who is currently the # 1 Ranked Finn Sailor in the World. Over the next month, we will be focusing all of our attention to peak at the Finn World Championship, to be held in Melbourne, Australia on January 23-29, 2008.” -- http://www.zachrailey.com * Tim Wadlow (skipper), US 49er representative: “Chris and I are headed down to Melbourne, Australia to start preparing for the upcoming 49er World Championship on January 2-9. The Worlds is typically the most important event on the 49er calendar and all of our potential Olympic competition will be in Melbourne. For many of our foreign competitors, the Worlds represents at least a portion of their Olympic Trials. With that in mind, they will be racing all out-- using their best equipment, and trying to peak their performance. In the weeks leading up to the Worlds, we will be training closely with the Peckolt brothers from Germany, who we worked with very successfully back in September in preparation for the US Olympic Trials. Also joining our training group will be the top-ranked Austrian team of Nico Delle-Karth & Niko Resch, who recently finished second at the 2006 Cascais World Championship. On a side note, Chris jumped back in the 49er as a skipper, and teamed up with Matt Noble (who just finished 6th at the US Olympic Trials) to sail the Australian 49er Nationals. Well, Chris certainly hasn't forgotten how to drive a 49er, as they finished second in the 30-boat fleet.” -- http://www.wadlowrast.com * A record 360 plus boats and over 520 competitors are expected to cross their respective start lines when the ISAF Grade 1 Sydney International Regatta (SIRs) gets underway this weekend on Sydney Harbour (AUS). Olympic classes racing are: 470 Men’s and Women’s, RS:X sailboard Men’s and Women’s, 49er, Finn, Tornado, Yngling, Laser and the new Olympic Women’s Laser Radial class. Youth classes are the 420 dinghy, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 29er skiff. -- http://www.nsw.yachting.org.au/default.asp?MenuID=SIR/13587/0/ PRODUCTS FROM NEW ENGLAND ROPES FEATURE IN J105 NA'S New England Ropes congratulates the crew of Masquerade on their victory in the J105 North American Championships. Race-inspired products developed by New England Ropes were featured running rigging aboard Masquerade. Flight Line, a blend of polypropylene and Dyneema(r) SK75 and Salsa Line, a blend of spun and filament polyester and Dyneema(r) SK75 were used for mainsheets and spinnaker sheets, while the jib sheets were Endura 12, a 100% Dyneema(r) SK75 line. For more information on these and other performance racing products, visit http://www.neropes.com SAILING SHORTS * The World Sailing Speed Record Council has ratified a new 20-foot catamaran world record from Dakar to Guadeloupe, which was accomplished by Benoit Lequin (FRA) and Pierre-Yves Moreau (FRA) on November 28- December 9, 2007. Their average speed for 2700nm was 9.8 kts, and the route was completed in 11 days, 11 hours, 25 minutes, and 42 seconds. The previous record was set by Andrea Gancis/ Matteo Miceli (ITA) in January 2005 (13d 13h 58m 27s, 8.28kts). -- http://www.sailspeedrecords.com * This week the Volvo sailing podcast will talk with the men behind the Green Team – the latest boat to join the Volvo Ocean Race – skipper Ian Walker and Jamie Boag, and will also check in with the Ericsson Racing Team for the latest from their campaign. Audio file to be available either Thursday evening or Friday morning (Standard Time +0000 UTC). -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org/podcast * The IRC 2008 forms, rule, and fees are now available online. For those boats in the UK, the revalidation forms will be sent out from the RORC Rating Office in the New Year, along with a copy of the 2008 yearbook; for those outside the UK this revalidation process will be administered by your local IRC Rule Authority; see the list on the website for contact details. -- http://www.rorcrating.com PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include Etchells in Miami, crashes in Sydney, pro racing in Dubai, launchings in California, wipeouts in Brazil, and slick maneuvers along the Intercoastal Waterway. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/1214 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 Mark Eustis: (regarding story in Issue 2495 about the National Sailing Hall of Fame; edited to the 250-word limit) "The last piece of vernacular property on the Annapolis harbor."... that statement is one of the most disingenuous things I've read in some time. Granted, the property in question is a shingle house on the water. And it’s clearly old, if you’ve ever stood nearby. But in fact it's an undistinguished box surrounded by a sea of parking lots and the US Naval Academy. Photo: http://tinyurl.com/2yt5lj The Annapolis Harbor is far more than that picture shows, or Mr. Stiverson would have you believe. Take a look at this photo (http://tinyurl.com/2xtbdm), and if you look carefully at the commercial blocks around the inner harbor area, just above the blue-roofed building, on the corner with the red-and-white striped awning, there's Middleton Tavern. Now, Middleton's has been there since 1750. Geo Washington, father of our country and inn-stayer extraordinaire…well, he stayed there. I’d suppose a few times, because for a while Annapolis was the capitol of our fair country. That qualifies it as a vernacular property in my book, and there’s plenty more. Most folks around my hometown think a sailing museum is a fine idea, and a great use for that property. Who knows, with a decent architect at the helm, the Museum might even build something that would honor the view…even more so than what is there now. Here’s hoping the overly-reactive Annapolis Hysterical Society doesn’t stand in their way for too long. => Curmudgeon’s Comment: These are clearly matters for the locals to sort out, but I thought I would mention that these Google Map photos are pretty neat if you have ever attended the US Boat Show in Annapolis. The area has quite a different look without the tents and temporary docks. * From Kevin Traver, Executive Director, National Maritime Heritage Foundation (regarding the recent commentary get more people sailing) My organization, the National Maritime Heritage Foundation, sponsors three programs (Kids Set Sail, National Capital High School Sailing Team and the Maritime STEM Project) that are working with kids from the worst communities in Washington, DC. Last summer 67% of the kids we worked with in our small boat programs (487 total) had never been on the Anacostia or Potomac Rivers, and 76% had never been on a sailboat. The funny thing is all these kids live within 20 blocks of the rivers. The community we are working in has an average household income of below $29,000 a year, so we charge not one kid to sail with us. Please don’t let the “National” in our name fool you; we are a small group working in the Washington, DC area. Our outreach offers kids a great way to get on the water, introduces them to adults who want to interact with them on the water and be good mentors and opens up a new world of sailing and hopefully more besides. At the core is that fact that sailing can change a life! We don’t get every kid and in some communities we have not been able to get one kid, but we are working hard at it and our growth over the last couple of years has been amazing. Our programs are funded by concerned sailors through a Sponsor-a-Sailor program and a Parents and Friends Annual Fund Drive. If any yatchie is interest in supporting this type of program please go to http://www.nmhf.org * From Jay Palace: (edited to the 250-word limit) Rich Roberts (in Issue 2493) made some great points about the stellar efforts Paul Mixon, Bill Pickney and individuals in Long Beach to extend the reach and benefits of our sport to kids of all colors. He also challenges yachties to ask themselves what their club can do to grow the sport on a new foundation of diversity. I’ d like to give yachties a very real way to help out reach programs in 4 cities across the country. In the San Francisco Bay area, The Treasure Island Sailing Center has taught over 1500 bay area kids from underserved, diverse communities how to sail. 85% of them are on full or partial scholarships. TISC has won two awards from US Sailing this year in part for these great programs. You can sponsor another sailor and learn about how to get involved here. -- http://www.tisailing.org In Chicago and New York, a great program called Reach The World has been connecting hundreds of first through third grade children from our worst public schools with a circumnavigation of the globe via the Internet, field trips and exposure to sailing. -- http://www.reachtheworld.org All of these programs have donation links, or support can be provided by participating in their Annual BIG Team Regattas, which is a non-profit corporate challenge event (a fourth event is in Washington, DC). A network of sailors and community minded individuals who share the goal of helping fund deserving youth and adaptive sailing programs are behind this program, which has a goal of holding ten corporate challenges in ten cities by 2010. -- http://www.bigteamregatta.com * From John C. Quigley: Surely the Protocol has some protective device within it - whereby if a Holder / Defender fundamentally undermines or breaches the essence and intent of the Protocol they may be stripped of that privilege and the Defense handed back to the previous Defender or an Independent Interim Management Committee. In view of the gross mismanagement and breach of trust that has been perpetrated wrest the AC from Mr Bertarelli and his cohorts and start afresh; and as I said in August cut the sponsor driven budgets dramatically (say a cap of US$20m) or go to private funding only, and make it interesting and accessible again. GIVE THE GIFT OF SCUTTLEBUTT Ever since the early days of the Scuttlebutt newsletter, readership growth has been by word-of-mouth. With the holiday season at hand, the best present you can give the Curmudgeon is to continue telling your friends about the publication. To make this easy, click on the link, and then add names from your contact list. Thanks in advance for the support! Here is the link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/wordofmouth CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Is it time for your medication or mine? Special thanks to North Sails Gear and New England Ropes. A complete list of Scuttlebutt’s preferred suppliers is at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
