Scuttlebutt Europe #2658 - 20 August
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Brought to you by Boats.com Europe, Scuttlebutt Europe is a digest of sailing news and opinions, regatta results, new boat and gear information and letters from sailors -- with a European emphasis. Contributions welcome, send to Guest Editorial But we are giving it our best shot. If you, like so many others, are convinced that the match racing in the 2012 Olympics was sailing's showcase event; that match racing brought sailing into the best light with the public, that it enthralled and entranced spectators, even those who knew little or nothing about sailing, then please contact your sailing federation, your Council members, members of the Events Committee, or anyone who you may know who has anything to do with ISAF, and tell them how you feel. The links for the members of Council and the Events Committee are: www.sailing.org/about/committees/isaf_council.php and www.sailing.org/about/committees/events/index.php One argument frequently heard against match racing is that it is too expensive compared to other disciplines in the Olympics. The fact of the matter is that for many countries, it is not more expensive. The boats are provided to the competitors for the Olympics and at the various regattas around the world. Sailors do not have to transport boats to the regattas and they don't have to continually replace spars, sails, foils, sheets and halyards. Because the teams do not bring their own equipment to events there is no reason to replace equipment over the quad ( i.e. buy new boats for the country qualifiers then again for the Games and yet again for the next Quad). The cost of the match racing capital investment can be amortized over 2 or more Quads. The cost of running the match racing at the Olympics can be effectively reduced by using the qualifying regattas to seed the event and go straight into the cut throat knock out stages. The real cost now is in changing to a second two person dinghy/skiff (in addition to the 470) in the 2016 Olympics, casting aside the investment that nations have made in the purchase of the Elliott 6m as training boats, having to purchase new Mackay FX boats (and replacing them periodically before the Games, along with spars, sails, etc.) and in setting up new training programs with new teams, coaches, advisors, etc. It is a complete waste of assets and established programs. Brazil had already purchased the Elliott 6ms in anticipation that match racing would be in their Olympics. If you feel that the ISAF Council erred in eliminating match racing from the2016 Olympics, please make your voice heard. Henry Menin Audi Hamilton Island Race Week A ridge extending from a high pressure system moving east into the Tasman Sea and a trough in the Coral Sea have combined to bend strong winds onto Queensland's tropical coast, however they are expected to move away from the coast later today. Similar conditions yesterday caused a minor list of damage including a dismasting and broken spinnaker poles during a number of spectacular broaches in the cruising divisions. In his morning report, regatta forecaster Kenn Batt advises, 'With the upper trough moving eastwards and off the coast this morning, the bulk of the middle level cloud and rain should clear this morning'. He's anticipating winds will ease from this morning's 20 knots out of the south east which brought heavy showers, but only marginally with the chance of a sea breeze influence this afternoon. The Audi IRC Australian Championship divisions will tackle an islands course, A class racing course 11, which is a 30.8 nautical mile race, B will be racing 26.5nm and C 24 nm. The three cruising divisions and non-spinnaker will also race an island course. Performance racing will enjoy short course racing on the eastern area along with the Melges and SB20s. www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au 2013 ISAF Nations Cup Notice of Race Posted Open and Women's match racers will compete in six Regional Finals from January to June 2013 ahead of the Grand Final with the first, North American and Caribbean, to be hosted in Bridgetown, Barbados from 30 January - 3 February. Winning skippers from each division in the Regional Finals will qualify for the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final where they will be joined by defending champions France (Women's) and New Zealand (Open) as well as host nation Denmark to battle for the 2013 ISAF Nations Cup trophies. The Notice of Race outlines the key details of the event, including the dates and venues, equipment and format of the Regional Finals and Grand Final. Grand Final Middelfart, Denmark - 6-10 August 2013 Regional Finals Asia - Vladivostok, Russia - 6-9 June 2013 Europe I - Viana do Castelo, Portugal - 12-16 June 2013 Europe II - Lelystad, Netherlands - 1-5 May 2013 North America & Caribbean - Bridgetown, Barbados - 30 Jan - 3 Feb 2013 South America - Mar Del Plata, Argentina - 27-31 March 2013 Africa & Oceania - TBC ISAF Nations Cup Microsite www.sailing.org/events/nationscup Seahorse Sailor Of The Month Dee Smith (USA) This month's nominees:
Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Harken McLube, Dubarry & Musto. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable! Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at Snipe Europeans The Junior Championship saw all nine scheduled races completed, with the clear victory of Guerrero & Del Riego (five bullets) preceding Ruiz Sanchez/Hernandez and Martinez Doreste/Cabrera. Italy's Laser Youth World Champion Giovanni Coccoluto with Pietro Parisi as crew was able to fight until the end for the second place and won one race with authority. Slower speed on the reaches and tight control by the Spaniards, especially in the last day of the regatta, made the young Italians nervous and penalized them too. Italians Marco/Ilaria Rochelli, Hermes Ferialdi/Federica Biondi, Pittani/Cerni and Collinucci/Raulli also posted some good finishes. The Senior Europeans saw nine races completed of the eleven planned. It was a spectacular championship fought very hard, with winds mainly from the east at 8 to 12 knots. With current from the north the waves were short due to the shallow waters off Cervia. The upwind legs were difficult to understand and the strategy was never obvious, enhancing the technical level of the best teams. On the last day of racing, thanks to aggressive but precise strategy the team of Raul De Valenzuela /Antolin Alexandre de Ona overtook defending champion Francisco "Paco" Sanchez with sister Marina as crew, who initially seemed ready to reconfirm the title with three bullets. Regarding the boats, it was interesting debut for the very nice new DB Marine, which was used by Triay/Michel. Equally among the top ten were Ax, Persson and Zeltic. About the sails, you must record the new Ulmer Kolius Spain used by Valenzuela, but also the Italian Speed Sails of Poggi, and Zaoli sails with three boats in the top ten including Sanchez and Triay. In the top positions were also North Japan and Quantum San Diego. -- Alberto Perdisa Full report: www.snipetoday.org 2nd Leg of the Yellow Sea International Yacht Race
Qingdao is located on the south-facing coast of the Shandong Peninsula. It has a temperate, four-season monsoon influenced climate with cold and windy winters and hot and humid summers. With 8 million of inhabitants, it is considered as an important city in Eastern China, which has seen a rapid development lately, mostly because of the 2008 Olympics. Qingdao is the host city of major sailing events, such as the Extreme Sailing Series and the Qingdao International Sailing Week, and is now the 2nd stop over of the Yellow Sea International Yacht Race. Team Sunny kept their lead since they rounded ChinCheng Wan Cape on top and after this 2nd leg win is now very close to Team Irene that is still at the top of the leaderboard after finishing second on this leg. The winner will be decided on the third and last leg of the Yellow Sea International Yacht Race, from Qingdao back to Incheon. The crews, after a big parade that was organized here in Qingdao to honor the Qingdao International Sailing Week, put all their attention to prepare the boats for the 300 nautical miles leg that starts tomorrow. Spearheading a New Performance Catamaran Class According to Staff Commodore of the Bay Area Multihull Association (BAMA) Bob Naber, "The class will enjoy exciting racing, provide viewers with a fantastic experience and show a breed of catamarans that are available to sailors outside of the America's Cup." The class will include performance catamarans over 35 feet, with no limitations on technology and design. They will be scored using handicap PHRF ratings issued by BAMA and race on courses similar to those used for America's Cup racing. With less than one month to go until the first starting gun fires, Urs Rothacher (Oakland, Calif.) has been preparing his SL33 BridgeRunner for some tight racing. BridgeRunner is a boat class that is being used by both Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand for practice and testing leading up to the America's Cup. "The SL33 design is very versatile and one of the fastest boats you can sail without having a full professional crew," said Rothacher, who purchased BridgeRunner in December 2011. "With fast multihulls, I'm not fighting against the boat; I'm fighting against the boundaries of physics, because that is about as fast as these sailboats can go." Going up against BridgeRunner will be Brendon Bush's (La Honda, Calif.) D Class Catamaran Rocket 88, which won the doublehanded division of the Three Bridge Fiasco Race and currently holds the record for elapsed time in the Delta Ditch Run. "It will be a competitive fleet," said Bill Turpin, who will be co-skippering with Bush. Turpin added that the team finished second overall in the 2011 BAMA Cup and is currently leading in the BAMA series this year. "I'm really excited, because catamaran racing is totally different; it's athletic, and the speed potential is just enormous." www.stfyc.com Tassie Skipper Dominates Skipper Prescott a former long ocean race sailor has recently shown his class as a very competitive one design skipper with his Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania Melges 32 2 unlimited sailing smart in a varied range of winds to lead his championship with a perfect 1-1 score. Racing in this class leaves no margin for error and the 2 unlimited crew have welcomed the opportunity to race in the warmer tropical environment leaving nothing to chance on the race course. They became the championship pacesetters during the tactically demanding light wind Denman Island race on Saturday where they repeatedly protected their lead against Maxstar (Angus Reid) and Rock n' Roll (Kim Williams). 2 unlimited was again the front runner in the stronger trade winds yesterday with skipper Greg Prescott and crew showing the consistent all angle boat speed which their rivals failed to match. Their performance built from a clever clear wind start held the edge on their rivals up the first windward beat into the 10-12 knot breeze. This paved the way for the talented Tasmania crew to record another comfortable race win while Panther (Steve O'Rourke) and Rock n' Roll (Kim Williams filled the minor places. After two races 2 unlimited with her top performing 1-1 score card appear as the crew to beat for the Melges 32 championship while the Kim Williams skippered Rock n' Roll remain in second place 5 points astern followed by Panther (Steve O'Rourke). Stronger trade winds are expected to sort the best from the rest when the championship racing continues today however the Tasmanian crew have the proven speed potential to be the boat to beat. The international standard IRC fleet which spent Saturday in the Hamilton Island Marina pens due to unseasonal light winds exercised their boat speed over the windward leeward course today. As predicted Bob Oatley's super maxi Wild Oats X1 mastered the prevailing 12-15knot trade wind to score two comfortable line honours victories but fell well short of matching the TP52's Shogun V (Robert Hanna) and Yendys (Geoffrey Ross) on corrected handicap. Following today's races Shogun V (1-2) 3 points leads Yendys (1-5) and Loki (Stephen Ainsworth) (3-3) into day 3 on the week long championship series. -- Ian Grant www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au Dorade Log 7: Newport to Bermuda Ocean Race Video Takes You Onboard Last June, I helped Dorade sail from Newport to Bermuda for the first time in 82 years. Crossing the finish line represented the end of the first stage of what owner Matt Brooks calls "Matt's Crazy Idea" - to compete seriously in all of the ocean races the boat sailed in the early 1930s, from Europe to Hawaii. On June 19th, I reported on our finish (Dorade Log 6: Finished! Just After Midnight) and described the final couple days of what was a windy race. With this story, I'm closing the chapter on the 2012 Newport-Bermuda Race with some reflections and a video, shot with the help of a number of members of the crew. Interviewed on camera, several of them did a better job reflecting on the race than I ever could. I hope you enjoy this video, as well as the previous Dorade Logs and videos published here on Boats.com. Read more: features.boats.com ORACLE Team USA Announces Crew Lists for ACWS San Francisco "Racing on San Francisco Bay is going to be awesome," said team skipper Jimmy Spithill. "The strong winds will put a premium on slick crew work and accurate decision making. We obviously want to start this second season with a win, and we'll be hoping for a lot of support from the local fans." "I'm really looking forward to sailing on my home waters" said tactician John Kostecki, who grew up sailing on the Bay. "San Francisco is simply one of the best places in the world to go sailing, and with the racecourse placed close to shore there'll be plenty of tactical opportunities to make gains using the current or favorable wind shifts." Joining Spithill and Kostecki are other members of the ACWS championship crew: Dirk de Ridder (wingsail trimmer), Joe Newton (headsail trimmer) and Piet van Nieuwenhuijzen (bow). ORACLE TEAM USA's second boat will be helmed by Russell Coutts, who won the ACWS Newport Match Racing Championship. Coutts will race with Shannon Falcone, Kinley Fowler, Murray Jones and Sam Newton. Sam Newton raced with Coutts in Newport, and Jones and Coutts have raced many miles over the years. Falcone and Fowler will be racing in their first ACWS event. The fleet's grown to 11 boats and two skippers participating for the first time, have just returned from London 2012 with Olympic gold medals: Ben Ainslie (J.P. Morgan BAR) and Nathan Outteridge (Team Korea). On Aug. 25, the penultimate day of ACWS San Francisco, ORACLE TEAM USA and the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball will team together to celebrate America's Cup Day at AT&T Park. The Giants play a home game that day, scheduled to start at 1:05 pm, some 55 minutes before the start of the day's ACWS racing program, and Spithill will throw out the first pitch. A wide range of activities are planned including the display of the America's Cup and ORACLE TEAM USA's two AC45 catamarans moored in McCovey Cove, adjacent to the ball park. oracleteamusa.com Featured Brokerage Custom built Yacht at owners request and specification Brokerage through P&B Consulting: www.yachtworld.com/pb-consulting/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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Last month's winner:
Tony Langley (GBR)
Damian Foxall (IRL)
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