I Hate One Design Racing

I should clarify the headline, as it isn't the one-design racing that I hate. In fact, I have garnered my share of dinghy championship titles, and have found the camaraderie of small boat one-design racing to be to my liking. However, I do hate the measurement process in one-design racing.

Hmm, I better back up again, as I have found an amazingly loyal group of people within each class that are in the rules and measurement trenches, and that help maintain the one-design nature within the fleet. But I do hate the process at major class events.

I am not sure why I remain surprised by measurement surprises. My latest fiasco was at the measurement for this year’s Naples Sabot Nationals. Two years ago at the Nationals, I was measuring in an older boat that we had acquired for my son, and the wood rudder and leeboard were oversized. Lots of last minute sanding and shaping, followed by five coats of varnish (15 hours between each coat), having to go through measurement again, but the blades pass and I am done. Not much fun, but not unexpected due to the age of the boat. This year, I take the same blades to get measured (which haven't been used much), and they don’t pass. The word on the street is that the class found the previous measurement templates to be in error and made new ones. So who gets screwed in the deal? Me!

I don’t mean to pick on the Naples Sabot class, as my experiences during the measurement process at major one-design class events seem to regularly involve some oddity. I imagine that one’s experience may vary depending on the type of one-design class. I have never had to go through measurement in the Laser, but given that there is a single builder for the equipment, I would think it should be pretty easy. The other extreme might be a development class, but because they have few rules, maybe that is also easy. I have a hunch it is the tweener classes that have the hardest time, where there are multiple builders and loads of rules that, with good intention, are meant to keep all the boats the same.

Many times I have taken the same mast through measurement, and the bands mysteriously have moved, or that the mast is now too long. Sail measurement is another pet-peeve of mine, and the unlucky volunteers in that tent are often not trained well-enough. If your class rules don’t specifically describe how to measure the jib foot round, or find the luff mid-point along a puckered mainsail luff rope… forget it.

Perhaps what is needed is for each one-design class to take a good, hard look at what rules are really needed, and then get rid of all the rest. Heck, since only a small percentage of the boats in a class even go to these major events, a huge chunk never deal with this measurement renewal process anyway. Keep it simple, measure the stuff that matters, and measure it in a way that can be accurately duplicated. And then, once it has been measured, put a mark on it so that it need not be measured again.

As I began working on my Sabot blades, which will surely be a 12-15 hour job, I wondered about those who did not have the tools or skills to make the fix, or weren’t interested enough to do it (oh, there were plenty of “oversized” blades). In an era when we are working hard to retain membership in one-design racing, incidents like this can only work against that interest. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt

Reality TV

Another first here at Scuttlebutt World Headquarter. Yesterday we received an email from a television casting agency asking for help in getting the word out about a show they were working on. Since we offer ad space in Scuttlebutt, we thought about charging them a fee for the service. However, we were so taken by the request, and the respect we had earned as a credible source to help them, that we decided to help them out at no cost (look for item in Issue 2141). Heck, we would be thrilled if one of the Scuttlebutt readers got chosen for the show. We always hope the content in the newsletter is of value, even when an item might be a bit out of the ordinary. Here was the email:

Hello, My name is Brooke Krinsky and I work in Casting for the Television Show, TRADING SPOUSES. For our upcoming season we are looking to cast a family that is involved in Yachting and Sailing either as a profession or personal passtime.

I have been referred to you as a good source for getting the word out to potential families who would fit this category. The basic requirements for participation on our show are:

Spouses must be married
Spouses must have kids over six
Spouses must have full custody of their kids
All family members must be citizens of the United States

The family that makes it on the show wins $50,000 Feel free to call me for more information: 323-802-0584 I'd love to post in your publication - for tomorrow only! Let me know if that is possible!

Talk soon!

Brooke Krinsky
Casting Associate
Rocket Science Laboratories
323.802.0584
brookek@rocketsciencelabs.com

A-Cup TV Coverage

Flipping channels on Friday and came across the OLN America's show from ACT 12. Two points to make:
* Tucker Thompson of t2p.tv did an outstanding job as a commentator. This is his first gig for OLN (I believe), and can certainly be looked upon as his big break. He has a good voice, and does not "dumb-down" his comments. I am glad that OLN recognized his quality work, and have signed him up for the team that will cover the America's Cup in 2007.

* The TV coverage should focus on the top boats. In this event, the qualifying round divided the fleet into three divisions, and each division than had its own championship. With the video footage spliced and diced, it became distracting to keep hearing about how the "losing teams" were still playing. I think it is great that there become competition for all the teams - as the ACTS are intended to help for training - but keep have the TV coverage following the better teams toward the only prize that really matters... the winning of Division 1 at ACT 12.

Agree or disagree? Click here to submit your comments.

Good gig

We can't attend this event, but we are accepting applications to designate a suitable Scuttlebutt representative.
Click here to apply.

Dear Scuttlebutt,

I would like to personally invite anyone from Scuttlebutt to come on our press boat during the Buzzards Bay Regatta.

We will run the press boat each day of the event –
Friday, August 4
Saturday, August 5
Sunday, August 6

This year’s Press Boat is an amazing vessel – Ariel II owned by Ben Baker (see photos below). She is featured as this month’s ‘Calendar Boat’ in the renowned Wooden Boat Calendar!

We meet at the Beverly Yacht Club (BYC) in Marion at 10:30AM and return about 3:00PM. We provide lunch, snacks and beverages – we try to make it a nice time.

When we get back to BYC – we get the results of the day’s racing and then I run around to collect the top competitors so you can interview them at our press table.

We hope you can make at least one of the days – and – you are welcome to come on more than one day as it suits your schedule!

Hope to see you soon,
Wendy Cullum
Publicity Chair

Need tix

At Scuttlebutt, we get our share of invitations, but like this one, they never seem to include plane tickets:

VIP Guest Invitation
You are invited to join us as an honoured guest of KA Sail at the
INTERNATIONAL MOTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
to be held at
Horsens Sailing Club, Horsens, Denmark
during the week of
24th to 29th July, 2006
Incorporating the official launch of the KA Bladerider

Come and watch the world’s best hydrofoilers in action from the comfort of the VIP spectator boat, and meet the designers, builders, competitors and organizers that support this fabulous sport.

Please RSVP by emailing your proposed dates for visiting Horsens to
mike@kasail.com
I hope to see you there.
Mike McAuley
Chairman

My TV Splashed Me

Yesterday's mail brought a DVD from Jobson Sailing, which produced shows for OLN TV from the 2006 Key West and Miami Race Week events. I never saw these shows on TV (I really need to get Tevo), but it made for good watching this morning (gotta love the 56" with surround sound).

The production was a good example of how to cover multi-class events, wherein they chose a class each day during the regatta, and did an overview of the racing from the class during that day and then a closed out the segment with how results for that class were at the end of the event. Sure, you miss out on the details of the storyline, but by covering the various classes, it did provide a nice feel for what the entire regatta is all about.

To cover each class, they picked one of the better boats in the class to place an onboard camera, then they followed the class with a second camera on a powerboat, and also had a third camera in a heli. Spliced in were interviews with sailors from the selected boat, and onboard audio. Some computer animation was also added to show the course. Gary Jobson's commentary guided you through the show, which included some good interviews on how professional sailors blend into the events.

I am not sure if these DVD's are available (I will check on this), but they are definitely "must see TV" for those thinking of attending these events. - Craig Leweck

Note: I have check on their availability... and they are. Click here to get a free copy.