US Boat Show

The Scuttlebutt publisher will be on the road in October, heading to Annapolis, MD for the US Boat Show, where I will be walking the show on Thursday and Friday, October 5-6.

It has been a long time since I have been to Annapolis, but it is one of the great sailing towns, and I am really pumped to get there. And while I am not a boat show specialist, I hear this is a good event, and look forward to reporting on my findings. - Craig Leweck

Palm trees in the rearview mirror

Vacations are great, and this is the first one I can recall with no laptops, cell phones, etc. Really nice to become "unconnected," which is easy to do when in Tahiti. Of course, the days before and after a vacation stink - trying to cover all the work needs - so apologies to anyone who was trying to reach me during this abscence.

Today I am getting started at editing the Tahiti log in hopes of having it ready to publish next week. Doing these bareboat charters is great, and for anyone who has thought about it but not yet followed thru, perhaps these notes will be enough to get you to take the plunge. - Craig Leweck

Tahiti-bound

The blog will be idle for a couple weeks as I head to Tahiti for a bareboat charter with Moorings. Given the shorter flight than my Caribbean charters (from San Diego), I look forward to more time on the water and less time in the airports. Of course, the terrorist community has made air travel a bit more complicated. Seems like a good time to get away from it all... see ya when I get back, and look for a full report on the Moorings Tahiti trip in September. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt

Gross Misconduct at Laser PCC's

There has been spirited commentary this week in the Scuttlebutt Forums (and other forums) regarding an item that Scuttlebutt posted earlier this week (click here to read). The jury chairman from the Laser Pacific Coast Championship had sent us a copy of the Facts Found from a protest hearing during the event, with the severity of the incident destined for a Rule 69 ruling.

For those not savvy in the racing rules, Rule 69 is a part of the book that you want to avoid. This rule deals with bad behavior, or as stated, applies when "a competitor may have committed a gross breach of a rule, good manners or sportsmanship, or may have brought the sport into disrepute."

These incidents are rare. However, when they occur, the "due process" related to the incident takes time, and when a ruling, if any, is announced, the impact of the ruling has been lessened. Impact? Yes, impact.

If you do something wrong, get caught doing it with an audience, and get punished immediately, there is a strong impact on that audience. However, once you add time to that process, well, time heals all wounds, and memories are short. And with time goes the impact.

There has been some criticism of Scuttlebutt posting this information on our Forums, and doing so before "due process" has occurred. Our intention was to profile the incident in hopes that it will heighten awareness to hopefully keep events like this from reoccurring. An overwhelming majority of the comments seem to concur with our sentiment.

We are certain that US Sailing will do what is neccessary and within their power. We know that the Laser Class is very concerned, particularly as this is the second Rule 69 incident for the class within the last year (the other occurring at the 2005 NA's). As the amount of committment needed to compete at the top end of the sport continues to increase, it would be a shame if misconduct would follow this upward trend. Hopefully it won't. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt

More Hate (for OD racing)

(Continued from previous post on Scuttleblog)

I am invariably doing something wrong, as they wouldn't sell gelcoat in a can if their intention was to have someone like me brush it on, only to learn later that it did not harden. I have applied it twice to the Naples Sabot blades, and have wiped it off twice with acetone. I am now mixing smoking hot batches, and then applying the PVA over it to help with the cure.

The third coat seems to be curing, but my origninal estimate of 12-15 hours is long gone. So are the business trips I had planned this week. I wonder if the Naples Sabot class thought there would be any problems when they chose to change the measurement templates. Given that there was no mailing to the membership regarding the change, they either didn't think it would be a problem, or they hoped they could sneak this one through. For me, they were wrong on both accounts.

I had to laugh when I read the letter from By Baldridge in Issue 2149:

"With regard to Sabot Blade remeasurement. When Optimist Class blades and other parts are measured at a USODA event, they are stamped and may be used without new measurement at subsequent regattas. The blade dimensions were changed two years ago yet older blades with measurement stamps are grandfathered. This is part of the reason the Opti class is so big worldwide. "

Makes sense to me. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt