Bobble heads

Finally... sailing has bobble heads. These are so cool.

Trimaran float foils

Here is the BMW ORACLE Racing trimaran float foil, showing the design that is intended to provide lift and thus "unweight" the hull through the water.

A DOG's life

The America's Cup Deed of Gift is often referred to the "DOG", and the BMW ORACLE Racing team challenge is often referred to as their "DOG challenge", and the BOR trimaran is often referred to as their "DOG boat".

Do you think the team would like to charter my golden retriever to be their team "DOG"?

Bird bonding

When the BOR trimaran was getting offloaded today, we saw how birds of a different feather also fly together.

BOR Trimaran offload

As it occurs Friday morning, September 26th in the South Embarcadero area of San Diego bay.

BMW ORACLE Racing - San Diego compound

The BMW ORACLE Racing training base in San Diego for the Deed of Gift challenge trimaran.

Friday cartoons

LoJack for boats

This is not a paid ad... just thought it was a handy solution:

Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA) – A 34-foot Contender equipped with the Nav-Tracker 2.0 wireless boat location and GPS tracking system from Paradox Marine, stolen from Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas around midnight last Wednesday (September 17) local time, was located by the system and recovered in the vicinity by the US Coast Guard about 12 hours later.

When a Nav-Tracker 2.0 transmitter is mounted discreetly on a boat, a wireless “fence” with a 500-meter range is created. If a boat is moved outside of this fence, Nav-Tracker 2.0 uses Inmarsat based GPS satellite technology to monitor a boat’s location and notify up to four people by email and/or text message every 15 minutes with the latitude/longitude, speed, heading and distance to the closest city.

Paradox Marine - 3403 NW 9th Avenue - Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309
www.paradoxmarine.com
1+(954) 565-9898.

Angela Filocamo

Today's workforce seems to be more transient than the previous generation, so it is refreshing to hear the stories of those that maintained lengthy employment committments:


To our clients, colleagues and friends,

It is with great pleasure that I announce the retirement of our receptionist Angela Filocamo. I take great pleasure in the fact that after 21+ years she is moving on to a life without a commute and demanding brokers and designers, but with nostalgia as Angie has certainly been the voice of Sparkman & Stephens for a long, long time.

We wish her well and years of enjoyable and healthy retirement. If we ever change to an automated switchboard, you can bet we will ask her to lend her "New York" accent to our recordings.

You actually may hear her voice from time to time as we have asked her to assist with special corporate events, fill in for administrative needs and so forth.

Best wishes Angie, and thank you for your dedicated service. It is greatly appreciated.


Best regards,

Bruce Johnson
Executive Vice President and Chief Designer
529 Fifth Avenue - New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1-212-661-1240

Seahorse special offer

Seahorse has put together a 10% discount for Scuttlebutters who sign up during the week of September 22-28.

To subscribe, you need to either follow this link:

http://www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/?promo_code=SCUTP878948

OR

go to the site: www.seahorsemagazine.com

and go through to the SHOP and paste in the promo code alone: SCUTP878948

Hero’s welcome for Nick Scandone

Balboa Yacht Club Welcomes Home International Sailing Hero
By Lynn Fitzpatrick



Orange County, CA, September 18 – United Airlines delivered precious cargo to Orange County's John Wayne Airport this afternoon. Over 100 Balboa Yacht Club members, friends and family welcomed home Paralympic Gold Medallist, Nick Scandone; his wife, Mary Kate; his loyal friend and coach, Mike Pinckney and his devoted brother, Vince (Rock).

The elevator door to the baggage claim area opened and Nick Scandone was met with cheers, smiles, banners, balloons, American flags and flashes from lots of cameras. Many of the crowd wore BYC T-shirts emblazoned with the navy and orange Balboa Yacht Club burgee and the saying "Way to Go Nick" on the front and a wire drawing of a SKUD 18 with "Scandone & McKinnon-Tucker, US Olympic Gold Medal across the back.

It's a long flight from Beijing to LA and a short hop from LA to Orange County and no matter what your health, it takes it toll on you. The exhausted Gold Medal SKUD 18 crew got an energy boost from all of their fans and showed off the Gold and Jade Medal to all.

Scandone and his story were such a hit in Qingdao and Beijing that the award's decorative ribbon is getting a little tattered. Nick, who has held the Medal up for countless snapshots abroad, was more than happy to show it off on home soil.

Nick is a hero, a champion sailor, a wonderful human being, a devoted husband, an appreciative brother, a great friend, a thankful athlete and a focused team player who has given all of us inspiration. In a weak voice, Nick said, "It's been a real team effort. I thank everybody for all of their support."

Welcome home Nick!

Seasickness cure

Among the random emails received today was this one for lollipops that provide seasickness relief:

A Seasickness Remedy That Tastes Good, Too...All-Natural, Non-Drowsy Queasy Drops Available in Pleasing Flavors

WEST HILLS, CALIFORNIA (USA) – There are a variety of remediies for boaters prone to seasickness, but they often cause drowsiness and have some nasty side effects. All-natural Queasy Drops from California manufacturer Three Lollies are specially formulated to provide safe and effective seasickness relief – without the drowsiness and with no adverse siide effects.

Originally developed to provide good-tasting relief to women suffering from morning sickness and marketed through obstetrician's offices as Preggie Pops, the manufacturer soon discovered from some boating friends that the formula provided relief for upset stomachs on the water, too.

Available in lollypop (adult and kid sizes) and lozenge form to be sucked on like candy or a cough drop, Queasy Drops also taste good - with a variety of flavors including cinnamon, cola, peppermint, ginger, papaya, sour lemon, green apple and green tea with lemon.

Take the first Queasy Drop before leaving the dock, and then continue to suck on one periodically throughout the day. The different flavors have different ingredients and boaters will want to experiment with the flavor that works best. A good way to start is with a sample pack.

For more information about Queasy Drops, visit www.queasydrops.com or call 1+856.665.3045.

Talk Like a Pirate Day

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19th... always. These guys take the credit for starting this "holiday."

Sailing celebrities

While British sailors have achieved great success on the water, they have also achieved mainstream celebrity status by strategic mixing. By bringing together leading sports and entertainment individuals, they become even bigger stars among their direct audience, and heighten the public awareness of themselves outside their field.




At the UK premiere of Tropic Thunder (a movie about a group of actors making a war film who get caught up in a jungle battle with a drugs gang), you predictably have leading characters Robert Downey Jr, Ben Stiller, and Jack Black, but then you also have Finn Gold Medalist Ben Ainslie.

Btw, this is Number 4 on our list of solutions for the US Olympic sailing team.

Welcome to Houston YC

Hurricane Ike made U.S. landfall at Galveston, Texas, on September 13, 2008 at 2:10am CDT (07:10 UTC), as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 mph. Among the sailing clubs based in Galveston Bay is Houston Yacht Club, where both the facility and local boaters are now cleaning up. Needless to say, the club might want to rethink the information currently on its home page:

Welcome to Houston Yacht Club…what will you do this weekend?
• Put your sails up just 50 yards from your slip?
• Spend the evening at anchor in a protected cove with friends and family?
• Snuggle into your berth after an evening of dining and dancing in the clubhouse?
• Visit with friends after a day of first-class racing?
• Watch your children play in the pool and sail dinghies in the harbor?





To view photos of the carnage:
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-86225
http://flickr.com/photos/30905659@N00/2860367811
http://www.byrneartandphoto.com/photo/events/2008_ike/index.html

SLAM in Kuwait

Scuttlebutt has readers in Kuwait too...

Nice parade

2008 Olympic Brits get a parade.

Small boat, big challenge

The whole bit about wanting to go where no man has gone before, challenging our abilities, setting new standards... we get that. We understand. If you have special abilities, and desire to set some type of history, go for it. However, if your desire is to set a record by sailing a sub 4-foot sailboat for 10,000 miles, hmm, err, well, how can we say this politely... do you need a hug?

Here is the scoop:


British yachtsman Tom McNally is about to attempt to enter the record books as he soon embarks on a double Atlantic crossing in his purpose-designed 3 foot 10 inch boat, “The Big C"! Setting off from Cadiz, sailing to Central America, Texas, Newfoundland and back to his home town of Liverpool, Tom will sail a total of approximately 10,000 miles. He has previously held various ocean records for sailing in very small craft; the last craft being a comparatively massive 5 foot 4 and a half inches. However he subsequently lost that record when American sailor, Mr Vihlen, completed the trip in a boat just half an inch shorter.

Apart from trying to gain the record, Tom is also raising money and awareness for charity Sail 4 Cancer. Having been chosen by Tom to supply his sails, Jeckells the Sailmakers are supporting his efforts by donating a portion of every order received at the next three boat shows to Sail 4 Cancer, starting with the Southampton Boat Show. Tom’s boat, “The Big C” will also be on display at the Southampton Boat Show, so please come along and marvel at what an amazing attempt he is making – and don’t forget to visit Jeckells the Sailmakers on stand G059.

For more information about Sail 4 Cancer please see the website at www.sail4cancer.org or call 0845 408 1849.

Eight Bells: Olin J. Stephens

Olin J. Stephens, who celebrated his 100th birthday on April 13, 2008, passed away this weekend. Yacht designer Stephens was Member Number 1 in the NYYC’s seniority list, having joined the club in 1930, or 78 years ago. In Olin Stephens’s autobiography, "All This and Sailing, Too," he remarked, “I was lucky: I had a goal. As far back as I can remember I wanted to design fast boats.” His imprint on yacht design includes having designed the winners of a total of eight of the nine America's Cup matches between 1937 and 1980, with his portfolio of successful designs making him the most influential designer of the 20th century. For a complete profile of Olin J. Stephens, written by John Rousmaniere, click here

Click here for the birthday card that was posted during Stephens’ centennial celebration.

Born again Virgin

The 99-foot Juan Kouyoumdjian designed super maxi Speedboat grabbed our attention when she arrived in the states in early summer, and was fired up in late June to set a Transatlantic record before they broke a daggerboard on the first day. They returned to Newport, RI for repairs and evaluation, and decided to wait until the better weather in October or Novemeber to try again.

In the meantime, Sir Richard Branson thought it would be fun for this to be "his" record, and proceeded to coat the boat with his Virgin Money branding and hold a splashy media event to announce this latest adventure, like it was all his idea. Near as we can tell it is the same program as always, but Branson gets to ride along with two of his kids, and boat owner Alex Jackson gets some cash for the trouble.


Oh yea, Sir Keith Mills, Team Principal of TEAMORIGIN America's Cup team, thought he would jump in and gain some attention too.

Larry Ellison in the news

Scuttlebutt editors review news stories each day that involve Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison, the two head honchos that are at the center of the current America’s Cup debacle. While the Bertarelli stories typically have something to do with sailing, the Ellison stories almost never do. Here are two Ellison issues that we are sooo tired of:

* Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison, the fourth-richest man in America, is drawing criticism from some shareholders for a $72-million pay package that is 12 times bigger than the median pay of chief executives in the technology industry. Ellison, who proposed the 38% raise and won approval from a committee of board members, is now the second-best-paid CEO of a public company in the U.S. He received about $1.7 million less than Merrill Lynch & Co. chief John Thain did in 2007. Oracle's market value is almost three times Merrill's. - Los Angeles Times, read on

Maybe his accrued wealth has something to do with this:

* A federal judge has ruled that Oracle Corp. destroyed or failed to preserve Chief Executive Larry Ellison's e-mail files sought as evidence in a class-action lawsuit filed in 2001 against the software maker, according to reports. The suit seeks damages on behalf of Redwood City-based Oracle shareholders who held the stock when it fell after the company reported disappointing results in 2001. The lawsuit claims Ellison and other Oracle executives made false statements about the company's financial condition as well as the functionality of its Oracle 11i suite of business management software, according to the reports. - Business Journal, read on

I-420 Coaching Clinic

There are so many different ways to enjoy the sport, from types of boats to the various jobs on each boat. Different types of racing too, from long distance to short course, team racing to model racing. Among all the choices are the events used in the Olympics, and while Olympic sailing is not the end all, it is a part of the sport where the cream can rise to. One of the prominent classes throughout the world for youth sailors to compete in, and what has proven to be a handy stepping stone for those on the Olympic path, is the International 420 class.

The I-420 is hardly on the radar in North America. To suit the needs of institutional sailing, the sturdier Club 420 was developed and is nearly the standard for youth, high school, and college events. The Club 420 is a dumbed-down version of the I-420, and while it does a great job of fulfilling its intended purpose, it should come as no surprise that when top North American youths travel overseas to compete against their peers in I-420 events, they get hammered.

There are no I-420 events in the states, but one group that has worked for years to improve the situation of youth development is the California International Sailing Association (CISA). The organization owns nine I-420s, annually extends grants to train youth in the boats, and provides financial support for their overseas travel. The problem is that with so little expertise in the I-420, the training is without proper guidance.

To address the situation, the United States I-420 One Design Class Association is seeking applications from coaches to be invited to its ADVANCED COACHES SEMINAR from 5th to 8th of December 2008 to be held at the United States Sailing Center, Long Beach, California. This is the 1st North America and Caribbean Coaches Seminar and will be sponsored by the Newport-Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association (NBSSA) and the International 420 Class. I-420 Class boats will be provided by the CISA from its training fleet. The US Sailing Center – Long Beach will host this first ever collaborative effort to advance the skills of coaches in this internationally recognized one design class.

The well known sailor and team builder, Jim Saltonstall of Great Britain, will be the lead coach for this seminar which will include class room, hands on and on the water sessions with the coaches and volunteer sailors. The cost of the seminar, lodging and meals will be underwritten by NBSSA and the International 420 Class – all the coach has to do is arrange to air transportation to and from the Los Angeles area for arrival the night of the 4th or early morning of the 5th of December. A maximum of 15 U.S. coaches will be chosen from the applicants. For additional information call the office of Larry Law – the I-420 US Class President – at 949-660-8833 or e-mail at nbaas@jrlcap.com. Also, click here for online information and the application,

New subscriber

If this is how the WSJ is now being delivered, sign me up.

Lost in translation

Conspiracy theorists frequently note that the BYM News service is a tool of the Alinghi America’s Cup team, and we must admit that they do seem to often play the role of “apologists” for the Swiss team. The media site today posted a story by Franck Cammas, the highly acclaimed French multihull sailor, who is currently working with the BMW Oracle Racing team as they trial their new 90-foot trimaran. What was interesting is the headline that BYM News added to the story:

America's Cup: Frank Cammas eulogises about BMW Oracle trimaran

Eulogy? Don't we typically reserve that word for funerals?

Evergreen Anniversary

Here's a call out to get the band back together:

You are invited to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the “Evergreen” victory in the 1978 Canada's Cup.

Date: Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008
Place: Royal Hamilton YC
Time: 1430 hours

Join Don Green, members of his crew, the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club “Evergreen” Committee, family and friends in a walk through of an important part of our club's history.

Activities to include Sharon Green’s exclusive photographic history of this epic sailing battle with Don's personal commentary. Doug Hunter, author of the definitive book about Evergreen, will auction a signed copy of his now out-of-print book 'Against The Odds' with proceeds to Junior Sailing and the unveiling of the refurbished tank model including new Evergreen artifacts.

RSVP: 905 528-8464 ex. 221 or email sail@rhyc.on.ca by Wednesday Sept. 17th.

Watching the Olympics

I liked the broadcasting format NBC used for sailing at the 2008 Olympics. Full length, online, archived, typed commentating. To get this for the Americans, there was alot of pushing and pulling behind the scenes by Gary Jobson. While Jobson has his distractors (don't we all?), he is a big cheerleader for the sport and the US, and I am sure that viewers would have had less without his involvement.

His commentating was informative, and while I cringe at times about his folksy observations, at least I didn't find any of his comments on this list:

Top comments made by NBC commentators, they'd like to take back:

1. Weightlifting commentator: "This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up & it was amazing."

2. Dressage commentator: "This is really a lovely horse & I speak from experience since I once mounted her mother."

3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mom & dad."

4. Boxing Analyst: "Sure there've been injuries & even some deaths in boxing, but none really that serious."

5. Softball announcer: "If history repeats itself I should think we can expect the same thing again."

6. Basketball analyst: "He dribbles a lot & the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces."

7. At the rowing medal ceremony: "Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC president's hugging the cox of the British crew."

8. Soccer commentator: "Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got 11 Dicks on the field."

9. Tennis commentator: "One of the reasons Andy's playing so well is, before the final round his wife takes out his balls & kisses them...my God, what did I just say!?"