Vacation reply

For Scuttlebutt e-Newsletter subscribers, if they go on vacation and set an automated reply on their email accounts, we get the responses. Most are typical, but some stand out like this one:

Thank you for your email, I am currently racing in the Vendee Globe race and not able to answer all the emails sent. If you require a response or would like to set up an interview on the boat please email Patianne@spiritofcanada.net.

Thank you for your support,

Derek Hatfield

Kiteboarding records

Things just got complicated… again. As kiteboarding evolved, and a focus was given to speed sailing, it was learned that the shallower the water, the faster their speed. Think air hockey, and how fast the puck travels on a thin layer of air. Or a skim board on the beach, floating on a thin layer of water. Same theory. With rumors of speed records being considered on swampy fields, the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) stepped in mid year, and stated that a minimum water depth of 50 cm would be required for any speed record to be ratified. It is the WSSRC’s job to manage this part of the sport, and if they don’t ratify a speed run, it is not official.

With all the interest right now to break the 50 knot speed barrier on the official 500 meter course, and now that two kiteboarders have exceeded the mark last month at the Lüderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia (Sebastien Cattelan, 50.26 knots and Alexandre Caizergues, 50.57 knots), the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has now decided that a “kite-powered craft” cannot be recognized as the holder of the Outright World Sailing Speed Record. The WSSRC works for ISAF, and while they have now ratified the 50.26 knot speed (and are working to ratify the 50.57 mark), all these guys can claim is that they are the fastest kiteboarders, and that these remarkable runs are not the overall fastest “performances under sail”.

Got money, need team

To win the America’s Cup under the terms of the 2007 Protocol required budgets around US$160,000,000. Now with the likely cost of an effective challenge, under the proposed new 2010 Protocol, more in the order of US$20,000,000, but with the same returns for sponsors and or investors, the package is potentially much more attractive to certain people with access to those with deep pockets in so called Sovereign Wealth funds.

I have been tasked to seek out the best America’s Cup group for these investors to place their funds. If you are running, or planning to run, an America’s Cup team and you would like to discuss how this primary funding can be attracted then please contact me and I will send you the brief from the interested parties. Contact Julian Everitt at julianeveritt@everittdesign.co.uk

* NOTE: For interested teams, the Deed of Gift requires they be represented by a Club that, among other things, hosts an annual regatta. Not sure if everyone was aware of this fact, but in case an interested team needs a partner, Scuttlebutt Sailing Club meets all the requirements, and has been officially sanctioned by US SAILING since 2001. -- www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc

Rolex on standby

It was four days of racing in September, reveling in the conditions that San Francisco is famous for, but the region's hallmark event of the Rolex Big Boat Series had yet to hand out the trophies for its most populated class - the J/105. Amongst the 110 boats competing in ten classes (four IRC divisions and six one design events), one remaining Steel Submariner Rolex timepiece had been residing in the safe of the St. Francis Yacht Club for the past two months, and not on the winning skipper’s wrist.

When Rolf Kaiser’s crew aboard the J/105 Donkey Jack came to the dock at the end of the regatta, the winning math was indisputable, and the champagne was flowing. However, an alleged infraction involving a tanker crossing during the final race pulled the Donkey Jack team into a protest, effectively ending the party, with a lengthy hearing continuing well past the awards ceremony. When the protest decision went against Kaiser’s team, the St.FYC race officials sensed that this was not the end of it, and have held onto the prizes… until now.

An announcement came out this week from St.FYC, stating that based on the decision of the Appeals Committee of the Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay, the 2008 Rolex Big Boat Series results had been changed, and that Kaiser’s crew had earned top honors in the 31-boat J/105 fleet. Without the pomp and circumstance of the awards ceremony, perhaps there will still be a celebratory glass of champagne waiting at the club’s Front Desk to commemorate the collection of the watch.

* NOTE: It was unknown at this time whether the case would be sent on to the US SAILING Appeals Committee for further review, an option that exists within 15 days of receiving the written decision from the regional committee.

No record yet

The World Sailing Speed Record (WSSR) Council is the lone authorizing authority for record claims. Established by the International Sailing Federation in 1972, their mission is to maintain consistent standards for a variety of record setting categories. The quest for the outright world speed sailing record is being played out on several fronts, with recent excitement coming from Luderitz in Namibia where kiteboarders were displaying that they are currently the fastest.

American kitesurfer Rob Douglas set a new speed record of 49.84 at the Luderitz speed strip on September 19th, which was later ratified by the WSSR, beating out the previous record of 49.09 kts set earlier in the year by windsurfer Antoine Albeau (FRA). During the same speed event that Douglas set his record, called the Lüderitz Speed Challenge, the event announcement came on October 3rd that Sebastien Cattelan of France become the first human being to sail at more than 50 knots, a world record he held for only 24 hours before compatriot Alexandre Caizergues snatched it away with a top speed of 50.57 knots.

The speed set by Caizergues was announced as the new speed record, but the only problem is that over a month later, no formal claim for the record has been requested of WSSR, who is still awaiting the documentation from the event organizers. According to the record books, Douglas is still the holder of the outright world speed sailing record.

Photo courtesy of http://nassp.net/

Sponsor support

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As seen in

New Year's Resolution

This past weekend I was in Atlanta for the US SAILING One Design Symposium. The attendees included a complete range of individuals, from the active sailor to the class administrator, to the industry professional eager to share advice and support the sport. There was an enormous amount of information exchanged, and thanks to Mount Gay, nearly as many cocktails consumed. But by the end of the event, there were two significant ‘take aways’ that are as applicable to the one design sailor as to any other category of the sport.

The first is that the sport is our recreation and our passion, and that our experiences need to be shared. Everyone in Atlanta would love to see their part of the sport grow, and everyone was in agreement that this can be done by sharing the experience with others. Either through story or through splashes, presenting the sport in a positive light will git'er done. The second is how our sport is run by a volunteer army. While there are plenty of entities that profit from the sport, the heavy lifting is done by those with no more to gain than the desire to give back. The more we support this army (and the less we berate them), the better off the sport will be.

I suspect that there is some kind of formula based on how much sailing enthusiasts take from the sport, and how much they give. While it might be too early to finalize our New Year’s Resolutions, it might be timely to consider what they will be.

Bowman's Observation

A boat can only move as fast as the slowest equipment on board will allow. And when a boat is racing upwind, it is the slowest and weakest winch handles that limit her tacking speed. This is why top pit crews routinely "lose" weak winch handles overboard so they will be replaced with newer, shinier winch handles by the owner. This natural selection is good for the boat as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole boat keeps improving by the regular loss of the weakest winch handles.

In much the same way, the bowman can only rig a hoist as fast as the slowest spinnaker bag permits. So naturally, a bowman will attack the oldest and weakest spinnaker bags first.

In this way, the regular disposal, shredding, and overall destruction of the boat eliminates the weaker equipment, making the boat a faster and more efficient machine! That's why you always feel better after cutting a spinnaker in half with a knife.

--Skippy on Hot Water explaining the loss of a equipment in Harbor Springs, Michigan.

Annapolis

Annapolis might be considered as one of America’s sailing capitals, but that is not the only thing going for it. Annapolis recently received two back to back national recognitions destined to heighten its appeal with travelers in the know. Last month, Forbes Traveler named Maryland’s capital city as one of the country’s 20 Prettiest Towns, and the American Planning Association recognized Main Street in Annapolis as one of Ten Great Streets for 2008.

Visitor's Bureau website: http://www.visitannapolis.org

Ski and sail

What happens to a retired Whitbread winner...

For a true mountain experience you need to escape the resorts and spend a night or two in the backcountry where the snow is pure, night skies leave the Blackpool illuminations in the shadows and the only noise you'll hear is soothing murmur of nature.

In 1986, L'Esprit d'Equipe won the Whitbread Round the World Race but has since been converted into a floating base for some of most inaccessible skiing in Norway. Sailing the fjords of the Lyngen Alps, the yacht drops guests off by dinghy to hike and ride the untouched slopes.

The 55ft yacht can accommodate up to seven guests in addition to the skipper, one-man crew and mountain guide. Everyone mucks in with the sailing, where throughout the winter and spring L'Esprit d'Equipe leaves Tromsø harbour on its eight-day tours. This has to be the most environmentally friendly way to get your skiing fix.

(thanks to Bill LeFevre for this story)

Three at once

I hope I am not the only one who has gotten reeled in by the sense of adventure that these around the around the world races have presented. The boats are leading edge, the conditions are unforgiving, the weather and communication systems are real time,… and I am finally learning my world geography. The teams have attracted elite sponsors, race villages are hosting huge spectator turnouts, and the quality of online reporting has never been higher. Yes, these races are good for the sport… but do we really need three at once.

Beginning next week, there will be three going on at the same time. I get the fact that you need to leave Europe in the fall to balance the seasons in the two hemispheres, but can’t we balance the schedule so there aren’t three at once? Wouldn’t it be nice for the sponsor to reap the benefits of total media exposure as opposed to divided exposure? Or how about the sailors who must choose between events.

Here is the line-up of around the world races:
Volvo Ocean Race: 8 crewed VO70 teams w/ stops
Vendee Globe: 30 solo Open 60s w/ no stops
Portimão Global Ocean Race: 2 solo Open 40, 4 dbl Class 40 w/ stops

The flooding from daily team media releases shall commence soon…yipee!

Olympic equipment

The current system in selecting the Olympic equipment (ie, the boats used for each Olympic event) is that the issue gets revisited every four years, which translates to the equipment potentially getting changed after every Olympics. While it might be nice for ISAF to have this kind of flexibility, it also puts a great strain on the sailors and countries in terms of long term planning. For the sailor putting together a two quad program, there is no promise that what is gained during the first quad will be applicable for the second campaign. Not a good situation.

A new feature for Olympic athletes for this quad will be the ISAF Sailing World Cup, which is a seven race series that will be used to heighten the focus of Olympic sailing. However, a problem that the early World Cup events are faced with is in how to deal with the newest event: Women’s Match Racing. The first event is Sail Melbourne in Australia (December 16-21, 2008) and it has not included the match racing event in their Notice of Race. The next event is the Rolex Miami OCR (January 25-31, 2009), with US SAILING choosing to supply the boats for the women’s match racing, wherein 12 Laser SB3 boats will be used.

There are 1392 days until the 2012 Summer Olympics, athletes around the world are plotting their future campaigns, and nobody knows what equipment will be used. The equipment decision will be made next week at the ISAF Annual Meeting… I for one can’t wait, but remain wondering why the current system requires that I do.

Busy bay

How busy was your bay this past weekend?

Annapolis, MD - For the east coast, the weather curtain is quickly closing, so this past weekend on Chesapeake Bay was like last call at the local tavern. The Melges 24 North Americans held the lion share of interest, but there were several other events that attracted broad interest too. Competing for space to set race courses was Storm Trysail Club's IRC East Coast Championship, where a total of 35 boats competed for wins in four divisions. For the thriving J/22 class, their East Coast Championship had been cancelled in September during the approach of Hurricane Hanna, with the rescheduled event last weekend won by Todd Hiller. Not to be outdone, the local J/105 fleet, which a year ago had hosted the 2007 North American Championship, held their traditional end of season Chesapeake Bay Championship won by Peter McChesney.

Snow storm

Getting kids to embrace the sport isn't always easy. Here is a success story, with North Sails salesman Chris Snow (right) getting ready for a weekend of Snipe crewing in San Diego, CA for his high school freshman son Nevin.

Under Three

Simple pleasures... finally under $3!