Halloween

With so much negativity surrounding the America’s Cup, will this year’s Halloween parties find the Auld Mug shaped as a party piñata, with revelers dressed as Maori protestors to complete the unfinished business from 1997?

Only problem might be that no treats are left inside.

Pete Cumming

Since the Scuttlebutt newsletter is delivered by email, it must pass through countless well-intentioned content filters designed to block all the swarmy messages distributed by online villains.

Apparently Scuttlebutt 2938 also fell into this lair when it was deemed to have inappropriate content, and thus was blocked by Microsoft Forefront Server Security.

To all the ‘buttheads who were offended when it was reported that ‘Pete Cumming’ was the overall series leader of the iShares Cup, please accept our apologies.

Happy Birthday

As Sir Paul McCartney says, "For anybody in the audience whose got a birthday today (which today includes me), Happy Birthday to you."



And for a lighter rendition of this classic Beattles song...

Ultimate Sailing

Scuttlebutt friend Sharon Green is widely known for her famous Ultimate Sailing calendar. The 2010 calendar ($20.95 each) is now available, but Sharon has also joined the environmental brigade to snap us out of our wasteful ways.

She has teamed up with Sailors for the Sea, which is a nonprofit organization that educates and empowers the boating community to protect and restore our oceans and coastal waters. Together they have developed the 'evergreen reusable tote/bag' ($12.95/bag).

This bag puts to shame my other reusable bags. Can't wait for the comments at the grocery story.

Saving Sailing

If sailing activity is thriving on your home waters, a book titled ‘Saving Sailing’ may not be high on your priority list for reading material. I must admit it sat on my desk for awhile, and only on a recent vacation did I take the time to see what author Nick Hayes had to say about the sport of sailing. As it turns out, he had a lot to say, and it wasn’t all about sailing.

We all make choices on how we spend our time, and Hayes provides some clarity on how these choices affect our lives. Beyond the time needed to sustain a healthy life, including our time at work and spent gathering food, nesting, and resting, the rest is for our discretionary use. Hayes isn’t buying the argument that there is not enough of this time left anymore. Rather, he demonstrates how generational changes among Americans have affected our decisions on how this time is now getting spent.

Like I said, the book is not just about sailing, and it helped me to evaluate how I spend my time in all areas, particularly in critical areas like family and friends. As for the magic ointment to ‘save sailing’, the author is not quick to provide it. Hayes admits the objective is complicated, and is not so naive to think he can readily change the time choices for people. But he does close the book with specific ideas, all carefully crafted from the 1000+ interviews conducted between 2003 and 2009.

I will go so far as to say that ‘Saving Sailing’ is a must read for marine industry professionals, parents eager to share the sport of sailing with their children, and folks who enjoy the sport and are interested in ways to give something back. The book will arrive in select bookstores and nautical boutiques over the next few weeks, or available now online. Also, look for Scuttlebutt’s interview with Hayes next week.

On Vacation

Scuttlebutt World Headquarters will be dimming the lights from September 9-23 as we take off on an Italian excursion to sample local wines and to bike the Tuscany region. Arrivederci!



Don't worry about missing your Scuttlebutt ... there will be no interuption in the distribution of the daily newsletter.

Children

Not every letter sent to Scuttlebutt gets published in the newsletter. It is important that the letters contribute something to the conversation, are not taking cheap swipes, and are not (too) self-serving.

I wasn't sure what to do with this letter, whether to publish it or delete it. But given the amount of time that went into it, I am posting it here:


Dear Capt CURMUDGEON’,


I have a few unruly children named Oracle and Alinghi myself. I love both of them equally.

I like to send them to their own rooms alone.

O has 2 fudgicle sticks to chew on. A has 3 fudgicle sticks to chew on.

When O and A start fighting, as siblings will, I try to sit by and not root for either to emerge victorious.

I often ask O and A if they would prefer me to adopt Zed in place of them.

O and A usually complain loudly about Zed.

O and A can argue about who’s got the most pontoons in the water, and who’s got the fastest boat.

It’s long past time both got steering a course on the water instead of the courts.

Sail it with row boats in the pond in West Texas, but Sail it now!

And Shut THE **** UP! Both of you.


Regards, John R. Wodziak

Tom Blackaller

Thomas David Blackaller
Birth date: 06.Jan.1940
Birth Place: Seattle, WA, United States
Death date: 07.Sep.1989
Death Place: Napa, Sonoma County, CA, United States
Nationality: United States
Gender: male
Age at death: 49
(information courtesy of Motorsport Memorial)

Tom Blackaller died 20 years ago as of September 7, 2009. A tribute honoring his life is on the Scuttlebutt Forum.

Photos below courtesy of Sailing World archives









Photos below courtesy of Dan Nerney

China biking

While this video is remarkable, you know they do do a lot of bike riding in China.

2009 Tjorn Runt race

The video of the 2009 Tjorn Runt race has made the rounds on the Internet, which shows a treacherous stretch of the route readily causing destruction.

Apparently, the Tjörn Runt is an annual long distance sailing competition that takes place in Sweden around the island of Tjörn. The race has been held on the third Saturday of August every year since 1964. About 1,000 sailing boats sail the 28 nautical miles around Tjörn each year. The start takes place under Tjörnbron and the race proceeds clockwise around the island, with the finishing line at Skåpesundsbron.

Is this how you want to spend your weekend?



After watching the video, I contacted Swedish match race champion Bjorn Hansen about the race. Here was his reply:

Hi Craig:

I have seen the video and there is a big discussion going on here in Sweden whether or not the insurance should cover these kind of "accidents".

On Tjorn Runt there is a number of short cuts you can save distance on IF YOU KNOW THEM. The thing is that when crews see local sailors take a short cut, they tend to follow without being 100% sure about the "passing lane". Some people think that there should be certain restricted areas but others think that the possibilities for short cuts is part of the race. Just to clarify, you don’t have to pass thru the narrow straits to sail the course, but sometimes you can save a few boat lengths.

Best Regards

Bjorn

World Champs

Top sailing athletes don’t begin the season wondering what adulations their national sailing authorities will adorn them with. The elite sailor has his or her events, they go after them, and at the end of the year they evaluate their performance. If the year goes well, everything else is icing on the cake.

For all the American sailors that racked up major victories in 2008, the biggest sugar rush went to Terry Hutchinson and Anna Tunnicliffe who were selected to receive the US SAILING's Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards. But that was then, and 2009 is now. While these two will certainly be in the running again, there is a bumper crop of 2009 Champs in their midst:

Paige Railey - Laser Radial European Champ
Jim Richardson/crew - Farr 40 World Champ
George Szabo/Rick Peters - Star World Champ
Bora Gulari - Moth World Champ
Mike Martin/ Jeff Nelson - 505 World Champ

And there could be more before we are done:
Snipe Worlds are in San Diego, CA on Sept. 7-11
Lightning Worlds are in Colchester, VT on Sept. 13-18
Melges 32 Worlds are in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy on Sept. 23-27
Sunfish Worlds are in Nassau, Bahamas on Oct. 19-23
Melges 24 Worlds are in Annapolis, MD on Oct. 26-31

Nominations for the American Rolex award open on 9/30/2009 and end on 11/30/2009. Are we forgetting anyone? Post them in the comments.