Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors, providing a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk…with a North American focus. Todays sponsors: Ullman Sails - US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider Taylor Canfield: Match Racing World Champion He’s 25 years, he grew up in the US Virgin Islands, and graduated with an Economics degree in 2011 from Boston College. Oh yea, and he is the reigning Match Racing World Champion. Taylor Canfield begins his bid to defend his title as the 2014 Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT) opens this week at Match Race Germany. Here’s an update from this fast rising star… * How did the interest in match racing take hold? My first real introduction to match racing that stuck with me was at the age of 13. I was competing in the Jr Gold Cup in Bermuda while fellow St. Thomian, Peter Holmberg, was competing in the Argo Gold Cup. I was hooked after watching several days of the match racing sailed in Hamilton Harbor. Beginning just before I graduated from high school, I decided to sail some lower level match race events. The ranking slowly began to climb and while coaching at Chicago YC during my summers away from BC, I was introduced to Don Wilson who was actively training in Chicago two nights a week. After three summers in Chicago I was hooked. * You seem to be a fast learner. What contributed to this near vertical learning curve? The Chicago Match Race Center (CMRC) had opened and I knew that is where I needed to be if I wanted to continue and take my game to the next level. After college, I worked at CMRC as the sailing director for three seasons (2011-13), training, umpiring, coaching, and running regattas. I worked during the weeks and traveled to events on the weekends. As the ranking climbed into the top 20 after winning two AWMRT events in 2012, I decided to put in a bid for a tour card for 2013. I finally locked in a core group of guys for the 2012 and 2013 seasons that were strong, dedicated, and willing to put paid jobs aside to sail with me. In the fall of 2012 Hayden Goodrick and myself started US One Sailing Team. We went on to receive a tour card for the 2013 season, and worked and trained hard. It came down to the final event of that season, with 4 teams fighting for the World Title. We finished 3rd, and with previous event finishes of 5th, 2nd, 11th, 1st, and 3rd (and discarding the 11th), it was enough to capture the world title. To be honest, it has all happened much quicker than I could have ever imagined. I have always had the goal to be number one in the world, but I knew that I could not do this alone. The US One crew of Hayden Goodrick, Rod Dawson, Mike Rehe, Dan Morris, and Brian Janney were right behind me from the beginning. While it says my name at the top of the ISAF rankings, it is all about the team. * Entering 2013 as a full-fledged tour team, what were your expectations? To be honest, we did not have any expectations going into the 2013 season. It is one thing to win a single event as a non-tour card holder, but it is another thing to string together a full season of success. As a first time card holder, there was very little pressure to perform out of the blocks – especially not having sailed 3 out of 6 of the boats on the tour. So we had nothing to lose. But after starting the 2013 season with good results in the first two events, and despite stumbling hard in the third event with our 11th in Sweden, there was never a doubt from anyone on the team that we couldn’t turn it around. And we did. In Part 2 of this interview, we will take a look at the 2014 season. ULLMAN SAILS WELCOMES SANTA CRUZ SAILS Ullman Sails is pleased to announce the addition of California sailmaker David Hodges to our international group! Operating as Ullman Sails San Francisco and Monterey Bay, David’s full-service loft in Santa Cruz provides new sails and service to sailors from Monterey Bay and San Francisco to Hood River, Oregon. David has over 34 years of sailmaking experience, including 22 years as owner of Santa Cruz Sails, which built successful sails for boats from 505s to SC70s. His high standard of service and quality make him an excellent fit for Ullman Sails and we are excited to have him onboard! ullmansails MORE: When asked why he joined Ullman Sails, David Hodges said, “I felt that I needed a group that would share technology and production, but allow you to keep your independence at the same time. Also, I always liked the people involved in Ullman Sails. Click here for full report. America’s Cup: The Venue Dilemma Leading up to the 34th America’s Cup in 2013, there were what we will kindly call “pretend” challengers. This was made possible by lenient entry requirements and an affordable AC World Series circuit. Eight teams entered and bought AC45s, which looked good in the build-up. Lots of interest, lots of activity. However, it was mostly smoke and mirrors, and all the insiders knew it. When real money was required to build and campaign the AC72, only three teams remained. For the 35th America’s Cup, defense CEO Russell Coutts did not want a repeat of this charade. “What’s important is that the teams that enter the America’s Cup are teams that are prepared to complete the entire schedule,” explained Coutts. “This is particularly important for event sponsors, in which the terms of the contract are based on a certain size event. When there are teams that drop out, like we had in the 34th America’s Cup, it becomes a problem.” As a result, the entry requirements for the 35th America’s Cup were stiffened up to insure only legitimate teams get confirmed. Here’s what’s needed from teams after they submit their challenge during the entry period from June 9 through August 8, 2014. Initial fees when the entry is confirmed… - US$1,000,000 (first installment of entry fee) - US$25,000 (contribution to protect the event’s legal interests) - US$50,000 (website fee) Secondary fees no later than December 1, 2014… - US$1,000,000 (final installment of entry fee) - US$1,000,000 (performance bond) Real money is now needed to play the game. But where does the money come from? According to Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton, teams are going to have a tough time getting it from sponsors. “It will make it difficult for fully funded commercial teams and I think when this all plays out and we actually dig in to the teams that will be in it, they will be backed by wealthy billionaires.” Dalton says it’s impossible to get potential investors on board when the venue hasn’t even been decided. While the rules have been laid out, a venue hasn’t, and won’t be until well after the close of entries. “It is impossible, completely impossible to raise sponsorship money without being able to close the loops with the sponsors and making commercial decisions through a marketing committee. I don’t know how you reconcile those two things. Without a venue you can’t raise real money and that makes it very difficult for commercial teams.” So when will the venue details be released? Click here to
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 03:07:35 +0000
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