Rosebud Softball - League Champions -
(Updated August 1, 2008)
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Opportunity- (Updated January 28,
2008)
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RECENT ROSEBUD
NEWS
Rosebud Apparel available FOR SALE -- The full inventory is now listed.
I am accepting emails for requests on items/sizes that I currently do not have but cannot guarantee their availability.
-- 7/28 -- Rosebud/Team DYT Wins IRC Class 1 at NYYC Race
Week
--
Final Results
--
After day 3 Story -- "No Day for
Excuses"
--
After day 2 Story -- "Day Two Brings
Relief"
--
After day 1 Story -- "Wild Conditions and
Fast Racing"
--
Pre-Race Story -- "Class Racing Starts
Tomorrow at NYYC Race Week"
-- 7/14 -- Rosebud/Team DYT Hits Land But Still First to Finish in
2008 EYC Vineyard Race
-- 7/1 -- Rosebud/Team DYT Takes Third in Class at Newport
Bermuda Race 2008
--
Final Results (Scroll to Class 11 of Gibbs
Hill Lighthouse, page 6)
--
Trophy List (Rosebud/Team DYT took home 2
trophy's, listed on pages 4 and 6)
-- 6/16 -- Rosebud/Team DYT Takes Third in 154th NYYC Annual
Regatta Sponsored by Rolex
Article
--
Final Results
-- Photos
(Click on Recent Work, then on NYYC Annual
Regatta)
-- 5/26 -- Rosebud/Team DYT Wins 63rd Block Island
Race
Article Photo
--
Full Standings
--
Overall Trophies Note: Rosebud also won the "HARVEY
CONOVER MEMORIAL OVERALL TROPHY" that is listed as TBA
-- 4/25 --
Great article about Rosebud taken from the
Sun-Sentinel
-- 4/24 -- Rosebud has arrived in Fort Lauderdale and is berthed
at The Sails Marina. Yesterday was Rosebud's first time out
sailing in the Atlantic Ocean and also the first time out sailing
under sponsorship of Dockwise Yacht Transport. Check out the
awesome photos from the week here (click on "Recent Work" and then on
"Rosebud")
-- You can find all of the archived Sydney Hobart info here
The STP 65 Phenomenon
We speak to techical guru and Rosebud project manager
Malcolm Park about the new inshore/offshore class
Global recession? What global recession? While the IRC pocket
maxis may be the latest phenomenon in the big boat world, with
several new boats, such as Neville Crichton's latest Alfa Junior,
expected on to the circuit imminently, so as a subset of this the
STP65 class is building up its own head of steam. Among the STP
65s Roger Sturgeon's Farr-designed Rosebud was the first to
launch, winning last year's Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, while the
latest addition is Jim Swartz's Reichel Pugh-penned Moneypenny,
that competitors at Cork Week will find themselves up against
next week. Swartz and Sturgeon have been gunning hard to get the
class going and at present the tally of STP65s is up to six: in
addition to the existing two boats, Udo Schutz's Judel
Vrolijk-designed Container is due to be at the Maxi Worlds in
September, while beyond this other new boats are expected for
Dario Ferrari, owner of the Farr 40 Cannonball, and also for
Prada boss and America's Cup veteran Patricio Bertelli. More news
on this next week.
"We have a lot of interest from one other American group and
another European group," adds Malcolm Park, technical advisor to
the class and also project manager for the Rosebud campaign. "It
wouldn't surprise me by the end of the summer if we aren't
announcing two more boats as well. We are thrilled. We were very
fortunate to have performed as well as we did in the Hobart to
give the class some recognition that even as a box rule boat we
can perform well under IRC."
So what is an STP 65?
In essence, it is a box rule, that could be viewed as the boat
the TP52 might have been, had the class not been hijacked by the
Audi MedCup and Mediterraneanised.
Park provides some background: "The rule evolved because there
was a Storm Trysail 65 rule and Roger [Sturgeon] was going to
step forward and build a 65ft boat. But when we looked at that
rule it was a little too conservative for our tastes in terms of
the sail area:displacement ratio for what we envisioned. So we
approached the Transpacific YC [the original creators of the TP52
rule] and with the help of design groups such as Farr Yacht
Design and Reichel Pugh and Allan Andrews and Bill Lee, we came
up with what we thought a 65ft boat to look like. Then we
approached the STC through Ken Read with our proposal. So what is
now the STP rule is a compromise between what the ST65 was and
what we envisioned for the TP65."
So the STP65 is defined by a box that is roughly as follows:
LOA: 19.5-20.01m
Beam: 4.5-4.8m
Draft (max): 4.8m
Freeboard (fwd): 1.750-1.9m
Freeboard (aft): 1.280-1.55m
Displacement: 13-13.4 tonnes
Mainsail height (P): 26.4m
Mainsail foot (E): 9.55m
Mast to headstay (J): 7.6m
Spinnaker height (ISP): 28.8m
Mast to bowsprit (TPS): 10.3m
Spinnaker area: 410sqm
Mast weight: 515kg
There are many other constrains of the box rule such as girth
measurements for the sails, etc. In addition to this, the STP65
rule bans moveable ballast and goes to some lengths in specifying
minimum requirements of the interior: it must have eight berths
(of set minimum dimensions) with mattresses, a galley with a two
burner stove and minimum sink size, minimum area for the chart
table, an enclosed head compartment with a minimum headroom and
size restriction and even minimum panel weights for the head
compartment walls! Like the TP52 rule was, some aspects of the
STP65 rule are based on IMS measurement such as limits on the
Vertical Centre of Gravity.
Like many other classes of this type there is a crew weight limit
of 1370kg but the class are attempting to prevent the extreme
weight loss regimes often required by crew in other classes. So
for example there are penalties for a crew that is too lardy.
One of the most significant features of the STP65 rule is that
boats must be fitted with a lifting keel, so that while the max
draft is 4.8m, the keel can be hoisted up to 3.33m.
"It could not have gotten the Transpacific YC endorsement without
a lifting keel because otherwise that boat won't fit into any
West Coast harbours," explains Park. "So that wasn't an option.
The reality is that once you start sailing it allows the owners
to enjoy venues that they couldn't enjoy otherwise. We went down
to Australia and every single day we could pull into the CYCA
with our boat because we had a lifting keel. As opposed to having
to go down to the boat yard like Wild Oats had to." A 4.8m draft
also presents mooring problems at other venues such as St Maarten
and Key West.
Since the rule was introduced, the only modifications have been a
rule that allows twin backstays - Rosebud has one, Moneypenny
two. "Moneypenny specifically - and some of the other boats - now
view it to be advantageous to have a square headed mainsail under
IRC," explains Park. "And the way the class rule was written with
the single backstay was that you couldn't have the square headed
mainsail." Other than this there has been a small modification to
the rules governing cockpit layout.
"One of the goals of this rule when it was created is that owners
have no control of it until there are five measured boat. Then
the five owners take over the rule. Before that the Board of
Directors control the rule," continues Park. The board comprises
two members of the Transpacific YC and the Storm Trisail Club,
plus a Technical Adviser, who is Park. The reason for the owners
not having control initially is to prevent what happened in the
maxZ86 class where the first owner had a fixed keel boat and was
then immediately kicked into touch by the subsequent two owners
who both wanted to go canting keel.
While owners may yet have control of the rule, the class has
created an 'Owners Advisory Committee' which will first sit at
the Maxi Worlds, where the owners will also have their own
get-together to start defining a circuit. At present Antigua is
lining up to be the first place where all six of the boats will
meet however there is a clash of dates with Portofino, so it may
not be until next summer and the Rolex Fastnet Race that all the
boats get to race.
Once the class is fully established Park expects the circuit to
comprise a combination of the 'classic 500 milers' such as the
Fastnet, Rolex Middle Sea Race, Bermuda Race, Hobart race,
Pineapple Cup, etc combined with the select few inshore events
such as Maxi Worlds, Key West and some of the Caribbean
events.
This circuit Park reckons is what will prevent the STP65 rule
going down the increasingly inshore route its smaller sibling,
the TP52, has taken. The Class Rule firmly states that its
objective is that the rule "is intended to produce a class of
fast, centreline keel, yachts that shall be capable of racing
inshore and offshore" and cites examples as Transpac,
Sydney-Hobart, Fastnet, Block Island and Cowes Week.
So 'inshore and offshore' and deeper into the rule this is linked
to the ABS standard to which boats have to be built, which Park
feels has been one of the failings of the TP52. "There was a
loophole within the Transpac rule that said the boats had to be
built to a Cat1 standard, but what was not addressed is that that
rule does not state for what venue. So, within ABS if you build a
boat to a specific standard it has to be for a geographic region.
What this STP rule does is that it states the type of races that
the boat has to be capable of sailing in, therefore the
construction standards of the boats is such that it makes these
boats capable of sailing out on the ocean."
So why would an owner go STP65 rather than IRC racing - the two
fundamental choices at this size? The main difference is that
under IRC you get to build the boat you want, at whatever size
you want, but race under handicap, whereas with an STP65
designing and building the boat is much more laborious having to
follow the box rule, but ultimately the racing is better as its
boat for boat. Park says it is fortunate that IRC seems to look
favourably on the STP65, so in practice they can have the best of
both worlds.
"You get closer racing without the handicap. I think at the end
of the day, IRC has provided a great venue for these boats, but
it is not our goal to handicap race, it is to level race. And it
has to be understood that IRC was never designed to be a Grand
Prix rule. That is how it is being viewed now, but it was never
designed to be that." (We're sure this thorny subject will rear
its head again in the not too distant future).
The question is with two owners in the States, one in Germany and
another two in Italy is it likely that boats could end up being
quite different within the box as they are optimized for the
races and regions they are most likely to sail in?
On this topic Rosebud's owner Roger Sturgeon has views: "I am
guessing they will be more Mediterranean orientated," he told us
of what the Italian boats might be like. "But we do talk. We want
to be more places together. You read the rules and it says this
has to be capable of doing a Sydney Hobart or Fastnet - you have
to build a seaworthy boat and some of the TP52s are getting
pretty narrow when it comes to serious offshore race. But I don't
think that precludes them from being a buoy racer, maybe not in
the lightest of airs - and especially if you are racing each
other."
But Sturgeon adds: "It is a box rule, you can go
windward-leeward, or IRC if you want. We [Rosebud] are built to
be all-around. We want to go anywhere and have a good time. If we
win isn't - that great. If we don't we had a fabulous time - we
were fast. And we are not 30m, we are only 20m. This is a very
simple boat. There is no spinnaker pole, there is reaching
struts. For us there are no running backstays. It is just a big
dinghy. It is a lot of fun."
Even now there appears to be substantial differences between the
two existing STP 65s. First Farr-designed Rosebud was launched
around a year before the Reichel-Pugh Moneypenny. Both boats
raced recently at the New York YC Annual Regatta and then in the
Bermuda Race. In the latter Rosebud had the upper hand.
As Park recounts: "We [Rosebud] have only had one real line-up
with them [Moneypenny] and that was in the Bermuda race and we
had a starboard tack layline into the finish of about 180 miles
and it was sailed upwind in 11-15 knots and during that one tack
we were able to pull out a 25 minute advantage on them. But I'm
sure they have a lot left on the table - the boat was brand new
and I'm expecting that the next time we line up they will be a
stronger boat."
However even a cursory glance at the two boats indicates that
Rosebud is the more offshore-orientated boat. "That's definitely
true in terms of the cockpit layout and basic design shape versus
Moneypenny," says Park. "The only thing that is a contradiction
to that is that Moneypenny has chines and Rosebud does not. So
you would think with chines they would be more reaching
orientated but we haven't seen that advantage from them yet."
Park reckons that the new Container, the first offering to the
class from Judel-Vrolijk, could be different again - more similar
to Dan Myers' J-V designed Numbers in terms of its hull shape
(read more about Numbers here). "I have been really impressed
with the Numbers program and that boat and hull shape and what
they have done with the boat. So I think at this point I would
expect something along the lines of what we have seen with
Numbers in terms of the hull shape [of Container] with a very
full bow section relative to a boat like Moneypenny, which is
very flat in the bow section, but not as powerful a transom as
Moneypenny - she is very wide. I have been very impressed with
how Numbers has performed and I expect nothing less than that
from the first STP65 out of the Vrolijk office."
Of the other new boats - Reichel Pugh is known to be designing
one while Italian designer Umberto Felci is creating another.
So is the shelf life of an STP65 likely to be longer than a TP52
competing on the Audi MedCup circuit? Park is confident of it:
"It is always hard to guess. At least we didn't go out and sail
against Moneypenny in the Bermuda race and have our doors blown
off. We are a year older, they had a year more to develop it,
they have a different concept for the lifting keel. There will
always be horses for courses, but I don't think the boats are
prone to being out-developed purely because some of the controls
we've put in place with the building standards. What that does is
that it limits the ability for someone to go out and make a
construction standard development in the class and turn that into
a performance development, because no matter what, at the end of
the day you have to meet strict standards under ABS. I think that
is going to help."
So we have yet another of big sailboat that appears to have legs.
Park says the STP65 fills a gap in the market. "It shows that
rating rules still haven't satisfied all the needs. There is
still room. The niche that we fill is that there are canting keel
VO70-style boats, there are inshore niche boats of the Med-style
TP52-type which sail windward-leeward courses and there is
something in between which is the STP65 which can be sailed
offshore as well as on windward-leeward courses."
While Moneypenny is going to be in Cork this coming week, she and
Rosebud will next line-up at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Worlds in
Sardinia, before heading down to Malta for the ever expanding
Rolex Middle Sea Race. Whether this class goes supernova to the
extent we have seen with the TP52s and if there is as much
appetite for owners wanting to race offshore - it remains to be
seen.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Barby MacGowan, Media Pro Int'l, 401-849-0220,
barby.macgowan@mediapronewport.com or Catalina Bujor, Dockwise
Yacht Transport, 954-525-8707, catalina@dockwise-yt.com
Rosebud Racing Joins Team
DYT
Dockwise Yacht Transport will be Carrier of Choice for
High-Profile Racing Team
FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA. (April 28, 2008) -- Dockwise Yacht Transport
(DYT), the world's leading yacht logistics company with its own
fleet of semi-submersible ships, has announced that Rosebud
Racing has joined forces with the company to become Rosebud
Racing/Team DYT. The Farr-designed Rosebud was launched in June
2007 as the world's first STP65, a "box-rule" collaboration
between the Storm Trysail Club and the TransPacific Yacht Club.
Owned by Roger Sturgeon of Ft, Lauderdale, Fla., it has set the
racing world on fire with its recent performances, including
winning the overall IRC handicap title in the famed Rolex Sydney
Hobart Race at the end of 2007. In that race, Sturgeon also
became the first American in 30 years to take overall regatta
honors, joining only two other Americans who can make the same
claim: Jim Kilroy (Kialoa III in 1977) and Ted Turner (American
Eagle in 1972).
"The Rosebud campaign has had an exhilarating journey, and the
future will prove even more remarkable," said Sturgeon, adding
that Rosebud Racing/Team DYT will use DYT services for shipping
the team's prized race boat to race destinations around the
world. "There is no better way to get to our far-off race
destinations than using the Dockwise Yacht Transport service. The
company has a magnificent staff of service managers and loading
masters to help us with scheduling and, most important, the safe
transport of our yacht."
DYT operates four semi-submersible yacht carriers, including the
new 687.5-foot (209 meter) Yacht Express, which takes regular
runs between Ft. Lauderdale and Genoa, Italy. The float-on/float
off process that is unique to these ships alleviates worries
about wear and tear on the boat.
"Rosebud Racing/Team DYT is the perfect ambassador for the
segment of our personalized customer service that devotes itself
to getting race boats to their regattas around the world," said
DYT President Clemens van der Werf. "For instance, the DYT voyage
scheduled in August from Newport, R.I. to Sardinia, Italy, will
get Rosebud and other racing yachts to the Mediterranean in time
for the racing season there."
Rosebud will sport its new Team DYT sail and hull graphics when
it competes in New England this summer at Block Island Race, the
New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex, the
Newport to Bermuda Race (which was won by Sturgeon's previous
Rosebud, a TP52, in 2004), the Edgartown Yacht Club Round the
Island Race, and the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport
presented by Rolex. After it crosses the Atlantic with DYT's
help, it will compete in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup (Sardinia,
Italy) in September and the Rolex Middle Sea Races (Malta) in
October, before heading back with other sailboats on a DYT ship
to Ft. Lauderdale at the end of October.
A designer of computer software and a member of Lauderdale Yacht
Club as well as Hyannis Yacht Club in Massachusetts, Sturgeon is
joined on the crew of Rosebud Racing/Team DYT by his wife Isobel
and noteworthy international sailors.
More about DYT
Headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, DYT is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Dockwise Ltd. (Hamilton, Bermuda), the global
leader in maritime transports and installation. Since its maiden
voyage in 1987, the company has transported over 9,000 motor and
sailing yachts to various destinations around the globe, offering
owners and charterers safe and easy access to many of the
world’s premier cruising grounds.
In addition to its conservation partnership with The Billfish
Foundation, the only non-profit organization dedicated solely to
conserving and enhancing billfish populations around the world,
DYT is also partnered with the International SeaKeepers Society.
Its newest ship, Yacht Express, is outfitted with the modular
SeaKeeper 1000TM ocean and meteorological monitoring system,
which samples, measures, records and transmits critical measures
of ocean health--salinity, temperature, oxygen and pollution,
among others--to various scientific and public communities across
the globe.
Along with area representatives around the world, DYT has
additional operating offices in Italy, France, Martinique and
Newport (R.I.). A partnership with BBC Chartering and Logistics
also allows DYT to manage safe lift-on/lift-off service aboard
BBC's fleet of 140 cargo vessels worldwide. The service is for
clients who need additional scheduling flexibility or the ability
to get to a destination not normally serviced by DYT's
semi-submersible ships.
For more information, visit http://www.yacht-transport.com or
contact Catalina Bujor, Dockwise Yacht Transport, 954-525-8707,
pr@dockwise-yt.com.
(end)
The First Shot of the STP65 Rosebud Under Sail
In Loving Memory of Kevin
Killeen
Loving friend of Roger and Isobel Sturgeon and
the original designer of the Rosebud logo
© Rosebud Racing, Inc.
2005
All rights reserved
Webmaster: David Cardinali