AGM Minutes

Still need to get around to typing these, however it was a good meeting with excellent turnout from St George members.  Maybe distance was too great for those living North? 

No real big changes since last year. I will continue on as President and John McAteer will continue as secretary. The season membership fees have been locked in at $100, so no longer $90 + 10 for interclub applyes.

We also discussed States at Belmont, and possible change of format for 2010-11 season.  This would include running of the event over 2 weekends at 2 different venues. So 4 days of racing and all to be compleated in 1st 1/2 of the season when people seem to be more keen. Also it’s good regatta preparation for the big events like Nationals or Worlds.

By the way thanks to Dave and Dionne for hosting.

NSW AGM + some sailing…

What awesome weather we have been heaving for the last two weeks. 15kn SE and flat water last Saturday, and today another 10-15kn NE.

The boat is going well although, It’s going to take some time getting to know how to use it. I have about 4 different things to adjust before I can bare away and this doesn’t even include vang or cunningham either. Fricken ropes going everywhere!… and they are all red.

I can’t complain too much, I like things to look pretty. Yeah, gay I know and I still need to put another one on for next weekend.

I do seem to have reasonable pace compared to Dave. Not that much in it at this stage. He is still tacking a lot better and has pulled 8 in a row without touching. My best is 3.

Lea, Phil, Chris and Bruce also sailed so it was a good turnout.

By the way the NSW AGM is on tomorrow. Details are up on IMCA Aus website, Dave is hosting it and yeah,… Scott is coming too

News just in

Scott expresses his love for Dave.

 http://scott.projectsomewhere.com/2009/09/03/argumentum-ad-ignorantiam/#comments

Risking it all

3 weeks to begining of the sailing seson, so better to blog now than risk it all when the racing starts and bad results really start to metter. Or do you carry through negative points until the next race? Dave?

If you are not sure what I am on about, have a listen to the latest MothCast. I think this is our best one yet.

http://www.mothcast.net/

Watching from the sidelines

Wow, what an awesome event Gorge was… Well done Bora, fantastic sailing! Also well done Dave for his little contribution that should be noted.

Watching from sidelines was probably more painful than ever before though. I didn’t mind not sailing at Weymouth, but when the breeze is 15kn, water is flat, it’s hot and competition is great, it can all be a little hard to take. That’s life though, maybe next time.

Plenty has been happening in the meantime. I have been building bits for my boat that Dave had last year and my pride didn’t want me to believe were faster. I hope they will help get me a little more speed now. Looks like the standard has gone up significantly since the Aussie nationals, so it will be needed.

Season starts soon at St George and we look like having around 14 registered boats. With the weather in mid 20’s it was been a very mild winter and we already has a few NE sea breezes to get us in the mood. Can’t wait!

Extreme Sail

I went out for a sail on Wednesday with the new CST Nano Extreme mast.  It felt really good.

The leading edge is down to 35mm which is quite noticable.  I used the standard KA cambers with more spacers to take tighten the luff pocket. Here is a few photos.

Fastacraft Launches Gen3 Foils

Two months to the Worlds and it seems everybody is rushing like mad to launch their new products. CST has launched Nano Spars and I just got a few photos from John about the new Gen 3 foils. Rudder in particular.

For Fastacraft the launch of new foils represents the end of a long road with over 12 months design and modeling work.  They were designed by sailing enthusiast and aeronautical engineer whom has customised the aircraft software to take into account the sail, rigs and the full dynamics of foiling.

As seen in the recent full scale tank testing done in the USA there really was a neglibile difference between the eliptical Fastacraft foils and other products out there. Will this be the next step? Who knows. I will get a chance to test them in about a month.

Stay tuned for more on the centre board….

Time to think.

I’ve been on a short holiday over the last few days and loving the extra time I have been having to exercise, think about the boat and sailing plans in general. Still no closer to decision about Gorge, but that’s probably a little out of my hands anyway. It’s all about the moolah. or there lack of…

In the meantime, the club had it’s annual presentation night and the AGM is on next Saturday. I think it would be a good time to think about introducing windward leward courses as the club has all foilers now. We have at least one Assassin joining the fleet and should see similar numbers to last year. Probably about 13-14 registered.

Also, as few would know I have been working at CST Composites for a little while now in a Marketing/PR role. The company is happy to announce the sponsorship of the 2009 Worlds and I will be working closely with IMCA in promoting the event. I think the announcement is great news for both parties. The sponsorsip support will insure adequate funds for running of sucessfull and professional event and CST will once again be in the forefront of our technology leading class. 

Speaking of technology, CST Nano TM spars will be hitting the market in a short while. I have been testing these with Dave and will have the new mast out again this weekend. Then there is sail development in progress as well, hopefully the wind will be good for some testing.

Trailer, anyone?

I’ve just put my trailer for sale on the IMCA AUS website.(I now have two so one has to go).. Here is a photo for those interested. It’s Galvanised, 98 built and registered for 12 months. $600

Season ends…

With last race sailed on Anzac day,  this officially concludes the 08-09 sailing season.  I read an article yesterday where it mentioned taking time off after mayor regattas and winter time to reflect on your achievements and avoid “burning out”. … I’m finding it hard to do this as the weather has been near perfect last Saturday and looks  pretty good for tomorrow’s sail at Woolahra as well. Rumour is that Rohan and Rob Gough are flying in today to continue their training program with Nathan. Should be a good weekend with plenty of fast boats around…

Speaking of fast boats, I did some sailing with Dave recently and I reckon he is faster than ever. I can match him for upwind speed, but downwind he just charges ahead. If he decides to go to USA he should be a real contender for the tittle.

I still haven’t decided if I am going. For me  it’s only worth going if I have a realistic chance of being in the top few. Unfortunately I can’t afford to do it for the experience or a great holiday, as the aded costs of boat freight, insurance, regatta fees etc make it an expensive one at that. It’s also possible to imagine someone rocking up with a kick arse piece of equipment and winning on boatspeed (and skill) like Fastacraft boys found out at Garda. But than again, things have luckily changed now as I don’t think my boat is all that slow…(just take Dave out of equasion).

Lots to think about, and I will have to make a decision soon with little over 3 months to go.