Jack of all trades, mate. Spent most of my time at either stroke or bow! Work that one out! And have done stints at every seat in-between and more sometime cox and a bit of novice coaching.
Get a crew together as the spring heads are ace, enjoy it while you still can as it can get serious later and if ever you get the chance get across to London for the Head of the River Race.
Shame there's no decent rowing here, 
I'd have to go to Sevilla for that... Now there's a thought. 
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Boats
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Posted 1 year ago #
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I used to be able to see this from the house....did'nt miss too many good days for 5 years.Landlocked now
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yeah, was always cold when we went to play Monmouth...
Posted 1 year ago # -
Better have a lot of available credit on your gasoline credit card
Posted 1 year ago # -
aracer - Member
'Where can you get a surfski in UK?'
I thought we'd done this one before?..Yes, but I lost the info and forgot where I got it. Blame it on senility.
Here's my Hadyn Kenny ski sitting at a mate's house in Oz - I'll be on it in a couple of weeks if all goes well
Posted 1 year ago # -
For those who enjoyed reading Arthur Ransome as kids:
(and there is a connection to the lady at the tiller).
Posted 1 year ago # -
My fave boat not because it was the best ( only a Janousek ) but because it was named after a brilliant bloke at our club and he was speechless when the name was revealed
That said a rowing a fast crew in an Empacher eight down the Henley course at prime time on Saturday in a Thames vs London race is the closest I'll ever come to experiencing what footballers and the like do. A truly fantastic experience.
Or brilliant in a different way, racing the eights head with a crew full of ex-worldchamps (not me unfortunately
) is something pretty special.
Posted 1 year ago # -
This I would love to be able to own:
TS Pelican, a French-built former Arctic trawler re-rigged as a Barbary Xebec, or Corsair. Apparently amazingly fast and manoeuvrable, which is why pirates loved them.
Posted 1 year ago # -
(and there is a connection to the lady at the tiller).
Does she swallow?Posted 1 year ago # -
Bought one of these last year (Laser SB3). Great fun, but tough to race as the fleet are very competitive. Doing the World Champs in May (which happens to be in the UK this year) - should be fun!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Only raced an SB3 once but it was fun - surpised they're not wearing bouyancy aids in the above pic, thought it might have been obligatory. The guy I raced an X35 with (Mike Budd) has been putting some effort into winning the SB3 worlds..... best overall result so far is 4th or 5th I think.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Had a try out on one of these once.
Wasn't up to it.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Sharkbait - yep, Europes are a hoot. I'm half tempted to get an old banger for club racing, although I've not the time for it.
A bit like a miniature Finn, in that you had a pretty low aspect ratio rig, a 50s design and needed a fair amount of technical competence to make them go fast. Much more wetted surface aft than a Finn, which made it easy to get onto the plane, plus the same sail area as a Laser on an 11ft boat that weighed 75kg
Finns look awesome, but I heard you have to be big / strong enough to lug one up a slipway to sail one properly. I'm way too weedy for a Finn.
Which 35 were you on? I was on Swallow, sailing out of RSYC on the Hamble. The boats that competed in Holland were leap years ahead of the domestic fleet, and we weren't competitive in the first year, although I also heard tell of rock star crews. After ten years of racing 707s together (me and a bunch of the crew also sailed together as children) sail handling was fine, but we never got that elusive half know before the boat's owner put it up for sale. Shame - it was a hoot.
Incidentally, how is the tape drive coming along? Looks good in the pic. Any longevity issues shown up?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Actually, just looking at that sail again, the leech is awful tight for a minimal amount of prebend. Although it's a pic and light airs, so I'm probably completely wrong. Have you had a play with one yet?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Finns do weigh a bit (minimum hull weight is now 116kg!!) but anybody from about 80kg can sail them thanks to the rigs now - I'm about 92kg and alegedly 'fine', or so I've been told.
Been out three times in mine so far - all in light winds. Lovely to sail, so much nicer than the Laser (which sold at the weekend). Need to get out more soon.
I think they're waiting for a final test sail which should be ready for the end of April before they start making them from decent material.
That sail was the first sample and had a fair bit wrong with it, the chap sailing is double masters world champ so he should know what he's doing!
35: I was racing on Nexus from Abersoch (owned/helmed by Mike Budd), it was sold after winning the nationals in Cork a couple of years ago. He was threatening to buy one of these little beauties (Santa Cruz 37)
but has been sidetracked trying to win the SB3 Worlds!Posted 1 year ago # -
Saw HMS Daring this morning....
Looks like she hit a tug:
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8379946.Royal_Navy_s_newest_ship_damaged/Posted 1 year ago # -
Nice! I think there is / was a Santa out of Hamble at one point - very pretty boat.
Think I might be a bit weedy for a Finn at 78kg and too fat for a Europe now - top limit is 75kg.
That would explain the funny shape of the sail - I'd love to see what they end up with. The 707 class switched to Sobstad laminate sails - glued precut panels, so somewhere between tape drives and traditional sails - and it went pretty well. Biggest difference was the jibs, which lasted longer. Very fun class, and just like the Sonata, it's likely to go through a dip and come back strong as the boats get into the hands of younger sailors at lower prices.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Aurora St Petersburg by Bentalla, on Flickr
Loch Linnhe by Bentalla, on Flickr
Reaper at Tobermory by Bentalla, on FlickrPosted 1 year ago # -
How did I miss this thread?
My favourite bar, onboard the Albatros:
I learned to say in a Tideway - clinker built dinghy that my Dad spent far too much time maintaining. Like this one:
and I have two kayaks that are just horrible to paddle. Cheap and nasty - I helped to build them at my local youth club when I was a teenager. Better than nothing though.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I'm trying to find the definitive shot of Stealth, a 92ft dayboat, but I think it's one taken by Beken.
My old day job involved sorting out illustrations for features in a sailing magazine, so I used to spend a fair amount of time on the phone to Beken, Kos et cetera. Beken were/are marvellously old school, and wonderful to deal with. Although they always sent original transparencies, which was a bit puckering when you realised you were holding the original medium format slide for *that* pic of Valsheda (at the bottom of this).
Valsheda now, with Mari Cha in the background (That's another story):
Valsheda - my favourite ever boat pic, from Beken:
Posted 1 year ago # -
My dad is currently bobbing around the solent in his Southerly 32.
Just like this one:
Posted 1 year ago # -
I get to play up front of this Arcona 430
This shot from Just after dawn on the round the island race, one of the few times I will share a start time with Valsheda.
Got quite close to Mr BP on "Bob" when he got into trouble going for a sail, Maybe we should have luffed him
Posted 1 year ago #
Topic Closed
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