Battleship

Is it too early to start speculating about the weather? The Thursday before the start looks like a low lurking off Fiji chance of a South Easter for the start?

I personally don't think getting the boat up to category is the reason there isn't much interest these days, not a huge difference between cat2 and cat1 it is more the time commitment. For a pacific island race you have to then get the boat home again which is no mean feat, with the RNI you finish in Auckland which although quite a haul for the Welly boats is less of a logistical problem when compared to Fiji or Tonga for instance.

The batteries sold for house banks use different technology to the lithium batteries that Tesla and cell phone manufacturers use. Lifepo4 is a lot safer than lithium ion and a lot more forgiving to abuse. http://www.epectec.com/batteries/lithium-battery-technologies.html I know of a boat that had it's lead acid batteries catch fire after running them too dry so they are not immune either.

The fumes aren't bad a bit like rotorua, you can smell it a long way out if the wind is blowing toward you. Have always seen a few Fishing boats sheltering where Jon said.

All stuck on the outside roughly 25mm overlap all the way around. The old ones were just stuck on also had a hell of a time removing them had to hammer a scraper in between the window and the frame all the way around. Used simson glazing mastic with a primer, sanded the inside edge prior to bonding. Think it was this one http://bostik.co.nz/userDocuments/simson-70-08-tds.pdf

Agreed arrogant w#@kers is the main problem, not to mention self centered and inconsiderate, like I said a sign of the times. In the later incident I would have been tempted to get the flare pistol out but a better idea is to record the whole incident, being sure to capture the main vessel name and forward it to the harbour masters office, it's their job to deal with the knuckle draggers.

Never raced it in a cat3 race have a nice deluxe bucket on the bigger race boat tho. Furniture isn't fast☺

Absolutely it was awesome. For me pretty much any boat that doesn't leave a massive wake is no big deal. Some powered vessels can leave you wallowing in their wake with the dishes crashing on the floor even at legal speeds and distances. Usually sailboats don't leave a massive wake so aren't annoying. IMHO distance is less important than the size of the wake. A boat can leave a dangerous wake while still being otherwise legal.

What do you mean? It even has a settee on each side.

We did the windows on Rocky 3 years ago no screws haven't even looked like moving still as good now as when they were installed. There was a thread on it somewhere but basically you need to get some really strong tape that goes along the inside edge to hold the window while the mastic sets. (Think the tape they use to hold car spoilers on with)

Jet skis ban the bloody things, I have at least half a dozen jetskis, fizz nasties and Launches break the 50m rule every time I go out in the summer just a sign of the times I guess. Would be nice to hear the other side of the story.

I guess I didn't read the second bit only the a vessel powered by sail in relation to any other vessel powered by sail If it were me and a larger boat that was racing did a dip down to go under me and passed 3 meters away I wouldn't be worried. Actually I would go out of my way not to hinder them.

I think you will find the passing vessel wasn't breaking any laws. From the Maritime NZ Maritime rules part 91 https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/rules/part-91/Part91-maritime-rule.pdf 91.6 Speed of vessels (1) No person may, without reasonable excuse, propel or navigate a vessel (including a vessel towing a person or an object) at a proper speed exceeding 5 knots: (a) within 50 metres of any other vessel, raft, or person in the water (deleted bits not relavant) (5) Rule 91.6(1)(a) shall not apply to: (a) a vessel over 500 gross tonnage, if the vessel cannot be safely navigated in compl

Normally drop the pick around the yellow dot area we draw 1.9 mtrs.

Done this many time very easy, we normally get as close as we can in the boat at half tide on the incoming then dingy up the creek from there. It is very shallow in places but no big deal just make sure you have good footwear in case you have to walk the dingy on occasion, there is plenty of room to tie the dingy up. You then have 6 hours to get back to the boat which is more than enough. A good supermarket and lots of nice cafes etc. also a really good seafood place with excellent smoked mussels. It is very good holding in Mud, the rocks and moored boats IT was talking about are across

Was in Timaru yesterday after getting caught up in some kelp that jammed his propshaft etc. https://www.facebook.com/teamirelandvendee/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

These Guys, http://vinylboatwrap.co.nz/ Looks like the good 3m stuff has a 7 year warranty.

I was one of the yachts racing on Saturday drifting along in the tide, the TYPBC has been pretty active on educating sailors about how little vision and lack of maneuverability the ships have, the sailing instructions are pretty clear about the requirement to keep clear even amending the rule slightly so yachts don't really lose anything if they have to motor out of the channel for a ship, unfortunately by the looks of it the cruisers aren't really aware of the game they are playing. The harbour is absolutely packed with visitors at the moment, on a nice day ships just about need an escort out

We have had enforcement via a harbor patrol in Tauranga for about 10 years now, initially the focus was on education but now it has turned to more handing out fines as most people know the rules they just choose to ignore them. I did it myself for a couple of seasons a few years ago before getting over it, as it is constant, the amount of people who just choose to ignore the rules, the message doesn't seem to get through, some days we would talk to over 50 boats only to see the same boats doing the same thing a few days later.

Unfortunately i think it is only a matter of time before boat licenses are required, there are just too many idiots out there now. I find it strange that some people adhere to the rules of the road but seem to ignore everything once on the water as if they have some sort of god given right to be a dickhead, and then get super fired up when called out on it.

Conrad getting all Moitessier on us, I hope he heads for the finish and not all the way round again to Tahiti. " homesick for a place I have not yet left" http://www.conradcolman.com/single-post/2017/01/10/Update-day-66-doublethink

Sitting at Peachgrove today, wind starting to subside nice tomorrow. In the meantime waiting for the tracker to update.

Only 80 odd miles between the top two boats, who would have thought that with Hugo Boss over 800 miles behind at one stage.

Continues http://120.138.20.16/WeekOnDemand/radiosport/2017.01.08-13.15.00-D.mp3

Starts at about 10 minutes here http://120.138.20.16/WeekOnDemand/radiosport/2017.01.08-13.00.00-D.mp3