[Bit Fresh out there now]

Kids had a ball at the BOIYC O'pen Bic Skiff, see their face book for the video, Pitch poling a BIC was new trick.

https://www.facebook.com/sailthebay/videos/vb.148702468502146/2349202528474680/?type=2&theater

[Charging Tablets and Smartphones onboard]

Bought one of these, still going strong and seems to charge well, readout shows almost 2 amps on my phone.

 

https://www.trademe.co.nz/mobile-phones/accessories/chargers/car-chargers/listing-2038576181.htm?rsqid=c9861802c4f74d919c9f702806fdd08b-001

[antifoul research]

I have been looking into antifouling chemicals for some time and have concluded that Selektope is our best bet for an effective additive that may be acceptable to our regulators, supposedly very effective against Barnacles and Tube worms. 

A number of currently used additives are no longer approved for inclusion in a couple of years, quite a few are already banned.

Maybe 10 or 15 years ago I saw two posters on a yacht club notice board, one government agency announcing their desire to remove all toxic chemicals from the marine antifouling market, another government agency announcing their concern about the spread of foreign marine organisms. They obviously weren't working together.

I have had some correspondence with Hempel, I used two different paints as a side by side experiment this season, one was a Hempel product. Hempel have a product that includes it but are not planning on bringing it in, short sighted I feel as I think they could corner the market if it was available:

"Yes, Hempel does use Selektope as an additive in Globic 9500. This product is not available in NZ currently."

see https://selektope.com/ for some interesting reading.

The additive has been through a number of approval processes world wide and should be relatively easily introduced here.

[Common Sense Prevails - Liferafts Dropped]

Had to ask,

 

The NOR still requires a Cat 3 cert, you need a liferaft to get one.???

 

The nice people at YNZ sent me this

 

"The yacht club has been working in consultation with Yachting New Zealand (YNZ) to find the right level of safety requirements for this race and NZMYC have agreed to run this race under the YNZ Category 3 requirements, minus the requirement for a life raft or dinghy. You will still need to get a Cat 3, but the certificate issued will be a Category 3 minus."

 

Great I guess, still points to some issues with the whole Cat 1- 5 inspections and requirements, getting unpopular with a lot of people I run into.