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While I agree that there is too much bureaucracy, and the 400mm thing is probably ridiculous for paddling pools and the like, pools and ponds are incredibly dangerous. I know of one responsible family who were visiting a farm and let their kids run off and play, as you do, and when a little chap didn't come back with the others they eventually found him in a pond, where he was stuck in the mud trying to get out. Story ended well, but could have been different. So I immediately went an filled in the duck pond on our property to a level of 200mm, and put a solid base in. Scary thing water.

Reminds me of the boats we tried to build as kids. We never thought of polystyrene and could never understand why the 4x2 we used would't float. We weren't sophisticated enough to understand displacement I suppose. funnily enough, we did know to wear life jackets tho.

Deafening applause being given in this house.

Instead of the nice calm marina 500m away, which comes with a nice man in a tin to assist with the docking?

Considering the number of time boats that ground there very few can't get off straight away. It's a very forgiving bottom.

few weeks ago I was in southern ocean getting some stuff and while Greg was out back I wandered into the tent and saw it. He said "you can't see that". All I said was;"wow".

You dropped your dente perniculus?

Of stereo typical thinking. Same example applies in lots of fields not just sexism.

I think the gender test should not be a question of actual anatomy but one of whether the person has the balls to sail those boats in all conditions. In which case I'd be disallowed even though I pee standing up.

Thanks Josh. We have some tylaska on board and the ones that failed seem to be no name junk. My fault. But when you see the price of the real thing.... gulp

Right, weak spring might have been the issue. Lesson learned.

I'd appreciate some feedback as to the reliability of snap shackles for spinnaker sheets. On our previous boat (Challenge 29) our practice for dropping the kite when reaching was to ping the guy at the pole. We know have Pork Chop, an Elliott 10.5, and with the greater loads we find the Ronstan type clip (right hand pic) won't release easily. We've had the ring strip out twice. I like the spike type clip (left hand) but we had two of them spontaneously release while the Genniker was flapping away, which is not desirable. So, question is: What is the recommendation for use on larger boa

Oops - Correction - Participating prize is courtesy of all our sponsors, especially Hempel and Linkup Paints.

The annual Legends Regatta is on again this labour weekend at Great Mercury Island, organised by Mt Maunganui Yacht Club. Entry Details are at http://www.mmyc.org.nz/legends/. This is a great weekend event with start lines available from Auckland, Whangamata, Whitianga and, of course, Tauranga. The Whitianga start line is especially suitable for the trailer sailor who is looking for something different. It's a social occasion as much as a regatta weekend with two semi serious short races on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and much socialising or fishing/diving time in the beautiful M

Last OB I bought was yam 15 and I stuck with the manual start and went to Aust on the difference in time and money. Lot simpler all round.

Case in point: two guys were rescued after capsizing a 5m tinnie at the maketu bar in the weekend heading out in "harsh conditions" to set a net.

In a "gusty northeasterly" what is more. Not the conditions i'd choose to enter whakatane.

Great vid and great course for an inshore 100 miler.

That's why we used a plastic tube. One person can slide it in while the topper is taking the weight. No clips required until the end of the day or someone in the cockpit can secure it while the foredeck get on with tidying up. We've got a 4m pole.

Did it on our callenge 29. Used a 180mm plastic drainage tube lashed to the boom. Quick and easy to stow the pole. Looking at doing it on Elliott 10.5. Which has a long carbon pole.

Can't say I'm keen on the sinking part. Hasn't happened to me yet. Am I doing something wrong? is sailing really in decline? I know club membership is. But are there less sailors? Is this as a percentage of population or in absolute terms? Does petrol prices have something to do with it? Perhaps it just that sailing had its heyday in the 70's-90's and there are too many other things to do for leisure? One aspect is certain, boats like houses are much bigger than they used to be. Who'd contemplate building a quarter tonner these days? Or 28 footer? I'm reading a book from the 70's

That's what I thought. IT my point was that it's the volume of water that is behind it which is more significant than the height, which will change as it hits the shallows and the again as it lands. As a lay person I have no idea if the 30cm is the height mid ocean, at the beach or as it washes through my house. So I don't know how to react. Last time there was a tsunami warning, I think from one of the Chilean eargquakes, a host of people around the east coast went down to the beach to watch because they didn't comprehend that 1m or so of tsunami is a mighty dangerous beast.

I always wonder about this too. a lay person (like me and most of us) wouldn't know the difference between swell of 1.2m and a tsunami of 1.2m. I think the difference is that it's the volume of water behind and the speed it is traveling that counts not the height. Similar to the Bristol tidal bore. I barely raised a eyebrow at a 30cm wave. But if they said something like "a wave which can penetrate 2km inland at 30kmh" that's going to get my interest.

Myth busters proved that if you run in the rain you get more wet than if you walk. Ergo, absent of AIS and English Channel situations if you go slow you will hit less things. Pure science right there.