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A sealed locker in the back of the cockpit is worth is weight in gold. Takes petrol, water, dive/fish/snorkel gear and rubbish. It will be the best thing you can do to make life easy. Lee cloths around the cockpit also make the boat feel way more secure and also make it effectively bigger as you can chuck gear against them to clear the cockpit. For the water I would just do the beat setup that time and money allow. Having a Califont on Cordite and a shower on the back made life fantastic. Nothing better than being able to give the kids a hot shower after the beach or swimming to wash

There was one called Vilda Hilda that was in Whangarei. Pelle Peterson who used to own Doyles Whangarei owned it but has since sold it.

Yes that would be seriously epic. Closest thing we have is the Solo Series, http://www.soloiq.org.nz/ So lets all get behind it and maybe one day it could grow to an event like the Figaro. Im going to give it a go in the Sun Fast 3600.

Should be a lot of fun out there tomorrow. I'm on the Sun Fast 3600 again. Our first attempt at 2 handed in this boat so will be learning as we go.

I have done that trip twice. Its a long way....

Adjustable forestays are a real weapon when you get to know them and use them right. IRC rating penalises them quite hard which is always an obvious sign that they are good for something. We use them on the TP52s all the time, in combination with mast jacks and shims (under the mast) to get it all setup right. But then again they can be a real pain in the ass if you are not 100% up to speed with how to use them.... On the SR26 and Y88s we adjust the forestay for every race, have an approx +7/-7 range off base setting so that's 14 turns from light to heavy setting. Makes a HUGE difference an

Yes but there is no way we could afford to go now. In fact probably no way we could ever afford to go.....

Yes one day, before the kids go to high school so in the next 5-6 years. Will start with a season in the islands and with plans to come back. Then take it as it comes. Will buy a 32-40ft offshore capable yacht and start working towards it in the next few years.

We might have some bits at Norths sails. Have heaps of old stuff there. How long are the lengths you need? We can order it for you if we don't have what you need. Normally comes within a day.

I would think 6-8 degrees would be about the right range.

Surely you can just put an outboard sheet on for reaching?

A short video of the race from on board the Sun Fast 3600. Sorry for the lack of quality, I was driving and filming(and doing both badly...)

My Father in Law is the Comodore of the Stillwater boating club and we spend a lot of time up there. Its probably not an all tide ramp for a 6m rib but I would think you can do it on anything but a dead low. There is a small charge for using it I believe and an honesty box.

Went Caving, Abseiling (yes even me...) Rope Bridging and Rock climbing with my 2 older boys (4 and 6) at Waipu caves. It was an epic weekend. Damn cold in the tent overnight though! Anyone wanting a cool caving experience that's totally free let me know and I will fill you in on the details. Its only 1.5hrs drive from Auckland and family friendly (if you don't mind a bit of mud!). My 4 year old LOVED it.

Any one contacted you about the kite yet? I would post something on the Y88 facebook page too. I was looking at the Racetrack for you and Unitec as I was surprised you guys were in different divisions. He actually rates higher than you on race track so why is he in the lower division? Are they going to put you guys in the same one this series?

B div is definitely right for us. To be honest I was pleasantly surprised with the performance especially upwind. I never thought we would be any where near force 11 on line so to take the line honors win for the division was fantastic on our first outing.

We are in B Division. Racing against Boats like Higher Ground, Force 11, Margaritaville and some of the bigger production boats.

Yup I remember that night. Pulled put all my dance moves I think but lost my coconut bikini, luckily the girls returned it when we did the dance at prize giving. Huge week of 'sailing'.... Wow had no idea those 2 were related to the designer. That's cool. In fact I think I sailed with them up in Auckland as well. Have spoken to the designer a few times now. That's good info. We had our first sail today. The boat went well. Will put some photos up tomorrow.

Well she went in the water OK. My wife Sara did the honours. First race next week.

Not sure if many of you have heard about this but my new ride launches at 11am today at Pier 21. The boat is a Jeanneau SUN FAST 3600 that I have been sponsored for a few seasons of racing and cruising. Anyone is welcome to come down and have a look. We have a facebook page if anyone wants to follow the action. https://www.facebook.com/SUNFAST3600racing Looking forward to getting into it!

Here is a video of the squall hitting the race fleet. if you look closel you can see the T30 Nedax get flattened, thats when they say 'Nedax is over!'. Andiamo was the boat that had to be towed in I think.

I reckon they should decide at the prize giving based on the forecast. That would be cool!

Great to hear Andrew. Will be good to have you guys out there.

Thank god for that.

Yes Deb is right, RNI race is scheduled for 2017 and we also hope to run a RNZ race in 2018. there will be a longer 2 handed race next Anzac weekend (2016) as well which can be used as a qualifier for RNI.