Surf Cat

by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS 1 Dec 13:00 PST

The SuperFoiler and its trailer outside the Belmont 16 Foot Skiff Club – oh, and they are about to be impounded… oops. © Event Media

Does it work on land something like it does at sea? Is it akin to it being a mooring minder? No. Land-based law is very different to that of the sea, where much of it harks back to the 1600s. Shame, because the swift of foot could have secured themselves an absolute rocketship.

Not sure the Lake Macquarie City Council even know what they have, when firstly they refer to the SuperFoiler as a cat. Then you have to ask yourself, just who would leave an AUD300k carbon fibre flier out in the open anyway? Still, I reckon the council knew it was something at least remotely special, for the stickers are very much different between the boat the trailer. The line about trashing it was the give away there…

Tick Tock, however, for the stickers are dated 27/11, and you only have seven days to make good, before both of them are impounded. Furthermore, I just love how the sticker also states that the unauthorised removal of parts constitutes theft, and offenders will be prosecuted. Like that’s going to stop someone. Really. In front of the Belmont 16ss is not exactly the main drag of a big city, you know.

Yes indeedy. Fascinating reading, and I am sure there will be some people hustling up to Lake to go fetch. Here boy… That’s a good dog. Good dog.

All the King’s Men

As we know, the repairs to Wild Oats are well under way, with the King’s Men from both McConaghy and Southern Spars looking like they could have her ready for testing by December 8 when they will take their new North Sails main out for a spin. That’s all kind of cool, seeing as the Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour is on December 10.

The amount of work performed by McConaghy in a super short timeframe has been immense, but I also learned that indeed there was no mould for the mast section that Southern Spars had to prepare, and you can imagine there was a lot of fibre to be wound around that, and its sleeve. Quite the job, especially when you factor in cooking time, and the amount of Larry (load) the piece needs to carry. Like wow…

Anyway, should it not all come to pass, then expect to see Team Red out on Wild Oats X. One thing is absolutely sure. They have been on a serious weight reduction programme, and it is all about speed. The official number 10 might be the focus, but they also know there is some serious racing to be had before that little item gets a tick in the box.

Happy Wanderers

The J/V 52, Duende, has been chartered by Wandering Warriors for the Hobart. This is an organisation dealing with the mental health of returned servicemen, most specifically, those from the Special Air Services Regiment.

The Mission – Raise funds for the Wandering Warriors to support their programs of employment, education, respite, events and mentoring for veterans and their families and where practicable, extend that care to the wider veteran community.

The key objectives are to:

• Maintain strong mental health
• Keep families together and make them stronger
• Reduce the rate of Veteran depression and suicide

The Challenge – In less than three months, take a group with varied sailing experience, living on opposite sides of the country, and prepare a crew to compete in one of the harshest open ocean races in the world.

The Boat – This boat, normally known as Duende, is renamed ‘Happy Wanderer’ in a nod to the ‘Wandering Warriors’.

The crew have been trained by the boat’s owner, Damien Parkes, who will be coaching the team on board. Last year, Parkes skippered this JV52 to PHS 10th. The previous year, Duende was PHS 13th after placing PHS 12th and third in Division 1 in the 2016 race.

“The Team has surpassed all of our expectations. Their race experience to date has been more than spectacular with four races in the practice program. They have had three firsts and a second,” said Damien Parkes, Yacht Master Instructor.

Right oh – here today there are some gems for you to review… like the tris out in the Brest Atlantique, AC75s, the Clipper, the Quicks (49er and Nacra17) get set for a serious Tango, 18s, Hobie 16s, Pacific Sailing School’s last SSSCs before the Hobart, Festival of Sails, 164 yachts for the Hobart including Maritimo legend, the great Bill Barry-Cotter and his Katwinchar from 1904, kiteboarding, Mark Jardine speaks with RORC Chief Executive Eddie Warden Owen about the changes to the Fastnet, SailGP, on the boards with the RS:X, Ocean Globe Race for classics, IDEC Sport and the Asia Tour, the home build Moth, and certainly there is much, much more below.

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John Curnow
Editor, Sail-World AUS