Death by Tray it is !

We showed Amac the Eddie Izzard Death Star Canteen video on YouTube.  It is has been a while since Bear and I have seen it and we have had just enough to drink where it is really funny all 

over again.  If you like legos try this Death Star Canteen 

Happy New Year!!!

Getting close to the Aussie Nationals

Well amac and I have been lining up as much as possible and it appears that we are fairly close to each other when the Black Rock doctor is in.  I am praying for breeze on at the Nationals because that is what I have been setting my boat up for and training in.  There is starting to be a lot of chatter on who is going to finish where.  A Luka Damic supporter was nice enough to point out that no matter how well I finish I "technically" don't count, what ever..........

Rohan has made his predictions and from what I have seen I will have a hard time believing they are not spot on.

It is really good to have Bear back from the hobart.  Everyone here is super nice but having a friend who has gone through the deep stuff with you is very stabilizing and I was starting to loose it being alone over the holidays.....

Back in the bus

Spent a full day filling holes and drilling new ones in a perfectly good boat, along with tinkering with control mechanisms and linkages at Amac's house.  Other peoples equipment seems to be blowing up around me.  Amac has some theory that every thing he looks at he should reinforce because it is going to break. He is wrapping everything in sight with carbon tows or cloth it is kinda funny.  My solution for him was to just close his eyes, though I am starting to succumb to the panic.  I am going to give my boat a full look over tomorrow and maybe add a little carbon even though I have had some personal guarantees from Simon owen Smith that my stuff wont break.  Luckily it seems that I must be fairly gentle with my boat because of the lack of breakages.  If your gonna go for a crash don't try to save it just sit back and enjoy the ride.

This is one of the few times in my life I am cautious of going sailing because I do not want to break anything before a regatta that I don't even get scored in.  At least according to Luka Damic.  

Thanks to Alan Block of Blocksail.com for getting my last video up on Sailing Anarchy, I can't believe that 4000 people have watched the video in about 24 hours.  I have signed up to give reports from the nationals.  From what I have heard is it always blows 20, the chop is "not that bad" hah, there is lots of sharks, lots of flies, and really hot.  Wonderful 

Oh yeah it is supposed to be around 110 degrees F the next couple of days.

well I should try to get some sleep, been struggling as of late and it is too late to be making any more noise around the house working on moth stuff.

Heaven?

So no trip to melbourne, the mecca of moth sailing in my mind can be complete with out a visit to Amac's workshop and home.  Wether it is the good food and hospitality or the ability to make what ever your heart desires in his workshop it is one of the places to be.  After three days of struggling with some self induced mechanical glitches I have finally started down the path to reliability.  All it took was a little Spa Bond and listening to Amac.  He told me I was going to have a problem before I even went sailing with the new pieces I made, but I did not realize he actually had been down the same path before and was speaking from prior experience.  I can go to sleep praying for the Black Rock wind god to come in as clockwork tomorrow with the hopes of having a perfectly working boat.  Oh yeah I get to sleep in the KA bus in his back yard!

finished my first video

b-team action

Sweet Black Rock

Did a double session  today with Bear.  In the morning Amac came out and slapped me around a little, by the end I felt i was able to hold my own at least.  Bear was working on his gybes making his first full foiling gybes! No pictures but those will come.  In the afternoon the wind had picked up dramatically and I went on a 10 mile down winder, trying to work on control in hard downwind conditions.  The beat back left my quads throbbing, need to work on fitness.  

If a picture is worth 1000 words I think the one above should just about say it.  

Melbourne

We arrived in Melborne Yesterday, after a quick bite to eat. Rohan took us to the Bladerider factory.

Bear picked up his new boat mine does not come till monday.  Bear put on a custom part Phil got built for us.  I think Amac is a little jealous I told him it is gold.  The new piece is the one connecting the bell crank to the push rod.
 

Went sailing in the evening and raced in the Black Rock YC sunset series, won it flat out.  I did not know the course and had to slow down and let the lead 14 show me the way for the first lap.  It was amazing how much faster the Bladerider is than the 14.  I asked Rohan if the 14 guys were any good, guess they won worlds two years ago so they definately have game.  Had some huge pitch poles.  Made myself laugh good one time, After hitting the water I was protecting my head with my hands from being hit by the boat. When I opened my eyes it made me laugh how far I was away from the boat, at least 30ft.   Black Rock YC is an amazing place I wish places like this existed in the states.

Went to the Ronstan factory this morning and Rohan picked up some new blocks to try on the moth, then went down to Black Rock and rigged boats waiting for breeze. A light breeze eventually came in and bear took it to full advantage.  Bear got real time on the water coaching through the use of the Headzone helmet which has a radio built into it.

It was impressive to see how quickly his skills improved under a little expert coaching.   Eventually Amac showed up when the wind built and I took his boat out to goof off trying a little free style.  It is so nice not to be recognized :)

                                                                                                                                                                   

zhik gear

Bob, from Line Honors helped Bear and I get some Zhik gear.  I just checked it out and it looks pretty flash.  Cant wait to try it out.  T minus 10 hours and we are off to AUS.  I will try to get some pictures of the gear before we take off.