After a few days relaxing with friends and sightseeing in Sydney I made it up to Belmont yesterday. So nice to unpack the boat in beaming sunshine and 30 something degrees. Certainly beats the temperature in the UK at the moment which was -12 when I drove to the airport - definitely the coldest winter I can remember in the UK. Good luck back home guys with the Bloody Mary!!!! :-)
The venue itself is really great - friendly locals, flat water, extremely hot (too hot for some of us Poms) with a vast array of fast food outlets (Arnaud...). The club follows the traditional Aussie sports club model - i.e. is well funded through pokies and other entertainment and the non-sailing locals seem genuinely interested in what's happening on the water - definitely something the UK clubs can learn from I think....
Today the weather is apparently due to change here with the winds shifting to come from the South. This has led to quite light winds, although I've been told normal service should hopefully be resumed in a few days time.....I really hope so as I'm currently the heaviest I've ever been after having to substitute sailing for gym work due to the weather...
In terms of spying on innovations I havent had a great deal of time to look around. Hats off to the guys that brought wingsails - very impressive speed out of the box from what I've been told and although they may not be using them all the time for a first iteration they seem very quick. The new mach 2 booms also look very smart.....
Ricky - thanks so much for your hard work getting the boats out here - we owe you big time. Looks like everything went really smoothly.
Phil - you post one more shark article on your blog and I'm bringing one back in my travel box to throw at you at the next open....! Either that or a bluebottle.
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