I'm back!

Took a while to get the duct tape off my hands, untie my feet from the chair and digest the Bacon bap rammed down my throat, that Tigger and Mr Burns tied me to. Leaving me on top of a hill far, far away did not help either

But after a journey which can only be compared to that of Robinson Crusoe i have found a computer again and will take heed this time especially now that i have been joined by Phil on Stars.

Last time i take an offer from a member of editorial

PS The sausage jibe was cruel, i did have a large family at one point, blooming CO-OP!

PSS No IP address was barred in my disappearance, honest

Where she be:

Southend on Sea - Don't think so, that would mean work
Hamble - Bar's are still stocked
Greece - All over now
Abersoch - Too cold and wet
Scotland - Not a May bank holiday
Cork - Out of season
Valencia - Too big for her, may get lost

So is it a hundred acre wood or some small island somewhere in the Med?

or heaven abid could she be away cruising????

After all the middle sea race is coming soon???

Any guesses??

50p to the right guesser

be opinionated, only post half your message at a time thus doubbling your number of posts and start threrads about anything you can think of. 

Not that I'd do any of that...

Haggis has dissapeared again, at this rate redback and I will beat him to the fourth star, that can't be right!!

The king must return!

Morning Redback,

Could not agree more.....it is very addictive!

The forum brightens my very lonely days at work, sitting alone all day, in an old, empty, 3 storey convent school    and not evn a ghost for company!

This is my contact with the sailing world outside, without it i would go mad.... well ok, more mad than i already am! 

keep posting Redback, not far to go!

Does everybody not know - it is Haggis hunting season in Scotland (In preparation for St Andrew's Day).

So he must be in hiding

Hi Lighthouse, nice to meet you!

When they moved all staff out, they had no space for me 

It's not all bad.....I do get to chat on the forum

Why not ask for 'Virtual Skipper' for Christmas? Or see if there is a cheap 2nd hand one on ebay/amazon?

um, well i have snapped the mast on a topaz uno, which is pretty tough, and dont even know how.... and also for an unexpected reason i have snapped the rudder on a 420, this one really mystified me, i was just blastin along in a straight line and it snapped for no apparent reason and the boat gybed on top of my crew who was out on the wire... pretty freaky. for a newbie like me anyway . i really should still be a newbie, even tho i am nearing a posting king...

if u see my first post, which i think was a topic called online reviews that never took off u will see i confess to being a sailing newb, i have done about 10hrs of sailing since then, in 5 days, so the last time i was sailing is..... the week preceding halloween.

but when i said i was a sailing newb, i meant compared to u guys on the forum, i was and still am going for my level four (lvl preceding instructorship) on the ISA small boat sailing scheme

Brian,

I used to live in central london without a car and i used to have an epic to get to sailing. I strapped my foils to the back of my bike and used a drain pipe on my bike to hold the sails, and panniers for my kit. I cycled or should I say wobbled on my bike for 10 minutes to the train station. then I managed to fight my way through Waterloo station in London (and commuters in suits and tourists), to take a train for 45 minutes to a train station which was 2 miles from the club whereupon I would then wobble for another 20 minutes or so to get to the sailing club. In total this took about two hours from door to boat, and then 15 minutes to get on the water. Then I had to repeat the journey home again with wet kit which is twice as heavy!

Perserve it is well worth it. I now have a car and am 2 minutes from my boat and guess what I drive - how lazy!  

I can remember when I first started sailing.  Similar story to your own.  Sails spinnaker pole and anything that had need repairs plus my kit went with me on the tube to Charing Cross and then by train to Sheppey and then back again when wet and heavy.  The first year I couldn't afford a wetsuit so wore jeans and a yellow plastic top.  I capsized a lot so get very cold and wet but persevered.  I kinda appreciate my breathable top, steamer and a car to carry it all.

Brian,

How much sailing have you done?  Best to find out why the rudder snapped so as you can prevent it from happening again (bad workmen and all that).

You may not give a damn if you are not good enough to sail a certain class of boat, but you will have much more fun if you are good enough to sail it.  If you struggled that much with the 405 you should get some more experience before jumping into a 29er.

Don't write off a class just because it looks old fashioned.

The only reason I ask is that I have seen some quite good junior sailors jump into a 29er and really struggle to start with.  They then end up fed up and sail less.  I have seen some others who have cut their teeth in Fireflys and 420's hop into a 29er and go straight to the front of the fleet (at club level). I think you hit the nail on the head when you said you struggled to sail the boat and look for gusts, even if you were sailing single handed.  Learn to look for the gusts in something a bit taner than a skiff then when you progress all you have to worry about is learning to sail the boat.

If you are determined to get a skiff then also put as much effort into getting a regular crew as you do to getting the boat.

that seems helpful advise to me and you asked for it (well you must of done your on a forum) so why are you getting so argumentative and cross????

u must be mad forums are gd for advice!

look brian alot of people think you have a attitude problem and people will start to get annoyed with this forum if u carry on as u are

please just use it like everyone else does !!!!!

Brian I want to apologise - I didn't want to stir all this up.  What I was trying to say is that there are some skills in sailing which help you win races and if you a wrestlng with a difficult boat you might never notice some important principals.  Also its more fun to be blasting around in strong winds than it is to be upside down with broken gear because you've gone out in a boat which is beyond your experience.

Now you may be able to handle a 29er for all I know but there is much to learn about sailing in lesser craft and lesser craft can be cheaper which means you stand more chance of getting on the water sooner - and there is nothing better than getting on the water to improve your skills.

Can I give you an example?  I remember turning up at an inland club in my Laser in which I had become quite good at my sea sailing club.  I blasted away from the other Lasers at the start and pulled out a 3 or 4 boat length advantage near the windward mark.  We were lifted and immediately one of the boats tacked off - I was dismissive (and probably thought "silly old codger, he's tacked on a lift").  meanwhile the lift continued and I sailed a great big circle around the mark - he meanwhile tacked back, rounded the mark and was halfway down the next reach.  He had wiped out my 4 lengths advantage and created his own 15 length advantage.  I was concentrating on boat speed he was concentrating on wind. 

You don't learn about wind in boat speed type boats (like 29ers) you learn about wind in boats where perfomance is not everything (like Lasers, Toppers and Wayfarers).  To be good at sailing you have to be good at wind and boat speed.  Its important to learn about wind first otherwise you sail very fast in the wrong direction in your 29er.

Sailing is such a demanding sport you have to be so good at so many things.  Physically good, and brainy, its such a challenge and that's why, like you, I love it.  Forget the 29er, get sailing in anything - there is so much to learn.  The 29er can come later.

oh dear, so sorry about the lack of courtesy and restraint old chaps, would u really prefer it if all i did was say, "bang on old bean my view exactly" it is annoying people like me that create tension and heated argument, producing interest in the forum.

aside from my attitude problem, thanks for all the advice about getting a boat and stuff.

actually as far as i am awear there is no age limit on a powerboat course. I know i had it when i was 13 but i think u can get it when you are younger!

sorry sailor girl(hope i am right)

well thats my point

it is too tempting to show off

actually i change what i said i would like to ay anyone who is under 16 and holds a powerboat level 2 should be allowed because thy have shown that they can handle one safely!! 

i never show off

some people become vegetarians because of its discription but it is really very nice!!!

bit like black pudding

 unfortunately (or fortunately, for you guys) got a job in the marine industry where it means that i am now doing the work of 3 and no longer have time to read forums.

Any rumours about Sailor Girl having me the other morning are totally unfounded, i was not seen leaving her house doing the walk of shame with Susan following me an hour later, not at all!

yes i want to know that too

does sailor girl have a dark secret?? if so wayhay!!!!! 

an abrupt change of attitude on the part of hurricane, first anger, then when he realises everyone is laughing at him he changes to 'so what?' mode

no just think someone could be of the lesbo type!!

why do i think this post will be censored??