Fun like a circus
Sunday, May 20th, 2007This weekend’s Bladerider training camp was an eye-opener.
There was plenty on with 6 Bladeriders in the boatpark (although 5 only made it on the water and then only 4 for any length of time). The days started early with a couple of hours of boatwork before going onto the water for a couple of hours, then in for lunch, more boatwork and more hours on the water. Then more boatwork.
Rohan, Amac, John and I swapped boats several times on the first day so we were all able to see how each boat performed. And what a difference there was. It was just incredible how some boats were easy, fast and smooth and others were punishment. The results on the water were obvious, but the differences on the land… not so much.
Saturday’s fresh westerly also brought out some interesting new techniques. Amac’s tacking style was just amazing to watch - I have no idea how he moved that fast - not that I’m saying he’s old or anything. Anyway the new tacks didn’t always come off, with a few spectacular crashes when he threw himself around and clear over the side. Nice.
Sunday’s lighter wind meant it was time for GackTM training, with Rohan the only one to pull it off consistently. Surprise surprise.
And after all the punishment - my boat held up fine. I’m still going to pull it apart again for a couple of minor tweaks during the week. John was not so lucky, with his main foil taking a beating from the Bladerider fitting tool as the angle of attack was tweaked and tweaked and tweaked. Another item for his shopping list.
Simon Nelson also enjoyed seeing Nigel’s new boat arrive and lay unclaimed in the park for the weekend, as he continues to wait, and wait, for his new toy. I guess being General Manager of Bladerider International Leisure Wear doesn’t always have enough cred to skip the fully-paid customers in the build queue.
Amac’s #2 boat - the last pre-production prototype used in the states was there for the taking but…
Gin managed to get a bunch of photos and videos during several choreographed fly bys over the weekend. It’ll be interesting to see how they all come out - and how our matching RonstanBladerider branded wetsuits, caps and rashies look. I’m hoping they don’t want those wetsuits back though, since we were out for a long time… and it was cold… and I’ve been dosing up on the vitamin b…
The other Sydney Mothies were a no show. No spies even. Maybe they’re scared to line up. Or maybe they’ve got better things to do. Or maybe they weren’t invited. Matt Day was the non-bladerider out sailing for a while on Saturday, before his gantry gave way and he drifted an hour back to shore. Not fun.
Anyway, all in all a very worthwhile weekend. The team reconvenes in Garda in under a month.
And then the Worlds.
