Any sailors here?

[J.D.]

Apart from me? Found a few clips which impressed me:





I don't do any ocean racing and I'm too old to start now anyway but I know how this shit feels. Get it wrong and you're going to get hurt. Get it right and you're like the two-dick dog at the poodle parlour. YEEEHAA!!

The speeds these Volvo Open 70s do these days are amazing. Ericsson clocked 602 NM in one 24 hr period the other day, an average speed of more than 25 kts and a new world record.

[DexterPunk]

i know mole is.... guessing there would be at least one or two others. I reckon id love it.... wish i had the time for more of these things.

[J.D.]

Come down to Sandy one day. That's where I sail.

Actually, now that you mention it, I remember Mole posting some nice J24 pics in the photography forum a few weeks ago.

[DexterPunk]

yeah he's well into it... well think he still is, but im sure he will post here when he finds it

Sandy is just down the road for me, so may do that at some point.... bit cold for sailing though isnt it!!??

[J.D.]

What? Too cold for sailing in Melbourne? Nah. This isn't the Southern Ocean...!!

Here's some vision of the most highly publicised boat in the last Volvo race:

[youtube] [/youtube]

by the way: when Mole does turn up I guess he'll probably be aware that the Volvo fleet is heading for Galway... Anyhow, here's one that will appeal to him because it was taken during the round Britain and Ireland race:

[youtube] [/youtube]

This is probably the best one:

[youtube] [/youtube]

I remember when they came into Melbourne a few years ago. I was on a 30' cruiser and we were flat out just trying to get the job done. ABN AMRO 1 in a 15 knot breeze off her beam and generating so much of her own wind that she was actually doing up to 23 knots (we got that from the log). Blast reaching in the Southern Ocean these things have been clocked at peak speeds of 40 knots (that's a 70 foot boat boys).

[mole2k]

I crew on a J24, i've also sailed in Yeoman's (19ft keelboat) and GP14's (14ft dingy). I take a fair bit of photos of them too at different events here on the water in Lough Erne. I'm hopefully going to get down to the volvo ocean race, they are only after all about 100miles from me at the moment. I just have to try and see if I can beg, borrow or steal a RIB of somebody as I don't fancy watching it from the dock.

One of the guys who crews with us on the J24 has plans to do the volvo ocean race in the future, I don't know if I would have the dedication to do that or not. A few friends of mine have sailed the Atlantic in fairly small yachts before, they are and always will be complete nutters though .