Ouch!

by John Curnow on 26 Jun 2016 When the kite’s up, you never look back. Just look at all the videos running around of the wicked Chinese gybes that result from even a momentary lapse in concentration on the primary task. Remember, it’s someone else’s job. So grab the helm for second will you? Yours! Cheers.

You see it kind of snuck up a bit on us. Almost like the third wave in the set whilst crossing the bar and you weren’t counting. Yep. The BIA’s centrepiece gemstone in the crown, the Sydney International Boat Show (SIBS), is not that far away. July 28, to be precise.

In talking with the man himself, Domenic Genua, the BIA’s National Manager, Member Events & Marketing, you could see how proud they are of the number of mono and multihull yachts that will be in the Cockle Bay marina. “Our research shows that one third of all our SIBS visitors have a primary interest in yachting, so whether indoors or outside, they are bound to be delighted at what they can see across many sizes and types, as well as all the ancillary products and services geared towards them.”

Just under half the craft on display in the marina come with rags. It’s enough to get you inspired, much like a brochure day with the A2 aloft, so giddy up!!!

Now one company that can truly cross all divides is Bavaria, for they will be showing a total of eight monos and multis from 34 to 51 feet. Farr Yacht Design penned the technical aspects of Bavaria’s Cruiser range, but it is Design Unlimited that created the overall exterior and interior look and feel. As time has moved on, Bavaria has made it possible to customise your craft and make it even more homely. The Australian Premiere of the Cruiser 46 Style will showcase this building trend.

Also look out for the Cruiser 34 that is on World Premiere, and the Cruiser 41 that is being seen here in Australia for the first time. Bavaria’s Vision range is geared towards extended cruising, and with that in mind, offer you trim and dock assistance. Think of it like cruise control and park assist in your car. With just the two cabins, the Vision 42 is all about making sure you and any guests can go far, far away in absolute luxury.

Bavaria’s cats are distinguished by their large and open pilothouse/cockpit configuration, which is also applied to their names. The Open 40 has been named Best Multihull Cruiser for 2016 and the Open 46 has its World Premiere at Sydney. No doubt many a Bavaria owner will be keen to take in the show from the in situ Bavaria Owner’s Lounge.

The Boat Books stand will be laden with treasures as usual. One of these will be Kevin Barr and his AIMEX award winning Barz Optics specs. Check out the Carbo floating frames, of which there are six styles. There are also the bi-focal sungalsses, for those whose arm is no longer long enough. The magnified area is not polarized, so reading the LCD displays is easy.
I recently got an upgrade to a new pair of Barz Optics, with the earlier ones having served well. The comfort and sight has been heavily tested immediately in the Queensland sun, and they passed with great aplomb.

Andrew Parkes will have X-Yacht’s resin-infused Xp 38 Cruiser/Racer on display. She’s a little lighter than some of her opposition in this tough market segment, and with a generous 130m2 A-sail she will be an interesting one to investigate. He’s also the NSW dealer for the MC31 that will be on display, as too with Slovenia’s twin-ruddered Seascape 18 Sportboat. The extra room afforded under the high boom of the latter could be a handy feature there.

Now I have already written extensively on Catana’s Bali 4.3, the Loft. In conjunction with Dream Yacht Charter, the new Bali 4.0 (the Open) will be on display as part of Andrew’s collection. It will be good to discover if this boat is as impressive as her bigger sisters!

Of course whilst all of this is going on, some will be doing the annual Sydney Gold Coast run. Good luck to the impressive fleet. Perhaps now is a good time to get the helm back and look at some of the other things going on. Thanks for steering, hope you had a good time and trust we all get lots of downhill flying in the races we’re doing.

After QLD wrapped up another State of Origin series on Wednesday, it kind of seems apt to use the world game’s Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira to cover what now seems to be the weekly comment on Rio. The Brazilian Hall of Fame star made it simple for everyone, for he just says, don’t come, ‘your life will be in danger here’. QED me thinks, and seeing there has been a massive increase in demand for the abortion pill in Zika affected countries, and when you consider that virtually all are Catholic strongholds, you just have to wonder…

Just to recap for everyone, we have major issues in Politics, Violence, Disease, Pollution, Health Care, Emergency Services, Economics, Infrastructure, Transport, Over-Crowding, Abject Poverty and Crime – just lovely stuff. In a way, getting there could be the easy part. Surviving it all and then escaping may well be what the medals get handed out for.

On a personal note, many thanks to Bill and Jo for the opportunity to see it all back then. Coffee, intricate sidewalks, unbelievable and insanely entertaining round ball skills (even on crutches), music, BBQ’s and funicular rides up hills into villages would be better memories to have. The disaster that was Munich was horrific, and so we hope that Rio does not end up being remembered as truly cataclysmic… It is probably too late to leave it all on one the huge rubbish dumps out the back of Sao Paulo, but at a point it was probably the better choice.

We also have stories, pics and videos from Palma’s Superyacht Cup (with Ingrid’s wonderful images a highlight), the Extreme Sailing Series, Shadow cats, Vendée Globe, the Clippers, and the TPs. A little more locally there is the note about B52 doing RQ’s Brisbane to Keppel and then on to Airlie Beach and Hammo. Just like SIBS, they’ll be upon us soon enough too. So there is simply the proverbial plethora of material for you to explore and review.

Now don’t forget to get your club or association to send in your news via the submit function, just up in the top right of the Sail-World home page. In the meantime, do keep a weather eye on Sail-World. We are here to bring you the whole story…