And that’s a lot!
by John Curnow on 5 Apr 2017
Says it all really... seabreeze.com.au
http://www.seabreeze.com.au
142. Impressive. It’s a lot. In landlubber terms, 142 knots is 263 kilometres per hour. Now that is ginormous, for you would need a well decent car to do that on the highway, as well as a lot of track because you swallow up tarmac at a voracious rate. Your closure rate on upcoming vehicles is also well over the legal limit and something like the old ton, 100mp/h, should you be old enough to remember that. You would of course also lose your licence, maybe for life, and also that very decent automobile under anti-hoon laws, should you attempt it. So don’t It's a waste of a good car...!
As you can see from the graph, it is what TC Debbie was doing when she slammed into Hammo last week. A friend used to work on the island and said to me, “42 is enough, but 142 is insane! The gauge said West which was impossible, so it probably had issues. (Ed. Who wouldn’t standing out in that!) I lived in the staff marina, was there on my trimaran for Cyclone Justin and a few others, I could tell you some stories...” He did, and they were somewhat mesmerising.
Pantaenius Sail and Motor Yacht Insurance were on the ground to help their customers as soon as the first planes were allowed in. We all feel very much for Hamilton Island, Airlie Beach and the whole Whitsunday region, and look forward to seeing them back on their feet soon, Abell Point Marina checked in to say that things were not too bad and once all the electrical storms had passed they began to get repair crews out on the quays to attend to the problems they had.
On Hamilton Island the clean up and repairs began, with a five-month timeframe indicated, so it will be still going on in part when whale watching season is in full swing. So to the industry, the locals, boat owners, emergency crews and so forth we say well done on surviving and we look forward to seeing you in normal operation mode very soon.
Well it is a continent of changeable and varied weather, so as Northern NSW and SE Queensland recover from a drenching it was good to see a record fleet partake in the Newcastle to Port Stephens feeder race. Also good to see that the bulk of the fleet comprised of craft like Bavarias, Beneteaus, Mumm 30s, Northshores, Elans, Adams, Radfords, and Farrs. They will all make the first part of Sail Port Stephens more colourful.
Now as the season sort of winds down and before whale watching season officially kicks off it seems timely to remind everyone to have their Publicity Officer, club, association, Race Committee or gathering to ensure they get their material in to Sail-World.com via the ‘Submit News’ button right up the top of the home page, next to ‘Contact’.
You do not have to write your own thesis into the modern yachty. Indeed your own dissertation can be far more contained. Sail-World's readers are hungry for sailing news and Sail-World welcomes your contributions, especially National titles. Stories, pictures and or results can be uploaded via the submit news page.
Sail-World is happy to review and publish appropriate articles and pictures on OTB to offshore events, be they be before during or after the fact. Other popular subjects are profiles of people and boats, techniques, safety or seamanship, cruising destinations, tuning, tactics, safety and seamanship, tales of your adventures on the water, or indeed just about anything to do with sailing. There is always a story waiting to be told.
Material can also cover rally news, new innovations, clever discoveries, previews, mid-event reports, any kind of news and pictures that the racing and cruising sailor would love to read. Just follow the instructions and don't forget the URL of your website or event, as we provide a live hyperlink back to your site. Send this story to your Class Publicity Officer and the President as well, so they can see just how easy it is. ??
And don't forget, Sail-World.com, and its companion titles, Sail-WorldCruising.com, Powerboat-World, FishingBoating-World and MarineBusiness-World have a large worldwide audience in more than sixty countries.
Ideally, Sail-World needs you to submit both copy and pictures via the special upload system, which ensures your contribution is received with correct titles, image captions etc. The reason for using the upload system and forms is that reduces the editing time dramatically (by a factor of 10), so your chances of being published quickly are very high.
In the same vein, don't just leave it until the finish of the regatta to do a report - do a preview, and a report each day. Mention your sponsors in each and they will get many times the exposure they would have, had you done just a single report. They'll be keen to sponsor you again, if you can show them the value you deliver. Also you'll build a following for your class, club and events, which will help bring new sailors into your fold. Look upon your reports as free marketing.
Finally, you don't need a $30,000 camera and a 100ft lens to take great shots. Remember, the iPhone is the largest selling camera in the world. Just make sure you get close enough to your subject to fill the frame - a shot from the start boat or finish by one of the race committee is fine, or from a mark boat at a rounding mark. Most of the professionals take their shots at these points on the course, where the action is coming to them, so they don't have to chase it.
Sail-World.com has heaps more information for submitting an article, including commercial ones, if the information is of value to our readers, in the full set of contributors’ guidelines.
Now if you would like to receive the Sail-World newsletter each week, then please go to the 'Newsletter' button at the top of the Sail-World home page and enter your details. Simples...
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/152791