Australia, Here I Come!!

Tomorrow I leave for Australia, and i would like to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart, with out your support this wouldn't have happened!

Thank You all!

I will update from the land down under!

Cheers
Mikey

9 days to go

Well, i fly out the 24th at 10:30 pm. things are all falling into place. all that is left to do is get my team t-shirts together.

Work work work

I have been very busy between final logistical items and school. 24 days till worlds! (18 days till i get on the plane)

R & R.... sorta

Well, I'm super excited! I found out that the RYC foundation gave me the grant! Everything is falling into place. My trip is a go! now i just need to get some change so that i dont have to live off of vegemite... yuck.

i spent last weekend sailing an i14 in long beach. it was nice to get away from the canoe stuff for a couple of days.

more to come

boat is in the container!

Well, the doors of the container are closed! thats it. no backing out now. boat is all preped and ready. gear as well. everything looks good.

im still looking for money and airline miles. tickets to aus is my biggest concern at the moment. but good things have been happening. i find out the 20th from ryc about their grant. i have been getting alot of help recently, but im still not quite there.

new donating info

i have set up a possibilty that if you would like a tax write off, you can donate to my cause through the skiff sailing foundation (non-profit 501c3). if you have anyquestion dont hesitate to email me

mikeyradz@gmail.com

home strech

the last couple of weeks i have gotten a crash course on campaigning. quite honestly it was kicking my ass. luckily i have gotten help from several people, and i am absolutely grateful. things are looking more and more positive each day.

anywho, i am loading the container next wednesday. crazy how fast time has flown. boat is done. seat is done. this weekend is some sailing and prepping my boat and getting stuff ready for the container. Oi.

i have gotten my pic and article in lectronic latitude. if you would like to check it out here's the link : http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2007-11-05&dayid=26#Story5

more to come after this weekends work.

cheers
mikey

work work work

well the old dog is reaching its resurrection. Seat needs to be sanded and new flange to the carriage needs to be glued on... and straight to the water i go. I have been working hard. emailing shipping agents, sponsors, and possible sponsors like mad. but it is all worth it.

sailing and working.

The last several weekends have looked like this. Saturdays, boat slaving (in other words, itchy sticky carbon work) and sundays are saililng days. Feeling good out on the water. My tacking and jibing rate has gone up and i am really starting to dial in. The date has been set on when we are going to load the container. It will be the first week of november. man, time is winding down fast! hopefully everything will go on with out a hitch.

Canoe-a-polo!

Well,

I have finally got my boat out of Hansen rigging, and it looks sweeet! I can't wait to try out the new lines... and I almost had a chance... but of course the new seat wasn't done. Last weekend was the Richmond Yacht Club's Tottaly Dinghy, and cause my boat was out of service, I used the fleet charter boat. Unfortunetly i was the only ic on the line. But i did managae to get some good practice in. the wind was light, so i experiemented with diffrent ways to do tacks and jibes. most of the time i ended up in some odd position, and almost capsizing. i also worked on the tried and true methods, and my tack success rate went up. i felt good. this weekend im going up to the boat builing shop and am going to try to finish the seat. i cant wait to sail my own boat. i miss the old dog.

Work, work, and more work.

Well, I have been working really hard to try to get the Dog back out on the water. The boat it self is at Hansens rigging, getting all the lines redone. Im also building a new seat to replace the broken one. And in between I have been doing some work to get some spare change... repairing 1000 sq.ft of spinnaker is no fun... but worth it!

Eyedeens! (eighteens)

The last couple of days I have been sailing Aussie 18's on the cityfront! Boy oh boy has it been some serious fun!... that is till we broke our mast! Oh well. Here are some Pics for your ammusment. (Im the one in the red)

DOH!

Well, went sailing today and had some good practice. Del went out with me and we sailed down the Richmond channel, turned around and sailed upwind. Had very good boat speed on Del, staying ahead of him the entire beat. Then we turned the corner, reached off towards Redrock.....and that's when the real fun started. I was out on the end of the seat and sailed over a wave and that's when I bounced the plank over the top of the thing. I knew something was wrong when the seat bounced up a little TOO high. As soon as Newton's Law of Gravity kicked in, the seat broke! Sailing back in was a great challenge but somehow I managed. It's rather unfortunate though... but what can you do? I'll have to build a new seat. Mmmm carbon work!! Oh joy, oh joy. Until then, I will be sailing the fleet charter boat....

Oh and don't worry, I'll post pictures of the carnage soon.

Some important info - Donation Disclaimer

So I have realized that a few issues regarding donations might arise, so I would like to address them now. First, if I do not make the sufficient funds or for some reason I am not able to go to Australia, all donations will be returned. Second, I also realized that some people might feel a bit uneasy just handing me money, so I am going to set up a bank account that will not be touched for anything other then the trip to Australia - and again, any funds not utilized for this trip will be returned to you - a money back guarantee if you will!

IC North Americans and further shenanigans

Sorry for the radio silence, but it's been tough trying to work hard manual labor (for a plane ticket to zee east coast), being on the laser race team at the yacht club, working at a sail loft, and trying to be somewhat social. I just haven't had as much time to keep you guys posted as I would like. But finally, an update.





First,

I've been spending my weekends sailing my boat. Practicing on tacks, gybes, and pitch poling on reaches :-). I have also done some work on the old dog - replaced some string and made my boat water tight (so I hope!).





Second,


The manual labor I've been doing was for a plane ticket to the East coast for the IC North Americans in beautiful Ram Island, Marion, MA. I managed to scrape some money together last minute by working some construction for Del. It wasn't easy, but I got my act together and on Thursday, July 19t, I was on a plane to unfamiliar waters. It was awesome though! I met some amazing canoe sailors and all of them were really nice people. I also saw some amazing canoes and sailed in some awesome conditions (15-18 knots of wind and nice chop (just like home!)). The racing was close, with 13 boats on the line. Unfortunately, I was plagued with some gear issues - I did not have my own boat out there, instead was graciously lent one. I had to drop out of two races and I had to limp to the finish of one race putting me in last place (what can you expect with a unfamiliar boat?). But after six races, I came in a respectable 9th place. Iwas honored to sail against some serious canoe heads. Several times I managed to dial in and started to move very quickly, which was rather hard with a boat that was unknown to me. But all in all, I felt good about my results and had a lot of fun.

On your marks, get set, CAMPAIGN!

And it begins, sending info to as many people as possible. Hopefully somebody will find some interest. Oh joy!

Introduction to me (READ THIS)

My name is Michael "Mikey" Radziejowski. I am the crazy 15 year old sailing enthusiast that is always on the water, near the water, or thinking of the water. I have been sailing for only about 5 years and have been racing 4 of those years in the beautiful San Fransisco Bay. I really fell in love with sailing from the beginning and more specifically with sailboat racing. I sail almost everyday during my summer vacation and generally sail every weekend... whether it is a regatta on one of the many boats that I crew on or just out to work on my tacks or gybes. I work hard in school so I can sail as much as I can. When I’m not in school or sailing, you can usually find me working hard at my job at a Sail loft.
All that sailing pays off. Everyone says I am good. I have heard everything from "being the next John Kostecki" to "You’re going to win the America's Cup" to "Hey kid, slow down!" But whatever people say, I don't let it fill my head. I sail for fun and for the competition and I know there is still plenty more for me to learn and accomplish.

A while back I received an older International 10m^2 Canoe. (The IC is a crazy 17ft long by 3ft wide sailboat with 10m^2 of sail area. It is hiked flat by a 6ft long plank that slides from side to side.) The boat was striped of line and hardware. I had to re-rig and re-love the boat. Once I got it onto the water I thought, wow, this is a boat! I soon contacted Del Olsen, the San Francisco IC fleet guru. He started to teach me how to sail this boat. I became more and more fascinated. After some crash course sailing on a simple IC, I decided to upgrade. With Del's help, I got a major UPGRADE. From a half wooden half fiberglass boat to a carbon on top of carbon boat, it was a quantum leap forward. The boat is lighter, faster, and more technical, and with that, the crash course doubled. But, I love it!

Sailing the boat more and more, I have decided to participate in this years IC World Championship event in Victoria, Australia Dec 30-Jan 7, 2008! I am extremely enthusiastic about doing this event. And I am ready to work my butt off. This event will give me a lot - from sailing experience to sailing with some really great people to dealing with logistics.

The only problem is funds. And this is where you come in.

I am looking for sponsorships. I am looking for $5000 to $6000 to cover my expenses. This will pay for transport of the boat from the West coast to Australia, plane tickets, entry fees, food, living expenses, new sails, and replacing some lines and blocks.

What do you get in return?
1) Your name or your company's name on the bow of my boat for everyone to see – a great marketing opportunity!
2) Regular updates via this blog. You can follow my journey and the IC World Championship’s knowing you are a part of it.
3) My word that your money will not go to waste. I can provide you with a breakdown of how your money/equipment was utilized. I will work hard to make sure your investment in my dream is put to good use.
4) The satisfaction of knowing you helped me turn my dream into a reality. I can’t do this without your help.

Donations of new hardware or bits and pieces or whatever that you see fit are also greatly appreciated!

If you would like to help out, or you have any questions for me before doing so, please email me at mikeyradz@gmail.com

Thanks so much for your time and please be sure to visit this blog for updates.

Michael "Mikey" Radziejowski