Life after the worlds

Sorry for not posting anything since i have gotten back. its been tough getting back into the way of life. Australia was simply put, the best three weeks of my life. i left unsure of things and i came back confident and with the realization that i want to travel.

whats next for me? i dont know. I have i14 sailing and canoe sailing for me this comming summer. my goal is to make it to australia in 2009 for the i14 worlds and i plan on the 2011 ic worlds in germany. i met some really amaizing people canoe fleet and i feel at home amongst this fleet.

im slowly going to change this blog to a general sailing blog. ill record all of my adventures and what not.

once again, i would like to thank everybody for their help. it means alot to me.

cheers
Mikey

sailing pics

here are some awsome pics from roger regitz, a smart canoe sailor who stayed on the beach instead of going out in 30knts

story of aus

So let me start by being upfront. I thought i would access to a computer... but i was wrong. So i apologize for the lack of updates

Well, i arrived on the 26th, which was a very warm boxing day. i ran into no problems flying, in fact, i got to cut a few lines cause when asked what i was carrying and found out i was a sailor i got some help. things looked good. finally when i was reunited with my bag and sailbag i got picked up from my polish contact and we were off to McCrea!


after a few wrong turns, i was dropped off at any empty house, appropriately nicknamed the the Cathrine street bachelor pad, dropped off my junk and went down to the club to find my house

mates. and not surprisingly enough over half the group was out on the water enjoying the

picturesque water. after finding del and my boat. once everything was sorted out, i did the most sensible thing any person would do after 18 hours of flying, i rigged up and went sailing. it was the best sailing i ever had. 12-18 knots of wind with very flat water. it was beautiful.

next day the pre-worlds started. a great opportunity to get use to the water and the wind. and of course, two of the three days was a drift fest. the day we did get wind, we finished one race and the second was canceled due to too much wind. that day was interesting. the morning started off really light and then died completely. and then within 15 min the wind swung around 180 degrees and built to 15-20knts. i believe that was what the aussies call a southerly buster. i did reasonably well during the pre-worlds. after six races i took 7th overall in the pre-worlds and the third ic to finish (in the pre-worlds, ic's dc's, and ac's race at the same time). i like to think that my penmanship gave me those results (you had to sign on and sign off before and after sailing).

the next day (30th) is measurement day. i managed to get there early and put my boat in the front of the line. i started getting a little bit nervous, not about my boat not measuring in, i was just worried about finding out how much over weight my boat was. turns out everything measures and my boat is not fat! the min weight is 83.5 kilos and my boat weighed 86.5! i was excited. as soon as that was done, i took a ride to melbourne to pick up john's moth. john was unfortunate or fortunate enough to sail the sock puppet. the pre-cursor to the developmental rule. very interesting boat. anyways we decided to go pick up the moth to play around on lay days.

after seeing the melbourne free way systems we came back to a no wind day. good, because the next day was the invitational race, and early to bed sounded very good, especially with the knowledge of a early start. we started out in a decent breeze that slowly died off as the day wore on. i had a terrible start, but tacked over and sailed to the right side of the course, whereas most went left, which was the wrong way to take and 75% of the fleet sailed into a massive hole. the shore was were the pressure was. i did well, played the shifts right and stayed in clear air all the time. i ended up finishing in 5th in the ic's. the funny thing that happened that day was the boat leading did not see the leeward mark, so once the we rounded the gybe mark we all sailed far past the mark. in fact most of the boats in front needed to beat to get to the leeward mark. (that was another place i gained spots). that night was a big new years eve party at the yacht club with a live band. it was good fun. alot of people showed up and the party lasted to about 3 from what i understand. i crashed around 1230. (the picture is of themembers of the "pad")

the morning o the worlds i had major butterflies. it was the moment of truth. rigged up. double checked everything. dressed and even sailed out early. and of course i capsize with 30sec before the start. at that point it was blowing 12-15knts. it looked like a decent day of sailing. right after the start the wind died off and not only did i screw the start, but i picked the wrong side of the course each and every time. i finish the race in 13th. by the second race the wind gets a bit more steadier and a bit windier, have a great start, full speed and in the top of the pack. unfortunately a competitor to leeward me tacked on to starboard which forced me to make the decision of either cut him in half or crash tack. so i crash tacked and ended up going for a swim. the rest of the race i played catch up, and i finished in 12th. not the best day of sailing.

the next day we had 3 races schedualed but it was to windy, so we had a layday. the day after that was good enough to go sailing. 15-18 knts in the morning. looked like a good day. i was excited because i do better in wind. i reached out to the race course having a good time and then all of a sudden i hear this wiered sound... i thought it was just a wae crashing across my bow. next thing i know everything felt sloppy and depoward. capsize the boat and there is my daggerboard broken. 15 min of cursing and getting my mainsail down, i got the boat upright and and sailed back to the beach. and that was end of my day of sailing. this is the second thing that delaminated on the boat... oh well. shit happens.

eventually i borrow a spare daggerboared and case. so the next day i was out on the water. not that i wanted to be. i dont think anybody wanted to be. it was light. really light. and it was supper wavey. the wave must have been 4 feet tall. it made launching interesting. the wind continued to die. we only finished one race. the final day of racing, the 6th, was another blow out. winds ranging from 25-30 knts of wind. that didnt stop me from going out and sailing. haha. that was fun. i think everybody enjoyed the pitchpole i did right before the beach. it was stupidly windy. (yes there are pics, i just dont have them yet.)

the 7th was the new york cup, but most people were more interested in sailing. alot of people swapped boats to see what people have been up to. also there were two moth flying around. yours truly took one sailing and foiled and all. it was alot of fun. later that day was the closing dinner/award ceremony. it was a fun evening. i was third place junior and i won a watch in a bit of a popularity contest. after that we had a great dinner and an awsome party. it was a great way to end the event.

the next couple days were spent getting boats ready for the container, putting boats into the container and enjoying the landscape. it was quit special.

i had an amazing time. i met some people that i will never forget. i learned so many things and tried many new things. i think the most important thing that i learnt is that there are some really amazingly nice people out there. i got so much support in australia. i am new to the fleet and yet after this event i felt like i have been part of the ic family for twenty years. this was probably best 3 weeks of my life. i wil never forget this amazing experience. and once again, i would like to thank everybody who has supported me.

cheers

mikey

hey guys!

well im alive. things went well. expect a long update tomorrow with pics. i dont hae much time on the computer tonight, and i havnt had any chances to get on a computer in mccrea. i am now in melbourne.

cheers

no sailing today

well today is a unscheduled layday. the wind is in excess of 25knts-30knts. so i get a bit of time to rest.

more to come

cheers

G'Day from the land down undah'

well i made it safe and sound. actually i have been here for a while... but i havn't had a chance to get on a computer. everything is going great! i got a 3rd in the pre worlds, and a 5th in invitational race! not doing to bad. todays racing went alright. i think i got to excited and made a few mistakes. it was blowing 17-22knts so it was good sailing. its beautiful here and i will post some pictures tomorrow ( i forgot my usb cable at the place i am staying at)

cheers
mikey

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!