Recent content by Boomshanka

+1... I've never met Nathan in person, but I remember his 'troubles'. I should imagine he never sought out any 'prize' or award whatsoever. From what I remember, he even emailed the self-steering guy to say he wasn't happy with the voting process.

Jimi's teasing us now :o:D

(Guess 1) Felixstowe (Guess 2) It's a cat and it pitchpoled

That does sound a bit rich... have they not heard of the Autumn Equinox around Sept 21st:rolleyes:... vote with your feet?

Or somewhere further afield, such as Roger Taylor's corribee Mingming!!: http://www.thesimplesailor.com/Website%20087.jpg

The windward rudder was lifted... presumably to prevent him being chopped if the wind died and he fell of the keel:eek:

I'm in a similar position to the OP and so this thread is interesting to see the different views from those with experience. I searched for 'Phantom dinghies' and a thread from Laskesailor came up, in which he posted a link to this video!: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5fea_phantom-dinghy...

If I can find a copy at my local supermarket, can I buy it for cover price - P&P? :p:p I'm only joking...:p:p

I've often wondered the same... and it always seems to be the dangly bit left over that succumbs to UV damage first and starts to fall apart. Perhaps it's because zips come in, say, 5cm lengths and so they start at the mast end and the left over dangles off the other??

Wave heights: what's a lot? Isn't there something in the heavy weather books that gives a wave height to LOA percentage (35% comes to mind), beyond which you might come a cropper? I think the crew would potentially fail long before the boat though. As others have said, wind against tide in the...

As posted on SA, Alex Thomson getting prepared for the Vendee, more photos here [clicky]. It would be amazing to have a go on one of these I should think:

Just seen the outcome of this trip... as suspected... it sank! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-19885984

Seems like they did a good job here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19875768

I don't dispute that, even more the reason though for having a simple and effective way of getting back on board if you're single-handed (and in winter)

I'm thinking of a similar sailing route soon... a Wanderer is high on the list (with a steel centreboard if need be) - there was a similar thread here a while ago. In terms of capsize recovery, the SCAMP video below at 2:37 shows a horseriding stirrup on a line that really seems to help in...