Any Given Sunday......

In the USA, everybody would immediately think "NFL". For many long time sailing fans in Sydney, it means 18' Skiff sailing! And now, for me, it's how I will be spending my Sunday's for the next 6 months.

Yesterday, I collected the boat I have been allocated for the season. I have been very fortunate to get a top boat in my first season and I am delighted to be sailing Appliances Online.Com.au. The boat sponsor is the leading online vendor of whitegoods in Australia and this particularly pleases me, having spent a significant part of my career since business school consulting to online businesses. Since I have been in Oz, whenever people have mentioned on-line shopping, I have mentioned Appliances Online. Little did I know how they would become part of my life!

The boat seems to be really glam, with all the little "Gucci" bits already done. In fact, I have more work to do on the trailer than on the boat! So, yet another example of having "All the gear, no idea". In fact, in "big rig" conditions, I have no excuses as the boat has a reputation for being fast in those conditions.

For those who don't know, an 18 Footer has 2 rigs, with the smaller one consisting of a shorter mast and reduced sail area. The crossover point is around 14-15 knots so understanding weather conditions is important on marginal days. Get caught out in too much wind with the big rig and you struggle to get around the course while using the small rig when others can handle the big one leaves you short on power (and speed). Hopefully, there won't be too many marginal days in the early part of the season.

The first challenge is to get a crew together. Finding people with the right skill level who are committed to a season isn't easy in Sydney. If I was in the UK, there would be a line of people around the block! However, on Monday I will be out for a try out sail with 2 keen guys so I will be hoping for a perfect 10-12 knots, blue sky and some heat in the sun.

Rohan Veal - Rolex World Sailor of the Year?

A few weeks ago, Rohan and I spent a great day playing with cars. We share a passion for Porsches. However, even on a day away from sailing, it was hard to avoid the obvious subject. Rohan also let me into a little secret which is now public. For the second time, he has been nominated for Rolex World Sailor of the Year. And I can tell you that the boy is pretty blown away about this.

For those of you who don't know, Rohan is known as Mr Foiler, being the sailor who has done most to promote foiling Moths and who is, without doubt, the man who sets the standard. He took that standard even higher earlier this year by winning the Moth Worlds , counting straight firsts. Not only that, he gave a masterclass in how to sail in heavy weather that made everybody else look ordinary when in fact, the others included Olympians and World class sailors.

Rohan's domination should, in itself be enough but the icing on the cake is the way he has been an ambassador for his branch of the sport and for the sport in general. Sure, it is his job but Rohan attracts crowds wherever he goes, be it the small little dinghy club or Alinghi's base the day before the last race of the AC. You know that something special is happening when the whole Alinghi squad down tools to watch. In addition, Rohan has fired the imagination of the powers behind the sport, the ISAF Executive.

So, this year, based on who has been nominated, Rohan is my World Sailor of the Year. However, this is where politics takes over and who knows what will happen.

Is an Englishman's home is his Castle?

This week I continue my assimilation into Aussie life by furthering my "education" of the construction industry. First stop was a 4 hour meeting with our architects, to begin to flesh out some of the interior design ideas for the house renovation. The layout and exterior is now pretty well fixed, having sent all the drawings in to council and if they give us permission, the house should end up looking like this.

I am still reeling at how much all the plans, reports and application fees have cost. Some years ago in the UK, we developed a golf driving range and 9 hole golf course, a project worth 10 times our house refurbishment and the total fees to get DA (planning permission) were half of what we have paid here in Oz. Ouch!!

The next shock came when we received the quotes for a small job at my Mother-in-Law's apartment. I have a pretty good idea of how much the job would cost in the UK and the quotes are at least 30% higher. I had already got this sort of warning. Architects had advised us that for our renovations, we should budget $4500 per square metre. In the UK, you can build a house to the highest standards for $3750 per square metre. Ouch!!

While I already knew I needed to get an owner/builder license, I have learnt that you can only get one every 5 years! I find it bad enough that I need a license to work on my own house, but to limit me to only once every 5 years seems unfair. There are better ways of stopping developers using owner/builder licenses as a loophole. How about a primary residence rule?

I nearly became a law breaker with my plans to do some rewiring. In the UK anybody can do any work on their own house. Not only have I rewired houses, I have done plumbing as well as gas plumbing. My Aussie friends look at me in surprise, citing the dangers of electricity and the chances of fire or electrocution. Well, in the UK we don't have any issues with this - houses aren't burning down due to DIY and people aren't dropping dead while sorting the electrics of their houses. I suspect and hope that Aussies are no more stupid than the Brits, or does the government know something I don't!

I think the construction industry licensing scheme seems to offer good consumer protection against cowboy builders and tradesmen but at a price. However, to stop me working on my own house without a license is, in my opinion, a government intrusion too far. Or do I have to accept that an Englishman's home is no longer his castle but a bottomless pit just waiting for the Tradies to discover it!

Learning apparent wind sailing on dry land.

There are times when a day on the beach is worth more than a day on the water. The Balmoral race team cancelled racing early and a decision to stay ashore was easy to make. 15 to 25 knot bullets rolling off the beach, straight through the moorings was never going to be my idea of fun. However, there is a small section of the Balmoral Moth fleet that is hell bent on destruction testing..................."I bet my main won't last past the first gybe........." So I head home for a better view of the action.

The view from 30 metres above the water is very educational. Yes, I have watched the sailing from the house before but this time it was different. The gusts were very clearly defined and I now know why Robbie Greenhagh will be spending so much time up Origin's mast. Sure, you can see the wind on the water from inside the boat but up high, you get a real sense of what is happening. And in this case, it was "3...2...1....WIPEOUT". These were bullets that not even Neo could dodge!

However, the really educational bit was observing the relationship between boatspeed and the speed at which gusts moved. Now, we all know the theory and have experienced the effects in practice, but I can highly recommend a day observing from above to sharpen your feel for where the wind is coming from when sailing faster than the wind.

So, am I going to use this? By placing large sums of money on Adam Beashel to win in the 18's whenever it gets puffy! After all, he has spent a lot of time up high and he will be the only one not tempted to stick his finger in the air to see where the breeze is coming from! As for myself? I suspect I will be able to tell the crew exactly when it's going to go pear shaped ........."3....2....1....WIPEOUT!"

not really the beginning.......

So, finally, a blog. having been in Oz for 8 months I thought it was about time I got with the programme. Or maybe it has taken this long to ensure that I have enough worth writing about.

So, what can you expect to see? I guess its a little late for the ski season so I am now getting revved up for sailing. This season is going to be busy. I have a Bladerider foiling Moth sitting in the boat shed at Balmoral which I will be sailing on Saturdays and, if possible, during the week as well. Then, for Sundays, I have lined up an 18' skiff out of the League.

For me, this is the realisation of an ambition as I consider these 2 classes to be the ultimate sailing. It's also a bit daunting, taking on probably the most challenging boats out there. It's not like I haven't been there before, having sailed Moths 25 years ago and campaigned 49ers for some time, but in both cases I was able to train away from the public eye while this time, my learning curve will be witnessed by rather too many people.

Another activity you should see mentioned regularly is Bootcamp http://www.hooyah.com.au/ which I attend at Balmoral beach 3 times a week, starting at 6.00 am. It suits my whole attitude to sport - harder, faster etc. "Sarge" Scott Anderson sees it as his job to break me as often as he can, insisting it is for my own good. We have a great bunch of "recruits" ranging in age from "young enough to be my daughter" all the way up to.......me! Yes, I am the oldest but so what. It is certainly getting me into shape for the summer.

I should add at this point that I couldn't go as hard as I do if it weren't for the Pilates classes http://www.springpilates.com.au/ I attend twice a week. It might be the most boring fitness activity I do but the benefits are essential - core stability, better muscle balance, better flexibility etc. I used to laugh at Pilates, but now understand why so many sports stars and teams have it as part of their regular training regime.

I find it hard to imagine that there will be no mention of my obsession with cars and in particular, my 1992 Porsche 911 Carrera RS

It is one of 70 right hand drive cars built and there are only 3 or 4 in Australia. It is basically a road legal race car that was designed to be driven from the showroom, via public roads, to the racetrack, compete and then driven home. I try to compete in the Porsche Club of NSW Super sprint series, although sailing will probably get in the way in the summer. However, I do use it as a daily drive and carry out some of the maintenance myself.

I will also be sharing the joys of the house renovation we are hoping to undertake, having just submitted a DA (development application). At the moment I am planning to become an owner/builder which should lead to lots of stories of frustration and pain!

Finally, last but not least is my family. I have followed my wife Ginette half way around the world to Oz as she wanted to come home after 19 years in the UK. I don't actually remember "love, honour and emigrate" being part of the marriage vows, but I am here anyway. Our 2 daughters are Zara, aged 9 and Sasha, aged 5, who have settled in Australia better than we could have hoped for, as have our 2 dogs and the cat.