GeeJay

The majority are. Don't let the 4 or 5 loud-mouthed muppets speak for all Kiwis. Mind you, this is SA so it's highly likely that if you met them in person, they'd be nice people who would be happy to buy you a beer

Sure is - makes me laugh every time I ride it. My 18 month review: https://geoffjames.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-ktm-790-at-18-months-progress-report.html

I'd love to have a sailing dinghy again but at 73 with buggered knees, it's not a safe option. My wife and I both have kayaks though and a Stabicraft for fishing. My solo fun is a KTM 790 Duke motorcycle.

They were great fun. I bought one for club events when I stopped sailing Paper Tigers. Photo taken in the mid-80's at Lake Ohakuri, along with our eldest son and his Starling.

I'm on the other side of the peninsula at Coromandel harbour with a 10-12 knot easterly. It's been like that for a good couple of hours now.

Not at all. It may ultimately end up in EB's paws but there's no advantage to making a sale at this point when ETNZ could have even more leverage later on. If they lose, it still has value.

Agree with your comments. There may be multiple motives for the comment about moving back into displacement boats but there's one common factor among the financial backers and that's the desire to win. The desire to win will ALWAYS cost big bucks because people are willing to spend that money to be a winner (acknowledging that the biggest spender doesn't necessarily equate to the winning boat). Look any class of motor racing you care to name as just one example. The cost of soccer is another example. Once the genie is out of the bottle in terms of performance and spectacle, there's no going back; least of all in terms of appeal to enthusiastic followers.

Is it just me or is AM the only boat where the wheel shakes when Dean puts pressure on it? If you look at his hands, it's like he has the shakes. Could cavitation or some other factor be causing that? Haven't seen that on any of the other boats.

Yep, Great Mercury Island. Sometimes see him in one of the Whitianga cafes. Always on the phone, never chilling.

Thanks for that! Mine was September Warrior 2361. Foam and kevlar hulls with a mylar sail. I see my name as the original owner which is correct and that I sold it to Bill Astwood of Ohope which was back (I think) in 89. Probably hard to track on-going ownership as I last saw it on the hard at Hobsonville Yacht Club a couple of years ago. It still looked in good nick. Just out of interest, the hulls of 2351 in the photo were built from a stand of redwoods which were logged in the central north island. Milled into planks and laid up on a jig, then covered in Dynal.

Hahaha - I remember that! The last competitive event I took part in when sailing Paper Tigers was at MBBC about then and during the regatta, KZ 1 sailed into the outer reaches of the bay. Even from a distance, it looked bloody huge.

Haha! My car is for launching the boat and essential shopping. Rest of the time it's on my KTM 790 Duke in all weathers or a mountain bike. And that's from a 73 year old

About 50 km between us and Glenfield if you want to split hairs. But the point is that it's an easterly and looks to be building.

It's 15-20 knots just outside Coromandel Harbour right now (1135). Could be fun

Ha! Your photo takes me back! We rode on one of those Russian Hydrofoils between Croatia and Venice on our honeymoon in 1972! It was as noisy as hell and vibrated really badly but it was still pretty impressive!