It's so big

Quiz time! Guess what arrived in my inbox yesterday? It's a boat. What a surprise... but what boat is it? I am sitting in it on this photo... Yes it looks strange. There are two long and narrow carbon hulls and a "fishy" net between them...

A big hull

Need more clues? Those two hulls share a single sail, but it really isn't a sail. It is more like a wing from a plane of sorts... And it is big too.

A big wing

Ok, ok, the boat-type is painted on the wingsail. What kind of quiz is this anyways? This is too easy.

A big boat

Did I mention it's big? Check this out. That little boat all to the left is the Q-2m. It is around 7 meters. The bigger boat (but still tiny) at the top is the Bandit 50. Big isn't the word. Huge is much more appropriate, though I suppose the J-Boat is even bigger.

Ready for launch

So here it is... Wildwind was out of the game for a while, but I must say they're back. Amazing how much good a little break can do. Hmm... It is not an official release. Not yet. I sailed it a bit but not enough to comment upon it. At least not in an intelligent way, so that will have to wait...

Tiny me

However, I will say that the build looks very good and detailed. I was never into catboats, but I gotta admit this is a littlebit exciting. If the sailing is as good as the looks I'd expect the Blake to be filled with these monsters. Only problem is - if they foil - they will cross that pond in less than two minutes. Honestly, I think the 45er is more suited to our virtual waters, but that won't stop me from trying out the 72.

Oh and that silly quiz question: Will a cat fly if it has only one wing?

Sailing time

The RL racing season has begun; So far it's not very hot but at least it is salty. The virtual sailing isn't exactly salty. Au contraire. I mean, you really can't tell the difference between ocean water and sweet water. Still, there is a certain amount of hard-to-describe saltyness about the virtual sailing.

Tradewinds

After a busy Easter I logged in to check the saltyness of Tradewinds. The first thing that appeared on my screen was a message from an old friend. He'd seen a dress that he thought I absolutely needed to have. I went to the store to see it. It was supersalty, so I bought it right away. It's the one I am wearing on these photos. Thanx Netrom...

Bwind X?

Back to Tradewinds. As you can see the saltyness is intact. There was also a couple of salty "things" at Tradewinds. Unexpected ones even. This here is a BWind of sorts. It looks like an update of that old BWind dinghy, the Spark. Dunno what it sails like, but the version was 2.03 or something. It would seem that Becca is still around. We just don't see her much.

The beautiful Q-2m

Here's another pretty and salty thing: The Q-2m. It's an old boat in SL terms, but rumours has it that Qyv will rebuild it in mesh. If the mesh Q-2m comes with more trimming options, - it's gonna be just about the perfect daycruiser. More on that in another post.

Ahab's boat

Ahab wasn't around this time. However, he left a boat on the west dock. It looks like a Rene-re-build that we've seen before. Not sure if it really is a new version, but the version number indicated it was in prerelease state. Perhaps it's just an old prerelease, but in any case it looks great, rather salty and very wooden. Unlike the boat to the left in the back...

A steel Bandit 50?

I dunno how you all feel about steel boats? Me, I never really understood the concept. It's cold, it's noisy, it's slippery and it's rusty no matter what steel quality they use. Besides, it reminds me of ferries. Not the kind of feeling I want to have when packing for a two week cruise. Still, I suppose it is also (somewhat) of a matter of taste? And it may be better suited for icy waters. In any case here's a Bandit 50; Steel edition. Nice work, but I must admit that to me it looks a little weird. Cheers...

PS: As a salty sidedish there's a new virtual Moth around. Here's a post about the old virtual Moth. And... here's a link to Orcas scriblings about the new virtual Moth.

Cafe Del Mar

I never really tested the Cafe Del Mar. At least not officially. I sailed it quite a lot, but I only blogged it once. So here it is again...

"Morning at the Cafe Del Mar"

What can I say? I like the morning at the Cafe Del Mar. No wait, - I love the morning at the Cafe Del Mar! It's such a luxury cruiser. It's fast, it's responsive and well behaved - and you can grab a coffee in one of the sun-chairs. If you ever need a relaxing get away, this is surely it.

Relaxing at the helm

Ofcourse she needs attention; Sailboats are sailboats. In my first Cafe Del Mar post I mentionen that it's kinda like a cruising version of the VO65. That's still true. Very lively; However the cruising gear is best in class.

Trimming...

Here's the upwards view from the helm. Huh! Who wouldn't wanna work with that? So the looks are great. Dutch does a great job when it comes to looks, but there's still work to be done. The thing is, there's really no option to work with the sailshape. There are sheets, and that's it.

Sails

However, I am convinced we will get sail-trimming sooner or later. It's just that there's little demand for that right now. We need more sailors in SL to create the demand for true sailtrim. Technically it is possible. It's not like SL can't do it. It's more like the boatbuilders in SL won't... 

The water is so quiet in the morning

Have you ever been out there in the early morning? It's truly magical. It's so silent. In the summertime the wind is usually lower at night; The sun is generating a lot of wind. So if you get out there early, you get the quiet flat water and the easy winds of the morning... Grab a cup of freshly brewed coffee and the rest of the world matters no more...

The obligatory shot with the Fastnet Rock

That's what the Cafe Del Mar is really great at, but it's not the only thing. There's also a genakker, so racing can be fun. Tactics both upwind and downwind.

Easy, even with the genakker

See? A cruising VO65-er! The difference is that it is really easy to handle. It's push-button sailing. One person can sail this baby while the guests are having a party. Which reminds me, I didn't see a MOB button. That might come in handy in case the party gets too wild and people fall over board.

Complicated

This? It's just a boat I met. It's approcimately the same size as the Cafe Del Mar. It looks so great and so much more complicated. I wonder why the sails are down?

My cup of tea

Nah, gimme this. Modern, fast and easy to handle. It's really close to a dream boat for a weekend  cruise. Not that it wouldn't do for two weeks in the greek islands, but bluewater cruising? I am not so sure about that...

Back at Tradewinds

And if you're not in the mood for sailing, there's always the option of hanging out in the sun-chairs. I'd call it lounging, but I couldn't find the radio; Lounging kinda needs a radiofeed with a nice and loungy touch. Pink Martini would be great. The drink isn't too bad either. I'll ask Dutch for a special version where the coffemaker is swapped with a pink martini dispenser... Cheers!

Blue

I never get tired of looking at those billions of shades of blue... It's so magical. This time of year those images are so far away... in the back of my mind, but SL comes to rescue... (Yeah, click to enlarge)

Blue

Turns out there's also blue water over at Alex and Taru's. Seems someone else is also missing the blue. Anyway. Yesterday I visited a pirate themed sim. There were no pirates around, so I took my time and relaxed a bit.

Relax

Ahh... the soft sound of waves hitting the shore. Sitting under a palm, enjoying he virtual sun while it's pouring down in RL. Pirate life is surely sweet.

Drink

If it gets too windy there's always a little shed somewhere nearby. This one isn't very pirate-ish. It looks more like a lovenest of sorts. Sadly there's no Jack Sparrow around, but the champagne was tasty.

What's in those barrels?

I looked everywhere. I guess the pirates are elsewere; Perhaps there's a Pirates Convention somewhere. I know there's a Swedish Pirate Party as in political party. Hmm.. Found loads of pirate stuff.. rhum bottles, barrels, old guns and a pot with some kind of stew.

The ship

I strolled down the beach and found this much more orderly looking shoreline-park-thingy. While I sat there thinking about those magical blue colours, my internet radio played this (also) pretty magical piece of music. I never heard anything like it, so I had to look up the playlist; It's Pink Martini-Kikuchiyo To Mohshimasu. Enjoy! One of these days, I'll have to get me a magic pirate ship with an internet radio and go sailing...