A brand new boat

Yeah that's right... it's a brand new boat. Just sailed it for the first time in this particular version. For-ish I think.

Whoooosh, swish, swooosh

So what is it? It's not Fizz-based. It's not really a BWind engine... As far as I can see it's not a Tako either...  Then what?

In the green

There's bits and pieces from other boats... the keel looks kinda BWind-ish. Also the boom uses the same colour coding originally introduced by the BWind boats. Or was as Balduin Aabye actually the first to use that?

Looking good

If it reminds me of anything from RL it's a classic 80ies design such as the L23 or thereabouts. Perhaps there's a bit of Drabant 24 in there, or maybe it's a cross of the two.

Check that compass

Yeah! I am a sucker for really nice details. Check out that compass. It's so close to the real thing it's almost too much. I am sure I have seen one just like it very recently.

Yay

Nice foam and waves too; Still things are missing such as windvane and sheets and more details on the rigging, - not to mention the interior where apparently less is more, - and ehm... nothing is everything. Still, interesting work from a (to me) completely new boatbuilder. Looks very promising.

Which ones?

Shades... Important in the sun, important when u wanna look cool, important to remove when swimming.

New shades

These are new... get them for free at Tradewinds YC in Dex... They come in three colours...

Fav shades

These are my good old favourite DG shades...

Blue shades

And these I kinda found in my inventory... Not quite sure what I think, but I'll give them a go... Till I figure out which ones to use...

The famous Elvstrom quote

Here's a little something I wanted to do for a long time... First the "thing" itself: That famous Paul Elvstrøm Quote: "If in the process of winning, you have lost the respect of your competitors, you have won nothing", Paul Elvstrøm. There you have it Tillerman - That's what he said.

The original sign from Nassau Yacht Club

Now, I haven't actually heard Paul say precisely that, but he might very well have said something similar, when he visited us in opticlass. It's a goes back a few (many) handfull of years. Memory is one thing, but at the time I was probably too young to take notice while practicing my bowline knots.

Regardless, after racing a bit in SL - Yes there's racing going on, I felt like sticking it on the wall at Tradewinds YC.

Fiddling with signs at Tradewinds

It's rather unreal, but someone actually sent me a real life photo of the sign. It's on a wooden fence or wall. Presumably near the dinghy "parking area" in Nassau YC. (Yes, that Nassau; More civilized now). I cut it out - keeping the screws and all, and here's me fiddling with signs, screws and stuff at the red shack of my favourite virtual yacht Club: Tradewinds YC.

The final result

And here's the final result. That famous quote from Paul on the sign from Nassau Yachtclub is now a famous quote on the wall of the famous red shack at Tradewinds Yachtclub. Wooohooo. I like! U like?

What's for summer

The summerholidays are sneaking up on us. At least for those of us living on the northern half of the earth. Last week the RL weather was very summerish. Now it's back to normal: Cloudy and below 20C. Still, I have high hopes for the rest of the month, cause I am gonna do this:

Ana's beautiful folkboat

That's right... and if the RL weather won't behave, I'll probably be sailing in SL as well; The destinations in SL are so nice. So many marinas to visit and explore...

A marina is popping up

Not only that... there are vast areas of water to explore... It doesn't have to be "nose in the charts" inshore sailing all the time... Still, you could argue that SL misses a really big ocean. I mean... you can cross the Blake in like five minutes. What would it take to make a true ocean? Just water, boats, birds and fish! Can't require that much computing power, can it?

What's on the other side of those islands?

Back in the boat! Are you paying attention? 9.5 knots in a Folkboat is quite alot. I suppose Ana has painted it with some secret sauce... Old secret family recipe of sharkskin soup perhaps :-)

Chillin

Makes me wonder: Would this lil Folkboat outrun my Ushuaia. That's something I gotta test next time I am inworld.

On my way to the great big blue

For now I'll just concentrate on the Folkboat, and here I am on my way from the (relative) safety of inshore sailing to the great big blue... Oh, and I see the telltales. I need to ease out on the jib sheet... Difficult to trim continously while "droning" around with the camera.

Arrived "on the other side"

This is what it looks like when approaching land on the other side... Better get that engine going cause I am not entirely sure where to go. Let's see, where's that knob to lower it... ahh... there!

Vrooummm

This boat has everything, - or close. Perhaps there is one thing missing! My Ushuaia has an espresso-machine. It might be too big for a Folkboat, but in RL I always bring one of those tiny two person italian coffee cookers for the stove. Doesn't take up much space, and the taste is way better than instant coffee. 

Motoring about

Besides, coffebags are easier to store in a boat compared to those glass cans they use for instant... Anyways, it's not yet coffeetime. I need to motor about and fine me a mooring spot, and since I don't have a coffe maker, it's gonna be...

A coke and a smile

A nice chilled coke... ahhh. Doesn't get much better than this. So that's my recipe for great summer holidays. Get a boat and get out there on whichever waters you have nearby; Real or virtual - in that order.

Bon voyage

Whichever type of sailor you are, I wish you fair winds, and if you're a virtual sailor... scroll through my pics here and imagine - if only just for a minute - doing this for real. No need to cross the Atlantic or sail around the globe like Troels Kløvedal did (R.I.P)... It really doesn't need to be fancy or expensive.

Just set sails with friends and meet for drinks and hotdogs in the next marina up coast. Or the nearest exotic island. That's life! Cheers... (and strawberry margaritas)

Fizzing around

Just went to TYC to have a look around... Had a nice chat with Ana, said hi to Dutch and decided to go fizzing with Liv... After some fiddling with the Fizz we figured out there was another windsetter nearby - messing up our wind. Who need 25 knots for a relaxed afternoon sail?

Sailing south

Eventually we figured out how to "override" it, and we sat a course for Blake. Sails up and away we went... Turns out Ana was right: The Fizz works quite well, now that the SL platform has caught up with it in terms of computing power.

Smooth sailing

We kinda raced though neither of us said so; Probably we were equally rusty on the delicate details of Fizz-trimming. Here it says 4.7knots, but it maxxed at 5.4. Sometimes it stayed at 5.3 for a while. It takes precision steering to find the sweet spot, which is a bit hard to do while taking pictures.

Crash and burn

Not everything is perfect, so my boat crashed while I was taking pictures and at the same time crossing a sim border. Bang! I sat at the seafloor - still hiking. So I had to TP out of there and get me a new boat. Chose a slightly older version - for stability... different paintjob too.

Race rock in sight

Liv was already rounding the race rock when I had it in sight, so we yelled hi as we passed... Me round the rock and back up north trying to catch Liv. She's not that easy to catch as she probably spent way more time in the Fizz...

There it is

The race rock looked like it's good ole self. Some things never change. However the wind did, so I had to beat upwind to get back home. Eeew.

Hiking up north to get back to TYC

Eventually I gave in and TPed to Liv; She was just south of TYC, so I flew back home and took a landing shot.

Mind the pier

And here she is... landing at the pier at Tradewinds Yacht Club after a nice sail; In the same boat all the way. Such a nice ride round the Blake, and yes... the Fizz isn't easy, but it is still worth a try or two. Amazing since it's from 2007. Not entirely sure when I discovered it, but here's my first post with the Fizz... back in 2010. That post is my second post ever. I think the Fizz 3 came into existence in 2009. Or thereabouts...