Bloody Check.
Andrew Bloody Brown has no Moth Blog and so I have to post his Blog Championship Press releases.
I better win the prize that is all I can say.
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Italian Nationas Cancelled
marco wrote:
"
Hi Doug,
I feel obliged to write a few words in defence of Peter and Umberto, the Class Secretary. In good faith they took on their shoulders the burden of the tedious and unrewarding chore of talking, discussing, trading E-mails back and forth, contacting the Torbole Sail Club,spending time and money of their own to organize the Italian Nationals only to discover that only three Italian competitors would have raced. This would have been a shame indeed.
They simply were compelled to accept a verdict that came from the lack of interest in the Class that the Italian Moth owners show. I told this already ( as I could ) at the AGM in Torbole: the boat is perceived here as a play tool not a racing machine. The boats that were sold in Italy did not automatically translate in an increase of subscribers to the Class. And this doesnt depend on Peter or on Umberto.
All the best,
Marco.
"
I am disappointed that the Nationals are Cancelled but not upset with individuals. I know it is hard unrewarding work to organise stuff for the IMCA but I was hoping to travel to Garda to do this event. One because there would be a fleet of other Moths and 2 because Garda is the best place I have sailed and I am in Love with the place.
I hope we can get some (South East Europe) Moth events off the ground in future but to do this I think CRO, AUT, SUI, Southern DER and ITA my need to team together to start with.
So the next event on the Calendar is the Swiss Cup in Geneva. A bloody long drive for the weekend but if you win you get the Americas Cup to take home.
"
Hi Doug,
I feel obliged to write a few words in defence of Peter and Umberto, the Class Secretary. In good faith they took on their shoulders the burden of the tedious and unrewarding chore of talking, discussing, trading E-mails back and forth, contacting the Torbole Sail Club,spending time and money of their own to organize the Italian Nationals only to discover that only three Italian competitors would have raced. This would have been a shame indeed.
They simply were compelled to accept a verdict that came from the lack of interest in the Class that the Italian Moth owners show. I told this already ( as I could ) at the AGM in Torbole: the boat is perceived here as a play tool not a racing machine. The boats that were sold in Italy did not automatically translate in an increase of subscribers to the Class. And this doesnt depend on Peter or on Umberto.
All the best,
Marco.
"
I am disappointed that the Nationals are Cancelled but not upset with individuals. I know it is hard unrewarding work to organise stuff for the IMCA but I was hoping to travel to Garda to do this event. One because there would be a fleet of other Moths and 2 because Garda is the best place I have sailed and I am in Love with the place.
I hope we can get some (South East Europe) Moth events off the ground in future but to do this I think CRO, AUT, SUI, Southern DER and ITA my need to team together to start with.
So the next event on the Calendar is the Swiss Cup in Geneva. A bloody long drive for the weekend but if you win you get the Americas Cup to take home.
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Releasing StatSCM 1.2.0 is just too easy.
> mvn release:prepare
> mvn release:perform
2 commands and StatSCM 1.2.0 is tested, packaged and distributed to all its users. They automatically get the new version, the source code repository is tagged and the project website it updated.
What does StatSCM do? It makes source code statistic reports like this. It does it by wrapping up 2 other projects (StatCVS and StatSVN) and extending org.apache.maven.reporting.AbstractMavenReport. Bloody easy and nearly a no brainier to manage.
Maven is such a great bit of software and gets the coveted Doug Culnane bloody elegant well designed software award. It is an inspiring example of how to take complex problem (like project management) and reduce them to a simple intuitive transparent easy to use model. If you do Java check out Maven.
Thursday, 21 August 2008
IMCA Events get HI Tech.
OK I have a lot to catch up on the IMCA site thanks to Joe and his history update and Russ digging out the 1995 worlds result sheet. However I had to do this first because it is cool.
There is a new events listing page here:
http://www.moth-sailing.org/imca/faces/events.jsp
These come out of our on-line database. The ical logo has a link behind it containing the list of each table in ical format. So you can import them into your favorite Calendar software. If you have good Calendar Software (not SM LookOut) then it probably supports ical files on the network. This means it is updated automatically for you. There are all sorts of other public calendars you can have added to your calendar eg: School Holiday, Public Holiday, Vienna Touch Rugby Calendar etc....
If you do not have a cool bit of Calendar software like the above plug in for Thunderbird the use Google Calendar.
On the Event Page there are links to ical files of the Worlds, the Euros, and All Events. There are also ical files for country events on the National pages eg: UK events
So you can import you can import the events for your local countries into you calendar. Cool or what?
Does it work? Not sure about that so tell me if you have problems.
OK assuming it works the problem will be to maintain the data in the database.... this will be done by the national committees and me if I get round to it. For now it is done by me but I will add links to the "Committee Menu" so national Committee members can do this in the future.
There is a new events listing page here:
http://www.moth-sailing.org/imca/faces/events.jsp
These come out of our on-line database. The ical logo has a link behind it containing the list of each table in ical format. So you can import them into your favorite Calendar software. If you have good Calendar Software (not SM LookOut) then it probably supports ical files on the network. This means it is updated automatically for you. There are all sorts of other public calendars you can have added to your calendar eg: School Holiday, Public Holiday, Vienna Touch Rugby Calendar etc....
If you do not have a cool bit of Calendar software like the above plug in for Thunderbird the use Google Calendar.
On the Event Page there are links to ical files of the Worlds, the Euros, and All Events. There are also ical files for country events on the National pages eg: UK events
So you can import you can import the events for your local countries into you calendar. Cool or what?
Does it work? Not sure about that so tell me if you have problems.
OK assuming it works the problem will be to maintain the data in the database.... this will be done by the national committees and me if I get round to it. For now it is done by me but I will add links to the "Committee Menu" so national Committee members can do this in the future.
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Windy sail yesterday: I blacked out.
I went out twice yesterday and each time the wind gusted up to a level where I was not sure if I could right the boat and make it back to the beach. I did twice with no real damage to the boat, but I want to coin a new phrase. If you wipe out you crash. If you black out you crash and have no recollection of what really happened. The boat is at some strange angle and some distance away and your shins hurt thanks to the cheese wiring they got. It all happened so fast is was like it did not really happen.
I blacked out a couple of times and once I had about 1 kg of mud stuck to the bow. At one point had the thing going downwind fast and in control. I was hiking not so that I would go faster but so that less of me would get cheese wired and was starting to enjoy it when I hit a fish and the rudder was nearly torn from my hand. I saved it but my short glimpse of self confidence was gone.
So I can not say I really learned much but at least I tried and had about 30 mins where the wind was low enough to actually sail and drive the boat rather than trying to slow it down.
I had reduced the lift on the rudder more and that made it much easier to drive the boat hard downwind, my maneuvers are getting better slowly and I am getting back in to the sailing routine but I till need a lot more time in the boat so I do not fall out of it so much.
There is no wind today so I do not want to spend 2 hours in a car to go lowriding on my own. So I will catch up on a few tasks at home. One of which is to sort out Tomahawk so that I can sell her. Hopefully this will lead to another Austrian Moth sailor as it is much better and more fun to have a group dynamic for training.
I have been playing with Goolge Calendar and it is so cool. I plan to make the IMCA events a remote ical file so that you can view them in your calendar software dynamically. This could be really cool but I am not sure if I should make this a members only service. What do you think?
I blacked out a couple of times and once I had about 1 kg of mud stuck to the bow. At one point had the thing going downwind fast and in control. I was hiking not so that I would go faster but so that less of me would get cheese wired and was starting to enjoy it when I hit a fish and the rudder was nearly torn from my hand. I saved it but my short glimpse of self confidence was gone.
So I can not say I really learned much but at least I tried and had about 30 mins where the wind was low enough to actually sail and drive the boat rather than trying to slow it down.
I had reduced the lift on the rudder more and that made it much easier to drive the boat hard downwind, my maneuvers are getting better slowly and I am getting back in to the sailing routine but I till need a lot more time in the boat so I do not fall out of it so much.
There is no wind today so I do not want to spend 2 hours in a car to go lowriding on my own. So I will catch up on a few tasks at home. One of which is to sort out Tomahawk so that I can sell her. Hopefully this will lead to another Austrian Moth sailor as it is much better and more fun to have a group dynamic for training.
I have been playing with Goolge Calendar and it is so cool. I plan to make the IMCA events a remote ical file so that you can view them in your calendar software dynamically. This could be really cool but I am not sure if I should make this a members only service. What do you think?
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Bladerider FX and sailing on my own.
In Rohan's blog he states the X8 is selling well but he expects the FX to start out selling it...
Now I know nothing about Marketing but that is not going to stop me blogging about stuff I do not understand.
If I was going to buy a Bladerider I would buy and painted X8 hull with FX wingbars. Here you save a good deal of cash for not much penalty.
At the moment it seams that all the Olympic sailors are ordering so they have a new toy for after the games. This is going to create problems when they have to get back in their bath tubs for the next games. (poor bastards). Theses hot shots all want the best boat, so that means X8.
Not sure if we will see a shift to budget foilers but it could well happen, and the FX lowers the barrier to entry by dropping the price, so that is great. And there is no end of people fascinated by the boats and the fun they see you having in them.
I also believe that the difference in speed compared to the difference in sailors ability is negligible, and that even my old Tomahawk would be at the front of the fleet in the right hands. However if you are lowriding and others are flying then it is a sole destroying killer. I think the board windsurfers, who may be interested in the FX, will soon realize this and want the light weight boat. They all buy expensive windsurfing gear to be their first on the plane and not left floundering around while others shoot around them. I can see them buying an FX for the days when there is not enough wind for windsurfing, and then getting a lighter boat later, as they will be sailing in this marginal conditions a lot and notice the weight difference.
I hope the FX does sell and that there are more moths out there, as I have been sailing on my own for the last 2 weekends.
Managed to get my boat fixed up with a rebuilt foredeck, and even had a chance to fit an adjustable outhaul. Which is one hi tech gismo I have not have for the last 3 years...
I went out on Saturday and there was no wind at the lake when I got there, but I could see a storm coming. Going out into a storm is stupid and irresponsible but very Flashheart, so I rigged up. The storm feed me with 2 hours of force 2 to 5 winds and a great sail (or be it on my own apart from Yachts sailing back to the marina and windsurfers looking for gusts). I bailed out when the lightning got a bit too close and I was the only one left out there to get hit by it.
Now I know nothing about Marketing but that is not going to stop me blogging about stuff I do not understand.
If I was going to buy a Bladerider I would buy and painted X8 hull with FX wingbars. Here you save a good deal of cash for not much penalty.
At the moment it seams that all the Olympic sailors are ordering so they have a new toy for after the games. This is going to create problems when they have to get back in their bath tubs for the next games. (poor bastards). Theses hot shots all want the best boat, so that means X8.
Not sure if we will see a shift to budget foilers but it could well happen, and the FX lowers the barrier to entry by dropping the price, so that is great. And there is no end of people fascinated by the boats and the fun they see you having in them.
I also believe that the difference in speed compared to the difference in sailors ability is negligible, and that even my old Tomahawk would be at the front of the fleet in the right hands. However if you are lowriding and others are flying then it is a sole destroying killer. I think the board windsurfers, who may be interested in the FX, will soon realize this and want the light weight boat. They all buy expensive windsurfing gear to be their first on the plane and not left floundering around while others shoot around them. I can see them buying an FX for the days when there is not enough wind for windsurfing, and then getting a lighter boat later, as they will be sailing in this marginal conditions a lot and notice the weight difference.
I hope the FX does sell and that there are more moths out there, as I have been sailing on my own for the last 2 weekends.
Managed to get my boat fixed up with a rebuilt foredeck, and even had a chance to fit an adjustable outhaul. Which is one hi tech gismo I have not have for the last 3 years...
I went out on Saturday and there was no wind at the lake when I got there, but I could see a storm coming. Going out into a storm is stupid and irresponsible but very Flashheart, so I rigged up. The storm feed me with 2 hours of force 2 to 5 winds and a great sail (or be it on my own apart from Yachts sailing back to the marina and windsurfers looking for gusts). I bailed out when the lightning got a bit too close and I was the only one left out there to get hit by it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
