At last a boat, but broken mast for Aussie FD Team
Aussies Norman Rydge and Richard Scarr have finally received their boat and mast after many 'customs' issues.
'Richard Scarr on the wire of the Flying Dutchman'
Jeff Crow/
Sport the Library ©
Richard Scarr reports:
'Today the car park finally started looking like a boat park with many Europeans arriving. Many of them also had 'customs' issues. There were a few people who had to fully unload their boats to get through the border.
Norman and I were able to measure our boat today, then finally we hit the water in a nice 8-12 knots breeze.
However we had just rolled out our genoa when six mins later .................... our brand new CST High Modulus mast broke whilst sailing up wind.
Having just spent four weeks testing the mast in all conditions on Sydney Harbor, then shipping it to Croatia, it was a disappointment. This mast was a new development made 20% stiffer and 1.5kg lighter.
With anything that is a development we are pushing the envelope and that's dinghy racing!
However one and a half hours later we had finished rigging our second mast, the one we had used in Lake Balaton, Hungry at the 2006 World Championchips. It was measured then stepped and we are ready to go sailing again tomorrow.'
by Richard Scarr
perth, WA
