BRISBANE BLOG 4:

A day in paradise, plus the Revenge of the Killer Magpies.

Like so much of the Australian wildlife, the sailors out here have evolved slightly differently to the rest of us. We all have a mental picture of the cheery, beery, happy and relaxed local, but now there is a further sub-species: This is the super helpful, considerate, thoughtful, will really ‘do anything to make things work’ sailor that is making life down here so attractive. One such individual has to be Greg Barrington, one of the Western Australia team, from over in Perth. When I started to get a bit tense over a few issues, it was Greg who sent me a wonderful email, telling me that your first day in Queensland is a day in paradise, but the second day is better! If yesterday is anything to go by, his comments are far from an exaggeration! The afternoon sea breeze was just touching the 20kts, but was as steady as a rock, whilst the waters out on the day were a deep blue speckled with the white caps formed by the wind over tide. If the RQYS can serve these conditions up for the Worlds then it really will be a championship to remember!

 Team Santa's Bitches getting ready for the start in the big pre-christmas afternoon Pursuit Race. The on board party went on until past midnight! Mini Santa outfits seemed to be a popular choice for the ladies, with the post race party staying noisy until after midnight!

However, all in paradise may be quite what it seems! Out on the Committee Boat for the big pre-Xmas ‘all comers’ Pursuit Race (Christmas fancy dress obligatory), the start was laid in a mere 2m of water. With a number of creeks and inlets emptying into the bay, the ebb can run quite ferociously, which in conjunction with the shallows that extend across the racing area, can kick up a vicious short chop once the sea breeze butts heads with the tide. Yesterday though, sailing started at the bottom of the ebb, so the flood tide and wind conspired together to make for well nigh perfect Contender conditions.

Local sailor Stephen Toms, out burning up the Bay in conditions that were just about perfect for Contendering.

Now, thanks to David Attenborough, everyone knows that if you want to get stung, bitten, poisoned or just plain eaten, then Australia is the place to be! What the natural history programmes do not show is just how unfriendly some of the other wildlife can be. First there are the Ibis flocks, driven out to the coast zone by the ongoing drought inland. Think of an urban fox (not that dissimilar in size) with wings – any rubbish that is left around will quickly attract them, at which point they make one hell of a mess!

Team Ibis being shoo-ed away after rummaging in the bins outside of the Regatta Office. After next week, it will be the Contender sailors who'll be getting told to "find somewhere else to make a mess"!!!

Then there are the magpies. Magpies don’t get the best of press, ‘thieving magpie’ is a common expression, but here there are Magpies that clearly have an attitude problem.

Magpies with attitude problems! Now of course, all cyclists here wear helmets (they do?) so are not at risk!

Contender sailors should be okay as a spare tiller extension will make an ideal anti-magpie defence weapon!!

Someone who can really fly, waiting for Tony White to make an appearance!

Finally, two bits of good news! Word is out that at long last, the Brit Box has escaped the clutches of Malaya and is now en route for Brisbane, where the latest eta is 0200 Christmas morning. Not sure if Santa can get a 40ft Container on his sleigh, with that timing it has to be an option. Shippers Peters and May are pulling out the stops here in Brisbane to get the Container through the very strict quarantine inspections as quickly as possible, despite this being in the midst of the festive season. No one can recover the lost two weeks, but if their efforts result in a fast tracking of the container from the port, clearly visible across the bay, to here, then they will have indeed worked miracles!

Click on the link below to get the latest news on the position of the ship as it heads down towards Brisbane.

http://aprs.fi/?call=538002734

The other bit of good news is that the Worlds are being broadcast on Twitter (sounds like the magpies again), just go to the main World Championship website and you can pick up the Twitter feed from there, if not it is a simple case of going to….

http://twitter.com/2010contenders

David Henshall

Bearfacemedia/Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Manly