SV Flaming Lips
Murray Ross designed 830
Sports racer and cruising adventures!
26/01/2023
So stoked to take out 1st on handicap and 3rd on line in the Nelson Regatta, all a result of amazing crew work finding the true potential of the boat. Thanks again Alex, Ella, Luis, Noah and Nicky it wouldn’t have been possible without you. Well done to the rest of the competition there was lots of close racing had and thanks to the race committee for organising and putting on such an awesome event
16/10/2022
A sad day for the Flaming Lips crew as we say goodbye to the fine ship Tanuki. She’s carried us to many a race win, allowed us to have many a good time and taught us the ways of Tasman Bay. We wish Mark all the best and hope he has an equally good time once she’s been trucked up to Auckland.
Epic race yesterday perfect conditions for Flaming Lips with a light beat followed by a strong Nor-westerly for a awesome send back from the marine farms. Off the start we had a very light northerly however as it was forcast to build and knock slightly we positioned ourself slightly to the north/upwind of the fleet. However the breeze couldn’t make up its mind and swung nor-easterly with 5nm to the farms instead of the forecast knock. This worked perfectly for us as we were able to make use of our extra height by hoisting the code 0 and rolling over the fleet to leeward. The breeze continued to swing further aft meaning that we needed to hoist the A1.5 in a nice peel. As we neared the marine farms we could see the Div 1 boats ahead had sailed into a hole and shortly afterwards with no where else to go we sailed into it as well. The “hole” turned out to be a convergence zone between a southerly and the forecast nor-wester which was particularly frustrating as we could see the nor-wester breeze line just a mile away on the other side of the marine farm. After a difficult battle to get around the marine farm with light and variable breeze we came out on top with Kokomea close on our heels and bootlegger and zest missing out on the breeze by
25/01/2022
Great couple of days racing at the Nelson Regatta, crew work was immaculate resulting in 3rd overall on line and 2nd on handicap in a tough 9 boat fleet well done to for taking out the win very well sailed. Massive thanks to the race committee and all of the volunteers that put on such a great regatta.
28/12/2021
Couple of upgrades coming along nicely with the prod and water system being the big ones. Prod now bomb proof with the ability to hinge out of the way in the marina or at anchor. Unfortunately it’s not canting at this stage as we need to figure out a way to keep the bobstay tensioned but hopefully it will be soon. Water system installed with 40 litters in two movable containers so that it can be used as ballast or completely removed all powered with a foot pump.
Bit of a send tonight with the original Tanuki crew. Top speed of 16knots, but hit it three times.
15/12/2021
Good race tonight, a clean exit of the cut and good boat speed though out the race meant 3rd on line and a handicap win!
10/12/2021
Good send that didn’t end so well, now on the hunt for a new kite.
Not a bad send back from the park yesterday, during the first race of the Three island series, which we placed 5th on handicap in.
12/11/2021
First month on board Flaming Lips has more than exceeded our expectations with the boat performing far better than we had originally thought it would. We’ve now done 4 Wednesday nights and slowly getting a feel for the boat. With our results improving with a second on handicap last week. And an 8th, 5th and 4th being our other results. Coming up this Sunday is the first of Three Island’s Series, three races around Fisherman’s, Adle and Tonga islands, which should provide a good test for the crew as our first longer race.