The Sandgropers
new banner in all its glory.
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Kane, Clayton
and Renee contemplating the New Zealand Teams controversial
push starts.
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Kim Bremner taking
care of logistics on one of the quads that were used for
the duration of the event. Huge thank you to the Honda
Shop
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Kane, Clayton
and Craig putting on a bit of a "drifting" and
"2 wheel" balancing show between races for the
spectators on Saturday....bloody show offs.
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Now this was
one interesting land yacht. It may have been Ferrari inspired
with its rear mounted power plant.
I wonder how
it handles sideways.
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Also a rear mounted
sail
I guess the advantages
to using windsurfing sails is a variety of sail sizes and
advanced technology over typical land yacht sails.
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One of the New
Zealand Class 3/4 Yachts.
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This one had
the option of a fixed wing or traditional sail. It was one
of the first times he has had the wing on.
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The French designed
Standarts brought by the US team were an attention grabber
with their sexy smooth lines and speed boat metallic finish.
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Internationally
standarts are raced as a "one design" class of
yacht similar to our C88s and BloKarts. Competition is based
on sailor skill rather than the size of your hip pocket.
Its a shame they wouldn’t last 5 minutes on Lake Walyungup,
I want one!
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Some of the Sandgropers
fleet waiting in the pits for some wind.
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Huge crowds turned
up on Day 2 (Sunday 30th), Shame the wind didn't deliver.
Those flags are looking very droopy.
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Kristen sacrificed
her week off work to work. The footage was used in a highlights
edit played on the final night presentation and will also
be used in the official PACRIM
video.
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Budget Team Racing
unfortunately stretched their budget and had to push their
yachts to Kambalda. "Anyone see a big white salt lake
around here"
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The water blew
into the salt pond on day two and made for some great photo
opportunities.
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I abandoned my
yacht in the salt pond for some quick photos. The pond on
the east side of the causeway provided some good hard salt
but was a little damp most of the week.
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Quad Bike dead
roo tours became a popular activity on the no wind days.
This poor Kangaroo strayed too far from shore and was found
crystallised on the surface by course setters about 10km
from the head quarters. This is a good reminder to sailors
of the harshness of the area,
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Megan all salted
up after a good days racing. When you forgot to put salt
on your chips at the food stand it was easy to come by,
simply brush you helmet over your chips........yes i actually
did this......hey... where do you think salt comes from?
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The great Lake
Lefroy Buth Tub Derby under way.
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Murray Turner
and Kim Bremner with the Sandgropers "pray mantis"
entry.
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Murray won "best
presentation" and finished the race in second place behind
Nord Embrodens (USA Team) modified bathtub standart. Not bad,
only beaten by a $6000 (or is it more?) dollar yacht. The
hidden fire extinguisher inside the bath was intended to be
an explosion of Water and foam but was diffused by the s bend
into a mere trickle.
In a spectacular
explosion of dust and dirt the “prey mantis” came
to grief on lake Walyungup recently after hitting a marker.
It reached a GPS top speed of 55kmph.
Apparently it will be up and running in no time.
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Kambalda local
Norm Karafilis in his short wheelbase bathtub entry with a
hidden fire extinguisher hosing the Day family team.
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If your wondering
what the "Mini Class Yacht" is here is the Day Families
fleet. |
Kristen and the
Budget Team Racings crazy antics. |
The remains of
salt mining equipment.
Its amazing how
the salt can build up on objects on the lakes surface. Many
of the hard softball sized lumps on the lake can be kicked
open to reveal a small twig inside.
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 Remains
of the Lister family salt works who were the first to mine
salt in Western Australia.
A short tour happened
on Tuesday morning due to lack of wind.
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Jodie Chandler
reflecting on the race that was |
The sandgropers
finish line witch. |
"Yacht Cam"
got a work out and delivered some great footage in the gusty
conditions on Saturday 6th. The unit is mounted to the lower
mast support or axel and can rotate 360 degrees via a remote
control the pilot can access while sailing. It also has a
water spray purposely for lake Lefroy which i managed to forget
to take. It's on it's side in the shot. |
The waste pile
from the abandon salt mine has weathered into this interesting
formation. |
Beer o'clock....
Sunset over Lake Lefroy after a hard days racing.
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Blokarts
Sorry I haven't
got any photos from the blokart side of things up here yet.
I didn’t end up with many photos of the blokarts,
mainly video however I have been sent some good ones which
I’ll put up shortly.
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