Apologies for repeating much of what I said last week. Too much
going on, a three year old clambering all over me and someone else´s
computer meant it went to the wrong place.

Regards,

Rob

--- In harryproa@..., "proaharry" <proa@i...> wrote:
> G´day,
>
> Blind Date was launched last month in front of 100 people, one of
> whom was the local mayor who conferred on Jan the Dutch equivalent
> of a knighthood. Not for being smart enough to own the first
> Visionarry afloat, but for 40 years of helping blind people sail.
>
> The owner, builder, design team and virtually everyone who has
seen
> the boat agree it looks stunning. So much better looking down on
a
> floating boat than up at one in the shed.
>
> The most gratifying thing for me was the weight, since confirmed
by
> a second set of scales. 1,700 kgs/3,740 lbs. The rig and rudders
> will take it to 2 tonnes/tons. As far as I know, there is not
> another sailing boat in the world boasting 2 queen size beds, full
> headroom and a covered cockpit for 8 people which weighs as
little.
> Add in a 50´/15m waterline and the fact that it is mostly cedar,
> glass and plywood and Jan and Rudolph have achieved a remarkable
> craft.
>
> Almost as remarkable was Blind Date´s appearance on
> www.sailinganarchy.com apparently the world´s most read sailing
web
> page. The remarkable thing was not that it appeared so much as it
> was entirely without prompting on our part. I suspect this is
near
> unique in the boating media.
>
> I hope to be kiting on Blind Date next week. I should have some
> more pictures and impressions then.
>
> Youri and Miriam, the builders of the production Elementarry in
> Belgium have rightly decided that a perfect mould is more
important
> than sailing a less than perfect prototype, so the first boat will
> not be sailing till later this summer. The plugs are flawless,
and
> we have come up with a slew of ideas for making construction
> lighter, faster and cheaper. The 100 kg/220 lb proa which can go
> from trailer to sailing in 10 minutes is closer than ever.
>
> The Visionarry we have been building in Coffs Harbour is scheduled
> for launching next week. It has to go over some high trees, then
> down a narrow, shallow, unmarked channel through a breaking bar,
> which should add a touch of spice to the occasion.
>
> Pictures of all the above and more details will be in the next web
> update.
>
> Regards,
>
> Rob