4th June Race

Published on by Klaus HarrisLeave a comment

So this was a windy one and I didn’t fare too well. I was experiencing a lot of weather helm, couldn’t point highly and on the second lap capsized, couldn’t get the kite back in, ended up removing it and abandoning.

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Phil powering along in his RS Vareo

However, I did have two fantastic legs flying the kite up making up ground lost and learned a lot. The boat really is more stable in higher winds flying the spinnaker. At one point I caught a gust and the boat simply took off 🙂 Grin!

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More RS Vareo sailing

Published on by Klaus Harris10 Comments

I’ve raced RS Vareo 239 regularly so far this season and wanted to share some observations and experiences of the boat.

Thanks for the pics Gavin

I’m on the light side for the Vareo at around 11’5″ stone (~ 75kg) but so far that has been an advantage as winds have on average been lighter rather than stronger, and having a largish main and kite makes for pleasant sailing even on light wind days.

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How to have peaceful shopping trips with children

Published on by Klaus Harris4 Comments

I think I’ve cracked it, how to have peaceful shopping trips with children.

  1. Have peaceful obedient children who don’t run off or argue
  2. Wait till they are older and more sensible

Ok ok, so 1. is but a dream and whilst we’re now part way to 2., after some increasingly successful shopping trips I feel moved to share these ideas. Continue reading “How to have peaceful shopping trips with children” →

First race of the season

Published on by Klaus Harris3 Comments

At last I got out for the first race of the season last night. The wind was very light but I still managed to get the kite up and came a respectable 4th in the handicap fleet. Considering I completely messed the start up being last over the line, made a few mistakes and that I’m pretty new to the boat, I’m happy with that.

I always do a mental post race analysis  and it’s good to know where mistakes were made, plus there are plenty of things I need to practise such as roll tacks, tacking generally, starts and kite handling. There are a few tweaks incoming on the boat too.

I’m really liking the vareo and it having a kite means much more fun even in such light winds, downwind legs are fun too. I can’t wait for the next one and more wind.

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Mine is RS Vareo 239

São Paulo

Published on by Klaus Harris6 Comments

I work at Automattic on the WordPress.com VIP  team and in February 2017 some of us travelled to São Paulo to visit our client, Abril. The whole week was a great experience, not just to see colleagues, visit the fine folks at Abril and all work together, but also to see a bit of São Paulo.

My first impressions of São Paulo were its vastness, traffic problems and heat. The skyscrapers seem truly endless and  it appears to me that in the same way life in Brazil’s rainforests is in the vertical, so too is life in the vertical in the city. Continue reading “São Paulo” →