Armchair sailing

There's an absolutely brilliant picture on Elaine Bunting's blog today of Emirates Team New Zealand banging into the 1m waves of Valencia yesterday. 1m may not sound like a lot but, it clearly was putting those thoroughbreds under pressure. I suspect the photographer's a pro and will be guarding this one carefully (I would in his shoes), so won't re-post here. I did, though, follow the lead of "favourite blogs" to sail-world.com's cruising page . This, in turn, led to a story about one Kiwi selecting the Marten 49 as his perfect fast cruising yacht. To say it's a bit of an Aussie Wally makes it sound like somebody who thinks the Wallabies can win the Rugby World Cup. Nothing of the sort. Check out the builder's site here (I assume they'll have no problem with me posting one of their snaps).

Asia Marine in Phuket has just listed a Warrior 38 which looks like a decent boat even though she's 21 years old. Does anybody know much about these Warriors and where I can find out more information about them?

What do you think about Elaine Bunting's question on her Yachting World blog regarding the Island Packet SP Cruiser ? I like the more conventional IPs, but this one, I must say, does nothing for me. What's the boating equivalent of doing 40 mph in the outside lane of the motorway?

A grey, cool weekend (by Hong Kong standards) is a good time to be thinking about boats which would/could take you around the world. I divide these fantasies into two groups; the ideal boats for spending time in sheltered coastal waters around beautiful islands (Greece, Caribbean, Phuket, Barrier Reef, etc.) and those which would get you from one to the other - probably not the same boats. For category one, I hav e hankered after the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey DS range for a while. Not too much of the floating caravan look about them and beautifully set up for island hopping and lounging. But, those big windows make me nervous about the blue water at which time my mind turns to the likes of the Rustler 36 , the Bowman 40 and Rivals. Best kept out of marinas and in the open oceans those...