Situation Normal have enjoyed some decent club racing as well as the major regattas they’ve done over 2011…up in Gladstone summer brings 20-25 knots steady almost daily, with a fleet of Mumm 30s and other keelers to take on.
With courses often having a bit of upwind, the Shaw is only a 21 footer, so may not get to the top mark first. Downwind though……when they have a decent bowman and the kite goes up properly…no AFUs, just SN.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE OWNER (and of course the real owner too) ON THE NEW ADDITION TO THE SNAFU TEAM (yes, it has to be shouted innit).
Enjoy a spot of on camera action, with the SNAFU – a 9 minute trip back down the harbour.
Well it’s been a good 2011 for Shaw 650s, going from 1 to 4 in Thailand….from 2 on the water to a likely 13 by early 2012 in Australia….from 1 to 2 in USA (with more planned in 2012)…..as we count our riches in Shaw McMansion, who would question our commercial success???? We don’t do it for the money, we do it for the joy on your faces…our customers. Sort of.
2011 saw some good Shaw showings in regattas…in the class’s first year in Aussie. On both coasts, in Thailand, USA and NZ Shaws have reprazented with wins in Bay of Islands, TOG, and more.
Shaw induced dreams of beer, ferro cement people's foiling hartley 16s, league
Some call the Shaw 650 the most exciting sportsboat ever, and so adrenalin inducing, that former addicts have compared the rush of a 2 sail reach to a mega hit on the crack pipe. Admittedly the boat doesn’t feature water ballast unlike the MacGregor, nor does it have the exciting foiling characteristics of the people’s foilers, but even so the boat is certainly good for a blast.
To those of you who think this boat is too challenging for you to race on, too difficult to helm in breeze, or far too fast to join your local fleet…………one long time sportie sailor went out there on a Shaw recently, and found it so easy to race, he couldn’t even stay awake! Poor fella. All those hours investigating the internet for interesting pictures…it takes its toll.
With a gentle motion through the water on the Shaw, the mind can drift to other thoughts; perhaps a home boat building project, or even great ideas like adding New Zealand to the State of Origin series.
Jokes aside, to all sportie sailors out there…..Have an awesome new year, a great 2012, and fair breeze ;_).
Some people have questioned how the Shaw goes on a reach; particularly keelboat sailors seem to have a mindset that these boats fly downwind and are fun on windward-leewards, but on a reach they are a handful. While it is true that, like a windsurfer or any planing boat, a reach is where the boat is most powered up, on the Shaw 650 the reaching kite or even 2 sail reaching is a powerful yet fully controllable platform to just ‘hit the go button’.
Check it out….No Limits hitting the Go button….winning line and handicap plus beating pretty much everything under 40 feet in the process.
Big congratulations to Lipton Cup Champion Monkey Business, winning in gunslinger style (6 bullets) over 2 race series to take out the Lipton Cup and more in Australia. In the Lipton Cup, the mighty MB dominated the field of 14 sportsboats with 3 winning results here plus another 3 wins a few weeks earlier.
Having received the boat in mid 2011, MB has wasted no time in becoming one of the high performing Australian sportsboats; next major regatta will be Geelong where the existing Shaw fleet will race eachother, prior to the next 3 glass Shaws reaching the shores of East Coast Australia in February, while 2 more Shaws will reach the shores of West Coast Australia in late Feb/early March.
Shaw 650 Peow Peow sailed by a team out of Brisbane, Queensland, wrapped up the State Championship for the 2nd year in a row, bouncing back from a somewhat average 1st day to put on a hard charge in day 2 and take the win.
Sadly, Mister Magoo, overnight leaders were unable to hold their first place due to a sick crew member; health comes first and no doubt the T7 will be up and racing next time out. Bad luck fella.
SNAFU and Whaka both showed moments of brilliance; Situation Normal put together some Peow Peow beating results in 2 races, but a tough first day put a podium place out of reach, and losing out to Whaka in the tie break.
Well done to all the Shaw teams participating, and the next big regatta is Geelong, early 2012 where preliminary checks show there could be as many as 5-6 Shaw 650s racing down in South Australia.
Situation Normal Shaw 650 leading Melges 24 Kaito, Stealth 8 No Limits and Shaw 650 Peow Peow around the top mark
Racing in the annual Governor’s Cup by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club (that name is deceiving, we didn’t see much fresh water there at all when we were there – loads of beer and rum…not much fresh water!) Peter and his team on Indecent Haste did the Shaw 650 class proud, securing 4th overall in the 99 boat pursuit race.
Starting more than 20 minutes after eventual winner Thera (J. Fitzhardinge) the elapsed time of 1.56.43 was enough for 4th, beating GP42 Black Betty by less than 10 seconds. Super effort, and racing like this bodes well for the coming Summer season in beautiful Perth, where another 2 Shaw 650s are scheduled for delivery around the time of Geographe Raceweek, taking the number of Western Australian Shaws up to 4, and the number of Shaws in the water in Australia in early 2012 up to 12 boats.
Pipped at the post by longtime sportsboat racer Jason Ruckert, on the Mister Magoo, the 3 Shaw 650s had some great close racing at St Helena Cup, a large sportsboat event held in Queensland Australia over October 22-23, securing 2nd 3rd and 4th.
Well done to the Mighty Mister Magoo, a Thompson 7 based up in Brisbane…for their super result…some closely fought competition between Peow Peow, Whaka and Situation Normal… some great videos from the SNAFU crew shown below…well done to the Shaw teams for showing up and making Mister Magoo look good (and great results also of course)
Making waves in Perth, Australia, Indecent Haste and Octopussy have been dominant in their respective fleets on line, with a tougher battle to win once handicaps are applied (the Shaw rates well, but so do some other boats, it takes a season to get up to speed innit).
Recently owner of Indecent Haste shot a spot of downwind in a nice 15-17 knots…this is why we own these boats! Effortless speed downwind….Thanks Pete for the video
Over the weekend, the Shaw 650 Hello Kitty was quietly slipped into the water, the 2nd Shaw 650 to launch in Thailand, and one of 4 Shaws for completion by year end.
The new owner Miki is delighted with the colour, and intends to equip with matching cushions and blanket???!
There’s no accounting for taste…but anyheeow, a girls team in Thailand have ordered a Shaw 650 with a custom paint job; one of 4 Shaws racing out of Pattaya, Jomtien at Ocean Marina Yacht Club in 2012 for Top of the Gulf Regatta, Samui Regatta 2012, and others.
As part of the construction process, it is possible to get these custom paint jobs for a Shaw 650, and reflects the taste (or lack of taste) of the owners. A HUGE thanks to our Thai Builder Andaman Boatyard, probably the best boat builder in Thailand :_)
With a launch date set for the Auspicious date of Sep 17, this pretty in pink Shaw fits nicely with class and quality of the fleet to date.
(and great results also of course)
