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A bit of silliness for you folks in the Antipodes
#1
And now for something totally unrelated to moOde.

In a recent private exchange, @philrandal mentioned he is a transplant from Wellington, NZ.

For some reason this reminded me of a memento of my first trip to NZ and AU in 1995 and I had to dig it out of its hiding place deep in a closet (it looks appropriately fusty). 

This was the year of the great match-up of Australia One vs Team New Zealand vying to be that year's America's Cup challenger. I bought this hat in Auckland City while on a several-day layover after an exhausting flight from SFO before pressing on to a meeting with folks in Wellington. Through my CAD standards work, I knew some shipbuilders who were peripherally involved in the design of Conner's Young America yacht and I thought they'd be impressed by my hat. Not seen is the back side, embroidered with the Kiwi boat's name, Black Beast.

[Image: vupOgut.jpg]

As it happened I was standing in the visitor centre in Auckland proudly wearing this hat and watching an overhead monitor with approximately a gazillion others as Team New Zealand was battling Australia One in a match race off San Diego CA when suddenly the Aussie's boat broke in half and promptly sank. The last thing I saw was the Sun Microsystems logo on the bow as it went under. The crowd was awed but someone near kept repeating "they broke their boat; they broke their boat." [If you're interested, https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2019/...australia/ is a good description of why the boat broke and sank.]

The Black Beast went on to sweep our American entry five races to nil. Ah, the ignominy!

I then went on to Sydney AU for more meetings and more good memories. Oddly, my colleagues there didn't seem interested in talking about Australia One. For some reason they kept changing the subject to this strange game I think they called rugger.

Regards,
Kent
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#2
Wink 
Excellent tale and glad you saw the wonders of New Zealand's sporting prowess.   Smile 

Just a small correction....it is Auckland. (with a 'c' as it is beside the sea...) Wink
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bob
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#3
Woah that's a gnarly scene in that video :-0

Cool story :-)
Enjoy the Music!
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#4
(05-22-2020, 12:58 AM)DRONE7 Wrote: Excellent tale and glad you saw the wonders of New Zealand's sporting prowess.   Smile 

Just a small correction....it is Auckland. (with a 'c' as it is beside the sea...) Wink

Yeah,  that’s what I meant. Darn keyboard...  Tongue
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#5
(05-22-2020, 01:29 AM)TheOldPresbyope Wrote:
(05-22-2020, 12:58 AM)DRONE7 Wrote: Excellent tale and glad you saw the wonders of New Zealand's sporting prowess.   Smile 

Just a small correction....it is Auckland. (with a 'c' as it is beside the sea...) Wink

Yeah,  that’s what I meant. Darn keyboard...  Tongue

Big Grin 
Being a Wellingumboot dweller (as you say @philrandal  is/was ) we often refer to that place in the far-away North as Orcland... Wink
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bob
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#6
(05-22-2020, 05:22 AM)DRONE7 Wrote: Big Grin 
Being a Wellingumboot dweller (as you say @philrandal  is/was ) we often refer to that place in the far-away North as Orcland... Wink

Very much a "was", I'm sorry to say.  But it was great to go back at the end of 2018 for a holiday with my partner who'd never been to NZ.

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