#christchurch nz

[bluedesignwall]

Sunset Christchurch New Zealand. 15 December 2023

[inchoateneophyte]

[azashenya]

I didn't position this amazing clump of colours and shapes but I can't guarantee no other human didn't, yet it could have been pushed together by the tide. I couldn't resist the combination of colours and textures for taking a photo.

[like-the-cut-of-your-jib]

Yes, this a bit of a promo placement article for Armstrong foils. But there are also some awesome photos of the Inspire racing series from the SailGP event Christchurch in NZ.

Stuff that we didn’t see on the YouTube footage.

I didn’t know that they were using wing foils there. I guess they did the Waspz and the Wing Foiling racing series at that event.

Foiling is in half of the Olympic classes, so it is riding its wave of popularity (pun intended).

Enjoy!

[auroradawn69]

under & side boob...

[dec0mposing]

Tanner Bros Ltd, The Cathedral, Christchurch, N.Z. (1900s)

[nikfiendluvr666]

Linwood cemetery, Christchurch, 2020.

[nando161mando]

"This week on 'Yeah Nah Pasaran!' on 3CR, @sexenheimer & I talk to Chris Wilson about the Christchurch killer, 🇦🇺 & 4chan.

4.30pm, Thurs MAR 28 /// 855AM, digital, streaming, Community Radio+ app, podcast"

via @slackbastard

[paradigmquest]

Can anyone tell me what happened to the New Zealand leather jacket brand “Macalister”?

I can’t find a single shred of information on them online, the only proof I have that they existed is the ratty early ‘90s jacket I have sitting on my couch waiting to be done up, with a Macalister logo sewn into the hem

I feel like I’m going crazy, I know they were made in Christchurch but… beyond that, I’m stumped

[vienna-juliet]

[bluedesignwall]

Lunch break today was beautiful come and take a minute to sit and enjoy.

[inchoateneophyte]

[azashenya]

The dark volcanic rocks down at Sumner make for dramatic photos against the sea and sky. Even more so when I managed to get the timing right on having waves hitting them and throwing up spray.

Although I'm not practiced enough yet to have the knack of catching the waves and keeping the horizon straight and not defaulting to middle-of-photo horizon. Oh well. That will come with time and practice.

[oldphotosnobodycaresabout]

[like-the-cut-of-your-jib]

My headline: Christchurch SailGP Contingency and Conservation Controversy Continues.

The latest - 2023May24 NZ article link above.

This originally came to my notice from a 2023May18 article linked below which republished a Newsroom article.

To quickly summarize: Dolphin contingency plan in place approved by NZ Department of Conservation (DOC). Plan involves trained observers in boats, drones and acoustic detectors in the water and DOC observers in the race control booth. Racing of Sail GP vessels to halt (skippers to ensure team boats fall off the foils) if dolphins sited within marine sanctuary waters and also within 300m distances of race markers.

Plan followed and used to adjust practice times and practice races. Also invoked during the first day of racing, which delayed the start of racing (2023Mar18)

Second day of racing (2023Mar19) - no problems. During the final race, a pair of dolphins were sighted by observer boats, possibly within the 300m radius of a certain distance of the final turn marker, while the raceboats turning away from the area of potential sighting towards the finish line near the shore. Canada SailGP team victorious.

April2023 - DOC investigation launched. Conclusion that DOC observers can’t actually be sure that dolphins within the 300m zone and therefore no breach of NZ legislation.

My thoughts on this “controversy”:

A. No one wants to see endangered aquatic species hurt or their behaviour altered due to a sporting event. However, these Hector’s dolphins or any other aquatic species don’t generally wear e-tags. If the drones and/or acoustic detectors didn’t or couldn’t pick up their location during the final race and all they had to go on were the boat observers, of course the DOC observers can’t be sure if there was a breach of the Plan, let alone the NZ legislation. This may be compounded by questions about the dolphin observer boat behaviour throughout the entire event.

B. As an outsider, I was quite surprised at the number of spectator boats on the water at this event. I know that Kiwis love their sailing and power boating, but this would seem to be the one place and time where there was bound to be conflict between spectator boats and “race-sanctioned” boats. My unpopular opinion is to limit access to the area to the Coast Guard, race vessels, support vessels and dolphin observer vessels only. Yes, this would be disappointing to local boat owners that they can’t anchor within designated areas to watch the racing from the water. Back to the harbour, I say and encourage watching from the shore, anchored at the dock or on TV. If you want to hold a race event smack dab in a marine sanctuary, let’s plan to avoid all on-the-water conflict. And if the people aboard the dolphin observer vessels weren’t doing their jobs properly, SailGP and the DOC may want to avoid using them in the future. Possibly drop more acoustic monitors throughout the harbour and use more drones.

C. Why not interviewing the race skippers is not a big deal. Why bother? The final race boat skippers (Peter, Phil/Chris Drapper and Ben or was it Tom?) are concentrating on racing. If they were not notified by race control of a potential dolphin sighting during the final race, they would have no useful information they could add to the DOC investigation. And SailGP race control did not notify them about the reporting sighting and freely submitted that info during the DOC investigation.

D. Racing in a marine mammal sanctuary and in a small busy harbour was always a difficult proposition. Everyone involved has an interest and bias and the media coverage and the sources interviewed are revealing.

Will this cancel the 2025 event planned for Christchurch? Imho no. However, it does sound like the Dolphin Contingency Plan (dolphin vessel spotters help or hindrance? who has the last say- DOC observers or race officials? Was the right call made at the time?) and the Event Plan (local boat presence mucking up the ability of others to do their jobs) will need updating as a matter of continuous improvement.

Keep going SailGP - competitive sailing, event management and conservation interests are all navigable on and off the water. But it definitely takes work!