Must get out more...

Having last gone to the Moth Nationals in 1991, this year’s event at Stone SC – what a great club - was always going to be interesting.  Most surprising was how sweet-smelling the fleet were, courtesy of product sponsorship from Enliven

My account is not one of tales of daring do at the sharp end of the fleet, but more the experiences of a relative newcomer. The race reports are out there already.  And, yes, there were plenty of sharp sailors from around Europe sailing well sorted boats to a very high level.  The seasoned and serious UK Moth Squad were finding that edge for the forthcoming Worlds, but at my end of the fleet the Police Squad were having plenty of fun.  We don’t all sail or do the gym every day – I certainly can’t with 60 hour working weeks and three small children!

The first day had winds from 20 knots to not enough knots and showed me quite quickly how limited it is learning Moth sailing in isolation from others.  I just couldn’t get enough height or speed and found myself struggling to keep up - much more than I had expected.

By chance I’m reading Ben Ainslie’s autobiography at the moment and he describes his struggle on his first day’s Olympic racing in Savannah in 1996.  Whereas he had trained in the hot and humid conditions for 45 minutes at a time before pausing, full-on racing left even him exhausted.  I can equate with that – I’ve tended to go out for an hour at a time, then chill on the beach for an hour before another session (if time permits).  Three back to back races meant this was the first time I had spent over four hours straight on the water.  Discussions with my friend and heart surgeon colleague Raj Jutley about "Precision Hydration", which he has pioneered in motorsport, were most helpful.

The most pleasing aspect of the day was the low-ride soak (like the good old days!) across the tide  to the finish of race 3, overtaking several boats (but only to find all were a lap ahead… )

So I was glad to enjoy the enforced lay-day of Day 2.  I’m most grateful to Ricky Tagg for measuring my boat, but the real value of the Moth Class was shown by the efforts of Team Ninja to sort out my "issues".  Whereas I had drilled the pivot points in my Oligario Stik wand in the corresponding place from my old block, the angle and spacing were wrong.  After changing that, I had to redrill the horizontal pushrod (ok it’s a pull rod in a Ninja!)  link, lengthening the pushrod itself, polish the rod end, shorten the ride height adjuster slightly and increase the spacing of the Stik from the hull…  All of this took much discussion, stripping, altering, fitting, more discussion and refitting several times to get right.  Massive thanks are owed to Richard Westbury, Leigh Albrecht, Paul Hignett, Alex Koukourakis, Neil Baker, Ben Paton, Mike Cooke, Phil Oligario and others for their advice and assistance.  The end result was much less friction, much more wand travel and more appropriate gearing.

Day 3 dawned windy and bumpy, as documented elsewhere.  When, eventually, we went out, it was on my limit: I spent a while in the drink re-tying my wand retaining line on the way down to the start, which then I missed.  Conditions were a little to challenging to expend much concentration on the wand set-up. As I had to return home that evening, I called it a day after a few spectacular wipe outs.  In retrospect, I think I had underestimated how much I should have dropped the ride height to gain better control - I could have done better.

My goals were reached: I had only had time for four 1 hour outings this year so to complete my first foiling races - three back to back - on day one ticked one box.  To learn stacks more about boat set-up was tremendously valuable.  To meet old and new friends was great.  But what is most important for newcomers is to realise that there is huge value in attending class events. There is so, so much to learn from Mothies who are willing to give.

Back at Ogston this last weekend, there was opportunity to test the system settings properly. There was enough wind to hit the low 20’s with ease and much more control and comfort than before. Time to be able to start experimenting.  Several proper foiling gybes too, remembering advice offered at Stone. Then the usual Ogston limitations surfaced – forced into manoeuvres when not quite ready due to lack of space, 30 degree windshifts, invisible gusts and deep holes.

So I must resolve to get out more: try and find time to get to events; train longer without breaks; get out on the bumpy stuff.  Roll on summer hols in Abersoch, just ten days away…

Sailing Everests

I had long wondered if more people had scaled Everest than ever sailed a foiling moth.  This amazing photo / article, published in many papers over the week or so, shows a queue of some of 600 climbers on Everest on a single day.

There are more deserving endeavours in sailing than climbing mountains.  How many have raced around Cape Horn?  How many have crossed the Southern Ocean solo?  How many have circumnavigated the globe non-stop?  How many have raced a foiling Moth? How many have tried to cross the Atlantic in a Moth (yes, you know who you are...)

So what is the Everest of sailing?  Perhaps the ultimate badge of honour is an IMCA membership card...

Calendar Guys

Nice to see that Gareth Davies was voted Mr January in the Fotoboat 2012 Calendar!
http://www.fotoboat.com/fotoboat%20calendar%202012/index.html

Here's hoping that Mr August staring down at us will be a good omen too...

Hayling Island Training Weekend

I think that I speak for all in saying that we had a first class weekend at Hayling.  There must have been 20 or so of us out over the weekend, enjoying 15kt breezes with the odd spell at 20 to test us all.  There was something for everyone, for champions and Olympians through to novices. It's not up to me to recount the tales from the races, spending all my time in the intermediate coaching group.  The organisation of the coaching was superb.  I'm tremendously grateful to Jason, Olivier, Chris and Phil for their help off and on the water, as well as Ricky and others in helping set up my boat better on land.

As my first journey down south with LC, it was well worth the 440 miles round trip.  It was great to meet friends from way back (old!) as well as new.  I guess those that have strayed accidentally onto my blog might recognise my yellow peril without too much trouble: the "you must be..." welcome was warm.

For those of us on the learning curve in relative isolation - and there most be a fair number of us - I can now vouch  for the tremendous value of shore drills and being yelled at by Someone Who Knows from a following RIB.  Whilst it may seem to take a lot of effort to get to a training event, it is really worthwhile, considering the clear dedication of the organisers.  The HISC recipe certainly worked for me and the class.

Time to do what I do better - dissect and try to put back together again - but this time the footage from my DogCam Bullet.  It'll take me a while to sift through and see if I can find a lurking Money Shot... to prove that my first - and witnessed - foiling gybes will be the first of many.

All I want for Christmas, for Ninja fans everywhere...

I hope my 7 year old son will be delighted to receive this for Christmas...  Apparently it's one of the top 12 toys for Christmas, according to the BBC website.

Fotoboat Foiler?

Struggling to identify who has made it to the final round of the Fotoboat 2012 calendar competition...

Depending on who it is (looks like a Bladerider X8) , you might like to place a vote...

Full Fat Foils, Skinny Foils - or both sets?

With the advent of the successsful Elite 2011 Ninja foils (Ninja Death Squad were 1,3,5 9 at the Euros , of course...) and now the skinny mainfoil for the Mach 2, several questions are posed. 

How will the skinny foils perform in the light stuff?  Will lift off remain the same or not?  Will we see some proper two boat tuning data?  Taking Si Payne's comments further, will it be the vogue to have both sets of foils at an event, using full fat when it's light and skinny when the breeze is up? 

The cost of a single mast, sail and set of foils is near enough 40% of the cost of a new Moth.  The hull is simply the bit that holds the important bits together, but it's not on to swap the hull mid-regatta.  Should there be any limitation of masts/sails/foils for an event, or are we seeing the advent of "mix and match" according to the conditions?