Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

Is to build two International Moths, including making your own tubes, spars, foils and tramps, in 3 weeks.

Sounds a bit silly really, but this is what I've been up to lately, i was planning on having my new boat on the water at the beginning of June and then go sailing a lot. As it turns out I only really started them both 2 weeks ago. A few 14 hour days later and they are both due on the water on Wednesday...

Morocco Mole (3370) is the first of the two and is being made for Martin Fear at BCYC. This is the base boat and is basically an Axiom v4 with bonded wing bars, high modulus rear bars and a new skinny Aardvark spar.

Secret Squirrel (3371) is my new boat and is the same as the above, but with a few neat touches on top - how many depends on how much spare time I have before heading for Weymouth next weekend for a week of chilling out and a bit of sailing...

Thanks to Harken for coming good with the hardware as usual, Hyde for the shiny new sails which arrived on Friday and my team helping out with the mammoth mission, Emma, Martin, Sharon and Terry....

What went wrong?!

Work has been getting in the way a bit this last week and now my last major preworlds project is
out the door I can get back to the serious business of mothing... (more importantly, building the SS - Secret Squirrel)

So then, Weymouth...
Race one, came off the line fine went about 100 yards and went down the mine - upwind. Not had that happen before... Hmm, as I was now pointing the other way I went out right in search of clear air - tacked, got going again and went down the mine again... Not good, twice on once beat... I wound a turn of lift off and Edward was behaving again, obviously the small chop was too close to my max ride height for comfort as she was much better after that and I sailed up the fleet to 7th.

Race two, lining up for a pin end start but couldn't quite make the buoy so went for a gibe around with 15 seconds to go and got a massive puff, leaving me a long way downwind by the time I'd got going the right way again... Seemed to sail every shift wrong and ended up 8th.

Race three - wind got up to 25 knots and I nearly totalled myself at the wing mark and had to have a lie down on the side of the boat for a few minutes to get my breath back. Turned out I had flung myself into the mainsheet bridle using my ribs as brakes, taking the bridle out altogether in the process - day over...

Sunday was much milder, but my control rod ends had decided to give up the ghost and popped off pretty much every time I pointed the boat downhill - I was around the front pack at the time and hanging on to them too so I'm pretty happy with speed and early foiling was on par with everyone else. Anyway, called it quits after that...

Well done to Si Payne, Jason gave him a good run for his money. James Roche gets the bloody well done award - hes come a long way, been putting in loads of time both on and off the water and I think will scare a lot of people at the worlds in 3+ bit weeks time.

Eeek, better get on with my boat then...

Doing it my way

Righty, I thought I would publish this here so that people can stop questioning/interrogating me about whether or not I will be competing at the Worlds next month. The answer is: no, I wont be. My reasoning for this decision is as follows:

1. I have sailed no more than 7 times since the Worlds in Garda last year.
2. That sailing has not all been in my own boat.
3. My boat is not a ready-set-up foiler that I can just jump in and fly - it is something entirely different to everything else that is out there and I have not yet managed to get it working to its full potential.
4. I do not yet feel that I have enough control to be on a race course with 10 boats, let alone 80.
5. I am not that keen on racing and never really have been. I enjoy sailing for sailing, not for competition. Maybe this will one day change, but it hasn't yet.
6. I would like to race for the first time when I feel ready, not when everybody else is telling me I should be.

I may well be in Weymouth for the week of the Worlds, and I may well have a boat with me, but I will not be competing. I will be continuing to learn and develop at my own rate of knots and having a bloody good time.

That's all for now...FBG goes sailing again next weekend!

Em

Nationals this weekend

Not much going on lately due to poor weather and far too much work to do in the real world...

I did manage to get out on the water for a couple of hours yesterday in a nice 12 knot southerly which is pretty much how it should be, Edward was behaving beautifully and was letting me get lots of tacks and gibes in in preparation for the nationals at Weymouth this weekend. It's looking like a big turnout with all the hotshots getting in some practice at the worlds venue.

Will update over the weekend with all the latest gossip!