Hayling and Beyond

After my manic CnC mission on Friday I wasn't expecting much out of this weekend other than to enjoy the sunshine and get some more hours in on the Ninja.
A great turnout of 22 boats made the trip to Hayling including some new faces in new boats.
Saturdays racing was pretty hard work, in marginal shifty conditions leading to some big gains and losses to be had on the course. Simon was head of the pack as you would expect, but I found it interesting that he wasn't as far ahead as I would have thought he'd be in his old Prowler - I think the M2 foils are pretty heavily targeted at the high winds of the Gorge and Aus and it remains to be seen as to how well it will find a home in the lighter breezes in the UK.
The Ninja seemed at ease in what I feel are her ideal conditions, and I posted two thirds and a fourth. The 4th was a proper lottery, with Simon, Mike Lennon and myself all in the running going down the final run until we all parked up and Andrew Friend used his Norfolk punt club skills to foil round the lot of us! I called it a day at that point as my arms were cramping up. A sure sign that I haven't been sailing enough...



Hayling put on some good grub for the few Mothies that stuck around for the evening - It's a really nice place to chill out for a weekend - maybe we should have a worlds there?

I felt pretty rubbish come sunday, with a few aches and still not really enough sleep but I made my way out to the start anyway as the RO informed us that it was a nice force three out in the bay. It wasn't really, and with a nasty confused chop there were a few scattered Moths about so I made the call to head back in and find a gym to join. Sailed around the harbour for a bit with Phil from the Worthing Moth crew and he seems pretty well sorted.

Some interesting new kit on display too, with the usual array of wand paddles flying around the dinghy park. Mike Lennon's latest offering from Hyde is pretty sweet and I can't wait to get my hands on mine.

Ninja's new foil moulds look sweet. Kevin has put a lot of time into the design of the new foils and I'm keen to get the first set of the water - especially now the Squirrel has sold and I can't use the foils from her anymore!