Well, so far not much to report sailing wise...
The dash for cash was scheduled in for yesterday but unfortunately the wind wasn't playing ball with 15 knots gusting up to 30 at times. Rashers and Jason went out for a quick blast in the morning but with racing set to take place in the river off the quay it was even more gusty. We're now set to race the dash on Tuesday after racing. With the marquee's so close to the shoreline it will be a pretty good spectacle and a good showcase for the Moth...
This left team GB with the task of getting rather drunk as the forecast was for more wind again for the practice race and not much chance for sailing. Ben was leading the charge and when I left near midnight was mumbling something about girls dancing on poles outside the sailors beach tent. Apparently Pete Bartons dance floor skills involve pretending to be a hermit crab and then waving his arms around. Jif, Doug and James found their way onto a tall ship in an attempt to climb the rigging but were left making shapes in the spotlights and shouting down the funnels. Lochy and wingman Lambert weren't seen until well into the following morning.
This place is a pretty excellent event so far with a massive festival atmosphere, loads of places to eat and our German hosts have made a lot of effort to make sure we're well attended to with free breakfast and plenty of evening entertainment and prizes courtesy of Nordea, FSE and CTM.
Todays practice races have been called off with more big breeze. Tomorrows looking much better and the sun is even forecast to make an appearance to hopefully by the time the racing kicks off it'll be all good and Bens hangover will have gone and Jason R's need to hang out in the changing room (warmest place he's found) will have passed.
I'm off to find some donuts. The cake here is excellent but the tea leaves a bit to be desired, luckily I've found a box of earl grey in the supermarket...
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Friday, 22 July 2011
On my way
Me and Doug have just departed Dover on our mammoth trip to Germany.
I stopped off at queen mary earlier this evening to load up the monster trailer and now have 6 moths and a van full of moth related junk!
Hopefully by lunchtime tomorrow we will be in Travemunde where it sounds like there are already plenty of mothies to meet us...
- Posted using BlogPress from somewhere in the English channel...
I stopped off at queen mary earlier this evening to load up the monster trailer and now have 6 moths and a van full of moth related junk!
Hopefully by lunchtime tomorrow we will be in Travemunde where it sounds like there are already plenty of mothies to meet us...
- Posted using BlogPress from somewhere in the English channel...
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
The Curse Pt2
So, my Nationals didn't go entirely to plan.
I was rigging up on Saturday to find my rear wingbar had split across the centreline. Bearing in mind it was absolutely honking at the time, I wasn't prepared to risk doing more damage to the boat by sailing on it so I packed up. It was a bit of an odd break really - I'd changed style of the rear wingbars on my boat to a single piece across the transom, rather than plug in socket style, as it should be a lighter solution. Good idea, not so good in practice for reasons I won't bore you with here! In hindsight (what a lovely thing it is) having dismantled it and had a closer look I could probably have gotten away with it...
It's a big 'what if' kinda decision. I don't tend to look too kindly on people who know something is wrong and sail on anyway, as the resulting mess is harder to clean up - so, if I talk the talk...!
It's a massive feeling of frustration, and the second consecutive nationals where a random breakage has put me out of contention early on. To all those who say you make your own luck, I tend to agree but I've been sailing in a lot of wind this year and am really surprised this hasn't come up sooner. If you believe in karma then maybe I should play the lottery this week!
Anyway. On a more upbeat note, Jason Belben put in a very solid performance to take the Nationals, beating off Arnaud for the open championship and a hard-charging Chris Rashley who put in a first and three seconds on the final day to take third (or second, depending on how you look at it!). Both were running the new skinny Ninja foils and will be a force to be reckoned with at the Euro's in 10 days time. Proof that the little Ninja from Somerset can mix it up with the best of them...
Final results are here
Photos from the event here
I was rigging up on Saturday to find my rear wingbar had split across the centreline. Bearing in mind it was absolutely honking at the time, I wasn't prepared to risk doing more damage to the boat by sailing on it so I packed up. It was a bit of an odd break really - I'd changed style of the rear wingbars on my boat to a single piece across the transom, rather than plug in socket style, as it should be a lighter solution. Good idea, not so good in practice for reasons I won't bore you with here! In hindsight (what a lovely thing it is) having dismantled it and had a closer look I could probably have gotten away with it...
It's a big 'what if' kinda decision. I don't tend to look too kindly on people who know something is wrong and sail on anyway, as the resulting mess is harder to clean up - so, if I talk the talk...!
It's a massive feeling of frustration, and the second consecutive nationals where a random breakage has put me out of contention early on. To all those who say you make your own luck, I tend to agree but I've been sailing in a lot of wind this year and am really surprised this hasn't come up sooner. If you believe in karma then maybe I should play the lottery this week!
Anyway. On a more upbeat note, Jason Belben put in a very solid performance to take the Nationals, beating off Arnaud for the open championship and a hard-charging Chris Rashley who put in a first and three seconds on the final day to take third (or second, depending on how you look at it!). Both were running the new skinny Ninja foils and will be a force to be reckoned with at the Euro's in 10 days time. Proof that the little Ninja from Somerset can mix it up with the best of them...
Final results are here
Photos from the event here
Friday, 8 July 2011
The curse of the moth nationals...
Day two of the moth nationals. Its currently blowing up to 30 knots and doesnt look like abating over the course of the day. Currently looking like were going to do the agm this morning and then make a decision on where to can it for the day.
Day one was a bit of a baptism of fire with a nice chop going around with 15-20 knots at times. I was late getting onto the water and only just made the start of race one and capsised three times up the first beat while getting myself figured out as my flat water settings obviously weren't u to it! I pulled through the fleet over the next few laps and unded somewhee in the teens.
Race two I got my act together and didn't do anything silly pulling from 5th up to 3rd by the finish.
Unfortunately race three saw a return to my usual form, failing to make my first tack twice. There then happened to be a nice set of standing waves/wash from a passing ferry that saw about a dozen of us all stacked at the top mark going nowhere... A pretty dismal showing from my good self really but i was starting to get the hang of my annual outing on waves!
Jason Belben was on top, with a 1,1,2 followed by Arnaud, Si Payne and Chris Rashley all charging hard...
In the dinghy park, theres a few interesting developments. Arnaud has moved back to the larger Mach 2 rudder and also cut down his mainfoil slightly. I think that might have been the result of a night out in Portsmouth though. Most of the top guys are running adjustable wand length of some descripton. Mike and Richie are running a new evo of the current Hyde main and seem to be better paced when the breeze is up.
Now I've found the code for the wifi I'll try and get online a bit more. I'm also posting to the IMCA UK Twitter twitter feed when i can.
Day one was a bit of a baptism of fire with a nice chop going around with 15-20 knots at times. I was late getting onto the water and only just made the start of race one and capsised three times up the first beat while getting myself figured out as my flat water settings obviously weren't u to it! I pulled through the fleet over the next few laps and unded somewhee in the teens.
Race two I got my act together and didn't do anything silly pulling from 5th up to 3rd by the finish.
Unfortunately race three saw a return to my usual form, failing to make my first tack twice. There then happened to be a nice set of standing waves/wash from a passing ferry that saw about a dozen of us all stacked at the top mark going nowhere... A pretty dismal showing from my good self really but i was starting to get the hang of my annual outing on waves!
Jason Belben was on top, with a 1,1,2 followed by Arnaud, Si Payne and Chris Rashley all charging hard...
In the dinghy park, theres a few interesting developments. Arnaud has moved back to the larger Mach 2 rudder and also cut down his mainfoil slightly. I think that might have been the result of a night out in Portsmouth though. Most of the top guys are running adjustable wand length of some descripton. Mike and Richie are running a new evo of the current Hyde main and seem to be better paced when the breeze is up.
Now I've found the code for the wifi I'll try and get online a bit more. I'm also posting to the IMCA UK Twitter twitter feed when i can.
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Messing about in boats
I had my last sail prior to the "Dash for Cash" today, seems like the season has only just got started and already the Nationals is upon us.
As my poor abused 10.c is with Dave Bosnia at Dynamic Sails for some tender loving care I was using the afternoon for messing around with the Silly Sail and some different mast combinations. I'm persisting with it as it's blindingly quick in certain conditions but unwieldy when the wind gets up, something I'm starting to get my head around with a stiffer mast and some planned mods to the luff curve. Still, nothing ventured and all that...
Alan was out for a pre-nationals blast around and to test his boat out after it blew over his car while rigged the other week! Luckily it escaped with only a broken gantry that was easily fixed. Leo also popped down to pick up his boat. It's looking like the full complement of the Bristol Moth Squadron will be heading down to Stokes Bay next week and with the entry list approaching 50 boats it's going to be one hell of an event...
As my poor abused 10.c is with Dave Bosnia at Dynamic Sails for some tender loving care I was using the afternoon for messing around with the Silly Sail and some different mast combinations. I'm persisting with it as it's blindingly quick in certain conditions but unwieldy when the wind gets up, something I'm starting to get my head around with a stiffer mast and some planned mods to the luff curve. Still, nothing ventured and all that...
Alan was out for a pre-nationals blast around and to test his boat out after it blew over his car while rigged the other week! Luckily it escaped with only a broken gantry that was easily fixed. Leo also popped down to pick up his boat. It's looking like the full complement of the Bristol Moth Squadron will be heading down to Stokes Bay next week and with the entry list approaching 50 boats it's going to be one hell of an event...
Sunday, 26 June 2011
My 2011 Nationals form guide
It's that time of year again and here's my take on the runners and riders. I'm not going to pick anyone as a winner, so as not to jinx the poor soul...
Top Tier: Those that may actually win the event...
I think you'd have to be pretty silly to write off the HISC M2 fleet. Master Payne and Mr Lennon have been a regular feature at the top of the UK circuit for a while now and the fact that they sail together frequently means they're able to push themselves and keep on top of their game.
Jason Belben and Chris Rashley have been doing the same thing down at Stokes Bay, which gives them a good home advantage. Chris has worked exceptionally hard at getting up to speed this year and it's shown with two open wins (in some pretty wild conditions) to boot. They've been there or thereabouts when the Hayling lot have come out to play and either would be a good bet.
Second tier: Those that might take a race here and there.
Ben Paton recorded the best non-M2 race position at the worlds, sailing on the original Ninja foils. He's now got his new 2011 foils and will be a force to be reckoned with. Lack of a medium setting means he may crash and burn while lit up to 11.
Richie Lovering has been starting to mix things up with the front runners this season and should be well up there when the breeze is on.
Ricki Tagg practically invented crash and burn sailing and may suffer a similar fate to Paton, but when he's upright there is no denying he's very fast.
Jason Russell is another one who's been slowly creeping his way up the results. He's very fit and works hard on the racecourse.
And then there is me. I've pretty much written off this season after promising myself so much. Nowhere near the right amount of time on the water, combined with a tiny bit of bad luck, has meant my season has been a bit of a non starter. A couple of race wins here and there show a glimmer of hope - the boat is obviously fast and I'm fitter than I've been in a while... Fingers crossed!
The great thing about an event like this is that it's actually nothing to do with the racing for me. A chance to spend time with a bunch of friendly, like-minded individuals isn't one to be missed and I hope loads of you join me!
Top Tier: Those that may actually win the event...
I think you'd have to be pretty silly to write off the HISC M2 fleet. Master Payne and Mr Lennon have been a regular feature at the top of the UK circuit for a while now and the fact that they sail together frequently means they're able to push themselves and keep on top of their game.
Jason Belben and Chris Rashley have been doing the same thing down at Stokes Bay, which gives them a good home advantage. Chris has worked exceptionally hard at getting up to speed this year and it's shown with two open wins (in some pretty wild conditions) to boot. They've been there or thereabouts when the Hayling lot have come out to play and either would be a good bet.
Second tier: Those that might take a race here and there.
Ben Paton recorded the best non-M2 race position at the worlds, sailing on the original Ninja foils. He's now got his new 2011 foils and will be a force to be reckoned with. Lack of a medium setting means he may crash and burn while lit up to 11.
Richie Lovering has been starting to mix things up with the front runners this season and should be well up there when the breeze is on.
Ricki Tagg practically invented crash and burn sailing and may suffer a similar fate to Paton, but when he's upright there is no denying he's very fast.
Jason Russell is another one who's been slowly creeping his way up the results. He's very fit and works hard on the racecourse.
And then there is me. I've pretty much written off this season after promising myself so much. Nowhere near the right amount of time on the water, combined with a tiny bit of bad luck, has meant my season has been a bit of a non starter. A couple of race wins here and there show a glimmer of hope - the boat is obviously fast and I'm fitter than I've been in a while... Fingers crossed!
The great thing about an event like this is that it's actually nothing to do with the racing for me. A chance to spend time with a bunch of friendly, like-minded individuals isn't one to be missed and I hope loads of you join me!
Monday, 20 June 2011
Spoke too soon!
I was just saying in my last post about the Moth not beating me up like it used to and then I went to Thorpe Bay. We were greeted by a pretty solid breeze which did it's best to give us all a good beating. When we rounded the windward mark we found the waves were suitably large that no-one could go downwind in any semblance of control. This resulted in a bunch of Moths sitting around, occasionally burning off for a few hundred yards before launching into a big ball of spray.
Top marks go to Ben Paton who's admirable workrate saw him furthest upwind and the most attempts at downwind. Chris Rashley was the only one who managed a lap of the course and therefore won the race. He was also the only one still on the water when the 45+knot squall blew through with lightning and hail and all. Apparently he was wary of holding onto the boat in the water while that went on...
I tried all sorts to get downwind and at one point was heeled and bore off so far by the lee that the boat started to gybe itself while I was still hiking! The resulting capsize went fully inverted in the not so deep waters of Southend and the combination of the sea bed, tide and big waves was too much for my poor mast. I've now got two massive bruises on my legs and a damaged ego which will take some healing I feel! It was quite interesting as you couldn't go slow enough to go down the waves without running into a steep dead end. You also couldn't stay on the wave peaks going across it as you just had to bear off at some point and you were then doing 24 knots into a trough!
Saturday night saw the obligatory Essex dodgy disco and Jason Russell demonstrating his sketching skills...
It was with some reluctance that the fleet assembled on Sunday. Chris was mega keen and went out for the first one and to show us that we were silly, before being joined by a small following for the next races. I'd already packed up by then and had a missing trailer wheel bearing to sort out so decided to nurse my wounds and contemplate how to survive that in the future...
Top marks go to Ben Paton who's admirable workrate saw him furthest upwind and the most attempts at downwind. Chris Rashley was the only one who managed a lap of the course and therefore won the race. He was also the only one still on the water when the 45+knot squall blew through with lightning and hail and all. Apparently he was wary of holding onto the boat in the water while that went on...
I tried all sorts to get downwind and at one point was heeled and bore off so far by the lee that the boat started to gybe itself while I was still hiking! The resulting capsize went fully inverted in the not so deep waters of Southend and the combination of the sea bed, tide and big waves was too much for my poor mast. I've now got two massive bruises on my legs and a damaged ego which will take some healing I feel! It was quite interesting as you couldn't go slow enough to go down the waves without running into a steep dead end. You also couldn't stay on the wave peaks going across it as you just had to bear off at some point and you were then doing 24 knots into a trough!
Saturday night saw the obligatory Essex dodgy disco and Jason Russell demonstrating his sketching skills...
It was with some reluctance that the fleet assembled on Sunday. Chris was mega keen and went out for the first one and to show us that we were silly, before being joined by a small following for the next races. I'd already packed up by then and had a missing trailer wheel bearing to sort out so decided to nurse my wounds and contemplate how to survive that in the future...
Monday, 13 June 2011
The minor things
The Moth is a tricky beast sometimes. It's a complicated package that relies on every single part doing its job. Once one part fails there is no redundancy to pick up the slack.
Hayling open was a write off for me for exactly this reason. A buckled pushrod at the top of the daggerboard caused all control to vanish a lap into the first race. With a long semi out of control sail back in there was no way it was getting fixed for that day. Unfortunately I made such a hash of replacing it that I damaged my flap hinge which I only noticed when I went to rig up on Sunday. A pretty epic weekend of fail really. Thankfully Jason was on hand to keep the HISC boys honest.
I've not been able to get much Mothing in lately as the conditions haven't been kind at BCYC. I've taken the opportunity to go windsurfing instead which has been doing my fitness levels the world of good as, being quite bad at it, get the kind of beatings I used to get when I started foiling (Garda anyone?).
So on to Thorpe Bay. I grew up in Burnham and used to sail at TBSC quite a bit but dont think I've visited since my teens. It's an excellent club and the waters should give a fairly good simulation of Stokes Bay. That reminds me - almost form guide time...
Hayling open was a write off for me for exactly this reason. A buckled pushrod at the top of the daggerboard caused all control to vanish a lap into the first race. With a long semi out of control sail back in there was no way it was getting fixed for that day. Unfortunately I made such a hash of replacing it that I damaged my flap hinge which I only noticed when I went to rig up on Sunday. A pretty epic weekend of fail really. Thankfully Jason was on hand to keep the HISC boys honest.
I've not been able to get much Mothing in lately as the conditions haven't been kind at BCYC. I've taken the opportunity to go windsurfing instead which has been doing my fitness levels the world of good as, being quite bad at it, get the kind of beatings I used to get when I started foiling (Garda anyone?).
So on to Thorpe Bay. I grew up in Burnham and used to sail at TBSC quite a bit but dont think I've visited since my teens. It's an excellent club and the waters should give a fairly good simulation of Stokes Bay. That reminds me - almost form guide time...
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Don't run your friends over.
There's been some minor Bristol Mothing lately. We had a bit of an open day two Saturdays ago with DJ, Andrew Friend and Rich Westbury all joining in and I think we had 7 boats out at various stages. Darren took a few pictures which he's posted on Facebook...
I als had an entertaining run in with Mr 'Badger' Fear on a Wednesday night when he went for an unexpected gibe and wiped out in front of me - leaving either a run up the concrete bank or a swift gibe as my only options. I went with the gibe and didn't quite make it, resulting in a small hole in my nice new sail! Live and learn. Nothing a bit of tape won't fix anyway and it could have been much worse!
I've been busy in the workshop, mostly knuckling down and getting some of the new 2011 foils out the door along with Tom Lambert's new 2011 Ninja in the most tasteful colour yet!
I have been able to sneak in a bit of time on Donatello, finally getting around to my take on an adjustable wand (also known as the Oligario Sissy Stick or Pimp Cane) and fitting my proper Hyde tramps.
Terry the spar man, has been making me a new mast to fit my MSL10, which is a bit stiffer than my usual, but with a longer topmast taper to force more bend from higher up. Might get the chance to have a look at that this weekend before the open in Hayling. If the W.I. can get out of bed for their own open meeting we might actually get a good turnout! ;-)
I als had an entertaining run in with Mr 'Badger' Fear on a Wednesday night when he went for an unexpected gibe and wiped out in front of me - leaving either a run up the concrete bank or a swift gibe as my only options. I went with the gibe and didn't quite make it, resulting in a small hole in my nice new sail! Live and learn. Nothing a bit of tape won't fix anyway and it could have been much worse!
I've been busy in the workshop, mostly knuckling down and getting some of the new 2011 foils out the door along with Tom Lambert's new 2011 Ninja in the most tasteful colour yet!
I have been able to sneak in a bit of time on Donatello, finally getting around to my take on an adjustable wand (also known as the Oligario Sissy Stick or Pimp Cane) and fitting my proper Hyde tramps.
Terry the spar man, has been making me a new mast to fit my MSL10, which is a bit stiffer than my usual, but with a longer topmast taper to force more bend from higher up. Might get the chance to have a look at that this weekend before the open in Hayling. If the W.I. can get out of bed for their own open meeting we might actually get a good turnout! ;-)
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Parkstone Open
24 Boats rocked up for the open at Parkstone over the weekend. After the lacklustre turnout at QM for the inlands I was a bit worried about the UK circuit but things are looking brighter now the sun is out.
The first race was some of the closest we've had in the UK with Si Payne, Mike Lennon, Chris Rashley, Jason Belben and me all duking it out for the top spot, swapping places in the puffs and putting a real emphasis on tacking as one drop put you at the back of the group. I seemed to have height on everyone and after a few tactical blunders pulled past on the penultimate beat before pulling out a bit of a lead to the finish. That was pretty much my only moment of glory for the day as I had a pretty shocking two races after that, with capsizes in both races and a botched start. I managed to pull back through in the second one to 4th but the last race was really bad with my rusty race skills and a lack of sailing fitness taking their toll and putting me back to 8th.
The Ninja death squad were on good form with Rashers putting in a 3,2,2 and Jason just behind him. Mike Lennon was out in front with a solid 2,1,1 (Must be the Ninja rudder...)
Rodders had us out and about for a good pizza before putting up with about half the fleet on his floor. Buck the truck still has the SYZ and Co sticker on from the Euro's although I'm not sure if the tiller of doom made an appearance...
Sunday dawned with a vicious streak and 30 knot gusts going across Poole harbour. There was a large hesitancy in the air with the monster gusts putting off a lot of the fleet, especially those about to pack for Spain. I wasn't too keen on the harbour launch and recovery and, bearing in mind the amount of work I've got on, didn't want to be putting Donatello back together again after finding the shallows!
The weather backed off nicely and the brave(er than me) enjoyed a good 15-20 knot blast. Simon P showed a return to form with 2 firsts and a second with Jason Belben taking the other race. It's going to be interesting to see how Jason gets on now he's got his set of 2011 foils!
I spent the day eating cake, pondering my wimpiness and sorting out Leo and Badger's wand systems.
With the top 3 separated by 3 points this season is going to be mighty good fun. I just need to make sure I can sail for more than one day in a row and man up a bit!
Gallery of Saturdays racing is here
Results from both days are here
Next open is here...
The first race was some of the closest we've had in the UK with Si Payne, Mike Lennon, Chris Rashley, Jason Belben and me all duking it out for the top spot, swapping places in the puffs and putting a real emphasis on tacking as one drop put you at the back of the group. I seemed to have height on everyone and after a few tactical blunders pulled past on the penultimate beat before pulling out a bit of a lead to the finish. That was pretty much my only moment of glory for the day as I had a pretty shocking two races after that, with capsizes in both races and a botched start. I managed to pull back through in the second one to 4th but the last race was really bad with my rusty race skills and a lack of sailing fitness taking their toll and putting me back to 8th.
The Ninja death squad were on good form with Rashers putting in a 3,2,2 and Jason just behind him. Mike Lennon was out in front with a solid 2,1,1 (Must be the Ninja rudder...)
Rodders had us out and about for a good pizza before putting up with about half the fleet on his floor. Buck the truck still has the SYZ and Co sticker on from the Euro's although I'm not sure if the tiller of doom made an appearance...
Sunday dawned with a vicious streak and 30 knot gusts going across Poole harbour. There was a large hesitancy in the air with the monster gusts putting off a lot of the fleet, especially those about to pack for Spain. I wasn't too keen on the harbour launch and recovery and, bearing in mind the amount of work I've got on, didn't want to be putting Donatello back together again after finding the shallows!
The weather backed off nicely and the brave(er than me) enjoyed a good 15-20 knot blast. Simon P showed a return to form with 2 firsts and a second with Jason Belben taking the other race. It's going to be interesting to see how Jason gets on now he's got his set of 2011 foils!
I spent the day eating cake, pondering my wimpiness and sorting out Leo and Badger's wand systems.
With the top 3 separated by 3 points this season is going to be mighty good fun. I just need to make sure I can sail for more than one day in a row and man up a bit!
Gallery of Saturdays racing is here
Results from both days are here
Next open is here...
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