Is that the right word?
Since the Nationals last year I managed to get to go sailing twice I think, once at Stone where I had finally got my head around everything and was back near the front, clinging onto the coattails of Rashley and Offer and even sneaking in a second overall. Then once at Draycote in apocalyptic conditions that saw my forestay snap, when the boat blew back upright after a capsize and as the boom was still in the water everything loaded up massively in the 30+ knots we had that day! The ensuing carnage saw a hole in the foredeck and a shredded tramp.
I thought I'd bagged a 30 knot run too... Unfortunately I give everyone hassle for getting track logs with their peak speeds so I thought I'd better double check and after soaking my GPS in a bowl of rice overnight to recover it showed a 29.45 knots best and a 10 second average of just under 29. Not bad for a 70 kilo runt in the coldest water the UK has to offer!
So Rocket did me proud for a season. Platform and foils are all where I wanted them to be, but rig development was sorely lacking and taking far too long with my brief periods in the boat. I've got some big plans for a new boat and wanted to make sure the old girl had a new home and ended up selling her in January to Andrew Blee up at Draycote. This made sure I could start getting the ball rolling with my silly boat plans, but with Me being Me this has taken ages, it's April and I still only have a hull shell!
But this afternoon, a fairly major piece of the puzzle had started taking shape on my workshop floor, mostly thanks to Badger who lent his joinery skills for the morning (extra points for a Sunday!) and has given me the kick I need.
Parkstone is this weekend. Hoping to do it in a borrowed boat, then probably not sail again for a month while I finish mine. All good prep for my Eurocup campaign this season! Might just make Medemblik at this rate...
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Very Post Nationals rundown
Okay, okay so I completely failed at blogging at the nationals. Truth is I was having a bit too much fun!
Castle Cove showed all 70 odd boats how to run a great Moth event, with all the volunteers putting in a huge effort making us feel welcome with bacon sarnies galore, the most massive bbq I've ever seen and some top notch racing to boot.
The Moth fleet over here has really come along in the last few years with the spread of abilities really tightening up. I think a lot of this is down to just how sailable the boats are now, letting people crack on and learn to race the boat rather than worrying about keeping it in the water! Reliability has also come on hugely, with big Friday seeing winds over 25 knots and barely any epoxy or grinding to be seen or heard.
I had a very mixed few days which started with a big lack of upwind abilities. I was really struggling to get any fullness out of my 16 upwind (plus side, downwinds we're veeery fast!) and was losing up more than I was gaining down and with the top 30 all being capable Moth sailors meant it was a lot harder to get yourself back in the game.
The windy day went a lot better than I expected with no problems downwind, but my overpowered sail was really causing trouble leading me to get the saw out on my prodder overnight! Saturday saw me back on it a bit more with a bit more all round pace. I bought a used Raptor from Team Ireland (thanks Rory!) on Saturday night and rigged it up with Gio's CST Elite3 and suddenly could go upwind again having my best result of the week in 7th. Unfortunately this followed with my worst race of the week where I couldn't do anything right and had to wipe out avoiding traffic in the leeward gate.
So a real mixed bag. Loads of potential in the boat and always faster downhill than the boats I was around and after a couple of days of 'tuning/biggest event of the year' I was starting to get Rocket uphill too. If I'm going to continue with any delusions I may have of still being competitive I really need to get back on the rig development and maybe go sailing every now and again (having doubled my time on the water this year at the Nats!)
Final Results:
Castle Cove showed all 70 odd boats how to run a great Moth event, with all the volunteers putting in a huge effort making us feel welcome with bacon sarnies galore, the most massive bbq I've ever seen and some top notch racing to boot.
The Moth fleet over here has really come along in the last few years with the spread of abilities really tightening up. I think a lot of this is down to just how sailable the boats are now, letting people crack on and learn to race the boat rather than worrying about keeping it in the water! Reliability has also come on hugely, with big Friday seeing winds over 25 knots and barely any epoxy or grinding to be seen or heard.
I had a very mixed few days which started with a big lack of upwind abilities. I was really struggling to get any fullness out of my 16 upwind (plus side, downwinds we're veeery fast!) and was losing up more than I was gaining down and with the top 30 all being capable Moth sailors meant it was a lot harder to get yourself back in the game.
The windy day went a lot better than I expected with no problems downwind, but my overpowered sail was really causing trouble leading me to get the saw out on my prodder overnight! Saturday saw me back on it a bit more with a bit more all round pace. I bought a used Raptor from Team Ireland (thanks Rory!) on Saturday night and rigged it up with Gio's CST Elite3 and suddenly could go upwind again having my best result of the week in 7th. Unfortunately this followed with my worst race of the week where I couldn't do anything right and had to wipe out avoiding traffic in the leeward gate.
So a real mixed bag. Loads of potential in the boat and always faster downhill than the boats I was around and after a couple of days of 'tuning/biggest event of the year' I was starting to get Rocket uphill too. If I'm going to continue with any delusions I may have of still being competitive I really need to get back on the rig development and maybe go sailing every now and again (having doubled my time on the water this year at the Nats!)
Final Results:
| Place | Points | Sail No | Helm | Club | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | Race 7 | Race 8 | Race 9 | Race 10 | Race 11 | Race 12 |
| 27 Jun | 27 Jun | 27 Jun | 28 Jun | 28 Jun | 28 Jun | 29 Jun | 29 Jun | 29 Jun | 30 Jun | 30 Jun | 30 Jun | |||||
| 1 | 14 | 4047 | Robert Greenhalgh | Stokes Bay SC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | (4) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | (59/RET) |
| 2 | 18 | 7 | Chris Rashley | Royal London Yacht Club | (3) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | (3) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 31 | 3985 | Simon Hiscocks | Castle Cove Sailing Club | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | (10) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | (9) | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | 38 | 3980 | Mike Lennon | HISC | 4 | 5 | 3 | (6) | 3 | (6) | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | 62 | 3942 | Jason Belben | Stokes Bay Sailing Club | 8 | 4 | (9) | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | (11) | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | 69 | 3982 | Ben Paton | Lymington | 5 | 3 | 6 | 17 | (27) | (74/DNC) | 7 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 5 |
| 7 | 79 | 40 | Tom Offer | Rock | 11 | (16) | 5 | 8 | 2 | 4 | (65/OCS) | 13 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 8 |
| 8 | 81 | 3795 | Peter Barton | Royal Lymington YC | 12 | 9 | (17) | 9 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 8 | (15) |
| 9 | 92 | 3945 | Eelco Boers | de roerkoning | 13 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 11 | (14) | (16) | 7 |
| 10 | 98 | 3941 | Gareth Davies | stone sailing club | 10 | 6 | 16 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 10 | (41) | (28) | 10 |
| 11 | 102 | 4037 | Jason Russell | HISC | 6 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 13 | (16) | 9 | (16) |
| 12 | 119 | 5 | Mike Cooke | South West Cider Squad | 9 | 15 | 11 | 19 | 18 | (74/DNC) | 11 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 7 | (28) |
| 13 | 142 | 3916 | James Phare | Queen Mary SC | 7 | 20 | (40) | 4 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 15 | 21 | 25 | (38) |
| 14 | 147 | 3607 | Olivier Vidal | (21) | 17 | 20 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 21 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 11 | (25) | |
| 15 | 151 | 3729 | Phillip Kasermann | 15 | 10 | (30) | 13 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 14 | (30) | 19 | 26 | |
| 16 | 158 | 3972 | Yann Andrillon | ASNQ | 18 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 10 | 16 | 17 | (25) | 13 | (27) |
| 17 | 163 | 4033 | Ricky Tagg | Hayling Island | 17 | 8 | 7 | (32) | 21 | 21 | 30 | 29 | (58/RET) | 11 | 6 | 13 |
| 18 | 165 | 3622 | Fabien Froesch | SNG | 16 | 13 | 13 | (23) | 22 | 19 | 16 | 15 | (24) | 19 | 23 | 9 |
| 19 | 175 | 3614 | Doug Pybus | QMSC | 14 | 23 | (26) | 21 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 23 | (29) | 21 | 11 |
| 20 | 180 | 3944 | Richard Westbury | Bartley SC | (33) | 21 | 14 | (26) | 20 | 18 | 13 | 23 | 26 | 15 | 18 | 12 |
| 21 | 191 | 3711 | Dan Ward | Frensham Ponds | 20 | 19 | (35) | 14 | 9 | 14 | 25 | 30 | 16 | 20 | (35) | 24 |
| 22 | 204 | 3981 | Simon Reynolds | Whitstable Yacht Club | 22 | (30) | 24 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 23 | 25 | 20 | (32) | 24 | 17 |
| 23 | 224 | 3592 | Rory Fitzpatrick | NYC/RYC | 24 | 24 | 36 | 20 | 33/RET | (74/DNC) | 18 | 21 | 22 | (62/OCS) | 12 | 14 |
| 24 | 247 | 3870 | Ollie Holden | HISC | 25 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 27 | 24 | 28 | 24 | (31) | (31) |
| 25 | 252 | 3764 | Dan Vincent | Stokes Bay Sailing Club | 32 | (33) | 23 | 22 | 19 | 23 | 26 | (33) | 31 | 18 | 29 | 29 |
| 26 | 254 | 3915 | Good Morgan | BRYC | 28 | 32 | 27 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 22 | 22 | 33 | 8 | 22 | 19 |
| 27 | 257 | 3684 | Sven Kloppenburg | RSV/SCR | 31 | 26 | 25 | 36 | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 28 | 28 | 25 | 22 | 14 | 22 |
| 28 | 269 | 940 | Kevin Ellway | 26 | 40 | 15 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 32 | 36 | 29 | 10 | 20 | 20 | |
| 29 | 295 | 3947 | Leigh Albrecht | QMSC | 23 | 27 | 31 | 40 | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 31 | 26 | 34 | 35 | 30 | 18 |
| 30 | 300 | 4042 | Giovanni Galeotti | RYCB | 29 | 44 | 42 | 15 | 23 | 24 | 39 | 31 | 19 | 34 | (46) | (59/RET) |
| 31 | 323 | 3718 | Anthony Rezzoug | ASNQ | (58/RET) | 29 | 48 | 41/RET | (74/DNS) | 29 | 24 | 20 | 18 | 37 | 40 | 37 |
| 32 | 328 | 3943 | Richard Edwards | Parkstone YC | 27 | 45 | 28 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 17 | 18 | 41 | 44 | 33 | 34 |
| 33 | 328 | 4045 | Matthew Ponsford | HISC | 36 | 35 | 34 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 33 | 34 | 30 | 28 | 34 | 23 |
| 34 | 332 | 3766 | Alex Koukourakis | Eastbourne Soverign SC | 58/RET | 56/RET | 37 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 19 | 27 | 21 | 26 | 26 | 21 |
| 35 | 337 | 3635 | John Chambers | Coal Harbour | 37 | 34 | 32 | (74/DNC) | 24 | 27 | 34 | 37 | (43) | 38 | 38 | 36 |
| 36 | 350 | 3995 | Graham Simmonds | 38 | 36 | 21 | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 29 | 32 | 27 | 36 | 27 | 30 | |
| 37 | 362 | 3849 | Constantijn Weber | 40 | 41 | (47) | 34 | 28 | 28 | 37 | 42 | 36 | 33 | (45) | 43 | |
| 38 | 366 | 3730 | Jon Peats | Castle Cove Sailing Club | (58/RET) | 37 | 50 | 30 | 26 | 25 | 35 | 38 | 38 | (57) | 43 | 44 |
| 39 | 383 | 3946 | Paul Beard | Queen Mary SC | 35 | 39 | 33 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 36 | 41 | 40 | 39 | 39 | 40 |
| 40 | 384 | 3940 | Jo Evans | Stokes Bay Sailing Club | 39 | 42 | 29 | (74/DNS) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 38 | 44 | 37 | 13 | 36 | 32 |
| 41 | 390 | 3830 | John Clifton | Shoreham SC | 42 | 43 | 41 | 33 | 33/RET | (74/DNC) | (57) | 39 | 32 | 42 | 52 | 33 |
| 42 | 405 | 3891 | David Edwards | TATA Steel SC | 19 | 14 | 8 | 31 | 30 | 20 | 61/RET | (74/DNS) | (74/DNS) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC |
| 43 | 423 | 3715 | Chris Jeeves | 51 | 50 | (53) | 35 | 31 | (74/DNC) | 40 | 45 | 46 | 31 | 49 | 45 | |
| 44 | 425 | 3758 | Jono Pank | Castle Cove Sailing Club | 41 | 38 | 49 | 38 | 33/RET | (74/DNC) | (55) | 43 | 42 | 43 | 47 | 51 |
| 45 | 433 | 3924 | Tim Penfold | HISC | 30 | 28 | 38 | 27 | (74/DNC) | 30 | 61/RET | (74/DNS) | 74/DNS | 74/DNC | 32 | 39 |
| 46 | 448 | 3935 | Claire Gavigniaux | 50 | 49 | 46 | 37 | 32 | 31/RET | 54 | 51 | 48 | (55) | (56) | 50 | |
| 47 | 449 | 3674 | Neil Baker | HISC | 34 | 22 | 18 | 24 | 29 | 26 | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC |
| 48 | 450 | 3914 | Ole Frey | 43 | 47 | 44 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 41 | 48 | 44 | 40 | 55 | 47 | |
| 49 | 455 | 3605 | Cameron Stewart | HISC | 44 | 48 | 57/RET | 28 | 33/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 50 | 45 | 54 | 48 | 48 |
| 50 | 455 | 3994 | Damien Le Houerou | 45 | 46 | 52 | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 44 | 40 | 35 | 47 | 37 | 35 | |
| 51 | 496 | 3432 | Kyle Stoneham | TBYC | 47 | 52 | 54 | 39 | 33/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 52 | 54 | 49 | 61 | 55 |
| 52 | 498 | 42 | Phil Oligario | Stokes Bay SC | 56 | 56/RET | 45 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 43 | 46 | 49 | 74/DNC | 42 | 46 |
| 53 | 513 | 3601 | Hans Rasmussen | 52 | 54 | 56 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 47 | 54 | 51 | 50 | 54 | 54 | |
| 54 | 522 | 4043 | Paul Hayden | 48 | 56/RET | 39 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 42 | 35 | 39 | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | |
| 55 | 531 | 3312 | Miles Burrage | TBYC | 54 | 53 | 55 | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 56 | 55 | 53 | 52 | 60 | 52 |
| 56 | 536 | 3893 | Tom Lambert | 49 | 51 | 51 | (74/DNS) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 45 | 49 | 58/RET | 74/DNC | 44 | 41 | |
| 57 | 539 | 3632 | Martin Fear | Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club | 46 | 31 | 43 | 29 | 33/RET | (74/DNC) | 61/RET | (74/DNS) | 74/DNS | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC |
| 58 | 543 | 3106 | Helen Rollinson | Castle Cove Sailing Club | 53 | 56/RET | (74/DNS) | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 51 | 53 | 52 | 48 | 59 | 56 |
| 59 | 552 | 3759 | Nic Streatfeild | Rutland | 55 | 56/RET | (74/DNC) | 41/RET | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 49 | 56 | 58/RET | 46 | 58 | 59/RET |
| 60 | 566 | 3959 | Paul Goodison | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 27 | 17 | 4 | |
| 61 | 584 | 3861 | Annalise Murphey | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 46 | 47 | 47 | 56 | 50 | 42 | |
| 62 | 597 | 3757 | Andrew Blee | Draycote Water SC | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 48 | 58 | 50 | 45 | 51 | 49 |
| 63 | 623 | 3837 | David Simmonds | Hayling Island SC | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNS | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 58 | 57 | 55 | 51 | 53 | 53 |
| 64 | 649 | 3254 | Keri Harris | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 59 | 59 | 56 | 60 | 62 | 57 | |
| 65 | 656 | 3665 | Unknown | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 23 | 41 | 74/DNC | |
| 66 | 659 | 3763 | Simon Philbrick | Poole YC | (74/DNS) | (74/DNS) | 74/DNS | 74/DNS | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 53 | 74/DNC | 57 | 58 | 63 | 58 |
| 67 | 664 | 3495 | Stuart Scott | scalingdam | 57 | 55 | (74/DNC) | (74/DNS) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 50 | 74/DNC | 58/RET | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC |
| 68 | 666 | 395 | Jim McMillan | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 52 | 60/RET | 74/DNS | 53 | 57 | 74/DNC | |
| 69 | 712 | 3621 | Ken Barker | Parkstone YC | (74/DNS) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNS | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 60 | 60/RET | 74/DNS | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC |
| 70 | 725 | 3954 | Unknown | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 59 | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | |
| 71= | 740 | 3437 | Unknown | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | |
| 72= | 740 | 3946 | Paul Beard | Queen Mary SC | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC |
| 73= | 740 | 3934 | Damien Le Houerou | ASQ | (74/DNC) | (74/DNC) | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC | 74/DNC |
Monday, 10 June 2013
Yeah, I'm still here
For a while my blogging was inversely proportional to my sailing time, choosing to spend time on the water. That's gone out the window this year and my blogging is pretty much on par with my sailing time!
I worked out the other day that my Moth sailing hours are barely into double figures this year, and that includes the recent inlands at Bala which is pretty much the only event I've made it to! Thankfully it turned out to be a belter, with beautiful sunshine and awesome breezes on the Sunday. Rocket is proving to be a trusty companion for me, with plenty of pace and nice easy handling. While I ended up third in the event, it was a close run thing and my missing the start of race 4 (by half the beat!) cost me dearly. Badger is back on it, in his Rocket Powered M2 - slowly getting the hang of setting that up...
Rocket development is proceeding apace, with boats 5 and 6 in build at the moment. Gio and Dylan Fletcher are providing valuable tuning feedback and we're slowly getting an understanding of how the boats like to be setup and they're proving to be pretty quick at first launch now which is a good sign of how the setups are coming together.
Suffice to say I plan on being on the water at the Nationals in plenty of time for the starts, even if I don't get any hours in beforehand! It's shaping up to be a great event too, with nearly 40 boats entered within the first few days of registration and plenty of Euro folk heading over for the chance to win loads of cake by the sounds of it.
Sounds like my kind of event!
I worked out the other day that my Moth sailing hours are barely into double figures this year, and that includes the recent inlands at Bala which is pretty much the only event I've made it to! Thankfully it turned out to be a belter, with beautiful sunshine and awesome breezes on the Sunday. Rocket is proving to be a trusty companion for me, with plenty of pace and nice easy handling. While I ended up third in the event, it was a close run thing and my missing the start of race 4 (by half the beat!) cost me dearly. Badger is back on it, in his Rocket Powered M2 - slowly getting the hang of setting that up...
Rocket development is proceeding apace, with boats 5 and 6 in build at the moment. Gio and Dylan Fletcher are providing valuable tuning feedback and we're slowly getting an understanding of how the boats like to be setup and they're proving to be pretty quick at first launch now which is a good sign of how the setups are coming together.
Suffice to say I plan on being on the water at the Nationals in plenty of time for the starts, even if I don't get any hours in beforehand! It's shaping up to be a great event too, with nearly 40 boats entered within the first few days of registration and plenty of Euro folk heading over for the chance to win loads of cake by the sounds of it.
Sounds like my kind of event!
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Dinghy Show this weekend
The RYA Dinghy Show will be this weekend at Alexandra Palace. Well worth a visit to see the latest in Moth Innovation along with the Exocet ;-p
We'll be displaying Chris Rashleys new boat, along with the first Rocket and both Simon Maguire and I will be on hand all weekend to hopefully answer all your questions, as long as they don't all consist of questions about the wand!
Hopefully see you all there!
We'll be displaying Chris Rashleys new boat, along with the first Rocket and both Simon Maguire and I will be on hand all weekend to hopefully answer all your questions, as long as they don't all consist of questions about the wand!
Hopefully see you all there!
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Rocket Launcher
So the Rocket finally took to the skies at Queen Mary yesterday. I'll post a bit more in depth later on but I figured I ought to put something up for those poor people not on Facebook ;-) . Things went hitch free thankfully and I spend a good couple of hours blasting around trying to remember how to sail (not been in a boat since October) and starting to figure out what settings need tweaking.
You'll have to forgive the ridiculously high boom, this was before I started playing with everything to get it all in the right place!
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Fresh start
So, it's 2013. Wow - that one crept up pretty rapidly.
I've not sailed now since the Hayling open (which I failed to blog about as it sucked man balls) and as I've been boatless I was intrigued to see how fired I'd be when I finally got around to the thought of sailing again!
Suffice to say, I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. The build process for the Rocket has been a long one as I've been relying heavily on pulling favours for some major items (thanks Dave!) but as the end of it all approaches I've got a CnC'd hull blank and mould, a pretty awesome looking new mainfoil mould and a rudder mould landing any day. There's a good stash of new thinking on this boat mostly based on my experience with the Ninja builds, I had a good blueprint in my head as to where I wanted to go with it all and a lot of it is the sort of thing you can only do with a fresh start - no ties to the past or backwards compatibility. I suppose all will be revealed and if you've been following my Facebook page you'll probably have seen a few hints.
So, with my Fresh Start (TM) thinking in mind I've resigned from Cheddar. I'll probably sail a couple of times there in the winter series but I suspect I'll be doing most of my sailing from either Queen Mary or Weymouth - it'll be a mission, but the competition is what I need to try to bring myself back up to scratch and give the Rocket it's best chance. I've not been getting much use out of BCYC and there's all sorts of behind the scenes nobbery with the committee running the place that's forced other members out and it's just not a great place to hang out.
Not sure what that means for the blog, but at least I still live near Bristol....
I've not sailed now since the Hayling open (which I failed to blog about as it sucked man balls) and as I've been boatless I was intrigued to see how fired I'd be when I finally got around to the thought of sailing again!
Suffice to say, I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. The build process for the Rocket has been a long one as I've been relying heavily on pulling favours for some major items (thanks Dave!) but as the end of it all approaches I've got a CnC'd hull blank and mould, a pretty awesome looking new mainfoil mould and a rudder mould landing any day. There's a good stash of new thinking on this boat mostly based on my experience with the Ninja builds, I had a good blueprint in my head as to where I wanted to go with it all and a lot of it is the sort of thing you can only do with a fresh start - no ties to the past or backwards compatibility. I suppose all will be revealed and if you've been following my Facebook page you'll probably have seen a few hints.
So, with my Fresh Start (TM) thinking in mind I've resigned from Cheddar. I'll probably sail a couple of times there in the winter series but I suspect I'll be doing most of my sailing from either Queen Mary or Weymouth - it'll be a mission, but the competition is what I need to try to bring myself back up to scratch and give the Rocket it's best chance. I've not been getting much use out of BCYC and there's all sorts of behind the scenes nobbery with the committee running the place that's forced other members out and it's just not a great place to hang out.
Not sure what that means for the blog, but at least I still live near Bristol....
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