Well another new year is about to rear its head and that always provides an opportunity for reminiscing. It's been a strange one from my point of view - I've done the least amount of sailing since I was about 7 and not through choice! I've tried pretty hard to go sailing and put the hours in but I've spent ages at the whim of weather, multiple club duties and now an empty lake. At some point you have to decide at what level you intend to compete and so far I have seen little point in driving hours across the country just to train but have come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to put the hours in! I know the boat is faster than ever and the TideRide proved that despite my rustyness so just the mission of getting back to racing fitness and getting on top of the boat handling again...
I suppose with the size of the UK and the broadness of sailing we have over here it's easy to take for granted what we have and while I am in a bit of a black hole in the country with only one club I could sail at, within 2-3 hours I could be at any one of a number of clubs with a load of other Moths enjoying some time on the water.
This has been one of my opposing thoughts on the wing topic in that in the UK we do travel frequently by trailer/cartop and hard sails would be a burden on that - not an insurmountable one certainly but a burden nonetheless and having had a chance to catch up with Adam over the Christmas period and check out his wing hasn't really alleviated my concerns in this area. Even the best case of it breaking down into 4 pieces still won't fit on a car and would need a large trailer (or a VW transporter, lucky me!). Don't even get me starting on the SA (stupid americans) forum wars. Too many people not knowing when to stfu, along with my favorite - I don't know who in their right mind believes there is an "anti wing lobby" makes it sound like the Illuminati is out to get us....
It's the usual exciting time in Mothland with Blog reports starting to come out (Matt Knowles has been excellent) and I'm looking forward to hearing all about it and wishing I was there. Someone asked me while I was feeling grumpy on Facebook how I could afford not to be there and I can see the sentiment but it's the harsh reality of self employment (and building things at that) in that just affording to go is only half the battle but it's what you can afford to miss out on workwise that's far more important. Those who can telecommute have it easy but nothing gets made while I'm gone...
Anyway. Looking forward - the Bristol Mothies are in good spirits despite not having been on the lake since September (July in my case!), and we all met up a couple of weeks back in Bath for drinks to catchup. It's been all change though, with Tom Offer picking up a Mach2, Simon Hindley sellling his Prowler to make way for the Turtle and me working on the 2011 boat and foils... Names and silly colour schemes on a postcard!
The winter silly season is kicking off with the Grafham GP this Sunday (sorry, too far for me for one day!) and the Bloody Mary the following Saturday which usually attracts a good bunch of Moths and I'm hoping for +figure temperatures at least...
Heres to 2011. May my blog posts be shorter and more interesting.
Friday, 31 December 2010
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Bristol Moth ice skating squadron
The recent cold spell, combined with the lack of water means the lake has now frozen over! What little sailing they were trying to run at BCYC has been canned for this weekend. Fingers cross it lets up enough to thaw out and that Bristol Water start filling up again.
Thankfully there has been no wind lately so I coulnd't have been sailing elsewhere! Aus is looking more and more sensible by the minute...
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Bristol Moth tea drinking squadron
Still no water. Rumour has it it's up a bit over the last few weeks and I'm hoping we'll be sailing again within a week...
Fingers crossed. I'm starting to forget what my boat looks like!
Fingers crossed. I'm starting to forget what my boat looks like!
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Solid Sail Society
I'm still not a fully paid up member of this exclusive club. I've been thinking about it for a while but it is not that straightforward. Building a wing itself seems pretty easy but the rule interpretations around it and the fact that the measurers themselves can't agree on even the basics without resorting to throwing one design insults means I'm just not ready to jump yet.
The recently published rule interpretations surrounding the adoption of wings lends more to my feeling that it's a square peg, round hole argument. The rules as they stand obviously aren't worded or built to cope with wings which has left the whole thing open for some pretty wild assumptions and it's going to be interesting to see what appears in Belmont and how it goes down with those attending.
As it stands, regardless of whether the mast is a mast and the bit on the back is a sail the only reason the whole system works is because it behaves as two sails and that simple fact puts me on the side that they probably shouldn't be allowed at all!
There are those who say that we are a development class and we should allow it but the flaw in that argument is that we have banned multihulls, sailboards and have limits on things for very good reasons. Whether a wing rig is something the class wants remains to be seen but I am very hopeful that decisions aren't made in Belmont without consulting the rest of us. Those that can afford to get there in the first place have a very different perspective on things...
Rant over - I'm off to Hayling to help out with the class coaching this weekend. The reservoir is filling back up and will hopefully be mothable in a couple of weeks time. in the mean time I've made another toy that only needs 8 inches of water to go sailing!
The recently published rule interpretations surrounding the adoption of wings lends more to my feeling that it's a square peg, round hole argument. The rules as they stand obviously aren't worded or built to cope with wings which has left the whole thing open for some pretty wild assumptions and it's going to be interesting to see what appears in Belmont and how it goes down with those attending.
As it stands, regardless of whether the mast is a mast and the bit on the back is a sail the only reason the whole system works is because it behaves as two sails and that simple fact puts me on the side that they probably shouldn't be allowed at all!
There are those who say that we are a development class and we should allow it but the flaw in that argument is that we have banned multihulls, sailboards and have limits on things for very good reasons. Whether a wing rig is something the class wants remains to be seen but I am very hopeful that decisions aren't made in Belmont without consulting the rest of us. Those that can afford to get there in the first place have a very different perspective on things...
Rant over - I'm off to Hayling to help out with the class coaching this weekend. The reservoir is filling back up and will hopefully be mothable in a couple of weeks time. in the mean time I've made another toy that only needs 8 inches of water to go sailing!
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Tide Ride shenanigins
Hayling laid on its finest conditions for a weekend of riding the tide. With the demise of Holt last year the event was lacking the usual push and turnout was down by all classes and the 800s and Mustos got canned at the last minute due to a lack on entries.
So 17 boats took to the harbour for a load of short sharp racing, enough to blow the cobwebs away and sort out rusty boat handling. I had my new Hyde back up after a small luff round mod to flatten off the bottom 1/2 of the sail which resulted in some more upwind pace and I spent Saturday battling it out with Mike L and Si. I felt I was generally as fast upwind but quicker down while my racing was littered with the usual mistakes and dropped maneuvers, the sort of thing that not going sailing much does to you!
Saturday night saw a few mothies chilling out at the sailing club with Ben Paton feeding Pete Barton many rums, tequilas and anything else he could find and the look on Pete's face in the morning said it all!
Sunday got pretty hectic with a lot of chop and traffic crossing the course. We were running the gibing slalom course which was highly entertaining although I spent quite a while going down the mine and managed at least one lap of one race failing to land a single gibe - I managed one near flawless race in the lead but one more fluffed gibe let Mike through! It's pretty scary the distance that one mistake can cost you!
Quite a bit of random damage over the weekend, with two tillers sat on, one mainsail under the jetty, one downed rig and one rudder attached to one of the marks - would have been interesting to see how a solid sail would have coped with the many stacks and HISC sand!
Chris Bashall took load of photos which are on his website here.
So with winter ahead and still no water at the sailing club there's not going to be a lot of sailing for the near future at least which leaves me pondering wings and things...
So 17 boats took to the harbour for a load of short sharp racing, enough to blow the cobwebs away and sort out rusty boat handling. I had my new Hyde back up after a small luff round mod to flatten off the bottom 1/2 of the sail which resulted in some more upwind pace and I spent Saturday battling it out with Mike L and Si. I felt I was generally as fast upwind but quicker down while my racing was littered with the usual mistakes and dropped maneuvers, the sort of thing that not going sailing much does to you!
Saturday night saw a few mothies chilling out at the sailing club with Ben Paton feeding Pete Barton many rums, tequilas and anything else he could find and the look on Pete's face in the morning said it all!
Sunday got pretty hectic with a lot of chop and traffic crossing the course. We were running the gibing slalom course which was highly entertaining although I spent quite a while going down the mine and managed at least one lap of one race failing to land a single gibe - I managed one near flawless race in the lead but one more fluffed gibe let Mike through! It's pretty scary the distance that one mistake can cost you!
Quite a bit of random damage over the weekend, with two tillers sat on, one mainsail under the jetty, one downed rig and one rudder attached to one of the marks - would have been interesting to see how a solid sail would have coped with the many stacks and HISC sand!
Chris Bashall took load of photos which are on his website here.
So with winter ahead and still no water at the sailing club there's not going to be a lot of sailing for the near future at least which leaves me pondering wings and things...
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
I'm over here with the wing!
I'm stuck in a circular loop on this one. I've been thinking about it and have got some preliminary ideas on how I'd do it. Just making a wing isn't the problem. Making one without ruining my Mothing is the difficult bit and I agree with Andrew's thoughts on this (see the M2 forum).
I want to go down the club, put my boat together and go sailing. I can do this in 15 minutes. I don't need help to make sure I get the rig up without damaging it. I dont need safe storage in the boat park for said rig as my mast is in 2 pieces under my cover along with my sail and boom. I don't have to worry about getting sand in the moving parts. I don't need a box trailer or van to take it to events as the boat goes on the roof.
The moth has a good track record of not managing development and letting things happen. The single biggest problem with that attitude this time around is that we have so much more to lose than before. Foils transformed the class - it's still ascending now and I can't see wings improving things rather destroying what's been built. The non circuit Mothies I have spoken to believe it's a step too far and it would stop them from joining in. That is a bad thing.
I personally think that a couple of year hold on using hard sails in competition would be the way forward as it would allow things to develop on the side and give the Moth the chance to grow and re-evaluate when more facts are present.
A seperate note:
Are they legal as it stands? A mainsail has to be held by it's luff to a mast as best as I can tell from the ISAF equipment rules which a separated split flap would go against.
My former class had a fairly simple restriction on the sail - it needed to be able to be rolled/folded without damage.
I want to go down the club, put my boat together and go sailing. I can do this in 15 minutes. I don't need help to make sure I get the rig up without damaging it. I dont need safe storage in the boat park for said rig as my mast is in 2 pieces under my cover along with my sail and boom. I don't have to worry about getting sand in the moving parts. I don't need a box trailer or van to take it to events as the boat goes on the roof.
The moth has a good track record of not managing development and letting things happen. The single biggest problem with that attitude this time around is that we have so much more to lose than before. Foils transformed the class - it's still ascending now and I can't see wings improving things rather destroying what's been built. The non circuit Mothies I have spoken to believe it's a step too far and it would stop them from joining in. That is a bad thing.
I personally think that a couple of year hold on using hard sails in competition would be the way forward as it would allow things to develop on the side and give the Moth the chance to grow and re-evaluate when more facts are present.
A seperate note:
Are they legal as it stands? A mainsail has to be held by it's luff to a mast as best as I can tell from the ISAF equipment rules which a separated split flap would go against.
My former class had a fairly simple restriction on the sail - it needed to be able to be rolled/folded without damage.
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Monday, 4 October 2010
Bristol Moth Port Talbot invasion
Leo, Simon and I decided we needed another sailing fix, so we braved the Ryder Cup traffic (there was none!) and the rather dubious forecast (it turned out lovely) to head over to Port Talbot and get some sailing in with DJ.
We were greeted by a nice 10-15 knots and a very welcoming Corus SC. After fueling up on a bit of tea and cake we hit the water for a good three hour session. I've got a couple of silly toys on the boat which I wanted to get my head around before heading down to the Tide Ride and thankfully they were both working pretty much as I'd expected. I've also got my 2b Hyde back from Tom so was good to be on the water figuring everything out and trying to get my setup truly sorted.
DJ and I did the middle race of the club regatta, giving a chance to show the locals what the Moth can do and on a short windward leeward course I was lapping the Musto skiff on every other round! While I'm definitely not as polished as I was this time last year I feel I'm getting back into the swing of things before the Moth Winter Champs series kicks off next weekend down at Hayling... Only 8 Moths pre-entered at the moment - GET ON IT!!!
We were greeted by a nice 10-15 knots and a very welcoming Corus SC. After fueling up on a bit of tea and cake we hit the water for a good three hour session. I've got a couple of silly toys on the boat which I wanted to get my head around before heading down to the Tide Ride and thankfully they were both working pretty much as I'd expected. I've also got my 2b Hyde back from Tom so was good to be on the water figuring everything out and trying to get my setup truly sorted.
DJ and I did the middle race of the club regatta, giving a chance to show the locals what the Moth can do and on a short windward leeward course I was lapping the Musto skiff on every other round! While I'm definitely not as polished as I was this time last year I feel I'm getting back into the swing of things before the Moth Winter Champs series kicks off next weekend down at Hayling... Only 8 Moths pre-entered at the moment - GET ON IT!!!
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Bristol Moth Foiltown invasion
Theres been very little in the way of sailing at Axebridge since July now. Bristol water have a problem with one of their other reservoirs and have been using up all our lake! This looks set to continue for the next 4 weeks or so leaving us with very little else to do but go travelling when we can.
Last Sunday had us canning a planned trip to Port Talbot to sail with DJ due to a poor forecast but instead decamping to Weymouth. Foiltown did not disappoint giving us blue skies and 15 ish knots. Joining Foiltown resident Alex Adams were myself, Martin, Darren and Simon and we all got on the water around lunchtime for a good three hour session.
Martin was running a shiny new '10 North letting me play with his old X8 sail as I'd lent my Hyde to Tom Offer for a week in Rock (Tom still hasn't got his replacement sail after the Choppy incident in Switzerland). It was good to get on the water after only one sail myself since Silvaplana and while I struggled to get under the boom with the X8 sail up the boat felt really good. We did a load of windward/leeward, dodging the zone squaddies and generally having a very nice time!
Tom meanwhile has been living it up in Rock with Ninja Tuna, apparently getting out most evenings and playing around with his setups. Based on his progress this year I expect him to give me a good spanking next time we meet on the water!
We're reconvening at Port Talbot with DJ this Sunday if the wind gods play nice. Should be good to get out and play with some new toys I have on the boat and try to remind myself how to tack and gibe!
TIDE RIDE SOON!!!
Monday, 6 September 2010
Silvaplana
I've now had a couple of weeks to mull over the trip to Switzerland and I was hoping hindsight might make it feel a bit rosier but unfortunately I still hate the place!
The sailing itself was actually not too bad and although I struggled to figure the place out it was a nice bit of water to go for a plod around. Unfortunately that was marred by too many boats in too small a space, combined with some lunatic course ideas. The Swiss interpretation of the grand-prix finishing system left much to be desired with many people not getting proper finishes or positions. The split gate at the bottom was too close together and one single Moth on its side in the middle pretty much closed the thing out which, led to quite a few wipeouts and one very scary incident that resulted in one of the first protests I can remember at a Moth event - a Rule 69 no less. It also shouldn't take 8 marks to set a windward/leeward!
The event looked great to pretty much everyone that wasn't there and they did an excellent job in getting the publicity out and to a high standard. I believe the event suffered from a lack of attention elsewhere. Where were the socials? One trip up a mountain for an overpriced school dinner barely qualifies and the event tent was pretty much wholely wasted serving overpriced bowls of pasta and little else. Bearing in mind there was little else to do within a 10 mile radius it should have been the hub of the whole thing...
The money. I knew this place was going to be expensive but we were stung for absolutely everything. 5chf for a jug of tap water, 5 chf to have your pizza cut so you can share it, £50 to have a boat measured, £30 to have a sail measured, road tax on your car, road tax on your trailer, £20+ for a pizza? Seriously? Steak was out of the question, much to Rod's disappointment!
I came away from the whole thing feeling shortchanged (figuratively and literally). I started the week well but made a poor equipment call and lost a race (went to change sails only to have the previously slow race committee turn us around very quickly). I lost another 2 races following a monster wipeout where I damaged the gantry attachment. This left me counting a DNS in my final score, which put me in the low teens rather than top dozen. I also had a pretty successful mental meltdown on the final day despite having tons of pace and put in two shockers, making mistakes left and right, and wasn't helped by being put in on the start by Rob Gough - one of the few times I was actually anywhere near the line!
I've obviously got a lot to work on, but the boat doesn't seem to be one of them. I can't get off a start line to save my life (I haven't sailed in a fleet that big since the early 90s!), my boat handling is all over the place and tactics non-existent. What was good was that when I was near the front I could stay there, providing I didn't do anything stupid!
In the rest of camp Ninja, Jason Belben finished in 10th and definitely showed pace around the course. Ben Paton proved himself to be one to watch in the future, almost breaking into the top ten on the last day after only 4 months in the boat. He rides high and fast and isn't afraid to take risks. The boy is quick!
I'm pretty confident that the best sailors won in Switzerland, rather than the best boats, and Team Ninja are going to step up next season - next stop Travemunde!
The sailing itself was actually not too bad and although I struggled to figure the place out it was a nice bit of water to go for a plod around. Unfortunately that was marred by too many boats in too small a space, combined with some lunatic course ideas. The Swiss interpretation of the grand-prix finishing system left much to be desired with many people not getting proper finishes or positions. The split gate at the bottom was too close together and one single Moth on its side in the middle pretty much closed the thing out which, led to quite a few wipeouts and one very scary incident that resulted in one of the first protests I can remember at a Moth event - a Rule 69 no less. It also shouldn't take 8 marks to set a windward/leeward!
The event looked great to pretty much everyone that wasn't there and they did an excellent job in getting the publicity out and to a high standard. I believe the event suffered from a lack of attention elsewhere. Where were the socials? One trip up a mountain for an overpriced school dinner barely qualifies and the event tent was pretty much wholely wasted serving overpriced bowls of pasta and little else. Bearing in mind there was little else to do within a 10 mile radius it should have been the hub of the whole thing...
The money. I knew this place was going to be expensive but we were stung for absolutely everything. 5chf for a jug of tap water, 5 chf to have your pizza cut so you can share it, £50 to have a boat measured, £30 to have a sail measured, road tax on your car, road tax on your trailer, £20+ for a pizza? Seriously? Steak was out of the question, much to Rod's disappointment!
I came away from the whole thing feeling shortchanged (figuratively and literally). I started the week well but made a poor equipment call and lost a race (went to change sails only to have the previously slow race committee turn us around very quickly). I lost another 2 races following a monster wipeout where I damaged the gantry attachment. This left me counting a DNS in my final score, which put me in the low teens rather than top dozen. I also had a pretty successful mental meltdown on the final day despite having tons of pace and put in two shockers, making mistakes left and right, and wasn't helped by being put in on the start by Rob Gough - one of the few times I was actually anywhere near the line!
I've obviously got a lot to work on, but the boat doesn't seem to be one of them. I can't get off a start line to save my life (I haven't sailed in a fleet that big since the early 90s!), my boat handling is all over the place and tactics non-existent. What was good was that when I was near the front I could stay there, providing I didn't do anything stupid!
In the rest of camp Ninja, Jason Belben finished in 10th and definitely showed pace around the course. Ben Paton proved himself to be one to watch in the future, almost breaking into the top ten on the last day after only 4 months in the boat. He rides high and fast and isn't afraid to take risks. The boy is quick!
I'm pretty confident that the best sailors won in Switzerland, rather than the best boats, and Team Ninja are going to step up next season - next stop Travemunde!
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