2013 Moth Worlds Form Guide

OK here we go! We confidently reveal the top 10 with the same authority and precision as in (ahem) previous years!

Firstly the venue! Kaneohe Bay Hawaii! It’s on the windward side of the island, but its inside a bay, so its sheltered and therefore flat water. It’s seemingly perfect for Moth sailing with its lovely wind and clear warm water.

However a note of caution. If you’re not a good tacker then you are going to struggle. We haven’t heard the word “cone” in sailing until this summer but it seems now it’s everywhere. We are told that there is a kind of a cone here too, specifically as it gets shiftier and the oscillations get faster and more extreme towards the windward mark.

Clearly it's best to tack on the shifts, but if your tacking is so slow that they play the “Chariots of Fire“ symphony every time you put the helm down, then it's going to be a long week.

Still, here we go, our top ten with a little hint of fun..

1.     Peter Burling, NZ.  Yes he’s on it! Peter is the 2012 49er Olympic silver medalist. He recently cleaned up in the Red Bull Youth AC, and the other week he won the 49er worlds.  Young, gifted and just like his Mach2, All Black!

2.     Nathan Outteridge,  AUS. 2011 World Champion. Will he sail or will he commentate? We assume the former. The 2012 49er gold medalist is back in the Moth class!!  If he shouts “Boundary!” and tacks, for goodness sake just get out of the way...

3.     Anthony Kotoun, ISV. An outstanding worlds last year marked him out as America's best. Unflappable, unconventional and highly likely to be unstoppable.  Rumored to have found a secret short cut through the reef after last year's recce. Would be a highly popular winner.

4.     Josh McKnight, AUS. Current World Champion. Just got on and did it last year as no one said he couldn’t. Fast, fit and mature beyond his years on the racecourse. Big but… No one has defended on foils yet, - could he be the one?  Recently been messing about on rafts. Not ideal prep..

5.     Bora Gulari, USA. “Airforce One you have permission to take off” Bora likes home soil. He won at the Gorge in 2009 and so Hawaii could be his turn again. You always feel he might be working on something important. Rarely is.

6.     Scott Babbage, AUS.  Mr Consistent. Sooo close last year in Garda, but 2013 could be his year.  He’s the class president though, which means he has to chair the AGM, and it takes a strong man not to let that sap the will to live out of you. Would be a very popular winner though.

7.     Rob Gough, AUS. Rumored to be going very fast. He’s the Aussie alternative choice in a “Mac” versus “PC“ kind of way. Rob has invested more time and more money than anyone else. He’s strong, innovative and with good boat handling.  Rumor has it he’s bringing his own personal trainer.

8.     Rob Greenhalgh, GBR.  Been winning things of considerable note across the sailing spectrum for a number of decades. Rob dominated the UK nationals this year. If the first couple of races go well and it's not too windy, the British flag could fly over the Hawaiian Islands for the first time since Captain Cook banged into them.

9.     Chris Rashley, GBR. Current European Champion. If he keeps it together then he will be in the mix. Lots of years left in him. Very organized. In fact the most organized Moth sailor we’ve ever seen. Find him by following the trail of multicoloured Post-it notes…

10. Iain “Goobs” Jensen, AUS. 2012 49er Gold medalist and straight out of the AC. Will have that trademark “thousand yard” star that all those AC72 guys have. Used to being 12 foot in the air and so he could unwittingly pull his ride height adjuster right off! Timing might be off in a boat 61ft shorter than he’s used too. 

The wild cards:

Brad Funk, USA. Nanu Nanu! Something funny will happen. He’ll either accidently eat his car keys or inadvertently win 6 races.

Eric Arkhus, USA. Fresh from winning Melges 32 world championships, Eric could well break into the top 5. Anyway stay out of his way too! At the US Nationals at Kaneohe last year, he took out a J-105 and ran straight over a Bladerider.

Dave Lister, AUS. Once hailed as the fastest man in the world on foils.  Possibly the first ever to foil tack a moth.  Older than God.

Andrew McDougall, AUS. A freak. Take out the seemingly greater importance of tacking at this event and we’d put him right up there.

The extremely wild cards

John Harris, AUS. 2008 World Champion and 18ft skiff legend. Resides in the USA where he’s been building a business, and also, we hear, a waistline. 

Just not practiced enough to get in the top 10, but form is temporary, and class is permanent.  Could be another great comeback in this iconic summer of 2013.

Julian Salter, AUS. The Charge of the light brigade!  Clever sailor, foils in a Turtles sneeze. If it’s a very light week then he’s the best equipped to take advantage of it. 

So will we be right? Almost certainly not, but it will be a great event! 

Good luck to all. 

The New Mach2.2

Blimey its been so long I forgot the log -in. I havent sailed a Moth for a while now. I sold my boat, and this is a year to be with my boys. Its their time now and my job is to support their sailing. Besides which they've nicked all my sailing kit. Off the water I've decided that parents dont deliberately get unfashionable, they just buy stuff their kids wont steal.

Still we have a little National 12 to sail on Wednesday evenings, it kinda fun, slow but fun.

Perhaps I'll think about the worlds at Hayling island next year. I don't feel under any pressure to sail though, 2 world championships wins and 6 europeans championships will do, and really the only reason to come back is that Andrew McDougall is possibly 1 point ahead of me if we add up all the placings at worlds we've had over our very long moth sailing careers.

Anyway the purpose of this post is to tell you about the new Mach2.2. Our boat is better than it ever has been. If you are thinking of upgrading, or buying a boat for the first time check out the below.

Do email us if you have any questions.

http://www.mach2boats.com/index.php/en/the-news/all-news/13-featured-tabs/310

GBR 9 for sale

Hi my Mach 2 is for sale. GBR 9 aka 3836.

All the gear including travel box and choice of sail.

All mint condition

Email me at simonpaynegbr@btinternet.com if you are interested.

The Gearing Business

For me the back end of this year has been so busy that sailing seems a thing I used to do. Those sparkly days of recreational fun long gone. The sun, my uplift, has become merely an hour hand, rising with the Nikkei and setting with the election results. It's a busy life where the sea has played no part.

I read that most peoples fantasies would be satisfied by a private island, but right now an afternoon in my Moth at Hayling Island would do me, and I might achieve that this weekend.

Anyway the real reason for writing is to show you the new Mach2.2 Gearing Adjuster with axle. It has a feature that will allow Mach2 sailors to adjust the gearing from the wing and makes use of the "utility tube" that runs through the ship. This means that you won't have to capsize your Mach2 in order to change the gearing at the front. Or risk running yourself over should you try to reach across to the bow to do it. It also means you can sail with the bonnet on. It's available soon. Delivery and prices to follow

A Blog for Hawaii

(Guest Blogger Simon "Hollywood" Propper reports..)

2013 Moth Worlds in Hawaii will be a once in a lifetime sailing trip

Mothies experiencing Garda withdrawal symptoms will be wondering how to get their foiling glamour kicks next year. The Worlds are scheduled for October 2013 at Kaneohe Yacht Club on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu. Your intrepid Moth reporter took a trip over there for the US nationals this October to find out what our first Worlds in Hawaii will be like. I know it’s a tough assignment but I am dedicated to the cause.

 

O’ahu is a small island about 20 miles wide and 30 miles long. You fly to Honolulu, a busy developed tourist resort. Kaneohe is a twenty minute drive across the island to a much quieter and more idyllic spot. The bay is a stunningly beautiful enclosed sailing area bordered by hills and completely protected from ocean swell so the water is flat and warm as a bath. Coral reefs mean you have to sail out of a channel before the bay widens into the race-course. It’s exactly large enough to set a 1 mile beat and wide enough for tactical sailing upwind and downwind. So it will be a different kind of racing to Garda. Boat speed and tactics will be more significant than wave handling.




We had trade winds of 15 to 20 knots every day so there were high numbers on the GPS downwind. It can be lighter in October if the trades don’t blow but we didn’t see those conditions.
 

If Carlsberg ran a yacht club it would be Kaneohe YC. In a dramatic Hawaii setting it’s palm lined lawns slope to the dock, the wooden bar is festooned with trophies and local artifacts and the drinks are cheap and plentiful. There’s a pool and tennis courts outside the bar for non-sailors or après sail and the barbecue seems always on. It has an air of expat country club but with Hawaiian hospitality and chilled out atmosphere. The chef’s a punk rocker so great sounds served with great food.




Launching is from floating pontoons into the mini-marina leading to the bay. These are fine for us but the club needs to add some more for the event so we can launch in greater numbers. The great thing is they are really keen to host our event and have a star race organizer in Tom Pochereva who will do whatever it takes to make it a classic regatta. The race organization was faultless for our warm up event – the US nationals – and they are working closely with the class to get feedback on courses, race length and number of races etc.




There are no local hotels. Accommodation is in B&B’s near the club or rented houses and apartments. I would think that the cheapest deals will be rented property which could be as little as $50 (GBP30) per person per night if a group of us shares. The nearest small town is Kailua ten minutes drive from the club. If you have family with you that could be the best base because it has a fantastic beach and all the usual holiday amenities without being at all trashy. Opportunities for hiking, surfing and generally exploring the incredible natural beauty of the island are plentiful.

Ok so it’s going to be a one-time Moth Worlds in paradise. If you miss this one, when will you next get the chance to race in a tropical island setting? But it’s a long way from Europe and the event really won’t be the same without a UK and European entry. There’s no way to make this a cheap trip, but it may be less than you are imagining and there are things we can do to cut the budget.




I just checked Expedia and flights in September are GBP930. October isn’t on the booking calendar yet but its low season and could be less. The stop-over would be San Francisco or LA. Two great places to break your trip if you are interested in seeing some of California.

Shipping will be the other big ticket cost. Si Payne is going to talk to the Mach 2 shipping partner Rohlig to see what rates they could get us for a group deal out of London and presumably Sydney would be the other main hub. Si will report back about prices and specifics. Maybe the rate could apply to several European airports.

  

Mach2 Seminar - Its a date

Hi

I plan to run the one day Mach2 seminar at HISC on the 12th of October. This is the day before the Hayling Island Open Meeting.

My goal is to impart Mach2 set up advice and sailing tips based on our latest learning from Italy. Everyone is welcome of course, this is in no way meant to be elitist but I really only know about Mach2’s, and thats what we will focus on.

A number of people are already confirmed, let me know if you are interested.

S

Mach 2 seminar

Summer seemingly finished at about 1400hrs yesterday when I was in Lymington with my son in 420's. I had a chance to reflect on what a good season it had been with a very enjoyable UK Nationals and a challenging Worlds. This is the time of year though when you can have some of the best sailing, there's less yachts, more space and the water is still warm. I was thinking about running a one day "How to set up and sail" a Mach2 at HISC in the near future if anyone is interested? I don't want it to conflict with the classes Castle Cove training this coming weekend which I'm sure will be excellent or the Hayling Island Open meeting, but if anyone is interested let me know at sales@mach2boats.com. I'm sure we can arrange something.

S