UK Nationals day 1

I've come to the conclusion National Championships should be approached differently to Europeans and Worlds. Largely they are run by a friendly club, new to Moths who give us a really good and enthusiastic welcome. Royal Torquay is such a club and the members are just great. For a number of years now I've decided to find all the little idiosyncrasies you get with this kind of event "charming". So today we had a charming kind of day, where we charmingly launched into a tiny little working harbour and we sat around on the water having charming chat while waiting for the rest of the fleet to join us. Of course it would have helped if they had bothered to put their wetsuits on the right side of the start time, but I've decided to find that charming too.
When we did race it was in a shifty and gusty breeze that quickly spread the 42 boat fleet out. The first race was the less shifty race and I won with Arnaud second, Mike Lennon third and Jason Belben fourth.
The next race could be described as charming but I'd stretch to shite. The wind turned on/off and I sat in a great big hole for a long while. Not for the fist time in my life of course but fairly new in sailing. Anyway Jason Belben won and Arnaud was second and I was third. Should have been shortened or thrown out, but it wasn't, which was charming.

National Trust

Its the UK nationals this week and I'm not really ready. I've wanted to be ready and nothing should have really stopped me, but other little things just keep coming up. I've tried to supplement dodgy boat handling by acquiring the ability to read peoples minds but when everyone was at Weymouth and I was at Hayling it was clear that wasn't going to work either. Anyway I've decided to be positive and conclude that it takes immense skill to waste so much preparation time.

I am not a jealous man. I do not sit around all day coveting your friggin private jet or your hair, but I was jealous yesterday. Specifically jealous of Richard Loverings tacks. They were so much better than mine, which weren't really tacks but a pathetic luff head to wind followed by a capsize. I only won the club race because the boat hauled me to the front, and we hit 24.7 down wind in a bumpy Chichester harbour.

Will it do at the Nationals? No I doubt it, and I will have to find other ways of getting to the front. Work will mean I cant get there until Wednesday which wont leave much time, but a quick call to UK Border Patrol seems to have kept the Swiss out for another day and I may build on Phil Stevensons law and claim that you cant be UK national champion unless you have survived the blitz and find it impossible to speak French...

Walking on Water

From the excellent "Voiles et Voiliers" website taken by the great Thierry Martinez. It reminds me of a wonderful event with good friends which seems so long ago now.

A far cry from the stuffed under the clubhouse windward mark in the middle of a nautical M25 where I was neary run over twice before getting so much weed on my wand that I thought it may break. RTD with SOHF.

When I get older..I will get stronger

Hmmm... Its taking all my strength to not bolt for the beach and rig my boat, but work I must and work I will. The weather is fab and I so enjoyed a simple club race last night that I just want to go out again. It was a nice little race where even for me it was impossible to get the course wrong and made me think that I will enjoy myself in the build up to the Europeans.

The only things that surprises me these days is how bad I get between events. I seem to be able to keep the same high's yet reach lower lows which is kinda different to how I thought it would be...

Yet as I shot from the beach yesterday I could hear the boat going "here we go again" as I went through my pre flight check. (tiller in the back hand etc). But once sorted Hayling was beautiful and as speedboats took photographs I remembered again how good for the soul these little boats are.

I had rigged a new KA MSL10 and the purpose of the race was to start to get know it. It always makes me smile when people chop and change sailmakers with such regularity. Moths dont push water, an extra 1cm on the cunningham can make you go a knot faster upwind. Much better to just slowly get to understand the kit you've got. My boat, bar a ride height adjuster and a new kicker rope, is pretty much stock. Its the fastest way to be I think.

We have the nationals in a couple of weeks and Im hoping to race. Again depends on work, but first a Moth slalom race at Hayling Island late Saturday when the kids from the Optimist open will be back on the beach. Should be a nice little race...

Mach 2's at West Marine

West Marine San Diego

We are delighted that West Marine are displaying a Mach 2 in both their new San Diego and Newport stores. If you live near and want to see the boat in the flesh pop in and have a look. West Marine are not planning to distribute the boat but its great to partner with them to provide a feature for their new flag ship stores.

PS like the clear tramps?

On your Machs!

Six Mach 2's put some hours in on Saturday out in Hayling bay where the water and sky were matching blue and the wind danced around 8 to 10 knots. I had decided that I would try to be "professional" with the limited time I had to train before the Europeans. That meant knowing which mast I was using, getting a good nights sleep, eating well and making every yard count.

So I was feeling good as I sailed out into the bay with Richard Lovering, Ricky Tagg, Mike Lennon, Jason Russell and Graham Simmonds. Anyway back to trying to be professional, and noticing that the wind was building I'd changed from my stiff mast to my soft mast as the wind hit 12 knots before I launched.

So I was feeling a bit vulnerable as the breeze softened.. but I was pleased with my speed. Acceleration upwind was a bit down but height was good although much had to do with just getting into the groove. You could add another knot by just sailing well as Haylings short chop threw us around a bit.

Sunday was race day and we started with the fast handicap fleet on an impossibly short line in just enough wind to come out of a tack and foil again after a few yards.

I lead the fleet out followed by Mike and I felt I had good height and pace, again using the soft mast, but as the sea breeze filled in we spent the rest of the time reaching between marks. Still fun lapping 14's with only half the race gone though.

Later I lent my boat to Ollie Spensley-Corfield who posted a first time out run of 20 knots! As the breeze built Mike and Richard hooked up the gusts and put in some impressive speeds in the impossible short channel where the Speed Puck and the shore played Russian roulette. Mike hit 26.7 I think.

Just great fun.

Nice one Harry!

Proving that where there is a will there is a way Harry Bowerman from Hayling Island Sailing Club lifts of in his his converted Axeman for the first time.



Harry who I think is just 16 took my old broken Fastacraft main foil, got it fixed, adapted it to the boat, added a rudder and now looks every bit the champion of the future!

Definately the right stuff!