I Predict A Diet

Image courtesy of David Rose-Massom

Years ago the weather forecast may as well have been written by J K Rowling, but these days its accurate and I can see its going to be windy for a long time yet. Accordingly I am on the cusp of cutting my foils down for the coming Hayling Island Regatta this weekend. England right now seems the place where the worlds weather systems collide and having been grounded every night this week there is simply no other boat work I can do.

On Sunday its the HISC regatta, a great fun start-from-the-back dash for the Moths, and on Monday Federation week starts at HISC. So if you are a Moth sailor with a bit of time on your hands (you may have just finished an Olympic Test event for example) come down and race with us! I'm sailing til Wednesday then off on holiday. Then its time to start thinking about Campioni!

Here are the things I remember from Campioni in 05.

The girls in the rescue Ribs were topless.
It was 12 knots at the windward mark maybe 18 at the leeward mark, except when it wasn't.
The coffee was great
The club was very friendly
They played Nora Jones in the dinghy park
Go right up wind, go same way down wind
When there is a storm, watch out for the falling rocks from the cliff!
It was light, light guys did well, (here's hoping) but it was a bit of a different time.


S

New Mach2 small front hydrofoil

Speed, we keep being told is bad, intelligent people drive slowly, no flash flash of a speed camera for them. Yet I think its good. It means for example you can go and see your mother in law, but not have to stay the night, and with the Moth Worlds in beautiful Campioni on Lake Garda coming up, it also means that if you are fast, you might do well.

This then is why you should be interested in the above picture. It's the mould for the new Mach2 small front hydrofoil. The new foil will plug straight onto your existing Mach2 vertical foil.

It's being produced right now. We will have more pics for you very soon.

Mach2.1 upgrades

Andrew McDougall at the Syz & Co European Championships. Photo courtesy of Loris von Siebenthal

Hi

In the last two years that we've been immersed in the Mach2 Moth project we've built up a strong knowledge of the product and this 2.1 upgrade comes as a result of Andrew's work in addressing the areas that we have felt we've been able to make an improvement to.

Here are the list of upgrades:

- Front foil mould reset to get a perfect transition from foil to flap, which means less drag.

- Hydrofoil laminate beefed up to improve strength of the already strong Mach2 foils

- Finer alignment of pushrod to flap to reduce flap mechanism friction

- Low friction control rod tube in main vertical foil

- 1st and 2nd gear options on bell crank axle position

- Laminate changes to both verticals to make them even stronger

- Lighter and stronger gantry

- Stronger hull, same or less weight than Mach2.0

- Hulls now comes with bungs and breather tubes

- Stronger vang rope

- Stronger wing tubes, same or less weight than Mach2.0

- Masts made stronger at the base

- Mast foot and pin redesigned to reduce stress on mast and prevent mast foot failure

- Mast stump now locates more accurately and stump tube is stronger

- Rear wing tubes locate more accurately and are stronger

- New more adjustable wand mechanism. Stiffer with greater durability

- Custom hull colours available

The Mach2.1 is available now!

Mach2.1 Wand Mechanism

Gandhi once said "God has given me no control over the moment following.." A statement many Moth sailors would agree with, particularly those who experienced the windward mark on day 3 of the recent UK National Championships!

And so we'd like to introduce the new Mach2.1 wand mechanism, which we hope will give you more control over the moment following...



Made from 316 stainless steel the stronger baseplate prevents any twist and the steal wand axle bearings, which are drilled for lightness, fit precisely with the new wand axle. The axle to wand holder connection is longer which means there is less wand slap and overall the stronger material eliminates wear that can occur with plastic or aluminium parts.

The wider and deeper adjuster nut is angled upward where it connects to the control rod so that even less gearing can be achieved and the adjuster screw is easier to grip, which is important for "on the water" changes. Also the adjuster screw now has a more precise fit where it locates in the wand axle eliminating any play.

This new Mach2 wand mechanism comes as part of the Mach2.1 upgrades but can be purchased separately and retrofitted to existing Mach2'. It costs $316.00 usd ex shipping. Email sales@mach2boats if you would like one.

Que Sera Sera

Firstly I must congratulate Jason Belben and Chris Rashley for a brilliant effort at the Nationals. They proved that you get out what you put in and thoroughly deserved their one and two positions. Even better was to see the UK fleet in such rude health. The UK committee worked hard and delivered an excellent event, which given the weather, was not easy.

I will now probably will not do the European Championships which are coming up in about 12 days, I would like my hand to heal which the doctor says will take six weeks and I will use the time in the UK to properly prepare for the Worlds next year. I'm sure the Europeans will be fun and a nice event even though the entries are light, but having done every big event since 2004 I don't think I can be criticised for missing one.

I had planned to go and defend it, but sometimes the future is not ours to see. I hope everyone has a great time in Travamunde.

S

Jason and the Argonauts

A month or so of serious training has paid off and Jason Belben leads the Zhik UK Nationals at Stokes Bay with a 2,2,1. Impressive stuff in bumpy seas that made it hard to get settled and easy to stack it downwind. Arnaud Psarofaghis is second and I am lying third showing none of Jason's understanding of the venue.
The UK Nationals have a record breaking 54 entries but we didn't sail today. Plus thirty knots of breeze meant racing was substituted with the AGM.
We are racing four races back to back tomorrow and also Sunday so there is plenty of time left, but right now Jason Belben, who I think first won the Nationals in 1986 is the clear leader.
Results here

Here we go again...

It was the Ronstan Slalom today, but not really. Unfortunately. It was windy as hell, and whilst we sat around in the club house drinking tea and worrying if the Hayling Bar might bring little Johnny's stutter back should he decide to do the Worlds in 2014, one guy went one nil up in the series. Pete Barton sailed to the event from Lymington! Some 16 miles away, downwind in boat flattening gusts and it took him an hour and a half to do the journey, the half was trying to get to the beach once he arrived!

When he got ashore he took his helmet off and said "What an adventure"!

For this I honestly think Pete should be on zero points and we should have all scored DNS. In my mind he leads the series.

Tomorrow is windy again and hopeful we will sail, but it may be touch and go. But if we don't? Just entering is a highlight! Simon Reynolds, surely the most effect ever IMCA committee member has organised a host of prizes, if he isn't careful he will be President soon!

Oh, we've agreed with the club that there will be a two Abarth sports cars on display tomorrow, something to look at if we are grounded due to the weather again.

Hopefully some race results here from thursday.

S