Weston Morning News

Wow! How a week can change things! Last week it was the third month of rain cold and wind, and suddenly Weston Open Meeting turned into a sunny sea breezy event that lifted the heart as early as it lifted the boats.

For me it was a positive event but I had mixed feelings after saturdays racing, I hit the bricks pretty hard while leading the first race saturday and had to retire with a damaged foil. That was stupid of me. Next race I was leading and speared a fish which had to be pulled off by hand. That was stupid of the fish.

Still I was going fast I suppose. Both Jason Belben and Mike Lennon were sailing well.

I owe my sunday to Peter Barton who had a spare wand, I must have broken my wand holder as I went over the front in Saturdays first race. I won the first race comfortably on Sunday and then did we have fun in the second! Ricky Tagg did all hard work to get to the front but on the run there were signs of a sea breeze and I hit the deep water hard. Ricky, Mike Lennon and I somehow got to the first mark together and we reached down the run, and then procession like, we then reached back up the beat, Mike nipping inside me when I couldn't gybe at the spacer mark due to traffic, and won the race. The final race was a flicky "careful you don't capsize to windward/is the sea breeze here to stay or not type race". There were certainly quite a lot of holes and Jason and I duked it out quite a long way in front of everyone else. I led initially, Jason came back at me but then I crossed him back. It went on this way for a very long time and was good fun and hard work but I just got a gust to whip me round the windward mark while Jason struggled to foil after a tack. In the end it was a big gap that didn't tell of the closeness of the race.

Sorry to miss the prize giving, I was running late for another meeting about cars! In my experience the event was not dissimilar to how I remember Campioni can be. It was great training for the big one.

Great to see everyone

Si

New Mach2 small rudder 2012

This is the new Mach2 small rudder foil. It has been in development for 7 months and X Foil and the in house McFinn software programmes had to be re written to cope. Then a quad core i7 computer ran for 4 full months analysing it against other shapes. We are not revealing the size at this stage but the mould was submitted for machining today, and this is a true image looking from the front.

Of course it is designed to plug on to a Mach2 rudder vertical. See it in Garda!

Worlds Form Guide - Help Needed

With the summer on back order in Northern Europe we are clinging to the prospect of two beautiful weeks in Campione del Garda. The Moth Worlds at its best in a country who’s history is filled with so much culture, innovation and sophistication that the Italians were eating with a knife and fork long before we’d finished eating each other.

Campione is blessed with stunning scenery, and is probably the one place where a hundred yard walk will reverse any sour feelings from a bad race, a welcome alternative from the desire to punch a slot machine, and it is the perfect stage for us to write our own classic on the waters of Garda under the direction of the Ora wind.

But before all this, and of course right up there with Dante’s Inferno, is our Worlds Form Guide! It’s published here prior to most World Championships and it offers an insightful, impartial and informed appraisal of the Worlds best Moth sailors. Kind of...

This year however it’s harder to write, and that’s because there are more Moths and more good sailors competing. Doubly harder because we no longer know them all well!

So we’d like your help! If you feel strongly that someone you know can make it into the top ten and they don’t owe us any money, we’ll mention them as long as we think you are being serious. Email us 

Mud Men

Sooner or later the summer will come to Northern Europe and we will all feel better. That said it was with a good feeling that I left the Moth Nationals on Sunday and drove home into a 40 knot headwind. We had fun but didn't race on the final day and Chris won, which he thoroughly deserves. He puts the time in, sails well and is prepared. In life one gets the opportunities to really go for it, and he's doing that and must be considered a bet for the Worlds.

For me, well I got a bit out gunned in the wind and punchy chop, but also felt I could have sailed better. I finished 2nd and it was good learning, but my handling wasn't that sharp and tactically I was a bit short. I should have got there earlier. Still better than last year!

Nevertheless I hope Garda isn't a place where I have to dither about which mast to use, a by product of being a lightweight, and I'm looking forward to trying the new KA MSL16 this week on my Mach2 to see if I can get to one rig for all conditions. 

It has been said elsewhere how much fun the 2012 Nationals were, despite the weather and I think the class is really healthy, and it is in good hands. The committee worked hard and Olivier Vidal has now taken on the presidency, and with discussions surrounding the class tag line ("Formula One On The Water" now being seen as old) showed his immediate understanding of the class with a new tag line proposal that reads.. "Cock Off, You're Not Having A Go"... Brilliant in my book.

So the next event is the World Championships, and Chris and I are sailing at HISC next week, Peter Barton is off to the German National Champs and there is training at Castle Cove planned. Let's see if Campioni can measure up! On paper its blue skies, dramatic scenery and cappuccino's should trounce brown water, mud and nuclear power stations, but as we know, it doesn't always go to form.

S

Moth Nationals: The only way is Essex

Stone Sailing Club in Essex UK: The Brits mix with the French, Swiss, Dutch, Swedes and Irish, and a total of forty two competitors hang around waiting for things to happen. It's day two of the UK Moth Nationals and it howling outside right now. There are weather checks every hour but we are on hold for the moment. Last night a Mach2 and a Ninja design blew over and landed on top of each other and there is speculation that a "Minja" will soon be born! Basically all the usual chatter and joking that comes from sailors hanging around and not knowing if we are racing or not today. It doesn't look too bad right now actually, but we will see. Yesterday was good racing and I was lucky to score a 2,2,1 which gives me the lead by a point. Chris Rashley had a 1,1,4 and is only one point behind. His boat handling is very good, much better than mine, and it's something I need to focus on. In any event there is less of a gap between the leaders and the rest of the fleet these days, meaning its all tighter at the top. Right now it's a choice between a run to Starbucks or some boat work! There is a good report here on Yachts and Yachting.com

Glyn Charles Race

Was it that long ago that Glyn died? The Sydney Hobart race of '98 on Sword of Orion. It seems like yesterday.

Each year Hayling Island Sailing club host an open pursuit race in this Team GBR sailors honour and this year 110 boats competed. The wind was good, about 12-18knots and it was great to see nearly all the best UK Moth sailors there as well as countless sailors from other classes. We sailed off a handicap of 499 which is 15 minutes after the 49er (big rig). Especially difficult if that 49er happens to be John Pink and John Gimson.  The biggest problem we faced was the weed, having to capsize or back up on a tack regularly to clear the foils and as I got to the windward mark I was down to 9 knots boat speed and full ride height, but I daren't capsize to clear it for fear of hitting the bottom!  I could have sailed that beat better actually. Still Chris Rashley and Jason Belben lead at the windward mark but with a choice of three marks (and not knowing the harbour that well) got the wrong one and Mike Lennon in his Mach2 nipped around the first mark in the lead. I was second and led at the next mark as Mike hit weed. The other guys caught up lots too. On the next leg I nearly missed the next mark and as a result of loosing time ducked Mikes transom out of a tack and just cleared Chris. I managed to get round the next mark first and extended on the run trying like hell to dodge the weed. A short beat later and that was it. I finished 25th, and without the capsizing could maybe have got the the front but  I guess everyone, whatever the boat had weed issues. Fellow Mach2 sailor Mike Lennon was going well and just behind me and the event was won by James Peters and Alan Roberts in an RS200.

Most improved Moth performer goes to fellow black boat sailor Graham Simmonds, and Simon Hiscocks and Ollie Holden were going well too.

Still it was a good work out, and it was a fun day in memory of a  great guy.

Little flashes of sun on a cold dark sea

Photo Thierry Martinez 

Those, the words of Jean Paul Sartre in his book Nausea could have described the French Nationals the other weekend, but to view the event from just the five races on the last day would be missing out on the wider adventure that is Moth sailing. Olivier Vidal and Peter Barton also made the overnight ferry trip/small drive down to Quiberon,  and Fabien Froesch, Philip Käsermann and Mikis Psarofaghis drove up from Switzerland to complete the International contingent.
I went there for a chance to race on a long course and to support the French fleet as the class continues to grow there, and what a fantastic time it was. We didn't sail on the Sunday, too much wind, but to be honest its such a nice place it didn't bother me too much, and we met Thierry Martinez in his Locmariaquer based gallery and went to dinner that night.
The next day the Moths were sent out just to make sure it was impossible to race and I came in 20 capsizes later with mild whip lash and a taste for some more bonhomie...
The only race day was medium conditions and very bumpy. Race one went easily to Philip, with Peter Barton second as I struggle into third place after a major pitchpole and a resolve to drink less in future.
The next race and I still capsized twice but a devil may care "lift it high and fly" strategy (which you should only ever use on the last run) saw me first to the finish. It was great to see Yann Andrillon from France getting up there in his Mach2 and also Fabien going very well.
Great pace rather than any specific skill saw me do well in the next three races and importantly I felt like I'd had a good work out and learnt a bit more about my boat set up.  Peter Barton wound up second, with Fabien third overall but several French sailors showed a lot of grit to give it a go and get round the course.
After the racing we sat around drinking beers in the dinghy park with the members of ASN Quiberon who were so welcoming that it was quite hard to go back home.

Now the worlds are not that far away but with an air temperature on Saturday of 5.7 degrees at HISC (colder than Christmas day) I elected not to sail. I guess my next event will be the UK Nationals so time for some evening sailing.

S