scott.projectsomewhere

The new boat flew for the first time today… and its bloody
amazing! The most incredible sensation when it gets out of the
water for the first time… everything goes silent… the boat just
accelerates… the adrelin goes through the roof…

its unbelievable!

It put a smile on my face that will last til next weekend at least

F$%king incredible

Finally the new Moth is on the water - and it floats!

After a quick fitout at the factory in the morning, it was off to
Balmoral for the rig and hopeful first sail. The weather didn’t
cooperate of course, so instead of foiling around the harbour - it
was more of a drift.

Not to worry. There might be more wind on Sunday.

A few photos below, and plenty more of the new boat on
flickr.

One thing I have to be wary of with this boat is losing the foils.
The centreboard is almost solid carbon - so if I drop it, it sinks
like a brick. Les suggested I take a marker bouy with me incase it
falls out… at least I can mark the position and send the divers
out to pick it up later!

It’s not much fun reading about other people sailing… but there’s
a few interesting bits of news around.

Evan has won the Multihull division at the ISAF
Youth Worlds, not a bad effort considering he’s only been
sailing the Hobie 16 for a few months. I wonder what’s next for
him?

Also… Silja is showing up the guys in the
Governors Cup match racing event. So far in round robin 1,
Silja, Lauri and Sean have only been beated by RNZYS.

The Moth will be ready to go tomorrow (not looking like the
picture)…

And there looks like there will be no wind here

The new boat is only a few days away from launch!

Unfortunately things didn’t go exactly as I had planned on the day
I got back from San Fran, so there’s been a week of delay while
cables, fittings and various bits and pieces come together.

So I’ll be putting all two fittings on the boat tomorrow, and the
four fittings on the wing frame at the same time. Then its just a
matter of rigging everything else… borrowing a rig… and getting
it on the water.

Hopefully I’ll be flying on Saturday… weather permitting.

Update #1: for reference (since it’s not published anywhere else)
the parts you need for the hydrofoil cable can be supplied through
BLA (www.bla.com.au) as
follows:

1 x 308004 SP33C0175 Morse cable 1.75m
2 x 309706 Stainless steel ball joint
2 x 309826 Cable hook clip

So the Worlds result was a little disappointing, but how much can
you complain about coming 2nd. Everyone had good and bad stories to
tell I guess.

Where to start on the recap of this event…

My form guide ended up being pretty close to the end result.

1) Jacqui & Euan did end up being the fastest boat there.
Surprise surprise. They didn’t capsize and they won.

2) We came 2nd. We didn’t have the weight of other teams, but still
managed to be quick in a blow. If only…

3) Locals John & Matt were 3rd. I didn’t think they’d do that
well, but then I thought they’d be in the top 10 and they were. A
good last day pulled them up the leaderboard nicely.

4) Justin & Simon had everything going for them, with plenty of
gear, plenty of crew-weight and plenty of practice. Maybe the OCS
killed them at the end of qualifying, sure they made up their 15th
qualifying place (and would’ve won the regatta overall if only…),
but they didn’t seem to have the pace they showed earlier in the
series.

5) Dylan & Nick. I didn’t put them in my top 10 yet they won
the qualifying series. Never underestimate the geeks.

6) I knew Jamie & Iain would be very fast. They were. The
wheels fell off a little, but 6th is still pretty good.

7) Jen Morgan & Anthony Boscolo were a suprise. Boscolo (a US
49er sailor) teamed up with Jen (an Olympic 470 sailor) to put
together a good regatta. Hillary said they had the shakiest gybes
in Gold Fleet, but he also said they sailed the best - go
figure.

Dorrons. They raced better than I expected, and finished with a
great result considering how little they’d raced together and in
the boat. Well done really.

9) Pepe & Caspar. Kiwarg was a little depleted this year with
no Kiwis, only a few Swiss and no Italians. They had the form and
smarts, but not the weight or experience together. Pepe will be
back again I’m sure.

10) Ty & Bora were the overweight 49er blokes who were rockets
upwind in over 25 knots. They were great starters but their slow
downwinds were always going to hurt.

What about the rest?

I’m sure Lauri is dissapointed, going from a 2nd in Silvaplana to a
20th in San Fran. Losing 15kgs on the wire didn’t help, nor did the
stretchy 1×19 wires on the charter boats. Maybe the surf has been
good in Hawaii over the last 12 months. I’m sure Lauri has what it
takes to be at the top of the 49er class in a few years - hopefully
I’ll be there to race against him…

Will & Seve didn’t live up to their top 10. Qualifying in 2nd
but falling apart to finish 14th. I guess having Euan pushing for
their average points to be overthrown didn’t go down that
well.

John Winning qualified into Gold, so the bar didn’t make as much as
I’d expected (maybe Abercrombie & Fitch made more). Having Tom
come down with food poisoning - and a $400 hospital bill didn’t
help. I can’t say too much about him anymore as he’s found the
blog.

All in all a good event, good racing, close results. Plenty of
people suggested that with a 3 last year and a 2 this year, it’s
worth coming back for Weymouth next year. If there are any good
looking girl (or midget) helms out there, then maybe I’ll give it a
second thought, but I’d rather be racing the 49er Euros or the Moth
Worlds instead.

And the Moth is coming along
well. The fittings didn’t arrive so the boat didn’t make the
water last weekend - but things should move fast and hopefully
it’ll be flying this weekend instead.

What’s around the corner? A newer 18 this season, with John &
Pete. Plenty of training on the new Moth. Maybe a bit of sailing on
a 49er when I can, maybe a bit of yachting.

Then a little work in there too… somewhere.

And I still think Tris & Alain would’ve won easily if they
turned up.

Another year, another close finish - but no World
Championship.

This time we brought the game to Jacqui & Euan, sailing well to
put boats between us and them - evening the score in the first two
races. It was all on for the final race.

But it didn’t happen.

In the end the margin was only 3 points. 3 painful points that we
gave away so easily in the first few races of the finals… and the
many more that we gave away in qualifying.

I guess if you’re going to win the Worlds you go out to win it from
the start.

2nd isn’t bad of course, but it’s no different to 3rd and painfully
close to 1st.

Damn.