scott.projectsomewhere

The last weekend of Winter was another unbelievably good weekend on
the water.

With warm weather, light-moderate winds and plenty of sun - it was
perfect weather for learning how to foil - and there’s plenty of
learning to do.

In the 2 days I sailed just under 60kms, with a top speed of 19.6
knots (in well under 15 knots of wind) and an average speed of
about 10 knots (with a few capsizes, and plenty of non-foiling).
The conditions would’ve been great for the fabled 9sqm
sail…

I’m still adjusting to having random spectators gaping in awe at
the boat both on and off the water… This is definitely a boat for
show-ponies!

Hey, there’s another idea for a boat name…

I’ve started up a discussion on the Australian Moth message board
about sail
measurement, since it seems the new rules are unfair for people
building new sails (that’s me!).

The story goes (roughly) as follows:

KA Sails went through some
very fast development from their MSL6 to MSL9, with the MSL 8 and 9
exploiting the unmeasured area of the leach offset method.
People not exploiting the area cracked the shits.
A rule was drafted that actual area be measured via
triangulation, and that area be the same as the max from the offset
method (8.0m2).
Various arguments were had by various people.
The rule was adopted at a meeting along the way, with the
proviso that existing sails (measured before 1st January 2005) were
grandfathered.

All fine-and-dandy there… except…

World Champ Rohan takes a
new 8.0 MSL10 with the latest and greatest advances to Italy for
the 2005 Europeans and gets thoroughly thrashed by the Brits using
MSL9s. Rohan later admits he thinks the new sails are a minute
slower around the course.

Other contenders at the top of the fleet - Rohan, Simon Payne, Adam
May, Mark Robinson - most of which are on the IMCA World Exec - buy
spare MSL9s prior to Jan 05 (based on conversations with Rohan).
Despite all buying completely new boats in 2005, all continue to
use oversize MSL9s.

There is no chance to make rule changes prior to the Australian
Championships or 2006 World Championships.

So essentially, in a effort to stop (why?) the KA from exploiting
unmeasured area, the class has gone and given existing sails a
potentially large advantage for the forseeable future.

Now wasn’t that a stroke of rule-making genius!

Rohan now declares he’ll continue to use the MSL9 in major events
unless the class increases sail area. Amac contends there’s only a
0.192m2 difference between an MSL9 and MSL10.

In an ideal World, all the top contenders would out of
decency/sportsmanship etc drop their oversize sails and race with
regular 8.0 sails. Since the top bunch is finishing well over 5
minutes ahead of the rest its not exactly going to affect
them.

But when a new boat + World’s campaign pushes costs over $20k AUD,
who on earth puts that high a price on spirit and intent of the
rules!

…. and that’s not even scratching the surface a what an effective
reduction in sail area is doing to the competitive weight of
sailors in the class.

The past weekend saw an interesting collection of boats get
together the inagural Brass Monkey regatta at the Sydney Flying
Squadron. Everything was there from 49ers, Foiling Moths, 18s,
NS14s, 12s, Cherubs, 14s, 16s, F11s, 13s, A-Class, F18s, F16s &
Canoes. A bit of a mix for one course…

Saturday saw a ugly gusty Nor-Wester, coming off the land over
North Sydney to make for pretty ordinary conditions. I’d be
surprised if anyone came off the water without stacking it at least
once with the breeze fluctuation from 0-25 knots and shifting
through 45 degrees or more.

Now a normal boat would be difficult to control in those
conditions, but one that flies is so so much harder. Not only do
you need to keep the boat flat (the foils reinforce any incorrect
heel - yay), but fore-aft trim is now critical, as is height.

Needless to say I struggled, and so did the boat. It was a good
test of extreme conditions, and a wakeup call for what’s ahead in
mastering this little beast.

In the end I had some enourmous stacks, some amazing fast rides,
and came in sore and very tired. The gantry didn’t make it through
unscathed, bending one of the support bars somewhere in the race -
I have no idea where.

Sunday was an absolute write off - losing a cable-end while fitting
the centreboard meant I had to pull the boat back out of the water
and sit on the beach while the rest of the fleet drifted around -
probably not such a bad mistake.

Anyway… back to the repair shop again…

In other news, Dave & Gooby battled around the course on
Saturday in the 49er, then came out fighting on Sunday to score a
2nd and 4th, equal with the scores from Nathan Outteridge & Ben
Austin on his comeback regatta in their brand spanking new 49er.
Emmett cleaned up as usual, though a broken mast late on Saturday
wasn’t too great. On Sunday he tied on points with Clyton &
Tai.

Rohan battled around in the tricky conditions on Saturday as well,
looking way more comfortable than myself. He retired at the end of
the 2nd lap with a broken downhaul yet at the top of the 2nd lap
was only about 50m ahead… or was that 1 lap and 50m? He drifted
around for a bit on Sunday before heading home in a not so positive
mood.

Did I mention SFS was a total pain in the ass to launch from…
leads me to ask… why?

The last weekend saw me on my first-ever skiing holiday - and it’s
safe to say I have a new vice to consume my time and money.

Apparently the conditions were the best for a long time - they sure
seemed pretty good to me.

The first half of the first day was the level 1 lesson for
first-time skiers… a few hours later I was cautiously plowing
down an easy hill… a few goes later and I started on the main
slope at Smiggins… getting higher and higher… and going faster
and faster with each run. By the end of the first day I was
parallelling down from the top of the blue slope as fast as I could
go… barely in control.

Sounds a lot like the kind of sailing I do.

Day 2 was Perisher and Blue Cow, going down and back up
continuously all day. Plenty of stacks and plenty of
adrenalin.

If only I had more time to plan a trip to NZ, or Canada, or
Switzerland…

It’s always refreshing to be reminded of your place in the World.
This weekend I was confirmed as the silent partner in the Yachting
Australia Athlete’s Committee.

Now silent partner is probably not quite accurate, maybe the
insignificant/non olympic one might be more appropriate. Why do I
say that you might ask? Well, it might have something to do with
being put up a different hotel to the rest, being left of the
attendance list for the YA Awards nights, and being left out of the
“thanks to the Athletes Committee” intro speech from YA
el-Presidente Andrew Plymton. But hey, I don’t really mind…
para-Olympian Peter Thompson was also left out… so I’m in company
at least.

But all-in-all it was a good weekend.

The Athlete’s committee first met for a Shipping Workshop, which
hijacked Natalie Francis’ agenda to chat about container transport
for largely disorganised Olympic class sailors. International &
Recognised classes were commended by Shenker’s Erich Seifert for
their organisation and preparation, but then they’re not relevant
to the discussion since they no longer receive either shipping
funding or support from Yachting Australia. Maybe official support
is inversely proportional to organisation.

The committee then progressed to the Athlete’s committee meeting
proper, which over 5 hours chatted through various ideas, which
roughly translates as:

New non-Olympic High Performance organiser Tracey Johnson was
introduced. Tracey managed High Peformance prior to the Sydney
games, and now takes on the Youth and non-Olympic classes. At least
the 2nd half of that job should be easy.
Atecco presented a proposal to become a partner for the YA.
Their recruitment programs seem like a great idea for preparing
Athlete’s for careers post-sport, as well as allowing developing
sailors to plan career paths through Olympic preparation. If
adopted it would be great to have these guys present at the
Australian Youth Championship to try and convince more
impressionable minds of the possibilities for professional
sport.
Mark Tonner-Joyce presented an extensive debrief of the dismal
Youth Worlds team performance. In an incredibly analytical and
well-thought out presentation, Mark made some very worthwhile
observations about the team and his sailors in general. It was
suprising to note that the official YA Youth Policy does not in the
slightest mention hard objectives like Youth Worlds performance,
yet we judge the success of the Youth program by results at this
regatta. Also worthy of note, but unlikely to go anywhere, was the
suggestion that Youth Worlds selection be restricted to athletes
who meet the adult weight ranges known for high-performance in each
class. Seeing that most of the Australian athletes are way
over-weight (or the wrong configuration) for their respective
classes, and especially the conditions for the Youth Worlds, it
needed to be said.
Also mentioned was the concept of “putting back in”.
Considering the large amounts of money invested in Olympic
athletes, there should be a requirement or at least moral
responsilibity for these athletes to volunteer their knowledge for
the next generation. One of the workable suggestions was tying
funding/team selection to each Athlete having achieved a Level 1
coaching qualification, and perhaps demonstrated a willingness to
help up-and-coming sailors.

Anyway, despite Australians winning a stack of International class
World Championships this year (Moth, Etchell’s, Farr40, Mumm 30,
29er, Flying 15, International 14, Formula 18, Tasar, 12ft’ Skiff,
18ft Skiff etc etc), International classes didn’t get a mention in
any of the initiatives of the Athlete’s committee.

Makes me think I should go out and buy a 49er.

But then Richard Perini did win Male sailor of the year for his
dual wins in Farr40/Mumm 30s. Adrienne Cahalan won Female sailor of
the year for her wide variety of achievements over many
years.

Nathan Outteridge claimed youth sailor for the 3rd successive year,
despite not having sailed since January. Teaming up with Ben Austin
and getting back into 49er racing should see Nathan up for
nomination for the Male award in no time at all.

Maybe I shouldn’t be blogging all these goings on at these
meetings. There does seem to be a culture of secrecy around these
things… but since we’re supposed to be a conduit for Athletes, it
does seem counter-intuitive to try to muzzle opinion.

Maybe the title is a bit over the top, but foil god Rohan Veal looks to have
been well and truly beaten at the latest Garda European Moth
Champs. Simon Payne
and Adam May fought out the series, with Rohan finishing well
behind on points in a mediocre 3rd.

Now that’s not to take anything away from 3rd, or Rohan… but it’s
a long way from an 8-0 whitewash in the World Championships in
January.

It will be interesting to find out the reasons why…

Update #1:
What I’ve found out so far:

Conditions were marginal, and both Simon & Adam are in the
low to mid 60’s, a few kgs lighter than Rohan. Although the Brits
reported strong winds, it didn’t get over 15 knots.
Rohan’s latest MSL10 is smaller and flatter than the MSL9,
which isn’t going to help in marginal conditions.
Simon & Adam have been sailing their foilers almost
full-time, with Simon taking a sabbatical from work and Adam
sailing between coaching time. Rohan hasn’t raced since the Worlds
and only had his new boat for a week before the regatta.
Rohan wasn’t too happy with his foils, taking the hacksaw to
his rudder blade after the practice race. Hardly a sign of someone
confident with their gear.
While the Euros think the KAs are the fastest sails at the
moment, they’re not happy with the leech laying off in light winds,
the cost and the materials, so they’re looking to do something for
themselves.