scott.projectsomewhere

Only a day after the first try-foiling day in Sydney, we have a few
serious converts on the cards.

John Harris & Emmett Lazich have been brainstorming since
Saturday on how to talk their wives into letting them buy
foilers… I wish them every success!

Rohan has also had success in Melbourne with ABN Amro 2 team members Seb Josse
& Scott Beavis about to get foilers for themselves.

And I’m looking into organising a 2nd foiling day in March…

Yesterday’s try-flying day on the Moth was a huge success!

The day started early, with 7 guinea pigs lining up to take it
on.

John Harris, skipper of Rag &
Famish - former 18′ Skiff JJ Giltinan Champion - was the first
to take up the challenge. He foiled at times, crashed at times and
came off the boat trying to catch his breath.

Next on was John Winning, former 29er World Champion and skipper of
the 18′ Skiff
Appliances Online. John foiled easily with his light weight,
but didn’t last much longer than 15 minutes… a bit too much hard
work.

John Sweeny was next, skipper of our 18 Active Air. Sweeny got enough
air (but not too much) and had some issues tacking… I remember
those times back when I was sailing Full Frontal.

Next onboard was Peter
Harris, the 92kg bowman off our 18. Needless to say I was a bit
worried watching him hike off the wing bars! Everything held up
very well, and Pete blasted around very well… though I can’t
believe how hard he had to hike to get the boat down…
hmmm…

Nigel Littlewood, the skipper I sailed with in the 49er Nationals,
was up next. Pete was totally buggered by the time we got Nigel out
onto the water and was thankful to get a rest. Nige sailed it
around pretty easily in the constant breeze, foiling downwind and
close-hauled without too much hassle. It took us a while to get the
boat back off him.

Thorpey was up for another ride, taking it out for another hour and
sailing well out of sight in the process.

Emmett Lazich was next out of the blocks. The former Moth World
Champion and multiple Australian Champion did well, foiling at
times though commenting that he only saw probably 20% of the boats
potential in the hour he sailed. Or was that 21%?

Thorpey then had the boat to race in the usual Balmoral saturday
sailing. 5 foilers raced including Chris Dey, Luka Damic, Pete
Harney & Phil Stevenson with Ian Sim & Ian Ward
low-riding.

So at the end of the day, lots of different people had a taste of
foiling and the best thing is my boat held up perfectly, with not a
dent in the topsides and no visible damage.

Now to schedule the next one…

It looks like the next few months will be a bit interesting in
terms of selections for upcoming events.

Nigel and I surprised ourselves and finished 4th in the short
Australian 49er Champs over the last week. We raced pretty
consistently to win a race in the strong winds, and beat the
full-time teams from Japan, and Melbourne along with the 18′ World
Champions Euan & Seve. You can’t draw much from the event
really, but we’ll take the results as they come.

The Kiwis Olympic aspriationalists were 1st. Weekenders Clynton & Tai were 2nd, with
SailMelbourne winners Nathan & Ben in 3rd.

So now we’ve got the interesting situation whereby, according to
the Yachting Australia selection criteria Clynton & Tai should
be nominated for the ISAF World Sailing Games
in Austria as well as the 2006 Olympic test-event in Qingdao. Since
Clynton is a South African national and an Australian resident, I’m
not 100% confident they’ll get the nod to go (any excuse will do?).
If they do get the spot - Clynton has mentioned they may not take
it up, in either case Nathan & Ben would be next in line.

The interesting thing is there is a 2nd provisional spot for each
event dependent on entries. If Clynton is out and the 2nd spot is
up, technically we should be next in line to get it.

But… I have a sneaking suspicion that there’s no way in hell we
will. Though it would be funny…

There was also various discussions during the 49ers about the
standard of the fleet in Australia… with a fair amount of
speculation on where they’d end up on the World scale. For
reference, the Japanese (6th) were apparently Athens Olympic bronze
medallists in the 470, as well as finishing 41st in the last 49er
Worlds in Moscow. The Kiwis (1st) were in the top few in the Moscow
Worlds Bronze fleet - about 50th. That means the standard was
probably mid-Silver. Not that flash…. and a long way to go before
the podium.

Interesting to note that the Japanese were 41st in Moscow and 15th
Nation… and there’s 19 or so country spots up for grabs in the
next Olympics.

In other news - and completely unrelated to the 49ers - we’ve got
the 18′ Skiff JJ Giltinan series, for which we have to qualify in
the top 15 at the Australian Championship. After our broken
spinnaker pole yesterday, which seems to have shat itself in the
sun, we’re in 15th (from 7th). We can’t afford to have another DNF
in this series if we’re to make the cut.

And of course there’s the flickr
photos to go with the 49er event.

Sail #
Skipper
h1
h2
h3
h4
h5
h6
h7
h8
h9
h10
Total
TOTAL
Place

9345
Rohan Veal
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
27
1
31
67
9
1

9344
Scott Babbage
3
3
6
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
25
16
2

SIN 7
Mark Robinson
5
2
10
3
3
5
3
1
18
1
51
23
3

9306
Chris Dey
9
4
5
4
4
4
4
3
5
3
45
31
4

9318
Les Thorpe
2
6
2
8
8
3
5
5
3
7
49
33
5

9333
Luka Damic
13
5
9
6
6
12
7
6
6
4
74
49
6

9322
Mic Boode
4
8
3
11
11
7
6
8
31
8
97
55
7

9343
Phil Stevenson
6
12
4
7
9
8
8
10
7
9
80
58
8

9303
Andrew Sim
7
7
7
10
12
6
9
9
8
11
86
63
9

9316
Steve Donovan
14
9
11
5
7
14
15
4
10
6
95
66
10

9335
Ben Crocker
11
14
14
12
10
11
12
7
4
10
105
77
11

9321
Peter Harney
15
10
15
9
5
15
16
27
31
5
148
90
12

9337
Alan Goddard
16
11
12
13
14
9
10
13
18
31
147
98
13

9334
Ned Dally
17
17
17
17
15
13
11
11
12
14
144
110
14

9233
John McAteer
12
19
18
16
16
17
14
15
14
13
154
117
15

9331
Craig Smith
19
18
16
30
13
31
18
27
9
12
193
132
16

9332
Roger Quinn
10
15
13
14
31
10
13
27
31
31
195
133
17

9346
Greg Wise
18
16
20
22
17
16
17
17
18
31
192
139
18

9256
Ian Sim
21
20
24
15
18
21
22
12
31
15
199
144
19

9311
Andrew MacDougall
8
13
8
30
31
31
31
14
13
31
210
148
20

9008
Jon Reid
20
21
25
19
19
18
20
27
31
17
217
159
21

8769
Kylie Lowy
26
26
28
21
22
25
25
16
11
19
219
165
22

8999
Mark Hughes
24
22
23
20
21
23
19
27
31
18
228
170
23

9307
Sam Neeft
22
23
19
24
23
20
24
31
31
16
233
171
24

9326
Sam MacKnight
23
24
22
25
24
24
23
27
31
21
244
186
25

9285
Yarrek Bialkowski
25
25
21
23
25
22
26
27
31
20
245
187
26

9243
Bruce McLeod
30
27
30
18
20
19
21
27
31
31
254
192
27

9266
Peregrine Horton
27
30
26
31
31
29
31
27
31
31
294
232
28

9342
Geoff Kitchen
31
31
27
30
31
29
31
31
31
31
303
241
29

2006 Moth Nationals - a report by I.M.C.A NSW
President Phil Stevenson
The regatta proved a great success, with co-operative weather, a
great venue, excellent race management, friendly club, and a great
crowd of moth sailors and supporters.
Huge thanks to South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club at
Sunshine for hosting the regatta, and to TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES
for their financial support.
Weather ranged form one heat in 5kts to one in a solid 25kts.
But most were in moderate breezes. We had extreme heat for the
invitation race and a thunderstorm one night but otherwise quite
comfortable weather for sailing and camping.
The fleet comprised 29 moths, one wide skiff, three scows, six
wide stern narrow boats, 5 prowlers, 11 Hungry Tigers and three
specials. Eleven boats used foils at some time.
We successfully continued the 2005 use of the “complete the lap
you are on if you are lapped and finish after the winner - race car
type system”, which meant that the huge speed differential between
the fast foilers and older boats does not mean that the slow boats
go over the time limit or that the fast boats wait an hour between
races. This meant most boats score a result sometimes only doing
one lap.
We also introduced a type handicap system to the invitation race
where scows do 2 laps, skiffs 3 laps, and foilers 4 laps. In patchy
conditions Ian won with his scow closely followed by Les and Robbo
not far away, Rohan having gone home early to cool off.
As for the championship this is a boat-by-boat summary in order
of final results, from my perspective only. My apologies for errors
or differing observations to the people concerned.
Rohan Veal sailed his new prowler with new model Fastacraft
foils which are slightly higher aspect and elliptical shaped, than
last years models. Spans were 950 and 650 I think. He was
consistently fastest winning all but one race he completed. He even
won the light race in about 5kts foiling for only a short period
but with adequate technique in sub foiling conditions to just hold
off Les. The next best foiler in this race was 5th. Rohan used his
highly decorated MSL11 KA sail in most races but tried his MSL 9 in
a few medium wind races.
Scott Babbage was the only one to beat Rohan on the water. But
he did lead at other times a few times. His boat was a new Thorpe
built Hungry Tiger with the flairs and free board reduced to a
minimum. His foils were similar to the last year models, built by
Mark from moulds made by Phil Stevenson after a lot of advice from
John Ilett. Spans were 900 on fin and 700 on rudder. Scott used an
MSL 11 sail. He has only been sailing on foils since last winter,
but is very light and gets out of the water easily. (Since when does 72kgs make me very
light!!)
Mark Robinson sailed a boat the same as Rohan’s, (with less
stickers) and won the two races which Rohan DNF’d or DNS’d. He can
lead up wind but seems to lose out downwind. He is also light but
only really sails at major moth regattas so lacks practice and
refinement compared to Rohan.
These three boats were consistently the top three in races with
reliable wind.
Chris Dey was distinctly the next fastest in most conditions. He
had good upwind speed, but lost out even more than Robbo downwind.
He sailed the same Hungry Tiger as the last 5 years with a
Fastacraft main foil and an Andrew Stevenson built rudder/foil with
no flap, but full tilting mechanism, and no gantry. His sail was
the last Truflo built before the 05 rule change, bigger and flatter
in the head than the std 03-04 models.
Les Thorpe sailed the same Tiger as last 4 years with an 03
model Truflo, and standard Mark Thorpe rudder and centreboard. He
was distinctly the best Archimedean boat, splitting the fast
foilers when the wind was light enough, but losing to more of the
new foilers when it was windier. He should have foils next
year.
Luka Damic only started foiling late November. His Tiger had an
old MSL 8 and the older style square tip wide chord Fastacraft
foils. He improved most of the new foiling brigade with average
upwind speed but lightning fast downwind, passing everyone up to
Chris at times.
Mic Boode sailed a standard Archimedean Tiger with an MSL 8
sail. He gave Les a nudge a few times, and held off the other
Tigers, but had the same problem with the foilers.
Phil Stevenson was the only one to have any success with
changing between rudder/fin and Foils. At 85kg he decided that he
needed 15kts and white caps to foil faster than he floated so only
put the foils on 4 times, in the end breaking a main foil off just
below the hull 50m from finish of Heat 8. Then sailing the windiest
Heat 9 with fin and rudder. Boat was a new standard Tiger with 03
Truflo. Foils self built with 900 span on both rudder and
centreboard. Tilting rudder like Chris mounted on transom. Raced
Mic in the light but with foils could not match Luka, Steve and
Pete.
Andrew Sim sailed a consistent series with the same Tiger and
Truflo as last year. Same problem as Les, foilers just went past
Andrew more often. He should have foils next year.
Steve Donovan has the same Tiger and foils as Luka and new MSL11
sail. He also only started foiling in November. Improved not quite
as much as Luka, but getting there. His ‘Golden Cleat’ tipping
contest and nightly presentation was a highlight of the week.v
Ben Crocker enjoyed the one heavy day but his weight and the
lighter winds meant some poorer placings. Standard Tiger and
Truflo. He should have foils next year.
Pete Harney was similar to Steve, same gear, same time on foils.
A broken wing saw him lose Heats 8 & 9. (Mention must be made
of the Taj MaHarney - the biggest tent ever seen at a Moth regatta
- ed.)
Alan Goddard seems to have mastered his Maritime College narrow
design he has been sailing for 3 years now. He gets among the
Tigers on occasions and had some self built unfinished foils in the
car so should get even better. Shows perseverance pays.
Ned Dally sailed his Prowler built for Cootharabah. No injuries
this time but steadily improving results. No foils yet.
John McAteer was the first 1995 vintage fat arse boat.
Consistent finisher. Passed National presidency to Peter Williamson
in Qld.
Craig Smith had an indifferent series with his foil borne Tiger.
He had similar gear to Luka, Steve and Pete but with last year’s
box gantry, which seems to mount the rudder at a different angle of
attack. He could not get the same speed as the other foilers. He
also suffered a road crash on the way home, which might facilitate
the necessary angle change.
Roger Quinn enjoyed his second nationals with Ryan Kelly’s old
Prowler. No foils but consistent places.
Greg Wise had a flash new moth experiment, which was tested
through the series, but not adequately before hand. Ply on foam
hull and wings, wishbone boom, fin in front of mast. His main
problem was the wishbone not allowing the sail to be let out enough
downwind. He did not manage to complete the intended design with
tubular stays and tilting mechanism, which might have solved this
fault. He also did not complete his foils which remained like
Alan’s, unfinished in the car.
Ian Sim again proved top Scow despite some early threat from
Jon. His immaculate foam glass scow remains the one to beat with
carbon mast and MSL8.
Andrew MacDougall managed to break something in almost every
race. Gantries, wing tramps, foil linkages. Maybe Garth’s old
Prowler prototype is getting old or maybe AMAC is just tough on
boats. When he was foiling he was almost as fast as the top boats
but he could not keep it up.
Jon Reid, our webmaster, nearly destroyed his boat last Easter
but over winter turned it into another immaculate scow with modern
rig and performance to threaten Ian. Lack of practice with it in
big winds brought him undone on Friday. You need to be an Austin
Powers fan to appreciate his boat name!
Kylie Lowy recorded a finish in all heats, which may be more
races than she finished over all of last season, so she was well
pleased, and will now sail the old scow with much more confidence.
We are also grateful for her acquiring the sponsorship from TOYOTA
FINANCIAL SERVICES, which balanced the books for IMCA NSW and
SLMASC.
Mark Hughes sailed the only 1980s vintage fat skiff. He had some
good racing with the scows, and will now go back to Qld to practice
on the sister ship to Alan’s boat for next years home
nationals.
Sam Neeft had fun, but also too many swims. Greg Wise’s old
axeman type still looks solid and the weeks practice should help
Sam along.
Sam McKnight is only 17 and he has not had Scott’s old Tiger
very long. He finished all but one race and became Junior
Champion.
Defending Junior Champ, Zac Douglas was unable to make it
falling ill days before in Melbourne.
Yarreck Bialkowski sailed Phil Hebden’s once champion Axeman
that still looks in good shape. Yarreck like Sam N had a few too
many swims.
Bruce McLeod sailed the same Axeman style boat he did at the
1995 worlds, having kept it in the shed for the last 10 years. It
is unfortunately by today’s standards a bit heavy, and Bruce is
also a bit bigger than he was 11 years ago. He also tries some
homemade foils, which had great difficulty lifting the total weight
required. Like Phil he also broke his main foil off at the
hull.
Geoff Kitchen is a brave man. For his first venture in moths he
created a tiny torpedo hull with negligible bow and little
freeboard. He managed to finish the 5kt race but in anything else
downwind proved almost impossible. All carbon, it was easily the
lightest boat because there was just less of it. He is not
discouraged and was going home to cut it up and solve a few of its
faults. It should provide minimum windage when he gets his foils
completed.
There were no breakthrough designs, there was some pretty good
sailing and enough foilers to show that tactical racing will
continue. There sometimes looks to be big gaps between boats but at
the speeds shown, these gaps can close extremely quickly. There is
still much to be learnt about height control, and when to decide
take off is viable for different people’s weights and
equipment.
Phil Stevenson.
Jan 06

Sail #
Skipper
State
Categ
Mode
Hull
Sail
Foil Maker

9345
Rohan Veal
Vic
Senior
Foil
Prowler
KA MSL 11/9
Fastacraft

9344
Scott Babbage
NSW
Senior
Foil
Hungry Tiger special
KA MSL 11
Thorpe/Stevenson

SIN 7
Mark Robinson
NSW
Senior
Foil
Prowler
KA MSL 10/9
Fastacraft

9306
Chris Dey
NSW
Senior
Foil
Hungry Tiger
Truflo 2004
Fastacraft/Stevenson

9318
Les Thorpe
NSW
Senior
Skiff
Hungry Tiger
Truflo 2003

9333
Luka Damic
NSW
Senior
Foil
Hungry Tiger
KA MSL 7
Fastacraft

9322
Mic Boode
Vic
Senior
Skiff
Hungry Tiger
KA MSL 8

9343
Phil Stevenson
NSW
Master
Foil/Skiff
Hungry Tiger
Truflo 2003
Stevenson

9303
Andrew Sim
NSW
Senior
Skiff
Hungry Tiger
Truflo 2003

9316
Steve Donovan
NSW
Senior
Foil
Hungry Tiger
KA MSL 11

9335
Ben Crocker
NSW
Senior
Skiff
Hungry Tiger
Truflo 2003

9321
Peter Harney
NSW
Senior
Foil
Hungry Tiger
KA MSL 11

9337
Alan Goddard
NSW
Senior
Skiff
Acadamy Special
KA MSL 8

9334
Ned Dally
SA
Master
Skiff
Prowler
KA MSL 9

9233
John McAteer
NSW
Master
Skiff
Lazich
MSL6

9331
Craig Smith
Vic
Senior
Foil/Skiff
Hungry Tiger
KA MSL 9
Fastacraft

9332
Roger Quinn
NSW
Master
Skiff
Prowler
Truflo 2003

9346
Greg Wise
SA
Senior
skiff
Wise
KA MSL 9

9256
Ian Sim
NSW
Master
Scow
Thorpe scow
KA MSL 7

9311
Andrew MacDougall
Vic
Master
Foil/Skiff
Prowler prototype
KA MSL 9
Fastacraft

9008
Jon Reid
NSW
Senior
Scow
Skinny scow
Truflo 2003

8769
Kylie Lowy
NSW
Female
Scow
ply scow
?

8999
Mark Hughes
Qld
Senior
skiff
Wombat
?

9307
Sam Neeft
SA
Senior
Skiff
Wise Lazich
?

9326
Sam MacKnight
NSW
Junior
Skiff
Hungry Tiger
Truflo 2003

9285
Yarrek Bialkowski
Vic
Senior
Skiff
Lazich
Sier?

9243
Bruce McLeod
NSW
Senior
Foil/Skiff
McLeod lazich
One Design
McLeod

9266
Peregrine Horton
Vic
Senior
Skiff
Lazich
SA

9342
Geoff Kitchen
NSW
Senior
Skiff
Torpedo
North

Today saw the first day of the 49er Nationals at McCrae, as well as
a few good results from Nigel and myself (with a last
name of Babich according to the results).

The committee postponed racing this morning with the breeze at
20-25 knots. Thankfully the postponement came down and we did get
two race in the good breeze before things got shitty.

Lucky for us we won one of the windier races - definitely more
arse-than-class, but still not bad.

6 more to go, and the kiwis already have a 10 point margin.

I’ve managed to get hold of a stack of photos from the 18
footers… there’s a few good ones (in the few hundred) of Casio
blasting down the harbour.

Hopefully we can get more of these photos onto the web when the new
18 footer web site goes live.