Might help if I had my eyes open.

This is the second year in a row they have turned up to the World Championships more prepared than the rest of the world. In particular they seem to place a much higher value on using training partners and groups than many other nations and this has shown in their results. Adam May commented to TheDailySail that: “The Brits just are not spending the time sailing together at the moment. Looking back at last year Rohan [Veal] and Amac [Andrew MacDougal] both spent a lot of time training together and this year John Harris and Scott [Babbage] did the same.” It is pretty easy to see this is the case with Harris winning the Worlds, Babbage taking fifth and Amac in second, having been the leader after the first day. By way of contrast two sailors who were predicted to be very fast, but who had both run very individual campaigns were Simon Payne and American Bora Gulari. They ended up in eighth and 20th respectively.

Great to see the media coverage of the event… with even a live-blog of the racing and the 4 hour + AGM on Wednesday! Toby must’ve been as bored as I was the day before when I blogged the manufacturer update.

I would so like to go…

My form guide wasn’t too good, or bad. I created a bit of hype for some and not for others, which seemed to work out as expected in the wash.

John sailed impressively of course. Fast and consistent with only 1 capsize in the 7 races. He probably wasn’t the quickest upwind or downwind, but was always fast, and always there. Given that our boats are coming back home this year, our little training group at Woollahra is going to be fun come summer.

Amac was unbelievably quick. At his age, he is a freak of nature. His speed and height upwind was by far the best, and he pushed his boat so hard downwind. Probably too hard at times, where mistakes cost him in the end, but all in all a well sailed regatta. He’ll be the go-to man for foils and sails for the foreseeable future.

Mat Belcher punched above his weight in the conditions. Literally. He struggled when he tried the MSL13 against the heavy guys, but won the windiest of races when he had his MSL10B up. Again he was always there, racing around the course only boat lengths away. Not the fastest either, but by no means off the pace.

Arnoud taught everyone how to sail downwind. Nobody thought they could push that hard and fast, but he showed everyone how to do it, and the pace of the fleet ratcheted up quickly. Given he’s only had his boat since January, Arnoud’s performance was exceptional. If the Moth class continues to attract young guys of his calibre and character, racing will continue to improve at a rapid rate and the future of the class will be well and truly secure.

Me. The 5th was a bit of a disappointment given last years result, but despite the points, all the races were hard fought. John has had a touch of speed over me at home for a couple of months, and I’ve only bettered him when the breeze has gone down range. That didn’t help me this week. I was fast upwind, but again off the pace downwind, and often on the border of (or out of) control. I would lose a couple of places on each of the reaches to the Bladeriders, who seemed to be able to push so much harder when it got bumpy. Obviously control is key, and there is plenty of work to do there in the short term.

It was amazing to sail in this quality of fleet, where everything counts. Long gone are the days when 10 capsizes in a race can still get you 2nd at the Worlds. In one race, I battled it out with Belcher all the way around, gaining on him upwind only to overlay on the last tack and give away a 50m advantage that I couldn’t recover. A whole race at mach-10 speed only to blow it in a couple of seconds sailing over a layline. It’s unbelievable how far we have come in 12 months, and pretty frightening to think where we will be in another 12 months, or 2 years.

Alex Knight was the quiet one in 6th place. I don’t think I heard a boo out of him all week, and he was rigging next to us. In a banged up Bladerider with an old X8 sail, he bested the rest of the Brits fairly easily.

Graham. Always there again, but not quite on the pace of the leaders. Consistent and quick when he needed to be. He rolled me nicely with Andrew Brown in the last 200m of the last race before I took a massive wipeout. You can only push so hard I guess.

Simon. It would’ve been a different regatta for Simon if it was a bit lighter. But 7 races in 18 knots didn’t do him any advantages. He just didn’t have the weight to get to the top mark in a good place, and suffered because of it. Simon was talking about taking a break from Mothing, but I hope he doesn’t. While we’re all moving forward, we still need guys like him to keep the show together. John and I will be holding him to his promise of coming to Australia for the Nationals in January.

I could go on and on, but there are just too many good sailors and really impressive performances in the fleet.

From here the Moths move to The Gorge in Oregon in August 2009, then Dubai in April 2010, then Australia in January 2011. We have a lot of big events in the next 3 years. For the Australians, we will have - without a doubt - the most competitive Australian Championship in Geelong in January. Already we have Bora, George and Charlie McKee from the US, Sten-Mark from Estonia, Arnoud from Switzerland, Simon from the UK, and Mr Velociraptor Dave Chisholm heading down for the event. Add in Rohan with a fleet of new Bladerider models. This is going to be one hell of a tough event. If someone can step in to steer the 18 for the weekend, John will probably make it there too.

For me, I have a bunch of ideas on how to get a bit of extra performance out of this boat. I seriously need to improve control on a power reach in waves in 20+. I know my upwinds were good, but I still think I can eek more out of it and have a bunch of ideas to make it happen. I also have some ideas to get better control downwind, but I’ll have to get the balls to push it hard downwind to make sure they work. My racing style is way too conservative for that all out speed approach that’s needed for 2008, let alone 2009. This Moth racing is no sport for conservative old men (even though they are often outrageously fast).

Next up on the agenda is 6 weeks without a boat, as our boxes are seafreighted back to Australia. In the interim I will probably take the new carbon-rigged 49er out to destroy. Then there’s the new 18 footer to rig in time for the season start in October. And then I need to start planning out what events I can fit into next year. Moth Nationals in Geelong. Moth Worlds in the Gorge. 29er Worlds in Garda. 49er Worlds in Garda. 18 JJ Giltinan in Sydney. 18 JJ Giltinan in France. Hmmm…

So what else can I say.

Despite an anti-climactic finish to the event, I’m so happy to be involved in the Moth class. There is nothing like it anywhere else. The bunch of people involved are all incredible. I really do hope we can keep doing what we’re doing for a long time to come…

I finished 5th, after losing out on 4th place in the final race to Arnoud. Again impressive sailing from the young newcomer.

It doesn’t feel like the regatta should be ending, after only 2 days of racing. But then again this has been one of the most drawn out events of all time. The boats are boxed up again ready to ship back home.

After losing weight for this event, it’s time to eat.

It was still fresh, and I was quick uphill, but fairly slow or out of control or both downwind. The broad reaches at the bottom of the triangle were killing me, costing me 8 or so places in Race 3. I figured I had too much lift after ditching a bunch of times, so I went down to -1 and wound in a bunch of lift. Much more manageable downwind (losing 1 place downwind in that race instead of 2 every leg in the other races), but then didn’t have enough lift to fly fast uphill… which hurt. The breeze dying off when I backed everything off probably didn’t help my cause. But that’s what you get. I’ve made another change to the wand to try and stop the maystick bottoming out on the topside flare, so that might help me… or might not.

Don’t you love those setup issues

Anyway, I finished with a 3,4,12 (or something like that), 6. John is killing it with 2,2,2,2 (like my Garda scorecard). Amac is super fast, and right on the border of control, scoring a 8,1,4,1 to be leading after the first drop is factored in. Belcher is also doing well, winning the windiest race 3, even though he’s fighting it out at midget weight. Arnoud is also there with 1,2,4 and about 8. Plenty of other fast boats in there that I’ve missed. I might be around 5th if I’m lucky.

Swede Martin Gravare was super quick downwind in Race 3, and Sten-Mark from Estonia ran me down on the line in Race 4. Every place counts and I didn’t do such of good job of holding onto them.

We need 1 more race before we have a series, so it’s on again for tomorrow. They’ll probably get 3 races in before the 3pm time limit. Forecast is for 18-22, so more of the same.

Official results aren’t out yet… but they will be soon. Check www.moth-sailing.org or www.wpnsa.org.uk. Plenty of photographers out so sure to be some impressive shots on the way.

–

Unfortunately they put me down for a 65th in Race 1, instead of 3rd. Which sort of hurts in the overall score as it stands… but that will be all sorted in the morning.

No racing again today, so it’s back to the drawing board with the fleet assignments. Two fleets are out, one fleet is in. It will make for some spectacular photos and - hopefully not - spectacular collisions.

The forecast is for 12-15 knots, so at least we should be on the water. A max of 5 races are scheduled, and they should all be back to back. So fitness will be the key… along with reliability.

Let’s do it people…

And in other news… we have the Worlds in The Gorge, USA in 2009, and then the Worlds in Dubai in 2010, and then the Worlds at Belmont in 2011!

I did get back into the wetsuit though, only to take it back off again. The race committee are now back on shore, and even though the wind has dropped slightly, the likelihood of racing today is slim. Racing tomorrow is even more unlikely.

That could leave a 2-day event. The sailing instructions have been modified to accommodate a 4-race qualifying series, with 1 drop after 4 races. 2 drops kicks in after 9 races, but 9 races in 2 days would be a big call.

Forecast for Thursday/Friday is about 15 knots at this point. Who knows how that will look on the day.

The boredom here in the WPNSA is intense. Sailing stories only go so far, and 5 days of postponement is well beyond the repertoire of even the longest standing Mothists.

Talk has even degraded to the point of trying to determine the identity of the blog commenter Pommy Bob! What next?

So what are they going to say?

Bladerider [Rohan Veal]
218 boats so far out of McConaghy in China, but no more. Current McConaghy stock will be sold off
Plans for the future include 4 different models:
- FX heavy fibreglass (but just as fast). Available February ‘09. Aluminium track for wing tramps.
- SRX - Carbon vacuum infused built in Asia. Straight tube wing frame instead of the sexy bladder moulded X8 style.
- RX - Somewhere in between.
- VRX - manufactured in Melbourne. High-end product for high-end racers. Custom made with special paint. Different sails and masts. Available by the end of the year.

Questions…

Hull designs?
[Rohan] Same for the range, other than a slighter wider deck for tramp tracks.

[Alan Watson] Reliability. Will the boats last 10 years?
[Rohan] 2 year warranty for Europe. Parts improving constantly. Problems sorted quickly and compensated for.
[Adam May] 10 years competitive life in a development class is not particularly realistic.
[Mark Robinson] Our boats are so much better than those plastic Olympic classes. Les likes to break wing bars because he’s so fit and all.
[Doink] But only when people run into him.
[Mark] Newbies crash often and break stuff. Like John’s gantries.
[Dave Chisholm] Make sure you wash it and replace all the bits when they look like they’re wearing out. Preventative maintenance stops you breaking stuff.
[Steve Hopper] What about aerodynamics?
[Rohan] More interested in mass production rather than optimisation. We’ll change in the future if necessary. Small gains at high cost.
[Mark] Tooling costs lots. Development has come from home builders in the past. Boats are losing freeboard. Development will be slow unless we have the backyard tinkerers.
[Graham] Cost for VRX elite boat?
[Rohan] No idea. Probably cheaper than McConaghy. Cost probably not going up, other than shipping out of Melbourne. Pricing released later. High modulus carbon will probably cost more. Pricing between models will probably be staged.
[Andrew Brown] Does that mean it will still be one-design?
[Rohan] Never sold as a one design, mass produced instead. No intention of a class owners association. Up to the owners to decide about limitations.

Fastacraft [John Ilett]
Strong demand for boats in the past, which means long lead time. 15 boats a year in batches. Hoping to get to mass production in Thailand and Vietnam. Manufacturing of hulls to be done in Vietnam in future, painted and non-skidded hulls shipped by the container load to Perth, with other parts assembled, fitted and shipped from the Fastacraft factory. Same quality which Fastacraft is known for. 6 boats available. First container delivered in October. Boats shipped through November/December. Hoping to sell in-house sails/masts.

[Toby Heppell] Costs reduced?
[John] No. Delivery times shortened, and resale agents involved. Pricing unlikely to be reduced.
[Toby] How many?
[John] 100-200 per year. 15 boats in first batch. 30-40 in first year. Manufacturer in Asia wants more. The more built, the better the quality. I will be traveling to Vietnam with moulds and demo boat to train builders.
[Andrew Brown] Will the design be different?
[John] No. Looking at two-piece foils but the hull will remain unchanged. Experienced designer giving advice on what’s right and wrong.
[Alan Goddard] Possibility of foil kits sans hull?
[John] Not likely. Progressively moving construction over with wings and trolleys, then foils last. Limited capacity is going into producing foils for boats rather than foils for home builds.

Velociraptor [Dave Chisholm]
History? Where we are? What’s next? Idea started at the UK Nationals in ‘07. Design features like v-hull and wing bar sections. Idea to build for Adam and myself, but lots of other people wanted one as well. Standard Velociraptor is productionized version of those boats. Next boat is the first of the production line. Elliptical front-sections and lower freeboard on Velociraptor-S which Adam and I sail. Boats being retrofitted as things improved. 6 boats built with 5 at this event. Simple production process (Graham Eels formerly Tornado builder). Carbonology supplies frames, tubes etc which Graham then puts together, then painted and finished at next production facility. Boats fitted out in Department-V of Carbonology. Quite a few orders including a couple to Australia. Two specifications and some standard colours (which nobody has ordered). Two specs: standard at 9500 GBP. skies the limit at somewhere about 14500 GBP… but we’re not going to confirm or deny that.

Plans for transportability?
[Dave] Currently non-transportable. Kit being built now. Wingbars bonded together before they go in the boat. Can be cut/sleeved. 500g extra weight. Removable wing bar option available at no extra cost. Kit retro-fittable to existing fixed-wing boats.
[Alan Watson] Guarantees?
[Dave] 1 year warranty. Guaranteed for life if you guarantee not to crash it. We’re building the fastest production boats ever built. Raptor not an expensive boat in the UK compared to its competitors, but margin gets eaten away when things have to be replaced, so no intention of building an unreliable boat. Won’t hand over a boat til the owner is insured and guarantees they are capable of sailing it.

KA Sails [Andrew McDougall]
[Andrew] Humbled by the fact that so many people have bought the sails. Bladerider and I separated a year ago, but maybe we’ll be working together again in future. Every MSL13 has been oversize unfortunately. Measuring is now more accurate than it has been. Australian measurement has always been tighter. Where to next? Going to address durability - especially when rigging on a concrete ramp. Specific cams being built for lower-diameter masts. Changing way the cams are being put into the sail to make it easier to pop in without damaging the luff.
[Graham Vials] Any cloth changes? Ie. it’s heavy and cheap?
[Andrew] Every effort made to build 1 sail to suit everyone. Better, expensive, less durable cloths available. 30% less weight possible in windsurfers, but we’re aiming for something that is bulletproof. Until someone makes something lighter, the sails are going to be kept simple and durable. Strength is more important than stiffness or weight. It’s been a conscious decision. Not the fiber that adds longevity, it’s the film. The thinner the film, the more it degrades in UV.
[Jean-Pierre] New cams or specially adapted MSL13?
[Andrew] No more MSL13. It’s an unlucky number. The new MSL14 will be one sail for both masts.
[Simon Payne] The MSL13 was built for light wind regattas for Weymouth. Will there be radically different sail sizes for different conditions, so we could go sailing on days like today?
[Andrew] No. Formula boards use 9.8/10.6/11.5 but the top guy uses only 1 size sail. 8m is never too big for racing. MSL10 will easily work for a racing sailor in 25 knots. Adam has cut down an original MSL10 to 6.55, and I’m considering an 9m sail for fun. If we had a limit for 10m, nobody would use anything smaller, they’d just look a lot different.
[Rohan] What about junior sails?
[Andrew] That’s the 7m. I was contemplating wether to continue developing Moth sails earlier in the year, given the time demands. Given how successful the sails have been this year, likely to expand into things like wing covers, foils, cold-water issues etc. Fences are one way to fix cold-water ventilation, but I’m not going to say more right now.
[Alan Watson] Would you do a sail setting seminar?
[Andrew] Yes, sure. If we can rig inside then let’s do it.

Hyde Sails [Mike Lennon]
Congrats on getting the class to where it is now. Sad to see all the other classes struggling. Paul Brotherton wanted some cheap sails so he tipped me into this. Original development based on Paul’s ideas on lowering centre of effort and reducing drag in top of sail. When I started in the class I started with Amac’s sails and now have a sail which is quite similar in profile to the KA. Sails designed to get foiling earlier, with bigger in the top and less in the bottom, though that’s now changing again, going full circle. We’re now at the point where the sail does all the right things. From a yacht/dinghy background, so coming from a different approach than windsurfers, therefore using a 2.8oz technora cloth, which has better UV properties than most other aramids. Moth sails will last a long time given they don’t flap so much - which is true for most fully-battened sails. Weight is a big consideration for us, using the lightest cloth we can get away with. Cam technology was a bit of a mystery, and we don’t have cam production, so we’re using a mix of Tushingham and Neill Pryde cams. We’ve copied the Neil Pryde ultra-cam system which suspends the cams on a string with a 2-1 purchase against the batten, which should stop them jamming through gybes.

[Burkhard] Longer luff to foil earlier?
[Mike] Luff length is key yes. Longer luff, narrower section should be more efficient.
[James Roche] What do they cost?
[Mike] About 600GBP
Sleeve size?
[Mike] Smaller luff sleeve than we had given how much if fills with water in a capsize and how often the cams fall off. Somewhere in between.

[Mark Robinson] It’s still gusting 33 knots, so we’ll be here for a bit longer.

… We decided a while ago that we don’t want to take the Moth Olympic, given how political it is, but we don’t mind someone taking something off the side. World AGM expected to be held on Wednesday given the forecast.

[Martin Gravare] Opinions on pumping? Rule 42? Two choices: stick to the rules, or flag system like 470s, or third way (??) going completely free.
[Mark] Look at demographics. Our poor old masters wouldn’t cope with pumping like windsurfers. Flag system when breeze strength dictates is not a bad idea but we’d need to change the rules. I’d be against full pumping in any wind strength. If we were all under 30, then
[Bora] We have to be able to pump to get up on foils. To not allow it is dumb. Why are we banning it?
[Mark] Current ISAF rules don’t cope with foiling anyway. We’ve just kept the jury away in the past. We rarely have protests and don’t really want to go down that route. We may go down the path of 3 gusts per gust.
[Belgian guy] How do the jury see the gusts anyway?
[Graham] What’s a wave?
[Mark] We operate on our own little tangent, but when we start modifying ISAF’s rules, then get antsy.
[Graham] Problem with not being able to pump upwind, given that’s when it’s important in foiling.
[Mark] Technically we’re all illegal under the rules. Lucky there’s no jury in the room.
[Alex Adams] Graham’s technique is illegal.
[Mat Belcher] Important to keep it consistent. 470s cant pump but they all do anyway. Everyone is still doing it in Moths anyway. If we keep leaving it open and un-policed then the new guys will do whatever it takes. We really don’t have an option, either leave it unlimited or police it. Grey area is not good.
[Mark] New set of rules on Jan 1 will include something on pumping. There’s a reason Jury’s are independent and have discretion. We need to give guidelines to the Jury. Other acts of seamanship means pretty much anything for a Moth!
[Andrew] Does the person with the best blog win the regatta?
[Mark] Simon wins… cause he’s updating it now.

Wow… what a long-winded blog post… that should keep the fans going for a bit yet.

Welcome to Weymouth in summer.

We’ve been held on shore for another few hours today, with little prospect of hitting the water given that the recorded winds are a good 10 knots above the Windguru forecast, which is on the borderline for today anyway. Tomorrow looks just as ordinary, and Wednesday’s forecast is for more wind, with more rain.

Racing is yesterday’s tiny weather window mightn’t have been such a bad idea after all.

Anyway, we’re all holed up in the clubhouse, unable to leave in case the postponement comes down. There is not that much left to do in regards to boatwork, given that it’s been a couple of days since anyone hit the water. There is even less to write about…

The Mothosphere is still buzzing along however, filled with the random witty banter of a room full of bored sailors on laptops talking to each other through their web sites.

…