I am now in my third year of mothing and at last I see signs of improvement.
I have not stopped sailing this winter although I have drawn the line when the air temperature has dropped below freezing. I did sail one day when the air temp was 2deg C and the sea was 3deg C. The Mach2 foils handle cold water temperatures very well with very little venting but it still feels like it is "skidding" through the water and going to let go at any moment - a very weird feeling.
Boatwise - the Mach2 has had a refit with new tramps (from Hydes). These have four control line holes instead of three which tidies up the set up and have wing protection built in. I have put on new rigging, new control lines and mainsheet and strops, replacement blocks (I now use Ronstan Orbits instead of Harken and will see if they wear any better). I have a modified Phil Oligario adjustable wand where I have used unis to glue the May stick onto the assembly and have wrapped some unis around the barrel to strengthen it. I have also applied some thin UMHT tape on the wand itself to improve the sliding action and get rid of the play.
One problem I have had is that the 32:1 kicking strap has been chewing through mast strops like there is no tomorrow. In frustration, I borrowed Mike Lennon's idea of using 3mm dyneema wrapped 3 times round the mast and replaced the shackle I was using with a block to hold the three strops on. This seems to be holding up well so far but I do keep a close eye on it.
I managed to break my mast pin so I replaced that. This time I have wound it in so the bottom of the mast barely clears the king pin socket. This is so that it copes better with the higher kicker loads. The replacement brass mast socket I had commissioned has been a complete success and two years down the line has shown little wear.
The other mod I have done is to cure the problem where the mast bolt has been bending and has worn away the holes in the boom. To fix this I drilled out the holes in both the mast and boom and inserted Oilite bushes in the holes (Oilite is a form of brass which unlike stainless steel, does not react with carbon). I now use a titanium M6 bolt and this, coupled with the support given by the bushes, is holding up well.
I have decided this year that I am not going to change the boat in any significant way as it is behaving very well and seems to have good speed. I am now convinced that all performance gains will come from me - either through improving my boat handling or improving the boat set up in relation to the conditions (and getting slicker at changing settings).
Areas that I am going to concentrate on:-
1. Faster gybing - now that gybing is coming more naturally, I am going to concentrate on maintaining speed through the gybe and getting back up to full speed quicker once through.
2. Better downwind speed - this is an area if I think I have made great improvements in recently. Two things here to concentrate on - sail set + trim and hiking. I have found that I tend to oversheet (and undersheet) so sail trim is everything. When I feel a gust hit I sheet out, bear off and hike. You can really feel the benefit of a bit of extra body weight here because you can take advantage of the extra apparent wind generated and bear off even more.
3, Upwind speed - sail set is important. My extra weight means I do not need to flatten off immediately and can gain advantage when the lightweights are already battened down. Above all, its about hiking - the longer and harder you can hike the faster you will go - period. The hiking bench at home has done sterling service throughout the winter and I have kept up my 150 sit ups every night and it is paying off.
4. Tacking - ever since I began to treat tacking as an upwind gybe, I have begun to see an improvement. No foiling tacks yet but it is pleasing to be on the new rack all powered up once the tack is completed. Now it is about letting off the kicker and cunningham in the lighter stuff to get up as quickly as possible.
5. Race craft - club racing starts again in mid March (plus our first open meeting at Queen Mary). Nothing improves race craft more than racing so I am looking forward to that.
2012 is my 51st year and currently the body is holding together well. I need to lose some weight after the winter but Moth sailing is great for that and a bit of mid week training commencing now the days are getting longer should help.
Accommodation is booked for the Worlds in Pieve in the Tremosine area. For anyone looking, note that there is only one road down to Campione from the top of the cliff. Whilst a village in the Tremosine area can seem closer to Campione than Pieve, you still have to drive through that village to get down. So best off looking there first.
Is anyone aware of a 2012 Worlds web site yet? I found this http://www.mothworlds.org/campione/ but it is devoid of any information. About time this was sorted out?
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Monday, 21 November 2011
Another Weekend Under My Belt
I write this with my legs and arms still feeling the effect of two days solid Mothing over the weekend. Whilst I adore the fact that the Moth is a development class and the enhanced performance that every major change brings, there is nothing that can replace the fact that if you can hike out harder for longer, and play that main sheet enough, you will have the God-given speed that everyone craves, no matter what design you own or how much you spend.
For me, in order to reach any standard of fitness I have explored two avenues: one is buying a hiking bench from these guys http://www.hikingbench.com/. I chose the classic hiking bench with a narrow seat and, with the aid of a tape measure, replicated my sitting out stance exactly. I do 150 hiking sit outs a night whilst watching the TV. Its not boring like a gym and I feel good afterwards. The other avenue is trying to sail harder than I did before. This means in practice doing a quarter mile beat on one tack without giving in and then flipping over and doing the same distance on the other tack and then working hard down wind instead of treating it as a rest.
Whilst this all sounds great, my tacking throws a lot of my straight line speed away. Anyone who can tell me one thing that helped them tack better, please add a comment to this blog.
We are now getting good turn outs for Saturday and Sunday racing at Hayling Island SC. Gradually we are getting Race Officers to set Moth friendly courses in our own fleet. However, we still have a large number of Mach2s that hardly ever move. How anyone can spend £12k on a boat then not use it is beyond me! We also have what I call the night shift turn up in the shape of Geoff Carveth (current SB3 World Champ) who goes out just as the harbour lights come on. Bizarre.
It is still pretty mild in England and it gets pretty sweaty inside the old steamer. However, today is a lot colder, and I imagine it will not be long before I am shaking snow off the boat cover. I will sail as long as the temperature remains above freezing. Using that rule, it is amazing how few days you actually lose at Hayling, mainly because we sail on the relatively warm sea. And, let me tell you, absolutely nothing beats the under floor heating in the changing rooms after a cold sail!
For me, in order to reach any standard of fitness I have explored two avenues: one is buying a hiking bench from these guys http://www.hikingbench.com/. I chose the classic hiking bench with a narrow seat and, with the aid of a tape measure, replicated my sitting out stance exactly. I do 150 hiking sit outs a night whilst watching the TV. Its not boring like a gym and I feel good afterwards. The other avenue is trying to sail harder than I did before. This means in practice doing a quarter mile beat on one tack without giving in and then flipping over and doing the same distance on the other tack and then working hard down wind instead of treating it as a rest.
Whilst this all sounds great, my tacking throws a lot of my straight line speed away. Anyone who can tell me one thing that helped them tack better, please add a comment to this blog.
We are now getting good turn outs for Saturday and Sunday racing at Hayling Island SC. Gradually we are getting Race Officers to set Moth friendly courses in our own fleet. However, we still have a large number of Mach2s that hardly ever move. How anyone can spend £12k on a boat then not use it is beyond me! We also have what I call the night shift turn up in the shape of Geoff Carveth (current SB3 World Champ) who goes out just as the harbour lights come on. Bizarre.
It is still pretty mild in England and it gets pretty sweaty inside the old steamer. However, today is a lot colder, and I imagine it will not be long before I am shaking snow off the boat cover. I will sail as long as the temperature remains above freezing. Using that rule, it is amazing how few days you actually lose at Hayling, mainly because we sail on the relatively warm sea. And, let me tell you, absolutely nothing beats the under floor heating in the changing rooms after a cold sail!
Thursday, 13 October 2011
More Doubt over 2012 World Dates
Just in case people have not seen Simon Payne's comment on my last Blog post, he says that there is a request to move the dates of the Worlds by those involved in the Olympics/Paralympics.
Whilst I understand their predicament, I do think it is a little late now to move the event, bearing in mind that some will have taken holiday and booked accommodation (I have not yet thankfully). These dates have been in the public domain since January of this year so why did they not request a date change sooner?
I do hope that Luca Rizotti gets the Worlds website up sooner rather than later so that we can end this speculation as I am really looking forward to this event.
Edit: Since I wrote this Luca Rizotti has replied to me that they are indeed considering changing the dates because some Olympic sailors have suddenly realised that the two events are quite close. I hope you have not booked anything yet!
Whilst I understand their predicament, I do think it is a little late now to move the event, bearing in mind that some will have taken holiday and booked accommodation (I have not yet thankfully). These dates have been in the public domain since January of this year so why did they not request a date change sooner?
I do hope that Luca Rizotti gets the Worlds website up sooner rather than later so that we can end this speculation as I am really looking forward to this event.
Edit: Since I wrote this Luca Rizotti has replied to me that they are indeed considering changing the dates because some Olympic sailors have suddenly realised that the two events are quite close. I hope you have not booked anything yet!
Friday, 7 October 2011
2012 Italian Worlds Confirmed
I have just heard back from Luca Rizzotti, President of the Italian IMCA on Facebook. He says:
"dear Graham all is confirmed, we will have website up and running by end of month. all questions regarding logistics , accomodation etc are welcome"
Therefore I think this means that we are all set for Campione. I am really looking forward to returning to Garda once again!
"dear Graham all is confirmed, we will have website up and running by end of month. all questions regarding logistics , accomodation etc are welcome"
Therefore I think this means that we are all set for Campione. I am really looking forward to returning to Garda once again!
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Are the 2012 Worlds Confirmed?
Having just joined Facebook, I see from Simon's innocent question about the Italiain Worlds dates that there is some doubt over the dates and even the venue. This link is stating the 18 - 26th August:
http://www.vccampione.org/Port
I was just about to look at accomodation and am now holidng off until someone from the Italian Moth Class can tell me that the venue and dates are confirmed?
http://www.vccampione.org/Port
I was just about to look at accomodation and am now holidng off until someone from the Italian Moth Class can tell me that the venue and dates are confirmed?
Monday, 26 September 2011
Aaaaaargh!
I have not blogged for a bit but feel the need to share with you all after all this time.
Moth One Design
We have had 4 new Mach 2.1 Moths arrive over the last 2 months, bring the total Mach2 fleet to nearing 20. There are virtually no other Moth designs at Hayling Island now which makes you wish for something new and radical to appear. We did get our hopes up when Simon Payne turned up with the new reduced main foil last week but it was rather an anti climax, with initial tests appearing inconclusive in comparison to a normal foil. Simon's tie on points at Paignton last weekend with Chris Rashley in a Ninja did not really help matters.
I do understand that reliability/warranty plays a big factor in any change to the Mach2, making anything done "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary" and rightly so - after all you have to finish a race to win it. But it is rather dull.
Gossip!
Being English, I love a bit of gossip. From the Mach2 camp, I hear that there is a high aspect main foil being tested which I understand to be longer but thinner, both in depth and width, than the standard one.
That sounds very much like the path that UK designer, Kevin Ellway, has been going down over the last year, certainly judging by the evidence of what I saw Phil Oligario was sailing with at the UK Nationals this year. Painfully thin and light, I had to hold on to the rudder foil as it would have blown away in the breeze.
I now hear rumours that Simon Maguire (maguireboats.com) is now working on a complete Ellway designed boat with these new anorexic foils.
England Moth Worlds 2014
It has now been confirmed by the IMCA Exec that Hayling Island Sailing Club will host the Moth Worlds in June 2014. There can be no doubt that HISC is more than qualified to host our event, having successfully pulled off the Laser Worlds in 2010 (400+ boats) and the Flying Fifteen Worlds this year plus having possibly the largest Moth club fleet in the World. The UK Moth committee will be meeting with the club in November to put together a plan and lay down some timescales. Our emphasis will be on providing an event that puts competitors at its heart - both on and off the water.
Moth One Design
We have had 4 new Mach 2.1 Moths arrive over the last 2 months, bring the total Mach2 fleet to nearing 20. There are virtually no other Moth designs at Hayling Island now which makes you wish for something new and radical to appear. We did get our hopes up when Simon Payne turned up with the new reduced main foil last week but it was rather an anti climax, with initial tests appearing inconclusive in comparison to a normal foil. Simon's tie on points at Paignton last weekend with Chris Rashley in a Ninja did not really help matters.
I do understand that reliability/warranty plays a big factor in any change to the Mach2, making anything done "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary" and rightly so - after all you have to finish a race to win it. But it is rather dull.
Gossip!
Being English, I love a bit of gossip. From the Mach2 camp, I hear that there is a high aspect main foil being tested which I understand to be longer but thinner, both in depth and width, than the standard one.
That sounds very much like the path that UK designer, Kevin Ellway, has been going down over the last year, certainly judging by the evidence of what I saw Phil Oligario was sailing with at the UK Nationals this year. Painfully thin and light, I had to hold on to the rudder foil as it would have blown away in the breeze.
I now hear rumours that Simon Maguire (maguireboats.com) is now working on a complete Ellway designed boat with these new anorexic foils.
England Moth Worlds 2014
It has now been confirmed by the IMCA Exec that Hayling Island Sailing Club will host the Moth Worlds in June 2014. There can be no doubt that HISC is more than qualified to host our event, having successfully pulled off the Laser Worlds in 2010 (400+ boats) and the Flying Fifteen Worlds this year plus having possibly the largest Moth club fleet in the World. The UK Moth committee will be meeting with the club in November to put together a plan and lay down some timescales. Our emphasis will be on providing an event that puts competitors at its heart - both on and off the water.
Monday, 25 July 2011
Foiling at 50
I went sailing with Simon last Friday on my 50th birthday and after a bit of a wait we both got foiling which was just what was needed. It put to bed all my fears about suddenly not being able to sail a Moth at 50. In fact I was just as crap this week as I was last week!
Age does make you think about a few things, however. The one thing that still seems to work well is my brain so I am using it to solve my big issues:
1. What can I do to make the boat easier to sail?
2. What techniques can I employ to get over the fact that I am not as quick or flexible as a 25 year old?
3. How can I become braver?
The first question concerns boat set up. I spend much more time these days considering and adjusting the sail and making sure that everything works well. Fighting the boat is a waste of energy. One top tip I got from watching Simon launch was that in any sort of breeze he wangs on loads of cunningham and kicker, flattening off his sail before he hits the water. This helps particularly when you have an off shore breeze as it means you don't leave the shore with a fully powered up sail sending the boat into orbit. I am also find letting off the kicker before going downwind stops the bow being driven downwards into waves as you bear off - much like a normal boat. Getting the cunningham back on before you try and bear up is another vital thing to do to make things easier.
The second question is interesting. Since discovering the "Meerkat" position for gybing, my other revelation was that slowing gybes down has also helped my success rate tremendously. Graceful slow curves prove that the boat will foil for ages on the point of a gybe, giving you the chance to position yourself correctly for the new gybe, steering as you go. This has also helped my light weather gybes a lot. Height is key to this - higher gives you more time. Foil tacking does seem beyond me at this point in time but two years ago I thought foil gybing was impossible so who knows what I will work out?
The third is connected with fitness. The fitter you are the more you will get out of the boat and the more you will be able to send it. I have some plans for my personal fitness but sharing them with others is always the death knell. When you get to 50 the only person you are trying to impress is yourself so I may let you into my plans once they have been in operation for a reasonable period.
On the Europeans front, it has all gone quiet on the blog front. Hopefully this means that they have got some sailing in at last and we will hear some positive stuff soon.
Age does make you think about a few things, however. The one thing that still seems to work well is my brain so I am using it to solve my big issues:
1. What can I do to make the boat easier to sail?
2. What techniques can I employ to get over the fact that I am not as quick or flexible as a 25 year old?
3. How can I become braver?
The first question concerns boat set up. I spend much more time these days considering and adjusting the sail and making sure that everything works well. Fighting the boat is a waste of energy. One top tip I got from watching Simon launch was that in any sort of breeze he wangs on loads of cunningham and kicker, flattening off his sail before he hits the water. This helps particularly when you have an off shore breeze as it means you don't leave the shore with a fully powered up sail sending the boat into orbit. I am also find letting off the kicker before going downwind stops the bow being driven downwards into waves as you bear off - much like a normal boat. Getting the cunningham back on before you try and bear up is another vital thing to do to make things easier.
The second question is interesting. Since discovering the "Meerkat" position for gybing, my other revelation was that slowing gybes down has also helped my success rate tremendously. Graceful slow curves prove that the boat will foil for ages on the point of a gybe, giving you the chance to position yourself correctly for the new gybe, steering as you go. This has also helped my light weather gybes a lot. Height is key to this - higher gives you more time. Foil tacking does seem beyond me at this point in time but two years ago I thought foil gybing was impossible so who knows what I will work out?
The third is connected with fitness. The fitter you are the more you will get out of the boat and the more you will be able to send it. I have some plans for my personal fitness but sharing them with others is always the death knell. When you get to 50 the only person you are trying to impress is yourself so I may let you into my plans once they have been in operation for a reasonable period.
On the Europeans front, it has all gone quiet on the blog front. Hopefully this means that they have got some sailing in at last and we will hear some positive stuff soon.
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