Grounded

I am sad that I will not be able to attend the Parkstone Open this weekend as it looks like a great forecast. Unfortunately there was a strong message from within my family that going this weekend and then spending a week at Mar Menor that this was not on. So be it.

It will be an interesting meeting as I am hoping that there will be a strong contingent going from Hayling to do battle with the "Ninja Death Squad" from Stokes Bay and elsewhere. I know that there has a lot of training been going on at HISC. In particular, a lot of thought has gone into the aftermath of Australia and the lessons to be learnt in the areas of sail tuning, foil preparation and gearing that made the Australian Moth Squad so fast.

For me,the new boat has allowed me to review everything about my set up and I feel I now have a much better understanding of what makes my boat work, particularly what is right and wrong. It is definitely much faster than the old boat for what I believe are the following reasons:

 - The hull is stiffer
 - The medium mast suits my Hyde sail far better than the stiff mast I had before.
 - The 32 x 1 kicker and increased purchase on the cunningham has given me much better control over my sail.
- The foils are better prepared and the skinny rudder (now I have got used to it) is fast
- The SailingBits ride height adjuster has forced me to use less gearing.
- I have made real efforts to reduce play in the wand control system as the less gearing you use the more critical play becomes.

There is a large contingent of Hayling sailors going to Mar Menor and I am looking forward to trying out some new gadgets including an adjustable wand I have made myself (I dont think Phil should worry!). Mar Menor kicks up a chop and will be excellent training for Stokes Bay. I cannot get over that Moth Fest has 40 entrants this year from all over Europe - it should be a cracking week.