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.