Waiting Game

Boat is in Belmont. I am in Singapore. And the NE Monsoon has finally hit and the breeze has been great lately (with some awesome tropical storms in the evenings) and I don't have a boat to go sail. But at least all the overdue household chores are done...

So bit frustrating reading about the keen beans already there practising whilst I am stuck in the office until the 4th Jan. Only able to get to Belmont on the afternoon of the 5th. Oh well, patience patience. It is a great spot to sail and only lived there for 12 years or so, so should remember it sell. Reading about the westerlies recently had made me laugh. They are notoriously chaotic with holes galore and big wind shifts.

Anyway found this pic from prior to the 2007 A-Cat worlds in Florida. Ben Hall decided over the winter to build one for himself.



Anyway, caused all sorts of debate prior to the worlds etc. Very much a mirror image of what we are seeing now, but without the blogosphere and that place called Sailing Anarchy.

It measured in. It sailed. And Ben Hall ended up getting the same position overall as he did at the previous year's worlds, that is 30th. Eventually it was picked up by BMW Oracle for training by Ashby/Spithill.

Noone else in the class took them up for various reasons. So having seen it happen before it is a case of wait and see for me as regards to the wing's performance. It could be a game changer or just provides that incremental improvement which could probably be matched by training. Though think it may be closer to the former rather than the latter.

Singapore Moth Nationals Report

Been a while since I posted, but we ran the first Singapore Moth Nationals on weekend past. Below I copied/pasted the report I sent out to a few people in Asia to publish.

Hopefully it is a bit of an alternative from the wing debate and the upcoming worlds.

But if you want to see pix, hopefully this look should work otherwise look up "Mana Mana East Coast" on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=577860&id=351963830601

The inaugural Singapore Moth Nationals was hosted by Mana Mana East Coast over the weekend of Dec 4/5. 6 intrepid mothies entered to see who would win the Carbon Gantry Perpetual Trophy for the first time. With a range of mothing experience from 10 years to a couple of times on the water, courses were set short and close to the shore with grand prix style finishing. This ensured that most boats had a chance of a finish, plus helped with the spectators watch these amazing flying boats in action.



Saturday saw mixed conditions with race 1 in marginal foiling, race 2 in 10 knots, and race 3 a drift off. Mark Robinson had to sail up from the National Sailing Centre, and due to the tide being against him and the wind taking its time to filter down to NSC, he unfortunately missed the first 2 races which cost him his chances of Carbon Gantry glory. He made up for this be showing us all how to balance a moth in the drifting conditions like the "good ol' days" before foils were on the boats by cleaning up the last race of first day. James Cole won the first 2 races followed by Will Berney. Roz Spink who has only sailed a moth a handful of times managed two thirds and showed that she has a lot of potential when she gets some more experience under her belt.



Sunday greeted everyone with bright blue skys and a hesitant wind. Mark Robinson had ensured that he would make the start on time this day by leaving his boat at Mana Mana overnight fully-rigged "A-mac style". With a lot of umm-ing and ahh-ing on the shore as to whether the breeze was stable for racing the start was slightly delayed, but when we all finally got motivated the breeze cooperated and a great 12+ knots seemed to come in out of nowhere.



The 3 races run were hotly contested for the lead by James Cole and Mark Robinson with many changes in position in the short courses as boat-handling was pushed to the limit. First race was taken by James as Mark saw his rudder suck out of the water during a gybe whilst pushing hard on the back of James' transom. The second race saw Mark able to utilize his extra upwind pointing advantage to get to the layline and tack before hitting the bricks. James had to keep tacking early and these cost him in time, but still was able to keep Mark honest at the front. Third race was a real battle with many lead changes. Mark was able to lock James out from gybing downwind and pushed him past the layline, and with a bad gybe that followed, he lost precious ground he was unable to make up.



In the fight for the minor positions, Will and Paul pushed each other hard in the conditions and this resulted in some spectacular crashes. Both Will and Paul managed to have major nosedives approaching the finish line and were recorded finishes with themselves being dragged by the boat and tide over the line. It was great to see them battle it out whilst trying to keep some sense of control of the boat. Nick battled gamely around the course to manage 2 finishes in the conditions. Still learning how to handle these flighty boats, it was a great effort to see him persevere to get a finish.



Overall the Carbon Gantry went to James Cole, with the podium filled out by Mark Robinson and then Will Berney.



With 6 boats on the line, and another 2 sitting on the shore unable to participate due to injury and brand new ownership, there is the beginning of growth and potential in the Singapore moth fleet. They are certainly exciting boats to sail and watch with a surprising number of spectators watching the action. There looks to be a number of potential mothies in the wings so we are aiming for double digits on the startline for the second edition in 2011.



For further updates and information, check out "Singapore Moth Association" on facebook. We would also like to thank Mana Mana East Coast for hosting the event.

So there is a Singapore Moth Association now

Well with 8 moths now in Singapore, we felt it was appropriate to formalise ourselves and create an association and work out what we want to sailing/racing wise. So over many beers at the pub we created our fledgling association with me being nominated as the President.

Probably best to give a breakdown of our fleet.

4 Mach 2s
3 Bladerider X8s
1 Assassin

We also have a range of ages and both sexes represented. It is great that we have a Singaporean junior on the Assassin at 15yrs old. He even plans to go to the Belmont Worlds which will be a great learning experience for him.

There is an Assassin dealer in Singapore with a second one sitting in the box as "stock". An ex-mothie from Perth is considering getting back into the class and even attended our meeting and set up our facebook page. So we could be 9 boats soon...

So if you want to see what is happening in the world of Singaporean mothing, you can "like" us on facebook by searching for "Singapore Moth Association".

Inaugurial Singapore Moth Nationals being tentatively planned for early Dec when the NE monsoon swings into action. Who knows how may could be on line, could be in double digits by then!

Drag Racing...

...at 2 knots.

Western Circuit finished up a few weeks ago and last race was a drag race between Robbo and I punching into a strong outgoing tide while trying to finish in the dying breeze and get back to the bar for a beer. Was thrilling stuff at 2 knots whilst we balanced side-by-side down the run, just what mothing is all about.

But the regatta was a good showcase for the moths in general to the rest of the sailing community in Singapore. Though the winds tended on the light side, gave Paul and Nick a chance to learn their boats and get some on/off water coaching from Robbo and me. Most races were a mix of foiling and lowriding. With some strong tides, usually outgoing, and the breeze going the opposite which meant some of the angles were horrible. 1 race it was quicker for Robbo to pinch straight at the mark lowriding with the tide directly behind that it was for me to foil due to the extra distance and 'orrible angle.

Robbo beat me in more races than I beat him, but because he missed 2 races on 1 day being super-coach for the keelboat trials which meant he had to swallow a DNC. So I walked away with Mumm Champagne. That was a nice prize, but not sure that 100m of 10mm polyester rope is going to be useful on a moth...

But the 8th moth in Singapore arrived this week. X8 from Dubai has been shipped over and means we have a chick sailing amongst now!

Just need some good breeze for a change. Watching all the Euro youtube clips and kicking myself that I had to cancel at the last minute due to work commitments. Grumble.

Oxygen Masks Will Deploy From The Boom...

...For those times when the wind craps out or some big yacht steals the breeze away.

1st weekend of Western Circuit saw some 50 boats out and about racing. This is the biggest yacht regatta in Singapore, and the first time there was enough boats for a Moth division. We managed to get 5 boats registered out of the 7 in Singapore (with another 2 in transit).

Wind was patchy and variable with the strong tides and passing clouds making a big impact. Probably had a max of 12 knots, but most of the time 6-10. And for a moth sailing amongst the yachts, they certainly can suck up whatever air there may be on the course and you really did need oxygen masks at times!

So we managed to get 3 races done. Robbo and I raced amongst ourselves, whilst the others are in learning mode and tried their best to get around the course and stay out of harms way. Robbo got 2 wins, and I got one. Races were won by who managed to stay on the foils during the first leg and were able to get out of the brutal 2-3 knot tide. Robbo unfortunately had the edge over me, need to work more on this marginal stuff.

First race I didn't do myself any favours when my high-tech electrical tape covering the high-tech bunghole came off before the start. Was wondering why it was hard to take-off and where all the sloshing noise was coming from when on the foils. Back to the beach for the long drain out before race 2...

Race 2 I managed to get to the top mark just before Robbo and catch a gust with some massive pumps and foil away whilst Robbo sat stranded waiting for the next line of breeze.

Race 3 had a painful low riding leg to the finish punching the tide. Could hear the gurgling of the tide in the gantry making it sound like you were going fast albeit lowriding, but any look at the shoreline was demoralising as you were fairly much holding station.

All in all a good day and attracted a lot of interest. Had a couple of tyre-kickers after the race, so hopefully this translates into boats.

2 more weekends to go. Next weekend is distance racing for everyone else, whilst we do our own thing with some short course racing.

Moths Flying In From Everywhere

Well our little Singapore fleet has exploded in numbers! There were 3 of us at the start of the year, Robbo, Will and myself. Well now we have 8! Guess we should start creating a Singapore Moth Association...

So I sold my old bladerider to Birdman and got a new Mach2 in time for the Dubai worlds. 2 Mach2s landed last week. 1 has hit the water, only to be greeted by an awesome sub 5 knots post rain storm wind. The other will be on the water this week as he only just moved to Singapore over the weekend. Good planning, get the boat to the new place before you get there, hehe.

Now some local guys in Singapore have taken up the Assassin dealership for Asia and have rigged up their boat in their loungeroom. Not sure if that was good planning, lack of a girlfriend, or an indication that there really is nothing to watch on tv, but they will be moving the boat to the club shortly.

And to make sure it isn't a blokes club, a young English lass has bought a second hand X8 and it will be winging its way over in the next weeks.

So all happening. Next month is Western Circuit which is one the big regattas on the Singapore calendar with assortment of yachts and beachcats out and about. Moths have been invited and hopefully we should attract a few more people who find that there is a lack of racing action here.

Why don't you have the worlds here?

Well that was the question posed by the wife on the weekend. We had headed up to Koh Samui in Thailand for her birthday and were having a lovely lunch in Bo Phut. But nice to see she is on the moth program.

Well...

It was a very nice 15-20 knots the whole weekend from the west with no waves. And in a place the better half will certainly have fun relaxing on the beach and having massages.

And there is a big gap in the calendar between Jan11 in Belmont and Aug12 in Garda.

But something to ponder for the ever growing Singapore fleet. We have 2 Mach2s arriving in July making us 6 strong. Happy days. Maybe we should go on tour and join the Samui Regatta held every June.