Singapore Fleet Growing!

All of a sudden heaps of interest and new boats coming. Start of the year there were 3 boats, then I got my Mach 2. So need to get rid of the Bladerider. Well only really looked to sell that once the Mach 2 got delivered and after my honeymoon/worlds. As soon as that sold to a Brit ex-pat earlier in the moth, then I find out we have another 2 boats coming. Means our little equatorial fleet could be 6 boats soon! Woohoo!

The new boats will be owned by a British girl in her 20s and an Aussie guy re-locating. Bladerider and a new Mach2 respectively.

And the "sailing club" is loving it. "Sailing club" (called Mana Mana) in hyphens as it is really a beach resort with hire boats and windsurfers available, with a nice beachfront bar & restaurant.

We sort of muscled the moths in during the Volvo stopover. Mana Mana sort of had the 2 local moths & the 2 Puma moths turn up on their doorstep with us asking if we could rig up for the day there and leave the boats overnight as the top mark of the inport race was just off the beach. Well, nearly 18 months later the moths are still there.

Great spot for moths too. Grass rigging area under palm trees, and nice sandy beach for launching. Even have undercover parking when not sailing. And the beach is really steep with no waves. Waves sort of don't exist in Singapore. Can have the tip of the mast on the beach and right the boat and the foils won't be near the bottom, and even though the tidal range is large, no issues ever with depth. Can really freak out the people in the restaurant by foiling within a couple of metres of the beach and then capsize it in style.

So if all goes well, could have a Singapore Moth Nationals by year end...

Distraction

Had the big triathlon in Singapore over Sat and Sunday with the swim leg next to Mana Mana (the sailing club). So on Saturday put up the bright red sail, and nice onshore breeze building to 10 or so, decided a few fly-bys were in order.

In little to no time the commentators moved their attention from the swimming to the moth wondering what on earth it was and how cool it looked. Kinda funny and the red sail stands out for sure.

On Sunday the breeze was a light to begin with. But with nothing else planned thought a sail was in order or at least boat work. Breeze came up again after a while to 10-12. Again I was distraction, but this time to the windsurfers. Went through what looked like a wind surfing school at full noise, and think every kiddie dropped their sail and fell in. Haha. Next was creeping up on the Formula boards and blasting past. Nearly caused one guy to have a big stack when I blasted past as he wasn't expecting anyone to pass him.

So all cheap thrills to make my sailing day better. Hopefully the other moths come out and play soon. We are up to 4 in Singapore now with an ex-pat buying my Bladerider. We never got all 3 on the water at once before, wonder if we have more chance getting all 4 out.

Rain

Rain, what it has been doing ever since I got back to the little red dot called Singapore. February was supposedly the driest month ever since they started records in 1869 with only 6mm of rain which is really crazy for this place. The past few weeks has seen the normal torrential rain back again. Means the NE Monsoon winds will be easing and the normal variable who knows what you could get but generally not much winds are back again.

Also means the roads are really slippery and had a massive face plant over the weekend whilst out riding. Was squeezed into a gutter by a passing car who didn't want to provide room and the drainage grill was missing parts of the grill. Handlebars and front wheel mangled, and helmet cracked, so was a biggie.

Well the worlds are over for another year and I had my best results ever. Had finished 34th in an A-Cat worlds (98 boats racing), but 21st in a small but competitive fleet was a lot better in comparison. Even had a top 10 finish (6th) which made things even nicer.

As everyone knows, the winds were light, but didn't mind too much. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was super lightweight for me at 70kg. All down to eating some very dodgy food in Morocco the week before. For about 2 days in Morocco I wasn't too good at all. At the worlds was still feeling the effects and having to take imodiums most of the week before going out onto the water. Not really the best preparation or fitness levels.

Most of the week was learning how to set up the Mach2 since only just got it 2 weeks before the worlds. Used an old ride height adjuster which I could only really adjust before the race. Sort of preferred the set and forget settings as there was certainly a lot going on whilst racing to wonder also if I have the right height or not. On the to-do list for next few months to learn.

At the end was really happy with my downwind speed. Seemed to have a slight edge in speed amongst the mid-fleet guys and also sail lower.

Upwind was where I really need to improve. Example was last race having a brilliant start boat end and clear air the whole way up to the lay. But still ending up 15-20 at the top mark. Will have to work on that as I don't have any clear ideas. Think need to work on rake. Means trying to get some chainplate adjusters as the boat didn't come with any but with turnbuckles instead on the stays. These were way too short and had to add a shackle to get the mast forward as I couldn't get under the boom when fully extended.

Anyway, lots to do before next worlds.

Red

Red is the colour of the new mainsail. Looks good and bright, plus really easy for the punters on the beach to see.

Red is the colour of my face after spending the weekend in the sun putting together the new Mach2 and working out how to sail this new weapon. Feels really good out of the box and have it going quite well I think. Spent 3 hrs+ on Sat/Sun sailing it. Feels fast downwind, but need to work on how to get it foiling a bit better in marginal conditions upwind. Would start to foil, and then once you thought ok, fall back down. Had to be really aggressive bearing away to keep up.

Red is the colour of my temper. Returned from sailing on Sat to find some w@nker (who needs a massive kick to the nuts) had gone through my sailing box (which is an open area between the bar and sail hire spot) and taken my bag out. The said w@nker took the bag to the toilets and stole my phone and wallet. Extremely annoying as I now have 2 weeks to resurrect all the cards with new ones before I get married and go on honeymoon (with return trip via Dubai worlds).

Top 10

Well thought I would start off the top 10 pre-worlds banter tradition.

Since there will be a number of late entries and the current list on the official site, http://www.dosc.ae/moths-entry-list/entrants-list/2010-puma-moth-worlds-entry-list.html doesn't even include the defending World Champ Bora, thought I would do an alternative. Sign up mothies!

So here goes:

1. Tiller of doom à mast of doom à boom of doom à boat of doom??? Where will the doom end? Arnaud and Mikis will certainly be working on ideas...
2. Someone has been working on Scott’s formula and the answer is… (for the original formula, you will find here: http://scott.projectsomewhere.com/2008/11/13/by-the-people-for-the-people/)
3. "The wind is not usually like this". Standard quote from the locals.
4. Top 10 list including sailors not going to the worlds
5. Mad dash on the beach to have the latest “must have” item. Last year was height adjusters, what will the secret squirrels bring to Dubai this year?
6. Watching Bora’s efforts to bring his boat back to his hotel each evening to tuck it in for a good night’s rest
7. Clear sails are so 2009. 2010 is all about colour and bling. Bring the bling and help the WAGS in the gin palace point out their worse halves.
8. Need a name for twin wands look. The walrus? See this link for ideas, http://www.sailinganarchy.com/fringe/2010/postcard%20bora.jpg
9. The usual internet whinge about lack of timely results/pictures/reports blah blah blah. Though if Clean from SA is covering the worlds, then this will degenerate into a whinge about him instead as per usual programming on Sailing Anarchy
10. BUT most of all, it will be great racing!

See you all in Dubai! Not sure on which boat yet. Down to whether they build the Mach2 in time or not.

Ships

Well the wind has swung around to the NE which means offshore wind. Just behind the sailing club is a massive wind block from some big condo complexes which means floating for 500m out to the breeze. By the time you get to consistent breeze you are in the world's biggest shipping parking lot. But the haul out that distance is worth out, nice and flat water and good breeze, 12-15 a lot of the time, but lot of holes still. Does mean planning ahead when amongst the ships. Anchored ships aren't to be messed with, especially when they are big Panamax or above class. Incredible how big they are when you are close. Just a wall of steel.

Haven't sighted Robbo on his Mach2 yet since the worlds, but Will has been coming out more regularly and progressing fast. Just needs to build a bit more fitness. So I have predominantly been sailing around by myself. Using the Speedpuck a lot to work out targets for up/downwind. Numbers progression has been upwards and surprise myself occasionally. Really happy with the new mast, seems to work well with the sail.

Mate on the Red Bull extreme 40 team mentioned to me recently they are looking at getting a moth to travel with them on the circuit in Europe. Similar to the Puma Moths as a way to engage the punters. Will be good to see. Especially since Red Bull are rather good with their promotion and events.

eXtreme 40s and the monsoon

The Singapore leg of the extreme 40 Asian tour is in town. 6 boats have been put in a small basin next to the Singapore Flyer. For those who have watched the Singapore F1 Night Race, it is where the entrance to the pit straights is. Not a big spot, but you are close to the action.

So managed to have a sail on the Red Bull boat on their training day with the local sailmaker. They needed some adjustments to their C0 to improve luff tension. Great getting on a boat with Roman Hagara steering and Hans-Peter on tactics (these guys got gold in the Tornado in 2000 and 2004). Very calm and collected.

Robbo managed to get on the Oman boat and the Almeira boat with Shirley. And Thierry Martinez was snapping pics too. He was wanting our moths to line up against the 40s for a few pics. Would have been good, but think next year as the local authorities don't too kindly to people randomly sailing on their new freshwater drinking supply reservoir.

Otherwise somehow managed to cover 75km over the weekend. Stuffed now. NE monsoon has just started and should last for 3 months or so. 15 knots and gusty due to all the condo's lining the beach. Had to go amongst all the parked ships to get good breeze, but catch 22 due to the big wind shadows from them.

Boat felt great too. Feel as though I am improving slowly and using what I learnt at the Gorge and applying in practise. We will see how when Robbo finally gets out on the water.