Great Moth Shots from the Windy Days at Kiel

You can´t get it any better. Have a look at the great shots which photographer Sommerwerck at: Sommerwerck, Maritime Photografie took during a typical race day in Kiel last week. The appetizer here at the front (Christian in typical airborne style) is one of these shots. I think we will see a couple of them in some future magazines and advertising about some „fresh products“, mens aftershave or whatever. I am glad that I have been one of the fleet. I am not so happy that I did not find myself in one of the shots. A few other guys missing also but honestly: He took the leading fleet. I have not been in that bunch of sailors. Just behind. And not flying so spectacular high.

Yesterday, on Sunday, I had a good sailing session on my home water. It was important for me to get back on to the boat. To check the setup which did not make me happy during Kieler Woche. I have 2 sets of foils and I compared them closely. Found out that the set I had used had some deviation. It was visible. And it explained some of the problems I had with ride height (actually my boat sailed very low and did not want to fly easily) and with ventilation. A pity I did not had the chance to look at them earlier on (borrowed out) but than I maybe would not have had the experience which I do have now after an extensive Kieler Woche. I will not excuse myself for not being fast enough, there is a lot to improve but if the boat sails easy, it comes easy for me. Next regatta shall be in Horsens, Denmark, at the end of July and I am looking forward to it.

Kieler Woche wasn´t finished for me after the Moth sailing. Instead I had been asked by a friend to skipper his classic 50 footer (S & S style) at the distance race last Saturday, the Schabernack Cup from Kiel to Holy Harbour (Heiligenhafen). There had been about 80 boats varying as wide as one ex Aussie racer, called “Wild Thing”, now being called “Calypso”, to a Mac Gregor65 and the smallest being a Sunbeam 22 (22ft). We had a very good start at the pin end. Closed hauled and were able to free the sheets just a little. After a while some modern IMS boats (Sydney41, X-482) tried to roll us but we could show them by luffing with all the momentum of a 13ts boat that they should pass to leeward. It worked, but not with every boat later in the race. We got rolled slowly but surely by a couple of faster boats. One particular 33ft boat impressed me. A Stern33. Looked really nice and sailed quick. Later in the race we changed to a fractional Gennaker and than later to a top spinnaker which felt good with this heavy boat. The whole race was sailed with the wind from the starboard side. No tack, no jibe. A bit boring would we not have such a nice owner, who brought food and drinks not only for the race but for a really nice crew dinner which we had on board later in the evening. We finished in the middle of the class 1 group, I think 2 or 3 places behind “Wild Thing” on corrected time, though this boat did win on sailing time. First ship home, best berth, best girls as they say. Not that Holy Harbour attracts a lot of them.
Photo: courtesy by Sommerwerck, Maritime Photografie.  See link above.

Racing brought lots of fun

Not much time for a big report as I have to travel a bit. But for the ones who are eagerly waiting here are some more short cuts and photos:

OK, Sven won the regatta at the end after 2 very interesting races on the Sunday (6 races in total) with lot´s of foiling possible due to some nice gusts. Carlo had it in his hand to win but there was a moment when he tried to pass Sven, he got caught in the wash (turbulence) of Svens sail and capsized to windward. Sven won the regatta in typical style. He does the best Veal heel, he has control nearly all the times but with Carlo we have another real good sailor coming. I came 7th out of nine regulars, 10 participants all together which was totally OK for me. Tons of fun and learning from the top guys who are giving tips and encouragement to keep improving. Going to races is important as in every game but some small tricks I have to practise at home.

Something I reflected on the long journey home: Being really into trimming sails and set up of boats I totally forgot about the most important things when getting into foiling mode: To change the sail shape from full to flatter. Being exited about doubling (and more) the speed and passing other boats I forgot the basics of sailing. To shift gear! Like a beginner. Something I have to work on immediately. Full result sheet and a German report will be on the German Moth homepage. German Moth site

Agenda for the photos: My sailnumber on the Moth is not the usual "99" but GER-3170
Top picture is showing the Moth mess at the start line in very light wind.

The second picture is taken after last races start: Not the usual scene, me in front and the winners battling it out in the back. Sven in typical Veal heel style (white boat) and Carlo (1058) tried to block him out unsuccessfully. They had already caught me at the windward mark. Next time guys....

Third picture and rare scene: Me getting a gust and up to foiling and passing a competitor.

Meine erste Motten Regatta. Racing with the Moth.

Regatta am Goldberger See.
Die Regatta war noch nicht beendet, da bestimmte Klassenkassi Burkhard bereits: "Du schreibst den Bericht". Keine Widerrede, ich kenne mich ja mit den Gepflogenheiten in der Motten Klasse nicht aus. Hatte noch Hoffnung, dass, wie in anderen Bootsklassen üblich, der zweite oder der dritte den Bericht schreibt. Hier nun fiel das Los bei vier Startern auf den vierten. Womit bereits die Katze aus dem Sack ist: 4 Starter in der Moth Klasse am Goldberger See. 4 Foiler. Sven, Burkhard, Leo und ich. Für mich war es die erste Regatta in der Klasse überhaupt und ein Test, ob ich überhaupt reif bin für die Bestenermittlung in Bad Zwischenahn. Den Test habe ich nicht bestanden, soviel vorweg aber es bleiben eventuell noch ein oder zwei Nachmittage zum üben. Und um die vielen guten Tipps von den anderen, erfahrenen Mothies zumindest im Versuch umzusetzen.

Wer es noch nicht weiß, der Goldberger See liegt in der Nähe von Plau oder auch Lübz. Entsprechend gut schmeckt dort das Bier, welches im niedrigen Meldegeld inkludiert ist. Natürlich auch ne Suppe und Bratkartoffeln und Fleisch nach der Regatta. Nach dem anstrengenden Flaute segeln. Und ein Haufen Sachpreise von Sponsoren wie CTM und International.

Start am Samstag pünktlich um 13.00h von Wettfahrtleiter Karsten "Vossi" und Jörg. 35 Boote in 3 Starts. Die Motten auf Wunsch im ersten Jollenstart. Dort trafen wir auf Scharpies, ne Z-Jolle (ellenlang), Seggerlinge, ne SZ Jolle, Conger und was weiß ich. Startschiff überaus begünstigt. Die erfahrenen Mothies drängeln mit SZ und Seggerlingen, ich versuche es mehr zur Mitte um dort möglichst sauber über die Linie zu kommen. Gelingt auch. Wenn ich das Gleichgewicht halte bei den Wackelbedingungen, fahre ich sogar mit. Mache einen langen Schlag auf BbBug, die erste Wende des Tages einigermaßen und habe 2 Motten im Fenster. Will noch kein Heck nehmen und wende bald danach wieder in einen vermeintlichen Dreher. Bleibe stehen, segel rückwärts, verheddere mich und bringe das Boot erst wieder in Fahrt, als auch alle Boote an mir vorbei sind. Dreieck, Schenkel, Dreieck. Der alte Kieler Woche Kurs ist abzusegeln. Ich versuche auf einem Schenkel eine Stehsegler Technik und kann zumindest den Abstand zu Leo, dem Drittplatzierten, halten. Sven und Burkhard versuchen es mit anspitzen, was bei dem flauen Wind auch nicht gut aussieht. Viel Weg und auch nicht schneller. Die Motten geraten vom Mittelfeld in´s hintere Drittel der Jollenfraktion. Hätte ich bloß mal mehr geübt bei Flaute. Diese Wackelei ist anstrengend. Immer wieder taucht der Leebalkon in´s Wasser. Das bremst. Auf dem letzten Dreieck schaffe ich es irgendwie mich an Leo ranzukämpfen. Wohl weil ich ne kleine Bö abbekomme. Lege an der letzten Marke clever um und bin jetzt innen und leicht vor ihm auf dem Weg zum Ziel. Könnte ein Anlieger werden. Hoffnung keimt auf, nicht letzter zu werden. Dann kippt das Boot über mir weg nach Luv. Ich kann mich irgendwie auf den Rumpf retten. Leo wendet weg, ich würde sonst wohl auf ihn drauf fallen. Bis ich das Boot aufgerichtet (schnell) und in Fahrt (langsam) habe, ist Leo über alle Berge und die Conger Jolle, letzte im Feld, pirscht sich an mich ran. Ich höre schon die Rufe und das Unken der "Segelfreunde": "jetzt holt ihn auch noch der Conger" (Nein, nicht von Mothies, die sind richtig nett gewesen und haben überhaupt nicht gelästert). Ich kämpfe mit dem Boot, mit dem nicht vorhandenen Wind und mit mir und schaffe gerade noch den Zieleinlauf vor dem Conger. Erste Wettfahrt überstanden. In der Pause werde ich von Kerstin, vom Seggerling aus, mit Käse und
Drink versorgt. Das baut mich wieder auf.

Die zweite Wettfahrt beginnt für mich ähnlich wie die erste. Nur das ich als dritte Motte an der Luvtonne ankomme. Leo hat sich beim Start fürchterlich am Startschiff verhaspelt. Ich kann ihn die ganze Zeit hinter mir halten, bis ich wieder an die letzte Bahnmarke komme. Mir gelingt noch ne ganz passable Rundung und die wohl letzte Wende des Tages und ich freue mich schon auf die Dusche, da passiert es wieder: Kenterung nach Luv. Dieses mal schaffe ich es nicht auf den Rumpf, muß in´s Wasser und bin danach nicht in der Lage, das Boot wieder sauber aufzurichten. Es fällt immer wieder über mich rüber. Es kommt auch keine Bö, die mir einen Wasserstart erlauben würde. So panisch werde ich, das ich nicht auf die Idee komme, das Segel unter Wasser zu drücken, um ein Gegengewicht zu haben, während ich auf´s Schwert klettere. Direkt auf den Rumpf zu klettern habe ich noch nicht versucht (Tipp von Burkhard), eventuell haben meine Wings zuviel Auftrieb und ich komme da gar nicht hoch. Jede Menge Übungsbedarf sehe ich hier. Und ich dachte immer, ich muß noch ca. 400 Wenden absolvieren, bin ich einigermaßen klarkomme. Jetzt auch noch zig Kenterungen und aufrichten üben. Dachte schon, diese Phase ist überstanden. Jedenfalls hatte ich Glück, es passierte in der Nähe des Ziels und mein Ruf wurde erhört und ich abgeborgen und mit einem Wing, fest auf dem Schlauchboot sitzend, zum Takelplatz zurück gefahren. So wurde ich wieder letzter und Leo konnte seinen dritten
Platz halten. Sven gewann die Regatta, Burkhard wurde zweiter. In der Yardstick Wertung konnten die Motten nichts reißen. Mit Foils bei Flaute scheint irgendwie langsam zu sein. Und mir wurde noch erzählt, daß ohne Foils bei Flaute das Boot noch viel ranker ist. Kann ich mir ehrlich gesagt gar nicht vorstellen. Ist schon so bei Flaute schlimm und ne Luvkenterung wohl mit das schlimmste überhaupt. Es kann mich aber nicht abschrecken. Die Technik, soviel neues zu lernen, die Jungs, alles richtig nett und anspruchsvoll. Ich komme wieder.

Abspann: Abends ein nettes Essen, Lagerfeuerromantik und Feuerwerk. Sonntag herrlicher Sonnenschein aber noch weniger Wind und keine Wettfahrt mehr. Launige Preisverteilung vom Veranstalter Eckard Pagel und seiner Crew und auf jeden Fall findet der 5. Goldberger See Cup wieder im September statt. Vielleicht mit Wind und etwas mehr Motten. Ideal ist der Platz zum takeln und slippen und ganz kurz gefoilt wurde auch. Von Leo vor den Wettfahrten und von Sven nach den Wettfahrten. So konnten die anderen Jollen zumindest das Potential ahnen, was in diesen kleinen Jollen steckt. Es gibt ja immer noch viele, die das nie gesehen haben und gar nicht glauben können.

Moth Adventures

Blogging had been quiet at the Moth front with our Bladerider, though it seems that at present I am the only one to put energy into getting some hours on the boat, GER-3170, lately. Let me sum up the last adventures. The picture shows me on my first day out. Style has improved a lot since than... ;-))

Last week on Wednesday evening there appeared a good chance for sailing though it was already around 18.00h but the breeze was cooperating. Nice 8-10kn of wind on my homewater (if there is such). I blasted around on foils, "impressing" my sailing friends who were doing the "beer can race". Lot´s of fun. Big grin. Of course I tried to sail the race as well but did not want to get into their way as capsizing the Moth is still happening in the worst moments with me. There had been a Europe dinghy and a Formula Board in the fleet of normally X-99s, X-79s, H-boats, Folkboats and others. Going to windward, not as high as the bigger boats and falling into their wind shadows did hurt. Capsizing of course. I avoided the crowded mark rounding and tried to set myself up for a nice downwind run. Got flying but could not make good VMG to leeward. Lowrider jibing still critical and afterwards nearly going into the wind to get flying did not help either. The Formula Board was long gone as well as the fleet under spinnaker. Some lulls cost me more distance and I was neck to neck with the Europe. The wind had dropped and I could not even sail as low and fast as young Adrian did. My lowriding ability not being good enough to match him. I stayed off the race course got back were there was more wind due to the impacting effect on the narrow and blasted around on foils. 16-18kn on the Velocitek not being a problem. Practising my downwind skills.

I went out again on the Thursday full of energy from the day before but it was windy and shifty, wind from the North over the narrow and the fun factor was nearly down to zero. I am not yet able to handle the gusts. I limped home, my ego was broken for the evening due to the many capsizes.

Wednesday evening this week I gave it another try. Fully motivated it was a nice evening out there with some tacks and jibes but all maneuvers need much, much more improvement. I am very grateful for the tips from Koos ( http://internationalmoth.wordpress.com/) as usual. He writes it up in such a nice way. I wasn´t ready to cope with the downwind speed of the beer can racers again as I did not get the BR flying in the dying evening breeze. With maybe 20kg less weight it could have been possible but than, being 190cm tall, I already have to watch to keep a certain weight instead of loosing more. Nevertheless in the narrow I met with my regular Bull crew, Jan, who was sailing his 14 (footer dinghy) and there were times when I could cope with his upwind speed, just about. But it got late already, the breeze died and I had to sail home. Downwind it was another slow go. I undid the wand to increase speed a bit. Being alone at the club and wanting to take the daggerboard out of the boat it was impossible. Really impossible. Some sand must have got in between the very narrow and fitting box. I had to strip the rig from the boat in the water and had to carry the boat with centerboard/foil ashore, where I laid it upside down on the cover into the club. It was getting dark and I had promised to do some household work before going out sailing. Bloody me. Lot´s of water and wash lotion helped me to get the board out next day and I can only recommend to wash or splash water into the slot before attaching the boards. As with any dinghy...I know! Stupid me.

Yesterday I went out again for an hour of nice foiling. I met the youngsters in their 29ers and could match their speed up-and downwind, as long as I was able to foil. Nice! My shoulder gave me problems after some tough hiking (why the shoulder?) and Veel-heel but it was another "happy" evening. The youngsters wanted to give the BR a try but due to the maintenance work which has to be done afterwards, especially when newbies are sailing the boat and maybe hitting some underwater object in the area, I am not fond of this idea at present. It might change with time. Thinking back, nobody had ever let me have a go e.g. on his DN iceboat or his FD and I had to work hard to buy myself into it in my mid twenties. Times have changed and these 17 years old, sailing a club 29er, are just used to ask for (and get?) everything and I hope that they are also used to accept a NO.

Uneventful days in sailing but a great Concert

Day five and six went quite uneventful with the Moth. There was a lack of wind and we do not take much fun out of lowriding in light air and spoiling our mood with "no-move" tacks. On day six, Bjoern hit an underwater object, some stones or an old bridge, and we have to repair (mostly filling and fairing) the horizontal daggerboard foil. It speaks for the quality of the product that not more has happened.

Some readers here might be interested to hear that I visited the "Rolling Stones" concert last night in Hamburg. The show was performed in the big Hamburg Arena. What a great stage they had build. The sound was fantastic and Mick Jagger and his "boys", all above 60, as dynamic as ever. At the end of a nearly 2 hours show with great background musicians (Liza Fisher) Mick ran from the left side of the stage to the most right side. A sprint of abt. 200m and he kept on singing. Great. OK, it was not the usual bra and slip throwing from the girls, just one bra, but everyone was kept in good mood and the show ended with a real BIGGER BANG. Coming to your town or near to you, you should visit it.

Flying the Moth...or not...

Intro: Regular readers might have noticed that besides my dinghy and keelboat activities, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Bladerider Moth. This very interesting boat had been ordered by me and my CTM team during hanseboot show at exact 10.01h. One minute after the official opening of the show did we place an order with Rohan. I must say, the waiting was long but worth it. It arrived last week and the Bladrider looks the business! All these shining carbon parts are fitting beautifully into our workshop. But that is not the intention of the boat. We want to go sailing.

First Day: Friday 3rd. Late afternoon.
We have assembled it with ease and taken to the water on Friday evening last week. We were three and had a powerboat standby for rescuing if necessary. Being the boss it was my turn at first and I think, it threw me off at least ten times until I managed to sit and sheet in. We were in a wind shadow but my movements had not been coordinated. Lowriding was not easy for me and a couple capsizes later Bjoern jumped into the water. Being an avid A-Cat sailor he managed it better than me, to get on board. Weighting abt. 100kg he did a couple capsizes with easy righting and than he "flew". Wow! A spectacular capzise and some exhausting swimming he handed the "Brute Machine" over to me again. With wind in the sail I managed decent waterstarts, pull your body on to the boat whilst sheeting in and keep the balance whilst the boat starts sailing. Grab the tiller, bear away and get on the wing. I was slipping off the wing with my Musto Wetsuit. No way of sitting there. Had to organize my legs, tiller and sheet. Got sailing the thing. Got it into the air. Flying for about a minute...no not true, for 10 seconds. The wand came out of the water and than the bow first into the pond. Autsch. I remember I managed a slow, slow tack and a decent lowrider mode jibe. That was OK for me for the day. I handed over to Bjoern and after some: "I start flying" and capzising, the boom broke. De-rigging on the water was not easy with all the screws on the shackles. No screwdriver on hand. We got the boat home and the boom into our composite workshop.

Second Day:
The boom being repaired overnight and some hooks installed instead of screwed on shackles, we also limited the amount of rudderway with elastic. The rudder should hold itself in the middle which makes starting more easy. And it was. Wearing shorts over the wetsuit helped me getting organized on the trampoline. Getting on to the boat being no problem on the second day. Sailing in lowrider mode not a problem. We did not measure the wind, we did not mount the Velocitec but Bjoern and myself had some good success with 30-60sec airtime. Dropping off mostly to windward with the bow too high. Time to think about the adjustments maybe. Body movements forward etc.
After our go and being exhausted from swimming and righting we handed the boat to the girl. Kerstin climbed the Moth and moved like a cat. Lowriding looked easy, she did not capsize and got it on a "flight" with ease. So excited she was that she steered into the wind and capsized after a flight half across our homewater. Unbelievable. Than the righting became a little problem for her, she got exhausted and handed the boat over to us. Impressive how we improved by the hour. More time on the boat, less time swimming. We also had our computer guru with us. Arne, a cat sailor also had a go. First he just climbed the boat without problems, sailed well in lowrider mode and later when he had some airtime he dropped off the boat and the Bladerider kept on sailing. We had to catch it with our little powerboat. We would not recommend the elastic on the rudder for people sailing alone without assistance. We will demount it later when we have more experience but at present it is a hit. Nothing broken on the day, some very happy faces, smiles all over and we put the boat back in the shed. Lot´s of bruises and blue patches on legs and arms but fun it was.

Third Day:
Sunday there was no wind and besides ourselves really wanting to have another go we kept our cool and did not even try it. It would have been frustrating in drifter conditions. Monday evening after work we had another go. The Bladerider hard core Team: Kerstin, Bjoern and myself. Everybody showed good improvement, airtime and quick righting maneuvers. Not that we sailed like the team riders in the many promotion videos, no no. But everyone had decent airtime. I could handle it quite well on starboard tack but always dropped of to windward on the port tack. Worth mentioning is our ability to sail upwind and downwind and Kerstin showed a really good stunt flying the machine high and dry and capsizing it in front of the boatshed. That was the best and longest controlled foiling of all the sessions so far. Today we are healing our wounds, the sore muscles need to relax and some minor boatwork has to be done. We will try again mid of the week. I have to re-read the manual and start thinking about the adjustments. The decision to buy a company Bladerider is a good one. Some like to fly, some like to assemble and to repair the beautiful carbon parts. I know it is too early to go racing for me but we will catch up on our foiling skills pretty soon.