Posts mit dem Label Moth sailing werden angezeigt. Alle Posts anzeigen
Posts mit dem Label Moth sailing werden angezeigt. Alle Posts anzeigen

Montag, April 16, 2012

My Monster Garage

Moth blogging seems to get busy again and I appreciate my friend Harald to come up with his reports, which enhances me to give a short update about my own activities. My boat had been stowed in the big garage as you can see from the photo above. I rolled it out for the last ten days, finishing on Saturday, for an everyday sailing session. A nice warm-up to the season, lying ahead for us Northern European Mothies. Our Swedish friends from Stockholm had the same idea and were also sailing a couple of days on the Mar Menor.

Being back in the office today I dream about the lunch break which is illustrated by the photo below. Always a highlight of the day in the C.A.R. Christina and the easy going canteen with good and cheap food. Boat being laid down on the beach ready for the afternoon session. I have signed myself already in for the Moth Fest @ pro-vela and afterwards the boat will be shipped back home. Some good relief from the difficulties which life has thrown on me in the past months. Hope to see you guys and gals out there soon.

Mittwoch, Juni 29, 2011

Whovever has written this shite, he/she is right!


Some marketing guru must have written this article, taken from the SA frontpage today: Sailing Anarchy Frontpage and except of the thoughts about going back into motorbikes (did ride earlier in my life) I can find myself in it. Especially as I am of that "certain age" group which is being mentioned. I had the pleasure to go out already two evenings this week from about 7pm- till 9pm in a good 12-15 kn breeze and it gave me everything I needed to clear my mind and to be one with the boat in these difficult commercial times. I even managed a foiling jibe though I did not feel ten foot higher afterwards and did not celebrate as the manouver must have looked a bit rough and not as elegant as the great masters in the class are circling it into the water. It is just difficult to train an old dog a new trick but I feel, that I am getting there. And isn´t the "journey the reward"? Certainly for me. Thanks SailingAnarchy for bringing this up and spicing my day.

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Born Again

There sometimes comes a time in sailor’s life where things need to change. Where we wind up searching for something else to keep our passion flowing.

Remember when you were a kid? You were first to the newsstand to get the new sailing magazine, and you read it cover to cover? Eventually, that puppy-like enthusiasm wanes, and you drift away to other activities, where, in tackling something new, you once again experience that same excitement of childlike learning.

For most sailors, this means golf. Which is a shame, golf being possibly the only sport more boring to do than it is to watch. But if you don’t like golf, there are few other pastimes that a racetrack refugee can try. The possible exception is motorcycling, man’s greatest expression of freedom where you can look bad-ass, even if underneath your helmet you are a financial controller with thinning hair. But you can travel, experience the oneness of man and machine, and leave your troubles geographically behind as you yank open the throttle. But where to go? That dream of oiled girls flick-flacking down the bar as your bike pinks outside is just a dream, and if you do manage to find a place like that, then good luck, keep it a secret and don’t come back.

But if you don’t, what’s there to be done? Well there is something, my friends, something that combines the technical nature of golf with the desirability of gold and lets you ride out like McQueen on any Sunday.

And that’s Moth sailing. And you can do it and I can do it in the same way we can ride a motorcycle or hit a golf ball.

More and more sailors have discovered that Moth sailing is the place to go to get fired up once again. Unique enjoyment in a boat which is just as much fun to cruise around on as it is to race, a boat that only weighs 65lbs all up, where the mastering of a foiling gybe makes you feel ten foot tall and is significant enough to celebrate afterwards. Where, after many, many years, your childhood dream of flying finally comes true.

Right now there will be a sailor rigging a Moth, heart beating a little faster than usual in anticipation of that stunning acceleration and the deafening silence of flight. His polished black carbon boat is gorgeous, people comment on it and he replies with a brief explanation of how it works, but it is brief and that’s because this is his time, and the newness of sailing is back!

On the water and in the right conditions he will be doing some 12-17 knots upwind and cruising in the mid to late twenties downwind. Sure he falls off, but progress is good, the boat is a nautical gym and so he’s getting a good work out too, and all those years of sailing aren’t wasted, in fact they help.

You should be this guy (or girl)! It may seem difficult, but everyone who’s tried agrees that its not nearly as hard as it looks – it’s the class’s biggest secret. Furthermore, when you buy a Moth you are joining a very helpful club full of support and encouragement from both association and manufacturer alike.

In a short space of time, the Mach2 Moth has sold well over 200 boats, and while you may think they all go to the young guns and the rock stars on YouTube, you’d be wrong! A great deal of customers are sailors of “a certain age” who want, with the time they have available, to sail the most exciting boat on the market today. Blessed with Harley Davidson-like residual values, the boats cost a lot less than you think and a good few seasons’ sailing can be had for not very much money.

Yet we all like a holiday, so why not pack up your boat and travel? Events exist in locations to die for. Italy, anyone? Oh, the Cappuccino culture would fit in very well with a couple of afternoon races on Lake Garda, especially if you take the family. Or maybe Hawaii is a better fit for you, where the 2013 Worlds are rumored to be? And the boat can go on the plane with you!

Off the water, I’m afraid you will be online late into the night learning from the blogs and forums of the mothosphere, with that same exhuberance that you once hit the glossy magazines. So you may soon need reading glasses, but it’s a small price to pay to master an 11-foot nautical combination between a motorcycle and an airplane.

Interested in learning a little more? Check out the new Mach2 Moth USA site for all kinds of great info today, or hit up East Coast Mach 2 Dealer Anthony Kotoun here. Photo of Anfernee by the excellent Amory Ross.
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Photo: Me and my Moth. Photo credit goes to Alan Hillman at pro-vela Moth Sailing School

Montag, Juni 20, 2011

Three is a Moth Nest

We had Carlo up here in the North and I think that three Moths are already giving the impression of having a little nest. Some great sessions on the water and a lot of tinkering on the boats had been done last week. Sunday, Carlo was pushing for another session in abt. 15-20kn of wind but horrendous rain from time to time. But it made the water fairly smooth and we did some speed runs. I got used to be above 20kn quickly and launched it up to 23.9 whilst Carlo managed for a short period 26kn. We had downloaded his tracks from the Speed Puck to my Mac but we failed to download from the SC1 which I am using. Must "steal" K´s Speed Puck next time as I am not even able to take a shot of the max speed this morning from the SC1.

I was thinking about how big the difference is between 23 and 28kn, the speed which our friends Harald and Markus released recently. For me this is a very big gap and if will need some "balls of steel" and longer lasting gusts in the 25+ kn wind range. And yes, I was using the orange MSL10 and the soft mast which is a combination that feels good to me in stronger wind. The day yesterday definitely brought the fun of Moth sailing back to me which had been lost a bit due to much necessary work on our two boats to have them shipshape at all time. For example the #3627 "broke" it´s boomvang strap for the third time. I know it was my bad as I did the splicing. Glad to have Carlo taken over the job at last and it will hold together, I am sure.

One thing is puzzling me these days: It is Kieler Woche Kieler Woche 2011 results and I am not being tempted to be there. After 28 years of participations in FD, H-Boat, IMS, the interest has faded away and I am at present totally happy to spend short periods out on the Moth on the Schlei or going to our local races.

The next two weekends are being spend with and for the Youth in our small community and sailing club, the HSVS. See also the homepage from the youth group, the Lüttsegler: Lüttsegler Homepage HSVS Coming weekend we are organizing the yearly Optimist-Liga regatta, were also Europe´s and Teeny´s will take part and the weekend after we will cruise/race with a 36´and a 39´footer down the Fjord to a place which cannot be reached by cars. Overnight will be spend in tents and we will have a great BBQ and singing some shanties.

Donnerstag, April 14, 2011

Fun in the Sun...

Yes, a great week here at Pro-Vela, Alan´s Moth camp at the Mar Menor. Great weather, the boats arrived in time, lot´s of help and tools from the pro-vela team to put the boats together, and of we went on to the water. You can see here three happy campers: AJ who is the red baron and man, did he buy speed. Of course he is very talented and a good boat can only help getting the best out the sailor using it. Than you can see KR, she has only started foiling this week and man, is she progressing. Her will-power to get up on the foils and flying was only dampened by Alan´s thorough training methods, when he strictly forbid foiling for the first sessions. Boat handling and understanding how it reacts comes first in his training methods. The training boat is in pristine conditions, newly rigged with a tramp, made by a sailmaker called Snail Sails. I do not get it. Do you? But the tramps are better than the one I had seen lately from one of our German Moth friends. Yes, and the proud owner of the new black beauty is me.

But my sailing is worse than average, I mean, my average. Maybe I will become the "famous Moth sailor" unable to foil jibe. Or I have to start a new (regatta) class for myself, forbidding to jibe and doing tacks instead. It is only the ever motivating Alan, who keeps me on track. But it is the choppy Mar Menor which is dampening my will-power and yesterday I gave up after only being out for 15 minutes. I unclipped the ball joint and sailed downwind back to the shore. But other than my own performance it is great being here when at home it barely gets above 10°C and the water not even in the double figure region. Hope you do enjoy your season start as well as we are doing. Over and out and back to school.

Mittwoch, Februar 23, 2011

Good Bye to the "Old Faithful"

Yes, you see my wonderful Bladerider X8 being on the move to a new home in Holland. May Jaap, the new owner enjoy the boat as much as I did. What a great time we had together, the X8 and myself. And it had been reliable through all the sailing, that is the reason I was calling it "Old Faithful". Just like my old 1973 MG B GT which is being used very seldom but when it is needed it starts roaring after a few revs.

Selling the X8 was not easy at two ends. First there had been no reaction on my advertisement on the International Moth Homepage (thanks to Doug for such a great tool). Than, out of the blue I had 3 highly interested people in the boat. One from Holland, one from Germany and one from Poland. I settled with Jaap as he made a decision without much fuss and the boat was his. Michal from Poland, with whom I had good correspondence settled with MACH 2 and a distributorship. After the dust had settled there came another very interested person via my good friend Søren from Horsens, Denmark. Anyway it was a bit of an emotional departure as K´s and my idea had been to keep the boat for her. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought about the logistics with spare parts for two different brands. (Spares, big or small always needed when sailing Moths) the closer I came to the conclusion to buy another MACH2. This will help with having equal parts and the possibility to vandalize one boat whilst waiting for spares. Downtime must be short as are the month of summer.

Also my Moth buddy, Andreas, being on the rise and becoming quick on the race course, wanted a M2 himself. When he was a bit undecided I pushed him into Simon´s direction and as far as I am concerned, nothing speaks against a well set up ABARTH Moth on our home waters on the Schlei Fjord. So, there had been a few good Moth deals lately in our small fleet. And we will all meet with our new toys at the Moth Fest in May at the Mar Menor. (No direct link here as I think it is already overbooked...)

As far as activities around the house are concerned, I am preparing for the DN Euros in Estonia, Latvia or Poland. The news this morning had been that even Finland is an option now. Our president and the professional race committee* are concerned about snow coming in on the "best ice since 30 years" in Saaremaa, an island near Haapsalu in the Baltic Sea. Have not sailed lately as I was not in the mood for the long trips to the south (Lake Rescia) or to the north (near Gothenburg). Family kept me away. The ones who are interested in the more technical side of the DN rig should read the German article which was written in the SR online mag at: Segelreporter.com

I hope to be able to send a small report from the DN EUROS but anyone being more interested should check in at: www.eissegeln.de. Either the Pinboard or the DN Yacht button will contain reports. The racing will start on Sunday 27th and I think I have to go through a qualifier to try to get from the "B" fleet to "A" fleet as my last ranking in the World ranking list just does not qualify me directly for the Gold fleet anymore. It will be difficult but not unmanageable. First I need boat speed on the given day. What I do not need, is a starting position outside on the left (always computer generated for first race, odd numbers on the left) as that will give me 2 more tacks other than the starters on the starboard side. Anyway the preparation of the gear already gave me some fun and I am sure I will enjoy the event. Meeting friends from around the world and sharing the same passion is always great.

* In the DN class we have a professional race committee (Stan Macur and friends from Poland) which are assisting the officials from the country which is responsible for the event. Compared to other classes, this works on a relatively small entry fee of € 150,--per participant for the whole event. Usually there are around 150 to 180 starters which are divided into 3 or even 4 fleets depending on the size of the available area. The maximum fleet size is about 54 starters and that works great. Something which I am sure will happen in Moth fleets in the very near future. I am with Simon and do not think it is possible to let 150 Moths foiling straight to the wall. Anybody knows what he meant with the broken pencil in the same post at: SP´s Blog ?

Donnerstag, Januar 27, 2011

Who is behind this thing?


I had been pointed into the direction of this virtuell Moth Sailor by Magnus Wheatley, the handgranade journalist, see also link on the right side. Visiting the site, which Magnus also mentioned in his blog post which has an entry I would call: Virtuell Moth Sailor I am a little puzzled. This guy or girl must know a lot about sailing, hanggliding and such. Smells a bit like SP, hiding behind a different personality. Beside the Moth sailing on a very, very high level, I have read that he has a similar boat as described in one of the "noodleqt" posts, going cruising. Or could it be KK? She knows a thing or two about sailing. She is one of the gifted writers and story tellers like the gentleman mentioned before, as well. And does the sailing club not look a bit like the HISC? Never been there but seen photos. But it could also be someone from the Isle of Wight, who dreams about Moth sailing and who is or had been a hangglider pilot as well. The Deeg? Or one who sold me his "Magic MKIII" after teaching me the finer points of watching the clouds for thermal winds after a lot of "looking at the green barn" during the first lessons on the IoW. Feel free to guess who is behind the "noodles" personality.

Anyway, great stories to read after an evening of working on my DN runners which had an alignment problem. And one of the 440C runners had a notch which took some time to smooth on the belt sander. All this work because the Danish DN friends are calling for a regatta in Roskilde on the weekend. Haven´t done much sailing so far due to other commitments.

On the Moth side there is some planning for the Moth Fest and some training before at the Pro-Vela in April. Flights are being booked and everything else will fall into place, I am sure. It really is the first of many, many DN winters where I could live without ice sailing and instead going foiling with the Moth. Sailing on soft water has never been so exiting for me.

Spend the last two days at the "boot" in Düsseldorf. Haven´t seen a Moth there, instead I had met someone from real life in the seventieth. A gentleman who had sailed Flying Dutchman in some of the events where I also took part. Great stories to exchange about the Worlds in Weymouth ´74, about Travemünde and about Kieler Woche. Does anyone today believe that Rodney Pattison came to Kiel with a Morgan+8 towing his FD behind? John Mellow and I had witnessed it. He is now producing really nice sculptures in stainless steel. Some had been donated at the TP52 Audi Med Cup. I immediately ordered two "Moth Sculptures" to donate during two Moth events coming season. Hopefully they will help increasing participation in the planned Northern Europe Moth Circuit, where we expect sailors to participate from Sweden, Denmark and Germany at three events. one in each country. Of course Moth sailors from other countries are also invited to come. More news and maybe a flyer later on the IMCA site.

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Freitag, Oktober 08, 2010

Wish I could be there...

Going to Spain to see Alan and the ProVela is always tempting but with a busy September behind me (we are talking sailing and racing here) and an upcoming Moth regatta organized by me, my family and my homeclub, does not allow for more adventures. So Alan and David, I am sorry, I will not be able to make it but comes spring, you will see me.

Apart from some Mothing alone or with Andreas, I did take part in some Yardstick regattas with the Black Sheep to gain experience on this new style of boat. Very, very wide and hard chines. Double rudders. In short I must say it is fun to sail but the Melges 24 (who were our benchmark at the Blue Ribbon regatta) have developed themselves so far ahead that beating them in a distance race seems questionable to me.

K. and I also sailed the yearly Laser-City-Championship and whilst she finished all races in an old, worn out boat in style, I tried two starts and had to retire in both races due to stupid rigging errors. I wished I had Tillerman or other great Laseristi to help me with rigging an old boat like #84084. Maybe they would have told me what I knew afterwards: Change all the ropes and black plastic cleats or double secure behind the cleats with figure eight knots. See the amateur movie: Schleswig Laser Regatta

Anyway there had been a Moth regatta in between in Kiel. The Inshore race. I took the boat down there on the trailer, did not manage to hit the startline at first start, tried to sail the course for practice with 3 other Moths who were in the race but got so frustrated about the wind, the weather mark under the high shore line and myself about being unable to cope with the conditions. I had stayed complete dry getting on the tramp as the ASC, Kiel had provided personnel to help the boats into the water (Moth´s, I14´s, 18´s and a YS group even containing a Devoti D1 Skiff) but heading for shore I capzised badly just in front of the ponton. No wind, hazzle to get back on the boat and all. Not a good Moth show for the spectators though some came up and asked questions and wanted to help de-rigging the boat after I had put it ashore. I went straight home after that experience. Ole had also to give up due to a broken boom vang shackle (and you really need a Ronstan reserve in your tool box for this job on the Bladerider). Hannes and Sven seemed to have sailed all races, even the long-distance on Sunday and I am looking forward to meet with them as well as a couple other Mothies for a great weekend of racing the Moth on the Schlei. My X8 Bladerider is well prepared and test-sailed by me last Wednesday and it will be used by Philipp and before we will have some newbies who are interested to sail a Moth. I will use my MACH 2 with the new parts from Graham S. New Parts mounted and hope for a less wobbling wand. May the wind and Sun come as expected Weather Forecast for the weekend in all available weather-reports.

Dienstag, September 14, 2010

Sailing the "Black Sheep"

Should have sailed it earlier but had some Moth duties and than got sick for a whole week, but last Sunday was the day. A local regatta with a mixed YS fleet. You find more information about this incredible Sportsboat under: Sportsboat 5,50m

Anyway my expectations were high as I had seen the boat, nearly winning it´s way (elapsed time only) in a bunch of 50 other boats at a regatta a week before. We took the photos from aboard our spectator boat. "Black Sheep" came second after leading about 80% of the race. Their last beat was poor (hmm, hmm from the outside....). The fast X-34 found better lanes and the 5,50m boat was outpaced by this very sharp competitor. I started to believe and was able to see first hand that the old saying: "Länge läuft" (only length is counting) does not relate to modern Sportsboats if designed right.

Rod, the builder of the "Black Sheep" had his friend and designer of the boat, JP to visit and to test sail the hard chined, super wide (2,40 is wide related to only 5,50m length) boat. The wind on Sunday morning was very light and I offered to give a lift with the Bull driven by the Outboard. Walked over to get the Bull ready for the tow but when I saw the 5,50m boat sliding through the marina, faster than I could walk in nearly no wind we skipped the idea and I jumped onboard to take the tiller. We made it in time down the Schlei-Fjord to the "big-wide" and did not have to wait much for the start. Despite the light wind we got in front quite quickly but on the last long downwind we got passed by the DB1 (old 3/4 tonner, built by Dehler). Should have rolled the boat over to windward as suggested by JP and pressed hard down to leeward but with a straight pole and a flat gennaker this is not easy to achieve in the light air. Anyway upwind we were fast. You can see the upwind performance of the boat on the photos which are running through this entry. The small boat in the lee of the X-34 is the "Black Sheep".

Moth wise I had only 2 outings lately. Both together with Andreas on his BR and it was great to be back on the homewater for some practice. Still lacking good jibes but going nicely upwind. Have I told you that I am sailing a MACH2 by now? Not that I think I can improve my results much with this boat at present but it came along my way as a very positive surprise or should I say, a chance I could not dismiss. Should anyone out there be keen to buy a good solid Bladerider X8, I would negotiate if it finds a good home. Otherwise I might take it to the Mar Menor for the upcoming October Fest organized by: ProVelaComing weekend is another Moth regatta in Kiel ASV Kielorganized by the Academics who always throw in good racing and good partying. The races are open for 18th, Int. 14th, and Moths. The usual suspects will be on the startline.

See the boat right in front there. that is the "Black Sheep" not long after the start. Should anyone out there like to have more information about this new boat, contact me and I put you through to Rod and JP.

Samstag, Mai 22, 2010

Latest News from Aussieland

Training in "winter mode" down under. Scott Babagge, John Harris, Dave Lister and friends are practicing for the upcoming worlds in Belmont, AUS. Have a look at: Aussie Moth practice session Great innerview and video about their sailing in front of the Sydney Opera.

Report about the great Moth Fest in Mar Menor, ESP tomorrow.

Montag, November 16, 2009

A few days on the Moth


PRO-Vela in Murcia, Spain. A great place. Boats in pristine conditions. Very nice people. You better hurry up and find out yourself. The only drawback had been a nasty cold which stayed with me all week long. Nevertheless the sailing was great and I am planning to come back. To find out more just take the Internet address from the boat or sail on which I am flying on (look Ma!) Click the photo to enlarge it.

Sonntag, August 02, 2009

Wish I had more time (like most everyone else...)

Though sailing does not have high priority in these stressful days, I was able to do some Mothing and a week of cruising with my family and the little Bull7000. This brought my sailing days counter up from 33 to 44 days within one and a half month. In my head, during this time, there were a few posts taking shape but at the end other things became more important. Thus, before rambling about the OCS and DNF point system at an international regatta, I thought that I have to have a deeper look into the current ISAF rules and subsequent SI´s from the event organizers. The funny thing is the head game. Driving to a regatta e.g. there are always a couple of headlines coming into my mind. Difficult to stop them when you are cruising along on the motorway, cruise control set and just looking ahead to a sailing event. Same on the way home. Even when it was frustrating like in the Moth EC in Horsens, DK, with too much wind and waves to handle for me. OK, I did sail two days but was only able to put in one result. In hindsight, I should have been able to let myself get lapped two times and then sail through the finish but those are thoughts which only come in hindsight. Once you are out there, mental and physical strength "broken" from tumbling with the boat on the downwind and unable to sail (fly) for longer than a few hundred meters, all I wanted to do, was to bring the boat save home without major damage. And that is what I did. Only more practice and a better fitness regime can help me to better my results in those conditions.

After the Moths EC we decided to cruise with our little one on the Schlei Fjord and that was a very nice experience. So close with the family on this 7,50m boat, going to nice, cozy places with the ability to lift the keel, we certainly will do more... when there is no racing in the way. I should mention here that we even did 3 days of sailing with the jib alone. Downwind of course. There is so much more to see when only going 4-5kn instead of the fast and often two digit 3 sail runs we would normally do with our sportsboat.

On the last July weekend I had committed myself to go to Horsens, DK again, to practice with Søren and friends with our Moths. This time the wind was offshore with less waves, still white caps but nice sailable conditions. Only the water felt much colder than 3 weeks before and I had do give in after 3 hours because I was freezing and feeling uncomfortable. On Sunday morning Sven did some dry training for the foiling jibe with me, more or less asking, how I am approaching the maneuver and one of my biggest mistakes during the jibe had been discovered. Thanks to Sven there is an improvement now and I only hope for more practice time. The past weekend had light wind and only some foiling time on Saturday. Having learned much about the set-up´s and subsequently having done some work on my foils the boat flew early and high. If it was fast and high only the next racing with tell. Therefore I do hope for some wind on the coming weekend at Zwahn. And of course competition. Do not let me sail alone with Sven. He will take revanche for last years regatta, I am sure. Oh, and I am trying to read those blogs about the Moth Worlds at Hood River, Cascade Locks, USA taking place in 8 days. This will be one exciting event with all those ex-Olympian sailors, with the much trained Swiss squad as well as Rohan Veal and Aussie friends coming to the event and some people who think they may have a technology advantage. Many Moth links on my page here. Stay tuned.

Donnerstag, Juni 04, 2009

First Ship Home

After fighting some back pain during the last days it was a relief to be out sailing past weekend with the little Bull. K. and I had put a reef in, the small jib hanked on and off we went for a pleasurable sailing afternoon. There were moments when the wind got a bit light for the reef but as this had been our first sunday sail together since we have the little one, I was able to resist. A long beat up the Schlei until we turned the boat around to sail back home with the wind from behind. Shook out the reef, kite up and a couple jibes with the gennaker brought some smiles. We even managed 12kn for a long moment and came right back home for a marvelous asparagus dinner, prepared by the grand parents who had taken care of little E.

Last Monday had been a holiday in Germany (Pfingsten) and what a weather we had. Great summer sunshine and a warm breeze from the north/east. In the afternoon I rigged the Moth and both K. and I had some good rides. It was her first ride again after the initial 3 days two years ago. And yes, it looked good, just one capsize, good airtime, holding a straight course and downwind some course alignment to the gusts. One day she will start racing the Moth, I am sure. Her Seggerling Skiff Dinghy is still up for sale.

Now coming to the headline of this post. Yesterday I started in the Wednesday night race with the Moth together with the "big" boats from a Minitonner to X-79 and up to the fast X-34. A crowded startline and I decided to start behind the fleet which was fighting for slot on the right side. It was very gusty, wind from the north west, which is not the best direction in a narrow water running east/west. The guys on the keelyachts measured abt 5 Bft gusting stronger. I started from behind and besides capsizing two times during bad tacks I managed to round together with the first boat. Me on the outside. Immediately I pulled away whilst the keel yachts were putting up spinnakers and running straight down. All was good until after a few jibes I ended up too far on the north side of the course. Low riding through the narrow pass opposite Fahrdorf did not help my position, some yachts passed me. When the water was again deep enough I put the nose more into the wind, accelerated onto the foils, bearing away and trying to run deeper this time I managed speeds above 20kn most of the time. My Velocitek showed me 21.9 after the race as best 10sec. score. I passed all the boats and the front runner just before the downwind mark. I did not get all the shifts right and at the weather mark we rounded nearly together, me again on the outside. Now a fast reach which took me away from the fleet in no time. Next jibe ended in a good swim but the last downwind was a real blast. I even managed to round the mark on foils easy, put the nose upwind and hiked hard. A long beat home with two or three bad tacks which saw me swimming, but I managed to be first ship home by a couple of minutes. A very good feeling as I was sailing the full course, had to turn at marks and not at the best possible moments, as I normally do in training. This had been my best evening sail so far. A good practice for the EC in Horsens where we already have more than 40 entries and from the participants names mostly really good Mothies. Former champions, etc. I just do not want to become last. The photo, taken with a mobile, is a view from the north shore (no wind) taken on Wednesday. The fleet is just coming together and the little sail in the middle is me. Don´t know where the white dots are coming from. The Bladerider Moth is mostly black.

Montag, April 20, 2009

2 Days of sailing the Moth

Had a short session last week after installing a new tramp and looking for problem areas to overhaul. All in all the Bladerider is in good shape. Sailed the boat on Saturday morning until I had a couple of capsizes, than stopped mothing. I struggled a bit with the standard sail as the top batten is not shifting, no matter how much tension I have on the downhaul. Therefore the boat exhilerated (and foiled) immediately on port tack and did not do well on starboard. Have to play more with batten tension maybe. Saturday afternoon i went mothing again and it was a good session. It lasted 3 hours after which I was totally worn out. No energy left. Not even for another sailing on Sunday. The whole body felt sore. Still I enjoyed it very much and hope to get into better shape slowly. As a first sign of will, I did not take sugar into my tea this morning.

There were already many keel boats out here and the nice sunny weather with wind from the east brought some chilly temperatures. In the afternoon the breeze was building up to a handy 5 Bft which in my opinion is caused by thermal effect. We heart from people who had sailed out on the Baltic sea that they had only seen max 3 Bft. This is a typical spring easterly which will last a couple days. It is only a bit early this year. Normally this high settles in the mid of May and in the afternoons the winds is building sometimes up to 7 Bft here on the Schlei Fjord. This is windsurfers delight. Way too strong for me to take the Moth out. Should maybe undust the slalom gear.

Mittwoch, Juli 23, 2008

Hunting the Tillerman

The great Tillerman on Proper Course has motivated me to start a kind of private sailcounter. As I am not a compie genius and are not able to install something as pretty as he did (with changing pictures), I had started to count my days out on the water through my blog entries. I have to add 3 more days from last week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I went out on the Moth and had some great sailing. It happened to be my second and last holiday week. I have now switched from just foiling around (OK, still going up and downwind mostly) to some serious upwind and downwind between two markers. It is not easy for me with this fast little craft to get the laylines right. I have cheated to myself three or four times at the windward mark, whilst my downwind rounding had been very wide or assisted by a capsize some times. Still a lot of work to do I realized. Too many tacks which have to be avoided. More concentration necessary about reading the wind on the course. About which side is favoured and than go-for-it. Much different to keel boat sailing when you can tack on windshifts easy, when you must tack to hold your position. Also the little Moth can be sailed high or low with big differences in speed and during Kiel Week I was amazed by how low the top guys were sailing their boats. And how much faster. I will go for another reality check this coming weekend. The Moth regatta in Horsens, DK is on. All Mothies are welcome.

Back to the practicing last week. Monday was OK with wind around the 10-12kn mark. Tuesday it was very gusty, average wind around 15-18kn with some aggressive gusts coming down from the west. Incredible speeds around the 20kn mark. Incredible capsizes. Some bad bruises appeared after the sailing and it was not the most fun day. On Wednesday I checked the boat thoroughly, rigged a new mainsheet and new shockcord and did some maintenance work. The boat must have liked it as it gave me the best day out so far. 12kn average wind speed. Three hours out and just one capsize. Lots of up-and down with decent laylines and mark roundings. One jibe where I got a glimpse of how a proper foiling jibe must be finished. A great day but than in the evening a bad cold started to take my mood down. I was bound for the house until Monday.

Uhhps, this was post supposed to be about "hunting the Tillerman". Adding the three days from last week I actually have sailed 44 days this year. Tillerman has done 51 days as I can see from his sailcounter. He seems to count only the Laser days. He wants to sail 100 days this year. A goal which is not out of reach and should not be out of reach for me. Just that I count every sailing day. Not only the days in the Moth. I would be too far behind. But being in a regular job, having responsibilities for a couple people and things, I am doing better than all the years before. Thanks to the Tillerman for dragging me into this contest...

Donnerstag, April 24, 2008

An evening out on the Moth


Yesterday, after getting ready with work and everything else like playing a round of football with the little one (got drubbed 4:5 and 2:5) I managed an hour af Mothing. Had to play against the wind (strong) and therefore got the idea of going sailing afterwards. A little more tweaking on the boat and a new, tighter tramp rig and it was already 19.00h. The wind from the east had calmed down to small white caps and about 4 Bft. I managed some good upwind legs though my upper legs hurted badly. Had good speed and a better boathandling than the other days on the reach/run but never a good jibe. Maybe I tried too hard. Ended up with the boom sticking into the air which than costs a lot of energy to get the boat into position for a re-start. Maybe I should try a more conservative approach to jibing first. Getting the boat low and safe around onto a tight reach to get it on foils and than bear away. But as a former slalom windsurfer I know what it costs dearly when you blow the jibe and have to go nearly upwind first when actually you want to head downwind.

Anyway it was a good session and I had seen some progress. Less time in the water and good solid flights. And as I used to say to my buddies: "It is the hours which you have spend on the rail that counts at the end. Talent is only 10-20 percent involved". Looking for more hours on the Moth as the temperature is raising now.

Edited: I ripped the above Foto from the Bladerider site to give my motivation a kick. I am a Regatta man and I should be able to do this...

Montag, April 21, 2008

Wind, Wind and not much progress...

Just got the photos from my Finn session which happened already on the Sunday a week ago. I have added these photos to my recent post to shut down the remarks which are about like the Sailing Anarchy phrase: "Pics or it didn´t happen".

Have been busy with the Moth over the weekend, renewing the ropes for the tramp which had chafed through as well as the very thin shockcords. Not being very fuzzy with the weight, I upgraded to a little thicker quality. There are always small jobs to do with this boat, with any boat to my experience, but the Moth is critical to the smallest of changes or wear. If you go out by yourself there is nothing you can do if you have a breakdown on the gear and all you can do is to drift ashore somewhere. That is why I hate offshore winds. Anyway Saturday there was too much wind for me and when it had calmed down in the evening to a handy 4-5m/sec (3,5Bft) we had to leave home to a BBQ party. A good alternative to put on even more weight than just the thicker shockcords.

Sunday the boat had been in good conditions and it was already impatiently shaking on it´s trolley. Sun was out and I put the boat in the water in the afternoon. White caps and abt. 10m/sec did not make life easy for me. I could manage a straight line to windward but I did not reach my goal of 3 miles upwind and than down as I gave the downwind a try after three or four bad tacks, ending in the water. It was scary. More boomvang, more outhaul (need to change that stiff rope) but in earnest I did not do very well. Not deep enough and watering myself way too much. And oh, these capsizes, when you end up with the boom sticking into the air downwind and you try so hard to get the mast out of the water, turn a bit into the wind and help the boom to go down. You push it and it won´t. You have to lean out hard otherwise you stick the masttop into the mud. Righting the boat than means a handful of dirt on your head. Dinghy sailors on lakes know about this special experience. I gave up fighting the boat and went ashore. For a drink, warming up in the evening sun and to think about my manoeuvres. Took the boat for another spin and it was so much better. Enjoyed the upwind and managed decent depth downwind. Past some boat with speed, got the passengers from the round trip boat looking. Cameras clicking. Well this motivates, makes you a better sailor for the moment. At least that is what I thought.

Donnerstag, April 17, 2008

The Finn Dinghy Experience

A beautiful Sunday in Cannes, our last holiday and my friend invited me to sail one of his Finn´s. I mean a real one. A Devoti with a Wilke Carbonstick and a very nice North Sail. The boat was a delight to sail. We went out with four Finn Dinghys and it was easy for me to stay right with them. To beat them to the weathermark. OK, only 2-3 Bft. Just hiking and trimming. Lot´s of chances to look for pressure. I easily got the hang of it. I spent 4-5 hours on the water instead of the usual 1 hour I do with the Moth. And I had not been exhausted as being after the Moth events. It was fun and it helped me to gain back a little confidence which I must have lost at all the capsizes with my Bladerider. My friend tried o convince me to go to the Finn Masters in Medemblik, Holland this year, but really the sailing in the nice conditions in the Bay of Cannes did not prove at all if I would be able to sail this big singlehander in a breeze. No, no, I took the day as it was: A nice day out on the water. A photo will follow.

First Days of Sailing the Moth this year

Second Day of Mothing
OK, back to blogging. The weather changed overnight and with it the wind became an onshore breeze. The sun disappeared behind big grey clouds and the shore break did not look inviting. Nevertheless I rigged the Bladerider and worked (walked) my way through the shore break. Got on the boat fine. Flying not really a problem. Upwind not pointing very high. Tacks were slow and bad, some with sailing backwards. Downwind the sailing was fine but however I tried to jibe I put the thing into the water. 13° C definitely better than the 5 ° C at home. But I lost my power quite soon cause of the capsizes and I knew I needed some fitness to get the boat through the breaking waves on to the beach in one piece. Oh, I am still fitting the blades outside in the chest high water and do the de-rigging there as well. The new centreboard foil sank to the ground and did not come up as the older one used to do.

Third Day of Sailing
Still a nice onshore breeze and meanwhile Felix had the new boat “Orange” rigged and ready to sail. We changed into the bay nearby where we did not have to fight the breaking waves and starting the Foiler Moths was easy. “Orange” should have been sailed by Kerstin but due to special circumstances she let Felix do the first sail and decided to do some photos. It was OK out there but again only for a short period after which I got exhausted. A bit early and again I thought I should start a fitness program. The “Orange” did not last very long, back to the workshop was the motto. But it was got to see some progress on the flap mechanism which worked well.

Fourth Day of Mothing
The day after packing up Felix gear, we decided that he and Claus should have a go on the Bladerider to get some airtime. Felix did the first session but I think he only managed about 5cms. He acted way too much as a lowrider with the boat heeled to leeward. Of course he blamed the wind which was also right. It just was not enough breeze for his weight to get him up on the foils. It was time for Claus. A first timer and he did very well. He got up on the foils easy, did some tacks and tried some jibes (of course not on foils). His fitness is great and he is not one to give up. He foilded and capsized until I think Felix called him in via some family magic. Felix in the meantime had talked to Kerstin and got some tips which worked well for him. He got up on the foils and you could hear him scream. Full of joy and exitement. After Felix had put in a good session it was my turn. I had some fun, tried again to jibe on foils but are still sofar away from being able to handle this manoeuvre. A few capsizes later I packed it in.

The weather changed again the next day. Sunny but brisk and some offshore wind. No way I would try it again. Our friends had already hit the road and we decided to change place and to visit friends near Cannes. We did an adventure trip across one of the Cols (small mountains) due to me believing the GPS navigator and not my good sense and we ended up on a very twisty and narrow road. With the Van and the boat on the trailer is was no fun and at one time we were blocked by oncoming traffic for more than half an hour. No way for us to move back and the Frenchies insisted on their rights in their homecountry. Bloody Germans what are they doing here… OK, not that bad but they showed us that this was not a road to be taken by van and boat.

Donnerstag, März 20, 2008

Some Thoughts due to NO sailing activities here...

Recently I had a letter submitted to Scuttlebutt Europe (see below) with regards to the debate about canting Keel Boats to take part in the Cowes Week regatta. I got a bit of feed back to this and one particular guy asked me if I had a clue about what I had written in my statement. It could have been that this was a "quick diagonal reader" who did not got the message from my limited English or it could have been a "canter". One of these guys who are laughing at you, when you are wobbling in their wake.

OK, I have not sailed against a canter yet, though I wish I would be able to see one live and maybe these guys are not laughing at the ones, leaving behind in their wke... We do not have any of these boats in my home waters around Kiel or Flensburg or in Denmark. Not yet. My doubts about the compatibility on the starting line between canters and non-canters are based on my experience in the Sportsboat class as well as in IMS sailing. In the beginning of the Sportsboat movement around 1998 we were looking for participants to get the numbers up. To bring some value to the club, hosting our annual regatta in Travemünde. Therefore the German ISRA (Association) also invited the Asso99, a 6 person keelboat, 3 of them are on the wire. Sportsboats do not have trapezes. They are the likes of the Hunter707, Beneteau25, Bull7000, Melges24, U20, Humphreys22. A righting moment of 3 persons on the wire makes for better pointing and speed on the start line. It did not match and everyone tried to work out how to avoid the Asso. There had also been two 11m OD´s which due to their waterline length and high stability caused headache for the sailors on the light displacement Sportsboats. The silverware had gone to those "non-Sportsboats" and as they were not coming back to race due to a stricter rule, the silver also disappeared. None of them gave the challenge trophies back. The pic shows us fighting upwind with the low displacement Bull 7000.

* From Manfred Schreiber: Reading with interest the debate. Why do they exchange rough letters and arguments and do not put on the table the most interfering thing which happens to non-canters when starting together with canters. A much bigger problem other than when starting with 35 footers against 39 footers within a certain IMS rating band. You really do not want to have a canter on your leeward side. It brings you to a halt and steals from you the minutes and seconds which you need to score well. Same of course with a windward canter which leaves you in the wake of his dirty air. Other boats start rolling you. A good finish is already out of sight 5 minutes after the start.

Do not put these very different machines into the same starting sequence. The Cowes Week organisers are doing the right thing. The fun is only for the crews sitting low on their canters and leaving their "competitors" in their wake. Not good sportsmanship I would say.

Dienstag, März 04, 2008

Remembering the past and looking out to Kieler Woche


With absolutely no opportunity to go sailing (due to weather conditions) there are moments when reflecting about the past comes into my mind. This happened when I came across the picture of this beautiful ship, "Cap San Diego". She is an oldtimer, a so called banana ship. A sleek looking freighter which had been owned by the Hamburg Süd Shipping company, who had a series of those ships running mostly between South America and Hamburg. The cooling lockers full of bananas and other fruits. I worked as a shipbroker agent in those days and strolling around the harbour had been a daily routine in my job. As a waterclerk I had to be the first to enter the incoming ships, together with emigration, customs and police. Most times with a travel case full of letters for the crew and a briefcase with loads of cash for the captain to pay out to his crew for some enjoyable days on the shores of Hamburg. The Reeperbahn comes into my mind, but I leave these imaginations for your own fantasies.

This is all long gone but I know there are ship lovers here as my regular readers and this photo of the good ship "Cap San Diego" is dedicated to them. The ship had been docked for several years in Hamburg, being used as a kind of living museum but this year it will appear during Kieler Woche. Sailing down the river Elbe again. Going into the Kiel Canal through the gates will be sight to watch for shipspotters. Knowing that the ship is coming to Kiel "bridges" nicely to my fellow Mothies, who are also reading here. (no progress yet with my foiling gybes due to no sailing at all) The Moth class is an invitational class this year in the famous Kieler Woche and some really good sailors have already shown their interest. They like to sail Kiel Week as a training for the upcoming Worlds in Weymouthin July. Welcome Mothies, I´ll be there at Kiel. GER-3170.