What is coming next after the great MOTH Euro?

It had been a great week in Travemünde though not sailing wise for me. In hindsight one always thinks that he could have done better but having been on the water on Tuesday, with 4 races being scheduled, the wind howling and the waves getting bigger the more outside of the harbor I sailed, I had to rethink my DNF and DNC´s a couple times. Actually i did not even start the first race as I had capsized my boat on purpose before the race in order not to run against a big police boat which was lying square in my course on a first downwind trial run. I needed about 30° left and right to stay upright, to steer the waves and all was fine and I had been motivated until the moment when I decided to better capzise instead of running into this blue/grey police boat not knowing if it was moving forth or back. Something must have gone mentally wrong, I still do not know what. The result: I decided to skip it for the day and not doing the races. My inner will had been broken somehow. Sailing back to the shore was not a problem at all. I shortened the wand and I was sailing around 18-20kn downwind home without problems. Due to strong gusts I had a bad entry into the steep shoreline and had to swim and to push the boat until I had ground under my feet. That gave me the rest and I did not want to go out again.

On the last day with a good breeze around 5 Bft and waves, I felt comfortable and started to gain places in the group around me. All of a sudden, I lost height. Could not sail as close to the wind as my fellow Moth friends, Harald and Carlo. I discovered that the rig had come loose. The pin on the mastfoot had grounded itself inside the plastic by 6 cm. No way to keep on sailing as it could have done more damage to my boat. I sailed back to the shore and started packing up and washing down the boat before everybody else arrived. Not good moments these two afternoons spend on the shore when most everybody was outside having a great time foiling. Anyway this is past me now and after Travemünde, I think we only had rainy days here in the North of Germany and except one afternoon sailing it only got better yesterday afternoon and I went out for an hour. Have to practice for the upcoming German Moth Championship on the lake Wittensee. Promised K. some hours to train with her or to give advise from the RIB. Will see how that goes. We are both looking forward to take part in the regatta, alone packing up the two MACH2´s on the trailer and towing them with our van to the site will be enjoyable. If I manage to get them on the trailer without dismantling them, I will publish a photo right here.

The Ninja Days

Been busy with boat and entertainment prep and already this morning with tinkering on the boat to find a little bit more speed.

For updates you do not need to go any further as to: bristol-moths. Mike Cook, despite some mishapes during the windy day managed some great reporting. It is Markus on his MACH2 , who is matching with the Ninja´s and the open competition is enjoyed by everyone. Look for the results sheet at: Ergebnisse nach 8 Wettfahrten

Believe me, I am fighting to not become last in this tough competition with everyone having real good boat handling and course management. Gone are the days of Moth´s capsizing all over the course.

UPDATE: 3 races yesterday in marginal conditions (70% lowriding) for me and some others. NEvetheless we had good racing at the end of the fleet. Adjustments have to be corrected on some of the boats and there is lots going on in Camp Moth at present. It had been a day for the under 72 kg guys and gals.

What a great day, sunny and windy!

Yeah Alan, your wish came true. Wind and sun in Travemünde for the day....and maybe tomorrow as well.

We got held ashore until 14.00h when the announcement came via the public system that the first starting signal (all classes) will be at 15.25h. A bit if a surprise here in the "Kuhle" as the wind just does not come in. A look outside surprised many of us. Great seabreeze from the North/East. I had been nearly first on the beach but after forgetting my "Sign out" and a long way to the board to do, my time buffer was gone. Nearly last out on the water and a great upwind sail to the starting area. It was easy to sail upwind so I ended high above the line and realized some problems going down. No, not of technical nature, just the mind set and the inability to just "send it". I nearly ran down a Police boat, lying square in my course as I ran out of option staying on foils and I splashed badly. I gave it one or two more tries but my mind had already decided to hot the road for home. The waves had been builded up too much for me. The wind was just perfect 15 kn but the rollers from the North knocked my will, of staying out and racing, down.

I sailed home which was not bad and maybe you know the feeling after such a day. Everybody has a smile and some great stories to tell about wave height, max speed, great starts etc.Some had to hit the shore early but the majority of the fleet "must have" sailed three races. The list is not out yet, maybe later at: http://travemuender-woche.resultsl

The full stories of the day on the water, Ihave no doubt, will be on Cookies blog: The Brits put in some great results and they shall speak for themselves. Look at: bristol-moth blog, The Ninjas.

Before I forget: What a great demonstrations some Germans, Brits and Swiss sailors were putting in after the races, right in front of the "public meile" on the Trave, opposite the "PASSAT". Flying tacks!!, gybes, criss crossing like a Moth swarm. One swiss sailor got applauded loud from hundreds of people for showing a "running on water" stunt. Simon and Bora style. Impressive. The whole thing had been moderated from Gerd Girschkowsky, who is famous here in the North for good and fair sports reports. He was on top of the job. Thanks Gerd.

Pictures from Anja, Mottenfieber.de will be out later on the Nordea Moth European 2011 site at: imoth.de/euro2011

No change of action in T´muende

Sitting here in my Van in the late afternoon rain, I am reading about a great report about a trip through the sunny Med. Keeps me warm: medcrossing in a 'Mini 6.50´ This guy has a very fresh and subjective look at things. Read some of his older posts.

If you want to keep up with the Moth action at the Nordea Moth Europeans 2011 and want to get some more inside info, go to: bristol-moths.

Foto is taken straight out of the window of the Van and shows camp Moth in the "Kuhle".

Just can´t wait...

Just can´t wait to finish work... sometime after 17.00h
Just can´t wait to hopp in the plane...early Sunday morning
Just can´t wait to feel the warm air surrounding me... around Sunday late morning
Just can´t wait to arrive at the CAR... 90 minutes later
Just can´t wait to unwrap the new beauty...at the first possible moment
And to take her out when she is ready for me.

More about her later.

DN Season is finished, Moth is coming.

There had been small hopes for a Danish Championship last weekend but due to rain and temperatures above zero it had to be cancelled and I took the opportunity to clean and oil and check my gear and to stow it away after taking some notes for the start of the next season. There is some work to do after the last couple of seasons being lazy, but I cannot do the work now, when the spring is lurking around the corner and early spring flowers start to blossom.

Today I have received confirmation of the new boat (MACH2) to be supplied to the Pro-Vela for an early season practice session in the beginning of April. Good job so far by the M2 team. Hopefully the customs declaration will run a bit smoother other than for the parts from SailingBits, which I had ordered for myself and Moth friends. Wanted to make life easier for them but with our customs authorities clinging to their jobs with overseas deliveries, it now becomes a small problem to get the goods out of customs. As my friends are located in different places, I am sure it would have been messy for them to get hold of the parts. I am sending my charming colleague out tomorrow to talk to the bureaucratics in Flensburg.

If things with the new boat to be delivered to Spain are not going according to the plan, I am sure that Alan would appreciate, if I send him the stunning girl to help with custom house bureaucrazy (!)

Edit. A video called: The Making of Eissegeln Europameisterschaft Saaremaa 2011. Heli Videos
Edit. 17.3.2011: Another one I really like to recommend: DN EC 2011 on CNN Mainsail
Edit. 22.3.2011: The German TV report at: ZDF report

DN Racing still going strong in Germany

Great racing last weekend despite the German Championship had to be cancelled due to very much snow on the ice, which was coming down the night before. Most of the participants just moved on abt 60km to a different lake/venue where we found good conditions and were able to convince our former class secretary to do the starting and scoring, which she did just great. Together with her husband, Edith and Jürgen, many thanks for giving us a great time. 6 fantastic races and fun in the evening during the dinner and price giving. Full race report in German language: Race Report

Not able to read German, but interested in the fun we have, please go to the following link. German report Here you can see fotos about 2 "prices" which I had prepared for the two friends who had put the most effort into our class during this winter. The first one you will see is the Icescout 2010 price. Our German class secretary, Jörg, G-747(!) did actually search for good ice with a plane and next day checked the area with his DN. He really deserved this price for his efforts sofar.

There is only one guy who comes into most iceboaters mind when you think about the "Golden telephone" price. Yes, Wulf "Krogo", G-749, deserves this one without doubt. He is actually starting on Monday searching for sailable ice for the coming weekend by phone. He phones up everyone and pushes. Often driving out himself late afternoon if the given information seems a bit unreliable. Without these two great sailors we would not have had such a good season this year. And it is not finished yet. Temperatures are around the freezing point. The Ice is about 25cm with snow cover. If that cover melts away we will have another one or two weekends of DN racing, until the runners are dull.

Following the Moth Worlds in Dubai as many other German Moth sailors, (great job by OTWA and Justin TV) I hope that this blog changes soon into becoming a Moth blog again. Keep your runners sharpened and your foils polished!

The End of the Winter...5 days of sailing

It had been planned for a long time. To start the sailing season with a little bit of Foiler Mothing down at the Med. At first we wanted to meet with friends at the Easter week but due to a very early Easter holiday this year, we delayed this until the beginning of April and it happened that the boatbuilding of our new Moth by Felix had been progressed to a near finish of the project.

The trip took about 20 hours on the road. When we arrived in Bormes des Mimosas (le Lavandou) it was sunny with a strong offshore wind. Blue sky and a nice temperature wetted my appetite for some “flying hours” with the Bladerider. I should have known better…

On Sunday the 6th it was blowing cats and dogs and even worth it was a strong offshore wind. White caps appeared not far from the shore. Waiting for our friends was disrupted by a call from Felix being only about 2 1/2 hours away: “We have a flat tyre. Not one. It is a twin tyre in the back and we cannot get a replacement on the Sunday. We will get there on Monday”.

Some sightseeing into the local boatyard and marina did not bring much satisfaction as most of the boats moored there had been white plastic boats from the “well known sources”. Oh well, yes there were a couple of boats on the hardstand, more than 50 foot long and these boats featured double rudder blades. Boats which I hadn´t seen before. Not the typical Open50 or Open60 style boats. More cruising orientated, but with a wide stern. Thus the twin rudders.

It had offshore wind again on Monday. But there was much to do with the newly arrived boats. To look and to discuss and to assemble. Felix had 3 Moths on the roof of the Mobilhome. His old Lowrider and two newly built boats, mostly designed by himself with a modified “Schenk” hull. After much discussion and scraping parts and things we came to the conclusion to just assemble one of his new boats. The “Orange”, as it was called immediately by Kerstin and him. Due to the colourful bow section I think.

Oh yes, and I was in the water for about 45 minutes as you can see from the photo on the right. Beautiful blue sky. Offshore wind. Whitecaps in the back. Always a bit scared that something might break or that I would loose the boat. Or ending up in “Africa” due to the offshore breeze. From my windsurfing days I remembered that it was not wise to take this risk and I packed it in. Sloopy fitness also played a role due to the capsizes in the very gusty conditions. But it had been the first day on the water. Should set up my counter as Tillerman did. More about the sailing within the next days.