Saturday, March 20, 2010

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.