Starting them young

Helena being introduced to the Mach2 for the first time. A lot more years before there will be a second moth in the family... (but been told these things creep up fast).

Spaghetti Western

Western Circuit is done for another year and over 3 weekends of racing and 10 races, i actually got a perfect score with all bullets. But of more interest is the growing competition between Dan/Will/Paul. Second place in the regatta was open until the last 50m of the last race, so they certainly had a good time battling it out. Going to be good to see these guys develop more over the coming months as they are developing some rivalry on the water.

But this was the first time I really got to sail my new boat as previously distracted with my baby girl of 2 months(and she is a cutie). For those who don't know, it is a Mach 2.1 and at first glance isn't much different from the old one except that it has bungs which is a positive move forward.

However, the new boat seems to be quicker than my old one (sailed by Dan) and lining up with the other guys they really couldn't hold on. So not sure if down to more experience, but I never walked away from them that quickly before on the old boat when lining up. Differences I can see is that the new main flap has a lot less drag, plus the foils are painted from the factory and rather smooth compared to bare foils. Could that be it? Otherwise was trying to use max amount of gearing as possible as the wave conditions were flat. Regardless happy with the end result.

Only things i need to work on is sealing the new wing bars. They don't have any cap on the inside at the forward end so fill up with water which makes them heavy. Also using a boatbreaker to tension the rig. Finding that having consistent tension makes the boat more consistent each time you sail so recommend that to anyone who wants to try.

But immediate plans to re-earn brownie points with the wife, so painting this weekend. Fortunately the wind forecast is rubbish.

Pics and info about Singapore mothing on facebook, search for "Singapore Moth Association". Page is open to anyone to join!

First Weekend of Western

5 moths turned up for Singapore's largest regatta with a mixed fleet of yachts, cruisers, SB3s, J24s and catamarans. Quite good that all different types of classes can be on the same course racing and everyone seems to enjoy it.

The morning treated us to rolling storm squalls coming through from Sumatra and Noah would have been in his element with the amount of rain pouring down. But with Singapore rain, it doesn't last too long and racing was underway with only an hour delay.

First race was a drift-off and the moth fleet collectively decided at the top mark that 1 lap was enough (rather than 3) and to the shock of the race committee finished at the bottom. Fortunately we were going so slow there was no issue with the timings, but they weren't expecting us to finish in those type of circumstances.

Fortunately about 10 mins later the wind came in at a nice 8-10 and a second race got under way. What took us 50min to do in the first race we managed to do 3 laps of in a total of 26 mins in the second race. I managed to scoot away in the breeze and left the other 4 to battle it out. To the shock of the 3 mach2s, Francois on the Bladerider was on fire and was almost 2nd to the top mark before Will decided that it best that he gets things moving along and put the accelerator down. Paul/Dan and Francois battled it out for third spot, but Paul managed to get through as Dan seems to be too timid when the boat foils too high and hasn't learnt to sheet in and send it yet. That will come in time.

Third race was marginal foiling at the bottom with the top of the course having nice breeze. The others struggled to get foiling consistently in the marginal stuff and a case of he who foils first wins.

This weekend coming sees racing on both Sat and Sun. Hoping for more consistent breeze.

Photos can be seen at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.266764130006897.86600.161312453885399&type=1