The worlds was great. I was a lot windier than I thought it would be. This lead to a lot of breakages as the fleet was not really prepared for the wind and chop. I rigged and went out in the building wind to get some practice in and see if the boat was set up right. After 5 mins the main foil snapped where it comes out of the boat! Luckily I had ordered a new FastaCraft foil for my new boat so I was able to rig this with a few small modifications to the wand and mountings.
My confidence in the boat was very low. In Denmark I had had lots of breakages and problems. I had one windy sail in Austria since then and broke a wing bar. I have just broken a main foil. The wind here looks like it will be lots all week. Some how I was not a pissed off as I should have been because I can not be pissed off for long at lake Garda it is just such a great place to be.
I stated trying to do the races with the new main foil. Due to a total lack of confidence I was not going to try to do anything too heroic, just get round in one bit. The first practice race I did I was lapped by the leaders on my first Lap! The boat was clearly not set up well. I had some help from fellow Mothies and managed to improve the boat so much that I was then getting lapped at the end of my second lap. That makes me twice as fast. I am the Mr 100%.
With the few small modifications to my wand and control system the boat was transformed and I could actually start racing. I was still a bit careful and so I retired if it got too windy or at the first sight of breakage. As the week when on my confidence in the boat grew and I really started to enjoy the racing. I had only minor problems and no further breakages.
In the end I finished 35th out of 63 which I am very happy about. I had a great time as the Moth sailors were really good fun, (saluting at every opportunity...). It was great to chat to other sailors and explain the boat behavior. They gave me tips how to improve it, and so I learnt so much about the foils.
(Picuture by Oskar Kihlborg)
I also had help about what to drink when sailing which eliminated my cramps! This was great because my fitness was not a big problem as I predicted. The biggest problem was sailing the boats which I was learning fast.
As for my predictions about the event.
"The differentiators will be how well the boat is set up which will mean there will be a mix of Hungry Tigers, Mistresses, Prowlers and Bladeriders in the top 10."
This was right but I picked the wrong winner. It was windier than I thought and Rohan is the best Moth sailor in a big wind. I was also surprised how much Andrew had managed to improve the Bladerider. The two together were unbeatable.
I think now the importance of set up is top of the list of all sailors. Having a boat to sail against and test set up with is very important. I am pleased that an Austria fleet is taking shape so I hope I will be able to be better prepared next year. However I hope to finish the build of my new boat, do the IMCA database project, and maybe buy a flat so I will be busy.
