Tuesday 22 April 2008

Good luck and bad luck.

The good news was that Niki and I had the whole weekend for Moth training. I still have to get the Flashheart finished so I went the the workshop after work on Friday and did some boat building and loaded up Tomahawk for a sail the next day.

The wind was good and I was as exited as a 5 year old on Christmas morning. However as I rigged I noticed that my boom had a crack in it's circumference and was about to become 2 parts. So I had to carefully de-rig after a lot of swearing. A couple of weeks ago I found Tomahawk upside down on top of a car. I should have taken a photo but I was too shocked and keen to see the damage. Luckily the car was an old scrap car and not a new Merc, and there was no damage to the boat (or at least I thought). However the boom was fucked and the hull had a couple of nasty dents. So I re-learnt a old lesson of tie the Moth down always, even if it is sheltered between a car and a big box trailer because someone could move the trailer. If there is nothing to tie it to then get something to tie it too, or turn it upside down.

So I watched Niki for a bit and meet a guy that was interested in doing an article in the a magazine about the Moths, which will give us some free publicity. However I decided to use the afternoon to work on Flashheart and fix my boom.

The next day Niki woke me to say the wind was looking good and the sun was shining. The boom was repaired to, so off I went for some training. However the wind Gods fucked around and all we could manage was some drift wobble training. So I left for the workshop to stow Tomahawk (correctly) and do some more work on Flashheart.

So far my Moth training log in over the last 4 years:

- Euros 2004 low riding after Diamond foil trials.
- First sail before Denmark mast falls down.
- 2nd sail in 20 knot club
- Denmark worlds on foils that worked very badly.
- No Wind at Neuzieldersee
- No Wind at Neuzieldersee
- Broken wing bar after 15mins at a windy Neuzieldersee
- Sail before Garda Worlds main foil broken after 10 mins.
- Garda Worlds with new Fastacraft mail foil. Where I finished half the races but had fantastic sailing coming mid fleet.
- Gusty cold sail round Neufeldersee for 90 mins.
- Fantastic sail for 70 mins at Neuzieldersee before it was time to pack up.
- Broken Boom at Neuzieldersee
- No wind at Neuzieldersee

This is not the kind of training log that is going to lead to a top 10 result at the UK worlds. However I can not be too upset because sailing these boats is so much fun, and things are taking shape with a new boat lauched soon and training partner. Tomahawk needs a bit of work and she will then be available as a first time foiler for a cheap entry into the class so hopefully she will help us build our fleet here. She certainly goes well once she is set up right but is not top 10 equipment.

My back luck this weekend means I had the time to get Flashheart painted, finish the wing bars, and she is now delivered to the sail-maker for the tramps to be made. I hope to launch her early May and get as much training in as I can to get me and the boat sorted for the Worlds.

Niki and I bought a trailer on E-bay so we can transport the 2 Moths to the worlds in a bit more comfort. This will also give us a way to transport the rigged boats round Austria a bit more easily and with one car. So I hope we can do a few events. However it is another project to build a frame for the Moths to sit on etc so it means more workshop time...

1 comment:

Felix Schulte said...

Hi Doug,

I hope I haven't infected you with my bad luck. Right now I fear that I will see a foiling picture of you before I get on foils. This fear is not because I would lose the build race, but because I finally want to sail my new boat. The best of luck to you

Felix