Thursday 8 October 2009

International Moth Training

The First International Moth Training 3 day weekend was a success despite a string of disasters. The 2 Assassins were not delivered on time as well and Felix's rudder. No one traveled from outside of Austria in the end. So we only had 4 boats. This meant we had one trial boat for those wanting to try to sail a Moth, and 3 boats to do some short course racing/training. However there was no wind all of the 3 days. Niki and Walter got a 15 minute flight on Saturday evening but that was it.

On the positive side all the test sailors got a taste of Moth sailing and low-riding. This is a good grounding for some stronger winds but lots of work without the reward of a flight.

We have devised rules so that if a boat gets a 50m lead they have to do at-least 3 tacks and gibes a leg. If a boat is 50 m behind they have to not round the mark and take a short cut to the middle of the other two. Not sure if this will work but the aim was to keep racing tight and fun. We could not be bothered to try the concept in no wind, so we will have to experiment with this later.

At least the weather was good so it was a nice weekend hanging around talking about Moths and doing the splicing jobs which I have never got round to. However the teasing wind would fill in and look like it may build then die, which kept us on our toes. The atmosphere was good and I think most people had a nice weekend.

Most people did get foiling on the Aqua skipper which provided good entertainment for all.

So I think it will be a while before we do one of these events again but I am sure there will be something similar next year. Now it is a case of waiting for Niki's Assassin to finally arrive and then we will start some hardcore training until the cold overcomes our enthusiasm, (or the the lake ice's over).

Big thanks to Yacht Club Weiden for hosting this event and for this members for helping run the non existent racing.

Thursday 1 October 2009

One man race.

Harald is in a one man build race. He has the deck on after 9 days!.



It looks light.



and well built. He has gone for a flat panel build



He plans to be finished this year and I look forward to sailing against the boat next spring.

Martin has his flat panel home build up for sail so he too is maybe building again....

Tomorrow starts our 3 day Moth Training weekend. Unfortunately I have to work but I will get there late afternoon if possible. The wind looks like it may cooperate with a perfect force 2, so push your thumbs.

I cant wait to get flying around in Austria with a fleet of Moths. So far we have only had a fleet of 2 but this time 6 boats is a real fleet. I hope this will be the start of things to come more regularly. Still no sign of the Assassins unfortunately, but we will make the most of what we have.