Having coached the Bladerider 'B' and 'Junior' Team now, it is interesting to see how fast some of them have developed their skills and their boats in such a short time. I think Mat Belcher (Qld) is by far the quickest learner I have ever seen (being able to pull of 50% of foiling gybes on his second day out on his new boat a few months ago). Yesterday he easily won every race held at Indented Head during their Xmas Regatta. We had 8 boats turn up, but not all were on the water at the same time due to gear failure or rigging a brand new boat. So I think Mat will be hard to beat in the light airs (being 63kgs) and should finish in the top 5 overall (maybe even top 3).
Amac and Bora Gulari (USA) on the other hand have been doing a lot of development on their wand and front foil gearing as their boat speed and skill seems to be at a standard high enough to starting thinking about these things. Bora has sailed on lakes mostly (but has not done any Moth fleet racing yet) and so has been out in the big seas off Black Rock as much as possible to get ready for anything that Wallaroo can dish up. However have no doubt that these two guys will be in the top 3 in most races, if not first and second overall.
Other competitors for a top 10 finishers should include Luka Damic (NSW), Les Thorpe (NSW), Steve Donovan (NSW), Chris Dey (NSW), Andrew 'Brownie' Brown (NZL), Sten-Mark Bachmann (EST), and James McKenzie (NSW). I have no idea how much work any of the top NSW guys have done since the last Worlds, but it is going to have to be a huge improvement from any of them to be anywhere near the likes of Amac now that he finished work on two new prototype KA sails and has done a considerable amount of on water training in tough conditions that even macho Finn sailors cringe at! If i have missed any other serious contenders from this list, it is probably because I didn't know you are going, so don't take offence.
If you don't already know, I will not be competing in the Aussie Nationals for many reasons, but mainly because I think it was important that I put back what I have learnt into the class to help others get up to pace faster and secondly I want to enjoy some time at home with Gin for once. Therefore I won't even be going over to watch, but I look forward to seeing the action unfold on the net like everyone else.
Friday 28 December, 2007 - Dumped!
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Over 18 months ago I was asked by Sean Langman to co-pilot a hydrofoiled speed record attempt. We met a few times, shared ideas, did some drawings and then never heard anything since.
Then the other day on Sail-World, I see that the boat is finished, it has a major sponsor and I have been dumped as co-pilot for some 'lunch-cutter' who sails big boats, flys gliders but never sailed a foiler before. Pretty poor effory by Sean who firstly asked me to help him, didn't pay me for all of my time and then never returned any of emails or phone calls over the last the 12 months. It was not as if I traded teams behind his back or decided to do my development project, however I was warned by a few people about the way he operates, but now I really know, so now you are warned too!
Nearly five months after I ordered my '73 Carrera RS replica, I finally have it registered. It is a bit of relief as I was pulled up yesterday by the cops (I thought it was for speeding - which I probably was), but instead they only pulled me up for not having any plates on the car, which is okay as I was on the way to get it registered. Anyway, it is all sorted now after countless inspections, reports, trips and phone calls and it is good to have 'Kermit' road legal. Not sure about these roof racks though, as I think the seperation on a coupe is too small to fit the Bladerider to the roof. We'll see...
Tuesday 18 December, 2007 - A Collection of Talent
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Nine of the sixteen Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) scholarship holders who had won a World Title this year got together for a photo shoot in the gym yesterday for the local TV and print media. It was quite a big deal as it was the second highest number of World Champions that the VIS had ever produced in one year, and consequently the Victorian Minister of Sport, Mr James Merlino and the VIS CEO, Ms Anne Marie Harrison were there to congratulate us all. Glenn Ashby who is also a VIS scholarship holder was unfortunately not there as he to busy winning the Tornado's at Sail Sydney, but he did get a special mention as holding a VIS record for holding the most number of World Championships being a staggering eight during his career! Somehow I don't think it will end there either.
Sunday 16 December, 2007 - USA Invade Melbourne
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We have two Bladerider Ambassador's from the States here at our house this week. Bora and George are here training for the Aussie Nationals and have two new boats on the water this week. So how have I inducted them into the Australian Sailing scene, we have been watching 'The Challenge' of course. Nothing like the '83 America's Cup mini series to get fired up for a Championships. To top it off, dad converted it to DVD for me so no need ruin the highly collectable and desirable VHS tape.
Sunday 9 December, 2007 - Mic's Head Cam
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Went down to Geelong yesterday with Lockie to meet up with Mic, Aaron and Steve. We had amazing weather and foiling conditions, and so I hooked up Mic with our new Headzone and waterproof video camera (BTW - I saw these for $135 on eBay last week). So I put together a quick video on YouTube from his session below...
Friday 7 December, 2007 - Stiff Rigging
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Got sent a set of PBO stays through the week from Easy Rigging in Holland. The most noticable difference over the wire stays is the weight. They were probably around 20% weight of the wire, but they were also thinner at about 2mm compared to 2.5mm for the wire. Even lifting the rig up to the mast step was noticably lighter. Amac was out earlier in the day in a solid 25 knots, but by 7pm the wind had dropped off to 20 knots and so James and I went out for a blast.
I was suprised that there was no stretch in them at all, even after we finished the 45 minute session. The downside is that a lot more care needs to be taken with the stays as they can easily get damaged if mishandled or bent. Luckily we have some new prodder bags that should look after them in transit.
Sunday 2 December, 2007 - Another Toy For Your Moth
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Got a neat little waterproof video camera at Hong Kong airport recently, that holds over an hour of video on a 2Gb SD card. So on the weekend, Amac and I went down to Blairgowrie to race against Zac and Sam, and mounted the camera on Amac's foredeck with a carbon bow sprit. Already have ideas on how we can improve on this, but it is have a look at the results below so far...
Friday 30 November, 2007 - 'Jo Verne' Record Cash Prize?
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So as reported in the Middle East Boat Owners magazine, our company is apparantly putting up US$5,000 to anyone sailing a Bladerider that can beat my 'Jo Verne' record. Well I know we didn't offer this formally, but now it looks like we might have to! Hopefully we can make the prize money part of the Moth events we are planning in the UAE next year in an effort to get more boats in attendence.
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Also looks like I won't be doing a Bass Straight crossing/race against Alison Shreeve on her Formula now. After emailing her personally asking to talk about it, her manager emailed me to say that he "prefers that she not share the spotlight or be distracted in the attempt". I think the spotlight and interest would only be bigger if two small boats were racing across, but there you go.
Thursday 29 November, 2007 - Crocodile Moth
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Got back to Melbourne with no dramas last Saturday (even though it took 12 hours instead of the normal 10). Is it good to be home and stable again. Went down to Black Rock last night with Amac to give a Rob Gough from Tassie a go on Amac's Bladerider. Rob brought Chris Dey's old boat (AUS 9306) and has been out a bit, but after his sail on Amac's boat, he said that he wished he never went out as it would be hard to go back to his older design boat. With two Moths down in the Apple Isle, I don't think it will be too long before there are a few more there soon.
FYI - Amac's new boat is actually the first production boat, rebuilt after it fell apart on Graham during the last race at the Garda Worlds - but you wouldn't know it now! Amac stripped all the clear coat and paint off the hull and then glued the deck back together, adding some reinforcement in key areas. He only put one layer of clear coat over the top once finished (keeping his hull weight down to about 8kg), but with the less-smooth 12k carbon (which is really irrelivant these days), his hull now looks like the skin of a crocodile. Nick-named 'The Croc', Amac's new/old boat might start a new trend to un-finish the hull to save weight? For the sake of 1-2kgs of paint and clear carbon (up to 6% overall rigged weight), I would certainly go for it. Gotta have a bit of green paint in there to match the car tho!
Friday 23 November, 2007 - Green Machine
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So after over 20 years of waiting to own a 911, I finally have one. I love these cars, but never would have thought that my first one would be as good as this one. It is very smooth on the road, plenty of grunt but will 10 percentify it if possible when I get back home along with trying to find some racks to cart the Moth around on top (while my other car is being used by the Estonian Team for the Nationals in early January). I don't mind getting a speeding fine on the water, but it will be hard to avoid them on the road with over 240bhp in this green machine!
Tuesday 20 November, 2007 - Sailors Radio
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Will be getting interviewed on Sailors Radio in Sydney on Saturday morning and will be delayed broadcasted at 9am around Australia on Community Radio (8am in Sydney). You can podcast the episode on their site if you are going to miss it. Lasts weeks segment has a great interview with Phil Jones (Yachting Australia CEO) and discussions about the ISAF Council's decision on the 2012 Events.
Monday 19 November, 2007 - Gotta Love the IOC
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Just read some of the text from a document made by the IOC (In the Olympic Programme Commission Executive Board Report, August 2002) to all Olympic Sports (including Sailing) about recommendations for all future Olympic Events, but it is obvious that the ISAF Council has completely ignored anything they have said.
"Similar events…..should be avoided" - Like to know how they explain the difference between the Men's Single Hander & Men's Heavy Single Hander and the Men's Double Hander and Men's HP Double Hander?
"Global public and media interest in a sport must be considered as key elements… for these are fundamental elements in the success of the Games" - Can't see it being wise excluding the Multihull or keeping in both Keelboats for that matter!
"Weight category events should not be allowed, except for the combat sports and for weightlifting" - I'd like to hear how the Finn Class can argue that sailing their boat is a combat sport or why they are so special they are excluded from this recommendation? If the Finn Class or any ex-Finn sailors on the ISAF Committees had any balls, they would show support to remove this Men's Heavy Weight Dinghy Event and go head to head with the Laser for the one Men's Single Hander Event. We all know that will never happen though!
Thursday 15 November, 2007 - 2012 Swimming Program Changed
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I have just heard from FINA that the Olympic Swimming program has decided to follow the 2012 Olympic program of Sailing and will now only offer Freestyle Events at the Games in 2012. They think that all the other swimming strokes are not relevant any more as most people prefer to do Freestyle.
I have also heard that Cycling are now going to cancel all Mountain Biking, BMX and Track as they think they are too fast and dangerous and prefer to just stick to the Classis Road Races as it is easier to manage bikes that are all similar in design and not too extreme. They also believe that the new BMX will only take away the spotlight away from the traditional Road Race.
Athletics have also said that they are considering not going to do any more Field Events, and instead are just going to do Running Events from now on as there are not as many people doing Field as there are track these days.
Looks like Sailing might be setting the trend after all!
Monday 12 November, 2007 - High Performance Sailors Union!
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So it seems like I am not the only one not happy with recent decisions made at the ISAF Council meetings. Most saw this coming a while ago, and hoped that recent speaches made by the ISAF President might have influenced the Council to think more about the sport of sailing rather than their own interests. Which makes me think why are the NMA's making decisions about what classes should be in Olympics, as they are only doing what is good for them? If each International Class Association had one representitive on the Olympic and International Classes Committee, then the Council would think twice about how many International Classes statuses would be issued in the first place, but more importantly the Classes could decide which Events should be in the Games. With one vote each, I doubt there will be as much support for the current Events structure.
However as the Council will never allow this to happen, the only way we are going to get reform in this terrible state of affair is if the ISAF Executive Committee dictates the Event structure to the Council. In the end I would hope that the Executive sees that the Olympic Events would be best represented by each discipline that the sport has to offer. For example as per the most reasonable suggested structure I have heard so far is: Windsurfer, Single-Handed Dinghy, Double-Handed Dinghy, Catamaran, Keelboat and Foiler Events, with the more popular disciplines getting both a Mens and Womens event each while the Cat and Foiler clan will be happy with one Open Event each, ie 10 Events in total. I am sure there will be plenty of Council 'vote buying' as usual, but at least this way they can only lobby for one Event, not like now where the Laser, Finn and 49er can submit their Class in two completely different Events.
In reality this may never happen, so the only solution is to join heads and form a Union to lobby to ISAF or against ISAF direct to the IOC. Who's in and who wants to lead the charge?
I don't know if anyone else has ever asked these questions, but why is there no Mens/Womens Light-weight or Womens Heavy-weight Dinghy Event? What makes the Mens Heavy-weights so special that they have their own Olympic Event? I know that the Men's Heavy-weight Dinghy defines the sailor weight and not the boat, but does it make any difference? They are both bloody heavy! Anyway there is only one boat that is going to get this Event isn't there. Bloody ridiculous!!! If the Finn is such a 'nice' boat to sail and the class is so strong, why can it just go up against the Laser in the Men's Dinghy Event? Surely it will win. Just writing about this makes me sick!
Friday 9 November, 2007 - The Death Of ISAF and the Olympics
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Today will be now known as Black Friday. ISAF have just killed two high performance boats fom the Olympics, the multihull and the Womens HP double hander, leaving a very sour taste in the mouths of all cat sailors, or anyone that sails a HP boat for that matter. Looking from the outside in, not only will it look pretty stupid having boring and slow boats in the Olympics, but the consistency and naming of the Events is ludicrous!
I really do feel sorry for the cat sailors though, as now they have nothing to aspire to. Instead I am quite certain they will form their own International Catamaran Federation and disown themselves from ISAF. I can't help but think that a International Foiler Federation won't be far behind. Or maybe we should just join heads and form the International High Performance Sailing Federation? ISAF should really do everyone a favour and change it's name to the European Low Performance Dinghy Sailing Federation, because really, that is all they seem to care about these days.
Personally I have nothing against the Finn or the Laser, but what annoys me is that there are two boats extremely similar, so similar that a skipper can easily jump between boats and do well in both. I can only wish that the ISAF Executive force the ISAF Council to choose only one! Leaving the remaining event to not only be High Performance, but also an Open event (as with the Multihull gone there is now 6 Mens Events and 4 Womens). In fact during the Events committee, one of the members from France/Belguim proposed such an event to be included to be voted on with the other seven Mens/Open events, and wouldn't you know it, he was shut down within a minute so there was no chance it could even be considered. Just goes to show that as much as people like the Foiler Moth, they know it is a huge threat to their pet dinosaurs and refuse to give it a chance.
So what next? Just for a laugh, I think next year we will submit our Bladerider in as the Men's 'Heavy' and 'Even Heavier' Dinghy Events and see what happens. Don't worry Finn and Laser fans, your bath tubs will be safe, but I look forward to seeing what they define as a 'Heavy' Dinghy. Here is what I think it should be:
Absolutely must not sail faster than the wind
If it sails faster than the wind, add more weight to the hull and mast
Must not be able to lift the boat with less than 10 people
Must cost more than 20,000 Euro
The average age of the class membership must be more than 70 years old
The class selected must only be sailed in Europe
The class selected must begin with the letter "F" and end in "N"
Or to make it less complicated, maybe they should just rename the event as the 'Heaviest Mens Dinghy', that way no one else will even be able to submit their boat, and if they do, ISAF will have to have a weigh-off. The heaviest boats wins!
Seriously though, I have lost all respect now for the ISAF Council to make decisions that are the best for sailing, rather than what is best for their own country or interests. I will have to seriously consider whether it is even worth submitting our Bladerider now to get international status. We don't have to as we already fit within a International Class Rule and the Moth Worlds will always be the premier event. Worst of all is that we would have to pay ISAF's annual class and boat registration fees, therefore allowing Council members to fly and shack up every six months at five star venues. No thanks! I think I would much rather do our adminstration and organise grand prix racing along with the cat sailors.
Thursday 8 November, 2007 - Buckley's to No Chance
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So after a few hours this morning, the ISAF Events Committee decided on how they were going to vote on which events will and will not be in the Olympics. In short they decided that both of the keelboats did not deserve a spot, but more likely that there were more people there not wanting any of the other events to be removed. I still find it strange that the naming of their events is so inconsistent, ie Men's Heavy Weight Single Handed Dinghy. This just means that there is no other boat that can possibly go up against it (except for maybe the OK dinghy) so the Finn spot is extremely secure. Even if this Single Handed Dinghy was an open event for a semi-development boat and not so restrictive that it has to be 'heavy' (or do they mean that the sailor should be heavy?), there is no chance the Bladerider would beat it in a vote, as the support for this dinosour in ISAF and the IOC is overwhelming.
It was suggested to me that in an 'ideal' sporting federation world, it would make sense to do what say the cycling federation would do and have events each for road, track, mountain biking and soon BMX. So this would make sense to the outside world if say the Olympic Event structure was something along the lines of say windsurfer, single handed dinghy, double handed dinghy, multihull, keelboat and then the new BMX (aka 'foiler'). Maybe in 100 years we might get there, but for now we have to settle for stupid event names to suit the equipment that they want to be in the Games. So the only chance a foiler will get in the Games is if we add another back an eleventh 'Open Event' in 2016. I certainly won't be losing any sleep over this and instead will look for other opportunities to get foilers on TV and into the spotlight for the sport of sailing. With the help of ISAF's patron to sailing Mr Gary Jobson, that opportunity might just be the X-Games in California. Only time will tell.
Wednesday 7 November, 2007 - So Close
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So I didn't win last night, but then again I was never going to win. I was just happy to get the recognition and getting to meet so many rock stars, celebrities and royalty. Gin and I were lucky enough to be sitting on Prince Frederick's table and won't be long before we can get him on a foiler. You can download a podcast of the night on the ISAF site to see what you missed.
Tuesday 6 November, 2007 - Big Night Out
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Last night Gin and I went to the ISAF Hall of Fame Dinner. Was a pretty special night with plenty of red carpet rolled out and photographers awaiting at the Estoril Casino entrance for the VIP's to rock up. There was no shortage of VIP's, which included Princess Anne, Prince Frederick of Denmark and King Harold of Norway. We had a pretty good seat up near the front and was entertained after dinner by an amazing aerobatic display, many of whom I saw as potential Moth sailors. The highlight of the night was to recognise sailors who had achieved amazing results in their career. There were six inductees, including Paul Elvstrom, Dame Ellen and Sir Knox Johnson. Once it all wrapped up, it was an honour to have a short chat with the great Paul Elvstrom and his daughter. Both of them commented to say that they had seen video of the foiler Moth's before and were hoping that one day we would be in the Olympics.
Still trying to rest today as I am still have this head cold and hoping to shake it off before another big night tonight. Had breakfast with Ed Baird this morning, but have not seen any of the other nominees around so far.
Sunday 4 November, 2007 - Yet Another Flight
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After only a few hours sleep, I had to get an early morning flight from Dubai to Rome. So now I am stuck for a few hours in Rome Airport trying to rest up before getting on another plane to Lisbon. Looking forwarding to having tomorrow off to rest before a big week of sailing talk.
Saturday 3 November, 2007 - It's Official!
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Got an interesting email today from the World Records Academy. Firstly I am on their site now with an official World Record and secondly was strongly advised to modify my blog entry from yesterday otherwise I may not be ever let into this country again. With my revision, I should now hopefully be welcome back with open arms.
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Went down to Abu Dhabi today and did another demo for the Emirates Heritage Club crowd. Got a few people flying and might have sold a few boats and have another regatta lined up next year as a result. Could be a big month of foiling in the UAE March next year.
Thursday 1 November, 2007 - New World Record
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HH Sheikh Mohammed (the visionary ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE) had this fantastic idea to build huge sand islands off shore the shores of Dubai to resemble a map of the World and then sell each of the countries off to those that had enough money to buy a country. And so of course the yachties here have an 'around the world' sailing record, or known locally as the 'Jo Verne' trophy (named after the guy invented it). As of yesterday the record was held by a VX40 at 1 hr 42 mins. I was keen to have a crack at it, so we rigged and launched Glenn's new boat at 3pm and Chris (another new Bladerider owner) escorted me around in a RIB. The course is 20NM and in about 15 knots, I was guessing that I could do it in 90 minutes. I had one swim around the back after losing concentration for a split second whilst having a glance at a palace recently built on there, but still managed to come home in 1 hr 29 mins and 37 seconds, making a new 'around the world' record. I am sure that time will be beaten one day soon, but now there is talk about having a regatta here in late March next year with one day dedicated to as many attempts as possible around the world with prize money for the fastest time and a bonus for anyone that can sail around the world in 80 minutes. More on this later.
Tuesday 30 October, 2007 - Off Again
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Off to Dubai tonight for four days for some Bladerider PR work, then on to Portugal for the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards. Wish me luck as I think I am going to need it being up against such a talented bunch of sailors! more...
Monday 29 October, 2007 - If Only?
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Andy Rice's 2012 events and classes online research is stiring some interest and consequently has provided an early opinon of his thoughts. If only it was that easy. more...
Saturday 27 October, 2007 - If Only?
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All this flack and questions coming to me about the registration of patents in any open class is getting quite annoying when I know very little (or nothing) about what was actually applied for and what are the implications are for members of the Moth class. The first time I knew about what the patent was for was when someone alerted me to it on the IMCA UK web site (where else of course!). In reality it is probably nothing that any weekend warrior needs to worry about it, but rather it seems that our company was just protecting itself from other mass producers from using the same ideas without seeking permission first (however I sure they could get around the patent if they really wanted to or simply just ask to use it they were extremely uncreative). Patents are fairly typical practice in big business, but this is taboo in the Moth Class.
My only experience with patents in the Moth class was back in 2004 when I was approached by a company that said they maybe able to patent the complete hydrofoil system that John Ilett developed. However as this system had been used in the public for over 12 months at that stage, they were unable to get the patent through for him. If word of this got out back then, I am sure there would have been some revolt from IMCA members, but most were anti-foilers back in the old days and so most would probably think it was a good thing that foils would be in limited production and not take over the world. How times have changed!
In an ideal world, any issue like this should be handled on email by the IMCA President or Executive, but some prefer to let the whole world know about potentially damaging issues first, then ask questions later. Maybe it is just me, but personally I prefer the more professional 'Daily Sail' approach where they actually email or call to ask for comments first on a matter, even if you know nothing about it, and then write the article. That way, they have both sides of the story, which I am sure is the first lesson taught in journalism school.
In all seriousness, our company should have been more proactive in the first place by preparing a statement to IMCA letting the members know the details of the application and the implications to members of doing so, but this didn't happen when it should have and consequently I have been told that those responsible will respond to the those that are responsible as soon as possible.
Tuesday 23 October, 2007 - Back Home
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No racing again on Monday as we had 20-30 knots most of the day, but we did manage to get down and do a presentation on the Bladerider to the Youth fleet that were racing around the corner. Then we came back to Takapuna and noticed the wind had eased enough to make our way out and do some more demos for the on-shore crowd and give the guys some more tips. Plenty of interest over here!
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On the way home now back to Melbourne where it looks like we can finally get back on the water as Amac has rebuilt Graham's old boat.
Sunday 21 October, 2007 - Another Moth Record
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No racing today as the wind was pushing up to high 40's, so we stayed ashore and did a presentation on the Bladerider to about +60 people at the Yacht Club. It was well received and even got to meet 77 year old Hal Wagstaff (ex-Moth Class World President) who also designed many Moth's during his time. He was even kind enough to bring copies of all his old Moth memorabilia, including a personal letter and photo from the crazy man who has sailed his Wagstaff designed Moth in the Antartic waters in 1965, which also happens to be the furtherest south that a sail boat has ever sailed (77 degrees to be exact).
Saturday 20 October, 2007 - Blasting Around the Cans
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Three races were scheduled today, and they had planned for us to start with the RSX fleet. We went out early to re-tune the boats but the wind had picked up soon after and was a bit too much for first timers to be racing in, especially in tight fleet racing where it would be easy to get out of control doing 20 knots downwind and smack into a Laser. So the other guys went in and I stayed out to battle some of the best RSX sailors in the world in about 15-20 knots. I had the edge on them upwind with more height and more speed, but a few of the top guys were able to catch up slightly downwind. However I held them off in the first race quite easily, but by the second race I was buggered thanks to lack of fitness and training over the last few months. I still managed to win the race, but it was a lot closer than the first as I had a good battle with one of the top ranked locals. After that I thought it was enough showing off, so I let the other guys have a blast around, including the 2007 World Optimist Champion, Chris Steel. It seems as though we have hooked Chris along with a number of other locals and won't be long before there is a nice little fleet here. They are already taking about having a Worlds or South Pacific Titles here sometime in the near future, so can't wait for that as the venue here is fantastic.
Friday 19 October, 2007 - Top News
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Spent most of the day assembling and reassembling three Bladerider's to get ready for racing on Saturday. On Andrew Brown's boat, I thought we would try adding 2mm of packers in the back of the front foil to give it a bit more angle of attack, hence a bit more lift, but it wasn't too long before I realised that it was a bit too much! The boat stalled at any speeds over 15 knots, or at any sight of air bubbles in the water. However we had Darren's boat out that was set up pretty good, and was enough to get plenty footage for Channel 1 that appeared on the National News as a leading sports story the following night. Fat chance of that ever happening in Melbourne. Will try and get the footage on YouTube later on.
Thursday 18 October, 2007 - Welcome to Auckland
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After the shortest International flight I can possibly do (4 hours), I arrived at Auckland Airport and was greated by Darren and Holly (our local resellers) who took me our for dinner at a local restaurant. A few hours later we went back to Holly's brand new Pathfinder Ti, only to find the window smashed and stuff stolen from the car. Luckily I left all my gear back at the house.
Wednesday 17 October, 2007 - Off Again
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Flying out to New Zealand tomorrow for the first foiler Moth regatta there ever. We are expecting four Bladeriders and a few other foilers, so it could be the first time in a long time where so many Moths have raced against each other in the country. Won't be long before their IMCA association is back up and running again along with a National Championships some time soon. Will be expecting some wind this weekend, so have packed the MSL10 but also taking two more MSL10's across the Tasman with me for Darren and Andrew (two new Bladerider owners).
Wednesday 10 October, 2007 - Back Home (Again)
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Had an overnight flight home to Melbourne and missed my free bump up to Business class thanks to a plane full of about 200 Japanese school kids on a joy ride to Australia. They were all dressed in shirts and ties for the overnight flight, and yet at 2am in the morning, they were all still up with reading lights on, wired up with too much sugar whilst playing computer games. Can't help but think that Greg Wise (Mothie in South Australia) would have had a blast hanging out with all the girls after his photo session at a local school during a lay day of the 2001 Worlds in Japan. That one web page on the IMCA Australia web site, created the most amount of traffic ever thanks to a lot of people searching in Google for "Japanese Schoolgirls" for some reason. Now I am probably going to be Googled by the same deviants...
Monday 8 October, 2007 - Japan Nationals Day 3
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At 3am in the morning, a low pressure system moving up from the south hit us with 30 knots making the seas extremely rough by the morning. The race committee cancelled all racing for the day by 9am and so I won the regattta with another string of firsts and Naomi was crowned National Champion for the first time ever in 30 years of Moth racing in Japan. Not bad for a 58 year old! It was lucky that I encouraged him to stay on the water for the second race on the first day, as he had an issue with his trampolines, was quite windy and was ready to head in. However he stayed out and got some another good score on the board to keep him ahead of long time Mothie and multiple National Champion Masa Ogura.
I am back in Yokohama now at Naomi's house for the night and then will hit the electronic shops tommorrow with Mr. Furuya (another long-time Mothie) to see what new techno goodies I can find, then on a plane home (again).
Sunday 7 October, 2007 - Japan Nationals Day 2
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The sun seems to rise very early here, or maybe that it is normal everywhere, but at home Gin and I make every effort to block out the morning sun to sleep in as late as possible without being interrupted by that annoying solar radiation. So I was up at 7am (even though it felt like I slept in until 10am), and got some breakfast made up of the usual rice and some seafood sides. The first race of the day was postponed on shore for an hour due to bugger all wind, but eventually we made our way out and were confronted with about 2-4 knots from the SE (same direction as the waves this time) but 3-4m of rolling swell. This made it even more difficult to keep the boat upright let alone fly.
There were two low riders in the fleet and they pulled away to round clearly ahead on most marks on the first lap. But by the second lap, we had about 5 knots and was enough for me to fly enough downwind occasionally to get the win from the two low riders (who were well clear of the other foilers - none of whom were foiling at any stage). However today was far from an easy because I would have travelled more than twice the distance compared to anyone else, as I was flying downwind but with the same VMG as the low riders sailing on a square run.
We were in late for lunch made up of... you guessed it, more rice and seafood, but it was short lived as we had to get back on the water for another two races in the afternoon. However I did have time to jack the front foil AOA (angle of attack) up one degree to see if that would help fly a little easier in these difficult conditions. By the time we got out, the swell had picked up to over 4 meters at times. Some of these waves were so huge that if was in the trough of a big one, I think that my mast would barely (if at all) clear the top of the oncoming crest. Can't help but think that this swell has rolled all the way from the Typhoon that passed the south east of China last week. I now know what the 2001 Moth Worlds were like had I of decided to come rather than save the money to buy a new boat. I think I made the right decision back then, as these conditions can be frustrating at times.
On the bright side I did learn that as the swell approaches you, you lose pressure in the rig as I can only assume the wave is pushing you away from the wind. However once over the crest, the wind pressure builds enough to allow me to barely get on the wing bar, or in the case of the lighter locals, start hiking. If flying at the time a waves comes at you, you then need to compensate by moving your body weight inwards or bear away and wait for the wave to pass and suck you out back to sea and give you the pressure back. The wavelength of the swell today is sometimes as much as 100m, so you can just imagine the amount of pushing and pulling going on under the water. My other theory is that the wind is pushed upwards away from the water's surface as the wave comes at you, and then sucked down as it rolls away. I am sure there is another reason and I am sure someone is going to email to tell me too.
So by the start of heat four, I now knew how to sail fast in displacement mode upwind and consequently rounding a lot closer this time behind Masa who was low riding in a Hungry Tiger. Once off the breeze a bit, I waited for the next wavepeak, then had enough pressure to fly most of the way to the bottom mark. I also managed to fly a bit upwind on the next leg, but my VMG was slower than just pinching in displacement mode, so I decided to stick to this strategy from now on. I then flew around most of the last lap to get another close win. Masa sailed extremely well to get a clear second ahead of another low rider.
I just knew that the start of heat five was going to be a disaster when everyone crowded early around the boat end of the line in a huge swell and bugger all wind. I was lenient to one of the local foilers who barged in on me at the boat end, and he returned the favour by capsizing right in front of me on the line. After I was able to finally get the boat free of his foils, I crawled off the line in second last noticing a nice long scratch on the hull thanks to my new friend (thankfully I was able to rub it out and make it less noticable when I got in). Even with a disastrous start, I still somehow managed to round the top mark in first and flew most of the way downwind to take another win on a shortened course. (check out the gallery for some photos)
BTW - if you have called or sent me a text, I won't get it till I get back home, as it seems like that tri band GSM phones are already out of date here. Not sure if there is anything (or any need to go higher) above quad band, but if there is, Japan will be the first.
Saturday 6 October, 2007 - Japan Nationals Day 1
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It was an early 5:30am morning rise on Saturday to allow enough time to drive the three or so hours to Choshi on the south eastern penninsula of Japan. I slept quite well thanks to yet another huge dinner the night before, however I awoke at about 3am to my bed shaking softly back and forth. At first I thought that the bed must have been on rollers and I made it roll backwards and forwards in my sleep, so I tried to rock the bed just to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but the bed was rock solid. It was only then I realised in my daze that I was located on the top floor of an apartment building and Japan has frequent earthquakes. How frequent was my next question, and found out in the morning that this one was only a 2 or a 3 on the richter scale but last week they had a 5. Hate to be around for a 8 or a 9!
The brand new clear carbon with lime green trim boat (it looked sensational) of Mr Aoki went together quite well apart from a 1/4" nut being used in one of the front wing tubes which strip the head off the bolt. However a simple 6mm retap fixed the problem. Choshi Marina has a large tarmac rigging area, which is a bad thing for the carbon wing frames of our boats, as they get seriously scratched when the boats get tipped oved to fit the foils. Launching off the slippery ramp was fairly straight forward however once out of the marina, we were greeted with a rather typical 3m Pacific Ocean swell and about 15-20 knots.
Only half the fleet started and finished the two races for the afternoon as it was quite difficult conditions having the huge swell coming almost directly against the very gusty wind. There was no need for me to push a brand new customers boat too hard, so I coasted around for two wins, nearly lapping the entire fleet in both 22 minute races. Naomi sailed extremly well in his early model Bladerider to claim two very comfortable seconds. I think all the practise at Garda must have made this feel easy.
One of the most amazing feelings that I have had when foiling was when sailing upwind today on starboard tack, heading back towards land at the same speed (around 15 knots) as the massive rolling swell. Bascially you could use the energy of the wave to surf just ahead of the peak much like in the same way that the crazy Laird Hamilton figured out on a foiling surfboard.
We were ashore and derigged by dusk, allowing yet another huge feast of rice and fish to begin. Most were fairly tired after a long and windy day, so we all seemed to get to bed before 9:30pm, helped by a night cap of Japanese rice wine. I was sleeping in a tent without a pillow, but I didn't care as I was buggered!
Friday 5 October, 2007 - 2012 Events?
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There has been some angst from the cat sailors in the UK (and probably around the world as well) about the RYA's (in GBR) proposal to the ISAF Council to only recommend eight events for 2012 (excluding the Catamaran completely however) and therefore leaving the other two Events up to the ISAF council to decide on (wise move). It is fairly obvious about which Classes will hold positions in those eight key Events, but what is not known (and won't be until November 2007), is what will be the other two events?
If it were me, I would be trying to keep the events more consistent based on this proposal. For example why does an event have to be defined so specifically as a dinghy or catamaran? Why not have a 'Low Performance' (I am sure someone can come up with a better name that that) Single and Crewed Event and a 'High Performance' Single and Crewed Event for both Men and Women, leaving the remaining two Events for the Men's and Women's Sailboard? That seems fairly logical doesn't it?
This would allow each event to be defined by speed or yardstick making the defination much clearer for an Event. That way every class has a chance to fit into an event (as long as they are an International Class of course) and then leave it to the ISAF Council to vote on the most suitable Class to fit that Event as usual (based on availability, cost, members, media appeal, interests, growth, etc).
There are not many that agree that the keelboat has a place in the Olympics (as the Star has been removed before in 1996 and then put back in for 2000), but this way at least the Star can be compared to against the 470 for the Men's Crewed LP boat, much the same as the Finn can be compared to against the Laser in the Single LP Men's event once again. The contest between the Yngling and the 470 in the Womens Crewed LP Event is a no brainer, much the same as the Radial to fit the shoes of the Women's Single LP spot. Obviously the boys in the Tornado and 49er need to battle it out for the Crewed HP Men's spot (that will be very tough), while testing for the Women's Crewed HP Event still remains inconclusive. Sounds fair I think, as it is about time each of these classes were put head to head to find the 'most suitable' boat, rather than having so much overlap and the option to fit into another Event if their first option fails.
So this just leaves the HP Single Men's and Women's Events. Hmmm....
Well at least this way, the Bladerider, RS700 and the Musto Skiff will be at least given a chance to try out for a spot, and I am sure the RS600FFFMMK1 (this stands for 'RS 600 Full Force Flying Machine Mark 1') will be keen to get some air time so to speak. In addition, Julian has already mentioned that the Bethwaite camp will also be pitching something as well if there is a chance, while I am sure Laser will throw something in there just for fun. What a trials event that would be! I am not talking about the on water action, how about all the stuff that would go on behind the scenes. Would love to have the cameras out for that one.
So what about a Women's Single HP boat? Is there such a thing? Why not??? Why should the guys get all the fun. I am sure we would try out the X8 in there along with a mini version (X7). Julian will of course come up with something as well and no doubt we'll have some other new and independent boats never seen on the water before.
It may be possible that our boat may not actually be the suitable for a Men's or Women's Single HP Event, but without opening up this event structure, how will we ever know? I am sure sailor weight will be an issue here as usual, but this could be taken into consideration when choosing a Class for an Event, ie ensuring that there is a boat to sail no matter how big or small you are.
Anyway, I can only hope some of the members on the ISAF Events Committee read this and take this thought into the meeting on the 7th November, as the current Event structure for the 2008 Games seems a little strange at the moment with the Laser Full Rig being an Open Event (ie Women can participate as well if they weigh +80kg and are fitter than all the guys sailing these boats in their own country). Realistically though, I think I may have just wasted an hour writing this entry.
Thursday 4 October, 2007 - Ewok Village 2000
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After a 10 hour flight to Tokyo, I was suprised to see how empty the airport was. No queues anywhere and Naomi (our reseller) was there to drive me back to his place for dinner and sleep. Weather here is quite similar to Sydney, ie humid, clear skies, no wind and warm, but apparantly that is unusual for October (must be global warming). So after some work in the morning, I was escorted to the 'old town' where we went to see the largest outdoor Budda in Japan. This bronze statue is over 1000 years old, however 600 years ago it was wash away by a Tusanami, but it is back now more reinforced than before. That night we had dinner at Masa's house (another long-time Mothie), however every meal I have had here is about three times as much food as I would normally eat! I can't help but think they are trying to fatten me up so I am slower in the light airs this weekend.
So I asked is this normal to eat so much all the time (as I noted walking around town that I feel like Chewbacca walking around a bunch of Ewoks in Endoor, so how could you eat so much and not be so tall or big), but apparantly they are only doing this for me. It is very nice to taste so many different and new foods for a change, but I think I have put on 4kgs in two days. So then after eating all this food, you obviously have to go to the toilet, and that is an experience in itself. Unlike in Italy where you squat over a bowl embeded in the ground, here they have a toilet that looks like a spaceship. There is buttons, knobs and hoses everywhere, but all the controls are in Japanese, so I just steer the hell away from all that. I am sure one of them will send you back in time tho if you really wanted to, as I am sure I saw a flux-capacitor in one of them. So we are off early tomorrow morning to drive the 2-3 hours to Chosi where we start racing that afternoon. About 15 boats are expected, which is normal for Japan, however I would not be suprised if I get my arse kicked in the super light airs by all the local fly weights (some not on foils either).
Tuesday 2 October, 2007 - Off Again
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Flying to Japan tomorrow morning for their National Championships this weekend at Chosi. Will try and post reports of the event as they happen.
Monday 1 October, 2007 - New Foiler Town
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Spent the weekend in Brisbane with Mat Belcher (Australian Olympic 470 helmsman) as he just received his new X8. So we sailed on the beautiful waters off Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron and it just happened to be the weekend of the Queensland Youth Championships. Pretty poor turn out compared to the youth fleet in Melbourne, but those that were there were treated to a great display of aerial manouvers (some good and some not so good) by Mat and myself. We concluded Saturday with presentation to about 40 sailors going over all aspects of the boat in an effort to help build a fleet up there over the summer. Mat will be down in Melbourne training before the Nationals and will be one to watch at the next Worlds considering he clocked 20.8 knots in 17 knots of wind and was pulling off about half of all gybes airbourne on only his second outing.
Wednesday 27 September, 2007 - 2nd Time Lucky?
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Another cat out of the bag (been holding onto this one for a while now), but I have been shortlisted for Rolex ISAF World Sailor of the Year again. Quite an honour no doubt, but more so is that I never would have thought I that I would ever be shortlisted again after 2005. They have covered all disciplines again making the decision just as hard for the ISAF council to vote for a winner.
So have I got a chance? My good friend Magnus seems to think so, however I am just not sure what I would do with a watch worth more than my car! Seriously though, I don't think that our little flying boats are seen in the same light as a one design class or the multi-multi-million dollar super yachts. So as stated before, I think my chances are slim to none. Nevertheless, looking forward to another trip to Europe and a lavish awards night with no expense spared thanks to Rolex who now pay for everyones ticket on the night.
Monday 17 September, 2007 - Drowning in Red Bull
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For the last few years Red Bull have been looking after me with a few free cases wake up juice of every now, however recently for some reason I have been getting two slabs every month (got another two today for instance). Of course I drink the stuff regularily as it is bloody good gear, but 48 cans in 30 days is a lot more than the recommended daily intake. What are they trying to do? Kill me?
Thursday 13 September, 2007 - Rush Hour In Sydney
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Not many know that I owned an Australian delivered 1966 912 over the last year, but decided to upgrade to something a bit newer and faster. So last month I ordered a 1973 Carrera RS replica (on email), using a 1989 3.2lt 911 donor car from Japan, but custom painted in my favourite Porsche colour... Viper Green! Heading up to Sydney tomorrow morning to test drive one of these baby's and see how it goes. Will be hopefully finished in October, but I can see this ending up being a long wait. Somehow I think a lot of our Bladerider customers will know what that is like.
Wednesday 12 September, 2007 - Like a Pro
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ISAF have just reclassified me as a Group 3 sailor which means I am a professional sailor now. Don't know what the hell that means, or if that it is good or bad. I certainly never would have thought that it was possible in the Moth Class, but there you go.
Wednesday 5 September, 2007 - Jap Nats
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So it looks like after 5 years of being invited to Japan to attend their National Championships, that I am finally going. It only happened because our reseller (Naomi Tachibana) there had purchased a new 'green' boat from us that is beign delivered next week and the owner cannot sail in the championships. So I got the invite (again) and my flight is booked. Can't wait to get on another plane and do it all again, but I am looking forward to visiting the country for the first time as they certainly capture the Mothing spirit. Not sure if my Japanese will be up to scratch, but I am sure I will get by.
Tuesday 4 September, 2007 - Ego Explosion
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I'd been away from all forms of communication for a long weekend (which will I am beginning to enjoy), however came home to about 100 emails, mostly regarding late deliveries of boats or parts, so not very enjoyable. However it is was nice of a friend all the way across in Sweden to alert me to Magnus Wheatley's RuleBlog69.com site where he had something very positive to say that helped lift my mood.
While I was extremely impressed with his comments, I don't want anyone to get their hopes up for me as I'll be very suprised if ISAF even short list me again for their Rolex World Sailor of the Year, let alone pick someone as controversial as me as a winner of their prestigous award. You'll note from their previous winners that they have a history of only ever choosing an Olympic, AC or around the World sailor for their top yachtie spot, so the day that a non-Olympic dinghy sailor wins that award, is the day that the Finn gets a redesign and is put on foils. Nevertheless, if pigs do fly, you'll know where to read about it.
Tuesday 28 August, 2007 - The Cat's out of the Bag and Foiling
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Ok, so I can now let the 'cat' out of the bag and mention on my blog that the real reason I was up in Toronto, Canada a couple of weeks back was to test sail Fred Eaton's foiling C Class cat. It was a bit last minute, but seeing how I was in Detroit, it wasn't too far to head up. So how did it sail? Well I thought it was a lot smoother, stable and slower than expected, but it is still very early days in development. They have done a great job though and have based their development on the Prowler foils, cable and wand mechanisms.
There were a lot of improvements that could be made obviously based on my experiences, but most did not have the time or budget to complete before the C Cat Challenge begins. I cannot comment on how it will fair against the other C Cats as I have never sailed one before, but it certainly has potential, especially if the crew have experience in sailing it in all conditions. In terms of sailing trim, I sailed it much the same as a foiler Moth, ie 'Veal Heel' upwind, a lot of mainsheet and tiller trim. I am not sure if they were a bit scared at first seeing how much I was healing or steering the boat to get it going fast or high, but Fred later commented that he felt comfortable handing the boat over to someone who familiar with this kind of setup. However the rig was a bit daunting at first (as I had never seen a solid wing sail up close), but once on the water you forget about it and crave more power and more speed all the time. Top speed upwind in about 10 knots of breeze was about 13 knots and downwind was about 18.7 knots from memory. I would have love to have gone out in more breeze to see how fast the thing would go though. The foils ventilated a few times when riding too high but actually when this happens, it is not as sudden and violent as on a Moth, it is a lot more graceful and slow.
So after a few hours, we came back ashore and noted that we broke one of the centerboard t-foil joins (probably getting the foils too high). As a result I gave them a lot of suggestions for improvements and Fred tells me that some have been implemented already with a noticable difference. All up though, I really enjoyed the experience and would love to be involved in a project like this again. We'll see what happens.
Saturday 25 August, 2007 - Welcome Back
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Quite a good flight and sleep back home on Qantas, but as usual, we got stuffed around and delayed at Sydney Airport. So after a few weeks of not keeping an eye on any Internet Mothing, I give Scott a call to find out all the goss that I have missed only to hear that the biggest news is that he is changing teams and getting a new Prowler.
It was a bit of a shock, but I don't think we could have done anything to keep him on board with us as his mind seemed made up a while ago thanks to all the stuffing around he had with dodgey equipment leading up to Garda. For some reason he also seemed concerned that Amac was not going to be involved with Bladerider team any more. Not so, as one of the reasons for Amac's move back to steer KA is that the windsurfing and Moth sail development had been neglected over the last two years due to his 100% attention to the Bladerider project.
Now the Bladerider is proven and it seems as though all production boats are coming out virtually flawless, there is very little that he can actually do as a designer. However I can guarantee that he will be working on a new MSL13 sail very soon for his Bladerider and will be using the Aussie Nationals as a test platform for the 2008 Worlds. Once again you can be sure that it will be radical and very fast!
So the question has been asked numerous times now, will the X8 stay as a one design or will we releasing a Mk2 boat anytime soon? Well considering that our hull, rig and foils are now well and truly sorted, the only changes I can see that we will be making will be a few assembly and quality control improvements. Our priority for now is to concentrating on getting as many boats out the door as possible (McConaghy's should have made at least 150 by the end of the year). But depending on what developments Amac comes up with over the next few months, you might see a Bladerider Mk2 release not too far away (nothing that any existing X8 owners wouldn't be able to easily and cheaply upgrade to though).
The only thing that is certain that the Moth Class is far from being stale and near dead as it was back in 2000 when I got into the class. With two builders going flat out trying to meet demand and Moths being delivered into new locations each month, the 2008 fleet should be everything that I had hoped for.
Tuesday 21 August, 2007 - Heading Home Tomorrow
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Today we head back to Johanesburg, but not before packing up Roy's boat in the box that it came in (which took less than an hour), and hoping that the airline will except it as exccess baggage when we get to the airport. Roy's theory is that it is a hell of a lot cheaper to pay the excess baggage and have the boat travel with him, rather than driving the risking his life on the South African roads with a trailer, not to mention the extra time needed to take off in order to complete the drive. So when we land, we have to put the boat back together and then set up for a presentation at a local yacht club. Then only one more sleep until we head back home to Australia via Sydney (and hopefully in the luxury of business class if they accept our frequent flyer upgrade). So after 3 weeks and 14 international and domestic flights, it will be good to get home and rest again.
Monday 20 August, 2007 - In South Africa
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Well it took 2.5 days and five seperate planes to leave our hotel in Toronto to land in Durban, South Africa. We had some very short and some very long stops along the way in Detroit (even got time to visit the Henry Ford Museum while waiting for the next plane), Chicago, London (13 hour lay over) and Johanesburg. Once in South Africa , our Bladerider ambassador Roy Dunster escorted us the whole way, as by sounds and looks of things in certain areas, you do not want to be alone or without a local guiding you. So for the last two days we have been on the water with Roy's new boat off Durban in the shipping harbour. We did a presentation at the yacht club as well on Saturday night to approximately 30 people keen to hear and see what this boat can do. So the future looks good down here for a potential Moth class association, the first for the African continent.
Wednesday 15 August, 2007 - In Canada
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Yesterday we flew up to Toronto to meet some guys from one of the oldest Commonwealth Yacht Clubs in the world to discuss the possibility of building a fleet of Bladeriders. We have already sold one boat to an ambassador up here and there is also a new Prowler up here too, so I don't think it will be too long before we have a Canadian Moth fleet happening. While here I also got to have a close look at the Canadian C Class catamaran challenge. Very interesting! Stay tuned for more news on this. Flying back to the USA tomorrow via Detroit, then Chicago, then flying direct to London with a 13 hour stop over, then flying direct to South Africa to meet up with Roy Dunster, our Bladerider Ambassador down there.
Tuesday 14 August, 2007 - Go the Tigers
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Bora and Holly treated us to a Detroit Tigers Baseball game last night. Never been to a ball game before, but it was exactly what I thought it would be like... lots of drinking and eating donuts, nachos and hot dogs. The game was fairly boring, but the atmosphere and crowd were entertaining. I couldn't leave without taking home a Tigers baseball cap though.
Monday 13 August, 2007 - Friendly US Customs Officers
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We awoke to another beautiful day at Newport and headed down to the NYYC to rig the boats and get on the water once the sea breeze had started to fill in. This time I got on Peter's boat to show the guys on the RIB some light wind foiling techniques in and around the hundred or so boats moored off the the busy Jazz Festival at Fort Adams. We couldn't stay on the water long despite the building breeze as Bora had to head back to Detroit for work on Monday, so we loaded up Bora's Monster Truck and made our way towards Michigan. After a number of stops and the late Sunday afternoon traffic congestions, the drive was looking to be a bit longer than our expected of 1am arrival. By the time we got to the Canadian border at Niagara Falls, it was looking like it was going to be even longer as my US immigration card was lost (more than likely when handing over my passport at the dodgey Best Western Hotel we stayed when at Long Beach).
So upon entering the US border about 30 minutes from Detroit, Bora sensed we were in for a long wait. The US customs officers were clearly not in a hurry at 4am to do anything to help us or anyone that had immigration issues get through as fast as possible. We found out later that the two guys in front of us took two hours to do their paperwork. I couldn't help but think that because they did not look like locals, they were treated differently. This was only reinforced when Bora (from Turkish origin) asked to go to the toilet, that the officer made a totally uncalled for remark and suggested that he shouldn't drink so much alcohol in the future. So after an hour of waiting, I had myself a new green card, but the impossible task of trying to find the old and now lost green card. Somehow I think that by the time I leave the US, they are not going to care about the lost card. To add some comedy to the situation, just before we left, a group of five 20 something Canadian males dressed in black death metal gear and the odd anti-christ tatoo entered the near empty building and could only think that they were going to be in there for a quite a while even if their papers were in order.
It wasn't until 5:30am that we actually made it to Bora's house and in bed for a good nights sleep.
Saturday 11 August, 2007 - Jazz Foiling
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Today we not only had Bora and Peter on their Bladerider's, but also Bill on his Hungry Tiger and Karl on his Prowler. We went out early in the morning only to be hit with a dying gradient breeze. By 2pm the seabreeze had kicked in and we had about 10 people keen for a test sail. It wasn't long before we had everyone foiling quite easily in front a huge number of moored boats off Newport (the home of the 1983 AC) thanks to a massive jazz festival on at the time, so all the newbies provided plenty of entertainment for the spectators. Bora, Gin and I will be driving to Detroit tomorrow to do it all again on the lakes Monday & Tuesady.
Friday 10 August, 2007 - Sunshine to Showers
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After two flights to Providence, Rhode Island (via Chicago from Miami), we were picked up by our New York Ambassador Peter Becker and made our way to the Newport Hotel. The next day I didn't wake up to midday thanks to lack of sleep over the last week, however there was not much to wake up for considering it was pouring with rain all day. This did not stop Peter and Bora (our other USA Ambassador) from rigging up on the huge front lawns of the prestigious New York Yacht Club and then hitting the water to test a new centerboard and swap/compare boats.
Tuesday 7 August, 2007 - Bathing in Miami
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Rigged up two brand new Bladeriders in Miami this morning for out East Coast resellers. It was good to see nothing wrong and nothing missing with the boats and they assembled and rigged with ease. Likes like the factory is finally getting on top of things down there. So after lunch we went for a sail in the shallow bath temperature waters and in very light winds, but still got up foiling on occassions. Tomorrow we will be out again, but hopefully we can get a few kids out as well before the scheduled 6pm summer series race start. After a few cold drinks and a swim in our Hotel pool, we all went out for a very filling and tasty Cuban dinner nearby the local hood. Have to go bacck again tomorrow again as I don't think I have even seen Cuban food for sale in Australia.
Monday 6 August, 2007 - Another Police Incident
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In the end, the foil arrived (but not without American Airlines losing it in the process), and we got over 20 potential mothies out on the water at Long Beach on the Sunday. It was a great day and we didn't get off the water until 6pm. The only incident was that I had yet another altercation with the water police, who said I was going too fast! However our US reseller Randy Reynolds calmed him down a bit luckily after convincing him that not everyone was as upright as I was and some leniency was given. Currently in Miami where we will be doing all this again tomorrow and Wednesday with the locals here.
Friday 3 August, 2007 - Uh-oh!
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The Henken Family Zoo generously drove Gin and I up to Long Beach early this morning, dropping off the kids for Sabot training at Newport Beach on the way. The demo boat only arrived at 6pm the night before (talk about last minute), however upon opening the box sent all the way from Italy, there was no centerboard in there. Uh-oh! Looks like someone forgot to put one in or I supposed to take one and was not told to do so. So we had the boat rigged on shore today going nowhere, but plenty of people coming up having a look and a chat. However late today, we made last minute arrangements with Scott Taber (our Bladerider reseller in Florida), to put his niece on a plane early tomorrow morning with his only centerboard and foil, to land in Orange County around 11am our time. So we should be all set tomorrow for our little test sail and racing against Pete Melvin on his A cat, then up early again on Monday morning for Miami.
Friday 3 August, 2007 - 11 Year Old Mothies
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Gin and I flew out of Melbourne on the 1st August to land in Los Angeles for some promotional work in San Diego and Long Beach. However it did not help that I was sick as a dog and extremely sleep deprived. As soon as we landed, we got picked up in a limo and drove down to stay with the Henken family where Sterling had just received his new Bladerider. So we spent the day putting on his custom hull graphics and rigging the boat up. By 3pm we down at the club with a large crowd of onlookers along with some local press to watch the launch of the first Bladerider in California. Once on the water, all the local juniors were more than keen to have a go, despite some of them only being 35kgs! The highlight for me was seeing 11 year old Chucky Eaton give it a go, and then 11 year old Paris Henken to not only join him on the boat to sail two up, but also get up and go foiling. It certainly seems as though the hospitality and excitiment here in San Diego is nothing short of amazing. Up to Long Beach tomorrow for some test sailing with the locals.
Friday 27 July, 2007 - Mustorific
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I am happy to say that I have just done a deal with the newly formed Musto Australia that obviously distributes Musto products in Australia, to exclusively wear their gear for the next two years. Negotiating the deal with the MD Duncan Curnow was the easy bit, the hardest part was going through their online catalogue to replace all my old sailing and on-shore gear. Bloody hell, I didn't realise how much gear I actually use and have stock piled over the years.
Thursday 26 July, 2007 - Coming Good
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So the back has come good a lot quicker than I thought it would. Hopefully it holds up this weekend as we are moving a bit of furniture around it seems.
Saturday 19 July, 2007 - Ouch!
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After getting back to work the other day, I have been trying to catch up on emails and customer orders (nearly there), and then today I was pushing a washing machine into the back of car (as you do) when I heard a crack in my back followed by extreme and instantaneous pain to move and even breathe!
After crawling to the Chiro, he fixed me up so that breathe in mild comfort and advised that I need to rest for a week as I have ruptured a disk in my verterbrae. Trust me when I say that it is bloody painful!
Saturday 7 July, 2007 - Blogging Out...
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This will probably be my last blog for a few weeks as I should be on annual leave recovering from 12 months of full on sailing and selling. However it seems as though we are getting more enquires from customers every week about getting a new boat and this makes it difficult when I am the only staff able to sell a boat to anyone. So I am trying to maintain a minimum amount of email contact over the next week or two while recovering, but if I don't reply straight away as I normally do, I will be in touch when I can.
For now, sit tight and feel free to read up on all the other blogs and forums about the wrap of the worlds, or maybe they have all gone quite or tired after months of pounding the Bladerider? Or maybe there is more to come as it seems as though the factory is still not meeting delivery deadlines as promised and is frustrating the hell out of me and all our customers. Trust me when I say that I am doing everthing I can (even if I am holidays) to help get these boats out the door.
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But before I go, I have finally edited some video from Garda that is now on my YouTube account. Will put together some more video as soon as possible.
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Not sure what has been going on with my home page recently too, as it has been down for a few days. Hopefully it is fixed now.
Friday 6 July, 2007 - Doing Bugger All
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Havn't done much over the last two days apart from sleeping in till late, walking around the tourist sites, seeing Picasso's early childhood house along with yet another Picasso Museum, sitting on the beach, eating as much Spanish food as possible and buying as much clothing bargins as we can find and take home with us withoiut being over the weight limit (fat chance of that now). Leaving tomorrow to head back to Italy for some walking along the CinqueTerra.
Thursday 5 July, 2007 - Back of Beyond
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Yesterday we spent the day sleeping in til late again and walked around the old town of Valencia. After the legs had decided that was enough, we went to train station to find out how to get to Malaga where Gin had booked our accommodation for the next three nights.
Gin had done some travelling around Spain before and apparantly knew her way around and assumed by reading the 'Lonley Planet' (not to be confused with the book that I am still reading called 'Lonley Planets'), that it was around an hour train ride to get there along the coast, but did not know that the train did run direct there and we would have to go to Madrid first. After trying to talk to a few people in our best Spanish/Italian, it was looking like the trains don't run there very often and would take a lot longer to get there than one hour. There was no ferries that run there either and had no alternative than to hire a pissy little 1.2lt car from Avis (lucky they had one left).
Eight hours later sitting on between 120-160km/hr, we finally arrived at Malaga! Just a bit further than Gin expected and about three times the distance estimated on the map. Lucky I brought my TomTom with me that gave a 'real' estimate of the time to get there and exactly how to get to our hotel, as Malaga is about 1000 times bigger than Gin expected.
Wednesday 4 July, 2007 - What a Race!
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Yesterday was one of the best yacht races I have ever seen. And better still, Gin and I got to see it from the Alinghi family spectator boat! Was great to be there and celebrate with Peter and all my new Alinghi friends when they came in too. Certainly a very rare and unexpected moment that I will remember forever. It was also unusual to be so close to 'The Cup' as well, until it was wisked away by AC management.
Tuesday 3 July, 2007 - Alinghi TV
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During Sunday's AC harbour demo and incident with the water police, Alinghi TV were there on hand to film everything. Check it out here or wait for it to appear on EuroSport this week (check local guides for airtime).
Monday 2 July, 2007 - Alinghi Foiler
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After possibly one of the best and longest sleeps I have had in a long time, we made it down to the Alinghi base to help Peter assemble his new boat and tune up the other demo boat to hit the beach and rig around 3pm.
We pimped up Peter's X8 with some Alinghi stickers of course and looked great on the water. We had a bit of fun with the photographers on the media boat as well, as our good friend Thierry Martinez was there along with a few others including 2007 Moth Worlds photographer Oskar Kihlborg, to capture some good shots of Amac and I fooling around.
Peter finally got to have a go on his own boat once Amac tuned it up for him and suprisingly picked it up very quickly and seemed to enjoy it immensely. A few other Alinghi team members and family also got to have a go and was obvious that getting up and flying for the first time was a lot easier than they expected, despite the rough seaway outside the harbour this time (away from the water police, but we still got told off by the beach police for not rigging up and launching in the designated area).
Sunday 1 July, 2007 - Busted Again
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So we got an early flight from Milan to Valencia to start preparing for the Bladerider test sail and demo tomorrow. Two boats are here, one for Alinghi team member and Kiwi Peter Evans and one new boat for test sailing. So we spared no time checking into the hotel and wizzed straight on down to the AC Port to unpack and assemble them on the front yard of the Alinghi base. Peter had been quite busy recently of course and had not even opened his box yet, so was a suprise to see the 12k clear carbon for the first time. We got the other black painted boat sorted as well and then rigged it up to literally drop it in off the side of the marina straight into the water.
After about 2 minutes of foiling around on the harbor with crowds applauding the first few flights, the harbour police stop me and tell me to get off the water as it is "forbidden to sail in the harbour". So I limp back into the Alinghi base and got the Alinghi guys to make some calls and we were back on the water within 5 minutes, only to be stopped again by the same guy (quite pissed off this time) threatening me with arrest, etc. This time the guys on the Alinghi RIB got involved and dropped a few names and told him to make a few calls to important people. Only then did he leave us alone to blast around the harbour amongst millions of dollars worth of boats for an hour or so. Amac had a go as well and sailed up the channel for the spectators on the shore appartantly getting cheers all the way along.
Back ashore it was time to hose down and wash my mouth out for fear of catching some illness from the fairly average looking and smelling water. Got to meet plenty of new people (that I knew only previously by name) as well today. It was great that even Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth found time to stop and have a chat.
Saturday 30 June, 2007 - Pack Up and Wrap Up (Part II)
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After a rather big and eventful night last night with the Japanese, the Aussies, plenty of beer, and a litre of Lemoncello, I woke with a mild hangover, but still decided to head down to the club to race as planned, but my 10-0 idea was far from being a priority.
With the early start time planned, the Ora was a lot softer giving the class newcomers the taste of fantastic flat water Garda foiling. Simon was in need of some good points to get into third overall, so he rigged his special 'big blue' MSL9 sail while Scott had nothing to gain so he rigged an experimental TruFlow sail. I was feeling fairly unmotivated by this stage and rigged up an old Bladerider sail, saving every once of fibre in my 'special' Moth sails for the next worlds.
With the wind moving around a bit, I was keen to take a big risk with another port tack start. However I got caught out by Amac on starboard, so did a 360 immediately giving my lead up very quickly. I still rounded the top mark just behind Amac and Scott but stuffed my first gybe big time losing heaps of ground then Simon got me from behind on starboard, so round I went again for another 360 penalty turn, losing even more ground on Amac and Scott.
Not used to being back in the pack, I looked at this as a bit of challenge to see if I could get back in the front despite the initial dramas. However after clawing back some time on the next lap to get within stricking distance, I got screwed when a huge bit of plastic tape wrapped around my foils, forcing me the tip over and clear the problem. Hmmm, maybe I should have just stayed ashore?
So by this stage I had given up on the race and cruised around the next lap to close in just behind Amac. However not wanting to ruin my perfect scored card with a fourth, I accidently missed the finish line to score a DNF.
After the race it was finally time to let Simon and Adam have a go on my boat, so we did a bit of a swap and showing off for the TV cameras (coming to you soon on the Sailing Channel I believe).
By this stage I had enough and had lost total interest in competing in the final race and went in to hand my boat over to the new owner who had been waiting two hours ashore for me. Within 30 minutes of me landing, my 2007 World Champion boat was on the roof of the car and on the way to Austria (the one without the Kangaroos), probably never to be seen again.
A few hours later the presentation kicked off at club and was probably the most enjoyable that I had ever been to. There was no mucking around and the top 10 were called out where I received 'The Cup' and concluded the proceedings by showering everyone in Champagne thankfully donated by my new Estonian friends. Australia (the one with the Kangaroos) also ended up claiming the inaugural 'Ashes Trophy' by only a few points from the POM's, so now we have both Ashes in Australian territroy (as it should be).
The Bladerider 'A' team did extremely well finishing in 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th and 9th overall in the results. Not bad for a first Worlds effort and being seriously underestimated by everyone, including ourselves!
Now that I have had time to reflect on the results, I cannot believe I actually just won eight World Championship races straight in a fleet of this quality. I obviously scored eight straight heat wins in the 2005 Worlds as well, but this time around it was much more rewarding considering I only launched my Worlds race boat in April (which was also an early production boat and suffered similar issues as to Graham's boat).
But I think what really makes this win more rewarding for me is the amount of doubt I read on blogs and forums in the lead up to the Worlds by both critics and even Bladerider supporters about my abilities, preparation, experience, killer instinct, lofty PR campaign and boat speed claims to get the title back. However this probably only made me even more determined to suceed, so thanks for the extra motivation guys! I will never forget it.
Scott on the other hand was barely rated by anyone and came into the regatta with the full support of the Bladerider team and no pressure to live up to any expecations. This seemed to have also helped Scott avoid all the 'talk' and sail a consistent regatta to claim the Silver medal extemely comfortably.
Amac could have easily claimed third overall, but his 'gun-ho' attitude resulted in issues in getting around the course without incident. However I am sure he has learnt more in this regatta that anyone else than ever before and without doubt will be serious contender for the 2008 Australian Moth Championships later this year (seeing the Scott, John and myself will more than likely not attend), and despite him being +50 years old.
However I think the highlight for me in this regatta was seeing Graham Vials get up to within two points of Simon Payne on the second last day, even though he was plagued with structural problems with his very early production boat and foils, not to mention having a serious lack of training or tuning against anyone before the Worlds even started. Graham is now getting a brand new Bladerider next week to completely replace his troubled boat (not a bad deal eh?), and will be my favourite to win the UK Nationals.
Notable mention should also go to John Harris, who has only sailed a Moth for a few months and had also been hindered by some foil issues, but came in 9th overall beating Luka who was 2nd in the Australian Moth Nationals six months ago. Just goes to show how the standard of competition has increased in our Moth fleet not to mention the performance of the Bladerider, over the last few months!
The Bladerider 'B' Team was lead by Glenn Raphael (AUS/UAE) also sailed his first Moth regatta, but improved substaintially towards the end of the regatta to perform numerous foiling gybes and finish all three laps on occassions to finish 17th overall. Raimondo Tonelli (ITA) also a Moth virgin was not far behind in 20th overall, even though he suffered gear failure on an old prototype Bladerider.
Other new Bladerider sailors included Carlo Mege (GER) who has only had his boat for two weeks before the Worlds and by the end of the last race, was pacing the number one ranked German around the marks. Sten-Mark Bachmann (EST) also did exceptionally well in his first ever sail in a Bladerider this week as he could barely even start in the first five heats, but finished and improved on each of the last five races with ease to claim the World Junior Title without any competition and 45th overall.
Finally our Japanese Bladerider reseller Naomi Tachibana suffered with lack of weight, youth (he is 58 years old) and fitness, but still managed to get in 52nd overall from the 63 strong fleet.
I will report on some more of the 'other Moth' sailors' performance at the Worlds later on.
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For those Moth video junkies, Jean-Pierre (JP) from Switzerland has uploaded a nice little 35Mb clip showing the faces of the Moth celebreties, along with some great Pommy stacks in 25 knots. Keep your eye on his site for more video to come. I will try and get some video on YouTube too when I have time (or could be bothered more than likely).
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Tomorrow morning we leave early to catch a flight to Valencia where we will see if Alinghi can wind up the series 5-2 and do some pre-arranged Bladerider demo sailing for the Media. Should probably have the order book open and ready when there too. Come say hello if you are around. Look for the boat doing no less than 12 knots!
Friday 29 June, 2007 - NEW WORLD & OPEN EUROPEAN CHAMPION!
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Three races today in 12-17 knots with moderate waves. Heat 6 was fairly boring as not much happened but I won the race by 2 minutes or so from Scott, Amac third about a minute behind, then there was a big gap to fourth as usual.
Heat 7 the wind had built a bit and swung left about 20 degrees so I sneakily waited at the boat end then charged down to the pin all on my own with a minute to go, tacked onto port and had the whole pin end to myself to claim my best ever start, crossing the fleet by nearly 100 meters. The rest of the race was pretty non-eventful and won the race by three minutes or so from Scott, then Amac, then daylight again.
Heat 8 the pin end was favouring again, but about ten others decided to cash in on the advantage and try for a port tack start. I had Sam underneath me, Simon behind me and many others around, but I had the pin and hit the line right on target. However Graham came charging through on starboard and claimed that three people got in his way (not sure who as I thought I was well clear), but better to be safe than sorry, Simon and I did a 360 once we had some room to do so. As a result I had Scott on my tail for the first lap, but pulled away on the next two laps by tacking on the shifts upwind (thanks to my Velocitek SC1) and playing it safe downwind to win by 45 seconds, with Amac back in third and another big gap to fourth (not sure who though). Click here for overall results...
So with eight wins straight in the bag, that is enough to win the series and be the 2007 Moth World and Open European Champion. Two races are scheduled tomorrow in a lighter Ora at noon, but rather than sit out and watch from the side lines, I'll head out again and see if I can make it ten out of ten.
So how does it feel? I don't know really. I am tired after four hours on the water today and six months of bloody hard work and might take a while sink in. I really don't think I sailed that hard the entire regatta, but rather just went for a good VMG upwind and played it safe downwind. Certainly sailing at Black Rock over the years helped as the waves here are very similar to back home.
It is a huge relief however to not only win, but win every race (including the practice races) extremely comfortably. I am probably more happy for Scott to claim a very comfortable second overall in his first Moth Worlds (also not needing to sail tomorrow either). Not a bad effort for having only sailed the Bladerider for since April!
Third place however is still up for grabs with Simon, Sam and Graham all seperated by two points with two drops and all will be in the hunt for the bronze medal. Amac could have been in the hunt too, but got greedy by sailing too full on in some races and destroyed some equipment, however he could certainly be up there for sixth along with Les, John and Adam.
Lastly it seems the Ashes trophy is still up for grabs, but hopefully with Scott's and my fairly neat score card, it should help the Aussies claim another win over the POM's.
Thursday 28 June, 2007 - Heats 3, 4 & 5
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With moderate winds forcasted, those that had a MSL9 put it up for heat 3 scheduled at 1pm. However when entering the water we realised something was different, with all the unusual weather we had recently, the water temperature dropped 13 degrees in the last 24 hours. Most were not dressed and barely survived the first race. I certainly was not dressed appropriately but managed to pull the best start off the boat, stayed dry for the entire race and win heat three by 3-4 minutes. I have no idea of what was going on behind me as there was quite a gap, so you are best to read another blog. But I do remember Scott being first around the top mark, the rest is a blur.
In between races, the cold wind picked up to around 18-20 knots and most were near freezing point. I was still dry so was ok, but then my stay/prodder retainer rope broke with 6 minutes to the start. So I had to tip the boat and setup jury rig with some spare 2mm spectra that I always carry with me for these exact reasons. After 3 minutes in the water, I was near hypothermic, but I managed to fix something that should last the race. With two minutes to go, I dragged myself to the start line to get a reasonable position near the boat end, but my hands could barely grasp the tiller let alone the mainsheet. So the start went and I tacked off to the right to hit the cliffs with more pressure, whilst my legs were going into spasm. Somehow I cleared out from the fleet quite fast but it seemed like I was really only trying to survive in the now very difficult conditions, due to the the cold and building waves. By the time I looked around on the second lap I couldn't even see second place, so I assumed most had hit the piss (numerous times too by the sounds of it). So for the rest of the race I played it safe and just cruised around to claim the win by around 5 minutes (or maybe lots more - who knows) from Sam Pascoe who sailed the last race with no wand! Amazing stuff.
After being told to go back to land under the AP over A flag, it was evident that everyone was suffering from the same hypothermic state as me (except Sven of course who always wears his drysuit), however apparantly I was the only one not to go for a swim during the race hence the big winning margin.
So after a 10 minute hot shower, a power bar, some food and warm clothes, I recharged and waited for the AP flag to drop. So at 6pm we went out again (with more clothes on this time and the high wind sail) to start in around 15 knots. Most were playing it safe and rig their high wind sail if they had one. So I started at the boat again and tacked off to the right, while Scott hit the cliffs on the left. By the time we both tacked we were only meters apart but a long way ahead of everyone else. I rounded the top mark first while Scott pitch-poled not long after getting around close to me. By the bottom mark I had a good lead, but Scott caught up big time on the next work as I struggled to find the right gear and boat speed with the shifty and lighter conditions. However I pulled away downwind again and then a bit more on the next lap to win by a minute or so from Scott. Third was Simon I believe but I could be wrong as he was a few minutes back leading the main pack.
So after five races, we now have a series and Scott is sitting comfortably in second. It seems likely that Simon, Sam and Graham will fight it out for the next few places but I think certainly the wind, water, boat preparation and speed will determine who gets third overall. Amac had a bad day today, so will be pushed back into the fleet for sure, but I think he best is yet to come now that the new foils have arrived. Les Thorpe is another Australia that is also sailing very consistently and will certainly be up there in the overall results.
Wednesday 27 June, 2007 - Racing Cancelled Today (Again)
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With winds getting up to 1 knot and boats speeds approaching 2 knots about one minute before the start, all racing today was abandoned. The IMCA AGM is tomorrow morning at 9:30 and more than likely three races scheduled back to back at 1pm. The forcast tomorrow is for 18-20 knots and pressure will be on those that have not finished a race yet to keep their boats together in the first race to get some much needed points on the board. The forecast for the rest of the week is for more moderate winds of around 15-18 knots.
With the good news about Alinghi winning today, means that racing will still be going on when we arrive in Valencia for the Bladerider demo on the 2nd July. I just hope the boats will be released from customs by then!
Tuesday 26 June, 2007 - Racing Cancelled Today
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With winds getting up to 40 knots, racing was postponed until tomorrow (supposed to be our lay day though), so we sat around to watch Alinghi lose race 3 and then watched three crazy Poms hit the water (and hard) in their Moths in a solid 25 knots breeze. It provided excellent entertainment for those watching on shore.
Plenty of carnage photos from day one have been uploaded here:
Monday 25 June, 2007 - The Bullshit Stops when the Flag Drops
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The boat end was favoured in heat one, and most of the good guys got the boat easily as usual. I however opted to start towards the pin and lost some valuable ground. I tacked off early to get the better pressure on the right and get back up to Scott and Amac (who lead around the top mark), only to drop the tiller and lose some more ground on them. Got around the top mark in third, stuffed up a gybe, then stupidly capsized to let Simon through with Graham right on my tail. What a start to the series! Right... it was time to settle down and start reeling in Simon, Scott and then Amac who had a comfortable by now. I passed Simon around the second gybe mark but I think he might have broken his gantry by this s
