Sunday 12th September, 2009 - Mothballed

As of today, I am no longer employed by Bladerider and have accepted a full time job offer with Sundance Yachts as a broker and business developer at the new and improved Sandringham Yacht Club/Marina.

It regrets me to also say that, after being involved in the Moth Class for nearly ten years now, I will also be taking a break from Moth racing for an indefinate period.

Friday 4th September, 2009 - Action Cam

Puma had a couple of head cams at the 2009 Moth Worlds and so on the last day, I decided to take one out on the water with me. I intended to race with it on, but after my front foil flap decided that it had enough of working any longer, that was the end of that. Check it out...

Friday 28th August, 2009 - Land of Sunshine

Just got back from Hamilton Island Race Week in sunny Queensland where we had a couple Bladerider RX's and one X8 up there doing some 'show-boating'.

Dave, Ben and Brent seemed to love the attention (as all Mothies do) on the water, but it was just the same on-shore where by saying that they were there to sail on the foiler Moths, it was a easy way to start to a conversation with the ladies. Needless to say I think the boys have enjoyed themselves quite a lot.

We had planned to do some short course racing right in front of the new Yacht Club as well, but the wind has not been cooperating all week and we have been left stranded on shore for a lot of the time. On the bright side, there was plenty of sunshine and time to relax after what has been a pretty full on last few months.

I must admit, Hamilton Island is a pretty special place to go and it is by far the best resort I have been to, so I can easily see myself heading back there again one day soon.

Saturday 15th August, 2009 - It's All Over

My 2009 Moth Worlds campaign started fairly poorly and ended just the same. Chris tried to lighten the mood and inspire everyone before we all went out on the water by playing 'Cry of the Valkyries' over the PA system, which Adam is probably sorry to hear that it was a big improvement from Kenny Logan's 'Danger Zone' from the 2008 Moth Worlds.

So on the way out to the start line for the final day's racing my front foil was making some funny noises, so I pulled over to the side of the river to find that my front foil flap had ripped off about 20cms. That was the end of me and explains my lack of pace yesterday.

I therefore limped back in to pack up the boat while watching the last two races from the shore and see Bora claim his first Moth World Title. While it was a top effort by Nathan to get a second place in his first Moth Worlds, I was pleased for Bora as he had put a lot of time into his Moth sailing over the last few years and he really did deserve it. Final results here...

It was a bit of frantic pack up after the racing was over and now we are just getting ready for the presentation dinner. Looking forward to getting home and making a long list of things to do before the next Worlds in Dubai.

Friday 14th August, 2009 - And The Hits Keep on Coming...

The wind was up again today at around 20 knots, but it was incredibly shifty and gusty making life hard work on the race course. I opted a safe start at the boat, but I must have had weed on the foils or something as I could not get going off the line, so I slow tacked, reversed, cleared the problem and got going again. At this stage I was back in about 30th. We were doing the dreaded 'Z' course and I picked up about 11 places upwind and another 11 downwind on the first lap and basically stayed there until the end as there were plenty of people around me making mistakes.

I knew my boat was filling up with water fast and attempted to get some out by taking out the lower bung in the transom and sailing upwind tilting the boat backwards. I reakon I only got more water in while trying to get the bung out, so I had to race heat 12 with at least five litres of water sloshing around in the boat. It was like sailing two up and very painful for me back in ninth place. I couldn't wait for that race to be over.

After this heat, I had to get the water out and went to the closest shore to empty all that I could. A few minutes later my hull was as dry as I could get it and felt much faster over the water. Consequently I opted for a port tack start and sucessfully crossed the fleet, but only to be headed again by a 30 degree shift sending me crashing into the water. I tacked back only to be headed again, however I nailed a few huge shifts further up the course to round the top mark in third just behind Scott and Nathan. However Bora and Dalton were just behind me and quickly rolled me downwind with more pace pushing me into fifth.

I somehow made good ground upwind with a few more nice shifts and passed Dalton near the top mark, but I soon lost the advantage to him again along with Simon after rounding the top mark. Some luck seemed to go my way for once as Simon gybed like a Neanderthal just before the finish line (but apparantly his knee was not to blame this time), letting me to go through for fifth.

I don't what is going with my pace at the moment, however something is seriously wrong after only posting a top speed today of 22 knots today, unlike my regular 25 knots postings last week in similar winds. All my good form seems to have gone after my accident in the last race of the US Nationals.

I am completely bewildered and am just riding out the rest of this series now as a cannot lose sixth place and unlikely to get up into fifth place too as Simon's knee seems to have held up fine overnight after posting a race win today. Scott had a good day, but has not helped move up the rankings too much, meanwhile Rob has moved up to just behind me in seventh overall. On the other hand Nathan will need two race wins tomorrow and a number of places in between him and Bora in order to get the crown for 2009.

Overall results after 13 heats can be found here...

Thursday 13th August, 2009 - Still Struggling

It was looking to be pretty windy on the race course today, so they postponed for about 30 mins, however once we got out on the course, it was only about 15-20 knots.

At the start of heat seven, it looked like most people were going to start off the boat, so I cruised down to the pin and start on port. However, one of the big media ribs decided to get right in my way with 10 seconds to go, so I let them have it and luckily they moved just before I hit the line and crossed the fleet on port. Unfortunately the wind didn't go my way and had to tack back on a knock, while the rest of the fleet came back on huge lift, putting back to about 15th. I clawed a few places back downwind sailing deeper than others around me then picked a few shifts upwind to put me in eight place over the line. That will be one of my drops I think.

Another good start at the boat on starboard, but noticed that Nathan sail's had pushed through the top of the mast and that was the end of his race. I was super slow upwind thanks to flattening my sail far too much, in anticipation of more wind, but once again I clawed my way back downwind from about tenth into fourth just in front of Rob Gough at the bottom mark, however I had a unwanted knot in my mainsheet tail that prevented me from letting out my boom, so I had to stop for about 30 seconds to get the knot out, loosing two places to Rob and Chris in the process. I managed to get in front of Chris upwind, but Rob had too much of a lead downwind to catch, so I crossed the line in a dissapointing fifth.

Started on port again with pace and height upwind to round the top mark in fourth behind Brad Funk in first, then Nigel, and Rob who all got a great shift on the right side of the course. Nathan powered away downwind now using the V6 sail in a good puff, while I progressively struggled with pace downwind as my boat began to take on more and more water in between races. Consequently Dalton caught up to me downwind and crossed in front by about one second, finishing yet another dissapointing race.

By the time I got back, I emptied another 3-4 litres of water out of the hull and have made the decision to give up trying to find these leaks after spending about three hours yesterday unsuccessfully trying to fix them. Instead I am going to try and figure out how to drain the water from the hull while foiling since my bung is located in the lower part of the transom.

On overall points I am still sitting in sixth, however Simon who is in fifth, torn the cartilage in his knee and said that he has sailed his last race in this Worlds today. Dalton is 13 points ahead of me and I would need five glamour races to get in front of him I would think.

On the other hand Scott has dropped back to ninth overall after yet another catastrophic failure on his Mach 2 missing two races today. His front wing bar collapsed after a capsize and consequently he broke his boom as well and a second mast at this regatta. Needless to say he is not a happy customer!

To end on a positive note, Bladerider Team Sailor Rob Gough had two excellent races today which has pushed him up to seventh overall, about 25 points behind me.

Tuesday 11th August, 2009 - From Bad to Worse

With overcast skies, cool temperatures and lack of wind upstream at Hood River, we knew today was not going to be a 'normal' Gorge day. But still the race committee sent us out in about 2-5 knots and we drifted around under an AP on the water until the wind filled into about 7 knots.

I am seriously struggling for power upwind and downwind in the light winds using a mast that is at least 15% softer than most of the top end of the fleet but 25% softer than Scott's 'tree-trunk' M2 mast that he is now forced to use after his Nano 6 broke the other day.

Consequently I am using the V6 sail with more luff round to get a bit of shape into the sail, but in order to keep my height upwind, I just don't have enough pace to keep up with the top guys in the light to moderate winds we have been getting recently. I can only hope for more wind later in the week, but the forecast is not looking good.

At the start of heat five, I completely screwed my start at the boat end of the line low riding in no wind, meanwhile Simon and Scott blasted out of the blocks on the left side of the course and Scott rounded the top mark miles ahead of the pack. To top off my bad start and lack of pace, I was completely out of phase with the shifts upwind and dropped back into about 9th and stayed there till the finish. Simon somehow pipped Scott near the finish to claim the win, meanwhile Nathan was buried deep and came back to score a 4th place after nailing all the right shifts again.

In heat six, the wind had built to around 12 knots, but a far cry from the 18-25 knots that I had optimised my setup for. This time I managed to get a better start off the pin on starboard and then proceeded to put the blinkers on, and sail my own race getting a number of good shifts. I can't remember the details exactly of the race, but Bora and Nathan cleared out with Arnaud finishing just ahead of me.

By the time heat seven rolled around, we had a more consistent 12-14 knots and I pulled off a pretty good start to head to the left side of the course, but tacked out early to get good pressure and picked all the shifts to finally round a mark at this Worlds at the front of a tightly packed fleet (yes that was me Mr Clean)...

I held off Bora at the bottom mark, but stupidly I rounded the starboard gate instead of the port gate mark to head out to the wrong side of the course, leaving Bora and Nathan to get in front of me on a nice lift on the left. Then I missed a few shifts, a crucial lay-line at the top mark and then some pressure downwind letting Arnaud and Dalton to get through as well, but had a pretty big gap behind me to cross the line in very dissapointing fifth.

So I am casually sitting in 6th overall at moment, just in front of Scott who is also having a bad start to this years Worlds. I am far from impressed with my performance and I am now trying to find a much stiffer mast to better suit my V8 sail in the 'unusually' light winds that we are currently experiencing. You know what they say though, "it is not normally like this".

Monday 10th August, 2009 - What Else Can Go Wrong

My day started off pretty bad and just kept getting worse as the day went on. Firstly I had to drop my rig at least seven times before I even went out as I could not get my top cam sitting correctly on the mast. I ran out of time and went out on the water without my top cam rotating which was killing my upwind speed. So in the first heat I suffered with a lack of speed and tacked & gybed way too much and ended up fifth over the line in about 10 knots of eery shifty winds.

While waiting for the start of heat two, the starboard wing cover pulled out of the track of my hull meaning that I had a huge gap to avoid falling through on each tack and gybe for the entire next race. However I managed to get a good start at the boat, but on my first tack, I over-steered, lost my balance and fell out of my boat, while it sailed away from me downwind. This put me in about last place after I got the boat going again. I worked my way back through the fleet to get into sixth place at the finish.

We went in for lunch, however I had to rebuild my boat (again) to get the wing cover back into the track, bolt it up so it won't happen again, empty about a litre of water out of the boat and also sort out my top cam. After an hour and half, I finally got around to having a rest and some food.

We started heat three in about 12 knots and was holding a really good position at the favoured boat end of the line until Amac rammed me from behind, pushing me around into a tack out onto the other side of the committee boat, then gybe around to restart behind the rest of the fleet. Needless to say I was extremely pissed off and used this aggression to pick some good shifts and get back up into fourth across the line.

Got a pretty aveage start in heat four with no pace off the line, but I tacked out onto port immediately to get clear air and a nice lift behind Charlie who port tacked the fleet. I was around the top mark in about 3rd and managed to get up into 2nd at the bottom mark behind Nathan. But I lacked pace upwind and let the chasing pack catch up to me at the top mark with Scott, Arnaud and Dalton hot on my heels. They gybed as soon as the rounded the top mark and got good pressure to pass me. Then I proceeded to miss all the pressure patches downwind and Bora also got in front pushing me back to sixth over the line. Not happy!

When I came in, I found a small hole in my hull from the recent repair and consequently I had to let out about a litre of water out of my hull again. Some kneeding epoxy will hopefully do the trick and stop any more water getting in tomorrow.

On the bright side, Nathan had a good day with a couple of first places and should be in first overall, but Bora and Dalton won't be far behind on the overall points table.

It is quite obvious too that the top seven boats including Simon, Arnaud, Scott and myself are almost inseparable around the race course in each race and we all generally cross the finish line within 30 seconds of each other. However there is a a much bigger gap behind us in each race, but the next seven boats are having just as close racing as us apparantly.

I can only hope for some better results tomorrow.

Sunday 9th August, 2009 - All Sorted (I Hope)

After a few modifications and test runs this morning, I have finally settled on my equipment selection for the Worlds. This was only confirmed in the first practice race today where I had to catch up 100 meters on Simon and Nathan after they started on port and went out to the favoured right side of the course.

I caught Simon by the top mark by nailing the starboard layline from a long distance out (again) and then had Nathan at the bottom mark after a small ventilation problem, even though he was clearly the fastest downwind using his North V6 sail for the first time today.

Nathan rounded the gate heading out to the left, while I rounded the other gate mark and headed out to the right. My upwind VMG on port has made a big improvement now after taking out the ski from my wand and reducing my gearing, so I pulled away a bit from Nathan and Simon to round the top mark reasonably clear and take the win in the first practice race, leaving Nathan to take an easy second place from Simon then Arnaud, then daylight.

There was no need for Nathan or myself to stay out wasting energy doing any more practice races, so we headed in along with Simon and Arnaud. Bora went in to make some changes during the first race to see if he could match Nathan's downwind speed, but never got a chance to compare. However he did go back out to easily win the second practice race.

Amac was up there in third place along with the McKee's in this race, but the years of experience these guys have doesn't seem to be enough to make up for the high level of fitness seen by the guys at the top of end of the fleet.

Saturday 8th August, 2009 - All Back Together

Chris, Nathan, Scott and I all enjoyed a well deserved sleep-in this morning followed by a stack of pancakes with maple syrup.

We got down to the club later than usual and everyone took their time going out for the Velocitek Speed Challenge as the wind was extremely light in comparison to last week of 'nuking' winds.

Firstly it was looking like Arnaud came back with the best speed again for 2009 with a 24.3 knot average speed, but it wasn't long before Nathan equalled this. However Bora went for a long sail up the river to find more wind and record the best 10 second average speed of 25.3 knots. Mind you, it probably took him an hour to sail back upwind to get back to the club.

We started the North Sail's Dash for Cash around 4pm, but it took a while to sort out who was sailing in each race and it didn't help with the lack of wind at the time. But in the last hour, the wind kicked in to around 10-12 knots and the competitors provided some good entertainment for the crowd gathered on the point. I did my best as the MC of the event, but I think I would have preferred to be on the water rather than on land with a microphone.

After the day's event was all over, I got a welcomed suprise when my boat came back on the roof of a car all glued back together. The repair done by local boat builder Gary Efferding can hardly be seen and if anything, it will be substaintially stronger than before and only adding about 100 grams.

While putting the boat back together, I also took the opportunity to make a few mod's on my boat that should make a big difference on the water. I also received my stiffer and longer rudder a few days earlier than expected thanks to DHL and immediately fitted it to the green 'Tuna Foil'. This should give me the stability I have been looking for downwind along with a slight speed advantage, but only time will tell.

Friday 7th August, 2009 - A Good Start To A Bad Finish

Heat five started today in about 15 knots and I got a great start off the boat end of the line to pick all the shifts upwind and comfortably lead at the top mark. However I went around in 10 knots and a pack of about six boats came around behind me about 15 seconds later in about 20 knots rolling me fairly quickly until I stuffed up a gybe to stupidly capsize after getting my tiller stuck in my boom. This put me back in about 6th at the bottom mark but was able to claw my way back up into 4th just behind Simon and Bora.

Started great again in heat six at the boat again in about 18 knots and rounded the top mark in second just behind Scott, followed closely by Nathan, Bora and Arnaud. I lacked pace upwind on the next leg for some reason and rounded in fourth at the top mark, but not far behind Bora in third. However everyone except Nathan was unsure of the direction of the last lap downwind on the new 'Z' course, and so Nathan slipped through for the win in front of Scott while I held on to fourth.

In the third and final heat of the day, the wind was gusting up to 25 knots and pushing hard to the left, making the port end of the line biased for the first time of the series. I hammered down to the pin at 20 seconds to go to get another glam start, but just as headed to go upwind when the start gun went, we all heard the loud sound of carbon exploding.

I thought it was one of my foils that blew up, but I looked down to see that I was still flying doing 15 knots so it must have been someone else. However I then looked at my deck to see that it had broken clean away from the hull on the starboard side. I then limped in back to the beach, praying that I did not sink on the way back.

Fortunately a local boat builder offering to help fix it and should be all good for tomorrow afternoon. I cannot believe that this happened after seven months of use, however it could have been a lot worse if it had of failed next week.

Needless to say that I am dissapointed as my final placing could have been a lot different with another good result in the last heat (or even if I had of finished off heat one). The same could be said for Scott who finished with two DNF's as well, and could have also won the series. However to finish first, you must first finish and at the end of the day, Nathan had enough consistent results to be crowned National USA Open Champion.

So it is now very clear the Aussies are doing quite well here in the shifty and strong Gorge conditions, as we have wom every race so far, while the Bladerider/North Sails users are proving to be quite a lot faster than everyone anticipated, including people like Chris Graham and Kevin Hall who both rounded the top mark in first place during a race yesterday.

However the fight for the 2009 World Championship can now probably be narrowed down to one of three people staying at our rental house in Hood River. Which one I don't know, but Nathan, Scott and myself are looking forward to some more close racing next week.

Thursday 6th August, 2009 - A Bad Start To A Good Finish

Four heats of the USA Nationals sailed today in conditions ranging from 10-30 knots. I used the 'green Tuna' rear foil in the first heat, but suffered fairly major stability controls downwind in the first heat during a 25 knot puff while in third place and so I went in to swap it over for the next race. However they took so long to start the next race, I could have finished well placed, and still had time to go back in and swap foils to a standard rear foil. Meanwhile Nathan cleared away big time to take the win.

In heat two, I capsized at the start in the fairly windy conditions, and in the process got in the way of Nathan and also capsized. Not a good start for both of us, but I chipped away at the fleet to get into the lead from Scott at the start of the second lap and held on until until Scott's wand system blew up on his Mach2 at the top mark. This left me to claim a very comfortable win as a lot of others either capsized numerous times, blew up their boat or sailed back to shore to prevent their boats from blowing up.

I was not lucky enough to avoid incident either after my nearly my entire wing cover pulled out of my starboard track before the start. However I decided to soldier on by being super cautious to not to fall through the wing covers on each tack and gybe. I don't know how I didn't do this, but to top it off I managed all that without capsizing too in the fairly extreme conditions gusting up to 29 knots.

We all went back to shore for lunch and warmth as the temperature has dropped dramatically over the last 24 hours. I took the time to change sails and put up the V6 sail on my standard Southern mast as the conditions had somewhat moderated.

Heat three started around 4pm in 10-15 knots and Nathan and I started fairly average again, but we both tacked out for clear air, good pressure and a nice lift on port. I lead around the top mark with Scott and Nathan not far behind. Nathan pulled away with a good puff downwind on the left and flatter side of the course, leaving me to round in front of Scott and out to the favoured right side of the course. Nathan pulled away a bit more to take a comfortable win from me, with Scott an equal distance behind.

Heat four started in about 10-12 knots, but it was rapidly dying. I got a good start right on the boat this time, but was stopped dead, however it only took about 3 seconds to get it up to full speed. In some good shifts and somehow just picking the starboard layline from a long way out, I went around the top mark in second behind Simon. I made good ground on Simon downwind with a super VMG and rounded in front at the bottom mark to lead him and Arnaud out to the right side of the course. I nailed a few more shifts with awesome height and speed on starboard tack, and pulled away even more to take the win, with Simon in second, Nathan in third (even with one capsize), Arnaud in fourth, Bora in fifth and daylight in sixth.

Needless to say the Bladerider and North Sails team had a very good day on the water with four wins and it is now quite clear that a simple wand/foil setup is still quite effective (as there are less things that can go wrong), but these new North sails are proving to have quite an extraordinary VMG upwind and downwind. However already we can see plenty of room for improvement for the 2010 range.

Wednesday 5th August, 2009 - Extreme Performance Management

It was quite clear upon arriving here a five days ago, that Bora had done his homework and was certainly the benchmark on the water here at the Gorge. However it was Scott who was the rabbit this morning after some cool modifications to his push rod system.

So over the last few days, I have made significant changes to the setup of my boat and foils, after finding out here that my initial pace and control was not as quick as the competition.

Firstly I had too much gearing in my centerboard so the boat was bouncing around downwind at 20 knots like a kid on a pogo-stick. Once I sorted that out, reduced the ski-out on my wand to get better ride height on port tack, then added an adjustable wand elastic (on both sides of the boat using a Ronstan pivoting lead block) and took off a heap of positive lift off my flap as it was stalling upwind with the massive AOA I am currently running.

I have also tightened up my toe straps and moved them further out to hike harder for longer, dropped my rake back, put some carbon batten tubes in the second top and third top batten in my North V8, and finally fitted up a radical new rear foil that was recently designed by Julian Bethwaite and proving to be bloody fast.

However big performance gains don't come easy and consequently I inherited some stability issues downwind at speed as a consequence. I think I have learnt to manage this now after this afternoon's session and am now confident to use this setup in the USA Nationals starting tomorrow.

It also looks like Bladerider Team Sailors Nathan and Rob are also proving to be quick upwind and downwind too, but it will also be interesting to see how 'Big Kev' Hall goes tomorrow as he only just arrived late today and has not lined up against any of us yet. Kevin also has all the go fast ride height modifications to his boat and is also using a new North sail like the rest of us.

Saturday 1st August, 2009 - The First Casualty

A few of us were at the club early this morning to assemble our boats, however we were forbidden to rig and launch off the beach and therefore had to resort to launching off a narrow and steep concrete slipway, into an 7 knot current and 15-20 knot head wind.

Somehow I manage to get out of there without too many scratches on my wing bars and foils, but Chris did not fair so well dropping his rig just out side the 'safe' harbour. Fifteen minutes later he was rescued by a RIB and was saved from potential disaster from the savage current.

This incident along with a now gusty and shifty 20-25 knots, deterred others from going out, and left me to cruise around the Gorge doing 15-18 knots upwind with the current and up to 24 knots against the current.

There is no doubt that this years Worlds fill be the most exciting to date for sure, due to the number of tacks and gybes required to head up and down the race course in fairly windy conditions, along with multiple lead changes due the high probability of everyone making at least one major mistake every lap.

So after an hour or so of blasting around, it was time to go in and check into our house 15 minutes away up stream at Hood River. Very happy with the modern style house complete with WiFi and satellite TV. Just what we need to blog-on and chill-out each night!

Friday 32nd July, 2009 - Freaky Friday

Yes, it is my second Friday in a row today after crossing the international date line, so will date this entry the 32nd July instead.

So after a rigourous training campaign over the last five months, including nearly three structured months in the gym completing over 4,000 sit ups, over 200kms of running, three hours of wall sits/forearm planks along with tonnes of free weight lifted and an extra 3kg of muscle, it is time to find out if all that hard work is going to pay off here at the Gorge.

In hindsight, the training I have done leading up to this years Worlds is quite a lot more than what I did leading up to the 2007 Worlds as I have no doubt the bar has been lifted significantly since then. I am also not one to do anything without putting 100% into it and most importantly, willing to sacrifice and do anything in order to win. From my experiences, anything less is just not enough.

So while I am confident with my fitness and weight at the moment, I am always looking for that little bit extra speed and therefore I have been doing a lot of R&D with Composite Components and Bethwaite Design to come up with a few completely different rear foil designs made from both solid alloy and fiberglass plate. Now I am far from an expert with any foil design, but after numerous on-water and comparative tests with Nathan and Rob, there is quite an improvement upwind and downwind in moderate to high winds.

In addition, I have also put a lot of time into the North/Southern rig combo that a lot of us are now using. The V8 is a real weapon as long as you are using the correct mast, ie not too stiff down low and not too soft up top. The standard Southern mast is perfect for winds over 12 knots for light/moderate weight sailors, otherwise the Phatboy/V8 combo is potent for those big boys apparantly. Glenn Raphael is apparantly now untouchable in Dubai now Chris thinks thanks to this set up and I am sure Kevin Hall is even more so again, but maybe their extra weight might have something to do with it as well?

However I am personally really fond of the V6 sail on a standard Southern mast as well in 5-18 knot winds. It is no good on the Phatboy mast as it has too much luff round to suit a stiffer mast, but it is a great set up straight out of the bag on the standard Southern mast if looking for a lighter winds set up or you want one sail to use on your existing and standard 40mm mast but weigh around 80kg.

Friday 31st July, 2009 - The Departed

When I arrived at Melbourne airport this morning, Qantas kindly upgraded me to Premium Economy (again) so the trip over was far more comfortable and seemed almost fast in comparison to other long 14 hour hauls I have done. However I think 6 hours of unconcious sleep on a flat bed combined after some a nice meal and a fews hours watching some quality TV shows for a change, might have helped time fly by quite literally.

Scott and Chris on the other hand did not to seem to fair so well when they landed, Scott especially being stuck in cattle class of one of United Airlines outdated 747's with no on-demand TV.

So after picking up our rental mini Yank Tank and on the way to the Gorge, we witnessed a near mass-pile up on the freeway thanks to a cop car pulling someone over on the side of the road, but leaving half of his car sticking out on the right line.

Cars in front and to the right of us slowed down to steer around the obstruction, however those behind couldn't see ahead to smoke up his tyres at 100 km/hr and missed the car in front by literally 20mm and then just miss the cop car by about a meter.

From then on I drove so cautiously for fear of having to pay a ridiculous insurance excess on top of the excessive insurance premium I had already paid, I probably would have drove Miss Daisy crazy. Luckily once we arrived, it seems as though all the locals of the laid back Cascade Locks are some what even more tame drivers than me.

Tuesday 21st July, 2009 - Shipping Out

Went up to Sydney on Friday last week to sort out and pack Nathan's VRX for the Worlds while he is in Italy comfortably winning the 49er Worlds. I planned to go out for a sail with Scott on Saturday as well, but in typical Sydney fashion, the wind shut down for the weekend.

So yesterday all six Aussie boats left for the USA, but not before I made a few last minute changes to my boat. Not much else we can do now except to wait. Lucky for me though, we have just finished restoring the X8 that Nathan used to win the 2009 Aussie Nationals, so I can get out on that for the next week or so before heading over the USA myself.

Sunday 12 July, 2009 - Battle at Hastings

Dave and I went down to Hastings on Westernport Bay for a Winter Series Club race today, as it is the only club with racing on at the moment. Luckily we had a good 15 knot breeze coming directly down the top end of the bay, making for extremely flat water foiling.

The race nearly fizzled out for us with a rain squall killing the wind half way through the race, but a good puff of about 25 knots came through on the last downwind leg for me, pulling another good peak speed at 27.81 knots and a 10 second average of 26.64 knots.

I don't think there is any question now that the latest rear foil design we have been testing has improved top speeds in less winds. Rob, Nathan and myself have all noticed and seen the difference against each other, now we just need to see how it goes around the race course in four weeks time.

Monday 6 July, 2009 - Frozen Fingers

Have been down in Hobart training with Will and Rob over the last four days in freezing cold and extremely windy conditions, making for some tough character building.

At times it was below 6 degrees with an apparent temperature below zero and winds over 30 knots. The sight of the odd penguin and snow on Mount Wellington only made it more obvious that we should not be out on the water. Even with a drysuit on and two layers of thermals, I was still bloody cold. I think the table below of yesterday's weather while out on the water sums it all up pretty good!

As a result, Rob had his GPS on for the whole weekend and after nearly 157 kms of sailing, he clocked an impressive best peak speed of 27 knots and average of 24.93 knots. Not bad considering the viscosity of sailing in such cold water is like sailing in honey.

On the positive side, we had the opportunity to test our latest generation of rear foils and had ex-Mothie and North Sail designer Andrew Lechte on hand to make some minor structural modifications to the heads our North sails. Consequently we are even more happy with our V8 sails than we were before (these modifciations will be available from Chris Williams at North Sails soon if anyone is interested).

Another important change was putting in a 7.25mm batten in replace of the 6mm second top batten. This made the head sit a lot nicer in moderate winds. I would even consider using even stiffer battens in the top 3 if the winds were consistently over 22 knots.

Brownie was also coaching us for the four days and tested us to our limits in the extreme conditions at times, particularily with the figure-8 drills. Now I just need to consolidate all this training and finalise our equipment selection over the next few weeks before heading to the USA.

Wednesday 1 July, 2009 - My VRX is For Sale

It's time to put my VRX on the market and hopefully lock in a buyer before I head off to the Worlds at the Gorge, as it costs too much to bring it back. No doubt I will have a new boat to play with in a few months anyway. If interested, or know someone that is, let me know.

Tuesday 23rd June, 2009 - I See It, But I Don't Believe It

When out for a blast on Saturday in a gusty 15-25 knots with the V8 and one of my alloy rear foils on. However the half-meter waves were coming straight down the bay from the North and the wind was offshore from the North East, and if you have sailed a foiler Moth in conditions like this, you'll know that it is really easy to fly high and fast upwind sailing straight into the waves, and not so fast or high sailing across the waves.

So I was not suprised to be cruising upwind against the waves that day averaging around 14-17 knots, however as the wind built to 20-25 late in the session. I remember hiking my guts out to hold the boat down in one gust and glanced over to see 19 knots on the Speedpuck.

Never have I gone that quick upwind, so assumed it must have been something to do with the conditions or maybe all those hours running and in the gym over the last few months have been paying off.

So I downloaded the data from that session and seperated all the upwind and downwind tracks to confirm what I saw, and noted that I actually topped out upwind at ridiculous 20.5 knots and averaged a stupid 18.36 knots over that 10 second period.

Check out the screenshots to see the tracks and stat's of the four upwind legs for the evidence. BTW - That red bar is the period of the highest 10 second average, also showing the point of peak speed.

Thursday 18 June, 2009 - Not So Close Call

Funny story from local Mothie down here in Melbourne who was out sailing last weekend, but may not be so humerous to any animal activists reading this...

"I was sailing upwind in about 15 knots and felt a huge thud!  I looked under the boat and I had a penguin wrapped around my main foil, so I stopped the boat and it started to swim off, spitting out blood and little fish.  It didn't last long after that. I felt terrible."

Many of us have hit fish and birds before, but no penguins yet.

Monday 15 June, 2009 - Close Call

Dave and I had a late sail on Saturday afternoon that nearly involved the Air Wing (Police Helicopter) or at least some rescure boat to assist, after Dave had spent a good 5 minutes in the freezing cold waters off Sandringham.

Apparantly some people at Sandringham Yacht Club saw what was going on about 800 meters off their club and called Black Rock to report the trouble, as none of their Moths were silly enough to be out sailing at dusk in mid winter.

Thankfully Dave got out of the water and was able to tack his heavily raked boat in the solid 20 knots, and head back to the calmer waters and winds closer to shore.

Wednesday 10 June, 2009 - 28 knot Club Application

Nathan and I went out off Woollarha today in a very gusty 20-35 knots and knew that we were going to be pushed to our limits. After a quick stop back on shore to take off some lift on Nathan's front foil flap, we were back out there to see if we could break anything and push the boats as fast as possible.

Suprisingly nothing broke and consequently Nathan clocked 27.6 knots (peak) and 26.74 knots average in the extremely cold conditions average while I equalled my personal best of 27.89 knots (peak) but scored a new personal best 10 second average of 26.93 knots.

This is not far behind Arnaud's 10 second average record of 27.4 knots (unless Bora can provide proof otherwise having posted some pretty quick speeds apparently in Hawaii).

I got a bit excited as my on-screen display was 28.1 knots (peak) and 27.3 knots (average) but might have to wait for my entry into the 28 knot club this weekend where the forecast is looking pretty windy again down in Melbourne. The warmer water at Hazelwood Pondage will probably add 1-2 knots to the top speed too!

Tuesday 9 June, 2009 - Hurry up and Wait

Got out on Saturday for an hour or so with six other Moths off Black Rock, but the wind was on and off for most of the day so it wasn't ideal. But we all lined up a few times and everyone got a feel for their pace against the others.

Then Dave I headed down to Hazelwood's Annual Sauna Sail regatta at 6:30am to get in three races down there and have a crack a 30 knots, but the wind never came in and so I never even put my boat in the water. Waste of a day and four hours of driving really!

Monday was a public holiday here and so went down to Black Rock again where Scott and Amac had just got off the water after an early morning session. Dave and I went out in about 12 knots where it built to around 20 knots from the North West.

Before the seas got up too big, I clocked a new upwind top speed of 17.9 knots using the V6. Then after battling the short steep waves downwind a few times, it was time to head in and face the envitable disaster of trying to get the boat back on dry land where the strong on shore breeze makes Half Moon Bay look like a washing machine. Luckily nothing broke though although I did manage to rip my dry suit somehow. Not happy!

Off to Sydney tomorrow to get one last training session in with Nathan at Woollarha, before he heads off to Europe for the 29er Worlds.

Wednesday 3 June, 2009 - Mentally Handicapped

I think I might get in early and apologise now, as it looks like I might have screwed the Aussie Moth yardstick for everyone again after last Saturday's effort.

They put us on the old foiler Moth yardstick of 83, which put me in stupidly in front by over 15 mintues on corrected time in the overall results. However if they used the current Foiler Moth handicap of 79, it still would not have made any difference as I worked out than even if they put us on 70, I think I still would have won on corrected time by about a minute. Mind you, I reakon I lost about a minute with bad tacks and gybes, so there is plenty of room for improvement.

So I am not sure what the Foiler Moth Yardstick is going to be for 2009/10, but I would not be suprised if it is in the low 70's or even high 60's now. This would then put the Foiler Moth in the same league now as the A Class (71), F18 (70), 18' skiff (68), Taipan 5.7 with kite (67.5) and Tornado (65). Looking at these numbers though, I think the 18 footers should be around 65 with the Tornado and we should be around 68-69.

Personally I am not looking at yet another massive drop in our yardstick as a bad thing, as it should be a challenge for us to try and win mixed fleet races rather than just annoy other classes all the time with walk-away victories.

Sunday 31st May, 2009 - Like a Frightened Turtle

After being sick again last week, it was good to get back out on the water (in Rob's VRX again as mine is still in Sydney) in a nice 10-17 knot off shore Sou-Easterly at Black Rock along with Dave Barnes on the very first Prowler and Martin on his new aquired used X8 from Sydney.

The air and water temperature is starting to get quite cold down here which means two things, the shrinkage factor is quite high if you are one of those that prefer to put your foils on in the water, and secondly the foils cavitate frequently when foiling!

I can deal with the first issue by wearing a Musto Goretex drysuit, however the second issue is unavoidable, and it only makes it worse when you run into obstacles in the water such as jelly fish and weed.

So we started the four lap race with three Moth's, a very strong fleet of 14's and one Hobie Tiger (not sure where he came from though). I thought we might have a good race with the Hobie, however they seem to struggle to keep up downwind.

Somehow managed to contain rudder cavitation quite well, but Martin did not have the same luck when I saw him doing about 18 knots downwind with the biggest rooster tail I have ever seen coming from the back of his rudder and completely unable to shake it off. It wasn't long after that he had to retire with a broken vang also.

So after about an hour of racing, I had done my last lap had to head back to the finish line, however by the time I got to the finish line, I noted that I was literally on the arse of Lindsay Irwin who was comfortably leading the 14's. This meant that I had lapped virtually the entire 14 fleet, and done something which I had never done before.

I am starting to feel very confident with these new North V8 sails now, as even in reasonably moderate conditions and cold water I still managed a few spurts of 16 knots upwind and 22 knots downwind. Mind you I was using a brand new rear foil design CNC'd from alloy and it did feel more slippery than normal. Only time will tell if all this hard work has paid off.

Monday 18th May, 2009 - Running around in Circles

For the last few months I have been running with a local Athletics club to try and regain some of my lost fitness over the last 18 months. The only problem is that that I am more than three times the age of some of the runners there (but mostly twice the age) and were literally running circles around me in the first few weeks. However I have been coming good recently and am slowly working my way up to the 'young guns' of the squad.

To top it off, I have been looking at joining a gym for weight training now that my core fitness is starting to come good, and on Sunday night somehow I won a three month gym membership at a local gym at a silent auction/fund raiser at our local Life Saving Club. Perfect timing!

Sunday 17th May, 2009 - Right On Track

Got two days of training, tuning and adjustments in Sydney with Nathan before he had to head overseas for 49er racing late last week and we both seemed to be very confident now with our equipment, set up and boat speed.

On the Friday afternoon it was a good 20-25 knots, and while Nathan and I were using the North V6/CST 353 and V8/SS 'Skinnyboy' respectively, we noted average upwind speeds of 16 knots in the gusts, peaking at 17 knots with our slowest speed around 14 knots. We also both could not believe how well the V6 sat on our rigs and how comfortable it felt even with +30 knots apparent on the nose. We will certainly be using these sails in the Worlds when the wind gets up.

Downwind we peaked out at about 25.6 knots average I think, but the cold water temps meant that super high speeds were not going to happen on that day. Might have to wait a few weeks to try and clock over 30 knots at the annual Hazelwood 'Sauna Sail' regatta where water temps should be over 25 degrees, cold air and super flat water. Can't wait!

Monday 11th May, 2009 - Bling!

Over the last few months, a few of the Bladerider crew have been working with Composite Components on some new rear foils. Glen came up with three designs and we opted to get the two smaller ones prototyped by CNC'ing some alloy to test them on the water asap.

I can't tell you the results of our testing just yet, but talk about a Gucci bit of kit on the Moth. They also look very cool underwater as the water sunlight reflects off them, almost like a Sailfish swimming underneath your boat. The only problem is the inevitable corosion reaction that is going to happen with the carbon. But for now they are serving their purpose well and giving us a lot of great feedback for our next generation of foils.

Tuesday 28th April, 2009 - Sydney Sailing

Got back from Sydney on Sunday after spending three days training with Rob and Nathan. Well worth the trip as their jellyfish are tiny in comparison to ours at the moment and plus they have good winds (except over Easter), warmer water and smaller waves. It is no wonder why so many people sail up there.

After Scott's incident on Friday, he decided to take Nathan's X8 out on Saturday afternoon to get some much needed foiling time on the water. Marty came down too and we did a heap of one lap races on the Laser course. The wind kicked up to around 20 knots by late afternoon and we ended up tearing around the short course in stupid times, making the Laser's look even more incredibly slow.

Looking forward to getting back up there next week along with some new and experimental gear that we are currently working on, as Melbourne is ridiculously cold at the moment and far from inviting to go sailing.

Wednesday 21st April, 2009 - Cocked Again

Steve and I attempted to sail in the annual Cock of the Rock race at Black Rock on the weekend, but all hope of trying to win this race again failed when we noticed the whole bay being covered in huge jellyfish. With all the recent sunshine and lack of wind, meant that the jellyfish bloom and sit close to the water surface.

This is bad news for us foilers especially in light winds, as it is like trying to run through the middle of a mosh pit at a System of a Down concert! So Steve and I gave up before we even started. It has been a few years now since we have had decent wind for this race, but we should be due for a good one next year.

I'm off to Sydney tomorrow to do some training with Rob and Nathan for the next few days, and plan to leave the boats up there and train for a few days each week over the next month or so.

BTW - Nathan clocked 28.23 knots (peak) and 26.9 knots (10 second average) the other day, giving him one of the fastest peak and average speeds ever recorded on a foiler Moth.

I don't know what day it is in April, 2009 - Where's my Lunch?

It has been well over 30 hours and four planes since I left my hotel in Rio and I am still not home yet. I have had breakfast now at least four times now too and I just want some lunch!

Firstly I had breakfast after a great 9 hour sleep (thanks to some magic pills) from Santiago to Auckland. Then I had breakfast again in the Qantas lounge in Auckland, then once more on the plane to Sydney and finally some McDonald's breakfast when I landed in Sydney.

Now I am waiting for a flight home at the Qantas lounge in Sydney to Melbourne (but refusing to eat breakfast again), but now I just hope that my luggage and myself get there after Qantas announced 1750 jobs to go yesterday and Qantas staff have been known to walk off the job in the past.

BTW - the photo on the right was taken by Andrew Lechte, who is an ex-Moth Victorian State Champion, now working for North Sails in Japan and also Telefonica Blue sail designer. Also on board was Tom Addis who I brought my second Moth from in Sydney many years ago. Small world...

Sunday 12th April, 2009 - Buggie Smugglers

It seems like I made the right decision to head over to Rio rather than go to the NSW States in Sydney, as for the last week we have had mostly good winds and weather, when it should be cloudy with no wind.

On Friday I went out in a gusty 5-20 knots and got in a few runs with a new experimental wand. Then a couple of the Green Dragon guys came out and one Aussie guy proved to be quite good for his first ride. It wasn't long after when a RIB load of adults, kids and crew from ESPN South America came out for some show and tell with the camera.

Once that was over, it was time to hand it over to some locals for a test sail. Clothed in only cock jocks, I warned them that they might need a bit more armour, but it seems as though the Brazils are very comfortable with their basic choice of attire in all sporting activities, including soccer, volleyball and running.

A few of the younger guys then got a ride and picked up the new art of foiling very quickly. Needless to say, I think they will all be wanting a foiler for Christmas. However with the taxes so high here (around 100% of the paid price), it is certainly a toy for the wealthy at this stage. We are looking into alternatives to get foilers here for a lot less, and hopefully we have a solution in the next few months.

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